Double Dare (31 page)

"But the fact it's part business is fun," she replied. "It adds another dimension to the experience." When she glanced at him there was a definite mischievous look in her eyes and it made him wonder what she was up to. "A lot of the people are looking at you, Zac."

"That would be because I have the most outstanding woman in the room in my arms."

"Oh no, I think it is more to it than that. They've heard that the mysterious club owner from London is entering the scene here." She whispered with such a sense of intrigue, he couldn't help laughing. Perhaps she was right. He didn't really care. He was with her. He felt strangely contented, simply proud to have her on his arm. The place was full of exotic attendees in overtly sexual clothing, but he was happy to be with Abby.

His hands rested on her waist and she led him into the sound again, her body nestled inside his. It was arousing, their moving so in tune, as one and yet within the crowd of dancers. As other bodies moved around them he felt only touches, not people. He was aware of the crowd, but its energies poured into the woman in his arms. He wanted her. His cock was hardening.

A voice drew him back.

"Hello, Abby." Gabrielle was looking over her shoulder, her arm around another woman who, like her, was dressed in oddly retrospective yet futuristic corsetry. "Oh you look so good, both of you."

She nodded approvingly at the silk shirt Zac wore.

"Gabrielle." Abby gathered her into a hug, the three women moving into a huddle amidst the dance floor.

"This is Naomi. Look Naomi, the flames found their home."

The second woman moved around Abby's other side to check out the outfit. She spoke in French at great speed, seemingly impressed. Both women kissed her before they danced on, and it created quite an image. Abby looked regal, a timeless queen between two handmaids, but her eyes were on him as they plied her with kisses from each side.

He got her back in his arms, and the heat of arousal was coming off her in waves.

"I thought I'd lost you to the girls."

She ran her finger up the length of his fly. "What, with this on offer?"

His cock throbbed for her, solid and locked tight inside his leather pants, eager to be out and against her instead. He clasped her flame-enclosed breasts with his hands. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

She nodded.

She took his hand and led him through the throng and around the interconnecting rooms, occasionally glancing over her shoulder as if to make a note of who watched them pass by, until they reached the one with mirrors and the oddly placed chairs.

"Sit here, this chair reminded me of your Mackintosh dining chairs." She gestured at a throne-like chair.

"We come all this way and you want me to sit in the chair that reminds you of home?" He felt like an old married husband as he said it, but she nodded and laughed with delight. An ache of love and pride in his chest threatened to buckle him.

He sat into the chair and reached for her, eager to have her body back against his. She resisted and put her hands on his shoulders then slowly slid down to her knees in front of him. Her hands moved inch by inch down his torso to latch over his belt.

"I thought you wanted to be watched," he said.

"We are being watched."

She was right. Other figures moved at the far side of the room, half making love, half watching them make love. "But I thought..." His objection vanished when she undid his belt, then the zipper.

"I never said what I wanted to be watched doing, did I? Believe me, this is turning me on in ways you can't possibly imagine. Besides, you've a reputation to build." She winked, nodded in the mirror behind him and freed his rock hard cock, taking it in her hand.

Glancing up, he saw Jacques de Vere reflected there, a leggy brunette in shiny hot pants and a bikini top clinging to him like a vine. Jacques grinned and nodded when their eyes met, then pulled his woman down onto his lap as he took a seat.

Bloody hell
. She was right, and she hadn't been looking around to see who was watching her, but who was watching him. Zac looked down at her as she knelt between his legs, holding him, so sure, so incredibly sexy. Her cheeks were glowing, her eyes so cat-like in her arousal.

"Abby..."

She rode her hand up and down the length of his shaft, making him clutch at the chair to ground himself. His balls were tight, his spine crawling with tension.

Her fingers lifted his balls free, stroking them. She looked at him with tenderness and affection, shot through with sexual prowess.

"Abby you don't have to do this, this evening was for you."

"I'm an investment advisor. I want your business to succeed. Call it instinct." She gave a delighted laugh. "Believe me, it's giving me the thrill of my life." She lowered her head to his cock, her glorious hair spilling across his leather covered thighs, her gaze still lifted to meet his as her mouth covered his cock end.

Zac's heart hammered in his chest. He was crazy about her. He felt awed by her, incredulous.

She sucked, drawing him in, her tongue rolling against the underside. Thrills rocketed through him, burrowing deep into his groin, his mind charged with the power she gave him. His cock was fit to burst. Her tongue came out, stroked the length of his cock from base to tip and back again. Her mouth was heavenly, seductive. She looked like a siren, so sexy, so desirable.

I want your business to succeed
. Her words echoed in his head, circling like demons.

As she took him completely, riding his cock against the roof of her mouth, he shut his eyes tight. His head fell back against the headrest, his hands gripping the arms of the chair.
Abby
. In his mind, he called her name over and over again, trying to fight the demons.
Abby
. So perfect and yet potentially so unattainable. While her mouth worked its magic, controlling him totally, drawing out the essential man in him for all to see, he felt as if his heart was being pulled from his chest.

* * * *

In the early morning light, Zac stirred. Abby was asleep and he looked at her face in the pale light. He resisted the urge to kiss her and got up. He picked up the robe that lay across the end of the bed, slipped it on, walked over to the balcony and stepped out into the still air. In the distant sky there was a suggestion of dawn. The fountain trickled below, but he could only discern its outline vaguely.

He clutched the wrought-iron railings on the balcony. Abby would be leaving in a few hours. The day after tomorrow would change everything. She'd said that she loved him, that she wanted to be with him. Would she still feel the same way?

He became aware of her presence behind him before he heard her, and turned round. She tied her robe then swept her loose hair back over her shoulder before reaching out to touch him.

"Are you okay?" She looked concerned.

He nodded.

"The sun's coming up," she whispered.

She stared at him as he moved closer to her and took her face in his hands. He kissed her, brushing his mouth over hers, savoring the feeling of her soft warmth.

"It isn't enough for me, one weekend."

She shook her head.

"I want us to share everything." He kissed her forehead and brushed his fingers through her hair. "Think about it, but if you feel the same in a few days would you consider moving in with me? I could do with some help finishing the apartment." He added the last part quickly, covering up his concern about pushing too fast and at the wrong moment.

She stared at him and her expression was wary, her eyes searching his. "I can't think of anything I'd like to do more, but we need to get to know each other a little better, don't we?"

Her wariness hurt, but he couldn't blame her. "Yes," he said quietly, knowing it might not go that way, but wanting to feel that it would happen.

He untied her robe, touched her pussy and slid his finger into its warm groove. She gasped and he looked into her eyes, moving close against her.

She leaned back against the railings as he pressed himself against her. He moved his face into her neck and breathed her scent deeply then sucked her throat as if taking her into his body, never to let her leave. He could hear the pace of her breathing, feel the tension in her.

His hand rose to her throat and circled it. "Do you trust me, Abby?" His fingers stroked her throat. "I must know that you trust me."

She closed her eyes. "Yes, Zac, I think I do."

"Oh, Abby, my love." His fingers stroked her throat. She did love him, unreservedly. He believed that. The only thing he didn't know was how she would react when she found out.

Chapter Fourteen

Suzanne stood in the middle of her bedsit and put her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed with mistrust as she glared at Nathan. "You complete and utter bastard."

"Suz, please, you're wrong. It was a mistake, yes, but it isn't as bad as it sounds."

He paused, studied her expression, and groaned. Loudly. He was sitting on the edge of her bed, naked, scrubbing his hair with the heels of his hands while he tried to explain.

"Excuse me? You came onto me because you were tracking Abby for your boss, and that doesn't sound bad? How does that not sound bad?"

"I didn't come onto you, I..."
Shit
. No matter how he put it, it sounded dodgy as hell. "I met you because Zac had asked me to keep an eye on her." Desperation hit him. "She's working for him, for Christ sakes, but she lied. What would you think if you were in his shoes?"

She shook her head, staring at him with a mixture of threat and defense. "No way, no way can you get away with this. Either of you."

That last statement was definitely a threat, he thought with resignation. He wished he hadn't brought it up while she was starting to get dressed for the day. There was something totally unnerving about an irate woman wearing only a bra. Being forced to confront a bunch of escaped cons seemed somehow preferable. Her face was flushed in an angry hue, eyes smarting as she gesticulated madly, her bare pussy staring at him just as accusingly as she was. The neat blond thatch, still glistening from their earlier oral indulgences, was like a magnet to his hungry gaze. Or maybe it was easier to look down there than at her accusing stare.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," she shouted. She rolled her eyes, turned away and bent over to snatch up her matching panties, the ones that she'd dropped in horror when he'd begun his confession.

The twin globes of her gorgeous bottom filled his vision. He ached to hold her, remembering how good those buttocks felt in his hands when he lifted her onto his cock and held her tight.

She turned around.

Eyes up, eyes up
.

"Bloody men," she muttered under her breath as she pulled the scrap of lace on. She threw him another disapproving glance. "You think the world revolves around you. Well listen here, buster." She pointed at him with a condemning finger. "Abby lied because blokes can't deal with her being cleverer than they are, and she liked Zac so she didn't want to scare him off."

"I figured it must be something like that."

"Oh yes, right, it's easy to be wise after the event." It was as if she focused on him then, rather than the situation, because her expression changed. "You know, I really thought we had something good. I thought we were building something strong here."

"We do have something good, this isn't about us." He gestured with hands outstretched. "Please, Suz, try to understand. I told you because I care about you, because I didn't want you to find out by chance."

She shook her head vigorously. "Oh no, don't even try with me, Nathan, right now the important thing is I get to my friend," her voice had lifted several decibels, "and apologize to her for bringing this to her door."

She stomped over to the wardrobe and started rooting around, hauling things out and throwing them on the floor behind her.

Dynamite comes in small packages, he reminded himself, miserably, and this one had exploded big time. The fall out could be disastrous, especially if she got to Abby before Zac told her himself.

* * * *

In her kitchen, Abby ran through her plans whilst pouring a bowl of cereal and humming along to the morning jingle on the radio. The sun was shining, she was happy. It was going to be a momentous day. She felt calm and well prepared.