High (11 page)
“What, you think…? I had no idea you
would be in Newark! And my presence on the Indigo trip had nothing to do with
work. Besides, considering you had over five thousand applicants to choose from,
it would’ve been a huge gamble to take just on the off chance that I would be
chosen.”
“But you were.”
“Would you rather you hadn’t met me?”
“I think we’ve established my feelings
on that point. But I’m wondering what you’d have done if the opportunity had
arisen…?” he pressed.
She set her glass down. “Zach, I make
it a point never to sleep with a client, potential or otherwise.”
“Has the temptation ever arisen?”
“Seventy-five per cent of the events I
organize are social events—parties, galas, weekend bonding trips.
Alcohol-fueled testosterone tends to result in passes being made.”
His hand tightened around his glass,
his gaze turning hard as they rested on her. “Has it ever gone beyond making a
pass?” he asked silkily.
“Just once. Luckily, my knee-to-crotch
reflexes were razor sharp. By the time he sobered up, he’d forgotten the
incident.”
He relaxed a little. “So I stymied your
chances at a promotion?”
“Sheena, my boss, had a hard on for
getting your business soon after the Indigo Lounge venture kicked off. She’s
been dying to expand the company for a while. We submitted a proposal but it
was very thin on the ground due to lack of info.”
“Most of my companies are listed on the
stock market.”
“Yes, but she wanted an extra edge.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. I’d do the
same in that situation.”
“Yes, so I visited your New York
offices and spoke to one of your press officers about Indigo. She revealed
nothing beyond what was already in the public domain.”
He grinned unapologetically.
“But she did tell me about the extra
guests you allowed on your planes. I told Keely—”
“Your sexed-up friend,” he inserted
dryly.
Bethany laughed. “Yep. She pushed me
into signing up, and I guess the rest is history.”
He shook his head. “Not history. We’re
only just beginning, baby.” He rose from his chair, discarding his glass with a
casual grace that had her insides clenching with impossible lust. He caught her
up and brought her close to his body. She was totally unsurprised to find that
his erection hadn’t subsided. One hand gripped her hair, exposing her jaw and
neck to his soft kisses, as the other clamped around her waist. “What’s Keely’s
last name?”
“Why?” she asked after forcing breath
into her lungs.
“Because I owe her big for her role in
bringing you into my life.” His tongue rimmed her lips. The action had the
immediate and damning effect of liquidizing her insides and wetting her sex.
“Even though you suspected I had an
ulterior motive just now?”
He pulled back slightly and gazed down
at her. “I don’t apologize for double-checking my position in your life,
Bethany. A man in my position has to learn to question any and all angles.
Besides, I don’t trust easily. ”
“I know. I recall a very thorough
frisking in your office.”
One corner of his mouth lifted but his
face remained serious. “Only time will prove both our intentions. I hope you’re
okay with that?”
She hesitated. What he said did make
sense, although an irrational part of her wanted his trust of her to be
immediate and unquestioning. Deep down she knew she trusted him on some level,
at least enough for her to have made the decision to abandon the Indigo Lounge
trip to come to Paris with him.
But then, she’d trusted Chris
implicitly.
Until he’d dropped his bombshell in her lap.
Caution was good. Caution was
essential.
“Yes. I’m okay with that.”
He exhaled and a look of relief crossed
his face before he slid both hands over her ass and squeezed tight.
When she shuddered in response, he
groaned, pulled her closer and lifted her up.
“Put your legs around me, baby.”
She complied, bringing her damp center
flush against his rock hard erection. He started to walk back into the suite.
Being this close to his warm, gorgeous body made desire burn hotter.
Unable to wait any longer, she caught
his face between her hands and took his mouth in a hot, needy kiss.
He stumbled and she heard his hand slap
the glass door to steady
himself
. Chest heaving, he
deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding against hers in erotic promise of what
his cock would do to her in the very near future.
Needing him more than she’d ever needed
anything in her life, she rocked her hips against his rigid length.
“Shit. I can’t think straight when you
do that.”
“Good, I don’t want you thinking
straight. It’s only fair because I can’t think straight, either.” She rubbed
her breasts against his chest and was rewarded with another pithy curse.
“Hold on, Peaches. Please, just another
minute.”
She whimpered and he squeezed her ass.
She heard the door slide open and they stumbled into the living room. Expecting
him to tumble her onto the sofa as he had earlier, she jerked in surprise when
he continued walking.
“I don’t have any condoms here.”
She gave another pathetic whimper. It
would take at least a couple minutes to get to his suite. That was two minutes
too long.
“I want you now, Zach! Please … it
hurts.”
“I know, sweet baby. I’ll make it
better in a minute. I promise. Just hold on.”
Her fingers dug into his shoulders as
he increased his stride. Even before he’d fully entered the bedroom, he was
ripping away her panties. Her dress followed as soon as he set her down. His
hot gaze glided over her as his hand went to his belt and tugged it off.
The moment he was naked, he grabbed her
and threw her on the bed. Two fingers slid into her wet heat before she could
draw another breath, sending her already heightened senses spiraling out of
control.
“I’ve been dying to fuck this tight
little cunt for the last hour,” he murmured just before he closed his mouth
over one hard nipple.
Head rolling back, she spread her
thighs wider. “Then what are you waiting for?”
She woke the next morning to find
herself alone in bed. Disoriented for a moment, she slowly relaxed against the
pillows as recollection dawned and replayed in vivid Technicolor.
Less than twelve hours ago, she’d
become Zachary Savage’s lover.
In that time, she’d had more sex than
she’d had the past year. He’d been relentless with his demands, fucking her in
more positions than she knew existed.
But more than that, an excitement
burned inside that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the
prospect of having a dynamic man like Zach in her life. The stomach-knotting
anxiety she had felt all through the trip to Shanghai and on the way to Paris
had subsided a little.
Things were moving a little too fast
for her, but the knowledge that Zach was just as caught up in this fever of
need they’d discovered for each other helped to ease that anxiety.
She stretched on the bed, her breath
catching when inner and outer muscles protested at the workout they’d received
at her lover’s hand.
Slate colored sheets warmed beneath her
hands as she drifted them over the space Zach had slept in. Turning her head,
she closed her eyes and inhaled his scent and immediately her pulse ramped up.
The plan had been to join The Indigo Lounge to blow away pain and misery of the
last six months and to have fun, but this…
“This is insane,” she muttered.
“Talking to yourself, Peaches?”
She jerked upright.
He stood at the foot of the bed,
shirtless and dressed in loose joggers. The sight of his broad shoulders,
sculpted, hairless chest and tight six-pack made her mouth water.
It was obvious Zachary Savage looked
after himself. Suddenly she felt pleased about her own regimen of running ten
miles three times a week.
His gaze dropped to her naked breasts
and he licked his lips. “Come and eat your breakfast before I give in to the
urge to eat you instead.” Despite the growing erection, he started to turn
away.
Disappointment cut deeper than it
should have. “Am I that easy to resist all of a sudden?”
His gaze drifted over her, and she
caught the slight flare of his nostrils as he exhaled. “Don’t tempt me or we’ll
never leave this room. There’s been a development. I prefer you to know about
it sooner rather than later.”
With that cryptic remark, he exited
just as quietly as he’d entered.
And just like that, the anxiety was
back.
Jumping out of bed, she quickly
shrugged on the silk robe supplied by the hotel. A brush through her hair
provided a little composure.
Barefooted, she entered the sun-lit
dining room to find him reading a paper.
On the table, delicate croissants and
pain au chocolate
, coffee, fruit and
condiments were spread on crystal tableware and sterling silver china.
He lowered his paper, rose and came
around to where she sat. The casual kiss he dropped on her head made her breath
catch. Without speaking, he spread a linen napkin over her lap and poured her a
coffee. Once he’d added the prerequisite spoon of sugar and a drop of cream, he
set it down in front of her and returned to his seat.
His lips firmed as he picked up the
spare newspaper and pushed it across the table. “Page seven.”
Her heart lurched and she curled her
fists in her lap. “What’s on page seven?” she asked.
He remained silent but his eyes stayed on
her as she slowly reached for the paper and opened it with trembling fingers.
A picture of Zach with a stunning,
statuesque blonde, who had a hand on his shoulder and her face raised to his.
She looked as if she was about to burst into tears.
Bethany recognized the heartbreak in
her face. It was the same way she’d felt when Chris had dropped his bombshell
and shattered dreams she’d nurtured for almost ten years.
She cast her gaze over the words. A few
familiar words jumped out at her. Names too—
Cindy, Isabelle, Farrah
. But joined together they meant nothing.
She was cursing herself for not taking high school French seriously, when he
leaned closer.
“Zachary
Savage Dumps Latest Flame.”
He murmured the translation but Zach
may as well have shouted it. Because she was looking closer at the picture and
seeing the clothes he wore yesterday when he’d left her here for hours and
hours. Just to confirm, she glanced at the date of the newspaper. The vice tightened
harder around her chest.
She raised her gaze to his. “This was
what you were doing yesterday?” Her voice shook as almost as hard as her
fingers. Irritated with herself for that humiliating show of emotion, she
slammed the newspaper down. Unable to sit still any longer, she pushed her
chair back and hurried away from the table. “Fuck you, Savage!” She threw over
her shoulder.
“Bethany, wait!”
She heard his chair scrape across the
terrace floor and broke into a run. It was insane how much she hurt.
Insane and frightening.
He caught up with her just as she
entered the hallway that led to their suite.
A hand on her arm stopped her. When she
struggled against his hold, he pinned her to the wall, his hard thighs
bracketing hers. “Baby, listen to me.”
“Why should I? You left me here cooling
my heels so you could go dump your old girlfriend and come back and fuck your
new one. It’s not exactly axe murder territory but it ranks up there next to
sleazebag. Jesus, do you know how that makes me feel?”
She tried to pull away. He held her
tighter.
“That wasn’t all I did
yesterday—”
“God, please tell me you didn’t fuck
her goodbye.” The very idea of it made her stomach flip over.
His jaw tightened. “Of course I didn’t!
Until last night, I hadn’t fucked another woman in months.”
The answer appeased her a little, but
the knowledge of what he’d been doing was still wedged like stone beneath her
breast, terrifying the living daylights out of her. How had this man come to
mean so much to her in so short a time?
“Why did you show that picture to me?
You could’ve kept it to yourself.”
“Last night you told me you didn’t like
secrets. I can’t share all of my life with you, but what I can I will make as
transparent to you as possible.”
“So you intend to tell me about every
woman you’ve slept with since your balls dropped?”
His gaze hardened. “Don’t get snippy,
Peaches. Or I’ll have to spank your gorgeous ass. I only told you about Sadie
because you were already in my life before I’d made it clear she was out of
mine. But I assure you it wasn’t news to her.”
A sudden thought struck her. “That’s
what you meant by ‘when the time is right’!”
He nodded.
“It was also why you didn’t touch me
after that time in your office.” His iron-strong restraint, his desperately
hungry looks. It all made sense now.
“I didn’t think it was right to lay a
full claim on you when another woman felt she had the right to claim me. I
wanted to finish things properly with her first.”
She shook her head. “It still doesn’t
feel right…”
“Bethany, I've belonged to you since the
moment I saw you. I had to make sure someone else knew that. That's all.”
That floored her. In these days of
dumping-by-text where guys felt perfectly absolved of any responsibility once
they’d pressed send, Zach had flown thousands of miles to put things right with
one girlfriend before starting with another. She’d seen the strain and naked
hunger in his eyes from the moment they’d met. He’d stopped himself from acting
on it until he was truly free.
But would the same thing happen to her
when he met someone else? Would she also receive a visit from Zachary,
informing her he now belonged to someone else? There was integrity in his
action but also a cold bloodedness that struck a vein of terror in her heart.
“Don't overthink this, Bethany. My confrontation
with Sadie was a long overdue thing. I’m sorry I had to do it after I met you
rather than before but once you came into my life, there was no question that
it had to be done. Do you get that?”
“I’m trying to…but…” Her brain whirled
with a flood of thoughts but the most disturbing
was knowing
he’d been with another woman, one who’d known him intimately. That thought made
her gut knot with acrid jealousy.
“What are you thinking, Peaches?” he
murmured, drawing his hot body closer as if sensing her weakening. The hands
that had been clamped on her waist now braced the wall on either side of her
head, making her feel truly caged in, surrounded by him.
When his ripped torso leaned in closer,
she fought to remember what her answer was.
“I’m thinking she didn’t look like she
was expecting the news you delivered yesterday…”
Beautifully sexy lips firmed. “I can’t
help that. Once I saw you, there was no prolonging this any longer. The two
days I had to wait to have you were the longest of my life,” he growled in that
sexy baritone that shivered all the way to her toes.
“I’m also thinking I’m not sure whether
I want you more for displaying such nobility or whether to claw your eyes out
for leaving me here while you went to dump your old girlfriend.”
He caught a swathe of hair in his
fingers and brought it to his lips. Watching the mouth she was dying to devour
work its way over her hair was so curiously erotic she could only stare.
“I would much prefer it if you wanted
me more.” His mouth dropped to graze along her jaw, sending a thousand sparks
of desire racing across her nerve endings.
“I think that’s near impossible right
now.” Not with that mouth moving so close to her mouth. Not when she could
sense the barely leashed sexual predator prowling close, intent on consuming
her.
His soft laugh tickled her earlobe.
“But you can try harder.”
“Maybe. Wait.” She pushed at his
shoulders until he leaned back from her. “You said that wasn’t all you did. So
where were you for the rest of the time?”
“I attended a three-hour meeting and finalized
the deal I’d been working on.”
“Oh, right.” She made a quick
calculation. “But that still doesn’t make up for how long you were away.”
He let loose that hot smile again. “You
were counting the hours?”
“Answer the question, Zach.” She didn’t
want to be that girlfriend who needed to know where her man was at every moment
but Zach had thrown the door wide open on this one. Besides, after being
blindsided by Chris, her trust had taken a deep-sea-diving excursion for the
foreseeable future.
“No, I wasn’t just at the meeting.”
She looked into his eyes, saw the
expectancy. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“Clever girl. I was hoping you’d ask me
that.”
“Really? Why?”
She held her breath as he reached into
his back pocket and withdrew a sheet of paper.
“Because I also stopped at my
doctor’s.”
She jerked back so fast her head
slammed against the wall.
He frowned. “Hey, watch it.” He cradled
the back of her head and rubbed gently where she’d banged it.
“Your doctor’s? Why? Are you sick?” She
couldn’t disguise the slight panic in her voice. God, what was wrong with her?
Three days ago, this man had been an enigma on a piece of paper, as far out of
her reach as the stars were to man. Now all of a sudden, the thought that he
could be suffering made her heart lurch alarmingly.
“No, I’m not sick. I can confirm that
with one hundred per cent certainty because I went to get some blood work
done.” His grey eyes held an extreme intensity, much more than usual
that made her heart skip
several beats.
“Why would you need blood work done?”
“Because, while I don’t mind using
condoms and will continue to do so if you wish, I wanted to prove to you that I
was healthy. Even before we touched I knew you had the power to shred my
control with the minimum of effort, Peaches.”
She sucked in a breath. “I…do?”
“Yes. And that message has been
confirmed a hundred-fold since we fucked. Are you on birth control?” he asked.
She nodded. “Quarterly shots to
regulate my period. My latest dose was three weeks ago.”
His gaze darkened and his mouth curved
in a wicked smile. “Good.” He thrust the paper into her hand. “This is for
you.”
With him this close, it took several
minutes for her to read the health report. Zach was clean, a healthy, rampantly
sexy male.
“You did this for me?”
“For us. I needed you to know that if I
ever slip up and don’t use protection that you’ll never have to fear for your
health. And also that we can indulge whenever we want without the fearing any
repercussions.”
The paper fluttered from her hand and
landed on the floor, unheeded. “So you mean…we can…I can…” she licked her lips,
unable to convey the depth of emotions coursing through her at the images that
bombarded her brain.