Until then, she could control her attraction to Logan. She could appreciate his looks and cope with his flirting and just laugh at that too. She weaved her way along the frost-tipped pathways looping round the park, so lost in thought she only vaguely watched the half inch of path ahead of her. Trying to rationalize. Justify. Plan.
“Hey, watch it.”
“Sor—” she broke off and stared stupidly up at the wide-shouldered man she’d all but collided with.
Damn. In broad daylight, Logan Hughes was even more arresting.
Her mouth watered. It wasn’t the only part of her that dampened in a blink.
“I thought y-y-you weren’t c-c-coming.” She gritted her teeth.
“I said I wasn’t, yet.” Logan smiled at her. “All in good time. Patience is a virtue, didn’t you know?”
Tease.
“I was having a n-n-nice time alone.” She sent a withering glance behind her. “Being tailed by your goon.”
But Ed seemed to have melted into the shadows somewhere along the line.
“Ed isn’t a goon. He’s highly intelligent and an excellent assistant.”
“I don’t need protection,” she whispered.
“Yes, you do.”
“Not as much as you.” She glowered at him.
He laughed. “Come on, you haven’t had enough fresh air yet. And it’s too cold to stand still for long.”
He had that heart-stopping smile on, the big one that lit up his eyes. He hadn’t even bothered with shades, just relied on the shadow from the peak of his cap.
She stepped back and took in the rest of his outfit. It was her turn to be amused. He was all rugged up in a giant jacket and scarf, his hands buried deep in his pockets, like he expected to be lost out in the snow for a week or something.
“You really don’t like the c-cold?” she asked.
He shook his head, moving his weight from foot to foot as if to emphasise the fact. “I like to be warm.”
An ex-ski champ shuddering over a little frost and snow? It was weird given he’d grown up on a mountain.
“But you came running through here earlier, right?” She turned and walked alongside him, taking the path leading deeper into the park. She knew he ran regularly. It was one of the things she wasn’t allowed to tweet about. At least, not the location. Or he’d have stalkers.
“Yeah. Running is good. You get hot.” He nodded as he kept pace beside her. “You want to join us? We go pretty much every day”
As if. She nearly keeled over with the giggles.
“Come on.” He sent her another of those smiles that made her tingle all over. “What do you do to keep fit? You’re in good shape given you spend all day in front of a computer.”
“You’ve b-been looking?”
“You know I have.” He shrugged. “You’ve already pointed out I can’t help it.” He turned suddenly, facing her, blocking her path. Forcing her to stop. The laughter died from his eyes, leaving only simmering heat. “But you’ve been looking too.”
He put it out there again. The challenge.
Min took a second, tried not to look in his eyes. But that was impossible because he was right in front of her and his eyes were more mesmerizing in real life than in any photo spread. So much warmer. So compelling.
“I’ve been thinking.” She had to speak huskily. “Why don’t you just get that decoy to act in my place?” She sniffed. “Pay the actress or model.” Or whoever it was who looked better as Min than Min did herself. “You don’t need it to be me, that p-picture on the internet was blurry—”
“Oh but I do need it to be you,” he interrupted, whispering back at her. “It has to be you.”
She jerked her head to the side. “No—”
He lifted his hand, gently cupping her jaw with a feather-light touch. “Yes. I need it to be you.”
Chapter Nine
#YouKnowYouShouldntBut
Yes? She froze in front of him. He held her face in the barest of holds, she’d have no trouble stepping back and breaking the contact. But she didn’t. She couldn’t move. “Why m-me?”
His eyes gleamed, the blue fascinating her, and with a quick movement he lifted the cap from her head. “You have the most amazing hair…”
“Other women have long hair,” she breathed.
“Not this thick. Not this color.” He slid his hand to the nape of her neck, slowly lifted the long braid free from its hiding place, pulling it so it hung over her shoulder, over her breast. He ran his fingers the length of it, tugging the tie at the end off. Slowly he unwound the strands.
He had a hair fetish?
“She could get extensions,” Min suggested weakly.
“No.” He laughed softly, leaving her braid and looking into her eyes again. “Anyway, it’s not just your hair.”
She swallowed. “C-c-can’t—”
“No.” He framed her face with both hands. Holding her mouth tilted towards his.
She knew what was going to happen. She knew it and she didn’t stop it. Even though he gave her plenty of time. Truth was, she wanted to know.
Maybe his recklessness had rubbed off on her. Maybe she was just curious. Maybe she just couldn’t resist.
She stared up at him. Utterly still.
Daring.
His damn beautiful lips had that teasing curl even as he pressed them to hers.
It wasn’t a light kiss. It was confident, like he knew what he wanted, how to get it. How to give her what she wanted. A teasing slide of temptation.
One kiss, another. With each brush of his lips, he lingered a little longer, nudging her need. Anticipation licked through her, like flames hungrily encapsulating a tinder-dry tree. Until she gave in to that unspoken demand and opened.
Finally he sealed his lips to hers and stayed. His arm curled around her. Securing her. Seducing her. And his tongue swept into her mouth, a coaxing caress. Another tease altogether. He took only the lightest taste, as if knowing she ached for more already. Only he wasn’t giving it to her. Not yet.
He was only going to make her want more.
She leaned in, reached up to grip his coat tightly. She melted into his kiss, opening. Then taking. She sought him out with her own tongue. Dueled. Dared.
His size, his strength, his scent, his skill, all overwhelmed her. Desire flared, lighting an incandescent need to explore. To feel each of his muscles, to test them.
“Mmm Min,” he murmured, lifting ever so slightly from her and drawing in a deep breath. “You do taste good.”
Caramel cashew ice-cream.
“It’s not the ice-cream.” He licked her lower lip, then took it between his teeth in the tiniest nip.
Mercy.
He claimed her mouth again. This time harder. This time with the dominant hunger she’d wanted. His fingers twisted into her hair, his arm pressed her close, as if he couldn’t help twining her around him.
She couldn’t restrain her response. Moved. One little thrust towards him. She couldn’t resist the urge to feel the full impact of his strength—to draw it from him.
He reacted instantly, sealing their bodies as best he could despite the bulky clothing between them. His hand spread on her butt, driving her hips into his.
She gasped as she felt him pressing hard against her lower belly. The urge to rise onto her tiptoes and part her legs grew. She burned with heated awareness. She wanted him naked against her. She wanted to ride. She wanted to come.
His fingers tightened in her hair and the kiss became fully carnal. His wicked tongue teased. Claiming. Dominating. Teasing. Pleasuring. His hips thrust in a matching rhythm—enough to send her insane. Enough to make her shiver. His intense sexuality almost suffocated her.
But she didn’t care. All that mattered was that he didn’t stop. She needed more. So much more. She needed it—him—stamped all over her. Arching her neck back, she twirled her tongue against his. Seeking to taste. To take as much as he was.
Her nipples had tightened to sore, sharp
points. She needed to rub them against his chest. Needed to bare them because the lace of her bra was irritating their sensitive tips. She needed him to suck on them. She needed him to suck her lower too. To strip her and part her and taste her and tease her until she came. She not realized how much she needed it.
Needed, needed, needed.
She ached for the release.
Only gradually she became aware he was easing her out of it. That he’d released his grip on her hair. His hand at her back rubbed gently, no longer fiercely clamping her to him. He stood still. And then his tongue ceased its sublime stroking.
She jerked her head back, hating that he’d retained his senses enough to control this, while she’d thrown hers to the wind. Her thoughts burned in the heat of that kiss.
“See why it has to be you?” he said, his voice harsh. “Chemistry.”
Min pushed out of his arms, but annoyingly he kept that one round her waist as if he knew just how weak her legs were. How much effort it had taken to peel her body away from his.