Page 20 of The Billionaire's Angel

My lips parted, and Gage was there, kissing me harder, his tongue running along my lower lip. He tasted of chocolate andman.

I fell into the kiss, goosebumps covering my skin as his fingers tightened on the back of my head, tilting my face to his. He lifted me, setting me on the counter and moving between my legs, one strong hand on the small of my back, pulling me againsthim.

With me on the island, the difference in our heights wasn't a problem. Gage's hands went to my waist, jerking on the belt of my robe and pulling it free, pushing back the thick fabric to bare my nightgown-coveredbody.

My nightgown wasn't anything special. Plain white cotton trimmed in lace, it covered me from my collarbone to my knees. It was pretty and feminine, but the furthest thing fromseductive.

Gage didn't seem tocare.

The cotton was so thin, the heat of his hands felt like we were skin to skin. I was barely thinking, all of my attention captured by his mouth moving on mine, the utter possession in his kiss. If Ihadbeen thinking I would've expected him to go straight for my breasts. The few men who'd gotten this far with me had done exactlythat.

I should've known Gage would bedifferent.

One hand slid up my body, moving over the side of my breast to my shoulder and sliding up my neck, sending shivers over every inch of skin he touched before his hands buried themselves in my hair and he pulled my lips to his, kissing medeeper.

His other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him, pressing my body to his until there was no space between us, my breasts flattened to his hard chest, his hips forcing my legs open, the hard length of his cock pressing into me. Only a few layers of fabric separated that cock from my heat. His cargo shorts, my underwear. Notmuch.

I didn't care. I didn't care about anything but Gage touching me. Kissing me. He was heat and strength, surrounding me, taking me over. I wrapped my legs around his narrow hips, holding him tight, rolling my hips into his. His chest rumbled with a groan as he lay me back on theisland.

Tearing his mouth from mine, he dropped his face into the crook of my neck, his breath hot against my skin. He was holding back, restraining himself so fiercely his muscles shook in barely perceptible tremors. I rolled my head back on the cold marble of the island, pressing my breasts up intohim.

I didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't thinking. Gage had kissed me, and at the touch of his lips, something inside me had broken open, something feral and needy. After so many years of emptiness, my body had woken up, and itwanted.

Gage's mouth closed over the side of my neck, sucking and tasting my skin, his tongue tracing my frantically beating pulse. At the touch of his long fingers on the side of my breast, I went wild, squirming against him, shuddering when his fingers closed over my nipple and squeezed. A bolt of pleasure streaked between my legs, and I gasped his name. “Gage.”

His mouth moved to my ear, and he breathed, “Sophie. Fuck.Sophie.”

A thump sounded down the hall, followed by a tumbling noise as if someone had knocked over a stack of books. We both went still, breath caught in our lungs, hearts pounding frantically. Ice washed through me as I realized where I was, spread out over the island in the kitchen of Winters House, Gage Winters between my spread legs, his hand on my breast, his mouth on myneck.

What the hell was I thinking? I was going to lose my job. And Gage – Gage hadn't struck me as the kind of man who took advantage of a woman working for him, but here Iwas.

He hadn't exactly taken advantage though, hadhe?

At that thought I shoved him back and scrambled off the island, yanking my robe shut and tying the belt in a tight knot. I couldn't meet hiseyes.

“Excuse me,” I said, moving to sidle past him and escape thekitchen.

Gage's hand shot out and closed around my wrist. I jumped in surprise. I didn't mean to. Some reactions are too ingrained to outgrow and, for me, being grabbed by a strong hand is one of them. I went still under his grip, then carefully twisted my wrist in his hand, trying to free myself without struggling. Struggling only made itworse.

Gage's fingers held me securely, but his grip wasn't tight. Wasn't painful. Voice so low I could barely make out his words, he said, “Wait. I heard something. You heard it too, didn't you? I don't want you to walk out there byyourself.”

Gage's demeanor had shifted, and I'd been so panicked from his hold on my wrist, I'd missed it. A minute ago, leaning over me on the island, he'd been shaking with tension. Now he was the same, but it wasn't passion firing hisnerves.

I looked up into his eyes and realized he was on high alert, every one of his senses focused on the sound we’d heard down thehall.

“Maybe it was Aiden,” I whispered. I knew it wasn't Amelia. She slept like a rock and after months of working for her, she’d never woken a second earlier than she had to. But, for that matter, I'd never known Aiden to be awake in the middle of the night either. I was up often enough; I would'venoticed.

Agreeing with my inner thoughts, Gage said, “No, it's not Aiden. I would've heard him on the stairs, and Aiden never wakes up in the middle of thenight.”

“You think someone's in the house? The alarm is on. Isn't it?” My gaze swept the kitchen, settling on the lighted panel by the door to the laundry room. Red lights glowed, indicating that the alarm was set and operatingnormally.

Gage's hand tightened on my wrist, and I winced. Immediately, his fingers fell open, and he released me. His blue eyes met mine, focused and intent but somehow haunted. Something lurked there, dark and afraid. Until that moment, it hadn't occurred to me to be afraid. But I remembered someone had broken into this house once before, and when they had, two people had beenmurdered.

“I need to go check it out,” Gage said. “I don't want to leave you in here. Too many entrances. It's not secure. I want you to follow me down the hall. Stay right behind me,okay?”

I nodded. I wasn't completely sure there was someone else in the house. The alarm was on, and I'd heard something, but maybe I’d misunderstood. Maybe it was the air compressor kicking on, or the refrigerator in the garage. It was a big house, andold.

Odd sounds weren’t unusual, and at night things like that always seemed amplified. What you might ignore during the day grew to a threat in the dark. That didn't mean there actuallywasathreat.