Stone Cold Surrender - Brenda Jackson [15]
Madison met Stone’s gaze, holding it tightly. Intensely. She wondered what he was giving her time to think about. Did he have words of wisdom to share or was there something else? Her mind began whirling at all the possibilities and, heaven help her, but a part of her wished there was something else. She contemplated him for a long moment, wondering how she should respond if what he had in mind was the latter. Any physical contact, no matter how casual, wasn’t a good idea since they had just met that day. Then she remembered that the first phase of physical contact had taken place the moment she had touched him on the plane, although the contact hadn’t been intentional. But still, contact had been made and she hadn’t been the same since.
And she could be honest enough with herself to admit that her mind had been made up about Stone the moment she had stepped off the plane with him. There was something about him that denoted a sense of honor, something rarely seen in a man these days.
He was the silent type with the word sexy oozing out of every pore on his body. She had never met a man like him before and doubted that she would again. For some reason she felt she could trust him, although blindly placing her trust in a man had been precisely how her heart had been broken two years ago. But with Stone she felt safe.
“Yes, you can leave me with something to think about,” she finally said softly, after gathering her courage for whatever was to come. She didn’t have long to wait to find out.
He reached out and cupped her chin in his hand, letting her know his intent and giving her every opportunity to put a stop to what he was about to do if that was what she wanted. When she didn’t move or say anything, but continued to meet his gaze, while her breathing became just as erratic as his, he lowered his head to hers.
Madison felt the pull of her insides the moment their mouths touched, and immediately she felt the heat of his skin as his jeans-clad thigh brushed against her when he brought her closer into his arms. And when he settled his hands at her hips, and with it came the deep, compelling sizzle of desire, she thought she was certainly going to lose it.
Nothing prepared her for the onslaught of emotions that rammed through her when her lips parted and he entered her mouth and proceeded to kiss her in a way she had never been kissed before. It was a gentle kiss. It was tender. But on the flip side, it contained a hunger that made the pressure she felt in her chest too intense, almost unbearable.
And when he deepened the kiss, capturing her tongue with his, she was grateful that he had the mind to hold her tighter because she would surely have melted to the floor. She savored the hot sweetness of his mouth as he carried her to a level where sophistication, poise and what was proper had no place. As their tongues mingled, dueled and mated, feelings and emotions she had never felt before clashed into her, smothering her in a sexuality she hadn’t known existed.
And when he finally broke the kiss, she drew in a long shuddering breath and gazed up at him. His eyes were intense and she knew that she and Stone had shared more than just a kiss. They had also shared an understanding. What was happening between them was probably no different than what his uncle and her mother had experienced.
Instant attraction.
The kind that hit two people from the first so you were compelled to do the unthinkable and act on it.
She sighed deeply and unconsciously licked her lips, tasting the dampness, a lingering reminder of his taste. Sharp coils of desire raced through her and she knew that Stone Westmoreland was a dangerous man. He was dangerous to her common sense. Although she needed to talk to Durango, she couldn’t do it today. She needed time to clear her mind and think straight. At the moment the