From Leather to Lace (7 page)

Roxy raised her eyebrows and pulled Sarah closer so she could talk in her ear. “Well, you two are obviously hitting it off. I haven’t seen Max, though,” she replied, scanning the room. “By the way, you haven’t told me all the juicy details about last weekend.”

“We’ll talk later, Rox,” Sarah responded and was about to turn away in search of Maxwell when she spotted James making his way towards them.

Her heart sank. She really didn’t feel like talking to him. She plastered a smile on her face in greeting as he reached towards her and grasped her shoulders. She had the distinct feeling that he was just about to kiss her when a strong arm banded about her waist and she was pulled roughly into a hard chest. She knew without looking that it was Maxwell behind her.

“I’m glad you could make it. I have a table waiting upstairs,” he murmured against her ear.

Still clasping an arm around her waist, he greeted the others briefly and told them that they would see them later. Then, grasping her hand, he pulled her in the direction of the stairs. She had just enough time to a wave a quick ‘see you later’ to Roxy before she was pulled along in his wake.

* * * *

It was quieter upstairs and romantically discreet. Sarah removed her jacket and settled into the comfortable private booth.

“I’ve missed you,” Maxwell said as he handed her a glass of champagne and bent his head to hers. His lips brushed the soft skin behind her ear, sending a shiver through her.

“What was that about downstairs?” she asked him.

“What was what about?” he replied disingenuously.

“You know what I’m talking about, back there with James. Was that a proprietary display?”

He shrugged. “You could put it that way, although alpha displays of dominance are not usually my style. I just wanted to ensure that there is no confusion where our…relationship is concerned.”

“How exactly do you see our relationship?” she asked.

She assessed him over her glass as he sat back and ran a hand through his hair. He looked good, dressed casually but smartly in Armani jeans and an open-necked white shirt, ankle propped across his knee in typical man style. His elbow rested on the back of the lounge, his Scotch glass dangling between two fingers. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at her.

“I would like to think that we are seeing each other, and if you agree with that assessment then I want it to be clear to others that that is the case.”

She smiled and swayed towards him seductively. “I like your assessment, Maxwell. After all, I’m not a girl who sleeps with just anyone.”

He smirked at her. “I could tell.”

“What do you mean?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Placing his glass on the table, he leaned towards her. “How do I put this delicately?” he said, running a finger lightly down her arm. “You were pleasantly tight.”

Sarah gasped, momentarily stunned. “Well, if you must know, I haven’t had too many sexual partners and I don’t jump into bed with the first man who takes my fancy. You were”—she paused—“an exception, Maxwell.”

He cupped her chin and tilted her head towards him. “I’m glad I was the exception, Sarah. I wanted you the moment I met you.”

He brushed his lips softly over hers then took the kiss deeper. Still cupping her chin, he ran his other hand lightly up her side until he reached her breast where he ran his thumb softly over her nipple. She moaned into his mouth and her heart rate sped up until she was sure that he could hear it. She reached around and clasped the nape of his neck, pulling him closer to her. All the sounds of the club receded as she became lost in his kiss, lost in the feel of his lips on hers and his thumb running delicious circles around her nipple. Slowly he pulled away from her and stroked a finger down her jaw. “Do you know what you do to me?” he whispered.

Sarah closed her eyes, trying to re-establish her equilibrium. When she opened them he was looking at her intently, his dark eyes seeming to burn into hers.

“How many?” he asked her.

She looked at him quizzically.

“Lovers,” he clarified.

“Oh, I can count them on one hand and that’s all I am saying, McIver.”

“Well, that will have to satisfy me—for now.”

“Why are you interested?”

He shrugged. “Call it morbid curiosity.” He refilled her glass of champagne and she took a long sip, enjoying the bubbles as they burst pleasantly on her tongue. “Now, I plan to be the
only
man who touches you for the foreseeable future.” He ran a finger over her lips, catching the residual champagne, before placing his finger in his mouth and sucking it. The action was so erotic it started a frantic fluttering of butterflies in her stomach. She cupped his cheek and was just about to lean in to kiss him when Roxy unceremoniously plopped down in the seat next to them.

“Sarah, it’s been an age since we went clubbing together. We need to dance and James wants a quick word with you,” Roxy declared.

Sarah shot a quick look in Maxwell’s direction and winced at the look of irritation that crossed his face.

He spoke up before she could respond. “I can’t imagine what James has to say to Sarah, and, Roxy, Sarah is not clubbing with you but with me.”

Sarah arched an eyebrow at his high-handed attitude but Roxy merely shrugged. “I have no idea why James wants to speak to you, he just asked me to mention it.”

Sarah thought it best to speak to James and get it over and done with. He was obviously not going to rest until he apologised personally and she really couldn’t see why Maxwell was making such a fuss over it. As far as she was concerned the incident in the bathroom was history.

She put her hand on Maxwell’s leg. “I’ll go and have a quick word with him, I won’t be long.” He gave her a quick, impatient nod in response.

Roxy grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the others. “I think Max is really taken with you, Sarah,” Roxy said in her ear. “He’s becoming quite possessive—I haven’t seen him like this before. His usual modus operandi where women are concerned is a sort of studied indifference. I mean he is always polite and charming, but he
is
used to them falling at his feet. You seem to have made quite an impression, Sar.”

At Roxy’s words a little thrill ran through her.

“Do you think it could get serious?” Roxy asked.

Did she think things between them could become serious? She definitely hoped so.

“It’s early days yet but I have to admit that I really like him, Rox. He does things to me,” she said with a sigh that had them both erupting into giggles.

They had reached the others, and on seeing her James pulled her aside and spoke into her ear. “Sarah, thanks for breaking away from the jealous bastard for a moment.”

“James, he is just angry on my behalf.”

“Well, I want to apologise for my behaviour at Max’s party. I can only say that I did think that you knew it was me. I’d had too much to drink, I know that’s no excuse, but I would have checked that you understood who was in the bathroom with you if I had been sober. It’s not my usual style to go about massaging unsuspecting women,” he said with a self-conscious laugh.

“Well, now you know me a little more intimately than you did before,” she replied lightly and was rewarded when he had the decency to look embarrassed. “Life is too short to hold grudges so your apology is accepted.”

He let out a loud sigh. “Thank you, Sarah. It’s more than I deserve. Did you get my flowers?”

“Yes, they were lovely. Thank you.”

He moved closer to her, the movement so subtle that she didn’t realise at first that he had done it. His body was now pressed quite closely to hers, his lips at her ear. “Do you really like him?” he asked. “If not I’ll get rid of him for you.”

He pressed his palm to the small of her back, pulling her closer against him. Sarah brought both her hands up and pushed against his chest. “Yes, I do like him, but that’s really none of your business.”

James ignored her obvious discomfort and kept his tight hold on her. She wondered briefly if he had a death wish but before she could do or say anything further she was yanked roughly backwards, the unexpected move obviously taking James by surprise, making him loosen his hold on her.

Maxwell thrust her behind him and was now standing between them glowering at James. “You obviously have a hard time keeping your hands to yourself, arsehole,” he said, his voice dangerously low. “Unlike last time I don’t have any qualms about hitting you right now.”

“Maxwell, don’t, it’s not worth it.” Sarah grabbed his arm but he only shook her off.

“Go ahead, McIver. Is Sarah your property now? Typical bloody tycoon behaviour—anything you want, you get, is that right?”

Adam and Roxy, noticing the altercation, rushed over and Adam tried unsuccessfully to get between the two men.

Maxwell loomed over James, his jaw clenched tight with barely restrained anger. “You obviously don’t think very highly of Sarah, if you think she would allow herself to be categorised as someone’s property. She makes up her own mind as to who she wants to see and it’s not you.” Maxwell was pressed against James’ chest, his eyes blazing with fury. “I’m not going to tell you again—keep your hands off her.” Sarah didn’t appreciate being referred to in such a manner but she thought it wiser to stay quiet.

Max turned from James and was reaching for her hand when James spoke again, his voice loud and reverberating. “Where the hell do you get off telling me what to do, McIver?”

Suddenly the air whooshed out of Max as James’ body hit him hard from behind. He staggered forward a few steps before he recovered and quickly turned around to face his antagonist. Sarah felt Maxwell tense, then his hand formed a fist and he swung just as James propelled himself forward. Max’s fist landed hard on James’ jaw. The resulting impact snapped his head back and he staggered backwards, working hard to stay on his feet.

“You deserved that,” Max growled at him. “If I so much as see you look in Sarah’s direction, I’m going to take you apart.”

A small crowd had gathered and Max had to force his way through the crush of bodies to reach Sarah. “I’m sorry about that,” he said to her. “That prick just doesn’t know when to quit.”

Roxy appeared in front of them and quickly pulled Sarah to one side. “I’m sorry about James, Sar. He’s jealous of Max, always has been. He resents his success and thinks that everything comes too easily to him. He also has a thing for you so when he found out that the two of you are together it made him crazy. In fact, I’m pretty sure that he orchestrated this whole thing to start a fight with Max. Adam is trying to calm him down.”

“Well, I think he is going to be sore tomorrow, Maxwell definitely has a killer right hook,” Sarah responded. “We’d better go—I don’t want to rile James any further. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She gave Roxy a quick hug and turned back to Maxwell.

“Let’s go,” he said holding his hand out to her.

“Where are we going?” she asked as they walked towards the door.

“I thought we’d head back to my place,” he replied as he took out his mobile and spoke tersely into it, asking his driver to pick them up at the entrance.

“You have a driver?”

“Not all the time. The company employs a driver and I use him sometimes.”

A moment later a sleek black Mercedes pulled to a stop in front of them. Max opened the back door for her then followed her in.

Sarah cast a sidelong look at him. He was on edge, his shoulders and jaw rigid with tension. She placed her hand on his knee, leaned up and brushed her lips over his. “Relax,” she murmured against his ear.

He smiled at her. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I didn’t intend for that to happen. I guess I get ten out of ten for ruining an evening.”

“James didn’t give you much choice, Maxwell, you were only defending yourself. Roxy thinks he deliberately picked a fight with you.”

“I’m sure he did,” he replied dryly. “Let’s try to forget about it. I don’t want to think about that guy any longer.”

* * * *

At the house they relaxed on the balcony with coffee and watched the city lights twinkling across the harbour.

Maxwell stood and stretched. “It’s late, are you ready for bed?”

In answer Sarah stood and held her hand out to him—she wanted nothing more than to go to bed with him and to feel his strong arms wrapped around her.

He took her hand and pulled her into an embrace. She looked up at him as he lowered his head to hers and brushed her lips lightly with his own. The gesture was so gentle, so seductive, it sent shivers down her spine.

Maxwell scooped her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom where he gently set her on her feet. He cupped her chin and tilted her head up to meet his lips before he kissed her deeply. He ran one hand down her back to rest on her bottom where he squeezed gently and pulled her tightly to him. She could feel his erection pressed into her stomach and she rubbed against him. He groaned into her mouth and pressed featherlight kisses from her lips to her neck until he reached the sensitive skin behind her ear where he nibbled her softly.

“I want you naked,” he whispered in her ear as he pulled her jacket off her shoulders and discarded it. He ran his lips down the column of her throat as he undid her jeans. She arched her head back and fisted her hands in his hair, pressing him against her. He pulled away from her gently, knelt before her and tugged her jeans and panties down her legs. She rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself and stepped out of them. She gazed down at him as he ran his mouth up the inside of her thigh, kissing a burning trail up her calf to her knee and upwards until he reached the apex of her thighs where he flicked his tongue lightly and teasingly over her moist folds.

“I love how you taste,” he said huskily against her skin before he thrust his tongue into her deeply.

She fisted her hands in his hair and moaned, pressing him closer and revelling in the sensation of his mouth on her sex. He lapped at her sensuously, grasping her hips to hold her steady. Hot desire swelled inside her and her every nerve end tingled as his mouth and tongue continued to assault her most sensitive places. He removed one hand from her hip and slipped two fingers inside her and caressed the soft inner wall of her pussy before pumping them in and out of her slowly while he sucked her clitoris. She groaned and felt her legs start to wobble and she swayed against him. He removed his fingers and grasped her hips tighter as he thrust his tongue into her more deeply. She gasped loudly as she felt the pressure inside her building—she was so close and desperate to reach that magnificent pinnacle. She threw one leg over his shoulder and thrust herself into his mouth as she clasped his shoulders tightly. She teetered on the abyss until with a loud cry and shudder, she climaxed violently against him.