Page 56 of Power Play

Then I pulled him closer.

Everything changed.

Ryan made a low sound against my mouth that went straight through me. His hand tightened at my waist as he deepened the kiss, and the careful restraint he had carried all afternoon cracked just enough to make my knees feel unreliable.

I rose onto my toes.

His tongue brushed mine, and whatever remained of my ability to think collapsed completely. I caught the front of his shirt in both hands and kissed him harder.

Ryan answered immediately.

He turned us until the edge of the counter pressed against my lower back, his body closing around mine without trapping me there. One hand spread wide against my waist while the other slid into my hair, angling my head as his mouth moved over mine again.

I had kissed men before, but nothing about that experience had prepared me for Ryan.

He kissed with the same focus he gave everything else. There was no hesitation once he committed and no distracted searching for what came next. He paid attention to every breath, every shift of my mouth, and every time my fingers tightened against his shirt.

When I made the smallest sound against his lips, he paused just enough to look at me.

That look nearly finished me.

“What?” I whispered.

Ryan’s thumb brushed my cheek. “Nothing.”

“That’s a lie.”

“Yeah.”

“Thought you usually tell the truth.”

His mouth curved against mine. “Truth is nobody’s business sometimes.”

I should’ve laughed.

Instead, I kissed him again.

Ryan caught me beneath the thighs and lifted me onto the counter so easily that my breath left in surprise. My hands went automatically to his shoulders as he stepped between my knees.

The position put us almost eye level.

His gaze moved over my face. “You good?”

“Yes.”

“Still want this?”

“Yes.”

His hand slid around the back of my neck. “Good.”

Then he kissed me again, and the second time carried none of the patience of the first.

My fingers pushed into his hair, gripping the short strands near the back of his head while his mouth moved from mine to the corner of my jaw.

Heat followed every place he touched.

His lips brushed beneath my ear, and I inhaled sharply.