When Roses Collide

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"When you do that, it makes me want to kiss you." His eyes advanced from hers to her lips. His hooded gaze holding her completely captive and her mind started to scream for him to kiss her.

Oh shit, she had never wanted to be kissed so badly in her life. The need coursed through her body making her paralyzed. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to breathe. She didn't want to break this moment with anything else but his lips glued to hers.

"You're killing me, sunshine," he whispered as he shook his head and sighed. He pulled away a tiny fraction, keeping her hands gloved in his. "We should talk about why you think I need to stay away from you." A look of resolve and longing intermingled in his tumultuous eyes.

Peeking up at him through her lashes, Harley could see the warring emotions flick across his face and she suddenly didn't care about any of her reasons or for anyone for that matter. All that mattered, right now this very second, was her Adonis. To hell with Rafferty, Wolf Springs and every other damn fucked up thing that claimed this was a bad idea. He was here with her right now, in this moment in time and what she wanted more than her next breath was to be in his arms.

She longed for the feeling of being protected when he cuddled her next to him. Memories of the times she had spent in his embrace flitted through her turbulent mind. His touch had been intimate, demanding, soft and exciting all rolled into one. His rough calloused hands teasing her skin and making her crave more. She shuddered slightly at the thought as it warmed her blood.

"Are you going to kiss me or not?" she challenged, saucily tossing her hair over her shoulder. Deciding to stop over thinking everything and go for broke.

His eyes widened in surprise, meeting hers for a long moment. "I think..Not."

Harley's bubble burst. Rejection slammed into so hard she jerked backwards. What the hell? Didn't he just say he wanted to kiss her? Anger coursed through her body replacing the lovely lusty desire of moments before. "Rather indecisive aren't you, cowboy?" she snapped as she tried to pull her hands free from his, but failed. He had her in a lock tight grip.

"Oh, you will find out how decisive I can be, darling," he said quietly. "Hush now." He stilled her flustered struggles by capturing both her hands in one of his and bringing them up to lay on his chest.

Her anger stuttered as she felt his strong heartbeat thumping beneath her fingers. The linen shirt doing little to stop the heat which warmed her palm and she imagined her fingertips working their way under to his skin. She licked her suddenly too dry lips and tried to focus on the current conversation. Did he just moan?

Harley shook her head to clear the cobwebs. "Did you shush me?"

"Yes I did, sunshine." His lips twitched with amusement.

"I don't like being shushed and I don't like playing games." Harley narrowed her eyes at him and reluctantly tried to reclaim her hands, but he kept them plastered to his body. "Please let me go," she said, exasperated and needing some space from all the mixed signals she'd been receiving. This was the worst game of red-light green-light she'd ever played.

He smiled that charming smile of his that caught her off guard. "The things you make me do." And with that, he let go of her hands.

Her victory over her freedom was short lived, however, as he bent down and put one of his arms under her legs and the other behind her back, effectively scooping her up and depositing her in his lap with little effort. She squeaked in protest, grabbing onto his shoulders for balance.

"That's better," he whispered as he nuzzled his face into her hair. "You smell fantastic."

"This isn't letting me go," she gasped. Her ability to breath was highly hampered when he ran his lips across the ticklish spot behind her ear. Her embarrassment of being in his lap replaced by burning desire and she closed her eyes as shots of it ran hotly down, pooling in her belly.