The Harder They Fall Read online

  “That makes no sense,” she said, twisting her hands in the sheet and pulling it up to her chin. “What’s so wrong with the man you are that you can’t let yourself enjoy a...”

  She trailed off and he smiled grimly. “Enjoy a what? What exactly is this between us?”

  Mute, she stared at him.

  “See?” he pressed, giving in to the urge to be close and sinking to her bed to sit at her hip. “Even you know better.” He reached for her hands. “This thing between us has a life of its own.”

  It’s uncontrollable, Trisha thought. And it scares us equally. Me, because eventually he’ll walk away, and him, because he’s afraid he won’t be able to.

  But she wanted him, had to have him. And she knew how badly he wanted her. Dressed as he was, in just lightweight sweatpants and nothing else, there was little he could hide from her. He was magnificent, she thought, with his vital and able body so nearly bare for her to see. It made her ache, the rippled strength, the easy, graceful way of moving he had. The hard planes of his chest, the flat belly, his long, powerful legs, the unmistakable and impressive hardness between them. Desire slammed into her just from looking at him.

  He made her feel needy and strong at the same time, and she’d never in her life felt that way. Nor had she ever wanted anyone quite as desperately as she wanted him.

  Well, she’d just have to make sure she didn’t restrain him in any way, make sure he felt he could just turn it off at any time. Though it would hurt, it was the only way to play this, or she’d lose him. “Haven’t you ever had an affair before, Hunter?”

  He looked startled. “I—uh...”

  With a little laugh, she squeezed his hands. “It’s a simple question. Yes or no?”

  “Yes,” he said through his teeth.

  “Then what’s the problem? Are you telling me you analyzed each one so carefully beforehand? Worried and fretted about its demise before it even got started?”

  “Yes.” But his lips curved. “See? We’re too different.” His eyes deepened, darkened, and he leaned closer. “Send me away, Trisha.”

  “No,” she whispered, pulling her hands from his and wrapping her arms around his neck. “No,” she said again. “Not tonight.” And she kissed him.

  Nine

  At the first contact of her lips on his, Hunter’s entire body stiffened with shock. She took her mouth away, trailed it over his clenched jaw. “Just go with it, Hunter,” she murmured throatily. “Let it take us.”

  “For how long?” he demanded softly as his hands came up to hold her upper arms.

  “Do you need a game plan?” But she sighed when he remained silent. “Of course you do. Fine,” she whispered, fighting his resistance and pressing her face into his neck to inhale his delicious male scent. “For tonight, then. Just tonight.”

  “Just tonight?”

  No. “Yes.” Then she held her breath, waiting. God, it would kill her in the morning, to let him go. But for all his careful plans and strategies, he was like a wild bird who couldn’t, wouldn’t, allow himself to be contained. To try to hold him would end this before they’d even started, and she had no intention of letting that happen. Not when she was this close.

  Give him his freedom, she thought desperately, and he won’t run away. He wouldn’t be able to, she assured herself, because he felt this pull between them every bit as strongly as she did. “Just for tonight, Hunter. Please...” Her lips moved over his face. With her teeth, she gently pulled on his ear.

  He groaned, then gently eased her back, following her down, down, down on the bed. “We shouldn’t.”

  “Yes, we should,” she gasped as he let the full length of his body slide against hers.

  Sinking his fingers into her hair, he stared into her eyes as if unsure what to do next.

  “Kiss me, Hunter,” she whispered, arching up to him just to feel his body tighten against hers. “Just start there and see what happens.”

  She didn’t know what she had expected, a slightly fumbling, unsure kiss ... an awkwardness ... ineptness.

  She got none of those things.

  Warm and tender and erotic, Hunter’s masterful lips seduced hers, kissing her with a promise of things to come, giving without reserve, in a way she was beginning to anticipate. Giving in to the impulse, she ran her hands over him, reveling in the deep, needy sound he let out.

  Dragging his mouth from hers, he kissed a trail down her throat, buried his face in her neck. “Mmmm.” Warm, wet openmouthed kisses were planted in the curve of her neck, over her shoulder. “God, you smell good.”

  She clutched at him, helpless to do much else as passion and desire raced through her. Her blood pounded in her veins, roared through her heart as the anticipation and hope built to an almost unbearable level.

  His hands slid around her waist, so gently she melted against him. Again, his mouth captured hers, in a sweet, searing kiss that quickly escalated until they both panted breathlessly, their hands grappling as they blindly reached out to touch.

  Hunter lifted his head, pierced her with eyes so painfully green she felt she could see all the way to his soul. “I don’t want you to regret this,” he said, his voice gravelly.

  “I won’t.”

  “Trisha—”

  “I’m a big girl, Hunter, capable of knowing what’s right for me. And this is it.” But he didn’t kiss her again. Desperate, she pulled at him, but he resisted. Something wild pummeled her suddenly, a fear so great it stole her breath. He was going to leave her, just stand up and go when she needed him so fiercely she ached with it.

  Her hands gripped his shoulders, jerked him back down next to her. “Please, Hunter,” she whispered, pulling him closer, closer still, until their bodies lay side by side, limbs intertwined. In case he still wanted to move away, she fisted her hands in his hair. “Don’t go.”

  His arms slipped around her once again, tightened on her. “I’m right here.” He kissed her again. “I’m right here,” he repeated softly, his mouth fusing with hers, building and building a pressure inside her, sending her to a place beyond reason.

  Her urgency seemed to spark his own. She felt his hands smooth down her spine, over her bottom, cupping and squeezing gently, before gliding under her T-shirt to touch skin to skin. “Please,” she heard herself whispering. “Oh, please.”

  He stroked her back with terrifying tenderness, his eyes alight with a desire she’d waited so desperately to see. She heard his harsh intake of breath as he shifted over her, pressing hips to hips, felt the muscles in his shoulders bunch as he moved down. Then, through the thin cotton of her shirt, he nuzzled her, gently nipping with his teeth.

  Her hands ran over his shoulders, his chest, over the sleek muscles of his back, pressing, urging. In response, his body moved against hers in a rhythm as old as time. Long, lean fingers skimmed up her thigh, raising the shirt as they went, over her hip, past the indentation of her waist, high on her ribs.

  Trisha held her breath, watching his bent head drink in the sight of her. Gently, he cupped a breast, his thumb gliding over the hard, aching tip. Her head fell back against the arm that held her to him, as an intense, sharp need left her limp. Then he took her pebbled nipple into his mouth, his tongue slowly circling it teasingly, until she thought she would die of the pleasure. When he sucked her into his mouth, hard, she felt nothing but a bright burst of raw desire.

  Hunter looked at her flushed face, at her glorious body spread out before him. He’d been trying to regain some semblance of control, but it was slipping, badly. Drinking in the sight of her body, bathed softly in moonlight, almost undid him. The virginal white of her T-shirt flirted with the creamy, soft texture of her skin. Her full, curved breasts, still damp from his tongue, made his mouth water, the lush flare of her hips made his fingers itch to touch. White bikini panties covered her feminine secrets. Demure, yet incredibly sensual. The powerful combination electrified him. “Trisha, you’re so beautiful.” The choppy little sounds escaping her lips were t