She fought harder to break free but he only tightened his hold, wrapping his other arm around her to cage her in. When it was clear to her that he wouldn’t budge, she gave up with a slap at his chest followed by a glare that could reduce a lesser man to a whimpering fool. He wasn’t that. In fact, the sexual charge running through him made him even more arrogant.“Permission? No. Consultation? Most definitely.” He lowered his head and kissed her then, punishingly.She gasped in his mouth and pushed at him. He moved his other arm to wrap around her shoulders and held her firmly against him, not even air could pass between them. Her protests then changed as she fiercely kissed him back, rising and sliding up his body, as her pelvis pushed up seeking his. He lost it then.Rafe dropped his hands to her waist and hoisted her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist immediately. One moment of sanity told him that his door was still open. Yes, it wa

Talia’s blood ran cold as she sat frozen in her seat. Then just as quickly her body flushed as the memories of the previous night invaded her thoughts. This can’t be happening! Her mind screamed at her. She wasn’t ready to step into that office again just yet. The shame was still too fresh.“Why?” she squeaked.His brows pinched together confused and she realized then it would have been better if she hadn’t sounded like a mouse in a trap when she asked that.“You’ll find out once you go.”That was just it, she was scared to. What if what he wanted was that sequel Carrie was so excited over?“Do I have to?” she asked. The words quietly slipped out without a thought.“Any reason not to?”That caught her guilty ass by surprise. What was she doing? The last thing she needed was anyone getting suspicious about her and DeLuca’s… interaction.

“I can’t believe you are here with me, again!” Carrie shouted over the loud music as she jumped around to the beat. Talia nodded, amazed herself. She was more of a jazz lounge kind of girl, and yet here she was again, at a club, skimpily dressed again, hoping to get Rafael DeLuca out of her mind, again. What was wrong with her? He was just a man, and yet he had her doing things she normally wouldn’t, like having an orgasm on the boss’ office floor. Talia ran her hand down the single braid of her hair. She needed to figure her life out. She needed to get a grip on reality and her sanity. Nothing good could come of it. “Instead of getting an ulcer over it, why don’t you just get it over with?!” “Get what over with?” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t act stupid. You know what I mean. Sleep with him.” Talia glared at her friend, wondering again, how they became and remained friends for so long. Carrie was way too liberal when it came to sex and Talia was not. She still believed in the one a

Rafe grabbed the back of her head and brought her lips to his, devouring them like a man starved. Of what? He couldn’t explain, but there was something about her that made the animal in him want to claim her. All of her. The thing inside him that had been restless for months, wanting to claw out of his body but remaining stuck inside, it wanted her. Like a drug that calmed the storm inside him, he couldn’t be without her, he needed her. Just remembering how that bastard had his hands all over her made him so crazy, as he held her lips hostage with his, he let his hands run over her, replacing the touch of that asshole with his.Talia broke away from him, gasping for air. “Wait, I can’t breathe. This is way too intense!”Intense? She didn’t know half of it. Her flushed face and displaced large and loose shirt that didn’t hide the tight pebbles that her nipples had become only made it worse. He was so hard, his pants felt so tigh

Talia sat on the stool at the table at the front window of her favorite coffee shop, her weekend groceries on the floor next to her in two full bags. She stared down at them with a sigh. She’d over done it, spent above her budget all because she was trying to buy time, pun intended. With nothing else to do in the store, she’d come to hide out here, at the coffee shop. Her home, which she was avoiding like the plague, just a few steps away. She was already on her fourth cup of coffee, contemplating her life and the stupid thing she’d done last night. She grumbled and dropped her head on the table in front of her. What the hell had she done? She bemoaned as the thoughts of the night before ran through her mind. She’d gone and done it. The one thing she said she never would, and bloody hell was it good! With a groan, she raised her head off the table and slapped her cheek twice. That wasn't what she should be thinking about.You are reprimanding yourself Talia, not taking a trip down hot