Steele Read Online Free PDF Page B

within. Marla looked at the table, already set with delicately fine china and tall candlesticks.
    “How lovely.” She came forward to run her finger down the curve of a plate decorated with tiny orchids.
    “Have a seat. I’ll serve.”
    Marla watched as he took their plates and filled them with spaghetti. Once he was seated across from her she poured them each wine from a waiting bottle.
    “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me,” she told him.
    “I like having the excuse to go all out,” he said softly. “Please,” he motioned toward her plate, “eat.”
    The first bite nearly made Marla swoon. It was the best spaghetti she’d ever tasted by far. The noodles were absolute perfection and the sauce was tangy and sweet and amazing. “This is delicious.”
    “Thank you.” He took a large bite himself.
    The wine flowed freely as did the conversation. Before Marla knew it, it was going on nine o’clock. She’d been talking to him for almost three hours without feeling the time pass at all. Her head was fuzzy from the alcohol, but her senses were heightened. It was a lovely feeling.
    She couldn’t stop staring at Steele’s lips. They kept distracting her. They looked soft and utterly kissable. She couldn’t help but imagine how they would feel moving over hers. She looked away with a guilty start, only to be drawn back to looking seconds later.
    “Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked him suddenly, and nearly kicked herself for being so blatantly interested.
    Steele smiled as if he knew what was on her mind. “No,” he replied gently.
    “Why not?”
    “My life is completely wrapped up in Sterling. Most women wouldn’t understand that.”
    “Well, I’m not most women,” she said boldly, watching him closely.
    Steele rose to his feet and took her hand. He pulled her up from her seat with gallant care. “This is happening so fast,” he whispered, and rested his forehead against hers.
    “I know. But I like it,” she said honestly.
    “I didn’t bring you here to ravish you.”
    “I know. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t anyway.”
    “You’re still weak.”
    “I’ll always be weak from that damn coma if I don’t try to overcome it.” She smiled. “I’m willing to try with you.”
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered, his warm breath fanning over her mouth.
    “Then don’t,” she whispered back.
    He brought his hands up to the sides of her temples. He gently ran his thumbs over her eyes, closing them. “I want to kiss you,” he breathed.
    “Yes,” she gasped, in thrall to his touch and his nearness. “Yes.”
    He cradled her head in his hands and slowly, as if to give her time to turn away, he lowered his mouth to hers. The first contact of their lips touching made her heart thunder a tempestuous rhythm. His mouth was the softest she’d ever kissed. Marla put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
    His big hands were so gentle, holding her captive to his kiss. She sank into the embrace and felt heat pool low in her belly. She let her hands slide down over the bulging ridge of muscles that were his chest and opened her mouth to his questing tongue, gasping when he gave it to her.
    The flavor of him blossomed on her tongue. He tasted of spice and wine and man. He put his arms around her and held her tight against him so that Marla could feel the enormous ridge of his erection.
    Everything on his body was built on a surprisingly large scale.
    His big, broad palm pressed into the small of her back, bringing her even closer against him. His tongue slid alongside hers, his lips moving over hers until she was mindless to anything else. She kneaded the muscles of his chest then moved her hands lower, over his belly.
    Steele sucked in a deep breath and pulled her hands away. “Don’t. I’m ticklish,” he murmured against her mouth. Marla filed that information away for later inspection.
    He lifted her easily up in his arms, holding her so that her