HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series)

by Cox, Zara

  “No. Absolutely none,” she lied through her teeth.

  Sheena’s light hazel eyes narrowed. “I suppose, he does have a point. You played a lead role in the research last year so I guess this ought to be your baby. I hope though that I don’t need to point out how big this could be for us. And for you. That means, whatever Zach Savage wants, he gets.”

  Bethany barely stopped herself from snorting. “Sure. Understood.” She’d been doing that willingly, and sometimes unwillingly, since she walked into a certain VIP Lounge in Newark two weeks ago.

  For the rest of the afternoon, Bethany cleared her desk of all other work in preparation of the brainstorm session Sheena had arranged for five pm. At first she was thankful her phone stayed silent but as the hours crept on, a mixture of anxiety and anticipation mired through her belly.

  Gritting her teeth, she pushed the feeling aside and concentrated on her work.

  Jeff had given them a much meatier info file on the Indigo Lounge. Clients were chosen after a strict vetting session done by an elite in-house investigation company under the Savage Inc. umbrella.

  With such a team at his disposal, it came as no surprise that Zach knew her life inside and out.

  His team could turn around investigations within twenty-four hours. Which meant any guests chosen could be vetted quickly and efficiently. When she re-read the IL policy for zero tolerance on drugs, she paused.

  Zach had mentioned a life of drugs and partying in his younger days. She suspected that something had happened with drugs that involved Farrah. Had she overdosed? Dear God, had he supplied the drugs that killed her?

  A slither of ice eased down her spine. If it turned out that that was what Zach was guilty of, could she live with it?

  She shook her head and pushed the thought away. There was no use torturing herself when she had no facts to base her theory on. She stared at her computer screen for several minutes before she started typing the variation of the info she’d first typed into her search engine a week ago.

  A touch of shame crawled over her but she pushed that feeling too away. If Zach wasn’t above playing dirty, she could too.

  Zach Savage and Farrah marital connection.

  She hit return but already knew there would be nothing there. She’d trawled through over three hundred pages of links before she’d given up in the first few days of her miserable spiral last week.

  Besides, if there was some deep, dark reason why Zach couldn’t tell her, she was sure he’d have taken steps to have any information removed from public record. It’d taken her a while to grasp the full implications of just who she’d become involved with but she now knew Zach Savage the billionaire wielded power and influence the same way lesser mortals breathed.

  Her phone rang, startling her into gasping. She answered it, and felt a heavy twinge of disappointment when the dark, sexy voice she expected didn’t respond.

  “I thought we were going to make plans for dinner and drinks tonight?” Keely demanded.

  “I need a rain check. Have to work late tonight.” She scrolled through the twentieth page of her search, hoping to catch something she’d missed.

  “Fuck. Is Sheena getting back at you for taking all that time off? I can call her and drop a few mild threats…”

  Bethany laughed. “Stand down, Xena Warrior Princess. I have to work late because I’ve been put in charge of a new event.”

  “Oh. Okay, cool. Anything exciting?”

  Bethany hesitated. Although there was an implicit confidentiality in the early stage of her work, she and Keely had shared info on their various projects before. She trusted her friend with her life. But she wasn’t sure how Keely would take the fact that Zach had inveigled his way into her work life too. Keely was still bent out of shape over the Shades incident and Bethany wasn’t sure how much reserves she had left where the whole Zach situation was concerned.

  “Potentially. We only got the commission today and it’s a fast turnaround so it’s a bit hectic over here. I’ll fill you in when I can, ‘kay?” she said breezily.

  “Fine. Guess, I’ll have to find a way to amuse myself,” Keely grumbled. Bethany smiled, confident in the knowledge that her best friend would have other plans before she hung up.

  After ending the call she stared at her computer screen, her mind screeching back to Zach and the enigma that surrounded his life.

  Could she wait until he divulged his secrets to her? And could she work with him in the meantime and not delve deeper into the despair she could feel swallowing her whenever she thought back to that last night in Marrakech?

  There was a way she could get out of their professional relationship but she’d discarded that line of thought before it’d even fully formed earlier today. There was no way she would do a bad job and lose Neon the commission.

  Even if she wanted to, her pride in her work wouldn’t let her take that route.

  Footsteps clicked along the corridor towards her desk. “You ready to get started?” Sheena quipped.

  Bethany gathered the information she’d put together in the last hour. Glancing at the search page one last time, she clicked it shut and breathed out. “Yes.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Philip arrived at four o’clock on the button the next afternoon. Again Bethany felt a sharp twinge when she noticed the back seat was empty. All day, she’d nervously dangled on tenterhooks as the hours crept by and her phone remained silent.

  The pendulous swing from fielding his calls several times an hour to nothing in almost thirty-six hours played havoc with her nerves.

  Those nerves escalated as she slid into the backseat and secured her seatbelt. With a small nod, Philip steered the car into traffic and headed for the Upper East Side.

  Yesterday when she’d arrived with Sheena and Gary for the mysterious interview she’d been too curious as to the details of the meeting to pay much attention to her surroundings.

  Today, knowing this was Zach’s place for however long he chose to remain in New York, her interest heightened as she walked into the plush lobby of the condo whose address constantly appeared on glossy property magazines.

  White oak hardwood floors and Venetian papered walls dominated the entry hallway and the discreet concierge service tucked into a neat corner was staffed by a uniformed couple who looked like they’d just stepped off a photo shoot.

  Philip rode up the elevator with her and accessed Zach’s condo with his own key card. Expecting him to step in beside her for the ride up, she looked up in surprise when he nodded and withdrew.

  “Mr Savage will be waiting for you. Good evening, ma’am.” With that, the burly man silently retreated.

  Steel butterflies battered her insides as the elevator whisked her upward. Turning her head, she stared at her reflection in the mirrored interior of the gilt framed elevator and groaned silently when she caught sight of the feverish excitement in her eyes.

  She looked away quickly, her hand closing convulsively over her leather document case as her pulse spiked frantically and her breathing altered.

  He was waiting for her when the elevator opened.

  Fierce grey eyes bore into her, the narrow eyed look focused on her in that unnerving way that caused nervousness and excitement to war within her.

  “Bethany.”

  God, the way he said her name. Like a prayer. Like a decadent invitation to sin. All wrapped in a wicked, husky rasp that had the power to stop her breath.

  She forced herself to move, to not stand there like a gaping idiot, intent on devouring him with her eyes. But despite cautioning herself against it, she couldn’t help but notice how delicious he looked. His white sleeves were rolled up, exposing strong, muscled arms and his dark grey trousers streamlined lean hips and strong thighs in a way that would’ve made most male models drool.

  He didn’t move when she reached him. He seemed content to stare at her, one hand braced on the elevator door to keep it from sliding shut.

  “I wasn’t sure whether you
would come,” he said finally. His voice held a hint of uncertainty even as his gaze roved possessively over her.

  “I work for you now. I don’t have a choice.”

  A dark forbidding look gleamed in his eyes before it disappeared a second later. Reaching out, he caught her hand and pulled her forward. “Whatever the circumstances, I’m glad you’re here.” He kissed the back of her hand and tugged her along the wide, exquisitely designed hallway.

  She glanced up into his gorgeous face as she walked beside him. “Even if I’m not totally happy with the circumstances?”

  His jaw tightened. “What would it take, besides the obvious, to make you happy?”

  She looked away and bit her tongue against the urge to ask why he hadn’t called her in the last day and half. She wasn’t that pathetic…yet.

  “There’s nothing you can do, Zach.”

  He sucked in a harsh breath as he steered her into the living room. “I refuse to accept that. Take your jacket off.”

  Setting her case down, she shrugged out of her lightweight jacket that matched her knee-length business dress and she forced herself to look round; to at least pretend that there was something else in the room that held her interest besides Zach.

  The décor in his New York condo was a world removed from his Marrakech palace but no less decadent or jaw-dropping. Pieces of art that would make her mother gape in awe and envy graced the walls, including a painting she was willing to bet was an original Klimt.

  Four large cream sofas were spread out over the vast floor, each large enough to almost double up as a day bed. Rugs warmed highly polished parquet floors and a coffee table made of a solid slab of roughly carved white stone sat in the middle of the large, sun-filled space.

  She took it all in in seconds. Then her attention veered back to the man who’d stalked closer to stand behind her. His warm, masculine scent enveloped her, making her remember just how much she’d loved to breathe him in. She stood, frozen and completely captivated as light fingers brushed aside the hair she’d left loose and trailed down her nape. She could no more stop the full body electric shudder cascading over her body than she could stop her heart from beating.

  Swallowing hard, she forced her brain to function.

  What did he just say?

  I refuse to accept that…

  “You manipulated yourself back into my life when we agreed that I needed time. Don’t act surprised that I’m not playing ball, Zach.”

  His sigh pushed a warm breath over her nape. “What would it take for you to play ball?”

  “Nothing.”

  His low growl was bitten off abruptly and a hard kiss landed on her first vertebrae. She gasped and jerked around, but he was moving toward the drinks cabinet at the far side of the room.

  “Wine spritzer?” he asked with a raised brow.

  Her nod was clumsy and her fingers unsteady as she clawed them through her hair. She watched him fix her drink, his shoulders tense and unyielding.

  Drink in hand, he walked back to her, those eyes fixed once more on her in a way that made her throat dry. Silently, he held out her glass.

  “Thank you.”

  He stood watching as she took a sip. She licked her lips and his eyes darkened, a raw hunger tightening his features.

  “Shall we get down to business?” she suggested into the strained atmosphere.

  “Not yet. I’ll show you around first,” he replied. Tension still raked through his frame and this watchfulness had ramped up another thousand degrees.

  Bethany had last seen that look the first time they met, in his office at the Newark Airport. He’d proceeded to annihilate her senses in a way that she was still reeling from.

  She wanted to refuse him. Wanted to set the glass down, grab her case and run out of there as fast as her shaky legs would carry her.

  But she stayed put. Because Zach continued to captivate her. Because her feelings for him were as chaotic and as beautifully complicated as ever. And no matter what had happened since that momentous night in Marrakech, she had a feeling she and Zach were far from over.

  She also had a feeling she wouldn’t get more than a step before he nuked any plans she had to flee.

  He slid an arm around her waist and propelled her toward the door. In the hallway, his hand tightened.

  “You’ve seen the meeting room. Next to that is my office.” He opened the door and she caught a glimpse of an imposing desk, bare except for the large laptop, Tiffany lamp and silver phone gracing its glossy surface. A large screen faced the desk and another immense leather sofa faced floor to ceiling windows overlooking the spectacular view.

  He tugged her down the hallway to the dining room, another breath-taking room decorated with top of the line pieces which blended comfort with unspeakable luxury. The tour of the kitchen was cursory as was the extensive library.

  Exiting the library, he led her to a door with a keypad fixed next to the handle. He keyed in a code and it swung open to reveal stairs leading upstairs.

  “After you,” he murmured in a husky rasp.

  Again memories of Newark assailed her. Her legs were shaved this time but her tight dress did nothing to hide her ass from his avid stare. The heat of it branded her skin as she went ahead of him and the constricting skirt of her dress reduced her steps to tiny, ridiculously faltering moves.

  Over the hammering of her heart, Bethany wondered whether she’d imagined the same hiss of arousal she’d heard that first time too.

  Drowning in déjà vu she quickly hurried up the stairs and turned to face him.

  Molten eyes stared down at her as he raked a hand through his hair. “You’ve lost weight, sweetheart. I don’t like it.”

  Not what she’d been expecting. “Drowning in angst will do that to a girl,” she quipped.

  His mouth tightened but he said nothing as he led her down another, smaller hallway. A bathroom and smaller office veered off the eastern corner of the condo. Double doors opened onto an entryway beyond which a large pool stretched the length under stylish, gleaming lights. Residual sensations of her phobia and memories from Marrakech clashed as she watched the shimmering water.

  Gently, Zach slid his hand around her waist. “We have more work to do with your water issues but not today. Come.”

  He steered her back into the main hallway.

  Off the west, three doors led to stylishly decorated bedrooms, two of which were clearly guest bedrooms.

  By the time he brought her to a stop in front of the last door, Bethany’s pulse was beating so rapidly, her head swam.

  His eyes pinned to her face, he threw the door open and pushed her inside.

  She stumbled in and drew to a halt. All Bethany saw was the bed. Huge, imposing and built for sex, the bed was made of solid oak with an intricate headboard that rose almost halfway up the bedroom wall. Decadent white cotton sheets and countless pillows brought into stunning relief the thick indigo and black spread gracing the lower half of the bed.

  Once again, he stalked closer and stopped behind her. “Bathroom’s through there. Double dressing room is next to it.”

  She tore her gaze from the bed. “And that last room?” she asked, although a part of her suspected the answer. The way heat shot through her body, there could only be one answer.

  “It’s your new toy room, Bethany. I had it made especially for you,” he whispered in her ear. “Do you want to see it?”

  Adrenaline and excitement surged through her body, jerking her around to face him. “No thanks. I have all the toys I need.”

  His face darkened and he shook his head. Dark hair flopped onto his forehead, giving him a rakish look that was far too sinful for words.

  “No, Peaches. From now on I’m in charge of your orgasms. You got a free pass the other night in the self-pleasuring department because you needed to get your head straight. No more. Until my heart stops beating, you won’t come again without me because I intend to take an active role in all your orgasms. Are we clear?”
>
  She detested the electric shiver that amped through her at his powerful words. “For fuck’s sake. How exactly do you intend to police my orgasms? And how will you even know?”

  His sensual mouth twitched in a semblance of a smile. “You forget I know how you look when you come. I know how soft and languid you feel after a climax. You use any gadget on that sweet pussy without me and I will take a paddle to your gorgeous ass.”

  “God, Zach.” She closed her eyes and shook her head to get some semblance of clarity. When she opened them again, her eyes widened. “What are you doing?” she croaked.

  Eyes fixed on her, he continued to pull his shirt from his trousers and began to unbutton it. Slowly. Button after button popped through its hole as he kicked the door shut with an ominous thud behind him.

  “We’re going to fuck, baby. Right now. Because I’m at the end of my fucking tether.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bethany’s mouth dried and fire flashed through her belly as she watched his wide, sculpted chest slide into view.

  Heaven help her, he was as breath-taking as ever. She caught sight of one flat bronze nipple and her thighs began to tremble.

  “Do I get a say in any of this? At all?” she asked.

  A taut smile slashed across his face. “You can decide whether you want to be fucked from behind, on the floor or up against the wall. I’m fine with whatever surface you prefer. As long as I’m inside your tight cunt inside the next five minutes.”

  He moved towards her and she slammed out her hands.

  “No!” Her cry was hoarse and agony-filled.

  He stopped immediately, shock colliding with the lust on his face. “Jesus, Bethany, what’s wrong?”

  “You overwhelm me, Zach. I can’t think straight when you do this. I don’t want to hate you for it but I don’t like this…this out of control feeling when you brush my feelings aside and carry on regardless.”