She practically purred beneath his touch, but even though he knew she was enjoying the sensuality of their bath, nothing could trump her need for sleep right now. Still, he wasn’t even close to being a saint, so when her thighs instinctively opened for him to soap her up, he let himself play over that soft skin a little more than he had everywhere else.
Even half-asleep, she bucked up into his hand, and made little pleading noises for pleasure that he couldn’t help but want to fulfill. Dropping the soap, he swirled his fingers into the curls between her thighs.
He could tell she was somewhere between a dream and the bathtub as she breathed out his name. God, he loved hearing her say it. Whether she was horny or angry, laughing or irritated, he wanted her.
Needed her.
He already knew just how she loved to be touched. Moments later she was shuddering against him, her eyes still closed, a smile curving up her lips before every muscle, every bone in her body finally went lax against him.
He lifted her from the tub, toweled her off, and tucked her into bed. As she curled against him, one thigh over his, her face pressed into the crook of his shoulder, her arm across his chest, he was surprised to realize he actually didn’t mind going to bed without having her take care of his pleasure again.
Not when the chance to be with Heather like this, when she was soft and supple and perfectly trusting, was already more than he thought he could ever have.
Chapter Twenty-two
Heather was just waking up when she realized Zach wasn’t in bed with her. She couldn’t believe how late it was. She never slept past 6:30 a.m., so how could the clock say 10 a.m.?
Sitting up in bed, she looked through the slightly open bedroom door into the penthouse living room, where she could hear Zach speaking on the phone.
“I don’t know if I can do this one, Tommy. Are you sure no one else is available?” came before a slightly resigned, “Sure, I can be there by this afternoon for some practice runs with the crew.”
She grabbed a super-soft robe from the armoire and walked into the living room just in time to hear Zach curse as he dropped his phone onto the coffee table.
“Good morning to you, too,” she teased him.
He reached out and grabbed for her so fast that she found herself sprawled on his lap with his mouth on hers. She should have gotten enough of him already. Instead, every time he kissed her, touched her, she only found herself wanting more.
“I had so many plans for a Sunday alone with you,” he murmured against her mouth when he finally let her up for air. “My buddy Tommy just screwed them all up.”
Heather had to work hard—really hard—to keep from showing her own disappointment that he had to leave already. She hadn’t planned to spend any part of the weekend with him, but after the way Friday night had turned into Saturday morning and then was repeated all over again Saturday night, she’d started to get used to having him around. Enough, at least, that a Sunday together wouldn’t have killed her.
She almost asked him where he needed to rush off to, but it was the kind of thing a girlfriend needed to know. Not a sex buddy like her.
Fortunately, he told her anyway. “Tommy was a good friend of my father’s. My dad taught me how to build an engine, and then Tommy showed me how to drive one real fast.” He was pressing soft kisses along the underside of her jaw as he spoke. “His doctor wouldn’t sign off on him to get into the car this time around and he needs someone to sub for him in a race on Monday morning. I’ve got to get to Southern California by this afternoon to do some practice runs with the crew.”
Of course he raced cars, she thought. A man like Zach wouldn’t be content with just being a business mogul. It wouldn’t be enough that he could slay at least half the human population just by glancing in their direction. He would need the rush of testing the limits of the fast cars he built, too. And she had a pretty good sense that he wasn’t afraid of getting hurt, that those kinds of fears wouldn’t hold him back the way they might with other people.
But just thinking about Zach getting into a race car and driving real fast had her heart pounding. What if he got hurt? What if these past few days with him were the only ones she ever got to have?
She was surprised to realize the scars on her arms were tingling, like a mainline from her emotions to her body.
Working to sound like it was no big deal, she asked, “How long have you been racing?”
Just because she was sleeping with him didn’t mean his grin had any less impact. If anything, it hit her even harder now. Because she knew how fast that grin could bend into a sensual look that melted down her should-stay-icy core.
“Pretty much since the day I got my driver’s license.”
“Sounds like fun,” she said, but then couldn’t stop herself from adding, “but isn’t it dangerous?”
His eyes flashed with something she couldn’t quite read before he shrugged. “We’re going close to 200 miles per hour. Of course it’s dangerous.”
Her fingers itched to smack him for his devil-may-care response. “I’m sure your family would be really upset if anything happened to you.”
His eyes narrowed on her as if he knew she was really saying she would be really upset if anything happened to him. But instead of calling her on acting more like a possessive girlfriend than she had any right to be given their arrangement, he said, “You should come. I’ll strap you in real tight and take you for a ride.”
Just that fast, the wicked glint in his eyes got her heart to racing for reasons that had nothing to do with his getting hurt in a speeding car.
Both a shiver of need and a thrill at the thought of letting loose in a speeding car were there as she teased, “You just like the idea of strapping me into something.”
He abruptly stood up with her in his arms and carried her over to the massage table. “Unfortunately, there are no bindings on this, but I’m sure we can improvise.” She tried to clutch the robe to her chest but he quickly had it off her shoulders. “Ready for your massage?”
Her breath was already coming too fast and her mouth felt dry as she said, “Don’t you need to go race a fast car?”
“I promised you a massage first, and I always make good on my promises.”
She tried not to read too much into his talk of promises. It was just sexy talk. He was being playful, the way he usually was. People threw around a lot of words they didn’t mean when they were having really awesome sex with one another.