Simply Sinful

still red bruise near her temple. “You okay?” he asked.

“I’d be better if you stopped talking,” she murmured, then blushed scarlet at the admission.

He laughed aloud. Kneeling beside her, he placed his hand on her belt buckle. “Good thing for you I’m good at following orders.” Especially when he wanted the same thing. Kane needed to see her writhe in pleasure in his arms, to watch her climax beneath his hands. He undid the button and began a downward slide of her jeans.

Kayla helped, raising her hips and shimmying out of the heavy denim. This might not be the result she’d planned, but she had to admit it might be enough. Without realizing it, he’d still given her a measure of control. He seemed more relaxed, less guarded and, best of all, she still had him all to herself.

A phone call to her sister would solve the protection problem later. Catherine wouldn’t mind a trip to the drugstore for the right cause. Lassoing Kane was definitely the right cause.

A rush of cool air accompanied the loss of her jeans, but heat quickly followed when Kane placed his hard, hot hand at the juncture of her thighs. A deep pulsing rhythm took hold, starting where his hand pressed intimately against her and traveling to every nerve ending her body possessed. She arched into his waiting palm.

“Damn, but you feel good.” His roughened voice caused her heart to trip in reaction.

She forced her eyes open and whispered a prayer of thanks that she had Kane. His own eyelids were shut tight, his jaw clenched. He was as affected as she. Kayla didn’t need sex to reach Kane. She could reach him with warmth and intimacy, trust and caring-things she could give him.

She trusted him. She laid her head back against the cushion, prepared to show him how much. As he picked up a sensual rhythm, waves of pleasure washed over her, building, then easing up only to rush her again, more insistent than before. The sounds coming from her throat ought to have embarrassed her, but they didn’t. Because this was Kane and the only way he would know how she felt, the only way he’d open up in return, was if he felt her trust.

The initial hesitancy of their first night together was gone. The soft moans coming from deep within her shook him as nothing ever had…until her legs relaxed, opening wide, inviting him to continue. Kane sucked in a ragged breath, realizing his mistake. He’d underestimated this woman and her effect on him. Not only was he too damn close himself, but he’d been a fool. He hadn’t saved himself by not making love with her. He’d drawn himself in deeper.

He picked up the pace with one hand, easing his finger inside her smooth, wet heat with the other. She gasped aloud. Lowering his head, he drew the tip of her nipple into his mouth and tugged gently with his teeth. That’s all it took.

The spasm hit her hard and she arched off the couch. The moist clenching and unclenching around his finger hit him even harder. His own body was close to the breaking point and she hadn’t even touched him. He opened his eyes in time to watch her face contort with pleasure he gave.

“Kane.” His name burst from her lips unexpectedly and the sound triggered an intense reaction so strong, he could no longer remain in control. He straddled her until their bodies aligned, grinding himself hard against her, searching for the fulfillment he’d deliberately denied them both. His unexpected climax took him by surprise. Seconds later, Kane eased himself off her. She couldn’t take his weight any more than he could handle what he’d just done. Another battle lost. He couldn’t afford to let it happen again.

“That was…”

“Don’t say it,” he muttered. He’d lost control. Around Kayla, it seemed to be a permanent state.

“Incredible.” She turned to her side and gazed up at him with trusting eyes. It was more than he could stand. He started to walk away.

“Don’t!” Her harsh tone startled him. “Don’t you dare walk out on me.”

“You need space.”

“You mean you do.” She dressed in silence before turning back to him. She ran her fingers through her disheveled hair. “The second you drop your guard, you back off.”

He was surprised she read him so well. He shouldn’t be. There’d been a connection between them from the minute they met. He raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. “You got me.” Kane walked back to where she stood, hands in her front pockets, her expression guarded. He hated that look when directed at him.

He placed his hand around the back of her neck and drew her close. Tasting her lips brought him more pleasure than he could have imagined. Too much. He broke the kiss.

Her dark lashes fluttered upward. “Do I?” she murmured.

He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Yeah, you do.”

Light entered into her green eyes. She looked like a starving cat that had finally found a scrap of food and wasn’t about to let go. Of him. Damned if he couldn’t get used to the idea-and that unnerved him.

He grasped her chin between his hands. “But don’t get used to it, sweetheart.” Kane knew he was talking more to himself than to her.

He met her even gaze. The glow in her eyes didn’t fade as he’d expected it to. Kayla had obviously decided to take him on and that put him on edge. Her next words proved him right.

“You’re used to being alone.”

He couldn’t dispute that remark.

“But you don’t have to be.”

She was wrong. Because alone was safer.

Her hand wandered to the front of his jeans. He was hard again, but had no intention of losing control one more time. He reached for her wrist, but instead of pulling her away, he pushed her closer, letting her wrap her fingertips around the heavy bulge in his jeans. He groaned at the absolute perfection he found in her touch.

“Not everyone leaves, Kane.” Her whispered words penetrated his thoughts.

She removed her hand, twisting her fingers together in a nervous gesture that revealed she wasn’t any more comfortable with the dynamic between them than he was. Sexual tension and an emotional pull. They couldn’t deny either. The difference was, she’d obviously decided to take control, to push past her barriers in order to reach him. Which meant he’d made the right decision.

Someone had to keep their distance, to make things easier in the end. “Why don’t you go over those books while I jump in the shower?”

“Sounds like a plan.” She nodded, ceding control.

Kane knew it was merely a temporary reprieve.

KAYLA WALKED INTO HER bedroom, pausing at the pile of clothes Kane had left lying in a heap on the floor. She liked the casual familiarity the sight implied. Not that she suffered from any delusions that he intended to be a part of her life. That much was obvious.

But she preferred to cling to the hope of the less obvious. The fact that she’d taken control and reached past his defenses yet again. She bent down and picked up his shirt and jeans, clenching Kane’s clothing in her hands. By the time the case was over, he’d understand the difference between being a loner by choice-or necessity.

And thanks to Kane, she was becoming a woman in charge of herself, and her life. One who no longer feared her sexuality. This wasn’t an experience she could regret, no matter what the outcome. But she’d do everything in her power to direct it in her favor.

She tossed the jeans over her arm and something fell to the floor with a thud. Kayla bent down to retrieve his wallet, some spare change and…

“What’s this?” Even as her hand grabbed the foil packet and held it up to the light, she knew.

And if Kane went to this much effort to avoid making love to her, to avoid the very intimacy that would enable her to breach his defenses, he had no intention of succumbing. Ever.

She’d been wrong. She hadn’t gotten to him. Not even close. She brushed at her eyes before a tear could fall. When had Kayla Luck ever affected a man on any plane other than the physical? She should have known better before. She certainly knew better now.

But she had no time for self-pity. She had more important concerns than her love life. Kayla grabbed the five books with possible information and shoved them into an oversize bag. Kane might have directed the course of things so far. But no more.

Kane obviously needed to be shaken up on many different levels. She hadn’t been in control sexually, that much was obvious. But there were other ways of taking control and showing Kane there was more to life than being alone.