Shanti’s thoughts scattered, her breath catching as Connor brushed his lips over hers again and again, each caress making her pulse skip. He drew her closer, one big hand splayed across her back, the hard feel of his body sending shivers through her. But still, he took his time, teasing her mouth with his, nipping her lips, tracing their curves with his tongue until she trembled and burned.
He drew back, looked down at her, his brow furrowed, his eyes dark. “Shanti.”
For a moment, she was afraid it was over, that duty or conscience or some misplaced sense of gallantry had gotten the better of him. Before she could protest, he slid a hand into her hair, angled her head—and claimed her mouth in a slow, deep kiss.
Oh, yes!
She slid her hands up his bare chest and over his shoulders, arching against him, reveling in the feel of him, inhaling his male scent.
He groaned, his hand fisting in her hair, gentleness giving way to need. The intensity of his kiss left her breathless, his lips pressing hard and hot against hers, his tongue teasing hers with insistent strokes.
Arousal lanced through her, turning to liquid fire in her belly. Hungry for more, she kissed him back, challenging him for control, playing with him the way he’d played with her—nipping his lower lip, exploring his mouth, tasting his tongue.
He let her have her way—for a moment.
When he reclaimed control, she surrendered gladly, feeling delightfully overpowered and deliciously feminine in his arms.
He cupped one of her breasts through the thin cotton of her nightgown, ran his thumb over its puckered nipple, making her gasp. Then his lips came down on her pulse, pressing kisses against the sensitive skin of her neck.
All at once, he broke the kiss and withdrew his hand. “Shanti, I can’t … I shouldn’t… If we don’t stop now...”
Shanti’s body ached, her pulse thrumming for him. “But I don’t want to stop—not yet. Don’t you want this?”
He looked into her eyes, his gaze burning. “God, yes, but I’m breaking a half-dozen rules by being with you like this.”
“I won’t report you. Who’s going to know?”
“I’ll know.” He ran a thumb over the curve of her lower lip. “I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize your safety or happiness.”
She knew she was pouting, but she didn’t care. She was wet and achy for him, and it had been so damned long. “Your refusal to continue kissing me is definitely injurious to my happiness.”
He grinned, chuckled. “Now the attorney comes out. Can we negotiate? When we’re back in The Hague, and I’m no longer assigned to your protection detail, I’ll be more than happy to spend a night kissing you for as long as you want.”
That was probably tomorrow.
She could live that long, couldn’t she? “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Connor wokeup in a foul mood, edgy and frustrated. He hadn’t slept much, but he wasn’t tired, unspent sexual energy more potent than caffeine. He got up, dressed, and brushed his teeth, marveling at his stupidity, his lack of self-control.
He had gone into Shanti’s room last night—and he’d kissed the hell out of her.
To be fair, he hadn’t gone in there intending to kiss her. He’d heard her cry out and had thought at first that something had happened. When he’d realized she’d had a nightmare, he’d stayed to help her get past it.
That makes it worse, you idiot, not better.
He was in a position of trust. He was the head of her security team, for God’s sake. She’d been vulnerable and afraid.
She wanted it. You know she did. She asked you to kiss her.
She’d kissed him back, pressing her body against his, arching into his hand when he’d touched her breast. Hell, she’d gotten pissed off when he’d finally stopped.
That doesn’t change anything.
Fuck.
He couldn’t think of the last time he’d wanted a woman like this. Every cell in his body ached for her. And now he was hard again.
Good job, dumbass.