Anticipation built as his hands coasted over her ribs, thumbs whisking provocatively over the outside curves of her breasts. She pulsed with need, craving his possession, and shifted restlessly against him to ease the ache.
JT tore his lips from hers and gulped air into his lungs. “Better?”
Better? Glorious was more like it.
Chest heaving, knees like pudding, she blinked to clear her vision and was startled to see they hadn’t moved from the doorway. How was that possible when he’d turned her entire world upside down?
“Now I feel married,” she said.
“You’d feel even more so after a proper wedding night,” he murmured, letting his lips graze temptingly close to hers once more.
Unsure whether he was serious or merely taunting her, Violet clutched at his strong shoulders and leaned back in order to survey his expression. With eyes that glittered, JT probed her gaze. His compelling curiosity alarmed her. What was he looking for? Proof that his kisses rendered her insensible?
He swept his hands down her spine, fanned his fingers against the small of her back. Ever so slowly he pressed her hips forward, easing her against the hard length of him. Violet’s legs trembled. She wanted nothing more than to be filled by him. To lose herself in his evocative touch.
Damn. She never should have asked for that kiss. If she’d just ignored the tension building between them, her body wouldn’t be throbbing with unfulfilled longing nor would she be fighting temptation at the idea of one night with him. One incredible, mind-blowing night.
“JT, I...”
Before she figured out what she intended to say, shutters dropped over his gaze and she was left staring at an insurmountable wall. The speed with which he’d shut her out acted like a bucket of ice water on her overheated hormones.
“You don’t need to explain.” He relaxed his hold on her and stepped away. A sardonic smile tugged at his lips. “I know our marriage is only for show.”
And she’d been seconds away from forgetting that fact. Humiliation chased away any lingering traces of desire. No question, she’d just dodged a bullet. So why was she so miserable about it?
“It’s not that,” she began and then frowned. “Well, it’s mostly that, but the truth is, I don’t know you very well and I’m not in the habit of falling into bed with a man this quickly.”
“You know more about me than most of the women I date.”
Really? Did that somehow elevate her above the numerous women that passed through his life? She bit her lip, disturbed by the yearning to be more than just another of his conquests. That was a dangerous road to travel. Better that they keep things all business between them.
“It’ll just be easier if we keep everything strictly hands off.” Who was she trying to convince, herself or him?
“Then I suggest you refrain from asking me to kiss you in the future.” His icy tone was meant as a reproach, but Violet had tasted more than passion in his kiss. Or was she merely hoping that was the case?
“It was one kiss.” She heard the defensive ring of her voice and dug her nails into her palms. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal—” a muscle jumped in his jaw “—is that when I start something like what just happened between us, I like to finish it.”
Why was he so exasperated? Not because she’d turned him down. Surely women had said no before. Hadn’t they? “Haven’t you ever kissed a woman without expecting to sleep with her?”
“Not since high school.”
If he was trying to annoy her with his self-satisfied smirk, he was doing a fine job. “So, are you saying you don’t bother to kiss a woman unless you’re going to have sex with her?”
“I’m saying after I kiss a woman, she rarely says no to having sex with me.”
This was so obviously a declaration of JT’s reality that Violet crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Then I’m thrilled to be included in that minority of your female acquaintances.”
“You forget that you are not one of my acquaintances. You are my wife.”
* * *
JT took possession of her left hand and lifted it to eye level. His grandmother’s ring caught the overhead light and sparkled. He couldn’t explain why he was so angry with her at this moment. Could it be the unrelenting desire rumbling through him? Going to bed alone and horny was not how he’d expected to spend his wedding night—or it wouldn’t have been if he’d ever considered getting married before now.
But the odd hollowness in his gut had begun the instant she’d dismissed the earth-moving kiss as no big deal. When he’d pulled her into his arms, he’d expected the urgent need to get her clothes off and have his way with her. It was the other sensation he’d experienced, the one not tied to anything corporeal, that would require privacy and time to sort out.