Dark Hunter 00 - Dark Bites (Novellas) (65 page)

Adrian’s head swam at the softness of her lips, of the feel of her tongue against his. He cupped her face with his hands and closed his eyes to better savor the moment.

She had her hand buried in his hair, sending chills the entire length of his body. He felt himself harden even more as a wave of her sweet feminine scent permeated his senses.

In that moment, he couldn’t think of anything except taking her home, stripping her jeans and sweater from her body, and keeping her that way until breakfast.

Sam didn’t know where she’d found the courage to finally kiss him, but she was glad she had. She’d been dreaming of it all day long. And now that she’d actually done it, it was all she could do not to moan from the incredible taste of his lips. The warm, masculine smell of him.

Until it dawned on her what she was doing. She was kissing her boss less than five miles from work, in the middle of a mall crowded with Christmas shoppers where four of their co-workers could see them any second.

Pulling back, she let go of him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

But Adrian didn’t let her get away. He caught her in his arms and pressed her against the store window behind her. Then, he kissed her so fiercely that she thought she might faint from it.

It was raw, demanding, and it made her so hot that she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think as she felt his heart pounding rapidly in time with hers.

Good Lord, the man knew how to give a kiss. Every part of her throbbed and ached for him. And when he ran his hands down her back to press her closer to his hips, she felt his hard erection against her stomach.

He wanted
her.

In that instant, she felt she could fly.

“Neither should I,” he whispered against her lips. “But the bad thing is, I want to do it again.”

So did she.

He took a step back and put his hands in his jacket pockets.

“What are we going to do about this?” she asked tentatively.

“I don’t know.” He looked around them. “You probably should get back to the guys before someone sees us.”

She took a step toward the food court, then noticed he hadn’t budged. “Are you coming?”

He shook his head. “I’m not hungry. I’ll go play at Radio Shack while you guys eat. Just pick me up on the way out.”

“I’ll stay with you.”

He smiled. “I appreciate the thought, but Ms. Hypoglycemic can’t go without lunch.”

It was so like him to think of her, and that was one of the things she loved best about him. “All right.”

He caught her hand before she left him, then kissed the back of her knuckles. “Thanks for coming after me.”

“You’re very welcome.”

He let go and she felt a strange vacant hole in her stomach. Glancing back at him and the striking image he made smiling at her, she headed to the food court.

Sam waved at the guys as she went over to Chik-Fil-A and ordered a value meal.

“Is Adrian okay?” Heather asked.

“No. You embarrassed him.”

“Well, you know, it’s not my fault. He always has to act like he’s Mr. Macho out to defend my honor all the time. It gets really old.”

“He loves you, Heather. What’s he supposed to do? Sit around and let you get hurt? Jeez, I’d kill for one of my brothers to do the things for me he does for you. I mean damn, girl, you let him go to work, knowing he’s the boss, in ruined clothes while he
pays
you to embarrass him. I just don’t understand you.”

Heather looked away guiltily. “I do love him, you know. I just wish he’d quit trying to parent me all the time.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, he was pretty much the only parent you had growing up.”

“I know,” Heather said. “I remember when he was twelve and I was six, Mom couldn’t afford a Christmas tree. I was crying on Christmas Eve because I didn’t think Santa would come without one, so Adrian rode his bicycle down to the supermarket and talked the tree dealer into letting him work for one.”

Heather sighed. “He’s always doing really sweet things like that for me. I guess I really do take him for granted.”

“Personally, I think a whole lot of people do.”

Heather handed Sam her food.

“Wait,” Heather whispered as Sam started to leave. She quickly bagged a sandwich, fries, and brownie. “Would you take this to him and tell him I’m really sorry?”

“Sure.”

Sam made her way over to the guys who were eating. They were back to their usual bantering, but as she ate, she couldn’t get the taste of Adrian’s kiss out of her mind. That kiss had really done something to her.

Worse, she kept imagining him as a kid working on a cold Nashville parking lot so his baby sister would have a Christmas tree. It was such an Adrian thing to do.

And she wondered if anyone had ever done such a thing for him. But in her heart, she knew they hadn’t.

Adrian took care of the world while no one took care of him.

Sam cracked open
Adrian’s office door. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I was leaving.”

He turned around in his chair to face her. “Is it five already?”

“Five-thirty, actually.”

“Oh.” He rose from his chair and shrugged on his leather jacket. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Okay,” she said, her heart pounding as every hormone in her body instantly fired.

There was an awkward silence between them as they walked down the hallway toward the side door where she parked.

“I, um… I had something I wanted to ask you,” he said as he opened the door for her.

“Sure,” she said in dread as she led the way across the lot to her car. “If you’re worried about what happened this afternoon, don’t be. I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Oh, I don’t care about that. I mean, I care about that, but… shit,” he breathed. “I never was any good at this. So, I’ll just do what I do best, and blurt it out. Would you like to go to the Christmas party with me?”

Sam smiled as her heart raced even faster. “Yes, I would. But only if you bring the mistletoe.”

His gaze dropped to her lips and she wondered if he was imaging the feel of their kiss like she was.

“Great,” he said. “Pick you up at three?”

“Sounds good. I’ll give you the directions to my house tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He bent his head down like he was going to kiss her again, then he quickly shot back upright. “We’re still at work.”

Adrian watched as she got in her car, and a chill went up his spine that had nothing to do with the cold winter wind and everything to do with her.

She was something else. And he liked it.

She rolled her car window down.

Adrian leaned down to where he could speak to her without someone overhearing them. “You know, I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Me, too.”

Ask her back to your place.
It was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t dare.

“You better get back in,” she said. “It’s cold out here.”

No, it wasn’t. Not when he was standing so close to her. “Yeah,” he breathed, “You’re probably freezing.”

She reached out and touched his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Adrian gave a light squeeze to her hand even though what he wanted to do was hold it tight.

Letting go, he walked away from her, and with every step he took, he cursed himself for the stupidity. Why hadn’t he asked her back to his apartment?

But then, he knew. If he had her alone in his place, his hands would be all over her. It was too soon, and the last thing he wanted was to drive her away from him.

He’d never wanted anything in his life the way he wanted Samantha Parker.

Closing his eyes, he did his best to banish the image in his mind of her naked in his arms. The imagined feel of her breath falling across his neck as he lost himself inside her body.

“I want you, Sam,” he breathed as he watched her pull out of the lot. “And one way or another, I’m going to have you.”

3

“Sam?”

Sam looked up to see Adrian’s head poking out of his office door. “Yeah?”

“In my office. Now.”

She swallowed at his low, even tone. It sounded strangely like the one he used to crawl all over Scott when Scott did something stupid.

Worse, he’d been avoiding her all day. He hadn’t even gone to lunch with them.

Had she done something wrong?

Nervous, she got up and took the five steps that separated her cube from his office.

As soon as she was inside, he closed the door.

Sam’s heart pounded. This wasn’t good. Adrian never closed his door unless it was time for a major performance talk.

Eyes dark and features grim, he turned toward her.

Sam expected him to tell her to sit, so when he cupped her face in his hands, and pressed her back against his wall, she was stunned.

His breathing ragged, he lowered his head down and captured her lips with his.

And it wasn’t just any kiss. It was scorching and demanding. Every hormone in her body jumped to attention. Closing her eyes, she relished the warm scent of him. The masterful feel of his tongue dancing with hers as his hands roamed over her shoulders and back, down to her hips. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moaned softly as her desire for him tripled.

He separated her legs with his thigh and cupped her buttocks as he set her down on that taut muscle. Sam groaned at the feeling of him between her legs. Her feet barely touched the floor as he surrounded her with warmth.

Her head light, she throbbed and ached for more of him.

Adrian knew he shouldn’t be doing this, but he hadn’t been able to stand it any longer. All day long, he’d been unable to think about anything other than the fact that she was only five feet away.

She was so intelligent, so much fun.

He wanted to devour her.

Adrian pulled back from the kiss to where he could nibble her lips as he buried his hand in her thick, dark hair. He laved a trail from her lips to her neck where he inhaled her.

He skimmed his hand up from her waist to the side of her breast. At the sound of her murmured pleasure, he felt his control slipping.

He ached for her. Burned for her in a way he’d never burned before and all he could think of was being inside her.

“I want you, Sam,” he whispered.

Sam gave him a chiding stare. “I thought I was in trouble.”

Adrian shook his head as he lost himself in those light eyes of hers. “I think I’m the one in trouble. Serious trouble.”

He dipped his head to kiss her again.

His cell phone went off.

Growling, he answered it. “Scott, I’m in the middle of a damn important meeting. Send an e-mail.”

Someone knocked on the door.

“Just a minute,” Adrian snapped, then he brushed her cheek with his fingers, even though what he really wanted to do was lay her down on his desk and alleviate the vicious, throbbing ache in his groin.

Not to mention the one in his heart.

His breathing ragged, he let go of her. “I better let you get back to work.”

She nodded, then kissed him hard on his lips.

The knock sounded again.

She smiled. “Duty calls.”

Sam spent the
rest of the day dreaming about that kiss. And as she watched people traipse in and out of Adrian’s office, she felt like cursing. Couldn’t they just leave him in peace?

“Hey!” Randir said as he came around her cube. “It’s snowing really bad outside.”

Sam looked up with a start. “What?”

“Oh, yeah, the roads are freezing.” Randir stuck his head in Adrian’s door. “I’m going home.”

Adrian came out of his office. “Tell everyone to head out.”

Since she lived fifty minutes away, Sam dialed her oldest brother’s cell phone.

“Don’t you dare head home,” Teddy said sternly. “The roads are awful. I had to leave my Blazer at the bottom of the hill and walk home. Is there some place in La Vergne you can bunk for the night?”

“I guess. Thanks.” She hung up.

“Why are you still here?” Adrian asked.

“My brother said the roads are frozen solid. Looks like I’ll be spending the night on the cot in the first-aid room.”

Adrian frowned. “You can’t do that.”

Like she had any choice, she thought wistfully. “Sure I can. I have the vending machines and the security guard for company. I’ll be fine.”

“Why don’t you come home with me?” he asked stoically.

Sam hesitated as her heart pounded. If she did that, she had a really good idea what would happen.

But then, how bad would it be to make love to him all night?

She bit her lip in indecision. “I don’t know.”

At the hurt look on his face, she quickly added, “I bet you get stuck here with me. I’m sure the Corvette isn’t any better in this weather than my Honda.”

“I’m not in the Vette. I drove my Bronco in.”

She arched a brow. “I didn’t know you had another car.”

“Yeah. I love the Vette, but she’s temperamental and she hates snow.” He took her jacket off the peg inside her cube and held it open for her. “C’mon. I promise I’ll behave.”

Her stomach knotted in excitement and fear, she shrugged her coat on. “Okay.”

Adrian led her out of the building, across the virtually empty parking lot to an older-model black Bronco and opened the door for her.

After he got in and started the car, Sam sat beside Adrian with her heart in her throat. She was so nervous, she was actually trembling. It’d been a long time since she’d been with a guy. A long time since she’d gone to a guy’s place.

And she’d never loved a man as much as she did Adrian.

Should I make a move on him? Or should I wait for him to do something?
 

What if he thinks I’m fat?
He was so well toned and she was… well, fleshy. What if it turned him off?

Good grief, her doubts and fears plagued her silly.

Adrian tried to think of something to say as he drove the ten-minute commute to his apartment.

But he couldn’t.

His hands were actually sweating inside his gloves. He hadn’t taken a girl home with him since college.

Should I make a move on her? Or should I wait for her to do something?