“Everyone say ‘hello’ to Blake.”
Shit. He hated being in front of the camera. But as soon as he caught Zandra’s gaze and stared into her eyes, he felt his face form into an answering smile.
She sure was beautiful, but more than that, she was gorgeous on the inside, too, where it mattered.
Slowly something shifted inside of him, something he was pretty sure he should put firmly back in place and rivet shut. But for the life of him, he didn’t want to.
Chapter Twenty-One
Staring into Blake’s eyes was…amazing. It was like she could walk in and find peace there.
“Hey, everyone,” Blake said, staring at her instead of the phone. “Zandra’s right, this place is beautiful.”
His words floated over her like the lightest caress and made her heart pick up speed. It was like he’d touched her, and every inch of her being wanted more. Zandra blinked. What the hell was wrong with her?
She turned the phone around and hoped she didn’t look like she was forcing a smile. “I gotta run now, but stay tuned and I’ll be back soon with more from Europe.” She waved as she ended the live video.
Biting down on her lower lip, she turned the phone around and poked at the screen, every cell in her body completely tuned to Blake standing a short distance away. God knew how she managed to concentrate long enough to upload the stories, but thirty seconds later she glanced up, and her heart did a funny flip-flop thing.
Blake sucked in a deep breath and blew it out, his gaze fixed on hers. Energy oozed out of him like he was the caged lion she’d photographed at an Oregon wildlife preserve, ready to pounce at the slightest provocation. “You ready to go now?”
His words were slow, measured, like the question had a deeper meaning behind it, which was just plain silly. She squashed her overactive imagination. “Yep. Let’s go.”
Zandra picked her way down the remains of the staircase, careful to be in the middle of each step. She should’ve been more concerned about the condition of the staircase, that she might take one wrong step and the whole thing would come crumbling down. The old her would’ve definitely been more concerned, but clearly that woman wasn’t around today. Good thing…
“What was so important that you just had to get up there?” Blake asked once they were back on firm ground. “And don’t tell me it was for the view.”
Zandra tilted her head to one side. “You didn’t see?”
“See what?”
“A heart. There was a heart carved onto the side of the turret.”
“How could you even see it from down here? How did—wait a minute. You knew that, didn’t you? Before we got here?”
She shrugged as they walked toward one end of the castle ruins. “The e-zine gave me a chance to find one place on my own, so I did some research of the area and tried to find a destination that would appeal to travelers on different levels. Not only is this castle off the beaten path, but it’s got a romantic history to it. You wanna hear?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Once upon a time—”
“Very funny.”
“Hey, it was a long time ago.” She cleared her throat. “There was a dude who wanted to earn the love of a maiden, only her family was stuck up and wouldn’t entertain the idea of him being part of the fam. So, he sold his services as a mercenary for several years, saved up his gold, invested it, then finally had enough to build this castle.”
“Did he get the girl?”
“Sadly, no. She died of some disease a few years after her family turned him away. So that’s why he had stones carved to resemble a heart. It was because of her that he’d wanted to build the castle in the first place.” She sighed. Some stories were just too good to not share. “It’s so romantic.”
“She died,” he said flatly. “How could that be romantic?”
“Leave it to a guy to point that out.”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? He did all that work, made all those sacrifices, and in the end, he didn’t get the girl. Seems like a waste of time to me.”
“The gesture, Blake. It’s the gesture that’s romantic. Just because they didn’t live happily ever after doesn’t mean it wasn’t romantic.”
“You do realize that’s the kind of crazy talk that gets women into trouble in the first place,” he muttered, stepping onto the edge of the path that led to the parking lot.
“Oh, I gotta hear this.”
“Why do women think romantic gestures have to be so grand? Guys don’t get credit for stuff like cleaning up after the dog or taking out the garbage or—”
“—teaching a bully a lesson,” Zandra chimed in.
Blake stopped and turned, his gaze catching hers when he peeked over the top of his sunglasses. “I was going to say helping a woman figure out the train schedule, but let’s go with that. Present company excluded, of course.” He blew out a breath.
Of all the things she’d discovered about Blake on this trip, his willingness to step in and help a fellow human being out had to be the most attractive thing about him. It only enhanced her awareness of him.
She nodded. “Well, what you say is true—guys don’t get enough credit for doing the everyday stuff, and that’s too bad. After all, most women would just as soon have the guy deal with cleaning up after a dog.”
He had that sexy don’t-give-a-damn smile on his face. “Well, sure, but would cleaning up after the dog earn him a kiss?”
Her breath caught, and every nerve ending in her body crackled, tuned in to Blake, to the way he stood, almost eye level with her since he was on the downhill slope, and the magnetic pull he seemed to have on her.
How could she have known him since high school and not have known him at all? Even after the countless times he’d spent hanging around her childhood home?
That she should want to know him now seemed…fitting. Like a promise long overdue and gratefully filled.
“Zandra?”
She heard her name on his lips, his tone just a breath above the slight wind that blew past and barely cooled her. She felt the heat from the top of her head to the tips of her open-toed sandals, felt the tug and pull toward Blake, toward his own heat. What the hell was happening here?
“I don’t know,” she finally answered. “Kisses are for special things. Otherwise the guy tends to take them for granted because they come too easily.”
A corner of his mouth crooked up in amusement, and his eyes bored into her like he was reading her mind, reading her soul. “I’m glad you feel that way.”
She swallowed past the roaring in her ears, past the rush of adrenaline that surged through her, wanting, waiting…for what? What the hell was stopping her from taking what she wanted, what she needed, even if it was only for one night? Or for the remainder of their trip?
“Are you okay?” Blake stepped closer, concern etched in his eyes, in the lines on his forehead. “You’ve been running yourself ragged since you landed. Maybe we should head back to the hotel and get some rest.”
Oh, she wanted to head back to the hotel, all right, but not for the reasons he thought.
She stared as he hoisted the backpack onto his shoulders. They weren’t a couple, would never be a couple. Which was just fine by her. But what if, just this one time, things were different? What if she just truly let go and enjoyed herself? Wouldn’t that add to the experience of Zandra 2.0?
Hell, yeah, it would.
Decision made, she cleared her throat. “What if I had something else in mind?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Breathe, buddy. Just breathe.
Blake reached a hand out to unlock the hotel door with Zandra right behind him, so close he could feel her heat, her energy reaching toward him, reeling him in.
He should play it cool, be the suave, sophisticated lover he wanted to be for her, but damn, his hands were
shaking. Fucking shaking so hard he wasn’t sure he could get the key in the lock.
Finally.
He shoved the door open and held it back as she swept past.
“You’re sure about this, Blake?”
Sure? Was she kidding? He swallowed. “Yes.” He eyed her closely and stepped into the room. “Are you? I mean, there’s still the gallery show tonight.” Even as he uttered the words, he mentally kicked himself. Yeah, it was the right thing to do, to say, but still…
She stepped toward him, and he was drawn to that ghost of a smile on her face that crept into her eyes and camped there. “I think this is more interesting than anything on display at the gallery.”
No kidding.
“No complications. No drama. Just this one night,” she continued, stepping forward again, slowly closing the distance between them.
“No complications, no drama,” he agreed, reaching for her.
The feel of her body against his, her upturned face and the blaze of desire in her eyes. It was even better than waking up with her this morning. He reached both hands out and cupped her face. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
Her gaze swept down to his mouth. “God, I hope so.”
The kiss started out soft, tentative almost, then a spark lit inside him when she opened her mouth and let him in. Their tongues dueled, danced, explored, a precursor of what was to come. His dick hardened, pressed against the fly of his jeans, and demanded out.
When he broke away, he stared into deep blue eyes that held a thousand promises.
This. This was better than what he’d imagined in his wildest dreams.
It was about damned time.
For all her bravado about claiming her life, finding her way through the world, tearing herself free from what everyone expected, Zandra knew a diversion from that path was just that—a diversion. And right now, this diversion with Blake was what she wanted, what she craved with a force that surpassed nailing the perfect shot or selling her first photograph.
And she wasn’t stopping now to figure out why.
Want and need dueled with hesitation, defeated it as he continued to kiss a delicious trail down her neck, searching, learning, fueling her desire past the point of no return.
She gasped at the sensations pouring through her, and she pulled at his shirt until her fingers felt the warm, hard muscles underneath. Nice abs. Tight abs. The man was perfect.
Blake’s groan echoed through her as she trailed her fingers across his stomach, flattened her palms against his chest, and drew the T-shirt up.
He broke the kiss long enough to pull the offending garment off and toss it on the floor…and her breath caught. On his chest was a tattoo of a skull with a mass of swirls and curlicues that seemed to emanate from different points off the skull. The tattoo was so much like the man—hidden, reserved, raw, powerful. She skimmed over it, traced the edges with her fingers. “This is beautiful.”
“It’s art.”
“You didn’t strike me as the artsy kind.” There was so much about Blake that she didn’t know.
“Hope that’s not a deal-breaker.” He flashed her a grin then pulled her into his arms again.
“Not even close.” She leaned forward, kissed and licked a trail up his chest. He was delicious, the light mat of hair on his chest rough against her tongue, the pure masculine scent of him mixed with his spicy cologne. All these were Blake, and she committed every part of it to memory.
She’d spent far too many nights wondering what this moment would be like, touching him, kissing him…having him kiss her.
His kisses reminded her of lazy, sultry breezes that tripped through Puget Sound on a warm summer night of endless possibilities. She tilted her head, allowed him to lick a wet trail to her shoulder, then she mewled when he lingered on that spot. “You like that,” he murmured against her. “Good.”
Zandra wasn’t going to be outdone. Not by a long shot. She reached for his belt. Closer. She needed to get closer. Her hands felt slow, clumsy as she tugged on the leather and undid the buckle. “This is more intense than climbing the castle steps today.”
“I don’t know. Watching your ass sway in front of my face was definitely intense.” He hissed when she brushed against his erection. “On the other hand, this is just painful.”
“Then I’m glad we’re doing something about it.” She slowly pulled the zipper tab down, finally freeing him. Then it was like she couldn’t move fast enough, tugging his jeans over lean hips and well-toned legs.
As soon as he stepped out of his jeans, he pulled her to her feet and crushed her mouth to his.
The kiss was demanding, strong, pulling everything from Zandra and spiraling her senses higher. She’d known the attraction was there, felt it often enough in their short time together. She just hadn’t realized the torrent of need, of want, of feeling that came with it.
His rough hands pulled her close, and his mouth found hers. Claimed her.
The kiss continued, with each pass, each nip, each tug making her want more. Demand more. Finally breaking the kiss, Blake stepped back. His eyes were dark, daring, and she couldn’t help but be drawn to them. “Are you sure this is what you want? Because if it isn’t, we stop now.”
In answer, she pulled her shirt off then shimmied out of her jeans, kicking her sandals out of the way along with them. Then she straightened, saw the flame of desire in his eyes, in the way he leisurely looked over her nearly naked form.
She swallowed deeply. “I can’t stop now. I don’t want to.”
Without another word, Blake scooped her into his arms. “Then I think we need to get you more comfortable.”
He laid her on the bed then followed her down. The kisses continued. Searing kisses that scrambled her brain and made her wonder for one brief moment who she really was: adventurous travel photographer or staid accountant unleashed.
He slid his legs against hers, the move slow, sensual, stoking the hunger inside her. She lifted her hips, rubbed the sweet spot against him.
And still his kisses continued. Down her neck again, the sensations so sweet, so damned hot, she was sure flames would consume her before—
He touched her, then, a soft touch, barely there touch, one that ignited a spark so hot she was sure she would combust. Her nipples peaked under his skillful hands, rough hands that had seen more than their fair share of hard work, hands that helped and hands that now caressed so gently, so reverently, Zandra wasn’t sure which way was up or down.
She felt warm, restless, wanting more, needing more. “Blake?”
He skimmed his chin over her bare stomach, the beginning of a beard rough against her skin, yet the flame within her burned brighter, hotter, higher.
“Please,” she whimpered. “I can’t…”
He chuckled, low and soft, all the while planting those damned, drugging kisses on her as he skimmed his way back to her mouth. “Can’t what?” he asked.
“More. Need more.”
“Show me.”
His mouth ravaged hers, plundered, told her that he, too, wanted her. Needed her.
She wrapped her arms around him, stroked the hard planes of his back, and all the while his hands and his mouth were busy, so deliciously busy.
She’d never thought of herself as particularly sensuous. Sure, she had needs like everyone else, had even had them satisfied, but not like this. Never like this. It was like Blake knew exactly how to touch her, how to stroke his hands over her, how to kiss that perfect spot on her neck all the while he did it, elevating her awareness until all she saw or heard or tasted was him.
The flame that’d been building for days now threatened to erupt. “Blake.” She whispered his name as he nipped at her ear lobe then soothed it with his tongue.
“Yes?”
“I want…”
There was that chuckle again. “At
least it’s better than ‘I can’t,’” he said. “Tell me, Zandra. Tell me what you want.”
Shyness was never one of her problems, but it sure as hell was now.
Then he licked that sweet spot on her neck, the one that made her shiver with want and lift her hips up and grind against him, searching for the hard ridge of his erection. “You still have clothes on,” she murmured against his shoulder. “I want to fix that.” She licked and kissed a trail to his mouth, wanting to give as good as she got, and was rewarded with a groan.
“Slow down.” His voice was hoarse, strained.
She grinned against his corded neck. It was her turn to ask questions. “Why? Don’t you like it when I do this?” She kissed his jawline, found her way to his mouth.
His tongue immediately swept inside her mouth. She didn’t know about him, but kissing him was bliss, heaven, like she’d found her way to a hidden oasis and wanted to stay.
Finally, he pulled back and his eyes mirrored her own desire. “I want to savor every sweet second with you.”
Those simple words touched her to a depth she wasn’t sure existed, let alone experienced. She shouldn’t have been surprised. This was Blake, after all.
He leaned back on one bent arm, and his large hand glided over her once more, this time like he was seeing her, really seeing her. He traced a finger around one nipple, and her heart stuttered. “Red’s a good color on you.” He dipped his head and kissed the space between her breasts, the move so pure, so erotic, it made her heart ache. “Matches your personality.”
“I’ll remember that,” she gasped when he flicked a thumb over her nipple.
He unhooked the front clasp and pushed the fabric aside, and his nostrils flared as he studied her briefly. “Tell me, is your other bud just as hard?”
She frowned. “You’re looking at them both. Can’t you tell?”
Seduced by the Soldier Page 13