Sisters were a no-go area.
It was part of the bro code.
The little minx in his arms, had she not been a sister of the man who was more of a brother than a friend, would have been conquered many years past. He’d always had his eye on Hannah, and he’d make no bones about that.
Even now, though he felt guilt on Aidan’s behalf, he equally admitted that he couldn’t help himself. That she robbed him of all control, and though that admission should have petrified him, when he was with her, he felt nothing but the glory of the moment. She made him feel alive, like when he went skiing off-piste in the danger zones. Had his heart flaring to life, like when he was skydiving.
There was danger here too. Adrenaline. But the peril came from a whole other different source.
Labor Day had been an anomaly. Or so he’d thought.
She’d taken his world and tilted it on its head. All with one kiss. Not even a grope. Nothing deeper than an illicit meeting of their mouths that had informed him they were more than equals on that footing.
He’d never expected another chance, but he’d been hoping for an opportunity.
Praying, more like.
With a shudder, he grabbed a hold of her hips and pressed her harder into him. She made him feel like a teenager again. He wanted to push her into the Orion and claim her there and then.
Company be damned.
Instead, he cupped her ass and molded the tight cheeks in his palms. Fuck, she was perfect. So perfect. She fit into his hands like she was made for him, and the terrifying thing was, he wondered if that wasn’t a lie.
He’d never felt like this before. Never wanted to either.
Almost like those thoughts were a catalyst for karma, the sound of a throat clearing penetrated the lust-filled haze that had befallen him. His eyes popped open, and he quickly noticed that Hannah hadn’t heard the noise at all. He tried not to be too satisfied by that, and promptly failed. She was into this, as into him as he was into her.
Thank fuck.
She’d always been distant. Unlike the rest of her family who had welcomed him with open arms. Maybe that distance had intrigued him, he wasn’t sure. Now, it hurt to know why. She didn’t trust him, and he wanted, more than anything, to prove the exact opposite.
That he was worthy of her trust.
Actions, they said, spoke louder than words. So, while he could have rubbed her nose in how into the kiss she was, instead, he acted the gentleman he’d been raised to be. Carefully, he pulled back, nipping and teasing her with flicks of his tongue, nibbles of his teeth, until he pressed his forehead to hers and let their breathing wash over the other’s mouth.
Wow, that had to have been the most intense kiss he’d ever experienced.
The throat, belonging to someone he wanted to kill, cleared itself again.
The noise triggered Hannah into jumping back like a startled cat, while James cavalierly turned to the intruder. Spying the security man on the door, he glowered at him, watching with pleasure as the idiot flushed and ducked his head. “Sorry, sir, but the Japanese investors are about to come down. I didn’t think…”
Reckless.
Hannah was right.
How could he have forgotten that meeting?
The only reason he’d been test driving the car around the compound today was because Aidan had wanted him out of the way while he handled that meeting.
They were both the public faces of the company, but they had their own tasks and specific duties. Aidan spoke Japanese; James, Russian and Mandarin. They dealt with certain investors alone.
But, reputation and respectability were everything to the people here today and he’d almost wrecked all of Aidan’s hard work with one stupid kiss. The Japanese were already wary around him. Unfortunately, the gutter press had taken a liking to James a while back, and they tended to be there, filming all his exploits for prosperity.
Doing business with a man who regularly skydived, thought nothing of taking part in illegal street races, and was generally the antithesis of a CEO, never put the Japanese at ease. He couldn’t really blame them. He doubted he’d do business with himself, either.
“Thanks, Eric,” James said on a sigh, stunning both the security guard and Hannah by the looks of it with his gratitude. The last thing he needed was a scolding from Aidan, but neither seemed to realize the importance of his saving face, and as Eric stumbled away, he glowered at the woman who was intent on driving him around the bend.
“I know his name,” he told her waspishly. “Why does that come as such a surprise to both of you?”