Whatever the Cost Read Online Free PDF Page A

stares—taking in all the details; the French manicure, her shapely bare legs and the way the stilettos show them off, the way the delicate edge of her loose skirt skims her thighs, the fullness of her breasts heaving gently with every breath. Most of all though, it’s her lips, the incredible ripeness of them and the way her tangerine-colored lipstick makes them shiny wet, a perfect, plump bow.
    A small wordless plea, communicated only with her wide, beseeching eyes, is what gets Jacen to move. He has a job to do here and, so far, he’s not doing it. If this is going to work the right way, there can’t be discussion beforehand. It just has to happen naturally, like Jacen is just another John Doe. If they acknowledged each other first, it would break the spell and it’s always nearly impossible to get Liam back to being comfortable enough to try again.
    Before he’s able to realize that he should let her cross to him and practice her walk, Jacen is surging toward her, his larger, towering, broad-shouldered form coming at her. She backs herself up to the doorframe, leaning against it with upturned eyes, breath catching on the inhale as Jacen invades her space. He slips a hand around her small waist, his other cups under her jaw, his thumb stroking the butter-smooth skin of her cheek and
god
but he wants to kiss her, especially when her lips part softly in what seems to be an invitation and her head tilts slightly into his touch.
    “Leah?”
    “Yeah,” she whispers. It’s barely a sound, a purr, and he has to lean in even closer to hear it.
    Then he can’t hold back any longer. Simply reacting to her, her beckoning stare, he leans in and his lips barely skim against the line of her jaw. It’s the lightest of brushes of skin on skin, though it does make her shiver. She tastes faintly of peaches when he sucks the lingering taste of her from his lips, pulling back.
    On instinct, he takes her hand and spins her out into the room, making her skirt flare out, her hips twisting as he reins her back into his arms, walking her slowly back to the couch. His eyes are all over her, peeking down the V of her neckline, groping over her hairless arms, knowing instinctively that she’s waxed everywhere. When his hand skims down past her hip to her upper thigh, he feels the muscle bunch, working as she steps backward with his continued advance, trying not to topple over, anticipating the edge of the couch at any moment.
    Just before she gets to it, he shifts around behind her, sinking down onto the cushion and caressing her legs as he goes, holding her there, not letting her get away.
    Pushing the skirt up a few inches, Jacen gropes her bare thighs and catches a glimpse of the curve of her ass and her black lace thong as he pulls her down onto his lap, straddling his legs, facing away from him. She lands gracefully, legs clenched as she tries to keep her weight on them and not Jacen.
    “Relax. It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he hushes. “Just relax.”
    He pulls her back even more and she leans against his firm, broad chest, her head falling to the side as his lips drag open-mouthed almost-kisses over her long neck, inhaling more of the scent of her.
    “Damn, you smell good enough to eat,” he murmurs, pulling her thighs apart, spreading her wide.
    Leah’s breath catches on a soft surprised sound when his big hands drag up her inner thighs, all the way to her crotch, lightly stroking the soft skin there, right beside the edge of her panties. Jacen tugs sharply again at her legs, pulling her ass flush against him, wanting her thighs even more spread, hiking her skirt up further. Watching her expression as she teases her lip between her teeth again, he fondles her breast through the dress. It gets her to push her chest out a little more, pressing into his touch, her back arching as he squeezes.
    He is utterly astonished at how much this is turning him on.
    Keenly aware that her firm, bare ass is rubbing against his growing