Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

have thought him angry, but her gaze had dropped to the zipper of his trousers. Not angry. He was aroused. Intensely so.
    She might have been surprised, except she’d done her part to get him that way. He’d been about to kiss her when Ford woke up. She’d switched to mother mode, but even as she’d comforted her son, even as she’d wept with him, sharing his relief, even then she’d not forgotten that Joseph was there. And that he’d been about to kiss her.
    So when he helped her out of the SUV in front of the hotel, she’d kissed him first. Hard and fast, her hands in his hair. She’d let him go with a single word. ‘Sooner’.
    Now, something was about to happen.
    Thank God . She’d nearly jumped him on the interstate when he’d seeded her imagination with all the things he’d do to her. Below the waist.
    The door flew open and it was suddenly ‘sooner’.
    He didn’t pause to chat. Time for sweet nothings was done. In a fluid movement his hand gripped her jaw, lifting her face, taking her mouth with a ferocity that left her lips tender and her lungs empty.
    She was hot, her skin tight and tingling in all the right places. She drew her head back to gasp in a breath and he took advantage, thrusting his tongue in her mouth. And what had always seemed . . . puzzling as to its appeal now made perfect, perfect sense. It was a prelude. A promise. What he was doing with his mouth was what he’d do with that rock hard flesh that pressed against her, down low.
    He broke away, his voice a growl that made her shiver. ‘Say yes.’
    ‘Yes.’
    He backed her against the door, hands on either side of her head, hips surging against her center. ‘Anything I want. Say it.’
    ‘Any . . .’ She faltered. ‘What do—’
    ‘Anything I want,’ he repeated harshly. Then softly, ‘Everything I want will make you feel good. You have my word. So tell me, Daphne. Anything I want.’
    She nodded. Found her voice. ‘Anything.’
    He kissed her again, gentle plucking kisses that made her want to sigh. He nuzzled her throat, licking a line to where her pulse throbbed. ‘Nervous?’
    ‘A little. Yes.’
    ‘Don’t be.’ He rolled his hips and she sucked in a breath. ‘Are you wet?’
    A shiver sensitized her skin. Oh God . ‘Yes.’
    ‘A little?’
    She let out a breath. ‘No.’
    His exhale was ragged. ‘Good.’ He kept his hands flat against the door on either side of her head and took her mouth in another blistering, hard kiss. She grabbed onto his coat and held on.
    ‘Unbutton your coat,’ he said. Hands shaking, she did so, dropping it to the floor without a second thought. ‘Now the sweater.’ She pulled it over her head, hesitating when the turtleneck caught her wig, fearing what he’d ask next. Carefully she tugged it free, smoothing her hair as she dropped the sweater on top of her coat.
    His mouth descended to hers again, this kiss lush and unhurried, and when he lifted his head she hummed a protest. ‘This time you get to choose what you take off,’ he murmured. ‘Jeans or the bra.’
    ‘I still have boots on.’
    ‘I’ll take care of that,’ he said smoothly and she shivered again, all kinds of images flitting through her mind. ‘Take off your jeans for me, Daphne.’
    How she managed the snap and zipper she didn’t know, but a shove and a shimmy of her hips sent her jeans to pool around her ankles. His breath shuddered out, warming her shoulder. Which he kissed. He moved to her collarbone, letting his breath warm her skin there, too. He traced the center of her throat with the tip of his tongue and she sucked in a breath.
    ‘Joseph.’ She felt him smile against her skin.
    ‘You’re not shy are you, Daphne?’ He didn’t wait for an answer, walking his hands down the door in a prowling motion, his shoulders rolling like a big cat. He kissed his way down her stomach until he was on his knees, kneeling before her, his nose a fraction of an inch from where she was very wet indeed.
    He inhaled, the exhale a rough sound that weakened her knees.
    ‘You make me impatient, Joseph.’
    He chuckled darkly. ‘Good. Because you’re driving me crazy. Do you know how good you smell? How much I want to dive in and taste you?’
    She had to lock her knees which made him chuckle again. ‘Why don’t you?’
    His swallow was audible. ‘Because I want your legs free. The first time I saw you, I imagined your legs over my shoulders, my tongue buried so deep inside you.’ Again the dark