His lips twitched in a grin as she fumbled the napkin between her fingers. Her tongue swept in a quick foray over her lips. His cock twitched at the resulting glistening fullness taunting him with the unknowing sensuality of the act. The little snip might be fighting it every moment but he knew she too was ensnared by the same attraction. It was in the spark that flared in her eyes when she looked at him, the way her breath caught when he brushed his leg against hers under the table.
Oh yes, Taylor Banks was also entangled in the web of electric chemistry that slowly wove them tighter and tighter together.
“Stop looking at me like that.”
The frown drawing her brows together was a result of listening to the breathless quality of her voice. She’d intended to sound assertive, cold even … not like a hot and bothered nymphomaniac on the verge of jumping his bones and shagging his brains out!
He tilted his head; one eyebrow did a slow sweep upward.
“Like what?”
“Don’t patronize me, Zeke. You know exactly how.”
“Hm, perhaps, but then again, you should be used to men looking at you with longing in their eyes.”
Her jaw went slack and she gaped at him. He chuckled as he reached across the table to close her mouth with a finger under her chin. Her lips snapped together. Zeke didn’t miss the flash of heat in her eyes as he allowed his fingers to linger on the silky softness of her skin.
“Please.” She cleared her throat as the word croaked from her lips. “I’m hardly a size two model with the perfect body. Men don’t admire someone like me.”
Her eyes widened at the thunderous frown that slashed between his eyes.
“You will never belittle yourself again, is that clear?”
“I …” Taylor swallowed hard, completely caught in the anger swirling like dark flashes of lightning in his gaze that pierced through her. “I’m just stating a fact,” she ended lamely.
“Rubbish and it’s total bullshit.” He straightened and pinched her chin between his fingers to keep her eyes centered on him. “You’re a breathtakingly beautiful woman and so fucking sexy, I have a hard time breathing with my cock being strangled in the confines of my pants.” Her cheeks flared bright red but her eyes remained glued on him. “You have no idea what men see when they look at you, do you?”
“I know I’m not ugly but let’s be honest. If a man were presented with me and a perky, perfect size two, I can guarantee you he’d choose little miss perfect.”
“Wrong, little one.”
“And stop calling me little one. For heaven’s sake, I’m a very healthy size fourteen on my best day!”
“Compared to me, you’re an itsy-bitsy spider.” He brushed his fingers across her lips, just once but it was enough to obliterate the further protest she wanted to voice. He took one of her hands between his and drew tantalizing circles on the inside of her palm. “A youngster might choose the perky size two because he has something to prove. A real man, on the other hand, would always choose the one who excites him the most and believe me, Taylor, you have that extra punch men find irresistible. Why do you think all eyes were on you when we walked toward our table? You’re like a magnet to a man’s testosterone. Your curves are a red flag that punches straight into our guts and our dicks do a straight up salute at your swaying hips. Don’t get me started on those scrumptious breasts. It’s—”
“Good lord! You have to stop,” she breathed huskily. Her eyes darted around in fear that others could overhear. She was all too aware of the heat blazing across her entire body. She had no doubt it presented itself in a glowing blush across her cheeks. “You shouldn’t be saying things like that. Especially not here … in public!”
To preserve her composure, she yanked her hand free. Her shoulders straightened as she pressed her back against the padded bench. He didn’t move but it felt like he was right there, leaning against her and holding her in place. Her breath wheezed through her teeth. She didn’t succeed in stretching the distance between them—oh no, all she did was to confirm what she’d already known from their first encounter at the airport.
Zeke Rothman was a man to be reckoned with.
He was the personification of an alpha male and exuded Dominance without any effort. She struggled to breathe as she gazed into his eyes that had darkened with speckles of navy-blue sparks. In the blink of an eye, his entire persona had morphed into that of the most powerful Dom she’d ever faced.
“There are many things in life I shouldn’t be saying but not expressing how you make me feel, isn’t one of them. In fact …”
The hesitation was brief but enough to unfurl a seam of lust inside her loins that curled and purred to life as he slid around the booth to settle next to her. Her gaze slid in a frantic sideways glance at him as he pulled her against his chest.
“What are you doing?” she whispered as his nose tickled her ear. She let out a tiny gasp and squirmed uncomfortably at the telltale wetness that she could feel seeping through her lace panties.
Damn, I’m in deep shit. The wail inside her mind didn’t help to diminish the truth. Peyton had told her about the seven cousins and their ability to exert Dominance without touching, talking, or making a visible effort at control. It was that natural force within Zeke that had reached out to her at first glance and wrapped itself around the submissive deep inside her. She’d been shaken at how hard she had to fight the urge to fall on her knees at his feet and beg him to be hers … the Dominant to her submissive.
“Do I really need to answer that, little one?” His warm breath teased her skin as his lips softly grazed her slender neck. Her face heated and her stomach clenched as he ran his tongue with seductive slowness along the wildly pulsing vein there.
“W-we’re in a restaurant,” she managed to croak.
“Brilliant assessment, my pet.”
She summoned enough courage to pull away and meet his gaze. His eyes twinkled and she felt irritation sizzle inside her. He knew. The damn scoundrel knew exactly how he affected her. Not that it mattered, especially as her body refused to act on the demands from her brain to move away from the temptation he offered. A touch of his lips just below her ear was all it took to wrap her securely back under his control. She didn’t even grab the hand that slowly moved over her knee and trailed upward under her skirt.
Fucking hell, Taylor! Get a grip. The silent beration was fruitless. The attraction to him was like a magnet. Her brain had told her, "There's something about this ..." and her entire being had gravitated towards this extraordinary man who had captured her attention. There was no denying it; the more she was exposed to his powerful persona, the more she wanted to be the one to capture his attention. Hell no, fuck that! She wanted to be the submissive the Dom in him wanted to control, to fill his mind as much as he was filling hers.
No! You know it can’t be. This is the worst time to fantasize about a relationship. Especially with a man like him.
“You’re not playing fair,” she whimpered as he nibbled on the lobe of her ear and gently sucked on it. Her clit throbbed in response to his probing fingers making their way under the triangle of lace.
“I’m not playing, Taylor.” She shivered as he once again rolled her name over his tongue.