If You Were Mine (16 page)

bites, as if a simple kiss wasn’t enough when what he realy

wanted was to devour her.

She knew she should be pushing him away, that she should

keep fighting their connection out of sheer self-preservation, but

her body simply refused to folow that inteligent dictate.

Instead, she was wrapping her arms around his broad

shoulders. She wanted him closer, needed
more.
She’d never

felt like this with anyone else—completely out of control, already

way out on the edge from nothing more than one incredibly

potent kiss.

Yes, she knew she should stop, that she should be pushing

him away and teling him it could never happen. Only, in a

moment of more perfect connection with Zach than she’d ever

thought to have with a man, she found herself deepening the kiss

instead.

Leaving one hand in her hair, he began to run the other

slowly down the side of her body. She nearly cried out into his

mouth when he slid over—and past—the curve of her breast on

the way to cup her hip with his palm. He didn’t stop until he had

curved his palm around her thigh, bared beneath the hem of her

shorts.

God, the feel of his hand on her skin was shockingly good.

And she was even more shocked when he lifted her leg up

around his hip, but not enough that she thought to stop him from

around his hip, but not enough that she thought to stop him from

taking that leverage to move in closer to the heated vee between

her legs.

Heather had always enjoyed the purely physical release of

sex, but it had never been intense enough for her to forget

herself, to lose track of what she believed in. Anyone could

come out the side door and find them here like this, practicaly

having sex against the wal. They were stil fuly clothed, but even

so, she felt as if Zach had already stripped her bare.

She tried to pul herself out of the abyss, oh, how she tried,

but when he started to rain kisses down across her jaw and

found that super-sensitive spot just at the underside of her chin,

how could she do anything but let her head fal back against the

wal, and drink in every exquisite sensation of his mouth on her

skin? His rough stubble scraped at her in the most delicious way

and she used her leg hooked over his hip to pul him in even

closer.

Any and al protests she might have given him—or herself

—had flown out the window, and she was threading her fingers

into his dark hair when something puled at her wrist once, then

twice, hard enough the third time to finaly jolt her.

“The dogs,” she managed in a breathless voice as she tried

to catch hold of her racing heart. While she and Zach had been

lost in their kiss, the dogs’ leashes had tangled up around each

other and their owners, too. “We need to untangle them.”

Zach very reluctantly let go of her leg before snapping,

“Cuddles, quit moving!” in a frustrated voice as he bent down to

unclip the leash and scoop the puppy up in his arms.

unclip the leash and scoop the puppy up in his arms.

“It’s not her fault,” she told him as she worked to pul the

leashes apart with shaky hands. “We shouldn’t have been doing

that here.” As if the location were the only problem with their

kiss. “We shouldn’t have been doing that anywhere at al,” she

quickly clarified.

Only, the truth was that if the dogs hadn’t been there with

them, Zach probably would have stripped her clothes off while

he kissed her up against the wal. And instead of trying to stop

him, she would have been begging him to hurry so she could get

closer.

So she could have
more
.

“It’s exactly what we should have been doing,” he snapped

at her.

His frustration shook the breathlessness right out of her.

After al, as she reminded herself yet again, she wasn’t a

teenager who couldn’t control her raging hormones.

“This isn’t even about me,” she snapped back. “You just

want me because I’m a chalenge.”

“Wrong,” he shot back. “I want you because I want you.

From the first second I saw you, I’ve wanted you, Heather.”

How did he manage to turn her insides to goo? First with

his kiss, then with his words.

Stil, she had to hold her ground. “You and Brant were

fighting over me like I was that bone you sent Atlas.”

“I was fighting for you because you’re
mine.”

Her eyes widened at his possessive declaration. “I’l never

belong to a man.”

belong to a man.”

For the first time, he didn’t launch back at her with a quick

retort. Instead, she felt him stop. Look. Assess.

“What,” he said in a suddenly soft voice, “are you afraid

of? Is it me? Or is it you?”

It was the very last thing she’d expected him to say. And

even as her brain flooded with answers ranging from
falling for

you
to
everything,
she said, “I’m not afraid.”

He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t cal her on her fib.

Instead, he said, “Prove it.”

She lifted her chin. “I know what you’re doing. I know that

whatever way you come up with for me to prove it to you is

going to be for your good and your good only.”

He actualy had the nerve to reach for her again, to slide the

pad of his thumb across her lower lip. And, fool that she was,

she craved his touch enough to let him.

“It’l be good for both of us, I can promise you that.” He

trailed the back of his hand over her cheek in a lover’s caress.

“I’m not looking for love any more than you are. We’re the

perfect match, Heather. Don’t worry, this is going to make us

both happy. Realy, realy happy.”

Oh.

She should be cheering, should be so glad that he’d just

speled things out so clearly. But even though he’d just given her

precisely what she’d always said she wanted, his words felt like

a knife shoved straight through her chest...as if some stupid,

reckless part of her heart had secretly been wishing he would fal

in love with her.

Even though she wouldn’t have trusted his professions of

love if they had come.

It was yet another reason she should have been walking

away from him, hauling Atlas out of the stadium, getting both of

them away from the man who was more potent than any she’d

ever known.

Only, she’d lost hold of her self-control at the first brush of

his mouth against hers, and knowing how good it felt to have his

body pressed into hers, warm and solid, had her desperate for

another taste. A longer one this time, with no barriers between

them, and no one and nothing interrupting the natural flow of their

passion.

But at the same time that she could feel herself sinking

deeper beneath the sensual spel he wound around her, Heather

had run her life for too long to let a man—especialy one as

confident and charming as Zach Sulivan—lead her down a dark

path.

If she were going to head into the darkness, she’d go of her

own free wil, damn it.

“Just sex,” she said in a steady voice. Wanting to be

absolutely sure she was clear with him—and herself, too—she

added, “That’s al this is ever going to be.”

A flash of purely male victory moved through his eyes as he

immediately threaded his fingers into hers and tugged her closer.

“Kiss me to seal the deal.”

Her breath came even faster at his softly spoken command.

Her breath came even faster at his softly spoken command.

She hadn’t realized how much she craved Zach’s brand of

sensual dominance until today. She’d loved the way he’d stolen

the kiss from her, had been beyond excited by the sinful feeling

of wantonness as he took what he wanted from her up against

the wal. And now, even as she should have been annoyed at his

demand that she kiss him to finalize their arrangement, she was

more turned on than she’d ever been.

She knew what he expected her to do—either give him a

peck on the lips out of annoyance or let him control the kiss

again.

But now that she’d made the decision to enjoy being

physical with Zach, she not only wasn’t going to deny herself

whatever pleasures were in store...she was also going to make

darn sure he realized he wasn’t any less affected by her than she

was by him.

This time she was the one reaching for his jaw, feathering

out her fingers across the super-sexy dusting of stubble that

shadowed his tanned skin. Desire flared in his eyes as she moved

onto her tippy-toes to get closer. She slid her hand into his hair

and puled his face down to hers.

Her lips touched his a split-second before he growled and

slammed his mouth against hers. It was the perfect kiss to seal

the deal for their newly negotiated affair, a wonderful predictor

for the incredibly passionate, no-holds-barred sex they were

going to have with each other.

Nothing more.

* * *

Zach had never lost control with a woman before. Not

even close.

Not until Heather.

When they both finaly came up for air with the puppy

squirming between them, he couldn’t bear the thought of letting

her go. Giving Cuddles room to breathe while stil holding her

close, he asked, “Do you need anything from your place for

Atlas?”

Her beautiful eyes were hazy with pleasure from their kiss

as she blinked up at him and nodded.

He wanted her in his bed. It was where she belonged,

where he’d needed her from the first second he set eyes on her

curves as she coaxed his puppy out of the bushes at his garage.

Lord, he couldn’t wait to hear more of those little gasps of

pleasure she’d been making when he’d been kissing her...and to

watch her expression as she came apart beneath him.

Desperation to get her naked ASAP had him taking her

hand in his, her dog’s leash in his other hand and puling al four

of them out toward the parking lot.

“I’l folow you over to your place and help you grab what

you need.”

He felt her hand stiffen in his. “It’s just one night, Zach.

We’re not moving in with you. It’s just going to be sex,” she

reminded him in a firm voice.

She was too firm. Too controled, even after their second

She was too firm. Too controled, even after their second

kiss.

Oh yes, he was going to enjoy making her lose control, was

going to make that his sole purpose for the foreseeable future, in

fact.

Atlas’s ears had perked up as if he’d just realized he was

going to get to spend the night with his best friend. The Great

Dane nuzzled the puppy and Zach grinned. Heather could fight

the pul between them al she wanted, but he was counting on her

having a hel of a time breaking up their dogs.

Using the dogs to keep her close to him wasn’t playing fair.

Then again, when had a Sulivan ever played by the rules?

Heather worked to slow down the overly fast pounding of

her heart. Now, more than ever, there shouldn’t be anything to

be nervous about. Not after she and Zach had just clearly laid

out the terms of their sex-only relationship.

And yet, now that the deal had been made, she was stil

more than a little amazed to find herself in his bedroom. Back at

the basebal stadium, she’d thought she knew what she was

getting herself into.

She suddenly realized how far from the truth that realy

was.

Zach Sulivan was a force of nature. Not just because of his

stunning male good looks, but because of his strong, yet sweet,

stunning male good looks, but because of his strong, yet sweet,

personality. The first time she’d ever looked at him, of course

she’d thought of sex. There wasn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t,

not with a face and body like his.

Oh, but if he knew how nervous she was, she could only

imagine what he’d do. Laugh at her, probably. Tease her

mercilessly from here on out. And consider himself the victor.

That knowledge was what had her resorting to the act

she’d perfected as a seventeen-year-old, the one that said she

didn’t care what anyone thought of her...even if she desperately

did.

“So, this is the legendary bedroom.” She deliberately kept

her body language loose and easy, hooking a thumb into the

pocket of her shorts as she raised an eyebrow to scan the room.

Zach, who was standing in the doorway, said, “Legendary,

huh?”

Darn it, that had been exactly the wrong word to use on a

guy with an ego like Zach Sulivan’s. But she knew better than to

try to backtrack. Instead, she puled her sweatshirt off, putting it