by Bella Andre
Last night he’d run the show.
Tonight, she wanted her turn at being in charge.
The last thing she expected to see was a massage table set up in the middle of the expensive-looking carpet. “Do we have the wrong room?”
“Nope,” he said with a soft kiss to her lips. “You’ve been working so hard all day. I don’t want you to be sore tomorrow.”
She couldn’t believe he’d arranged a masseuse for her.
Or that he was planning to make her wait to have him.
“You don’t play fair, do you?”
“You wouldn’t want me to,” he said against the curve of her neck, where he’d started nibbling on her skin.
And he was right, she thought, even though her entire body buzzed with arousal, with the desperate need to have him inside of her right now. Every other man that had come before Zach now seemed boring. Unimaginative. She couldn’t remember a single reason she would want to be with anyone else.
He gave her one of those evil grins she was beginning to dread...and wish for at the exact same time. “Before I call in the masseuse, I’d better get you undressed.”
He turned her around, found the zipper at the back of her dress, and drew it down. The dark blue fabric fluttered away from her body and all it took was one soft tug for it to slide down her shoulders, over her arms, past her hips and to the floor. Turning her around with his large hands on her waist, he took a step back to look at her in her bra, panties, thigh-high stockings, and heels.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She hated to break the spell, but she didn’t want there to be any lies between them. Especially when he didn’t need to say things like that to get her into bed with him.
“I’m not.” She fought the urge to try to cover her arms, and the old scars, by hiding them behind her back.
“You are.”
He said the words with such intensity, that even though she couldn’t possibly see how it was true, she had no choice but to believe he meant it.
And then, he was reaching for her hands. But instead of threading his fingers through hers, his thumbs caressed her old scars, one by one as he moved his hands further up from her wrists, over her forearms, to the soft underside of her elbows.
It was too much for her, the way he seemed to adore even her imperfections, and she made a sound of protest. “Zach, I—”
He kissed her before she could say anything else, but he didn’t stop touching her, didn’t stop exploring her battered skin with his fingertips. She’d been right about a mechanic’s hands, about how talented they could be. He was turning her to putty again, but she didn’t want to just sit back and feel.
She wanted to be right there with him, an equal in passion, a partner in desire. And she didn’t think she could stand for him to be that gentle, that sweet, another second longer without her heart falling.
Sliding quickly from his grasp, she undid the clasp on her bra. As the straps fell from her shoulders, and her bra began the slow slide from her breasts, she loved the hunger in Zach’s eyes.
And loved even more that it seemed the most obvious thing in the world to drop slowly to her knees in front of him.
* * *
Zach had planned to keep his hands off Heather until she’d had her massage. He’d witnessed firsthand tonight how hard she’d worked for the fundraiser, and even though he’d wanted her every single second since she’d left his arms that morning, he’d been trying to wait to take her again until she was relaxed and ready for him.
He should have realized his plans were shot to hell when she yanked him inside the suite by his tie. But he was so used to doing things his way, it still hadn’t occurred to him that Heather might not let him get away with that tonight...or that she’d actually drop to her knees and lick her lips in pure sensual need as she unzipped him.
He had to slide his hands into her hair as her tongue found him first and then she—
Jesus, her mouth.
A few minutes later, Zach somehow managed to pull back and lift her into his arms. But as he moved toward the bedroom and kicked open the door, he had to lean over her to take one beautiful breast into his mouth.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried out his name as he laved first one, then the other. They sank down to the mattress like that, with his greedy mouth on her soft skin as her hands held his head over her chest, groaning when his lips and tongue met her warm, sinfully sweet flesh.
Zach had always loved sex in every form—slow sex, rough sex, playful sex, quick and dirty sex—but he’d never felt this desperation, this primal need to claim a woman as his before. And when he finally looked up to see Heather’s long, dark hair fanned out on the pillow, her cheeks flushed with excitement, her eyes dark and hazy with arousal...he lost it.
All those plans to heighten her anticipation by making her wait, to take his time learning her curves and hollows all over again with the lights on this time, shattered in the face of his overpowering desire to take her.
To make her his.
His hands were shaking as he slid his fingers into the sides of her panties, his erection growing even bigger at the shockingly sexy view of Heather’s nearly naked body on the bed. He wanted her full breasts pressed into his chest, her long legs wrapped around his hips as he took her up, up, up, then over with him.
“Hurry,” she urged him, but how could he resist the scent, the taste of her? Her panties were only halfway down her thighs when he bent his head down to run his tongue over her.
She bucked up into his mouth as he laved the center of her arousal and a split second later he had to use his hands on her hips to hold her still as she began to cry out and quiver beneath his mouth. Ripping her panties the rest of the way off, he pushed her legs open wider to wring every ounce of pleasure out of her beautifully unexpected climax.
Zach loved the way she trembled beneath his lips. She was one of the strongest women he’d ever met, but when they were making love, she was all softness and pleasure.
He wanted to take her up over that edge again, could have listened to her gasps of pleasure all night long, and would have forgone his own orgasm to do just that had she not already ripped open the condom he’d thrown onto the bed and sat up to slide it over his erection.
“All night long, I needed you inside me, Zach. I can’t wait another second.”
This time it was her hands that were shaking as she pulled him down over her. Their mouths connected at the exact moment he slid into her, and he swallowed her gasp of pleasure with his kiss.
Again and again they rocked together, hard flesh against soft, Heather possessing him every bit as much as he was possessing her. They rolled so that she was on top, her strong muscles flexing as she rode him harder, faster, their mouths still fused in passion. His hands couldn’t decide where to go, to her breasts or her hips, and he ended up stroking her again and again from curve to curve, her skin growing hotter, slicker beneath his palms, as he drove higher into her with every caress.
And just as he felt her inner muscles tighten down over him, he confessed, “I need you, too. More than I’ve ever needed anyone.”
He could hardly believe the beauty before him as his heated words gave her the final push she needed to tumble into a powerful climax. One so strong that despite how badly he wanted to stay lucid enough to watch her, to drink in every second of her pleasure, Zach had no choice but to join her.
It took a long while for them to catch their breath, and when he moved to lift her up again, she was half asleep against him as he carried her into the bathroom.
“Too tired for a massage,” she murmured against his chest.
He kissed her forehead, then turned on the tub, making sure the water was warm before lowering them both into it. She sighed as she felt the water move over her naked skin, but she didn’t open her eyes. Instead, with her back to his front, her hips between his thighs, she leaned her head back farther against his shoulder.
/> “So comfortable with you,” she said in a sleepy voice.
He smiled against her hair, happy to be her pillow for as long as she liked. Another time, he’d show her all the fun they could have in the tub together, but knowing she’d appreciate waking up clean and fresh, he softly ran the bar of soap over her beautiful skin.
She practically purred beneath his touch, but even though he knew she was enjoying the sensuality of their bath, nothing could trump her need for sleep right now. Still, he wasn’t even close to being a saint, so when her thighs instinctively opened for him to soap her up, he let himself play over that soft skin a little more than he had everywhere else.
Even half-asleep, she bucked up into his hand, and made little pleading noises for pleasure that he couldn’t help but want to fulfill. Dropping the soap, he swirled his fingers into the curls between her thighs.
He could tell she was somewhere between a dream and the bathtub as she breathed out his name. God, he loved hearing her say it. Whether she was horny or angry, laughing or irritated, he wanted her.
Needed her.
He already knew just how she loved to be touched. Moments later she was shuddering against him, her eyes still closed, a smile curving up her lips before every muscle, every bone in her body finally went lax against him.
He lifted her from the tub, toweled her off, and tucked her into bed. As she curled against him, one thigh over his, her face pressed into the crook of his shoulder, her arm across his chest, he was surprised to realize he actually didn’t mind going to bed without having her take care of his pleasure again.
Not when the chance to be with Heather like this, when she was soft and supple and perfectly trusting, was already more than he thought he could ever have.
Chapter Twenty-two
Heather was just waking up when she realized Zach wasn’t in bed with her. She couldn’t believe how late it was. She never slept past 6:30 a.m., so how could the clock say 10 a.m.?
Sitting up in bed, she looked through the slightly open bedroom door into the penthouse living room, where she could hear Zach speaking on the phone.
“I don’t know if I can do this one, Tommy. Are you sure no one else is available?” came before a slightly resigned, “Sure, I can be there by this afternoon for some practice runs with the crew.”
She grabbed a super-soft robe from the armoire and walked into the living room just in time to hear Zach curse as he dropped his phone onto the coffee table.
“Good morning to you, too,” she teased him.
He reached out and grabbed for her so fast that she found herself sprawled on his lap with his mouth on hers. She should have gotten enough of him already. Instead, every time he kissed her, touched her, she only found herself wanting more.
“I had so many plans for a Sunday alone with you,” he murmured against her mouth when he finally let her up for air. “My buddy Tommy just screwed them all up.”
Heather had to work hard—really hard—to keep from showing her own disappointment that he had to leave already. She hadn’t planned to spend any part of the weekend with him, but after the way Friday night had turned into Saturday morning and then was repeated all over again Saturday night, she’d started to get used to having him around. Enough, at least, that a Sunday together wouldn’t have killed her.
She almost asked him where he needed to rush off to, but it was the kind of thing a girlfriend needed to know. Not a sex buddy like her.
Fortunately, he told her anyway. “Tommy was a good friend of my father’s. My dad taught me how to build an engine, and then Tommy showed me how to drive one real fast.” He was pressing soft kisses along the underside of her jaw as he spoke. “His doctor wouldn’t sign off on him to get into the car this time around and he needs someone to sub for him in a race on Monday morning. I’ve got to get to Southern California by this afternoon to do some practice runs with the crew.”
Of course he raced cars, she thought. A man like Zach wouldn’t be content with just being a business mogul. It wouldn’t be enough that he could slay at least half the human population just by glancing in their direction. He would need the rush of testing the limits of the fast cars he built, too. And she had a pretty good sense that he wasn’t afraid of getting hurt, that those kinds of fears wouldn’t hold him back the way they might with other people.
But just thinking about Zach getting into a race car and driving real fast had her heart pounding. What if he got hurt? What if these past few days with him were the only ones she ever got to have?
She was surprised to realize the scars on her arms were tingling, like a mainline from her emotions to her body.
Working to sound like it was no big deal, she asked, “How long have you been racing?”
Just because she was sleeping with him didn’t mean his grin had any less impact. If anything, it hit her even harder now. Because she knew how fast that grin could bend into a sensual look that melted down her should-stay-icy core.
“Pretty much since the day I got my driver’s license.”
“Sounds like fun,” she said, but then couldn’t stop herself from adding, “but isn’t it dangerous?”
His eyes flashed with something she couldn’t quite read before he shrugged. “We’re going close to 200 miles per hour. Of course it’s dangerous.”
Her fingers itched to smack him for his devil-may-care response. “I’m sure your family would be really upset if anything happened to you.”
His eyes narrowed on her as if he knew she was really saying she would be really upset if anything happened to him. But instead of calling her on acting more like a possessive girlfriend than she had any right to be given their arrangement, he said, “You should come. I’ll strap you in real tight and take you for a ride.”
Just that fast, the wicked glint in his eyes got her heart to racing for reasons that had nothing to do with his getting hurt in a speeding car.
Both a shiver of need and a thrill at the thought of letting loose in a speeding car were there as she teased, “You just like the idea of strapping me into something.”
He abruptly stood up with her in his arms and carried her over to the massage table. “Unfortunately, there are no bindings on this, but I’m sure we can improvise.” She tried to clutch the robe to her chest but he quickly had it off her shoulders. “Ready for your massage?”
Her breath was already coming too fast and her mouth felt dry as she said, “Don’t you need to go race a fast car?”
“I promised you a massage first, and I always make good on my promises.”
She tried not to read too much into his talk of promises. It was just sexy talk. He was being playful, the way he usually was. People threw around a lot of words they didn’t mean when they were having really awesome sex with one another.
“In that case, I’m not going to turn down the offer,” she said in a deliberately light voice. “How do you want me?”
His eyes darkened with desire at her provocative question. “Let’s start with you on your stomach.”
Trying not to feel self-conscious about being completely naked on the padded massage table, she got into position. He left the room for a moment, and when he came back to stand in front of her, she looked down at his bare feet through the hole in the padded head rest. She wasn’t surprised to note that his bare feet were as perfect as the rest of him.
“Usually the masseuse puts a sheet over me.”
“I sure as hell hope so,” he growled as she suddenly smelled lavender. “You’d better never let any else see you like this.”
He was the most possessive man she’d ever met. But any protests she might have made about no one owning her but herself were lost in a moan of sheer bliss as his hands began to massage her shoulders.
“I thought sex with you was the best thing I’d ever felt, but this might actually be better.”
She was so lost in the throes of the sweet pleasure of Zach’s hands breaking down her stiff muscles that it wasn’t until he said, “The best thi
ng you’ve ever felt, huh?” that she realized what she’d just admitted.
“Massages are worse than drugs for me,” she improvised, the way he was touching her making her words surprisingly true. “I get loopy and say things I don’t mean.”
His laughter washed over her just as he moved down over her shoulder blades to the middle of her back. His hands were so large that they easily spanned her rib cage. “I wonder what else I can get you to say?”
No matter how good he made her feel, she was keeping her mouth shut from here on out. God only knew what he was going to do with that information she’d just accidentally handed him on a silver platter. The last thing a guy like Zach needed to know was that he was the sexual champion on top of everything else.
“Do your worst,” she challenged him, but her words were muffled by another low moan of pleasure.
“Don’t you mean my best?” he asked in a silky voice that should have had her tensing to prepare her defenses.
But how could she when he chose that moment to press his thumbs into the small of her back where she’d been aching from lifting and carrying everything in the ballroom to set up last night’s fundraiser?
“Oh. God. Yes.”
But her utter and complete capitulation obviously wasn’t good enough for him, because a moment later he had slid his hands down to her hips and was massaging her glutes. She gasped at the shocking pleasure of her sore muscles beneath his fingertips, along with the sensuality of knowing whose hands were on her...and that he could choose at any moment to do so much more than just massage her muscles with them.
“Can’t even form words now, can you?”
He sounded incredibly pleased with himself, and yet, she could hear the way his confident words broke at the ends. As if he was holding onto his control by a very thin thread.
