“I’m good,” she said, giving him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I had a great time today. Thanks for bringing me along.”
“I wanted you there,” he said, meaning it.
There was something more going on in that head of hers, and it didn’t escape his notice that he was able to read her so well after only a few days together-as though they had an intimate connection that went deeper than physical attraction.
“What are you thinking about that has you so preoccupied?” he asked.
“How lucky you are to have such wonderful friends.”
“They’re good people. When we get together, things just click among us.”
“I noticed.” She rested her head against the back of the seat and sighed softly. “I have to confess that I envy you that close-knit bond you all share. It makes me realize what I don’t have.”
The wistful note in her voice confused him. “You’re close to your family, aren’t you?”
“Sure.” She stared out the windshield, not questioning where he was taking her, even though they were headed in the opposite direction of the Las Vegas Strip on an isolated road. “I keep in touch with my parents, but I haven’t seen them in over a year. With my brother in the military, it’s been even longer than that since I’ve spent time with him.”
“But you have friends here in Las Vegas.”
“I do, but it’s not the same as what you have with your co-workers.” She absently smoothed her hands down the skirt of her sundress, then glanced at him, her features softened by the shadows in the car. “There’s just something special and unique about your relationship with them. It’s hard for me to explain, but it’s obvious that you all care for one another very much.”
He understood what she was referring to. There was an unconditional acceptance among the members of The Reliance Group, an unspoken trust that went beyond a superficial affiliation or working environment. They all had their own personal issues, some more tragic or scandalous than others, yet there was no judgment because of their imperfect pasts. Within this group, they were equals, and they treated one another as such.
It was difficult to explain.
Instead, he reached across the console and gave her thigh a squeeze. “Well, I know for a fact that they liked you a lot.” She’d fit in without effort, as though she’d always been a part of the group.
The smile that appeared this time was genuine. “The feeling is mutual.”
“Sean liked you a little too much,” he said, still slightly annoyed at the other man’s attempts to charm Nicole, even if it was all in fun and meant to bring out Nathan’s possessive side.
Which it had.
His comment about Sean made her chuckle. “He’s definitely a character.”
“Yeah, well, he’s damn lucky I trust him so much, or else I would have had to kick his ass for coming on to you throughout the day,” he grumbled good-naturedly.
“You’re such a tough, macho man,” she teased.
He gave her a comical, caveman-type grunt in response, before remembering that there was something he needed to tell her.
“By the way, Caleb found out that Sloane is going to be at a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week. Sloane donated a substantial amount of money to help build and furnish a new women’s shelter,” Nathan said, sharing the information Caleb had given him. “I’m going to show up for the ceremony by myself, and make sure he sees me there. We’ve got to find a legitimate way to get into his estate.”
“So, by day the man is an upstanding citizen who comes to the aid of abused women, and by night he’s a pedophile. How pleasant,” she said, her tone dripping with disgust.
Nathan was equally repulsed by the man’s conflicting personalities. But he knew it was Sloane’s public image as a humanitarian that served to give the community of Vegas the false perception that he was a charitable man who cared about women’s rights.
“You know, I still have that personal invitation from Sloane to see his private art collection,” she said, presenting them with another alternative. “It’s a guaranteed way of getting me into his estate.”
“No.” His resolute tone didn’t leave any room for an argument. Knowing exactly what Sloane wanted from Nicole, there was no way in hell he was letting her anywhere near the man without him being nearby. “You’re not going to Sloane’s place alone and unprotected. That’s nonnegotiable, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” she said with a sigh. “Just thought I’d toss it out there for you to consider.”
Putting Nicole’s life in danger, in any capacity, wasn’t an option. “Let’s just see what happens at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and go from there.”
Nicole nodded in agreement as she glanced out the side window, then met his gaze in the dim interior of the vehicle, her expression suddenly soft and sultry. The atmosphere in the car shifted, and his body hummed in acute awareness of that provocative look in Nicole’s eyes.
All day long there had been an underlying sexual tension simmering between them. In an instant the desire ignited into a full-fledged fire in his belly.
The inside of the Ferrari was small and confined, enabling her to lean across the low console and move intimately closer. She splayed a hand on his upper thigh and skimmed her lips along the side of his neck and up to the shell of his ear.
“Here we are on a pitch-dark, deserted road in a super-fast, hot car,” she murmured as her fingers grazed the hard outline of his cock pressing against the front of his jeans. “I’m thinking we ought to take advantage of the moment, don’t you?”
He swallowed to ease the dryness in his throat, and dared to ask, “What did you have in mind?” Not that it mattered. When it came to her, he was game for anything.
“How good are you at multitasking?” she asked as she nipped at his lobe, her breath warm and damp in his ear.
Anticipation curled through him as he forced his concentration onto navigating the vast expanse of road in front of them. “Depends on the tasks.”
She unbuttoned the top of his jeans, then slowly eased the zipper over the thick bulge of his erection and released his aching shaft, leaving no doubt as to what she intended. “Keep your hands on the steering wheel and your eyes on the road, and I’ll do the rest.”
He couldn’t believe how brazen she was acting, and how badly he wanted what she was about to do.
She unfastened her seat belt, and he curled his fingers tight around the steering wheel as he waited for the pleasure to begin. He inhaled a sharp breath at the first teasing swipe of her tongue across the broad tip, then groaned like a dying man when she took every single hard inch of him deep into her mouth, enveloping him in velvet softness and liquid heat.
His hips instinctively thrust upward, which pressed his cock against the back of her throat. Instead of pulling back, she swallowed around the sensitive head and sucked. The erotic sensation nearly unraveled him, and his foot pressed harder on the accelerator.
Sex and speed mixed together made a heady aphrodisiac, and it was all he could do to hang on for the wild, exhilarating ride.
She continued to take him over and over again, her mouth slick and hot and greedy. Tormenting him with the suctioning swirl of her tongue, she used her hands to stroke his shaft, and his eyes nearly rolled back into his head as she pushed him closer and closer to an explosive climax.
Not certain he could handle such a powerful orgasm while driving, he slowed the Ferrari to a stop in the middle of the dark, abandoned road and killed the engine. She lifted her head, her eyes luminous as she looked up at him, her lips damp and pink, and his cock wet and hard from her talented mouth.
Unable to resist, he tangled his fingers through her hair and brought her mouth to his. The kiss was steamy and passionate. As much as he loved the uninhibited way she’d gone down on him, he wanted to be inside her even more. Judging by the way she was attempting to crawl across the console to get closer, she wanted the same thing.