Tall, Dark_.Westmoreland! - Brenda Jackson [27]
“We never took our masks off, and I needed to know how you were able to recognize me today. I got the answers to both of my questions, so I should leave now.”
“But what about me? Aren’t you interested in knowing why I wanted to see you again? Why I asked for us to meet?” He was staring intently at her, and his gaze seemed to touch her all over.
“Why did you want to see me?” she asked.
He slowly moved across the room to stand in front of her, and her pulse began beating rapidly, and heat began to settle between her thighs from his closeness. “Your lips were one reason.”
“My lips?” she asked, raising a brow. He seemed to be searching her face, but she could tell his main focus was her lips.
“I claimed them as mine that night,” he said in a husky whisper. “I just needed to know if they still are.”
And before she could catch her next breath, he pulled her into his arms and captured her mouth with his.
They were still his.
This was what he needed to know. This was the very reason he had kept breathing since Saturday, Reggie thought as he hungrily mated with Olivia’s mouth. The memories that had consumed him over the past forty-eight hours had nothing on the real thing. And she was responding to his kiss, feasting on his mouth as greedily as he was feasting on hers. Their masks were gone but not their passion.
He hadn’t expected the fires to ignite so quickly, but already they were practically burning out of control. Her body was pressed fully against his, and he could feel every heated inch of her, just like he was certain she could feel every inch of him. Hard. Aroused. He knew he needed to pull back from her mouth to take a much-needed breath, but he couldn’t. He had thought of kissing her, dreamed of kissing her, every since the morning they’d parted. His tongue was tangling with hers, and it seemed he couldn’t get enough.
Instantly, he knew the moment she began withdrawing, and he pulled back, but not before tracing the outline of her lips with the tip of his tongue while tamping down on the stimulating effect the kiss had had on him.
“I really do need to leave.” Her words lacked conviction, and he couldn’t help but notice that she had wrapped her arms around his neck and hadn’t yet released him. He also took note that her mouth was mere inches from his, and she hadn’t pulled back.
Making a quick decision for both of them, he said, “Please stay and let’s talk. Will you stay a while longer if I promise not to kiss you again? There’s so much I want to know about you. I won’t ask you anything about your father and his campaign, just about you.”
“What good would it do, Reggie?” she asked, saying his name for the first time. The sound of it off her lips produced flutters in the pit of his stomach.
“I think it will appease our curiosity and maybe help us make some sense as to why we became attracted to each other so quickly and so deeply,” he responded. “Why the chemistry between us is so strong.”
Olivia pulled her arms from around his neck, thinking that what he was suggesting wasn’t a good idea, but neither was kissing. But then she really didn’t want to leave, and she had to admit that she’d wondered why they had hit it off so quickly and easily. But it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out some of the reasons. He was an extremely handsome man, something she had recognized even with the mask. And his approach that night had not been egotistical or arrogant. She had somehow known he was someone she could have fun with and whose company she could enjoy.
And those things had been verified in the most intimate way.
“And we’ll just talk?” she asked, making sure they understood each other.
“Yes, and about no one but us. That way you can’t feel disloyal to your father.”
She inhaled deeply. “But I still do,” she admitted openly.
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “Let me ask you something.” At her nod, he asked, “If we would have met at any other time and if I was not your father’s political opponent, would he have a problem with you dating me?”
She knew the answer to that, since her father had never