Lori Foster - Forever Buckhorn - Gabe

“Mm.” He pointed to his mouth. His gaze never left her face, watching her closely. Anticipation, thick and electric, hummed in his veins. “Right here, right now. One question, one kiss.”

She shifted again. The lake was still, the only sounds those of a cow occasionally bawling or the soft splash of a frog close to shore. Lizzy nibbled her lips—lush, wet lips. Her gaze, bright and direct, never left his face. She drew a deep breath that made her breasts strain against the clinging material of the suit.

Her blue eyes darkened and her words, soft and uncertain, made him jerk in response.

“What…” she whispered, her breath catching before she cleared her throat and started again. “What if I kiss you twice?”

AT LEAST he was smooth-shaven today, Elizabeth thought as she watched Gabe’s face, saw his eyes glitter and grow intent. She felt tense from her toes to her eyebrows, struggling endlessly to keep her gaze on his face and off his lean, muscled body. He was by far the most appealing man she’d ever known—and the most maddening.

When he continued to watch her, his eyes heavier, the blue so hot they looked electric, she made a sound of impatience. “Well?”

In husky tones, he asked, “Two kisses, hm?”

Much more and she’d be racing for the shore. She couldn’t take his intensity, the way he stared at her, stroked her with his gaze. Her breasts felt full, her belly sweetly pulled with some indefinable ache. What could he possibly hope to gain with his present attitude? She didn’t for a minute think he was actually attracted to her. For one thing, men simply didn’t pay that much attention to her. More often than not, she could be invisible for all the notice they took. Secondly, she still remembered his reaction when they’d met. Gabriel Kasper had found her amusing, annoying and, judging by the way he’d looked her over, totally unappealing.

Perhaps, she continued to reason, he only hoped to intimidate her! That would certainly make sense. She swallowed hard and refused to back down. She needed his knowledge. She craved the information that would make her understand what special qualities created a hero. Or a heroine.

His mouth, firm and sensual, wholly masculine, twitched slightly. “Two kisses, two questions.”

It was what she’d wanted. And then he added, “Ten kisses, ten questions—but understand, Lizzy, I’m only a man. Kisses are all I can barter and remain a…gentleman.” He turned his head slightly toward her, and his voice dropped. “Or does that matter?”

She stiffened. Did he suggest her kisses could make him lose control? Not likely! Mustering her courage, she asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“This…what?”

She waved a hand at his lazy form. “This game. Why trade for kisses? Why trade at all? Is it really so hard to answer a short interview?”

His jaw tightened, and he shut his eyes again. After a moment, still looking more asleep than alert, he said, “You need to loosen up a little, Red. It’s a nice afternoon, the sun is warm, the water’s cool. We’re all alone. Why not play a little?” He looked at her, his gaze probing. “Is the idea of kissing me so repulsive?”

She filled her lungs with a deep breath. So she was just a game, a way to pass the time. The arrogant jerk. She’d have to remember to make a note of that, that some heroes were not always perfect in their behavior, some of them enjoyed toying with women.

She straightened her shoulders, refusing to let him intimidate her. “No, not at all.”

“Then we don’t have a problem, do we?”

The only problem, evidently, was her inhibition. But in the face of all she could learn from him, did her reserve really matter? Suddenly determined, she squelched her nervousness and said with firm resolve, “Okay, a kiss for a question.”

She waited, braced for his sensual assault, but Gabe simply continued to watch her. Not by so much as the flick of an eyelash did he move. Her stomach cramped the tiniest bit and she lifted an eyebrow.

She was both disappointed and relieved when she asked, “You’ve changed your mind?”

With one indolent shake of his head, Gabe crooked a finger at her. “C’mere, Red. You’re going to do the kissing, not me.”

In reaction to his potent look, more than her stomach cramped, but the feeling wasn’t at all unpleasant.

“Oh.” She looked at his gorgeous body stretched out in front of her—and started shaking. His shoulders were wide and bunched with muscles, as were his biceps. The undersides of his arms were smooth, slightly lighter than the rest of his skin. She’d never considered a man’s armpits sexy before—just the thought was ludicrous—but she’d never seen Gabriel Kasper’s. Seeing the hair under his arms was somehow too intimate, like a private showing. She looked away from that part of him.

His chest, tanned and sprinkled with golden brown hair, had the lean hard contours that spoke of a natural athlete. Her pulse fluttered.

His abdomen was flat, sculpted, and if his underarms were too personal, his navel was downright sexual. The way his body hair swirled around it, then became a silky line that disappeared into the very low waistband of his shorts… Her eyes widened.

With his wet cutoffs clinging to his body, there was no way to miss his obvious arousal. Fascinated, she couldn’t help but stare for a moment. Never, not in real life, anyway, had she seen an erection. Heat exploded inside her, making her cheeks pulse, her vision blur.

Her gaze flew to his face, desperate, confused, excited. His grin, slow and wicked, taunted her. He didn’t say a word, and she knew he was waiting for her to back down.

She couldn’t. Not now, not with him challenging her. But…

Licking her lips, Elizabeth croaked, “Are you sure we should do this?”

He shrugged one hard shoulder in a show of negligence. “No one will see. Don’t be a coward, Lizzy. It’s just a kiss.”

Just a kiss. She remembered how those women on the dock had hung on him, how every woman who passed in a boat had stared at him with hunger. He was used to kissing, used to so much more. She couldn’t recall any other man in all her acquaintance ever demanding such a thing from her. No wonder she was at a loss as to how to proceed. She preferred to arm herself with knowledge, to learn from a book what she didn’t understand. But she hadn’t known to research this particular theme. She frowned with that thought. Were there books to help you bone up on kissing a sexy-as-sin, half-dressed reclining man?

She eyed him warily. “Why don’t you…sit up?” The idea of leaning over him, of being that close to so much masculine flesh, flustered her horribly.

Without hesitation, Gabe shook his head. “Naw, I’m already comfortable. So quit stalling.”

He was right; the quicker she got it over with, the better. Like getting a tooth pulled, it meant just a flinch of pain, and then you were done.

Not giving herself time to think about it, she slapped one hand flat on the dock beside his head, bent down and brushed her mouth over his in a flash of movement. She straightened just as quickly and, avoiding his gaze, put her pencil to paper. Her voice shook slightly, but she ignored the tremor as she asked, “Now, when you leaped into the water with the runaway boat, were you afraid?”

“No.”

She waited, her pencil ready, but he said no more. Elizabeth rounded on him, her nerves too frazzled for more games. “That’s an awfully simplified answer.”

He gave her a wry look. “It was an awfully simplified kiss.”

Unable to help herself, she looked at his mouth. Her lips still tingled from the brief contact with his. It took all her concentration not to lick her lips, not to chew on them. Her heartbeat was still racing too quickly, her stomach was in knots of anticipation…no! Dread, not anticipation. She had to be philosophical. “You mean, if I made the kiss longer…”