Taking Liberty Read Online Free Page A

his back, her boot digging into his sternum. It took several seconds to chase down his breath.
    With her heel planted firmly in place, she leaned over him, her eyebrows smugly arched. “It’s extremely rude to touch someone without being invited. Might want to remember that.”
    â€œWell, since you’ve already corrected me for the oversight by cracking my spine, I might as well make it worth my while.”
    â€œI didn’t crack your—”
    Before she finished spitting out the denial, he grasped the leg pinning him and tugged. Hard. She toppled, sprawling across his chest with an “ Oof .” Her shocked gasp puffed against his face. Gripping the back of her neck, he dragged her in for an angry kiss that finally managed to shut her up. She attempted to jerk back, but he clamped his hand against the base of her skull and captured her bottom lip between his teeth.
    He’d intended the kiss as punishment, never realizing he’d become the victim of his own dirty game when a soft moan spilled from her mouth. The sound wrapped around his cock like silken fingers. Coaxing. Teasing.
    Groaning, he let her lip slip free of his teeth and he licked along the seam, easing the sting. Her eyes stared into his, so close he could easily detect the darker specks of blue in her irises. He eased his hold on her scalp, the soft, cool strands of her hair sifting between his fingers. Angling his head for a better approach, he delved his tongue between her lips. Her tongue retreated. Not far, once he captured it and sucked it into willing submission. She tasted like cinnamon and spice and everything sinful. Everything he should be running screaming from. So why the hell were his hands traveling the slope of Rini’s neck and feathering past her shoulders to her breasts?
    Her nails bit through the thin cotton of his shirt, sinking in just above the waistband of his pants. If she inched a little lower…
    Rini shifted her mouth away, earning his frustration. She nibbled on her bottom lip.
    â€œBaby, don’t. That’s my job.” Chuckling, he curled his fingers around her chin, drawing her closer.
    She wrenched away from him before his mouth could reclaim its prize. Pushing to her feet, she glared at him, her chest heaving. “You’re unbelievable.”
    Why did he have the feeling her words weren’t intended as a compliment to his kissing skills? “Why? What did I do?”
    â€œDon’t try to play the innocent. You don’t wear the role well.”
    He lurched to a sitting position. “Mind clueing me in on what the hell you’re blabbering about? I seem to have left my female outrage decoder at home.”
    â€œYou kissed me.” She hissed the accusation.
    â€œYeah, I’m with you so far.”
    â€œAre you going to deny you did it to sidetrack me?”
    He didn’t immediately answer. Apparently that was the wrong tack to take. She spun away and stalked into the bridge. Planting his hands on the steel flooring, he hefted to his feet. He arched his back and winced, massaging the tender—and likely bruised—base of his spine. “Babe, if I thought a kiss would sidetrack you, don’t you think I would have done it before we left Warddok Ten?”
    â€œI don’t know,” she shot over her stiff shoulder. “Maybe you’re not real quick on the uptake.”
    Moving like a hundred-pound weakling who’d just gone twenty rounds with the intergalactic sumo-wrestling champion, Lucus staggered towards his seat. He’d learned his lesson. His mother hadn’t raised a dunderhead who didn’t know the drill. Okay, maybe she’d raised one dunderhead. Regardless, no matter how delectable Rini was, his lips would keep a ten-foot radius from her at all times. He was too attached to his dick to risk anything closer.
    He plopped into the pilot’s seat and bit his tongue to keep from whimpering in agony when his sore