Part 7 (1/2)

”Then why did you ask me about him now?” She tried to ignore how the touch of his hand on hers was sending sparks of electricity up and down her spine. He was trying to seduce her, and heaven help her, but she was enjoying it and finding it hard to resist his charm.

”Because I wanted to hear you tell me,” he said softly. His voice was like a stroke across her skin, sending even more sparks through her. ”Before, I just had secondhand information, although I figured Luke knew what he was talking about. And the reason I still made a move on you that night was because I wanted you, and once Luke had a.s.sured me there was nothing between you and Frederick but a close friends.h.i.+p, I saw no reason to stand on the sidelines.”

Just as she was sure he saw no reason not to continue stroking her hand. She was fully aware of what he was doing and why he was doing it. Electricity was coursing through her, and making her want things from him that she knew better than to crave.

She pulled her hand from his and casually glanced at her watch. She then looked up at him. ”I hate to be a party p.o.o.per, but I'm a working girl and I've got an early appointment in the morning. I need to go home and get to bed.”

Blade was sure it was the look of desire that appeared in his eyes that prompted her to add, ”Alone.”

He tilted his head to the side, studied her for a moment and then asked, ”Do you really want to do that?”

She hesitated long enough for him to know she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do about him, and as far as he was concerned that was a good thing. That meant he was making progress. He was an impatient man. And he didn't want to make progress, he wanted to make love-to her, nonstop, all night long. He wanted those long, s.e.xy legs of hers wrapped tightly around him while he buried his body deep inside her. He wanted her so badly he could taste it. And he intended to taste her. That seemed simple enough, and as hot and sensual as it could get.

”Yes, that's what I want to do.”

Her response, he thought, had been slow in coming. He wondered how she was going to handle knowing that he had arranged to be next door to her, never out of sight or out of mind. He was going to turn borrowing a cup of sugar into his favorite pastime. Sooner or later he would break down her defenses, and as her next-door neighbor, he would take pleasure in doing so.

Chapter 9.

When Blade slowed to a stop at the traffic light, Sam couldn't help but look over at him, and not surprisingly, their eyes locked. Heat flooded her entire body and she wondered if he could feel it. He said nothing, but continued to stare. They got so caught up in the s.e.xual chemistry transmitting between them that it took a blast from a car's horn to remind them where they were.

The sound also reminded her where they were going. Her car was still parked at the office and she planned get into it and drive home. And just as she'd told him, she would be going home alone.

Why did the thought of going home alone suddenly seem like such an awful choice, when she could have this s.e.xy man go home with her? He had laid it on thick tonight, oozing s.e.xiness all over the place and reminding her more than once that she hadn't had a man in her bed in close to four years. Blade was making her feel that certain parts of her body were overdue for a tune-up and some serious repair.

She chuckled to herself. She couldn't imagine him giving her a quick fix. He would take his time, probably make her beg, and then he would deliver in a way that would be far better than anything she could ever imagine.

But why imagine it when she could have the real thing?

She knew the answer to that question. Like all players, he needed to be taught a lesson, and she couldn't start letting her emotions get in the way. She couldn't forget that he was a womanizer who wanted one thing from her and only only one thing. Once she had s.e.x with him, he would move on to the next hard up and willing woman. He wouldn't care one iota that someone's heart would get broken. one thing. Once she had s.e.x with him, he would move on to the next hard up and willing woman. He wouldn't care one iota that someone's heart would get broken.

Blade was an arrogant man, but not in an intolerable kind of way. She had been out with men who were a lot worse-men who wore the word obnoxious obnoxious around their necks. But she could tell that Blade was a self-a.s.sured man-confident and comfortable with who he was. He wore his c.o.c.kiness proudly, like a designer label. around their necks. But she could tell that Blade was a self-a.s.sured man-confident and comfortable with who he was. He wore his c.o.c.kiness proudly, like a designer label.

He pulled into the parking lot, but instead of stopping beside her car, he circled the lot until he came to a secluded spot with very little lighting, under an arbor of low-hanging trees.

When he brought the car to a stop she glanced over at him. All it took was a look into his eyes to know his intention. ”Tell me you're kidding,” she said.

His smile was hot. The hottest thing she'd seen in a long time. He unbuckled his seat belt and slid his seat back. ”I never kid when I'm about to make out with a woman.”

She lifted a brow. ”Make out?”

He reached over and, with a flick of his wrist, her seat belt was unbuckled. ”Yes, we'll start with a few kisses and go from there.”

His arrogance was showing. ”And you a.s.sume going from there there will be easy for you?” she asked. She could deal with the kisses, and in fact was looking forward to them. will be easy for you?” she asked. She could deal with the kisses, and in fact was looking forward to them.

”I hope so. I want you, Samari Di Meglio. You give a whole new meaning to the word desire desire. I want you to the point that I ache.” He drew in what sounded like an angry breath, and said, ”h.e.l.l, this is the first time I've admitted that to a woman.”

A smile curved her lips at the frustration she heard in his voice. ”Wow, I'm flattered. A sensual confession. Got any more?”

”What? Sensual confessions?”

”Yes.”

A smile touched his lips. ”Not tonight.” He leaned closer and whispered against her lips, ”But I do have something else to give you.”

She didn't have to ask what, and didn't have time to, anyway. Before she could draw in her next breath, he was there. And when his lips captured hers and he proceeded to slide his tongue into her mouth, while running his fingers through her hair, she couldn't do anything but close her eyes and moan.

Blade didn't have time to question why he was feeling so possessive toward this woman, and so needy. He refused to ponder why there was such an urgency to taste her and why she was becoming something he craved. Instead, he allowed his body and mind to tumble out of control while he feasted on her mouth, her lips, her tongue, on everything within his reach.

Her moans were like a symphony to his ears and propelled him to deepen the kiss. With each kiss she responded with a pa.s.sion that matched his own. His stomach clenched each time her tongue stroked his with the same intensity he felt. Their movements were restricted by the confines of the car and the clothes they were wearing, and he could only imagine what it would be like to have her stretched out on a bed beneath him, totally naked.

The thought of that inflamed his pa.s.sion caused a primitive hunger to stir within the depths of his masculinity. Emotions that he couldn't put a name to suffused him, enveloping all of his senses.

He was playing out one of his wildest fantasies with her. Making out in a parked car with the risk of getting caught gave him an adrenaline rush. Shudders of electricity coursed through his body. Under normal circ.u.mstances, he didn't take any risks with women. Caution had always been the name of the game. But at that moment, he couldn't think of anything else but enjoying her.

An alarm went off in his head at the thought that he was headed toward a danger zone, and he quickly pulled his mouth away and drew in a deep breath, taking in the scent of her s.e.xual arousal. With moonlight coming in through the winds.h.i.+eld, he could see her clearly. Her body had s.h.i.+fted and her back was pressed against the door. Her clothes no longer looked as neat as they had earlier. One part of her jacket nearly hung off her shoulder and a couple of the b.u.t.tons on her blouse had come undone, revealing what looked like a red lace bra. Red lace? He'd seen red lace before, but why did seeing it on her have the lower part of his body throbbing?

And then there was her skirt, which had risen up her thigh and was barely covering her hips. Her long, beautiful legs were teasing him, making him see her as a delectable morsel to be eaten.

He quickly glanced out the window. He had parked in a dark and secluded area. It was the perfect spot to make out with a woman. He hadn't done anything like this since high school. h.e.l.l, he was a grown man, not a h.o.r.n.y teenager.

But Samari Di Meglio was making him lose control. His desire for her was making him not think straight. Seeing her like this, with her dark, sultry eyes staring back at him and her moist lips parted, he felt the s.e.xual tension inside him become almost unbearable.

A s.e.xual hunger tore into him-more intense than before. He ignored whatever had triggered the alarm inside his head, and lowered his mouth to hers again. A sensation filled with horrific need ripped through him the moment their mouths connected. She moaned and sank against him as he s.h.i.+fted his body deeper into the arms she had opened to him.

More sensations raced through him when his hand made contact with her thigh. He felt her respond to his touch as she arched her back to get closer. He couldn't do everything he wanted to do to her in the car right now, but what he would do, what he intended to carry out, would be done in such in a way that she would always remember this place, this time tonight, with him.

Sam felt a sense of loss when Blade slowly pulled his mouth away. She drew in a deep breath, but before she could summon any more of a response than that, she felt his hand continue its trek up her thigh. At the same time his lips brushed lightly across the bare skin above the top of her blouse.

What he was doing with his lips and hands was causing heat to course through her veins in a way that had sensations spiking in other areas of her body. She'd heard about people making out in cars, mostly in the backseat, but she had never done it. Although she was intent on making players pay for their behavior, she drew the line on just how far she would go in her quest for revenge. She enjoyed setting them up, teasing them mercilessly, fueling their fire and then dousing them with cold water. Telling them exactly where they could go-and none too nicely.

For some reason she had made Blade an exception. She was granting him liberties she'd never given any other man-player or otherwise. But she was convinced there had to be a good reason for this madness, and before it was all over she would regain her sanity.

She believed the reason he'd become her weakness was because he was making her feel things she'd never felt before. It could also have been because he evoked the wild, risque fantasies that she had kept hidden for years. They had been locked away, buried, until recently, when she became enraptured by her erotic dreams. Lately, he'd played a starring role in them. It was as if he'd found the key to her innermost s.e.xual fantasies, secrets that she had always wanted to explore. And now she was on the verge of living out her s.e.xual desires.

He lifted his head and met her gaze, and she saw the naked hunger in the depths of the eyes staring back at her. He held fast to her gaze while his fingers inched farther and farther up her thigh, moving toward the juncture of her legs. Within seconds, his fingers had reached their mark and his hand flattened and gently sank into her, as if staking a claim.

She felt the heat of his palm against the crotch of her wet panties, and the contact launched a surge of s.e.xual heat that burned through her. Her breathing intensified while her heart thumped loudly in her chest.