Seducing Zeb (Tarnished Saints Series) (17 page)

“No, it wasn’t him, Judas. Don’t arrest him,
and for God’s sake don’t shoot him. It wasn’t his fault.”

“Then who gave you that shiner?” asked Judas, cocking his head and trying to get a better look at Zeb in the streetlight.

“It was me,” came Cat’s voice from inside the car.

“Cat? You did that to my brother?”

“And she’s got one hell of a punch,” said Burley. “This is the biggest crowd I’ve had in months. They’re all throwing money at the girls and it’s not just dollar bills. Zeb, you and Cat come back. The crowd loves you.”

“Forget
it,” said Zeb. “Cat, move over.” He got into the car quickly, almost sitting on Cat as she tried to make it over the center console of the small car. Then he put the keys in the ignition and tore out of the lot like a bat out of hell.

Chapter 13

They pulled up to Thomas’s cabin and Zeb stopped the car. Cat hadn’t said a word to him the entire ride, but then again, he hadn’t said anything to her either. He put the electric top up on the convertible and then closed the windows and shut off the engine.

“Why are we stopping here?” she asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Because it’s late and I’m not going to go to the main house and be waking up Thomas’s kids. And going back to my condo isn’t an option since Nate and his friends have taken it over.”

He got out of the car and s
tarted for the door of the cabin and she ran after him. “So we’re going to stay here instead?”

“For now
. This is Thomas’s cottage. He used to live here with the kids before he married Angel and moved to the big house.” Zeb moved the rug away from the door and picked up a key hidden underneath and stuck it into the lock.

“So we’re breaking in?”

“Thomas leaves the key here in case any of us need to use the cabin.” He opened the door and put the key back under the rug. “We’ll stay here tonight and in the morning figure out where the hell we’re going to live.”

He walked in and turned on the light and Cat was taken aback by the small size of the place. “You said Thomas lived here? With all his kids?”

“Yeah, that’s right. My brother lives simply.” He turned and looked at her. “Not like us.”

She realized his eye was swelled up and turning black and blue. “Oooo,” she said, making a sucking noise with her mouth. “Sorry about that. Does it hurt?” She reached out to touch it and he jumped back.

“Yes, it hurts! Don’t touch it.”

“Quit being such a baby. I
’ll see if I can find some ice.” She went to the kitchen and pulled open the freezer door and found a tray of ice cubes. She popped out a couple and wrapped them in a kitchen towel and turned around to see him lying on the sofa holding his hand over his eye.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “Why did you kiss
me and then decide to punch me? You are a complicated woman, Catalina Cordovano.”

“Yes, I am. And my name is Catalina Taylor, if I must remind you.” She reached out and moved away his hand and put the ice on it, scooching up next to him on the sofa. “And I kissed you for coming up to save me on that stage, and I punched you for knowing every one of those strippers by name.”

“Oh, is that all?”

“
Is that all? Here, hold your own ice.” She went to get up, but Zeb pulled her back down and toward him, wrapping her in his arms and kissing her passionately on the mouth.

“Mmmmm, that’s nice,” she said, having missed this kind of attention from him.

“I’m sorry that I knew all those girls, but I’m a bachelor and a former stripper, so did you expect anything different from me?” He smiled that seductive smile that she knew he used on all the girls when he wanted them to forgive him. He was giving her those puppy dog eyes and she couldn’t stay mad at him for long.

“No, I suppose not, you jerk,” she said, sitting upward and hitting him lightly on the arm. “But you didn’t have to let me walk in there so blindly, did you?”

“I think you looked pretty damned sexy up on that stage,” said Zeb, pulling her closer again.

“I was the only one fully clothed and you’re saying I was the sexy one?”

“Well, I guess I just kept picturing how you looked beneath those clothes. You know, sitting in a hot tub naked.” His fingers wandered downward and before she knew it, he’d unbuttoned her shirt.

“You do realize that we’re breaking the contract.”

“You already did that the moment you kissed me up on that stage. Besides, I no longer care about the contract. I don’t want to play that game anymore.”

“Neither do I,” she said, running her hand over his bare chest and down toward the buckle on his jeans. “So who won?” she asked.

“Well, hopefully, we’re both going to win by the end of the night,” he said, slipping the shirt off her shoulders, leaving her in just her bra.

“So no more wearing frumpy clothes?” she asked
with hope in her voice.

“And no more driving a rusty old car,” he added,
expertly going for the clasp on her bra.

“Zebedee, yo
u’re being a bad boy,” she said, playfully pushing away his hand.

“You are the one who said we’re doing nothing wrong. After all, we’re married.”

“Hold it,” she said, when he reached out for her again.

“Cat, please don’t turn me away. I know I said we shouldn’t make love, but I’ve changed my mind. I want to do it.”

“Well . . . all right. Then give me a show.” She got up off the couch and grabbed her blouse from the floor and held it in front of her.

“What?” he asked,
sitting up and taking the ice and putting it on the floor next to his feet. “What are you saying you want me to do?”

“I want you to strip for me. The way you did for all those other girls
when you put yourself through law school. I want you to seduce me.”

“That’s not seducing, that’s teasing. I stripped but I never went further than a g-string, you’ve got to believe me.”

“No, I don’t. Nor do I care. Tonight you’re going to give me the show of a lifetime. Now, I’ll be in the bedroom waiting.”

Cat waited for a few minutes, wondering what was taking Zeb so long. Then, when she was just about to go find him, the door opened slowly and
she heard music. Then she saw his hand reach into the room placing a big boom-box on the floor.

“Where’d you get that?” she asked with a laugh, since the music was not the normal music you’d expect for a stripper but rather a scratchy Spanish radio station.

“I think one of Thomas’s kids left it here,” came his voice from behind the door. “Now just be quiet because the show is going to start.

Next the light from the bedroom went off and Zeb’s hand appeared inside the door again but this
time with a lit kerosene lantern in it. He put it down on the dresser, and appeared in the open doorway wearing what looked like a full zip-up mechanics uniform.

“Did someone call for an electrician?” he asked. “I hear the power is out?”

“Where did you find that getup?” This time she couldn’t help but laugh louder.

“I think
it’s Thomas’s,” he said. “He keeps extra clothes here for when he’s working on cars in the pole barn. Now quit asking so many questions, Cat. That’s not what you’re supposed to do at one of my shows.”

“Well, sorry for never ha
ving seen a strip show before.”

“Never?” He raised an eyebrow. “You worked in Vegas, sweetie, and you’re telling me you never had the urge to check out what really happens there?”

“I wasn’t interested in those kind of things,” she told him.

“Really?” he stepped closer, walking seductively over to the bed. “Well, I think you’ll change your mind by the end of the night.”

He did a few dance moves with his hands on his waist and gyrating his hips. Then he looked at her like he wanted to eat her and slowly undid the zipper to the one-piece jumpsuit. She saw he was wearing a sleeveless man’s white undershirt and nothing else but his briefs as he stepped out of the suit and slinked his way toward her.

“Impressive,” she said with a smile, feeling herself getting turned on by his actions.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he said, gripping the front of his t-shirt and ripping it right off his body. The sound of the tearing cloth filled the room and now he stood there in just his briefs that she noticed had a nice bulge to them.

“I don’t think Thomas will appreciate that,” she said
with a big smile.

“He’s a man, he’ll understand. Besides, you’re the only one who needs to appreciate this. So are you?”

“I’m not sure yet. What else have you got?”

That question seemed
to excite him and before she knew it he was flexing his muscles and she noticed his chest was glistening as he moved his torso in a way that reminded her of a belly dancer.

“Why’s
your chest so shiny?”

“Want to find out?” He moved closer, gyrating his pelvis right in front of her face and took her hands and placed them on his chest. She used her hands to feel his chest, sliding them down to his waist.

“Baby oil?” she asked, feeling her heart beating faster.

“Cooking oil,” he said in a sultry voice. “It’s because we’
re going to be cooking with fire tonight. Plus, it was all I could find.”

“You are too funny, Zeb.”

He straddled her next since she was sitting on the edge of the bed with her feet hanging over the side. He didn’t sit on her lap, but pretended to do so, using great control to just tease her by touching her slightly with his bulge and then pulling away.

“I hope this isn’t a normal part of your show with the ladies,” she said, knowing that no woman could withstand the temptation.

“Only for you, Cat,” he said, backing away slightly and turning around. He looked over his shoulder and then took a hold of his waistband, bending over in front of her and slowly peeling away his briefs until she was staring at his bare backside.

She licked her lips and waited anxiously for him to turn around. She felt herself dampening, and starting to vibrate as she could barely control herself waiting for what she’d wanted desperately since the day she woke up
married to him.

“Turn around,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Not so fast,” he said, peeking at her over his shoulder with a smoldering look. “If I have to strip for you, then I want you to do the same for me.”

“What?” That caught her by surprise. “Zeb, I don’t know how to do that.”

“I thought you were a showgirl at one time,” he said.

“I was. But I quit when they wanted me to dance topless.”

“Well, you know how to flirt, that’s obvious. Now just take it a step further and seduce me.”

“S – seduce you?” She didn’t know if she could. But she was so hot for him at this moment that she would do whatever he wanted. She stood up and undid her pants and dropped them to the floor. “How’s that?”

“Everyone in the bar saw that,” he said without turning around. “I want to see something that tells me you really want me.”

“I do want you, Zeb.”

“Then try it, Cat. Please?”

She didn’t know if she could play this game. And wasn’t it exactly what both of them were trying to stop doing? Still, she didn’t want to disappoint him, and she thought maybe it could be fun after all.

She started gyrating her hips the way she saw him do. Then she took her hands and rubbed the oil on them from touching his chest earlier, onto her stomach.

“That’s amazing,” he said, sounding impressed. “You are a natural, honey.”

“You do realize this is the only time I’m ever going to do this, no matter how much you beg me.”

“Do what?” he asked, turning around now slightly.

“My dance. My Seducing Zeb dance,” she said, reaching back and unclasping her bra and holding it in two fingers as he turned around fully and her eyes dropped to the biggest erection she’d ever seen. “Are you sure you never did anything like this at one of your wild bachelorette parties or whatever it was you used to strip for?”

“No, honey. None of them would ever be able to afford this kind of show. But for you – I’m going to give you the VIP treatment
– for free.” He flexed his other muscle then and she about jumped him she wanted him so badly. But instead, she wanted to see him just as excited for her as she was for him.

So she turned around and looked over her shoulder and winked. Then she took hold of her panties and slowly lowered them to the ground, bending over the bed as she did so.

That did it. He came up behind her and pushed his body against hers, his hands fondling her breasts and rolling her nipples even though they didn’t need any help being brought to peaks.

“Cat, I can’t wait any longer. I’m going to burst right now i
f you keep teasing me like this.”

“I’m not teasing,” she said through ragged bre
athing as his hand slid down between her legs and he fingered her to make sure she was ready. And she was. “I’m . . . just . . .” she could barely breathe she felt so hot as his hands grabbed at her buttocks and spread them as he leaned forward, slowly lowering her toward the bed. “I’m just . . . Seducing Zeb,” she said, then moaned in ecstasy at the feel of the tip of his manhood at her door.