She wasn’t sure what to think about his presence. But she didn’t want him to leave. That was certain. “Well,” Zoe said, tilting her head to study him, and willing her heart to leave her stomach and go back to her chest where it belonged. This was crazy. Men did not make her feel like this. “I guess I need to know why you’re here before I decide.”
“You know why,” he said, his eyes darkening. His voice softer now.
Zoe walked toward him and leaned her shoulder against the wall. He turned to face her. Once again his spicy scent rushed over her. What was it about this man’s smell? It made her feel like she was melting. Briefcase deposited on the floor, she studied him, trying to hide the way she felt. The way she wanted him was beyond logic. “Tell me why. I already told you I don’t like games.”
He glanced around as if confirming they were alone. Fortunately, being a Monday night, the hotel, which served as a gathering spot for executives, wasn’t as busy as usual. Then his attention was back on her. His eyes dark pools of seduction. He reached for her, his hand going to her waist as he stepped closer. “Games can be fun, Zoe,” he half-whispered.
Why the hell did Declan’s deep voice saying her name turn her on? Her hand went to the rock-solid wall of his chest and she inhaled, lavishing in that damn scent of his. “Never found one I liked.”
His mouth had somehow gotten dangerously close to hers. His breath played a soft caress on her lips. Taunting and teasing. Making her want to taste him. “A little play never hurt anyone.” And then he kissed her.
The first touch of his lips was soft. Time seemed to stand still. Zoe had never experienced anything so erotic. Hell, she’d had sex in a public place, and it hadn’t been like this. There was something so sensual about the way he seemed to absorb her. And then slowly, with a gentle whisper of his tongue, he slid into her mouth. Zoe moaned ever so softly, unable to stop herself, and found her hand moving up that rock-hard chest to his neck. Her body melting into his. From one moment to the next they turned more heated. He deepened the kiss or maybe she did. Heat danced along her skin and invaded her senses. The ache of arousal burned in her thighs. The sound of voices made them break away. Breathing hard they stared at each other. She didn’t want to end this. Maybe it was the loneliness she’d been experiencing, so out of her nature, or maybe it was the dry spell called her sex life, but she needed Declan in a big way.
“Let’s get out of here,” Declan said.
She nodded. “Good plan. We’ll go to my place.”
* * * * *
Declan followed Zoe into her apartment, having already noted her pricey location. Not the norm for a journalist. He knew what reporters made and it wasn’t enough to afford her place. Interesting… Proof there was more to Zoe than met the eye. But then, he knew that. He made a living seeing beyond people’s guises, and he knew Zoe was hiding something. The chances she really wanted a story were high. It bothered him when it shouldn’t. After all, he knew what she was after. That didn’t change their mutual attraction.
She had that “come fuck me” look in her eyes.
He watched as she tossed her keys on a table and flipped on the lights. A moment later, she took his hand. “This way to the bedroom.”
“You really don’t play games, do you?”
Her brow lifted. “Am I going too fast for you, counselor, or do you need some time before opening statements?”
God, this woman was something else. All fire, wit, and…sex. He stepped forward and picked her up. “Actually, some of my best opening statements have been born of spontaneity. It’s the closing that I prefer to happen with a bang.” Declan started for the door he assumed to be the bedroom.
Zoe laughed. “I can’t wait.” She began unbuttoning his shirt. Holding her in his arms, thinking of having her naked in only a few minutes, gave him an instant hard-on.
The room was dark but the full moon shone through the blinds just enough to give the feel of intimacy. He made his way to the bed with ease, settling her on the mattress and following, his body on top of hers. His hands slid to her skirt and up her legs as he pushed her knees apart to sink between them. Hungrily, he kissed her, tasting her like a starving man would food.
Crazy. Wild. That was how he felt. And hot. Burning hot. Her fingers slid into his hair, her palms brushing his face. His neck. His shoulders. And he knew he had to have her now. Fast and hard. They had all night. Next time would be slow. It wasn’t his normal style. A man with an ego, like most, he liked to prove his manliness. To please his conquest and make her beg for more. But something about Zoe made him forget the normal. All he could think about was burying his cock deep in her body and fucking her.
Her teeth scraped his lips and then tugged. “Fuck me,” she said as if answering his need. “Now. Do it now.”
He would have laughed, but her words meant he was free and clear to take what he wanted. Declan needed no further urging. He wanted. She wanted. He’d take. Reaching for his pants, he lifted his weight off her long enough to work them down his hips. Somehow they managed to continue kissing. As if neither of them could bear a moment of separation. The instant his cock was freed, his hand found her panties—damp from arousal—and shoved them aside. And then he sank deep. The warm, moist heat of her body surrounded him, taking him by storm. At the same moment, Zoe sucked in a breath. The sound told him she felt the same thing he did. The overwhelming intensity of their yearning for one another. His forehead settled against hers and for long moments, they stilled, breathing together.
His heart pounded against the wall of his chest like a drum. He hardly knew this woman, yet the fire she lit, the absolute complete way she drew him to her, astounded him. It was as if she had invaded not just his body, but his soul. The thought was a crazy one he didn’t like. It pushed him to act. To remind him this was sex. Hard-core sex. Nothing more. More meant complications. Emotions. Problems. Things he needed no part of.
Driven by the need to get things back to the real world, back to the simple place of pleasure, he lifted his head and arched his back as he drew his cock upward and then thrust hard into her body. She gasped with the impact, but before she could even finish the sound, he ground into her again. Her fingers dug into his shoulders just before her legs lifted, feet finding his ass. Lifting her hips she met his next lunge, intensifying the connection. He moaned with the pleasure of it and found he couldn’t get enough. Of her. Of her body. Of the deep, dark burn she turned into a roaring fire.
With a shift of his body, he pulled one of her legs over his shoulder, staring into her eyes as he lifted the next. Her bottom lip was swollen from his kisses. Her blue eyes dark with passion. The only thing missing was the absence of barriers. He wanted to reach forward and rip her dress off her body. The urge ate at him with such force he found it hard to resist.
“Fuck me, Declan,” she ordered.
Damn, he loved it when she said that. He lifted her other leg, clothing forgotten as he thrust his hips, driving his cock to a deep spot, feeling it like a charge of energy. Over and over, he hit her core. Pounding with a force that should have hurt. Instead, she cried out for more.