“Thanks to Byron’s mom, I won’t have to. He called earlier and said she wants to feed us again.”
Lennox had met Byron a few days ago and had liked him immediately. She could tell he was still infatuated with his wife since he never stopped talking about “his Lynn”. She liked a man who loved a woman and didn’t care who knew it. “That’s very kind of her.”
“I think so, too.”
When it got quiet again, Lennox knew she had to leave. Maybe she’d go to her bedroom for a while. Take a chill pill and try to move past the desire that was threatening to take over her mind and body. She would set the timer on her watch to know when she needed to come back and check on the cookies.
She glanced back over at Roland and saw he was still staring at her, as if she was a puzzle he was determined tosolve. But when she walked by him to leave the kitchen, he reached out and snagged her arm.
“Don’t go yet. Stay.”
His voice was deep, husky and sent shivers through her. He eased up off the stool and stood close to her, still holding on to her arm. She could feel fiery heat from his touch rush through her veins. When he inched even closer, the scent of him filled her nostrils.
Although her throat was tight, she somehow managed to ask, “Why do you want me to stay?” She wished his hands weren’t moving up and down her arms, causing even more heat with each caress.
As she stared into his eyes, the very air they breathed seem convulsed with sexual energy. Her body began throbbing in areas she hadn’t known that it could.
He hadn’t answered her question, and she was about to repeat it when he said, “The reason I want you to stay is because I desperately need this.”
Then he lowered his mouth to hers.
And because she needed it as well, Lennox let go of her inhibitions and allowed her body to melt into his.
• • •
The moment Roland took Lennox’s mouth, he knew he had no right to claim it. But heaven help him, he couldn’t help himself. The fact that her body was pressed so intimately against his--of its own free will--was not helping matters, but only enticed him to delve deeper. And when she parted her lips for him, an arrow of liquid heat shot straight to his groin.
It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn’t just kissing Lennox--he was making love to her mouth. Sensuous hot love. It was as if he needed to know every nuance of her taste. And when she pressed her body even more tightly to his, he knew she had to feel his arousal. His erection was brazen proclaiming just how much he wanted her.
He didn’t know just what he had expected, but definitely not this degree of wild desire. The sweetness of her mouth made him moan and his head started to spin. If just kissing her could do this to him, he didn’t want to think of how he would react if he ever got the chance to sink into her soft body. Just the thought of that nearly pushed him over the edge.
Suddenly, the ringing of his cell phone made them break apart. He recognized the caller—Byron. Drawing in a deep breath, he took his hands off Lennox--hands that, just a few seconds ago, were sliding all over the curves of her backside—and stepped back.
He pulled the phone from the pocket of his jeans. “Byron?”
As he listened to what his friend was saying, he watched Lennox slowly back away and then quickly leave the kitchen. He wiped his hand down his face. “Okay.”
He disconnected the call. Byron had called to let him know what time he’d be delivering their dinner.
But the moment had been ruined. There was no doubt in his mind that Lennox would hide out in that bedroom for a while. At least, until it was time to take those cookies out the oven.
Roland knew that she would be thinking the same thing he was—that their kiss should never have happened.
But maybe it was good that it had.
He’d wanted to kiss her the first time he’d seen her. And now he had. Hopefully, with that kiss out of the way, he’d be able to better control his urges. He needed to focus on the reason the two of them were hiding out here. And it wasn’t to appreciate the beauty of this part of Pennsylvania. Nor was it to appease their sexual hunger. No, the reason they were at this cottage was to keep her alive.
But still…
He leaned against the breakfast bar, thinking of their kiss and her response to it. She was a very passionate woman. He shivered at the thought of just how passionate she was. Over the years, he had enjoyed the company of many women, but none had gotten to him the way she had.
Still, maybe now he’d be able to look at her without wondering what she tasted like. He hoped.
His cell phone rang again--this time it was Quasar. But Roland appreciated the updates. Anything that would keep his mind off of what he’d like to do to Lennox. And he wasn’t thinking about protecting her.
• • •
“You better have good news for me, Clearwater.”