Page 76 of South of Justice

She tilted her head. “Did she at least get a goodbye kiss before you ruined everything?”

He finally looked amused. “You really want me to answer that?”

Lucía’s eyes softened, though her mouth kept its edge. “And now you’re here. Still running.”

Ryan nodded once. “You, too.”

She didn’t deny it.

Lucía’s gaze held his for a long, loaded second. The room was still. The whole world seemed to have exhaled and not yet breathed in again.

She reached out, slowly, and let her fingers rest against his forearm. Light, tentative. Not an invitation. Just contact.

Ryan didn’t flinch.

Her hand moved upward, barely tracing. She paused at the bend of his elbow, then let her palm settle flat against his bicep. It was steady there, like she needed the solidity beneath it. Or like she was checking to see if he’d disappear.

He didn’t.

She could feel her pulse beating thickly under her skin all over her body. She tried to remember the last time a man coaxed this kind of a response out of her body just by looking at her. Actually, she knew exactly when that had been, and it was a very long time ago.

His hand came up, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The movement was hesitant, gentle. As if he knew he’d only get one chance to do this right.

The tension between them was so taunt it almost hummed. Without breaking eye contact, she leaned over until her mouthwas a breath away from his. There was a moment of pure, crystallized silence.

Then he closed that tiny distance and kissed her.

Their lips met in a soft press. Testing. But then he placed a hand on the back of her neck, and her head fell back and her mouth opened for him.

His tongue dipped into her mouth. Then there was no stopping it. Not now. There was only one way this was going to end, and they both knew it.

Most men treated kissing like something that had to be gotten over quickly so they could get to the main event. But not Ryan. He took his time, his tongue gliding against hers, like he could do this all night.

But after a while, urgency began growing. She could feel it in the way his fingers dug into her hair above her ear. She had twisted herself to face him on the bed and he had mirrored her. It was awkward and uncomfortable, and as soon as they broke off the kiss, their bodies automatically sought more user-friendly positions.

He moved across the bed, his back to the wall, pulling her with him. She swung herself onto his lap so her butt was pressed against his thighs. They didn’t make eye contact while they were doing this, just in case either saw something in the other’s eyes that made them rethink the consequences of it.

Regretting this was for later.

He reached up, fumbling the buttons of her shirt free. Because of her shoulder wound, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and at the sight of her bare breasts, he gave a low moan.

He cupped the left one, then the right. The sensation of his hands on her sent currents of pure pleasure over her skin.

She leaned over him, making short work of his shirt buttons. Pushing the fabric apart, she found what she’d only been ableto admire from afar: hard muscle, hot skin and a fine dusting of golden hair that trailed all the way down…

He watched her eyes slide down to his belt buckle. “Get my cock out,” he whispered.

A pulse of white-hot heat went straight to her core. Holy fuck, she wasn’t going to need to be told twice. She unclasped his belt and unzipped his fly. She slipped a hand into his briefs and pulled him out. He was big, and so thick that if she wasn’t already sopping wet between her legs, it would hurt. “Damn,” she murmured. “It’s always the quiet ones.”

As she ran her hand up his shaft, he drew in a sharp breath. “Lucía,” he said on the exhale. The word was both a question and a plea. “You want it inside you?”

She gave a breathy laugh. “If it’ll fit.”

He gripped the back of her neck, pulling her ear close to his lips. “Oh sweetheart, we can make it fit.”

His words made her almost moan out loud.

He unfastened the button fly of her pants and pushed them down her thighs. Then he slid his hand into her panties. When his fingers discovered how wet she was, a slow smile spread across his face.