When she picked up her water glass, her hand shook. Water slopped over the edge as she almost lost her grip. “Damn it.”
“Hey.” His eyebrows drew together as he frowned. He kept his voice low. “What’s wrong?”
She took a sip and sat the glass down slowly. She edged nearer to him and then leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I had an interesting encounter with Mr. Haan.”
“What?” he asked a little sharply. “Where?”
“Outside the restroom. It was if…as if he was waiting for me to come out.”
He slipped his arm around her shoulder, his gaze hardening. A dangerous light filled his eyes. “What happened?”
“Nothing really.”
“Tell me.” His big palm rubbed up and down her arm. “You’re shivering. Are you cold?”
She gave a shaky laugh, ashamed. “No. He took me off guard. It was so unexpected.”
After she explained in detail what happened, Zane’s expression turned cool and uncompromising. She thought he might burst out with profanities, but instead he said, “When we’re around him at Rancho La Paz, I don’t want you to ever be alone with him. Understand me?”
Keira could have objected to the stern demand in his voice, but his expression made her change her mind. Another shiver rippled through her, but this time it was related to the way he looked at her. Fierce tenderness and a protective light made his eyes seem deeper, more intense.
“I can handle this,” she said in defense. She didn’t know if she spoke about the way unnerving ownership in his eyes, or the bizarre encounter with Haan.
The waiter brought their food, delaying any comment from Zane. After he’d placed their dishes in front of them, the waiter left.
Zane picked up the champagne and topped off her glass. He didn’t fill his glass, and she glanced at him as he started to cut his steak. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”
Throwing a cocky smile at her, he said, “Yeah. Drink up.”
She laughed softly.
They ate in relative silence. Hungrier than she could recall being in some time, she ate her salmon with lusty enjoyment. She dabbed her mouth with the snowy white napkin and savored the last taste in her mouth.
“Hear that?” he asked as a sultry Spanish tune floated on the air.
“Yes.”
He pushed away his plate and threw her one of his trademark glances filled with possibilities and seduction. “Let’s dance.”
“I can’t dance. I’m not coordinated enough.”
“Right.”
“No, really. I’m all feet.”
“I’ll teach you.”
He took her hand and tugged gently until she left the booth with him.
“Zane,” she said with a warning tone.
“Come on, sweetheart, humor me.”
Sweetheart again. The word, meaningful in his velvety seductive voice, about melted her into a puddle.
Without hesitation he drew her toward the dance floor where two other couples swayed to the music. “I don’t do fast dances.”
As his arms slipped around her waist, he brought her against him. “This isn’t fast.”
“Zane—”
“Shhh. Just enjoy it.”
Fuming a little, she clamped her mouth shut and allowed him to lead her around the floor. Then she saw why Zane apparently decided dancing would be a good idea. Haan was making the rounds of the tables, talking with his patrons. Haan’s gaze fell on them with concentration.
“He’s watching us,” she said.
“Exactly,” he whispered into her ear. “Relax now. You’re so tense.”
His fingers eased up her back in a slow caressing, massaging motion. He cupped her shoulder blades, then moved downward until he fondled her lower back above her buttocks. Quivers of delight raced across her skin and headed straight for erogenous zones. God, the man didn’t have to do much to set her afire. Her body responded, nipples tightening. Her pussy pulsed and clenched and she felt a warm trickle of moisture.
Searching and reassuring, his touch cruised everywhere. They swayed, moving with the liquid, heady rhythm.
“That’s it.” His voice stayed husky, the sound arousing her. “Just let the music take you.”
As they circled the dance floor she forgot everything but his embrace. The entire room disappeared, and the people dancing near them didn’t matter. The guitarist strummed the instrument with loving attention, his eyes closed as he gave the dancers a beautiful melody. Though she couldn’t understand the Spanish lyrics readily, they seemed to whisper of sultry days and even hotter nights under a blanket of stars.
A couple could make love to this song.
The way Zane touched her, his hands so gentle, his body leading her around the dance floor, was lovemaking. She couldn’t escape the pleasure and the craving heating every inch of her body.
When the song shifted to a somewhat faster beat, he drew her expertly into step. Every movement flowed, all senses pinpointed on how his touch felt against her. She wanted, with an aching passion, to feel his big hands on her naked skin. She wanted his fingers exploring, caressing, and bringing her to the top.
“Oh yeah.” His low, almost moaning words brushed against her already fired libido. She ached with desire.
Plunging her fingers into his hair, she pulled back far enough to check his eyes and evaluate what she saw. Fire. Pure sexual need.
When his hard, fully erect cock brushed against her stomach, she gasped. Muscles between her legs tightened in reaction. She palmed down his neck to his wide shoulders and allowed her breasts to press tighter against his chest. “Zane, maybe we should return to the table.”
“Honey, you can’t stop dancing now. Let me get back some control.”
She saw hunger in his eyes and wanted to take away his starvation. Feeling more wanton than ever in her life, she enjoyed her female power to arouse him. She allowed her hips to brush against his again.
“We’d better ease up.” His voice sounded strained as he burrowed his face into her neck, then traced tender kisses up the long column of flesh. He licked her ear. “Or we’re going to have to find somewhere in this restaurant where I can fuck you.”
Stunned by his explicit suggestion, she couldn’t think of a coherent reply. She wanted, down deep in her aching core, to take him up on the suggestion.
Oh, my God. She shivered as delight raced up and down her spine. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this turned on. This man held a potent sway over her emotions and her body. Crazy emotions darted inside her, threatening to take over. Feeling feminine and protected had never done this to her before. This man wanted her and she couldn’t deny her body reacted to him in the strongest way.
For the rest of the song she held him at arm’s length, their dance so proper they could have been two strangers. She avoided his gaze and concentrated on cooling down.
As the song eased away, so did Keira. He followed her to the table and when the waiter came to their table to ask if they wanted desert and coffee, they declined. Salazar gave them the check and Zane extracted a titanium card out of his wallet. Not a gold card or a platinum credit card. Titanium.
Silence reigned at the table while they waited for Salazar to return. She felt Zane’s stare and his gaze glided over her with a look that said everything. He hadn’t forgotten that their dance made him harder than a railroad spike.
After the waiter brought the credit slip and Zane signed it, he said, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Urgency in his voice surprised her; she didn’t know what to think. He took her hand and they left the restaurant in a rush. When she started for the elevator, he pulled her down the hall, his face cool and harsh.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
His gaze flickered to her for a moment, then away. “Not a damned thing.”
He sounded angry. Well, hell. Let him remain pissed off, she didn’t care.
When she saw he was headed for the stairwell, she said,
“We’re taking the stairs? Ten flights?”
“I can use the exercise.”
Right. The man was made of steel and obviously took care of his body.
“Then I’m taking off my shoes.” She took off the high heels and then they started downward.
After they’d accomplished one flight, he stopped on the landing and turned toward her so fast she almost ran into him.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He backed her toward the wall until she bumped into it. His hands came up on either side of her head like a cage. “What I wanted to do after we danced.”
Peril danced in his eyes, their burnished depths asking surrender. His earlier words raced into her head. We’d better ease up or I’ll have to find somewhere in this restaurant to fuck you.
Recalling the heat in the way he’d spoken the words sent forbidden tingles through her loins.
Oh, my God. Maybe he wants to make love to me right here.
In the stairwell.
All the masculine attention, focused on her alone, held powerful influence. If she gave in and allowed him to manipulate her emotions, she would lose a piece of herself inside him. At the same time, she couldn’t ignore her physical response to the man, the essence of his sexuality that drew her closer and closer to him with every minute.
She glanced upward and saw a security camera on the landing, way up in the corner near the ceiling. Maybe Zane staged this to keep Haan entertained, or his security amused at the least.
“Are we playing a game here?” she asked quietly as his gaze followed hers to the camera.
“That’s what I was going to ask you.” He smiled, turned slightly and gave the camera the bird.
She didn’t know whether to smirk right along with him or be alarmed. “Zane!”
“Don’t sweat it.” His grin vanished, encompassed by the unparallel desire she saw brimming in the silky darkness of his eyes. “I’m sure the security cameras have seen a lot in here.”
“They won’t be seeing anything unusual with us.”
“You sure?” His gaze flamed and she knew she’d pushed him too far. “What have you got on under this, honey?”
Indignation and excitement warred inside her. “You should know. You had your hand on my leg earlier.”
Reality and fantasy blurred. Did he talk like this to her to cement the fantasy for their cover, or did the words reflect this man’s real desires?
Without apparent hesitation, he used one hand to pull up the long length of her dress and the silky slide of fabric rasped against her leg with stomach-melting sensuality. When his fingers touched one slim strap of the garter belt along the back of her thigh, she quivered in reaction.
He chuckled, the low, deep sound rolling in his throat. “I love garter belts and stockings. Shit, honey, why did you have to wear a garter belt?”
She couldn’t react fast enough to object as his lips came down on hers.
Her shoes clunked against the landing as she dropped them in surprise.
A sound slipped from his throat like a growl. Plundering her depths, his tongue took instant possession. She clutched at his collar and allowed the invasion. She couldn’t get close enough, pressing against his muscles, gripping his clothing and body with vengeance. Any woman with sense would fight him off. Instead she wanted to bring him closer, to imprint his body tighter against hers.
He didn’t feel like a stranger, but a man whom she’d been intimate with for some time. A man she’d loved long and well and hard. Inflamed by hunger she took his kiss, accepted it.
His hands slipped into her hair, then eased her closer. Hard and forged of iron, his amazing body made her feel protected at the same time he took her mouth with relentless thrusts of his tongue.
He pinned her against the wall again, his body a blanket. Flames licked at her clit and her pussy clenched and released, needing something hard and hot inside. Her mind couldn’t catch up with the response in her body as it cried out for his touch. His cock felt hard and ready for action as he pressed against her stomach. Keira palmed his shoulders and felt as if she had to claw her way into him, unmercifully inherit all his thoughts, emotions and lust. She swayed in his grip as he locked her in his arms with no hope of dignified escape and no desire to leave.
Licking deep, his tongue learned every inch of her mouth. She responded, tangling her tongue with his. Dazed, stupefied by her appetite for him, she allowed his touch to slip over her rib cage and to cup her left breast in his palm.
He broke from their kiss, his breathing hard and quick. A slight red flush covered his cheekbones and his pupils dilated. The heat of his hand encompassing her breast left her aching for more. More attention, more love. His eyes held desire beyond anything she’d seen in a man, and she hardly believed all that passion belonged to her in this crazy encounter.
As his eyes blazed down into hers, he said, “You could come right now. Right here. All I’d need to do is clasp this sweet nipple, then thrust hard and deep between your legs. You’d go off like a rocket.”
Arrogance dripped from him, but he didn’t smile or mock her. He believed what he said. Such confidence spoke to her soul, to the very depths of Keira. A slow, savory smile slipped over his lips as he brought his fingers closer to her nipple. Her flesh tingled and she realized he taunted her. He wanted to see her fly to pieces under his touch, beyond control, giving in to his compelling desire and making it hers.
Without mercy his mouth covered hers. A relentless onslaught began. Keira stroked her tongue against his, learning and enjoying the way he gave as much pleasure as he took. She arched into his touch and his hand tightened on her breast and started a sweet, slow stroking all around her nipple. With each brush of his fingers, she muffled a soft groan against his lips. One hard thigh slipped between her legs and pressed upward against her mons. She shivered as the pressure against her clit felt so exciting. He moved that thigh and the friction against her clit and folds sizzled through her body. It felt so good she arched against his unyielding muscle with pleasure.
Yes, yes.
Then he took it to the next level.
With slow intension Zane flicked his thumb over her nipple and she gasped into his mouth. Out of her mind and wanting more, she clutched at his shirt and moaned softly. With a rhythm that could be nothing else but heady arousal, she moved against his rock-hard muscular thigh.
She needed more. More.
She went for broke, to savor this strange, wild interlude in time. She may never be here again, in this same way, with this same pleasure flowing in her blood. Raw need overwhelmed her, reckless want and power not far behind.
Sweet bursts of excitement tingled in her breasts, her nipple ravaged by the insistent brush of his fingers. She wanted naked skin against naked skin. How much more wonderful would it feel if he could take her bare nipple between his finger and thumb and pinch it? Lick it? The idea sent fresh arousal straight to her feminine depths and she arched against his thigh in ravenous need. Pressing and rubbing against him, she wanted desperately to come. Her body ached for it, needed it, wanted it. She could almost feel it deep down in her pussy where an ache built with each passing moment.
She knew, down deep, if he could have reached her naked breasts without ripping her dress off, his tongue and lips and fingers would be working her nipples into screaming hard points right now.
The idea inflamed her and she writhed on his leg, wanting an orgasm with a fierceness that ripped her down to the core.
He broke from their kiss and pressed his forehead to hers, his breathing harsh and rapid. “Keira, you’re burning me up. Let’s finish this in the limo.”
Finish this.
Right here, where anyone could find them, they’d writhed like two horny teenagers on the loose. She froze in his arms and pushed against his chest.
He let her go. She leaned over and retrieved her shoes. He took her other hand and continued down the rest of the stairs. It would be a long walk, and as she had time to thi
nk, she realized she couldn’t do this.
She couldn’t allow this man she barely knew to tie her up in sexual knots. She didn’t sleep with men she didn’t know well and couldn’t trust. When they reached the garage level and stepped out to find Eduardo parked nearby, she didn’t speak. Eduardo hopped out of the limo and opened the door for them, taking them in with a knowing look. Her lipstick was smeared and her hair mucked up, not to mention the dazed look no doubt lingering on her face. Even Zane’s hair looked a bit disheveled and his shirt askew. If Eduardo didn’t know they’d been making out, he couldn’t be too smart.
Without hesitation Eduardo enclosed them in the deluxe comfort of the limo and before long they moved out. She almost wished Zane would enclose her in his arms immediately, but instead he kept some space between them. Maybe he’d reconsidered this ill thought out sexual adventure. His gaze, though, held the passion of a man ready to complete what he’d started.
“This is crazy.” His voice went to a soft rumble. “I just realized something, after all this time. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long. Whether you know it or not, you like the unexpected. It turns you on.”
She scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t like to be in danger.”
He shook his head and leaned in so his breath feathered over her ear. “I felt it back in Egypt while we were in the alcove and just now in the stairwell. We both get off on doing things that have an element of the unknown. You like to discover things. To search out the mysteries under the dirt. And right now, you’re playing with my head.”
“What?” she asked, half in anger.
With gentle fingers he brushed back her hair. Warm and affectionate, his touch shimmered like a gold thread connecting her heart and emotions to wanton physical sensation. Yearning for more, she leaned into his hand. His thumb brushed her cheek like a lover intent on giving her pleasure.
“We were on fire, Keira. You can’t deny it.” His gaze glittered with intent, a man ready for serious action. “You don’t know how badly I wanted you on the dance floor. And how much I wanted you in that stairwell.” His mouth touched her forehead in a soothing kiss. “But we have a job to do and I can’t afford the distraction.”
Special Investigations Agency: Primordial Page 8