Maureen Child - Desiring the Reilly Brothers - The Tempting Mrs Reilly / Whatever Reilly Wants... / The Last Reilly Standing

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said tightly.

“Good. Then come around the front and you won’t have to fight your way past the dogs.”

She let him in the front door and the music from the stereo reached out for him. Tina stood back for him to come inside, but he took a whiff of her perfume as he passed, just to make sure the torture continued. Seriously, he should try to find a way not to breathe when she was around. Because the only way he’d be safe from Tina was when he was buried six feet under and even then, he had a feeling she’d still be able to get a reaction out of him.

“What’s wrong with the TV?” he asked, moving directly for it, hoping to make the repair and get out of there as fast as possible.

“Now, if I knew that, I’d have fixed it, right?”

She stood right beside him and from the corner of his eye, he got way too good a picture of her smooth, silky-looking legs. He shifted his gaze to the TV, telling himself to do the job and move on.

Moving closer, Tina squatted down beside him until they were practically nose to nose. Her brown eyes glittered in the lamplight and her perfume reached for him, invading him. “You’re in my light,” he muttered.

“Sorry,” she said, but didn’t move.

Muttering beneath his breath, Brian punched the power button on the TV and was rewarded instantly with a screen full of flickering gray snow. No picture. No sound. Great.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said, turning to look at her and finding her mouth was just a breath away from his. Why the hell was she leaning into him like that? How did she expect him to fix a damn television when she was practically sitting on his lap?

His body tightened, his breath shortened and his heartbeat took off at a wild gallop. Gritting his teeth, Brian said, “You need to move so I can look behind the set.”

“Okay.” She shrugged and the skinny little strap of her pale blue tank top slid down her right shoulder.

Brian swallowed hard.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, brown eyes wide with innocence.

“Nothing,” he said, and inched past her to see the back of the television. He pried off the black plastic casing and stared blindly at the wires and chips he’d exposed. If his brain was working, he could probably figure this out, but at the moment, the only thing working was his groin.

“Wow,” she murmured, leaning in to get a look at the television’s inner workings, “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Her hair was in his face now and the soft, silkiness of it brushed against his skin and filled his mind with the scent of flowers. Brian closed his eyes tightly, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her out of the way as quickly as he could. And even then, it didn’t diminish the flash of heat rippling from his fingers, straight up his arms to rattle around in his chest. Touching Tina was like touching a live electrical wire.

“If you’ll stay the hell outta the way,” he muttered, not daring a look at her again, “I’ll try to fix it.”

“Pardon me,” she said, but she smiled and didn’t move away. Instead, she settled down and crossed her legs. Leaning her elbows on her knees, she rested her chin on her hands and watched him. “You always could fix just about anything,” she said.

He tried to shrug that away. He wasn’t going to be led down memory lane. Not when he was already on pretty shaky ground. “I was always good with my hands.”

“Yeah,” Tina said on a soft sigh, “I remember.”

Oh man , he was in deep trouble here and sinking fast.

“Look,” he said as he backed out from behind the TV while still trying to keep a safe distance from her, “maybe you’d better call a TV guy tomorrow and—”

“What?”

He looked back over his shoulder at her and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Then he held up a thick black cable with a silver connection head on it. “I think I found the problem,” he said.

“Really?” Her lips twitched and the dark brown of her eyes shone with amusement and…something else.

Tearing his gaze from hers, Brian turned around, screwed the silver head back into the wall plate and instantly the picture and sound on the television set blasted into life.

Tina reached out and shut it off.

“Why’d you unplug the cable, Tina?”

She shrugged again and this time, the strap on her other shoulder slid down. The only thing holding her tank top up now, was the swell of her breasts.

“Why’ve you been avoiding me, Brian?”

“Doing things my way now?” he asked, “Answering questions with a question?”

“Oh,” she said and shifted around until she was kneeling on the floor right in front of him. “I have an answer, I just don’t think you’ll like it.”

“Try me.”

“Okay,” she said smiling, “but remember, you asked for it.

Then she leaned forward, took his face between her palms and kissed him until Brian was sure his eyeballs were going to pop right out of his head.

And he wouldn’t have missed them.

Instantly, Tina realized her mistake.

She’d thought it a simple thing, getting Brian to kiss her. After all, years ago, she’d had plenty of practice in turning Brian on.

But what she hadn’t counted on, was her own reaction to the kiss.

She’d planned on being the logical one.

The cool-headed one.

The one in charge.

But there was no one in charge now.

They were on a runaway train and with every passing second, that train picked up speed.

Brian pulled her close and with one hand at the back of her head, held her in a bruising grip. Her heart raced, her blood pumped and her brain clicked off.

All that was left was sensation.

The feel of Brian’s mouth on hers. The warm slide of his tongue as he tasted her, explored her. The strength of his hands on her body and the hot brush of his breath on her cheek.

He groaned tightly and Tina felt an identical response shuddering within her. It had been too long since she’d felt anything like this. Too long since her blood sparkled like freshly opened champagne. Too long since her brain fuzzed over and her body tingled.

She kissed him back, putting everything she had into it, claiming his mouth with the same ferocity he took hers. Their tongues tangled together in a wild dance of need and she held on to him as the earth beneath her seemed to tilt dangerously.

His hands moved over her, roughly, demanding, and she loved it. His calloused palms scraped her flesh and sent chills racing along her spine. He tore his mouth from hers and hungrily trailed his mouth along her neck, following the line of her throat and down, lower and lower until Tina held her breath, let her head fall back and silently prayed for more.

And then he gave her more and she sighed his name like a blessing.

He slid the edge of her tank top down, pushing it over her breasts until he’d freed them from the fabric and Tina held her breath again, waiting.

“Tina…” he murmured and dipped his head, to take first one, then the other of her nipples into his mouth.

Her breath sighed from her lips as she felt the dazzling sensations rocketing around inside her.

His lips and tongue defined the rigid points and as he suckled at one of her breasts, his fingers teased the other until Tina couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.

He seemed insatiable. As if he couldn’t taste enough of her. As if the taste of her were more important than his next breath. And his hands continued to move over her, stroking, sliding, up her back, over her breasts, and down over her hips to her thighs and then inward, to the warmth of her center. He cupped her and even through the linen fabric of the shorts she wore, Tina felt his heat. Felt the incredible pressure of his touch on her and knew she needed more. Needed to feel flesh on flesh.