Claimed by the Mate, Volume 1 by Kate Douglas Page B

satiny skin, the shadow of his beard this late in the day so sexy she wanted to stroke his cheek and nibble along his jawline. Instead, she sat.
    On the edge of the mattress, as far from him as she could get.
    He reached over and took her empty glass out of her hand and set it on the table beside the bed. Then he patted the covers beside him. “Move closer?”
    She really couldn’t find her voice, but she nodded. Closer was okay. She could do closer.
    She scooted over, careful to keep the towel wrapped tightly around her breasts, covering her belly and her hips and thighs. Thank goodness it was a big towel.
    â€œYou did invite me here, remember?”
    She nodded. Felt her skin flush, knew she was beet red. She didn’t trust herself to talk.
    â€œDo you have any idea how much I’ve been thinking of you since you crawled out of that car yesterday, all sweet and sexy and rumpled from your long trip?”
    This time she shook her head. How could anyone think she looked sexy when they’d gotten here? She’d been dirty and sweaty, her hair in tangles from driving with the window open, her clothes all wrinkled.
    He laughed. “I know what you’re thinking, that you were travel worn and I must have a screw loose, but you were—you are—the sexiest woman I’ve seen in so long. That’s mainly why I’m here, so I could tell you that. Well, plus I wanted to see that luscious body of yours. I can’t stay long—I have to go get some things ready for dinner to feed all of you starving women and your voracious appetites.”
    She smiled at that, at the thought that there were only men seeing to their every need. Brad merely traced the line of her jaw with one finger.
    â€œI hope you realize I’m living proof that, yes, men can cook.”
    She bit her lips to keep from laughing. He made her feel so good, all warm and tingly, and it wasn’t all about sex. It was about being happy as much as anything.
    She hadn’t really thought of that. Brad made her happy, mainly because he was. She turned to him and ran her fingers through his thick hair. “I think you’re living proof that men can do a lot of things.”
    He shot her a sexy grin. “That’s good to know. Does that mean you’ll let me kiss you?”
    Shrugging, she smiled and said, “I haven’t stopped you before, have I?”
    â€œNo,” he said. “You certainly haven’t.”
    She bit her lips to keep from laughing, but Brad grabbed her around the waist and lifted her onto his lap, moving so quickly she didn’t have time to come up with a reason for him not to pick her up as if she weighed nothing at all.
    And wasn’t that a nice surprise … he was definitely strong, and he made her feel so—well, not small. She would never think of herself as small, but he made her feel feminine. Desirable.
    His big arms came around her, large, warm hands stroking her bare back above the damp towel. Her breasts, while covered in the towel, were pressed against his broad chest, while his lips covered hers in the sweetest of kisses. He nibbled at her mouth and ran his tongue along the seam of her lips until she parted for him.
    He deepened the kiss until “sweet” wasn’t the word that came to mind at all. His tongue tangled with hers, his lips moved over her lips, but his hands … his hands had somehow slipped beneath the towel to stroke her naked back, and it was all so amazing, the pressure of his mouth, the sensual delight of his big hands roaming the length of her spine, stroking the flare of her hips.
    Her breathing grew labored and so did Brad’s. She felt the thick length of his erection against her hip and didn’t complain at all when he lifted her once again, turning her so that she straddled his lap and that thick length rode between her legs, the soft fabric of his shorts hiding nothing as they connected beneath the rumpled