What a Woman Wants

by Brenda Jackson

  And it hadn’t help matters that he’d found the scrap of silk panties he’d practically ripped off her on the floor next to his car that following morning. If anything, as a true Tennessee gentleman, he should have offered to purchase her another pair. But then when it came to her, he didn’t quite feel like a gentleman. He wanted to be the roughneck she assumed he was, the type of person that she evidently wanted firsthand knowledge of—right between her gorgeous legs.

  Adam went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He needed it. Today he had helped Kent get a customer’s classic ‘68 Mal-ibu ready for a race in a few weeks at the newly opened Savannah River Drag Way, an event Adam intended to travel the forty-five minutes into Savannah to attend.

  Clicking off the lights, he was about to turn toward the stairs to go up to his apartment when he heard a sound. He glanced over at the window, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him. He saw her standing outside the window as she had done the last time he saw her.

  He lifted his dark brows in surprise. It seemed the good doctor’s bruised ego hadn’t kept her from returning after all. In fact, knowing how the human mind worked, especially the female mind, he would bet the classic 1965 Corvair that was parked in his garage in Memphis that there was a purpose behind her visit. Some women, he’d discovered, didn’t take rejection well, and he had a feeling she topped the list. No doubt she had something in store for him, something he might not be able to resist a second time, given his present horny state.

  And for the first time since meeting her, he had a feeling that he was in big trouble. But still, he intended to do things his way. And it would be a way she wouldn’t easily forget—and he hoped like hell it was one she wouldn’t be quick to regret. If she wanted the raw, unrefined side of him, then tonight she would get it.

  If Shannon hadn’t seen Adam through the window before he’d turned off the lights, she would not have been certain he was inside. But she had seen him, and she knew he’d seen her.

  She nearly jumped when the sound of the huge garage door rising startled her. Since he hadn’t turned the lights back on, the en-tranceway looked dark and spooky. She waited a few moments for him to appear, and when he didn’t, she drew in a deep breath, wondered just what kind of game he was playing, and walked over the threshold into the darkened garage.

  The sound of her high-heeled shoes crossing the cement floor was loud, and she decided that if Adam wouldn’t turn the lights back on, then she would... once she figured out just where the light switch was. She stopped and glanced around. Everything was dark, and she forced her nerves to relax. As soon as they did, she nearly jumped out of her skin once more when the sound of the garage door being lowered made her jittery all over again. With great effort, she tried to regain her cool. She had never liked the dark.

  Having had enough of Adam’s foolishness, she said out loud, “Aren’t you too old to be playing games?”

  “Is that what I’m doing?”

  She nearly leaped out of her shoes. The deep masculine voice had spoken from directly behind her, and before she could move, he settied his body right smack up against her butt. He felt hot, male, and huge.

  “Why did you come back?” he asked, leaning closer and whispering the question gruffly in her ear.

  She was about to give him some smart-ass response when he reached around and flattened his palm against her bare stomach to pull her back even more firmly against him. His touch sent blood quickly rushing through her and heat pooling between her legs.

  “What the hell are you wearing?” he asked, almost growling. “Or should I be asking what the hell aren’t you wearing?”

  “Why don’t you turn on the lights and see,” Shannon growled back. Her outfit, at least what there was of it, undoubtedly had caught his attention the moment he’d touched her bare belly. She had intended to be bold tonight, and she certainly was. When she discovered that Frederick’s of Hollywood was having a grand opening on the island, she’d been ecstatic. The moment she had walked into the store she had seen the perfect outfit, one that would raise Adam Corbain’s temperature up a few notches.

  “I think I’ll keep the lights off for now. You can model this outfit for me later. Right now I want to touch you all over.”

  His hot breath made her shiver when he leaned closer to her shoulder and nibbled her there and then again when his hand moved from her bare belly up to her lacy bralette and he slipped his hand underneath to gently rub his palm over her breasts. She couldn’t stop the moan that poured forth from her lips. And when she automatically settled her tush even closer to fit against him, he seemed to grow larger.

  She closed her eyes as he stroked her breasts with his hands, massaging the tips of her nipples and sending her pulse racing.

  “You picked a bad night to come back,” he said, whispering the words hoarsely in her ear even while grinding his groin against her backside.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because I’m horny.”

  His words, raw and jagged, turned her on instead of turning her off. She decided the first time she’d met him that he took the term bad boy to a whole other level, and he was proving her theory right.

  “Your being horny doesn’t scare me, Adam,” she whispered, excited.

  He slowly moved his hands from her breasts to slide them down past her bare belly to the waistband of the lace thong, which had ties on the side. “And if I go further and slide my hand lower, beneath the waistband of this concoction here, what will I find?” he asked, while easing his hand lower.

  “That I’m as horny as you are.”

  Adam managed to hold himself in check to keep from laughing. Just where did this woman come from? When it came to being sexually blatant, she could hold her own with any man. She was definitely more ballsy and brash than any woman he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting.

  “You think so,” he countered.

  “More than likely,” she purred.

  “Umm, let’s see.”

  Pulling her even closer back to him, he fitted his knees between her legs, opening them wider. He then traced a path lower beneath the waistline of thong. When his fingers reached their mark, they suddenly went still. “The curls?”

  Shannon knew what he was asking, not that it was any of his business. But she decided to respond anyway. “I went to the spa a couple of days ago and decided to get a bikini wax.”

  “I like hair,” he rumbled in her ear.

  “Then grow some.”

  Her smart-ass reply evidently got to him—if his responding growl was any indication. And then to prove his point he snatched her around and devoured her mouth, exploring her insides greedily with the insistent thrust of his tongue.

  She hadn’t had time to catch her breath. All she could do was wrap her arms around him, breathe in the manly scent of him, and match his mouth play for play. She felt her entire body flaming, and when he shifted her body to give himself access to the heat between her legs, she released a deep moan.

  His fingers went to work, just as they’d done the last time and she wasn’t sure what was worse: his tongue in her mouth or his fingers in her center. He was driving her mad, and she felt a pull in the lower part of her body that seemed ready to explode.

  Seconds later it did.

  She screamed when an orgasm hit, and he soothed the sound with gentle kisses along her face and neck. It seemed to take her forever to recover, to come back down off the high he’d sent her on, but when she did, she found herself swept off her feet and into strong arms. Then she noticed they were moving.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked, barely able to get the words out.

  “Upstairs to my bedroom, into the light,” he answered matter-of-factly. “I want to see just what the hell you’re wearing.”

  The moment Adam placed her on his bed, Shannon glanced around. The efficiency apartment was neat, tidy, but her scrutiny of his living quarters came to an abrupt end when he came to the bed and stood over her. He had
turned a light on the moment they had stepped over the threshold, and he was standing there, looking down at her, getting an eyeful. She couldn’t recall ever giving any man such liberties before.

  “I like it.”

  His words surprised the hell out of her, and what shocked her even more was the mere idea that she was actually glad that he approved. He then leaned over and lifted the short lace skirt that covered her thong. “Now I understand the reason for the bikini wax.”

  She started to tell him that she didn’t care if he understood or not. What she did with her body wasn’t any of his business. And she was about to tell him just that when he reached down, captured her hand, and pulled her to her feet. Before she could ask what he thought he was doing, he showed her, tilting her face up to him and inserting his tongue into her mouth, just as unceremoniously as he pleased. And when he began thrusting that tongue back and forth inside her mouth—right, left, up, down, all around—she began to experience sensations she’d never felt before. This man was actually breaking down every nut and bolt of her sexual system.

  He slowly broke off the kiss and pulled back, and his dark eyes searched hers a moment before he said in a deep, husky voice, “You’re going to have to work for it.”

  She blinked, and then her eyes darkened. “Work for what?”

  He placed her hand on his crotch. Let her feel the size and the hardness. “For this.”

  She snatched her hand back and placed them on her hips. “And why should I? I’ve already had my pleasure for tonight.”

  He smiled and his gaze became even more intense. “There’s a hell of a lot more where it came from.”

  “Might be, but as a rule I’m only good for one a night.”

  He brushed her hair off her shoulders and said as casual as you please, “I beg to differ. Care to prove me wrong?”

  Shannon’s eyes narrowed. He was trying to be in charge again. “Yes, I beg to differ, and I don’t have any problems proving you wrong. Some women’s body aren’t equipped for multiples and mine is one of them.”

  Adam found what she’d said amusing. “You actually believe that?”

  Shannon tilted her head back and stared at him without a trace of a smile anywhere on her face. “I actually know that.”

  “Okay, then, I’ll prove you wrong after I get some work out of you.

  She frowned. “What kind of work?”

  “In the kitchen on the counter are the headlights to the car I’m working on downstairs. I need them cleaned with the glass cleaner that’s sitting next to them.”

  Shannon almost told him what he could do with both his headlights and his glass cleaner, but she held her tongue. She knew this was a challenge. Although he thought he could push her over the edge again tonight, she knew that he couldn’t. But she was thinking about another night in the future. The orgasms of the last time and tonight had spoiled her, and she didn’t want to do anything to ruin the possibility of a three-peat. She fully intended to come back.

  “And what are you going to do while I’m cleaning those headlights?”

  “Take a shower.”

  Shannon met his gaze. “All right, but if you take too long, I’m leaving.”

  He let out a sensuous laugh. “You’re not going anywhere. You got to prove me wrong tonight, remember.” And then he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

  Despite her determination to maintain her cool, Shannon practically held her breath until she heard the sound of the shower going. Adam was right. All she had to do was to remember what she’d experienced with his skilled fingers to know she wasn’t going anywhere. Especially when he seemed so convinced he could do the impossible. He seemed so certain of it, so downright confident in his abilities. She’d always detested men who thought they knew her better than she knew herself, and she always took pride in her ability to keep them guessing.

  But not with Adam Corbain.

  It was as if he were privy to her every thought and emotion, and she resented her inability to resist him. There had never been a man to walk this earth whose power of persuasion she couldn’t withstand, even the son of that wealthy sheepherder in Australia who’d wanted a black woman to add to his collection of what he considered exotic harem delicacies. He’d gotten pissed that his plan of seduction hadn’t worked. He hadn’t gotten beyond the customary kiss on her hand.

  Deciding to get started on the project Adam had left for her to do, she walked across the room to the kitchen. The place was tiny but perfect for one person. Besides, as she’d noticed early, he seemed to be a neat individual.

  She was about to reach for the glass cleaner when she noticed the stack of newspapers on one end of the counter. The Wall Street Journal She wondered why a mechanic would spend his money purchasing a Wall Street Journal every day. Umm, that was another interesting facet of Adam Corbain. But then, you didn’t have to be rich to think rich or to want to be rich. At least it showed he had potential to move beyond what he was presently doing.

  As she worked on the headlights, she wondered why anyone would remove the headlights from their car just to clean them. Wasn’t that the reason there were car washes?

  She glanced up when she heard Adam’s cell phone ring and wondered if she should answer it for him. Deciding that she wouldn’t, she continued wiping off the headlight. If it was a female calling, she didn’t want to cause any problems—but the thought of him and someone else bothered her in a way it should not have.

  But then, while they were having their affair, she had no intentions of sharing. There were too many health risks involved with that happening. That was something she intended to talk with him about after his shower.

  Noiselessly, Adam leaned in the bathroom doorway and watched Shannon. She had finished wiping off the headlights and settled down at the small table to read what he guessed was today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal He wondered if the presence of the papers had her thinking. Probably not, since she was so surefire she knew what he did for a living. Well, he had no intentions of telling her.

  When she shifted in the chair, he couldn’t help noticing her attire. He shook his head. When it came to certain things, she evidently had no shame, and dressing provocatively was one of them. Here she sat in his kitchen, just as comfortable as she pleased, in lingerie that should be outlawed. The top looked like a lace white bra but scantier, which only pushed her full, firm breasts into prominence. The matching bottom was a short lace thong skirt that showed what nice thighs she had barely covered halfway.

  He frowned when he suddenly thought of something. “You drove all the way over here wearing that?”

  Shannon jerked her head up to find Adam standing in the bathroom doorway, shirtless and in jeans and bare feet. He had that just-showered look that would make any woman want to moan out loud. His features were sharp, almost like a hawk, and God, he had a body; the kind most women would drool over. Overall the man had a sexual quality that would tempt any woman to say, Yummy!

  “Well?”

  His question reminded her that he had spoken but for the life of her she couldn’t recall what he’d said. “Well, what?”

  “Did you drive over here wearing that?”

  “No, I hitchhiked wearing it,” she said in a voice dripping in sarcasm.

  Evidently he didn’t like her response, and all of a sudden he crossed the room and stood in front of her. He wasn’t smiling. “This is not the time to use that smart mouth of yours,” he said in a low intolerant voice.

  “Oh? Will there be a better time?”

  He muttered something incomprehensible before saying, “Just answer the damn question.”

  Shannon leaned her head back to stare up at him, wondering just what was his problem. The temperature between them had spiked, but for another reason. He was mad, and a part of her was surprised by that. “And what if I did?” she asked.

  She watched him rub a hand down his face as if to say, God help me, before turning blazing eyes back on her. “What if there
had been an accident? What if you’d gotten stopped for some reason by a cop? What—?”

  “Does it matter to you?” she snapped. He was beginning to exasperate her, get on her last nerve.

  Before she could blink, he had shoved the newspaper she was reading off the table onto the floor and had pulled her up out of the chair. His touch made her shiver, although she wished otherwise. She glared at him. “Just what is your problem?”

  He slid a slow glance down her body and then said in a lethal tone, “You seem to be my problem.”

  Shannon swallowed, not knowing what to say to that. All she could do was stare at Adam as a deep feeling of urgency consumed her and she no longer wanted to see the frown etched on his face. She reached out and slowly slid her fingertips along his tense jaw and went further by tracing a long path along his full lips. The urgency inside her increased when she felt the slight quiver in him that her touch had caused. A similar tension raced down her own spine, and a warm rush flooded her most private area.

  “Answer me.”

  Compliance was not one of her strong points, but she knew she couldn’t stand firm against him much longer, especially when her knees were beginning to feel weak like this. “No, I didn’t wear this over here, Adam,” she finally said. “I had it on underneath my clothes. I undressed in the car before knocking on the window.” A smile touched her lips, and she continued softly, “I might do some crazy and wild things every once in a while, but give me credit for having some common sense. What I have on was meant for you to see and no one else.”

  He continued to stand there and look at her, and then he unceremoniously pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Shannon sighed. As impossible as it should be, her body wanted him again. Right now. That had never happened to her before—not in the same night. It was as if her body wanted to take up where they last left off. There was a fire building deep within her, and she knew of only one way to put it out. She knew of only one man who could.