A Brighter Spark (Xcite Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

so passionately about it. It’s been years and years since I looked at one of those things.’
    ‘Don’t apologise. I think it’s admirable that you care so much about protecting your children from negative influences like that,’ Daniel assured her. ‘A lot of people think the “bad stuff” that needs to be kept away from children is things like bad language, or gay people, or rude cartoons on TV. It’s always been a puzzle to me how people can be so wrong-headed about what the real “bad stuff” in the world is – it’s things like sexism and racism and homophobia. It’s letting little girls think their worth is tied to how much the boys around think they’re worth as an object to possess.’
    Suzy gave a self-deprecating snort. ‘I’m very lucky you don’t think swearing is one of the genuine bad things. We’d’ve been over the first time I opened my mouth.’
    ‘And more fool me if I’d been somebody that stupid,’ Daniel said with a grin, holding her hand across the table and giving her a look that made Suzy feel more beautiful than any magazine could ever hope to manage.
    For dessert they had hot apple pie and vanilla ice cream, and Daniel collected a little of each on his fork and fed it directly into her mouth, leaning in to kiss away stray crumbs from her lips. His jaw was smooth against her skin and smelled of his aftershave, and Suzy had to shift in her seat as the closeness of him began to get to her, making her excited at the thought of getting him alone again.
    The flirting escalated – the toe of her shoe brushing at the inside of his ankle, the touch of his fingertips against her palm as he gestured to explain a point. Suzy could see that Daniel’s eyes were blown wide and dark with want, and she felt certain that her own face was flushed, eyes hooded.
    Finally, finally, they finished their meal and left the restaurant. They managed two blocks of walking before they had to stop so that he could pin her against the wall and kiss her and kiss her.
    The wall was cold behind her back, heavy slabs of grey stone brick, solid and dark and sturdy on that spot for who knew how many years. Countless lovers might have stopped here before them, hot skin and panting breaths and desperate want there against the building’s shadow.
    Suzy braced herself against the stone and hitched one leg around against the crook of Daniel’s knee, bringing him in close against her and forcing him momentarily off balance until he found a new centre of gravity. She rocked her hips up against him, the pressure of his hardness still obvious enough through his slacks that a frisson of pleasure shot through her and made her moan.
    Daniel devoured the sound out of her mouth, his lips gentle but insistent against her own. He took his time, as if deaf to the choked whimpers he drew out of her with every rocking movement of his body against hers.
    With any other partner, the whole thing would have felt to Suzy like something silly. Teenage make-outs between two people too eager to wait for home before touching one another. But with Daniel it wasn’t like that in the least. He was so calm, so deliberate, so completely in control of the situation and of her. It made Suzy feel as if she was hot enough to melt inside, intoxicated by his touch and his kisses in a way no amount of wine could ever manage.
    Finally, finally, he slipped his tongue past her kiss-bruised lips, licking at her teeth before delving inside. Suzy moaned again, her whole body shaking in his grasp, her eyes rolling back in pleasure behind the flutter of her lashes.
    With a rumbled growl in his throat, perfect control finally cracking, Daniel gripped the thin fabric of her blouse in both hands and wrenched it open. Pearl buttons popped free and landed with quiet clatters on the sidewalk.
    His tongue fucked into her mouth again as he cupped one breast with his palm. The combination of the lace of the bra and the heated dampness of his palm against her