She scrambled up, looking warily around her, her pupils dilated. She fumbled with the lamp on the nightstand and soon the room was bathed in soft light.
Her chest rose and fell with exertion.
“You’re going nuts,” she muttered. “Have great sex one time and your brain becomes mush.”
Eli chuckled to himself. So she was thinking about him, or maybe, like before, she sensed his presence. He certainly couldn’t fault her instincts. And he damn sure didn’t fault her performance in bed.
She slowly rose from the floor, hauling the covers back onto the bed. She stared around the room, taking her time assessing every nook and cranny. Then she looked up. Right at him.
How on earth did she manage to pinpoint his location every single time?
Her eyes narrowed as she cocked her head to one side.
“Fucking pervert,” she growled. “Get your ass down here so I can kick it again.”
Chapter Four
Tyana balled her fingers into tight fists at her sides and readied herself for the coming confrontation. The hairs at the nape of her neck prickled and stood on end, just as they had that night in Singapore, and there was a chill in the air. She knew he was here. She felt him.
A slight shift in the air alerted her to Eli’s movement just seconds before he materialized at the end of the bed.
He stood in a relaxed pose, studying her indolently. She glared and sized him up.
“How did you know I would be here?” she demanded.
He cocked one eyebrow at her. “How did you know I’d be in Singapore?”
She shrugged. “Lucky guess?”
“What do you want?”
Her eyes narrowed. She eased sideways, putting more distance between her and the bed. Eli backed a step away, his stance growing more wary. Maybe he remembered the last time she put him on his ass.
She smirked. “Afraid of a girl?”
His eyes glittered with amusement. “Afraid I’ll make you want me again?”
She didn’t dignify the remark with a response.
She closed in and the two circled each other, hands up, feet barely making a sound across the floor.
“You know, I’d much rather fuck you than fight with you.”
She lashed out with a fist only to have her punch blocked by his forearm.
“Well, if you insist,” he murmured.
Annoyance bubbled just under the surface, not that she’d give him the satisfaction of reacting. He irritated the piss out of her, and nothing would give her greater pleasure than taking him down again.
She feinted right with her fist then kicked low with her foot, catching him just below the knee. She grinned when he stumbled back and caught himself on the desk.
“Feisty little wench.”
She glared him down and closed in again. He was toying with her, and that pissed her off. Hell, everything about the man made her want to grind her teeth.
When he made a move toward her, she danced back, then kicked again, this time connecting with his thigh. Inches from his groin. She grinned when he covered his privates and backed off.
“Now, sugar, we can’t have any fun tonight if you damage the goods.”
She rolled her eyes. “If I had meant to kick you in the balls I would have, cowboy. Now shut the hell up and fight. Or are you too much of a pussy to fight with a girl?”
Before she could blink, he rotated and executed a sweeping kick. She landed on her ass and quickly scrambled up before he could take advantage.
She rubbed her butt as she cautiously circled him once more. He gave her a lazy smile and winked.
“My mama always taught me it wasn’t respectful to hit a girl.”
“What about a bitch?” she challenged.
“Are you just wanting me to hit you?” he asked.
“Who says you’ll get the chance?”
She purposely let him get close and then she punched him right in the chin. His head snapped back, and he wiped his face with his hand. He lost some of the teasing look, and she smirked again.
And then he disappeared.
She whirled around, trying to get a bead on his location. Damn shifter.
A prickle of awareness skated down her spine, but before she could react, two very human arms snaked around her from behind and trapped her arms to her sides.
“Now, sugar, why do you want to be all violent?” he purred in her ear.
She reared her head back, satisfied when she made contact, and he grunted in pain. She twisted and kicked, but he held on to her.
He picked up her struggling body and tossed her onto the bed. She landed with a thump and rolled over just as he came down on top of her.
An electric shock scorched up her body as his heat bled into her skin. He yanked both her arms high over her head and held them as he stared down at her.
“I believe this round goes to me.”
It shouldn’t be legal for a man to be this sexy, and worse, to know it. Perfectly straight, white teeth flashed as he grinned. Bastard had probably read her thoughts.
“Yeah, so what are you going to do about it?” she demanded.
He transferred her wrists to one hand and propped himself up off her body with the other. It wouldn’t be too hard to escape since he was only holding her with one hand, but damn it, she had no desire to go anywhere at the moment. Not until he did something about the unspoken promise in his eyes.
Without speaking, he lowered his head and closed his mouth around her nipple, through the satin material of her camisole. She flinched when his teeth grazed over the point. To her dismay, a small moan escaped her lips.
His head came up, and he grinned again. Cocky bastard. It was time to change the dynamics of this little rendezvous. She wanted him. No sense denying it. But she was going to have him on her terms. He’d dictated the action the first time, but screw that.
She slid her knee between his legs, wrenched her arms free and rolled hard, landing on top of him with her knee jammed against his balls.
He didn’t fight, much to her disappointment. He just lay there staring at her with those sexy dark eyes. The earring glinted in the lamplight, and his black hair lay strewn on the pillow.
“This begs the question, now that you’ve got the man at your mercy, what are you going to do with him?” he drawled.
“Oh, shut up,” she muttered. She lowered her lips to his and took him. Hard.
Their tongues tangled, wet, hot. His hands yanked at her camisole as her fingers tugged at his shirt. She fumbled with the fly of his jeans, becoming impatient when she couldn’t get it unbuttoned.
He tossed her camisole across the room, and then he pushed her aside. “Give me just a second, sugar, and I’m all yours.” He rolled over and shimmied out of his jeans. His shirt, shoes and underwear went sailing through the air and hit the wall.
He flopped back onto the bed. “Now, where were we?”
She straddled his body just below his groin and stared down at his turgid erection. Unable to resist, she reached out and touched it. It bobbed and jerked in reaction.
She closed her hand around the base, warm, soft, yet so hard. “I hope you brought your own condoms this time, cowboy. I wasn’t exactly planning to run into you again.”
“If you’ll let go of that, sugar, I’ll run into the bathroom and get one. In case you didn’t notice, these highfalutin hotels come stocked with all the necessities.”
She eased off of him and sat on the edge of the bed as he got up. He strode naked to the bathroom, giving her a prime view of his ass. His very nice ass.
Tyana groaned and closed her eyes. Since when did she go around eyeballing a man’s ass? And why this man? Why was there such a powerful attraction? He irritated her, even as she wanted to bite him, lick him and explore all those nice sexual feelings he inspired.