Heading for the door, he was only half surprised when she grabbed his forearm. He turned to her, his brow inching upward in question. “Talking isn’t what I had in mind,” she said.
Avoidance seemed his best option. He wasn’t promising what he couldn’t deliver. They were going to talk. “I know what you had in mind and believe me,” he promised, “I like it.”
With that said, he opened his mother’s door and successfully stopped any further debate. Later, when they were alone, he’d find a way to make her open up to him. He could be convincing when he put his mind to it…and in this case, perhaps his body.
* * * * *
The streets were busier now, and Declan and Zoe walked side by side, arms touching, awareness charging the air around them. Neither spoke, yet words weren’t needed. Not to express the desire and attraction between them. Declan had the most intense desire to reach over and entwine his fingers with hers. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d held a woman’s hand, but it felt right with Zoe. Still, he had a feeling she’d recoil. There was no doubt she wanted him. That she, too, felt the unique dynamic
of their attraction. But she rejected the emotional content of their bond. She wanted it to be all physical. All about sex.
Taking the subway stairs, their feet moving in unison, he wondered what she was thinking. Did their silence bother her? It didn’t him. He had thinking to do. Planning. If he was going to get her to open up, he had to handle himself just right. Giving her a sideways glance, Declan decided she was doing the same. Only she was trying to figure out how to keep him at bay. How to push him away without saying goodbye. No doubt her guard was up. She didn’t like attorneys and he wanted to know why. Hell, he didn’t know why he even cared. But he did. Plain and simple, he did.
A thought formed, slowly taking root. He wouldn’t push her to talk the minute they walked into her apartment. The lady had instructed him to fuck her and fuck her he would. Fast and hard. Then slow and easy. He’d make her so hot she burned and leave her soft with satisfaction. Before this weekend ended, he would get Zoe to open up to him.
And as he stepped onto the subway, Zoe next to him, he smiled. A rush of people surrounded them, some entering and some exiting. No time like the present to put his plan in action. He reached for her hand and with a gentle tug, Declan pulled her close, anchoring them both to a pole, thighs pressed together. Her fingers melted into his chest, her chin tilting upward as her eyes locked with his. The look they shared smoldered with heat. It did nothing to break their silence and everything to press their desire. Slowly, he lowered his head, allowing his breath to mingle with hers, lost…in the moment. In the anticipation. In the woman.
* * * * *
Zoe couldn’t get enough of Declan and it scared the hell out of her. No man had ever taken her to such extreme desire. Her hand shook as she unlocked her door and she prayed he didn’t notice. Logic told her to send Declan home, to send him away. He was everything she despised. A hard-core businessman who lived in a corrupt corporate world that had caused Zoe nothing but pain. A world that had taken her father and
held him prisoner. A world that had made him miss school functions and dismiss special events. And in the end, a world that had killed her mother. Because with all of her being, Zoe believed the pain of loneliness had brought on her mother’s heart attack.
So knowing all of this, why the hell did Zoe want Declan with a burning need so hot it consumed? So intense it demanded that said she touch him, taste him…feel his body next to hers? Why, as she turned the doorknob and felt Declan’s hand at her waist, did she shiver with anticipation of more?
But she never had time to answer any of her questions. Didn’t even want to try. She just wanted to feel…and so she did. The minute they were inside the apartment, they were all over each other, bodies clinging, hands roaming, mouths hungrily exploring. Somehow the keys landed on the floor, as did her purse. Declan kicked the door shut with a loud bang. Her hands went to his sweater, pushed it up his body, fingers feeling the flex of his delicious muscle. Nothing mattered right now but this. Declan. Her. Touching. Feeling.
His sweater went flying across the room and Zoe shoved him against the wall. If Declan was under her skin, controlling her with desire, she’d even the playing field. She’d make darn sure he knew he wasn’t in charge. With her teeth, she scraped at his nipple. With her hands, she molded his biceps. His waist. His hips. And then down his zipper, caressing the hard length of his cock with her fingers.
Declan sucked in a breath and her eyes lifted to his. “You like that, yes?”
“You know, I do,” he responded hoarsely.
She fingered his button loose and then went for his zipper. “Then you’ll love this,” she said, sliding her hand past all barriers and caressing his cock.
He reached for her, his hands sliding to the sides of her face. “Zoe—”
Cutting off his words, she kissed him, sliding her tongue along his in a seductive dance of passion, desperate to let him break the freedom of the physical. She tugged his lower lip with her teeth. “You talk too much.”
Taking a step back, she started undressing. Declan watched her with a heavy-lidded stare, his eyes locked with hers until the first layer of clothing, her shirt, came off. Then his gaze dropped, exploring her lacy bra as she unhooked it and tossed it aside. Her nipples puckered, the ache of arousal throbbing between her legs, pushing her to remove all barriers. She kicked off her shoes and slid her pants down her legs.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
She went to him then, pressing her body against his and letting her breasts settle against the sprinkle of hair on his pecs. God, it felt good. He felt good. Mouths joined, kissing, he cupped her ass, pulling her tight against his hips. Making her burn with the connection. The fire. The need for more. Reaching to his waist, she shoved at his pants and took his boxers with them. Gliding down his body, she settled at his feet, beneath his erection. She lingered at the tip, letting her breath tease him with the possibility of what might come next.
Then, when she was certain he was completely on edge, she lowered herself further and unlaced his shoes. Impatiently he kicked one off while she worked on the other. A smile tugged on Zoe’s lips. She loved the power of being on her knees. When at last all clothing had been discarded, Zoe centered herself between his calves, toying with him as she ran her index fingers up his calves, past his knees.
Declan looked down at her. “You’re killing me, woman.”
A slow smile turned up the corners of her mouth and she circled his cock with one hand. “Is this what you want?”
“That’s a start,” he said, drawing a breath as she cupped his balls with her free hand.
A start that she knew just how to finish. Sex was her thing. She did it well and she liked what that did for her. A man with a hard-on forgot all else. And taking the lead with the artistic types came easy. Something about running the show with a man like Declan really turned her on. Maybe because she knew he had the will to resist but didn’t.
Maybe because she knew at any moment he might turn the tables and try to bring her into submission.