Yet as she walked toward the apartment she shared with her cousin, she wasn't all that stunned to find a tall, dark, and gorgeous man dressed in black jeans and a leather jacket, leaning impudently by her door, waiting for her. Despite the surge of temptation and, yes, damn him, excitement flowing through her, she approached him slowly, tentatively, refusing to rush eagerly into his arms.
His pose was all arrogant, self-assured male, like he had every right to be there. His thick, midnight hair was mussed from his ride over, dark stubble lined his jaw, and his blue eyes were bright and seductive against all that sinful black he wore. His thumbs were hooked into the belt loops on his jeans, and a booted foot was propped against the wall behind him, giving the impression that he didn't have a care in the world.
She knew better than to underestimate that casual stance of his, or his reasons for being there. He was, after all, a dauntless, overly confident bad boy who took what he wanted, when he wanted it.
Just as he had tonight, on the phone.
As she neared, she could sense the latent power he exuded, could feel the raw eroticism of his hot stare as he watched her close the distance between them. Could feel her own body soften and respond instinctively to that intense awareness sizzling between them. By the time she stood next to him, she was breathless and battling the urge to rip off his clothes and have her way with him.
Summoning a bit a defiance to keep from giving in to that favorite fantasy of hers, she lifted her chin and pinned him with a direct look. "How did you know where I live?"
"Where there's a will, there's most definitely a way." Taunting amusement flickered across his features.
And he was a PI, trained in tracking people and digging up secrets. "What are you doing here?"
A lazy, seductive grin curved his lips. "Sweetheart, I don't think this is a conversation you want to have out here, where your neighbors might overhear."
She ignored the warning note threading his voice, unwilling to make any of this easy on him. "And you're not getting inside until you tell me why you're here."
"I think we both know the answer to that question," he said, and leaned in so close, his warm breath fanned her neck and his lips brushed the lobe of her ear. His damp tongue added to the shivery sensations, and he added in a rough, wicked whisper, "But just in case you have any doubts in that pretty head of yours, I'm here to fuck you."
Chapter 4
Steve heard Liz suck in a quick breath, and watched her eyes widen at his blatant and earthy declaration of what he wanted to do to her. He wouldn't apologize for his outrageous behavior, nor did he intend to back down from the statement he'd just issued.
He deliberately meant to startle Liz, shock her even, and he expected her reaction to go one of two ways. If he'd offended her, she'd probably slap him or turn him down flat, and he'd know he'd stepped beyond her comfort zone. If she was daring enough to join him in a more erotic, forbidden world of pleasure that included unrefined, primitive sex, then she'd welcome him inside her place and they'd indulge those carnal fantasies, and more, together.
Now that the time had come to take that next step, he needed to know she was game for everything uninhibited and unadulterated. He wanted to be assured that she was a match for his sexual appetite and a willing partner to his aggressive, more dominant nature when it came to sex. He liked his encounters hot and vigorous, and what he had in mind beyond that closed door was not gentle, polite, or altogether civilized by most women's standards.
Her answer would be the determinating factor of whether he kept their affair tame and within the confines of conventional sex or she granted him permission to allow his inner wild man loose with her.
Few women had.
He lifted a dark brow. "Well?" he prompted.
Her expression gave none of what she was thinking or feeling away. "Let me put it this way. If you weren't here to fuck me, I'd be pretty pissed after the way you left me hanging tonight."
Oh, yeah, the woman definitely had spunk, and that turned him on even more. "Touché."
He plucked her apartment key from her lifeless fingers, and when she didn't object to his take-charge attitude, he opened her door and swept a courteous hand inside the darkened entry-way. "After you."
Once they were both in her apartment and Steve had the door shut and locked behind them, that was where his gentlemanly manners ended. Taking advantage of the first hard surface they came into contact with, he maneuvered her up against the living room wall and pinned her in place with his big body, wanting complete control of tonight's seduction- and Liz's surrender. He dropped her keys to the floor, along with her purse and that small fan she'd told him about over the phone, which intrigued him with all the possibilities inherent in that little toy.
With one arm braced on the wall next to her head, and a dim light from the kitchen illuminating them, he held her gaze and slowly, gradually freed the buttons on her blouse with his other hand. "Did you think I was going to leave you on edge all night long?"
Mild accusation glimmered in her gaze. "That's what you wanted me to think, wasn't it?"
He dipped his head and nuzzled her neck, mostly to hide a smile at her accurate guess, though he wasn't about to admit that she was right. No, it was more fun sparring with her, and he liked her fearless, rebellious attitude, which would make her acquiescence all the sweeter.
"Only a cad would be so insensitive," he replied playfully. Done opening her blouse, he pushed a sleeve and bra strap over one shoulder, tenderly kissed the flesh he bared, and felt her shiver in response.
Her hands fluttered between them, finding her way into his leather jacket and tugging the hem of his shirt from his jeans. "Funny, that's exactly what I thought of you after we hung up."
He laughed, low and deep. "I guess I'll just have to do my best to redeem myself after being so greedy and leaving you so hungry."
"You're going to have to work hard for my forgiveness," she said brazenly, though there was no mistaking the provocation in her tone.
"Oh, I plan to." He brushed his fingers over the swells of her breasts and watched them quiver from his touch. "The thing is, if I hadn't come earlier, I wouldn't have been able to go this slow with you now. Think of it this way. Our earlier phone sex was merely an appetizer for me, and you need to catch up before we get to the main course."
A blond brow arched humorously. "That's quite an analogy."
He shrugged. "I needed that release so I can concentrate on giving you what you need now." Leisurely he drifted his fingers to the hard points of her nipples, straining against her sheer bra, and pinched the engorged tips gently, just enough to give her a taste of what was to come. "And what I plan to do to you is much more effective and pleasurable in person. And I can take my time doing it, too."
As much as he'd enjoyed sharing fantasies earlier, their phone sex hadn't been enough for him, despite what he'd gained from the encounter. He was a man who ultimately needed a physical connection when it came to sex. He needed to feel Liz's soft curves against him, taste her skin, hear her moans, and feel her hands on his body, too. Eventually.
Her eyes shone bright with hot anticipation and female invitation. "Who says I want slow?" she asked, all sultry, seductive temptress.
He recognized her taunting for what it was, but wasn't about to let her take charge this early in the game, if at all. "I'm not giving you a choice, sweetheart. Not this time, because I've thought about this moment since the first time I laid eyes on you at the cafe. Of stripping you naked, seeing your breasts bared, and watching you come, again and again."