Champagne Cravings Read Online Free Page B

situation even more difficult.
    “Not saying it won’t mean I’m not thinking it.” He paused,
seemingly considering how much more to divulge, then added, “Come on, Lace. I
know where you stand. But the way you look at me…” He let out a low groan that
further stirred my senses. “You can’t hide your attraction to me. It’s always
been there, in your eyes. There’s something between us. Something you fight
every day. In turn, I try to get you out of my mind, because you insist we
can’t be more than friends. But tonight—”
    “I’ve had a weird evening. You caught me off guard during a
moment of weakness,” I reasoned, though it was a crappy defense, especially
with my heart pounding so loud I was certain he could hear it.
    “I know your past haunts you in a lot of different ways. And
I’m always here when you need me. All I’m asking for now is to just…test the
waters with me.” His lips brushed over mine. A whisper of a kiss. A mere hint
of one. But I felt its effects to the very depths of my soul. Yeah, I was nuts
about this guy. The precise reason I’d avoided situations such as this in the
past. We’d arrived at this point, anyway, regardless of my previous efforts to
maintain an even keel with him.
    Perhaps I’d had too much champagne at the Montlimiere. Maybe
three years without sex, and three years of living next door to the most
gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on—who wanted me—along with being
aroused by a supermodel whose plastered-to-her-body dress had revealed a figure
worth fantasizing about even if you weren’t a lesbian, bisexual or even the
tiniest bit interested in women were impossible-to-deny catalysts. I didn’t
know. But when Mike gravitated toward me so his chest, now covered with a black
T-shirt that pulled tight against his muscles, pressed to my breasts, I ignored
many of the reasons I’d fought this attraction for so long.
    A sigh of yearning escaped my parted lips as he nibbled the
corner of my mouth and then engaged me in soft kisses that didn’t involve
tongue but had our lips twisting together as we teased each other. My eyelids
fluttered closed again and hot lava flowed through every inch of me. My inner
thighs quivered and my pussy clenched and released as though trying to grasp
something that wasn’t there. Something that hadn’t been there in so very long.
Something that could be there, if only I’d utter that one magical word
that would release me from my terrified-to-be-played-again captivity.
    Yes .
    There it was. The word. It danced through my mind,
taunting me. It lingered on my tongue, tempting me.
    But I kept my mouth shut. Well, not literally, because
Mike’s tongue finally slipped past my parted lips and delved deep. His kiss was
nothing short of electric. Slow. Hot. Deep. Wet. Hot. Oh wait. I’d said that
already. But okay, yeah. Hot. So very, very hot.
    My body trembled from head to toe. I pulled away from the
archway and pressed myself more firmly against him as one hand slid around to
his muscular back while the other gripped his rock-hard bicep. In turn, his
hand beneath my breast moved higher so his skimming thumb could sweep over my
hard nipple.
    I should have torn my mouth from his to drag in some
much-needed oxygen and to break the too-intense moment, but couldn’t do it. The
fire that roared through my body at his erotic touch seared me to the very core
of my being, but I refused to give up the intimacy of his kiss. It was the most
perfect first kiss ever delivered. There was meaning behind it. Emotions
conveyed similar to what I’d sometimes see in Mike’s eyes when he listened to
me talk about a life I’d thought I was supposed to live back in Phoenix, the
career I’d believed I would excel at with the TV station and the love I’d
thought I’d had with Chase. And then with Brandon. Empathy, understanding and
support, mixed with a healthy dose of desire and admiration.
    With this all-consuming kiss, I could forget Mike was