The Million-Dollar Catch. Susan Mallery

held his gaze as long as she could, but soon sensation overwhelmed her. If was as if there were a direct line of pleasure from her breasts to between her legs. With each touch, both became more needy.

      “Todd,” she whispered, hoping she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt.

      He nudged her backward until she felt the bed behind her. Then he wrapped his arms around her, turned and lowered them both onto the mattress.

      She landed on him, her legs spread, her center nestled on his arousal. He smiled up at her.

      “Now I have you exactly where I want you,” he whispered. “In my power.”

      “I’m on top,” she told him. “I’m in charge.”

      “Wanna bet?”

      He put his hands on her hips and urged her back and forth. Even through the layers of her panties and his briefs, she felt the delicious heat and friction. With a groan, she gave herself up to the sensation. It was nearly enough to get her over the edge.

      “Just that like,” he murmured as he began to touch her breasts.

      The combination of sensations was unbelievably sensual. Tension tightened all her muscles as she felt herself racing closer and closer to her release.

      Not like this, she thought frantically. Not so quickly. Not while still wearing clothes. But she also couldn’t stop rubbing faster and faster.

      Without warning, he rolled them both onto their sides. He removed her panties with one smooth, practiced move, then pulled off his briefs. Before she had a chance to check things out, she was on her back and his mouth was on her left breast.

      He sucked and licked and teased until she thought she would go crazy from the pleasure. At the same time, he slipped his hand between her legs and explored her swollen center.

      It took him less than three seconds to find that one magical spot. He circled it before settling down to a perfect, rhythmic caress that made the end inevitable.

      She sank into the sensation, letting her body take over. Tension built until she could barely breathe. Her fingers curled into the blanket, her heels dug into the mattress. Todd shifted so he could claim her mouth and when his tongue touched hers, she lost herself in blissful release.

      Her climax seemed to go on forever. Wave after wave of perfection rocked through her, sucking away her will to do anything but feel this forever.

      Eventually, though, she became aware of his hardness pressing into her leg. She opened her eyes and found Todd smiling down at her.

      “That was good,” he said. “At least it was good for me. I’m thinking it was better than good for you.”

      “It was,” she said as she traced his lower lip with her thumb. “Ready for some better than good of your own?”

      “I thought you’d never ask.”

      He eased between her thighs, then pushed until she felt him entering her. He was big and thick, stretching her. She arched her hips toward him, wanting to take all of him. He withdrew, entered her again and she wrapped her arms round him, pulling him against her, enjoying the weight of him nearly as much as what he was doing to her body.

      Because it had begun again. The sense of need and wanting. The growing heat as muscles tightened in anticipation of a spectacular ride. Faster and faster, pushing, filling. Her breathing became as ragged as his. She felt his arms begin to tremble as he sought that moment of no return.

      She’d been empty for so long that she’d forgotten the glory of being filled by a man intent on pleasing them both.

      He bent down and kissed her as the sensations claimed her, and then he groaned and pushed in deeper. She felt him stiffen before he stilled and shuddered.

      When they’d cleaned up and slid under the covers, Julie rested her head on his shoulder. He had his arm around her, she had her thigh nestled against his. This was one of life’s perfect moments, she thought happily. Those times she would look back on later and think, That was a great night.

      “Thank you,” he said as he played with her hair. “That was pretty …”

      “Spectacular?” she asked, feeling content.

      “I was going to say amazing, but spectacular works.”

      She closed her eyes and smiled. “I’m deeply out of practice. I appreciate the lesson bringing me up to speed.”

      “You didn’t act like you were out of practice. You acted like you’d read the manual on how to push all my buttons.”

      The smile turned into a grin. “Really? All of them?”

      “Well, maybe you missed one.”

      “I’ll have to catch that next time.”

      He chuckled. “Words to make a man your love slave forever. Can I stay?”

      Three little words that got her attention in a big way. She might have been out of the dating game for a while, but she remembered most of the rules. After sex, especially an encounter so unexpected, most guys preferred to dress and run. She didn’t have a lot of personal experience, but she’d had enough friends cry on her shoulder to be familiar with the practice.

      Todd wanted to stay? Here? With her? Tonight?

      A little bubble of happiness floated up from her tummy to her chest where it gave birth to about a thousand other little bubbles.

      “I had plans for later,” she said, deciding going for casual was best for both of them. “I guess I can cancel them.”

      “I appreciate that. Do you snore?”

      She laughed. “No, do you?”

      “I’m a very quiet sleeper.” He shifted so that he could kiss her. “Not that I expect either of us to get much sleep tonight.”

      Sometime after two in the morning, he watched the moonlight on Julie’s face and knew he’d made a mess of things from the beginning.

      It wasn’t supposed to have been like this. He wasn’t supposed to like her. From what he’d been told, Julie Nelson was a gold-digging bimbo who needed a good lesson and he’d been just the man to volunteer to teach it. He’d expected a vapid, over-accessorized bitch. Instead he’d found a beautiful, funny, intelligent, sincere woman who made him laugh and want to believe in possibilities again.

      Right now he should be feeling as if he’d done the world a favor. Instead he felt like a total jerk. He’d just created a hell of a mess and he had no idea how to fix it. He liked Julie. He liked her a lot.

      How was he supposed to explain that he wasn’t Todd Aston III, and that she’d just been set up to take a fall?

      Three

      Julie stood in her kitchen and held on to the edge of the counter. It wasn’t that the world was spinning so much as she thought it might at any moment. She half expected a bolt of lightning to come crashing through the roof, or at the very least, hear the ghost of Christmas Past.

      There was a man in her bedroom.

      Right now, even while she was supposed to be making coffee, Todd lay asleep in her bed.

      Until he had stepped inside last night, her place had been a man-free zone. After what had happened with Garrett, she’d wanted to keep it that way. She’d rented it after law school, furnished it with girlie stuff and her mattress had been practically virginal.

      Not anymore, she thought with a grin as she reached for the can of coffee and the scooper next to it. She had languid, morning-after glow and a couple of sore muscles to prove it.

      She added water and flipped on the coffeemaker, then leaned against the counter. In theory she should probably be having regrets or even second thoughts. Last night really wasn’t like her at all. She was more sensible, more