More Blazing Bedtime Stories: Once Upon a Mattress by Julie Leto, Leslie Kelly Page A

reason.”
    Mutual.
    “You saved me from something pretty awful tonight.”
    He frowned at the thought. “He won’t get away with it.”
    “I know. I’ll contact the sheriff in the morning. But I doubt he’s anywhere near here. He probably won’t stop running until he hits the Gulf of Mexico.”
    “He can run as far as he wants to,” he muttered.
    “Anyway, thank you, Lucas. For saving me, for bringing meback here, taking care of me.” She moved closer, the soft smell of her perfume filling every molecule of air between them.
    “You’re welcome,” he replied, his voice just as low.
    He didn’t know what she intended. At least, not until she rose on tiptoe and leaned toward his face. Saying nothing, she brushed her soft lips across his in a touch as fleeting as a caress from a summer breeze.
    Lucas gritted his teeth and steeled his will. Fisting his hands by his sides, he used every ounce of his power to remain still, not grab her in his arms and kiss her with all the deep hunger he’d felt for her since the moment he’d seen her.
    “Why did you do that?” he asked, his throat tight.
    He expected to hear a stammering response— It was a thank-you kiss, an expression of my gratitude . Instead, he got pure honesty. Pure Penny.
    “I wanted to.”
    Some deep-rooted masochistic gene made him growl, “Do you want to again?”
    She nodded once. “Yeah. A lot .”
    With a groan, Lucas gave up all resistance. The invisible restraints that had seemed to bind him erupted in an explosion of pure hunger. He wrapped one arm around her waist, cupping her chin in the other hand. Dragging her up, he bent to meet her, and their lips crashed together and parted.
    As Penny’s warm tongue thrust against his in deep, hungry tastes, he swallowed down the wild, untamed flavor of her. He tilted her head to one side, his to the other, needing to go deeper, wanting to devour her whole, from the inside out.
    They kissed deeply, paused to gasp for air, kissed again. Penny pressed against him, her soft body molding against his. He couldn’t stop himself from lowering his hand, brushing it down her neck.
    “Oh, please, keep touching me,” she whispered against his lips, arching up toward his fingers.
    As if he could stop. Lucas slid his hand down, determinedto be careful, not to hurt her the way he knew he could, especially at this time of the month. When he wanted to be…wild.
    Brushing the soft curve of one breast, he let his thumb slide down over its taut tip, which thrust provocatively against the filmy shirt.
    She hissed when he reached his prize and plucked at it.
    “Oh, God, yes.”
    He kissed her deeply again, sucking her tongue into his mouth, imitating what he wanted to do to her nipple. And her sensitive clit, which he was dying to see, touch, taste.
    She didn’t have to beg him to give her what she wanted. He knew by her tiny whimpers, the cries in her throat. Without thought, without planning, he tugged the fabric up, lifting his mouth from hers just far enough to pull the shirt all the way off her. Then he touched her again, feeling warm, puckered flesh.
    Plus something else.
    “What the…” he muttered, looking at the beautiful breast in his hand. Perfectly formed, pert and lush. And bejewelled .
    “What the hell have you done to yourself, woman?” he asked, somehow pushing the words out of a throat that felt too tight to keep bringing necessary air into his lungs. Because while part of him wanted to spank her for marring her perfect body so painfully, another part was sure he’d never seen anything as wickedly erotic in his life.
    Two pretty silver rings hung from the tips of Penny Mayfair’s breasts. The Princess of Riverdale had pierced her nipples. But from her rapturous cries as she thrust harder against his hand and ground her groin against him, pain was the last thing she was thinking about. Which meant she had done it for her own pleasure. She liked the sensations it wrought.
    Her fingers twined in