She grinned, suddenly happy. “Will do.”
When she opened the door, he was pulling on his jacket and she had a feeling of déjà vu. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” she said, then just stared at him. He’d always had a casual sort of elegance, with his designer stubble and overlong tousled hair. Now he looked…perfect. His hair had been cut so it lay smoothly against his head; he was freshly shaven and wore dark pants, a white shirt, and a dark red tie. Just staring at him made her heart ache. How could she resign herself to never seeing him again?
“Yeah. Where’ve you been?” He stopped putting on his jacket, tossed it on the chair instead, and came toward her, his gaze searching her face. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too, but I thought you were busy.”
He halted only inches away, the expression in his eyes turning her insides molten, her breasts heavy, her nipples peaking, her sex hot, wet…
She swallowed. “They told me to tell you that you should have left ten minutes ago.”
“Tough luck. Because right now I need to kiss you.”
“You do?”
…
He’d dawdled as long as he could, hoping Dani would arrive back before he had to leave. The last couple of days had been hard; she’d seemed so distant. He knew it was mostly his fault, but he’d had to keep her out of this. Just a few more hours.
He’d spent the day with Jake and Jess going over and over what would happen that night. And while he wasn’t really worried anything would go wrong, he needed to see Dani one more time.
Now she was here. So close.
He tried to work out what she was feeling, but she was giving nothing away and all he could think of now was tasting her, holding her.
He lowered his mouth to hers, captured her lips. She opened to him and he pushed his tongue inside. She kissed him as though she’d missed him as well, her tongue stroking his, her hands gripping his shoulders so her nails dug in through the thin silk of his shirt.
Breaking the kiss, he slid his hands to her hips, then around to cup her ass and pick her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he carried her into the bedroom, then turned around, kicked the door closed. He made a detour to the table by the bed, grabbed a condom and then backed her up against the smooth wall. Her sex pressed against his erection, and he needed her naked against him. He needed to be inside her.
He held her against the wall with his body while his hands shifted between them and tugged her shirt out of her pants. He ripped it down the front, buttons flying across the room, and lowered his head to nuzzle her breasts through the white cotton. His teeth nipped at her nipples while his fingers worked the fastener at her waist. He lowered the zipper and shoved her pants and panties down over her hips. She wriggled free of them, her breathing suddenly labored and the air scented with her arousal. He slipped his hand between her thighs, found her slick and hot and ready for him. As he pushed a finger inside, a whimper escaped her throat and his shaft pulsed with need.
He unfastened his own pants, pulled his aching cock free. “Put this on,” he muttered, handing her the condom, then sucking in his breath as she rolled it down over his aching cock.
Sliding his hands around her ass again, he lifted her up. She squirmed against him until the tip of his erection nudged against the core of her. He backed up a little so the wall behind her supported her weight and then shoved into her hard.
As her inner muscles locked around his cock, something unraveled inside him, and he knew he couldn’t let her go. His lips played over her face and breasts as he pushed inside her as far as he could, then began to move.
He shifted her so each thrust ground against her sensitive core. Her head was back now and he bit the point where her neck met her throat. She was so close. Digging his fingers into the soft flesh on the globes of her ass, he rotated her hips as he pushed deeper, feeling the tug of her inner muscles as she hovered on the edge. He rocked her against his hips and took her mouth in a deep kiss to swallow the scream. Pleasure rippled through him, tightening his balls, pulling at his spine. As she went limp in his arms he released the last of his control and spilled himself inside her.
He stood breathing hard, his forehead resting against hers.
“I love you,” he murmured and knew it was true. Whatever else happened between them, he needed her to know. “Whatever you decide, whatever you plan to do with the rest of your life, I’ll support you. Just make sure there’s a corner for me.”
Her eyes had drifted closed, but now she blinked, her expression dazed.
“Don’t answer now,” he said quickly. He didn’t want her to say anything on the spur of the moment. Anything that might make him regret his proclamation. He’d never in his whole life told a woman he loved her. Now he had the urge to run.
Yeah, he was scared.
As he pulled free of her, a residual ripple of pleasure shuddered down his spine. He picked her up and carried her to the bed, lowering her gently to the mattress. At that moment, he heard a knocking from the outer door. His babysitters getting impatient.
“I have to go.” In the bathroom, he cleaned himself up, staring at himself in the mirror. Why didn’t he look any different, when his whole world had shifted? He waited for the trapped sensation to swallow him, but instead he felt as though he hovered at the edge of an adventure. He ran a hand through his hair, straightened his tie, fiddled some more—he really did have to go. But he was reluctant to leave her. Maybe he should have taken her to the ceremony—if she would have come—but it was too late now.
If things didn’t go well tonight, she was going to be totally pissed at him. Even if everything did go well she was still likely to be pissed, but he reckoned he could persuade her it was for the best.
Until he truly eliminated this threat from his life, how could he think about the future? Their future.
This was all or nothing.
When he stepped out of the bathroom, Dani was sitting up in bed fiddling with the one remaining button on her shirt.
She glanced up from her preoccupation and caught his gaze. He had no clue what she was thinking; he’d never met anyone so good at concealing her emotions.
“I—”
Zach held up a hand. “Later. Why don’t you order room service and take a nap? You look exhausted.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “We’ll talk when I get back.”
She pursed her lips, but then gave a quick nod. “Don’t be late.”
“I won’t.” He hoped. He cast her one last glance as he left the room then headed out, grabbing his jacket from the chair on the way past. His two bodyguards were leaning against the wall in the corridor looking extremely pissed off.