Dangerous by Suzannah Daniels Page A

until he held my face between his palms, his fingers splayed, warm against my skin.
    He kissed me with gentle urgency, and all conscious thought melted away as I succumbed to that dangerous aura that surrounded him, the one that left me unable to think coherently.
    Disappointed that he had ended the kiss, I leaned into him as he pulled away. He remained close, his thumbs caressing my cheeks. “My little hummingbird,” he whispered against my lips.
    “Your nectar isn’t quite as sweet as you seem to think it is,” I muttered.
    He smirked. “Then why do you have a death grip around my waist?”
    I jumped away from him as if we had been separated by a bolt of lightning. I could feel my face burning a brilliant shade of red, and I turned away from him in embarrassment.
    “I’m sorry,” I whispered, facing the tree.
    He walked up behind me and slid his arms around my waist, clasping his hands in front of me. “I liked it,” he whispered in my ear.
    I could feel my face burning even brighter, though I wouldn’t have thought it possible. I couldn’t stop the smile tugging at my lips. At least my back was to him, which saved me from further embarrassment. I leaned against him, savoring the feel of his arms around me. He nuzzled my neck with tender kisses, sending tingling jolts of electricity through my body. His fingers skimmed along the edge of my low-rise jeans, before gripping my waist on each side and turning me to face him.
    “You feel so good,” he whispered, running his hand under the back of my shirt and pressing his palm against the small of my back, pulling me to him for another kiss.
    I couldn’t think with his lips on mine and his warm fingers rhythmically stroking my bare skin along the edge of my jeans. Dangerous. He was dangerous. This was dangerous. It took all my strength and willpower to place my palms on his chest and gently push him away, breaking the spellbinding lip-lock.
    He cast a lopsided grin. “You’re afraid of losing control with me.”
    I was shocked, though I wasn’t sure if it was because he just said that out loud or because it was true. I opened my mouth to deny it, but quickly shut it again. I wasn’t a very good liar. I dropped my eyes to his neck, too nervous to look him in the eye.
    He kissed the tip of my nose and gave a playful tug to a strand of my hair. “Don’t worry. I have no plans to ravish you on our first date.”
    Surprised that he considered this our first date, my eyes flew to his.
    He tugged at my hand and motioned toward the trunk of the willow tree. “Come on. Let’s sit and talk a while.”
    We both sat at the base of the tree, but he didn’t let go of my hand. He positioned it on his thigh, cupping his hand around mine, his thumb caressing the tip of my pinkie.
    “So how do you like working at the bookstore?” he asked.
    “So far, so good. Tom seems very nice.”
    “Yeah, Tom’s a good guy, even if he is a little nerdy.”
    “You seem to be a good guy, too, even if you are a little conceited,” I jabbed.
    “Conceited is just another word for self-confident. And sometimes, the only confidence one can depend on is his own.”
    I watched his face, wondering what he meant by that, but he didn’t elaborate.
    “And rule number one…don’t ever assume that I’m a good guy. I’m not. And I could give you a whole list of people who would trip all over themselves to verify that.”
    “And who would be on that list?” If he was trying to scare me away, it was working. Who wanted to go out with someone who was a self-proclaimed bad guy? But I really wasn’t getting that vibe from him despite his words.
    “My father for one.”
    “Your dad?” I asked, surprised.
    He stared at our hands. “Let’s just say I’m not his pick.”
    “You think he prefers your brothers over you?”
    “I know he does.”
    “I’m sure your dad loves you just as much as them.”
    He stopped caressing my hand with his thumb. “You sound like my mother.”
    “If