But what if she was mistaken about him? She thought he had some feelings for her beyond professional interest, but considering she hadn’t dated since Greg, she didn’t know if she was reading things right. And considering they had spent the last five days on the edge, working this case nonstop, maybe it was that intensity she was picking up on and not any personal feelings between them.
Still, it wasn’t just the embrace tonight after rescuing Nina. What about the kiss in the car when they were in California? He’d opened up her heart in a way she hadn’t believed possible.
She hadn’t told him the complete truth. She bit her lip, battling with herself. She had to tell him; he deserved to know she wasn’t who she’d been pretending to be. But that could wait. It had to. As soon as Driscoll was caught, the case wrapped up, she would tell him. Explain exactly what she’d done and why.
Certainly he would understand. He had to.
The knock on her door made her jump, but she knew it was Zack. She almost tripped over her feet to open the door, feeling like a foolish teenager.
“Hi,” she said, taking a step back.
“Hi.” He took a step toward her and closed the door behind him.
He was shirtless, his bare, hard chest at her eye level. Her mouth went dry, her lips parted. She licked them, took a step forward and put her mouth on his pectoral, breathed in his clean, damp skin.
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her up to his mouth.
The kiss wasn’t light or even kind. It was powerful, hungry, and Olivia responded with just as much passion and hunger for Zack as he showed her.
He moaned into her lips, kissing her with such urgency she almost lost her breath.
“Olivia, I was so scared I’d lost you. Lost you before I really found you.”
“Zack-”
Suddenly her feet were off the ground as he swooped her up into his arms. Her head felt light and amazingly empty. All her senses prickled with the need to be touched.
She’d never wanted to be touched, intimately touched, by anyone. Now she couldn’t imagine his hands anywhere but on her body, his eyes anywhere but locked with hers, his breath anywhere but on her neck.
Zack’s skin was hot to the touch. She was amazed at how much heat he generated. She’d never need a flannel nightgown again, let alone a blanket, if Zack slept next to her every night.
He laid her on the bed and removed his jeans, leaving him in boxers, his large, firm body hovering over hers. She swallowed, reached for him, and he came to her.
His hands reached under her nightgown and clasped her breasts, his thumbs circling her nipples, teasing them into hard nubs. The cold that had filled her soul most of her life melted away at his insistent, probing caress.
She gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face to hers. She lost herself in his searching kiss.
The fire building within was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. No leisurely kisses and patient seduction. Zack focused on her entire body at once, every pore of her skin craving his attention. She rubbed her body against him, wanton and free like she’d never been before.
Zack brought out a passion within her that she’d never thought she was capable of achieving.
His mouth scorched her where his lips trod. His tongue trailed hot paths down her neck, behind her ear, teasing her lobe. She’d never known her neck, her ears, her shoulders were so sensitive, that hot kisses and urgent moans could send little shock waves of pulsing heat throughout her body.
The gown was frustrating her. She wanted to feel Zack’s hot body against her bare skin. She fumbled to rid herself of the gown.
When Zack noticed Olivia was trying to remove her flannel nightgown, he reached down and with one swift movement pulled it over her head.
He stared at her body in the dim night light. She wore nothing underneath, and he found her perfect.
She was petite but curvy, with full breasts and wide hips. Her hourglass figure had been merely hinted at beneath those functional business suits. Naked, Olivia was a sexy dream.
He ran his hands down her sides, molding her, relishing the contact. He’d never forget this moment, the first time he touched her nude body, the first time he had her in bed.
He planned on many more times.
He put his arms on either side of her head and watched her expression. Eyes closed, her creamy skin flushed with desire. He leaned down to kiss her. Softly. So slowly. She was too special to rush, too enticing to wait. He wanted it all right now, yet craved time to savor every touch, every kiss, every need.
Her breasts rose with each breath. Her heart pulsated in her chest, thump-thump, thump-thump, matching his own heavy ache. He kissed the spot where Olivia’s heart throbbed, then circled his tongue along her breast, enjoying her reaction. Her hands reached for him, grasped his shoulders and squeezed. She moaned as his tongue skimmed over her taut nipple.
He reached for the back of her neck, twisted her silky hair between his hands and sucked her nipples, first one, then the other. Time stopped; it was only the two of them, and his only goal was to please her.
He wanted her. He needed her. He paced himself, her pleasure most important to him. She responded to every caress, moaned when his mouth found an unkissed spot to devour. Slow, feathery kisses turned urgent; urgent kisses became tender whispers.
Olivia’s entire body vibrated with heat and anticipation. Zack’s passionate assault, which started soft and sweet, was now hard and spicy. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She felt out of control, lustful, hungry.
His hands never stopped moving, touching her hair, her neck, her shoulders, trailing a light caress down her arm, then taking her hands and squeezing tight as he sucked her breast, his body hard against hers.
He trailed kisses back up her neck and found her mouth. She put her hands on his face, holding him to her. Kissing him as passionately as he assaulted her. She couldn’t get enough of him, his body, his strength, his lips. She found her hands roaming, pulling Zack’s body closer, feeling his rock hard muscles pressed against her softer flesh.
“Olivia,” he breathed into her ear, then nibbled the lobe. She gasped, the hot sensation in her ear sending even hotter tingles throughout her body.
“Make love to me,” she whispered, her voice husky.
He released her arms and slid down her body, kissing and tasting until she squirmed with sweet discomfort, wanting him to finish what he’d started and stop torturing her.
“Zack,” she murmured, unable to voice another word as his mouth found her inner thigh. She gasped, nerves tingling, feeling alternately hot and cold. His hot tongue circled down, down until he kissed her knee. Her calf. Her foot. Never before had Olivia thought the leg such a beacon of erotic energy. But the more attention he lavished on her legs, the more she wanted him to make love to her.
No man had ever paid so much attention to just kissing her. But these were not simple kisses. Zack left no inch of skin untouched. He kissed, rubbed, licked, breathed on, every pore of her body. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, all her senses gone except for touch. She’d never had such a tactile experience, where the simplest whisper on her skin could make her hot and gasping for air.
Zack’s mouth found her ear again. “I want to make love to you.”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Are you-um, prepared?” She hated to ask, but she wasn’t on the pill anymore. She hadn’t been with anyone since her divorce.
“I am,” he whispered.
Olivia watched as Zack took off his boxers and slid a condom on his rigid penis. She’d never watched a man enter her and she licked her lips, feeling alternately embarrassed and intensely excited.