by Robyn Grady
A red haze bled into David’s vision. He’d pogo-hop naked down Pitt Street before allowing Jonathon’s fangs anywhere near Serena’s less experienced stratosphere. She wouldn’t stand a chance.
‘No can do.’ He shook his head. ‘Serena’s taken.’
The instant that statement shot out, memories of their kiss swirled in his brain, then sparked and sizzled through his system. The promise of fragrant silky skin and satin sheets had become a constant murmur at his ear, but had he jumped the gun in more ways than one? Did Serena have a boyfriend? A couple?
‘Taken, eh?’ Jonathon’s sniff was unmistakably upper class. ‘Pity. Although often that doesn’t mean much these days.’ He called over, ‘Cheerio, Serena.’
Turning her back on a picture of America’s number-one hip-hop band, Serena sent a smile. ‘Guess we’ll be in touch over the next few weeks.’
David’s hackles rose as a gust of visible speculation filled Jonathon’s sails.
‘Hmm, guess we will at that.’ Jonathon turned to David. ‘Booth D is the quickest to set up, but it is rather, shall we say, cosy.’ He nudged David’s ribs and winked as he wheeled away. ‘Best of luck, old son.’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘DAVID? David, did you hear me?’
Serena reached up and touched his shoulder. David’s upmarket loafers shuffled on the parquet floor as he pulled his focus off Jonathon Sturts, who was leaving the room, onto her.
A lock of hair fell over his brow as he rubbed his temple. ‘Sorry? What was that?’
‘Marissa let us know the booth’s ready if we’d like to go through.’
Close by, Marissa waggled a black-polished nail at the adjacent door and headed off. ‘This way, people.’
Whatever was behind David’s frozen moment, he seemed in tune again now. Smiling, he waved a hand. ‘After you.’
In single file, David at the rear, they moved through the connecting doorway and down a carpeted corridor. As they passed gold and platinum awards lining the walls, Serena felt black silk burn a hole through her dress where David’s gaze rested.
Imagination had nothing to do with it. The knowledge was as real as the desire she’d seen in his eyes at Jezz’s hospital doorway. An hour later, he’d confirmed her suspicions by locking her in an embrace so binding yet weightless, it needed no more than his hands encasing her face and the intensity of his lips to hold her. She’d gone to another place where time and space hadn’t been invented. When they’d parted, her brain had refused to work.
He’d let her know, in no uncertain terms, what he wanted. What should be her reply?
As Marissa’s boots squelched on Serena swallowed.
David was her boss, a self-assured person of power and means who held her budding career in the palm of his hand. They existed at opposite ends of the spectrum and soon they would be alone. The idea both terrified and excited her.
When Marissa reached sound booth D, she swung open a door to what looked more like a cubby-hole. A black console, patterned with dials and buttons, took up the main wall. Jammed into one corner, a neat pile of music scores sat on the floor. A slow-release vanilla air freshener rested on a ledge beside a stack of CDs.
Marissa slapped her generous thighs. ‘This is it.’ She scrunched one side of her face. ‘Do you need me to hang around and operate the desk?’
David sidled past. Hands resting low on his hips, he cast a glance over the equipment. ‘We’ll be fine.’
Marissa pushed out a grateful groan. ‘When you’re done, let yourself out. Security should be around.’
‘That’s great.’ He flicked her a smile. ‘You go home.’
As Marissa clopped away Serena ran an eye over the space. Not much room was left now that David filled a major chunk of it.
A vibration deep inside intensified. Her legs trembled. She was aware of every sound, every smell, every object.
Will we kiss again? Will it end there? Or does David regret that crazy moment? Maybe he won’t mention it again. It’ll be like some of the embarrassing Christmas party incidents I’ve heard about.
She burrowed in.
At least I’m not jabbering out loud.
The temperature in the cubicle had gone up five degrees by the time they were seated. Her shaky left thigh hovered mere inches from his right.
‘Shut the door, Serena.’
She lifted off the seat and swung the door in. The lock clicked, her throat closed, and quicksilver, hot and thick, began to ooze through her bloodstream.
David hunted down two pair of headphones, handed one over, then adjusted his own to a comfortable fit. Punching a button—fiddling with a few slides—he lodged both elbows on the console and propped his chin and its cleft upon the cradle of his knuckles. He sent her a lopsided smile that stirred the puddle of longing welling in her stomach.
He was too close. Or was that not close enough?
‘You ready?’ he asked.
She inhaled. ‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’
Seconds later, they were listening to a four-minute version of one very hot tune indeed.
When it came to music—its diversities and extremities—Serena always kept an open mind. For every beat, there was a set of feet. But with this particular composition, who’d need to try? Raunchy, catchy, neither underdone nor overstated, it was one hundred per cent, absolutely, right on the money.
After it played through, she reconnected with her surrounds. She’d hummed aloud with her eyes closed most of the time. From David’s amused expression, he didn’t mind.
Lines branched from the corners of his eyes as he grinned. ‘You like?’
‘You couldn’t tell?’
It must be good to make her forget, even for a moment, that David was sitting this close, close enough to touch.
He chuckled, a deep, rich sound that seeped under her skin and made her stomach muscles flutter.
‘When you let loose with that last chorus, it was a pretty decent clue.’
Warmth infused her cheeks. ‘Is there more?’
‘Would you like more?’
The warmth turned inferno.
Was he talking about the song or playing word games again? She bit the bullet and tested him.
She arched a brow. ‘I won’t say no.’
He concentrated on the panel and pressed a button. ‘Good. Should be at least another half-dozen versions here.’
A knife’s cool blade traced over her skin and she straightened. Whatever she’d seen in his eyes, whatever had happened at the Quay, didn’t apply in here. Now it was strictly business.
They replaced their headphones and by the third track she’d fallen in love with the music. And she wasn’t alone in singing. Usually controlled David Miles was not only bongo-beating his fingers on the desk’s edge, he’d joined in a duet that, frankly, was rather impressive. Here again was ‘passionate’ David, the man she’d glimpsed, touched, tasted. This had to be the tip of the iceberg. Or should that be volcano?
The demo ended. When David removed his headphones, his hair was mussed, and a different, almost animal energy emanated from him. Vanilla faded beneath his fresh masculine scent.
He laid an arm along the back of her chair, brushed her face with his gaze and smiled. ‘You’re quite the singer, aren’t you? Get that from drama class?’
She laughed. He wasn’t going to let that die. ‘What about you?’ A vision popped into her head. ‘You must practise in the shower.’
‘You’ve guessed my darkest secret.’ His eyes glittered across at her and the room shrank more. Then he chuckled. ‘Seriously, I’m lucky Sylvie hasn’t howled about it yet.’
Her heartbeat seized. As he reached to drag down a couple of dials the smile slid off her face.
Sylvie? Who the hell was Sylvie? A girlfriend? A live-in lover?
And what about their kiss?
‘It’s probably a nice accompaniment when she applies her morning make-up.’ Serena’s words scraped out as her heart emptied, as it had so many tim
es as a teenager—when she hadn’t been asked to dance, or had received a C for an assignment she’d had high hopes for.
‘Can’t be certain—’ he turned up a megawatt smile ‘—but I bet my dog would look pretty silly wearing lipstick.’ His chair swivelled. A knee knocked hers and an electric charge shot up her thigh. ‘Had her since she was a pup,’ he said as the underside of the desk thumped. He winced, shifting more to rub the other knee. ‘She’s way past that now, though. Sylvie could be mistaken more for a brown bear than a German Shepherd.’
So, not some ravishing redhead, but a dog. She loved dogs! Adored them. Still, a question begged to be asked. ‘Sylvie’s in the bathroom when you take a shower?’
‘Usually she’s still sprawled out on the bed. Big sook.’
No girlfriend, an animal lover, plus he was a dynamite kisser. The positives for a one-night stand just kept stacking up. But could she pluck up enough courage to give him an opening, an indication that perhaps he should advance?
She settled more into her seat. ‘Why don’t we listen to the opening track one more time? Maybe I should take some notes.’
David ripped the headphone plugs from the panel. ‘It’s late.’ He flipped down the rest of the dials. ‘We should leave.’
What? No, not yet!
She tipped forward to reconnect the cord. ‘Couldn’t we listen to it just one more time?’
They’d taken care of business, so what about tapping into that other side—the man who had worked her into such a lather, she’d barely been able to form words, let alone explain how his skin on her skin, his tongue on her tongue, had affected her?
David disconnected the cord a second, more definite time. ‘No. Afraid not.’
She blinked and eased back in her chair.
The line between his brows, the tension pulling at his jaw…
Rats. He was serious.
But then she saw it.
Most times, David’s unruffled exterior gave her little clue. But now his body language spoke to her, loud and clear. The interested angle of his shoulders, the absorbed gleam in his eyes, the pulse pumping in the hollow of his throat.
He wanted to play. He just needed a bigger nod.
A previously untapped sense of recklessness filtered through her as a plan formed and she manufactured a sigh. ‘Okay. You’re the boss.’
Putting on a beaten face, she raised her hands in surrender. When the spark died from his eyes and he shifted to stand, she banked all on the element of surprise and dived on the cord, then lunged at the panel.
David sprang to life. When his hands caught her wrists, her midsection tightened around a heart-pounding pulse.
‘Stevens…?’ David couldn’t swallow an astonished laugh. ‘Damn it, you don’t play fair!’
‘You know the saying.’ Her eyes dared his. ‘All’s fair…’
For one mad moment, the world stopped spinning and neither one spoke. Instead they held each other’s gazes, probing the possibilities, sizing one another up like a couple of duelling gunslingers during a shoot-out in a spaghetti western.
Heart booming, anticipation hanging thick and heavy in the air, she narrowed her eyes, cocked a brow…
And came out shooting!
They scuffled. She had the cord. He wrangled it back. She leapt on him. He tried to block. He was strong, but she was quick. And all the while they laughed.
By the time their energies flagged, one of David’s palms lay on Serena’s shoulder, the other rested on her chair’s armrest. When their laughter petered out, their noses were only inches apart.
His lips were only inches from hers.
Her smile faded, his expression stilled, then shifted. His deep blue eyes focused on hers as his brows drew together. More adrenaline kicked in. Every erogenous zone in her body buzzed on red-hot alert. His study of her was so powerful, her body ached.
Concentrating on her eyes, he squeezed her shoulder.
Last chance to turn back?
From here on in it was clothes peeling off, mutual hunger taking over. Sex. Hot, stormy, shimmering sex. Their relationship would never be the same.
Would she disappoint him in bed? No, she couldn’t bring herself to think about that. Maybe he’d want more, but she didn’t want an ongoing relationship, and instinct said David’s goal there matched her own. They both needed to let go, break free, just for tonight, or they’d explode.
David murmured in a valley-deep and careful tone, ‘Do you want this?’
Serena’s throat was suddenly dry. ‘Yes.’
As his gaze drifted lower to settle on her parted mouth a surge of heat blasted through her body. The sensations shot higher as, with an agonizing lack of speed, his palm drifted from its resting place on her shoulder to caress her nape. Any remaining gunpowder flared out of control when he drew her near.
She sensed more than heard the groan rumbling deep in his throat. Tasted more than felt the moist texture of his mouth as it skimmed hers. A kiss so soft, so light, yet it stirred such intense contradictions of sensation. They’d barely touched and it was the most fulfilling intimate contact she’d ever known.
Then his tongue slipped past her lips.
CHAPTER SIX
SERENA had thought their earlier kiss had been fantastic, but nothing compared to this…hot fingers trailing the sweep of her neck, the other hand a brand on her arm, while David’s skilful mouth worked patiently to draw her out.
No misunderstandings. It must be true.
She was the most desirable woman alive.
The very heart of her gasped as the pressure of his mouth left hers. Her lips were on fire, her senses, drenched with want.
His eyes were dark. ‘At the risk of sounding clichéd…up until an hour ago, I never expected this to happen.’
‘Don’t worry.’ Serena gave him a watery smile. ‘I’m pretty sure I wrote the book.’
His gaze intensified. ‘Are you seeing anyone?’
She coughed out a laugh. ‘No-o-o.’ A sultry redhead flashed to mind. ‘Are you?’
His chin tucked in. ‘Definitely not.’
That answer both pleased and somehow niggled her. Sounded as if he was unattached and wanted to stay that way, which should be two checkmarks. Right?
That thought evaporated when the side of his hand trailed down over her breastbone and her head rocked back. She closed her eyes and bit down on a sigh as his touch grazed the hidden peak of her breast. The nub tightened and a burn, starting at its tip, swept like a bushfire over her flesh. The base of her stomach quivered at the warm gravelled murmur at her ear. ‘I want you.’
A tidal wave crashed and nearly swamped her.
She’d heard those words before. Yesterday in his office had been thrilling enough. But now they held more meaning than she could have dreamed possible. She’d made other wishes. Why had this fantasy so easily come true? What had she done differently? What magical formula had she used?
His teeth raked her chin. ‘Did you hear me, Serena?’
She whimpered as her breasts thrust forward and an invisible cord, linking his bite to her centre, pulled tight.
Her eyes drifted open and she grinned. ‘You might have to speak a little louder.’
One corner of his mouth came up. ‘Louder, huh?’
She thought she might die when his jaw line firmed and he released the clip from her hair, then found the tie of her wraparound dress. A few seconds, one deliberate motion, the dress flipped back and half her bra was exposed. He groaned when he saw the unlined black lace.
‘Ms Stevens, is that what you usually wear to business meetings?’
‘It is from now on.’
She leaned forward to unbutton his shirt. Inhibition? What was that? Maybe she should have done something like this years ago.
His head dropped to take in her fingers tripping over his buttons. ‘You’re quick.’
Three to go. ‘That’s one way to look at it.’
Smile gone, he held both her hands in one of his. J
ets of heat flashed up her arms. ‘This isn’t the best place.’
That yanked her down from the clouds. Heartbeat echoing in her head, she remembered her surroundings. She was in a minuscule booth in the centre of Sydney with her boss, stripping.
She nodded. ‘You’re right.’
They blinked at each other, then the strength of their magnetic fields forced them together again. Their mouths smacked midway.
Hungry now, he peeled the dress from her shoulders down to her elbows. Sick of buttons, she blindly tore his shirt wide open. Kisses at fever pitch, they wriggled closer. Sitting in a cramped space, opposite each other, was less than ideal.
He pushed forward and, hands on her waist, urged her up along with him. Fever spreading, she trembled on weak legs, so aware of his smile even as they kissed.
He slipped the bra straps off her shoulders. A block of heat, his hard chest slid against her till he was on his knees. He massaged her hips so she rocked forward and his face buried in her cleavage. Her head rolled to one side as his tongue swirled and flicked the dip.
His fingers kneaded as he filled his lungs. ‘You taste like spring. Fresh air and warm nights.’
She lost her breath. Her hands flexed in his hair, then splayed down toward his nape. It took a moment for the full beauty of those words to truly sink in.
She found a teasing voice. ‘That’s quite a line.’
‘It’s true.’
A fingertip rimmed her left bra cup, then eased it down. He dotted soft kisses over the swell till his mouth reached the summit. Nipping, twirling, sucking…his technique drove her mad!
Reaching back with one arm, he shoved at his chair and grunted. ‘This is far too awkward.’
Insides smoking, she held his head in place. ‘Stifling.’
The clasp at her back snapped open. ‘There’s just no room.’
Her essence pulsed as she groomed those big bare shoulders beneath his shirt. ‘No room at all.’
He grasped the join at the front of her bra. Her breasts spilled out along with her small cry. His dilated pupils lifted to meet hers. ‘Maybe you could sit on my lap.’