Burning For Claire (The O'Connell Family Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

fiery pixie before she got tough again. I pressed my lower body on hers to prevent her from kneeing me in my nuts. That shit would hurt, and then I would have to take it out on her ass later—when I got her naked.
    “Let me go,” Claire pleaded.
    “Are you going to hit me again?” I asked tersely.
    “No,” she said in resignation.
    “Fine, but if you try that shit again. I take you over my knee and spank that little ass. Remember if you hit me in my nuts you’ll pay.” I wasn’t an asshole. I was rather a gentleman, but she brought out the perverse, feral man in me.
    “I’m not. I just want you to get off me…are you hard?” she asked as if it was an absurd thing. I had my body pressed against her sexy body. How in the world could I not be hard as a rock? I didn’t say shit, I just gave her a smirk and a wink.
    “Sick! Get off me.”
    “Sick? You’re beautiful, and I want you. What’s so sick about that?”
    “We don’t know each other, and you’re ready to do me.”
    “I know enough about you. Anyways, people screw the first time they see each other. I’ve given you three days.”
    “This is the second time we’re speaking. Three days means diddlysquat. The fact that you have a report on my life doesn’t mean you know me and don’t deny that you don’t have one.”
    “I know things about you that aren’t in the damn report.”
    “Like what,” she panted. I wanted her mouth on mine.
    “You prefer Dunkin over Starbucks. You like hazelnuts and you’re into classic rock.”
    “Have you been stalking me? Do I have to add security cameras and an alarm system to my apartment?”
    “No, babe. Your desk alone tells me a lot about you.” She turned back to look and sure enough, she had a Dunkin coffee, a jar Nutella and a Led Zeppelin CD on her desk.
    “Just because you’re observant doesn’t mean you get to be all up on me.”
    “I’m observant all right. You’re body wants me on it. I can feel your heart pounding, your breath is harsh, and the look in your eyes as you look up at me speaks hunger.”
    “That’s not true,” she protested.
    “Let’s test that,” I whispered as I slid my hands into her hair and bent my head. I captured her lips in a slow and tender kiss. Her hands had moved to my chest in an attempt to stop the inevitable, but had stayed there as she shared some of her passion with me.
    It was everything I expected it to be and then some. I pulled back and looked at her closed eyes, realizing this was more than just lust. I suddenly wanted to know more about her like and dislikes.
    She opened her eyes and in a hushed tone, she whispered, “Your heart’s pounding too.”
    “Yes…it is,” I murmured. It was a short kiss, but it changed everything for me or maybe it adjusted my mind to what my heart already knew.
    “I’ll see you tonight,” I reiterated.
    “What if I don’t want to?” she challenged.
    “You want to see me. I know you do, so you should stop lying to yourself.” I stepped back then walked to the door. I needed to think straight. I had a meeting with my team after I went to work at the mall.
    “Where you going?” she asked softly.
    “Miss me already?” I couldn’t stop myself from rushing back to her. I wrapped her in my arms and lifted her so we were face to face.
    “You’re playing with my head, baby,” I groaned.
    “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
    “Don’t be sorry. You just got yourself more than you bargained for, Claire,” I declared.
    “Because our kiss was nice?” she queried.
    “Nice? Sweetheart, that was more than nice. It just sealed the deal.”
    “Sealed the deal?” she asked. It was clear that it wasn’t that soul consuming for her as it was for me. I needed to work on that. I grabbed her thighs and lifted them up to wrap around my waist as I pushed her ass onto the desk. My hands ran up and down her thighs as I looked in her eyes.
    “You’re mine,” I growled before my mouth made contact with hers. She moved her