Respect?
Yes, that was it. Zac respected her. She could feel it emanating from him. And she could see it in his eyes. Along with the hot look, of course.
“Did you enjoy your visit to the museum with Adam this afternoon?” she asked, once the waiter had taken their order and they were alone.
“I ended up going by myself. Adam had an urgent call from a wealthy client who’s building a house outside the city. He’s gone there overnight to sort it all out and won’t be back until the morning.”
Now she felt bad for not going with him. “Which museum did you go to see?”
“The Chicago History Museum. I like learning about a city through its history.” He eased into a smile. “And speaking of learning about things and people, how did you come to have your own radio talk show?”
She smiled back, then explained, “Leon’s a friend from Ohio where we were at college together. We used to have a small segment on the campus radio station. I met him again by accident here in Chicago, so when the previous host of this show ran off to Puerto Rico with her lover, Leon asked me to step in temporarily.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Three months.”
He looked impressed. “You do a good job.”
“Thanks,” she said, touched by the compliment. “I’m trying to.”
He leaned back in his chair, a hint of speculation in his eyes. “Is Cassie King your married name, or have you reverted to your maiden name?”
Now she understood the reason for the speculation in that look. The question made her think he was trying to figure out how much she still clung to her marriage.
“Actually my full name is Cassandra Kingston, but I thought Cassie King sounded better for radio.” She lifted her shoulders. “Plus it gives me some privacy. Steve’s name is Preston and officially I stopped using it when the divorce came through.”
He nodded with approval. “I’m glad you ditched his name.”
“So am I.” Suddenly it seemed like he was getting to know too much about her. It made her nervous. She tried to think of something to say. “Um… I’ve just realized I don’t know what you do for a living.”
A wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Does it matter?”
“No, not really.” And it didn’t, not to her. It was the person she was interested in, not his career. “But I’d still like to know.”
He gave a low chuckle. “Typical woman!”
“Hey, you know all about me,” she pointed out.
His smile slid away, his gaze intensified on her face. “I don’t know all, but I know all I need to know,” he murmured, his Aussie accent deepening and giving her delightful shivers up and down her spine.
“And you still haven’t told me what you do,” she joked, trying to put the focus back on him.
He lifted a brow. “What would you say if I told you I was a grave digger?”
It took a moment for that to sink in. She couldn’t exactly say she was thrilled with the idea. Still, if that’s what he did, that was fine with her. “I’d say it must pay very well indeed.”
He chuckled. “Actually I’m a sparky - an electrician. My dad’s a sparky too. And my uncle. And some cousins. I work for the family business.”
That was good. At least if anyone asked her what her boyfriend did, she didn’t have to say he buried people.
Not that he was her boyfriend.
“Won’t they miss you being away a month?”
“Nah, the business is very successful. We employ over a hundred people now. Besides, I haven’t had a vacation in years.”
“So how did you meet Adam?” she asked, curious about everything to do with Zac.
His eyes took on a fond look. “My parents are community-minded people, so Adam came to stay with us for a year as an exchange student when I was in high school. We hit it off and have been firm friends ever since. He comes Down Under every couple of years for a visit and we go surfing together. It’s great. We have a ball.”
“And this time it was your turn to come here on vacation instead?”
He paused then scratched his jaw. “That and a broken heart.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “A broken heart?”
“Well, not really broken. Just bruised. My fiancée broke off our engagement a couple of months ago.”
“Wh..what!”
He shrugged. “It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got the time.” She’d make the time.
“Now how did I know that,” he teased, but it was odd to think that if Zac had still been engaged or even married, she would never have met him. Or if she had, there could never have been anything between them.
His smile suddenly faded and he gave her a direct look. “About six months ago Erin had a near-death experience from a car accident. Erin was my fiancée,” he explained unnecessarily. “She wasn’t badly injured or anything, thank God, but it changed her personality. I mean, she was always one to enjoy life and all, but now she turned inward. She didn’t want to know me physically. Every time I attempted to touch her it was like she’d turned into Mother Teresa or something.” One corner of his mouth twisted upward. “I couldn’t compete with a saint.”
Sympathy for both of them filled Cassie. “Is that why you remained celibate?”
He nodded. “It knocked the stuffing out of me when she didn’t want me. I mean, it was like I was making her skin crawl or something.” A slightly hurt look filled the back of his eyes. “My ego took a bit of a battering, so I guess I just turned it off.”
Poor Zac. “That would have been a hard to take.”
“In a way it was, yet in a strange way it wasn’t. Erin had changed and wasn’t the same person. I think I was relieved more than anything,” he said with clear honesty. “I still like her and all, but we both agreed it wouldn’t work between us anymore. She’s a social worker, so she decided to volunteer her services helping out a nun who befriended her in hospital. As for me, I only came here after much arm twisting by my family and Adam. They can be real pains when they want to be,” he said with affection.
Something jogged at her memory, then her eyes cleared. “I’ve just realized something. It was because of Erin you wanted Leon to give the furniture polish to the convent.”
“Yeah, Erin inadvertently got me here, so I figured it would be a nice touch to put it to good use.”
A warm, fuzzy feeling filled her. “I like you, Zac Ryan.”
He looked relaxed, confident and movie star gorgeous. “And I like you, Cassandra Kingston.” His gaze slid over her, pausing on the swell of her breasts, then returned to her face. “Very much.”
Just then a well-dressed, middle-aged woman walked up to their table and interrupted them with an excited look in her eyes. “Excuse me,” she said, smiling at Cassie but darting a look at Zac. “The waiter said he thinks you’re Cassie King?”
Cassie hid her dismay as she pasted a polite smile on her lips. “Yes, I am.”
“Ooh.” The woman’s gaze darted back to Zac. “And you’re that kangaroo man, aren’t you?”
Zac gave them a disarming smile. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Oh heavens!” the woman exclaimed, her voice growing louder. “I knew it! I knew I heard an Australian accent when you came in the door!” She waved to her friends at a table across the room. “Hey, it is them! Come on over. Come and meet Cassie and Zac. They’re on their first date.” She looked back at them. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Cassie groaned inwardly and Zac smiled wryly as six other people descended on them.
“Go on, Zac,” the woman coaxed. “Say something in Australian.”
Zac laughed and happily obliged. “G’day, ladies.”
The woman giggled, along with the others. “Ooh, that sends shivers down my spine.”
“Not of fear, I hope?”
They all laughed again, then one of the younger woman said she loved listening to the show. “I love the way you two talk to each other. It
cracks me up.”
“Yes,” the woman beside her said. “It’s great when you don’t let him get the better of you, honey.” She winked at Cassie. “But sometimes it’s good not to work too hard at it, if you know what I mean.”
Cassie smiled and said something appropriate but she was wondering when they would leave. They meant well and were only having fun, but everything between her and Zac was so new, so special, she really didn’t want others deciphering it and finding fault.
Just then, a voluptuous young woman leaned toward Zac. “Honey, just in case she doesn’t want you,” she said in an ultra-sexy voice, and tucked a piece of paper in his jacket pocket.
Zac laughed, along with the others, but Cassie had frozen to the spot. This was reminiscent of Steve and his girlfriends. It had taken her a long time to accept that Steve had been bedding every woman he could.
All at once, Zac took the scrap of paper out of his pocket and handed it back to the woman. “Thanks, sweetheart, but you need to give this to someone who’ll appreciate you.”
The woman’s eyes widened, but fortunately someone asked for their autographs and the moment was forgotten.
But not by Cassie.
The next few minutes was spent autographing various menus and slips of paper. Eventually, the group of people drifted back to their own table.
Zac leaned back in his chair. “I think we’re what’s called a celebrity couple now.”
Cassie sat there, a warm glow inside her. This man had refused that woman’s offer of sex. He hadn’t even peeked at the piece of paper to memorize the number. He was so not like Steve.
“Cassie?”
She blinked. “Um… yes?”
“Are you okay?” he asked in concern.
“I’m just fine.” And she was, for the first time in a long, long time.
He stared at her, as if realizing something important had happened here, despite not knowing what it was. “I want to make love to you.”
For a second she thought she’d said the words but then realized it had been Zac. But it didn’t matter, nor did it matter that they hadn’t eaten yet. Nothing mattered except being in Zac’s arms.
“Yes,” she whispered.
His eyes flared with a glint that instantly had her heart beating even faster. He placed his napkin on the table and scraped back his chair. “We’re going to Adam’s apartment.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Come here,” Zac murmured, as he slid his hands onto her hips and pulled her up close, his mouth finding hers the minute they stepped inside the apartment. Cassie was glad Adam was away overnight now. His place was closer than hers, and getting into each other’s arms had suddenly been a necessity.
Her lips eagerly parted for Zac, her stomach somersaulting as she returned the favor, kissing him back, soaking up the taste of whiskey in his mouth… soaking him up… soaking up every delicious sensation he was creating in her.
He broke off the kiss and began nibbling the side of her mouth. She swallowed hard. “Er… are you sure Adam won’t be back tonight.”
He moved along her jaw with lips that knew what they were doing, down her neck, making her skin goose-bump and shiver. “Not unless he’s in two places at once,” he said thickly against the hollow in her throat. A moment went by as he stopped to inhale. “God, you are so incredibly sexy.”
“So are you.”
He lifted his head, looked into her eyes and gave a low growl, then his head lowered again, his tongue coming out to dip into that little hollow at her throat. Never had she suspected the skin in that spot could be so sensitive… until he began to flick his tongue over the little pulse beating there.
She groaned and told herself she was pathetic. But dear God, this was the same way he would lick her… light little flicks of that secret pulse hidden beneath her panties. The thought had her shuddering with delight.
He looked up, a perceptive look in his eyes. “It’s been a while for you?”
The sensations running through her body were too delicious. “Um… yes.”
“Then let’s make this good.” His hand slid behind her for her zip and she felt the wood panel of the door touch her skin. With an expertise that said everything, he slowly undid her dress, the molten look in his eyes taking his fill as he revealed breasts bound by black lace. She threw her head back as his mouth closed over one nipple, his tongue circling the delicate bud, wetting the material, abrasing her skin in the most pleasurable way.
Her knees threatened to buckle so she grasped his broad shoulders to steady herself. He was making her feel so good. So very good.
And very, very bad.
She wanted to touch him too. Wanted to run the palms of her hands over his taut stomach, then down lower. If only he’d stop for a moment and let her catch her breath but he unzipped her dress further, letting it shimmy down her hips and purl to the floor.
He admired her near nudity. “Beautiful,” he murmured with approval, as he placed his hands over her slim hips again, held her and moved his thumbs ever so lightly over her skin, obviously taking pleasure in the feel of her. Her skin began to burn.
Then his fingertips feathered over her stomach, before they suddenly deviated and slipped down the front of her panties. She gasped, her eyes widening as she stared into his incredibly intense ones, his fingers learning the shape of her woman’s body before honing in on her already over-sensitized clitoris, his touch making the nub swell with excitement until she thought she would burst.
She pressed her hands back against the door, trying to slow herself down, even as her back began to arch. Without warning he took one of her hands and carried it down to the v at her thighs, pushing her fingers beneath her panties and placing them on top of his own incredibly electrifying ones.
She looked at him in confusion. “Zac?”
“Make yourself come, sweetheart.”
She gasped. “But I can’t… I don’t…”
“You can.” Using his finger he began to glide her finger back and forth over her clitoris, helping her rub herself. “Feel how good that is.”
It was, but still she resisted, just a little.
“Close your eyes,” he said in a hypnotic voice and slowly withdrew his hand, leaving her to do it alone. “Now let yourself go.”
She closed her eyes, let out a soft sigh and forced herself to concentrate on just allowing herself to feel. Her fingers began to move as she imagined it was his fingers rubbing her there, making her tingle, the tight space of her panties not giving her much room to maneuver but enhancing the delightful wickedness of what she was doing to herself.
She wet her lips with her tongue and heard his rumble of appreciation. She began to rub harder and harder, hearing him murmur encouragement, feeling his hands cup her breasts over the top of her bra.
“Don’t stop,” he rasped, squeezing her nipples between thumb and forefinger, his warm breath flowing over her. She began to give little pants of air. “That’s it, Cassie. That’s it.” He squeezed harder, not letting up, unrelenting in his insistence that she come for him.
Her panting increased, and so did the action of her hand. Faster and faster.
“You’re almost there,” he encouraged, those same words going around and around in her brain.
Almost there…
Almost…
Everything was rising inside her, higher and higher.
Suddenly she reached the top and held tight, exquisitely poised, not wanting it to end but craving release. And then she did a headlong tumble into the first glorious, most wonderful, climax she’d had in ages. Her body shuddered and shook, her knees giving way beneath her and she fell forward against Zac.
* * *
The first thing she felt a few moments later was Zac’s manly arms holding her up, and the soft material of his shirt against her face. She pushed back a little and tilted her head up, seeing blue eyes that held a very masculine look of satisfaction. A blush of heat rose up her neck.
He put his hand under h
er chin and lifted her mouth to his, giving her a soft, tender kiss. “Thank you.”
She blinked. “For what?”
“Trusting me enough to do what I asked.”
Her stomach did a silly flip-flop thing. “But you didn’t get to climax.”
“I bloody-well nearly came in my pants,” he said with a rueful smile, but a tic in his cheek showed how much it had cost him to hold back.
In that instant, she grew aware of his erection pressing against the bare skin of her stomach. She turned hot again. Hot that either one of them could free him and slip him deep inside her.
“Cassie?”
She took a ragged breath. As much as she wanted to feel him filling her, she knew he’d reach orgasm the second he took the plunge into her. No, she owed him a longer release. A sexy idea popped into her mind and she pushed it aside but it quickly returned.
Could she…
Dare she…
Why the heck not?
Wriggling out of his arms, she reached for his zipper. This time she wanted to see him come apart for her. “This is now a foreign exchange program,” she teased, somewhat amazed at herself as she slid the zipper down, not an easy thing to do, considering his arousal.
His eyes slammed into hers, giving her a delicious shiver. “Fair’s fair, I guess,” he muttered as she pushed his pants open and freed him.
Her hand wrapped around his erection and he groaned, and she moaned at the hot feel of him against her palm. He was big and throbbing and undeniably male inside her slim fingers.
God, she was tempted to make him climax using her palm.
Or her lips.
Instead she went up on her toes and ran the tip of her tongue around his mouth, satisfied when he swallowed thickly.
Reluctantly she moved back, picked up his hand and put it on himself. “Your turn,” she said throatily, her palm remaining over him in case he hesitated.
He immediately started to stroke himself, his eyes filling with a bold, sensual light.
Talking Sex Page 8
