Resisting Molly (9 page)

As they pulled up to the curb and she got out Lisa made kissing noises while Paige shouted, “Say hi to Mr. Dreamboat for us!”

They were still laughing as they drove off, and she made sure they were really gone before she opened the door and stepped inside. A bell jingled cheerfully over her head and a moment later Kyle appeared in the door of his office. The sight of him made her heart skip a couple of beats and she put on her best smile. His eyes went warm and she felt a flutter deep inside. Oh, melting wasn’t going to be the half of it if he kept looking at her that way.

“Hi again,” she said.

“I was wondering when you were going to come by. Want to take a look at those books?”

“Yes, please.”

He led her to a locked room next door to his office and flipped on the light. The shelves full of dusty tomes made her heart jump almost as much as seeing Kyle had.

“Oh, wow.”

“Take your time looking around, and like I said the other day, if you find anything you want I’ll cut you a deal.”

He grinned at her and then left her alone to browse.

She lost track of time in that room, pulling out countless books to marvel at them. Kyle had entire sets by rare authors alongside creaky, leather-bound volumes almost two hundred years old. She found whole bookcases filled with old histories and memoirs that she knew even the university library didn’t have, and wondered if she could talk Kyle into letting her borrow some of the ones she’d never be able to afford.

The tinkling of the bell on the shop door brought her back to the present.

“Oh, thanks. Yeah, just stack them by the door. I’m going to have to make room for them in the office.”

After a minute the bell clattered again. She had just returned to the book she was examining when there was a thud outside.

“Dammit!”

Alyssa poked her head out. “Is everything all right?”

There was another thud and a muffled curse. “Alyssa, can you help me a sec? The office door closed and my hands are full.”

Kyle’s muscles were straining with the weight of a big UPS box full of books in his arms, and Alyssa ducked past him and opened the door to his office.

“Thanks,” he said. “It’s hung crooked so it closes by itself if I forget to prop it open. One of these days I’m going to get around to fixing it.”

She followed in behind him to hold the door open, admiring the play of the muscles under his t-shirt as he lowered the box to the floor by his desk. That was all it took—her body was on fire for him. He was so close she could have reached out and touched him if she dared, and her lips parted in a soft little sigh. It was so not fair. Why couldn’t he want her?

Kyle lowered the box easily to the floor at the foot of the couch, careful of the fragile old books inside, and straightened slowly. When he turned around Alyssa was right there, practically nose to nose with him, wide green eyes watching him with naked longing, lips parted as though begging for his kiss. It was more than he could take. For days now he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head—that dimpled smile, her bright, intelligent eyes, her heart-shaped ass in those tight little shorts. She was sweet, bright, and so damned lovely it made his heart ache and he wanted her so badly he could taste it. Having her around was pure torture, but he couldn’t stand the thought of avoiding her or telling her to get lost. He knew he wasn’t right for her, couldn’t be right for her, but suddenly it no longer mattered.

His arms went around her waist and pulled her to him, her sweet heat sliding up to fit perfectly against his body just as he had imagined it would. As he bent to kiss her he kept his eyes on hers, watching the emotions flickering through her—desire, fear, and—dear God—trust. Where had that come from? Who was he that she should trust him? But then that didn’t matter, either.

Lips met lips in greedy passion, her softness giving way before him in uncertainty at first, but then as she gained some assurance she kissed him back with growing ardor. She wasn’t experienced but she was eager, excited. The warm velvet of her tongue teased across his lips far sooner than he had thought she would be ready, and when he pressed against hers in turn she opened willingly to him. While he explored her hot little mouth her tongue twisted and twined around his and her small hands rubbed softly up his arms and shoulders to clasp behind his neck. She lifted up on her tiptoes, pushing herself up into him as though begging him to devour her.

Even though he knew he knew he should stop, he knew he wasn’t going to. His hands left her waist to slide down her trim curves to the back of her thighs and then slowly up again to savor the swell of her firm ass. As he cupped her and squeezed his fingers into her flesh she moaned against his tongue and rubbed herself against his erection. He had barely touched her, just kissed her for a few seconds and he was already so hard he ached. It wasn’t as though he had been living like a monk, either. Something about Alyssa set him off like no one else before, and just thinking about burying himself inside her had him ready to cream in his pants.

Kyle’s hands on her bottom had Alyssa’s whole body thrumming, and when his fingertips stroked lightly against the bare skin under her peach colored t-shirt she felt every nerve come alive. The warmth of his palms slowly drifted up her back, leaving trails of heat lingering on her skin. Before she knew what he was about his fingers found her bra strap, and with a quick tug and twist the fastener came open. Alyssa froze as the lacy, white fabric fell away to leave her breasts bare and she waited, hardly daring to breathe. What was he going to do next?

Anthony looked up as Leah walked by for the third time in half an hour. The girl had touched up her makeup and hair since their conversation that morning, and somehow she had rearranged what little she was wearing to display even more skin. His manhood stirred restlessly as he let his gaze linger on her—dark brown curls tumbling loose halfway down her back, pouty lips practically begging to be kissed, midriff and long, tanned legs bare and inviting. His palms itched to slide over the golden satin of her skin, to explore her curves and the softness still hidden beneath her skimpy outfit.

Nineteen and hot, and she knew it. That made for a dangerous combination, especially for a girl who apparently enjoyed flaunting herself just to get a reaction from the men around her. He was reasonably sure that she was the only reason half of the guys from the office bothered to show up for the company picnics. The low conversations when her father wasn’t around sprinkled with a healthy dose of lewd comments and knowing laughter indicated that Leah would be playing the starring role in a number of fantasies later. Somehow he didn’t think she’d mind.

Anthony couldn’t deny that the little witch was having an effect on him as well, and from the sultry glances she kept throwing his way it was obvious that it was intentional. The girl was toying with him, trying to get his attention. Pushing his buttons. He could ignore that—to a point, anyway—but he was more concerned with how blatant she was being about it. People were going to realize what she was doing and they would talk, and while Leah was legally an adult and Anthony didn’t remotely give a damn what people said about him, he didn’t need the disruptions it could cause at the office.

On the other hand, he wasn’t like these other guys who would happily sit and let her prick-tease them all day long just so they’d have something to wank to later. No matter how hot she was, he simply wasn’t going to put up with some teenage girl trying to yank his chain. His eyes followed the hypnotic sway of her ass while she walked right past him, more daring with each passing minute. No, it was definitely time to end the little games. He had a pretty good idea how to put a stop to it, too.

*
         
*
 
        
*

Leah watched from across the shaded pavilion as Anthony got up from the picnic table and headed towards the restrooms. She was willing to swear that he got sexier every single time she looked at him. There was a catlike grace to the way he stalked across the ground, relaxed and powerful at the same time, and she could have spent hours just watching him move. The corded muscles rippling along his legs matched those of his upper body, and she wanted to run her hands from his shoulders to his calves to feel the silk-wrapped steel of him warm and hard against her fingertips.

She had caught him looking at her while she paraded in front of him, but unlike the other guys he didn’t turn away all flustered and embarrassed over it. His eyes had simply continued to sweep her from head to toe as though he intended to memorize every curve, and the heat in his gaze ignited a fluttery ache at the root of her sex. The longer she watched him the worse it got, and now it had become an insistent thrum that turned her pussy loose and liquid. Her body wanted him in the worst possible way, more than she had ever dreamed it was possible to want anyone. Maybe it was because he was forbidden, or maybe it was because she could sense the danger rolling off him like waves of cold from a block of ice; whatever the reason, an inexorable pull kept drawing her towards him.

With her heart in her throat she trailed him to the restrooms in the building behind the picnic pavilion. While he was inside she dithered around the corner wondering what to do, or whether she should actually do anything at all. The only thing she knew was the desperate tightness that gripped her chest at the thought of him. She heard a flush and then the sink splashing—he would be coming out any second. What was she going to do?

No one else was around, so she moved towards the door. Anthony stepped out, his eyes narrowing for a brief instant when he saw her, and then he smiled. Heart pounding, she smiled back and deliberately brushed against his arm as she passed him.

Before she had time to react he had her pushed up against the wall, his knee between hers, his hands pressed flat to either side of her shoulders so there was nowhere for her to go. The heat of his body so close to hers made her nipples harden and crinkle in need, and she looked up at him wild-eyed with a mixture of panic and raw desire.

“I think you’ve done about enough teasing for one day,” he murmured. “You’re a very pretty little girl, but I don’t play little girl games.”

His face bent to hers, and his breath tickled hot against her skin. Leah closed her eyes with a tiny shudder as his lips brushed lightly against the curve of her jaw and crept down to the soft skin of her neck.

“If you think I’m just another guy you can lead around by the dick, you are sadly mistaken.”

She swallowed hard at the words whispered into her ear, nipples and clit harder than they had ever been before and aching with a need so strong it made her teeth hurt. Anthony’s hands roamed her skin, gliding up her sides and up under her t-shirt to brush against the satin of her bra. A little moan started somewhere in her chest and crawled out of her throat.

“Is this what you want, Leah?” His lips hovered just above hers, so close she could feel the vibrations when he spoke. Fingertips found the hard knots of her nipples under her bra and grazed across them. “If this is what you want, don’t tease. Just ask. I won’t make you beg—much.”

The wet tip of his tongue flickered against her lips and then his mouth was on hers, a fleeting kiss that stole her breath and left her reeling. She had just enough time to taste the sharp bite of wintergreen on his tongue before the heat of him vanished from her. When she opened her eyes he was standing a few feet away with his hands on his hips, eyes dark and smoldering as he watched her trying to catch her breath.

“No more teasing,” he warned, “or this is going to turn into a very grown-up game that I really don’t think you’re ready to play.”

He disappeared around the side of the pavilion and left her standing there bewildered and disbelieving. And frustrated. Very, very frustrated.