Stranded With Ella
Page 20
“I thought you liked Gwen,” she added.
“I do like her, but I felt like I was dating my sister.”
Maggie’s brown eyes widened. “Ouch. You didn’t tell her that, did you?”
“No. Our parting was amicable.” Her compassion made his heart melt. He wanted to hug her for caring about a woman she’d met only once.
“Do you have your eye on someone else?” She sipped her coffee and glanced at him over the rim of her mug.
“Not really,” he said, seeing an opening. “Gwen was always complaining about rugby season during winter. With training and Saturday games, I don’t have many free nights. I’m not desperate for a replacement. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that you always have a woman.” White teeth nibbled her bottom lip. A cute furrow formed and vanished between her eyes, as if she didn’t believe him.
“Maggie, contrary to public opinion I don’t always have a woman around.”
“Can I ask a personal question?”
“Sure.” He wouldn’t guarantee a reply, but her expression told him she’d guessed that.
“What about sex? I mean, I like sex. The closeness and sleeping with a guy.” She paused, looked him straight in the eye. “Do you miss sex when you’re not going out with someone?”
Connor laughed. This conversation couldn’t have gone better if he’d scripted it. “Sure, I miss sex.” He hesitated, wondering how honest he should be with her. “This is just between us, right?”
“I would never share a private conversation with any of the others.”
Connor knew it was true. While their other friends gossiped amongst themselves, he’d never heard Maggie repeat anything confidential. Not once. “Yeah, I miss sex,” he said. “I love to explore a woman’s body, her scent and taste, her soft curves. Masturbation doesn’t bring the same pleasure. My hand never feels quite the same as tight, hot pussy.”
Color shaded her cheeks, although she nodded. “I know what you mean. It’s the emptiness afterward that gets to me.” Her smile was rueful. “I’m probably every man’s nightmare because I like to cuddle. Sleeping alone and self-pleasuring isn’t the same.”
He’d ask her. Right now. The timing couldn’t be better.
A feeling he recognized as terror speared his gut. A lot rode on her reaction to his next question. Connor placed his coffee mug on the counter. “Will you kiss me?”
“A kiss?” A surprised laugh escaped her. “Why?”
“I have an idea, but I need a kiss first.”
Smiling, Maggie leaned close and pressed her lips against his cheek. She moved back before he reacted.
“That wasn’t quite what I had in mind.” Blood rushed through his veins, his heart thudding against his ribs in an erratic manner. Hell, sex between them would be good, if this innocent little kiss was any sign. “A real kiss.”
Connor closed the distance between them and grasped her head in his hands. She jumped at his touch, stared at him, a spark of indefinable emotion darkening the golden-brown of her eyes to chocolate. His gaze dropped to her mouth. God, he’d always loved her mouth, fantasized about kissing it, seeing her lips wrapped around his cock. He snorted. Like that idea would score him points. Connor brushed his lips against hers. Soft. So soft. The rest of his body went on high alert, cock filling to press against his fly.
She sighed and he took advantage, slipping his tongue inside to taste her. Coffee and a faint minty flavor danced across his taste buds. At first he kept the kiss slow and gentle, then he lifted his head to study her. He liked the dreamy expression on her face, but he enjoyed kissing her more. He wanted her to respond to his kiss, needed to know she felt even a little like he did. Her eager lips and the hands threading through his hair, holding him in place as he wrapped his arms around her again, shot his doubts to hell.
Slowly, he pulled back. They were both breathing fast. “Okay. That answered my question.”
Maggie smoothed her tongue over her bottom lip and watched him with a touch of confusion. Judging by her expression, she thought she’d taken a wrong turn from the bathroom and stepped into an alternative reality. “What question?”
“Would you be interested in a friends with benefits deal with me?” He held his breath and waited for her answer, knowing he’d never wanted something so much in all his life.
Will Maggie give this friends with benefits deal a try? Learn more!
About Shelley
USA Today bestselling author Shelley Munro lives in Auckland, the City of Sails, with her husband and a cheeky Jack Russell/mystery breed puppy.
Typical New Zealanders, Shelley and her husband left home for their big OE soon after they married (translation of New Zealand speak – big overseas experience). A twelve-month long adventure lengthened to six years of roaming the world. Enduring memories include being almost sat on by a mountain gorilla in Rwanda, lazing on white sandy beaches in India, whale watching in Alaska, searching for leprechauns in Ireland, and dealing with ghosts in an English pub.
While travel is still a big attraction, these days Shelley is most likely found in front of her computer following another love – that of writing stories of contemporary and paranormal romance and adventure. Other interests include watching rugby (strictly for research purposes), cycling, baking bread and curling up with an enjoyable book.
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Other Books By Shelley
Paranormal
Sea of Change
Price of Love
Lynx to the Pharaoh
Curse of Brandon Lupinus
Churchill Polar Bears
Fiona’s Mates
Kendall’s Mates
Renee’s Mates
Dragon Investigators
Blue Moon Dragon
Blood Moon Dragon
Middlemarch Capture
Snared by Saber
Favored by Felix
Lost with Leo
Spellbound with Sly
Journey with Joe
Bundle
Middlemarch Capture
Middlemarch Shifters
My Scarlet Woman
My Younger Lover
My Peeping Tom
My Assassin
My Estranged Lover
My Feline Protector
My Determined Suitor
My Cat Burglar
My Stray Cat
My Second Chance
My Plan B
My Cat Nap
My Romantic Tangle
My Blue Lady
My Twin Trouble
Bundle
Middlemarch Shifters 1 – 3
Middlemarch Shifters 4 - 6
House of the Cat series
Sampled & Seduced
Captured & Seduced
Claimed & Seduced
Merry & Seduced
Stranded & Seduced
Seized & Seduced
Hunted & Seduced
Festive & Seduced
Betrayed & Seduced
Enticed & Seduced
Bundle
House of the Cat
Contemporary
Wild Child
One Night of Misbehavior
Blindside
Fringe Benefits
Lovers at Last
Ain’t Misbehaving
Playing to Win
Summer Encounter
Reformed Bad Girl
Stranger Things Happen
Fancy Free
Protection
Romp
Buzz
Bundle
Audacious
Friendship Chronicles
Secret Lovers
Reunited Lovers
Clandestine Lovers
Part-Time Lovers
Enemy Lovers
Military Men
Innocent Next Door
Soldiers with Ben
efits
Safeguarding Sorrel
Bundle
Military Men
Sci-fi/Futuristic
Interplanetary Love
Sex Idol
Alien Encounter series
Janaya
Hinekiri
Alexandre
Bundle
Alien Encounter
Gay Romance
No Defense
Best Man
Last Wish
Curse Across Time
Eye on the Ball
Fallen Idol
Lone Wolf
Seeking Kokopelli
Bundle
Under His Spell
Historical
Evening Tryst
Unforgettable
Mistress of Merrivale
Copyright Page
Stranded with Ella
Copyright © 2019 Shelley Munro
ISBN: 978-0-473-47455-3
Editor: Evil Eye Editing
Cover Design by The Killion Group Inc.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Shelley Munro