The Case of the Mesmerizing Boss Read Online Free PDF Page A

revived male vitality that responded suddenly, and with devastating results, to Tess’s femininity….
    With her blond hair around her shoulders and wearing a white peasant dress with a colorful belt, she danced into his apartment at lunchtime one day carrying a homemade cake. Dane was in jeans and barefoot, his white T-shirt over his muscular chest damp with sweat from the workout he’d been having in his improvised gym. He limped a little because of his wounds, but he could walk. Now he was intent on walking without the limp, getting fit. But Tess was making him vulnerable all over again, draining him of strength.
    He wanted her desperately, even if it was totally against his will. He’d been without a woman for a long time, and he needed someone. Tess was tempting him beyond bearing. She looked at him with eyes that wanted him, and the need had smoldered so long that it got away from him. She hadn’t seen the calculating look he’d given her as she de-The Case of the Mesmerizing Boss29 posited the cake on the counter in the kitchen, or the warning glitter of his black eyes.
    “What’s this?” he asked in a sensual tone he’d never used with her before, moving close.
    “Just a pound cake,” she said breathlessly, her eyes shyly glancing off his as she registered the devastating impact of his nearness on her pulse rate. Her eyes adored him. “I thought you might have a sweet tooth. How do you feel? You look…much better.” Her eyes had dropped, as if the sight of him delighted her, embarrassed her.
    He hadn’t thought about her love life, or lack of it, or it might have prevented what happened next. His only intent at the time had been to ease the ache devouring him, in the quickest possible way.
    “I’ve got a sweet tooth, all right,” he’d said softly as he backed her up against the counter and leaned his body into hers. “You must have one, too. You spend half your life devouring me with those sultry eyes. I’d have to be blind not to know what you feel for me. Is this what you want, Tess?” he asked huskily, and moved his hips blatantly against hers, letting her feel the stark evidence of his desire for her. She blushed, but he wasn’t looking. His eyes were on her parted lips. “God knows, I want you beyond bearing!”
    Her mind had stopped working, shock mingling with fear. Before she could find the words to protest, his hard, hungry mouth covered hers, his hips pushing her against the counter behind her. His hands lifted her into the stark aroused curve of his body, and his tongue went into her mouth with enough lust to make even a virgin aware of his intent.
    Tess had only been kissed once or twice, always by men who knew how sheltered her life was. Now she was being subjected to an embrace that only an experienced woman could have responded to, and it scared her to death.
    She stiffened and pushed at his chest frantically, but her actions didn’t penetrate the haze in his mind. One lean hand possessed her breast roughly while his leg suddenly stabbed between hers in an explicit movement that made her panic. ”Dane…no!” she panted, wild-eyed.
    He barely heard her. “Yes,” he groaned unsteadily. “Oh, God, yes, yes…!” His powerful arm contracted. “You want me, don’t

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    Diana Palmer
     
    you, baby?” he’d asked blindly, his body shuddering as his mouth burned over her bare shoulders and throat, only to return, hot and heavy and rough on hers. “Don’t you? Right here.” He groaned harshly, his hands moving under her skirt, holding her bare thighs as he shifted her so that she could feel the blatant need of his body pressing hungrily at the threshold of her innocence.
    She gasped, her heart shaking at the sensations the contact aroused. She moaned under his mouth, frightened.
    “Here,” he growled. “Right here, baby, standing up,” he said shakily. His hands were on bare skin, touching her as no man ever had, as if his own need was paramount, as if she were simply a