A Little Dare - Brenda Jackson [26]
He leaned in closer, then lowered his mouth to hers. Immediately, his tongue went after hers in an attempt to lure her into the same rush of desire consuming him. But she was already there, a step ahead of him, so he tried forcing his body to calm down and settle into the taste he’d always been accustomed to. He had expected heat, but he hadn’t expected the hot, fiery explosion that went off in his midsection. It made a groan erupt from deep in his throat.
His hands linked around her waist to hold her closer, thigh-to-thigh, breasts to chest. Sensation after sensation speared through him, making it hard to resist eating her alive, or at least trying to, and wanting to touch her everywhere, especially between her legs. Now that he had rediscovered this—the taste of her mouth—he wanted also to relive the feel of his fingers sliding over her heated flesh to find the hot core of her, swollen and wet.
That thought drove a primitive need through him and the erection pressing against her got longer and harder. The thought of using it to penetrate the very core of her made his mind reel and drugged his brain even more with her sensuality.
A shiver raced over Shelly and a semblance of control returned as she realized just how easily she had succumbed to his touch. She knew she had to put a halt to what they were doing. She had returned to College Park not for herself but for AJ.
She broke off their kiss and untangled herself from his arms. When he leaned toward her, to kiss her again, she pushed him back. “No, Dare,” she said firmly. “We shouldn’t have done that. This isn’t about you or me or our inability to control overzealous hormones. It’s about our son and doing what is best for him.”
And why can’t we simultaneously discover what is best for us, he wanted to ask but refrained from doing so. He understood her need to put AJ first and foremost, but what she would soon realize was that there was unfinished business between them as well. “I agree that AJ is our main concern, Shelly, but there’s something you need to realize and accept.”
“What?”
“Things aren’t over between us, and we shouldn’t deceive ourselves into thinking there won’t be a next time, so be prepared for it.”
He saw the frown that appeared in her eyes and the defiance that tilted her lips reminded him of AJ yesterday and the day before. “No, Dare, there won’t be a next time because I won’t let there be. You’re AJ’s father, but what was between us is over and has been for years. To me you’re just another man.”
He lifted a brow. He wondered if she had kissed many men the way she’d kissed him, and for some reason he doubted it. She had kissed him as though she hadn’t kissed anyone in years. He had felt the hunger that had raged through her. He had felt it, explored it and, for the moment, satisfied it. “You’re sure about that?”
“Yes, I’m positive, so I suggest you place all your concentration on winning your son over and forget about your son’s mother.”
As he turned to cross the room to leave, he knew that he would never be able to forget about his son’s mother, not in a million years. Before walking out the door he looked back at her. “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot something.”
She lifted a brow. “What?”
“The brothers four. They’re dying to see you. I told them of our plans for AJ and they agreed to be patient about seeing him, but they refuse to be patient about seeing you, Shelly. They want to know if you’ll meet them for lunch one day this week at Chase’s restaurant in downtown Atlanta?”
She smiled. She wanted to see them as well. Dare’s brothers had always been special to her. “Tell them I’d love to have lunch with them tomorrow since I’ll be working in that area.”
Dare nodded, then turned and walked out the door.
AJ saw the two boys standing next to his bike the moment he walked out the school door. Since his bike was locked, he wasn’t worried about the pair taking it, but after his fight with Caleb Martin yesterday