chapter 53

Lyss didn’t know what to say. This really gorgeous man she’d never dreamed would need a date was holding her hand and calling her beautiful.

Most of her exes weren’t bad looking, but hunk-man gave them a kick in the balls on the sexiness Richter scale.

“Hang on a second.” She glanced around between the trees, searching for a camera crew. “Am I being Punk’d? Because that’d be some real cruel shit but I wouldn’t put it past my mother.”

“What?” Gray asked.

“Look. It’s not every day I get a man that looks like you telling me he is looking for a long-term relationship and thinks I’m beautiful. So yes, I’m questioning it. To be completely honest, I’m wondering if you’re high, being real or joking.”

His lips lifted in a grin. Lord almighty what a smile. His eyes shone with laughter. The previously golden color had sparks of blue in them. They were truly mesmerizing. Why would a man this handsome and clearly in touch with his sexiness go to a dating agency? The women in that town were either blind or stupid.

She had the urge to fidget and glance down at her clothes. Did she look okay? Thank God Gerri had taken her shopping. She doubted he’d be saying she was beautiful if he saw her in a pair of too big sweats, bed head and surrounded by cats. Christ. The image alone scared the shit out of her.

“First, I am not high. There is no drug out there that could do a thing for me. Second, I don’t think you understand. You are beautiful and I am looking for a long-term relationship,” he said.

“But I’ll tell you something. If anyone thinks calling you beautiful is a good way to joke then they don’t see what I see.”

She cleared her throat at the quick change of his tone. He’d gone from sexy and flirty to deadpan and serious.

“And what’s that?”

“A woman who doesn’t need the trappings of war paint and too tight outfits to display how beautiful she is. Inside and out.”

Oh, wow.

“Um, war paint?”

He frowned. “You women call it makeup.”

A slow smile crept over her lips and a giddy sensation of excitement buzzed in her veins.

He moved forward, crowding her with the heat of his large body. Oh boy. She didn’t move for fear she’d blink and he’d disappear. He slid his hands up her arms, grasping her by the shoulders and tugged her close. So close there wasn’t an inch of space between their bodies.

She licked her dry lips again. Heck, her entire throat had turned to sandpaper.

“You keep doing that and I won’t be held accountable for my actions,” he murmured, his voice low and deep.

“Doing what?” She asked, staring at the fuzz of facial hair she wanted to rake her nails over. She’d never been one to like men with beards but that short hint of one on Gray was making her insane.

“Licking your lips.” He slowly lowered his head toward hers. “It’s like an invitation for me to kiss you.”

Was it? She’d never had that response before. Maybe now was a good time to find out what kind of chemistry they had. It was one thing for her to think he was hot, but quite another for him to make her panties wet. Okay, wetter. The man was a sight with that tattooed body and short blonde hair begging for her to grip.

“Do it,” she said boldly, not believing for a second he’d follow through. “Kiss me.”

Much to her surprise, he did. He dropped his head until his lips brushed softly over hers. Once. Twice. And then she lost patience and gripped the front of his T-shirt, yanking him closer to mesh their lips in a passionate kiss.

His tongue slid into her mouth and dominated. With each swipe over hers, he heightened the passion flaring in her blood. He glided his hands up to cup her face at first. Then he slid them around the back of her head and tugged the ribbon holding her hair up to let the long, thick strands tumble free.

She moaned into the kiss. Christ he was so good with that tongue, rubbing and grazing it back and forth over hers. Her nipples puckered tight under her top. They ached with an intensity she’d never felt before. All her muscles locked into place. It was like none of the kisses she’d ever been given had been real. Nothing compared to Gray’s lips pressing over hers. To his tongue fondling hers. To his hands gripping her hair. And to, oh dear God, the hard bar of his cock rubbing on her belly. Lust pooled at her core and heated her from the inside like a forest fire.

Need grew in her for the man doing with a single kiss what others could not do with months of sex. She moaned.

He grunted and moved his hands down her neck to cup her breasts over her shirt. Hot shudders raced down her spine to her clit. A new throbbing took hold of her pussy. She wanted this big, sexy guy naked. Now.

He fondled her breasts, massaging and tweaking her nipples. With every squeeze her pussy fluttered. Her panties had gone past damp to soaked.

She pulled away from him, just enough to catch her breath and look into his bright golden eyes. The need and lust she saw there made her shiver.

“I want you,” he said, his voice firm, low and rough.

Those had to be the best words any man had ever said to her. Not because she’d never been told she was wanted before, she had, but because he said it in such a way she knew it was true. He said it as if it was killing him to not be inside her and by God that made the words all the more special.

“I—”

She didn’t get a chance to say anything. Her words died in her throat. His gaze jerked up from her face and his features turned feral, animalistic and angry. The warmth inside her died a sudden death and was replaced with icy fear.

He turned around, pushing her behind him until she was pressed between him and a tree.