Alison Paige - Little Red and the Wolf

One hand braced on the table, she reached the other to his cheek. He’d looked clean-shaven but she could still feel the coarse texture of fresh growth beneath her fingers. His cologne filled her nose, sweet, manly, mixed with the earthier scents of nature. Intoxicating . She breathed him in, let the smell of him make her dizzy.

She could taste a hint of scotch on his kiss. Together with his scent and the fast rush of her pulse, it was all Maizie could do not to swoon in his arms.

She shifted, pushing up to her knees and he rewarded her with a harder, stronger kiss. It was so easy, the kiss, the desire. Her body seemed to recognize his touch, warm at the very possibility of it. On her knees, she was a bit taller than him and his hand slipped from her neck to her waist. Still he pulled her to him, as though she’d never be close enough.

Holding her, his free hand smoothed over her ribs to her breast. Maizie’s breath caught even before his palm cupped her, before his fingers squeezed. Every muscle in her body worked for more, more pleasure, more sensation, more.

A quiver tickled through her belly. Her thighs trembled, the muscles in her sex pulsed, flexing wet and needy. She wanted to straddle him, to press her pussy against him, to make it clear what he did to her, what he made her want. What he made her need. The dress was too tight, she’d been lucky to get to her knees.

His hand massaged her breast, found her nipple hard and wanting. He toyed with it, coaxed it to harden more, to press undeniably through the fabric of her bra and dress. Maizie moaned and leaned into his touch, her hips pressing her groin against his chest. She didn’t care where they were, who he was, what he’d done. She wanted him. Now. Filling the emptiness between her legs.

His fingers pinched hard so Maizie threw her head back, gasping. She arched her back and felt his mouth hot and wet through her dress, his teeth nipping the pebbled nub. Her body curved the other way, arms circling his neck, cradling his head against her chest.

Gray scrambled to his knees, gathering her into his arms, pressing her whole body to his. The hard line of his cock through his pants pushed against her thigh, teased her mercilessly. He took her mouth again, frantic, hungry. The finesse of his first kiss lost to an explosion of passion.

One arm around her back, he dropped the other hand to her ass. He squeezed, hard, lifted her, pressed her pussy against his cock. His want of her was clear, as clear as her own.

She tried to spread her legs wider, but the dress caught at her thighs. It wouldn’t give and she couldn’t get her hands down to hike it up.

“Too many damn clothes.” She’d mumbled it into his mouth, though it barely registered in her brain. The next instant everything changed. Gray’s whole body went stiff. His lips pulled from hers.

“Jeezus.” He was breathless, still holding her flush to his body. “What the fuck am I doing?”

Maizie opened her eyes. He looked horrified, his pale eyes scanning her face, brow tight, as though searching for some shred of understanding. He released her and got to his feet so fast she nearly fell over from the force of it.

Gray paced the rug, wiped her kiss from his lips with the back of his hand, then roughly shoved his long waving bangs from his face. He held his hips, storming back and forth, eyes down, scowl set.

Was it something she’d said? What did she say? Maizie’s lust-drunk mind raced to untangle the mystery. Bewildered, she sat back on her pillow, her hand wiping the wetness rimming her bottom lip. The brush of her finger tingled along her mouth, her whole body too sensitive for idle touches. What had happened?

“That’s not why I brought you here.” Gray didn’t look at her. He kept pacing. “I’m…sorry.”

“Sorry?” For what? Kissing her senseless or stopping?

He stopped, his angry eyes slamming into hers. “Yes. Of course I’m sorry. You didn’t think I wanted that…”

He must have read something in her expression, disappointment, embarrassment, doubt. He seemed to rethink his words. “I didn’t mean… Hell. Obviously, I wanted… I mean, I’m the one who… Dammit, Maizie, something about you makes me…mindless.” His gaze softened, hoped.

Maizie forced a smile, not big, but the best she could muster. She could accept “mindless”. It was better than “sorry”.

Gray grunted at their unspoken truce and started pacing again. “This should’ve been a simple thing. Textbook. A picnic lunch. Seductively understated. All the women’s favorites. A little harmless flirting to get her seeing things my way. I didn’t expect to like…”

Maizie shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “ Mission accomplished.”

“What?” Gray stopped, looked to her.

“If all this was to try and convince me not to coax Granny to sell her land, then you’ve been seducing the willing. So to speak.”

He blushed and looked away for a moment, but rallied quickly. “Easy enough to say, but everyone has a price, Maizie. What’s yours?”

She tried not to feel insulted. Maizie knew the kind of man Gray Lupo was. A wheeler and dealer, a playboy, wealthy, powerful, he got what he wanted no matter the means, no matter the little redhead who got caught in his way. The glimpse of the tender-hearted Gray, the boy who loved spending time with his mother, the man who shared her pleasure, was gone.

She was insulted. She was hurt. And it was taking too much damn energy to deny. She stiffened, let her temper boil over her wounded pride. “My price? My grandmother’s happiness. If she wants the land, wants to protect that pushy wolf that runs around up here, then I’ll keep the land.”

He blanched. She didn’t care why. “If she wants to sell every last square foot, then I’ll sell it all tomorrow. I’ll do what I have to do to make her feel secure.”

Maizie pushed to her feet, smoothing her dress. “I’ll let my shop go bankrupt. I’ll move back into that isolated cottage. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re not pretending to be my dead father, trying to convince Granny to sell the one thing that means the world to her.”

She took a breath, tried to calm the anger and hurt that shook down her arms. She fisted her hands. “So you see, Mr. Lupo , my price is simple and nonnegotiable. Happy?”

She folded her arms under her chest, chin high. Her belly rolled and pitched, her knees were shaking and a flood of tears clogged at the back of her throat, but damn him if she’d let any of that show.

Gray met her gaze, his hands still propped on his hips, jacket snagged behind his wrists. Silence settled between them like a referee calling a time-out.

His nostrils flared with each breath, his muscled chest swelling and shrinking. A soft wind fluttered the ends of his hair over his collar as his gaze traveled down her body. The study was so intense she could almost feel its path. She’d swear he was pissed. Who wouldn’t be after that tirade? But the look in his eyes, the heat, that wasn’t anger.

He growled, his hands dropping from his hips. “Hell with it.”

His long strides ate the ground between them in a blur. All at once she was in his arms, scooped up against his hard chest, one hand around her waist, the other behind her head. And then he froze.

His warm breath bathed her lips, so close she could imagine the feel of his kiss. But he didn’t kiss her. He stood, holding her. After a heavy moment, pregnant with anticipation, Maizie squirmed.

Gray’s arms tightened around her. “Sshh.”

She met his gaze, his eyes distant for a moment before they focused on hers. He didn’t say a word, but she understood the meaning in his look. He wanted her to listen. Something wasn’t right. They weren’t alone.