Heather had always enjoyed the purely physical release of sex, but it had never been intense enough for her to forget herself, to lose track of what she believed in. Anyone could come out the side door and find them here like this, practically having sex against the wall. They were still fully clothed, but even so, she felt as if Zach had already stripped her bare.
She tried to pull herself out of the abyss, oh, how she tried, but when he started to rain kisses down across her jaw and found that super-sensitive spot just at the underside of her chin, how could she do anything but let her head fall back against the wall, and drink in every exquisite sensation of his mouth on her skin? His rough stubble scraped at her in the most delicious way and she used her leg hooked over his hip to pull him in even closer.
Any and all protests she might have given him—or herself—had flown out the window, and she was threading her fingers into his dark hair when something pulled at her wrist once, then twice, hard enough the third time to finally jolt her.
“The dogs,” she managed in a breathless voice as she tried to catch hold of her racing heart. While she and Zach had been lost in their kiss, the dogs’ leashes had tangled up around each other and their owners, too. “We need to untangle them.”
Zach very reluctantly let go of her leg before snapping, “Cuddles, quit moving!” in a frustrated voice as he bent down to unclip the leash and scoop the puppy up in his arms.
“It’s not her fault,” she told him as she worked to pull the leashes apart with shaky hands. “We shouldn’t have been doing that here.” As if the location were the only problem with their kiss. “We shouldn’t have been doing that anywhere at all,” she quickly clarified.
Only, the truth was that if the dogs hadn’t been there with them, Zach probably would have stripped her clothes off while he kissed her up against the wall. And instead of trying to stop him, she would have been begging him to hurry so she could get closer.
So she could have more.
“It’s exactly what we should have been doing,” he snapped at her.
His frustration shook the breathlessness right out of her. After all, as she reminded herself yet again, she wasn’t a teenager who couldn’t control her raging hormones.
“This isn’t even about me,” she snapped back. “You just want me because I’m a challenge.”
“Wrong,” he shot back. “I want you because I want you. From the first second I saw you, I’ve wanted you, Heather.”
How did he manage to turn her insides to goo? First with his kiss, then with his words.
Still, she had to hold her ground. “You and Brant were fighting over me like I was that bone you sent Atlas.”
“I was fighting for you because you’re mine.”
Her eyes widened at his possessive declaration. “I’ll never belong to a man.”
For the first time, he didn’t launch back at her with a quick retort. Instead, she felt him stop. Look. Assess.
“What,” he said in a suddenly soft voice, “are you afraid of? Is it me? Or is it you?”
It was the very last thing she’d expected him to say. And even as her brain flooded with answers ranging from falling for you to everything, she said, “I’m not afraid.”
He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t call her on her fib. Instead, he said, “Prove it.”
She lifted her chin. “I know what you’re doing. I know that whatever way you come up with for me to prove it to you is going to be for your good and your good only.”
He actually had the nerve to reach for her again, to slide the pad of his thumb across her lower lip. And, fool that she was, she craved his touch enough to let him.
“It’ll be good for both of us, I can promise you that.” He trailed the back of his hand over her cheek in a lover’s caress. “I’m not looking for love any more than you are. We’re the perfect match, Heather. Don’t worry, this is going to make us both happy. Really, really happy.”
Oh.
She should be cheering, should be so glad that he’d just spelled things out so clearly. But even though he’d just given her precisely what she’d always said she wanted, his words felt like a knife shoved straight through her chest...as if some stupid, reckless part of her heart had secretly been wishing he would fall in love with her.
Even though she wouldn’t have trusted his professions of love if they had come.
It was yet another reason she should have been walking away from him, hauling Atlas out of the stadium, getting both of them away from the man who was more potent than any she’d ever known.
Only, she’d lost hold of her self-control at the first brush of his mouth against hers, and knowing how good it felt to have his body pressed into hers, warm and solid, had her desperate for another taste. A longer one this time, with no barriers between them, and no one and nothing interrupting the natural flow of their passion.
But at the same time that she could feel herself sinking deeper beneath the sensual spell he wound around her, Heather had run her life for too long to let a man—especially one as confident and charming as Zach Sullivan—lead her down a dark path.
If she were going to head into the darkness, she’d go of her own free will, damn it.
“Just sex,” she said in a steady voice. Wanting to be absolutely sure she was clear with him—and herself, too—she added, “That’s all this is ever going to be.”
A flash of purely male victory moved through his eyes as he immediately threaded his fingers into hers and tugged her closer.
“Kiss me to seal the deal.”
Her breath came even faster at his softly spoken command. She hadn’t realized how much she craved Zach’s brand of sensual dominance until today. She’d loved the way he’d stolen the kiss from her, had been beyond excited by the sinful feeling of wantonness as he took what he wanted from her up against the wall. And now, even as she should have been annoyed at his demand that she kiss him to finalize their arrangement, she was more turned on than she’d ever been.
She knew what he expected her to do—either give him a peck on the lips out of annoyance or let him control the kiss again.
But now that she’d made the decision to enjoy being physical with Zach, she not only wasn’t going to deny herself whatever pleasures were in store...she was also going to make darn sure he realized he wasn’t any less affected by her than she was by him.