Stripped Down (5 page)

“I’m Cass. And if dancing with me is that much of a hardship, why do it?”

“After seeing how you moved earlier? Dancing with you is no hardship at all. I just have a feeling that not taking you home is going to be one of my life’s greatest regrets.”

She arched a brow. “You seem certain I’d go home with you. I don’t know whether to admire your self-confidence or suggest you kiss my ass.”

His mouth feathered up at one corner. “I’d settle for your admiration.”

Cass laughed. “I believe I’m rather fond of you, Todd.”

The song wound down and the DJ’s voice, deep and suggestive, came across the sound system. “This one is designed to help you ladies get under his skin.”

Music poured out of speakers, the electric tempo fast. Every solitary bass note pounded through her core and settled between her thighs.

Todd lifted her arms over her head. Her shirt slipped up, and he traced his fingertips down her bare sides. Hands at her waist, he encouraged her to turn away from him. “Listen to the lyrics and do whatever feels right.”

She closed her eyes and began to move, following the soft suggestions of his hands, letting him mold his body to hers. The drumbeat fell into the song. At the same time, the lyrics registered—lyrics that promised uncomplicated, no-strings-attached sex. Her irritation morphed to sensual hunger as everything in her tuned in to the seduction of the music.

4

E
RIC SUSPECTED HE’D
irritated Cass when he led Gwen to the dance floor. Part of him reveled in the snap of energy between them while the other part warned him he was fueling a flame he had no hope of controlling. She wouldn’t dial it back because he told her to. Granted, he’d just met her, but a large part of his job was reading women, and he was good at it.

He also knew himself, knew he was skating the fine line between casual flirtation and dangerous intent, and, for the first time, he wasn’t sure which side of the line he should come down on.

“I get the impression your body’s here—” Gwen rested a hand between his pecs “—but your mind’s dancing with someone else.”

He automatically smiled charmingly. “I’m good.”

“Oh, you’re the best.”

“What’s with that look?” Spinning her, he settled her back to his chest so he didn’t have to see the almost sympathetic compassion in her eyes.

“You’re attracted to Cass but you’re pulling the same bullshit maneuvers she always has to deal with. I had higher hopes for you.”

Eric froze. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t get all bent.” She kept dancing as she spoke. “You’re blindly poking a stick through cage bars, not sure whether you’ll tag a lion or a lamb.”

He started to move again, slower now. “Which is she?”

“That’s for you to figure out, handsome.” She faced him, her gaze fierce. “Just don’t be stupid about it. Now, go dance with Cass.”

He found himself smiling at the pissed-off pixie staring up at him. She had no problem putting him in his place. He respected that. Chances were good Cass would be the same way, and the thought made his blood run hotter. Leaning in, he placed a soft kiss against Gwen’s forehead.

“You’re a little scary for such a wisp of a woman.”

“I come from a long line of terrifying wisps.” She glanced around him and grinned at whatever she saw. “Wow. That’s hot.”

Eric didn’t want to know what had Gwen smiling manically, yet he couldn’t help but look. What he saw lit him up brighter than holiday fireworks.

Other dancers had given the pair a little extra space, watching as they moved against each other in a sensual feast of touching and caressing. Lips parted, Cass made love to the music. The bartender’s hands traced over her body, brushing the soft curves of her hips. A faint smile teased her lips when he bent low and whispered in her ear, but her eyes remained on Eric’s.

Eric didn’t recall starting toward the couple. All he knew was that he was halfway to them when Gwen grabbed his hand and stepped ahead of him so it appeared she was pulling him across the floor.

“I want to switch,” she called out to Cass over the music.

Cass moved her eyes away from him with slow deliberation. “You got first pick.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m the bride, and I want to switch.”

Cass frowned. “That excuse is getting old.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t make it any less true.” She slipped in between the bartender and Cass. “Hi. I don’t need your name. I’m just going to call you Captain Morgan, ’kay?”

He slid right into the music again, watching her with clear amusement. “You can call me whatever you want.”

Eric reached out and caught Cass’s hand as she started toward the ladies’ table. “Hey. Song’s not over.”

She stopped and glanced at Eric, her eyes neutral despite the high color riding her cheeks. “I got the impression your dance partner ditched you for the King of Rum over there.”

Yep, she was irritated. He shrugged. “I get thrown over at the end of every set for the next guy to hit the stage, so I’m used to it.”

“You’re not really going to use that line, are you?”

Narrowing his eyes, he reached for her hand. “C’mon, Cass. I want to dance with you.”

“Would it kill you to ask?”

“Might.” It was fast becoming clear he’d missed the lamb and hit the lion as he pulled her through the throng of gyrating bodies.

Without warning, he spun her and, chest to her back, ran a hand up her stomach, between her breasts and over her shoulder. He snugged her tight to his chest. Her breath hitched, the little gasp shivering through his arm. His heartbeat did this funny freeze-then-run-away thing. He drew a shallow breath to say something—who knew what?—and instead got a whiff of her perfume, subtle, lush, erotic. It delivered a punch of arousal straight to his groin.

Cass wiggled.

He didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled her hair aside with his free hand and laid his lips against the shell of her ear. “What are you wearing?”

“Clothes. Now let me go.”

The music wound down, but he didn’t move.

She struggled.

He tightened his hold.

“Let. Me. Go.” Every world was issued on the threat of implied retaliation.

“Dance with me, Cass.” Moving against her, he whispered, “Just dance.”

She stood still long enough he was sure she was going to turn him down.

His stomach tightened.
Nerves? No way. No damn way.

Then she leaned into him and, hooking her arms around his neck, began to sway to the music. “One song.” Subdued at first, her hips gradually took up a more insistent, primal rhythm. Fingernails raked the skin of his neck and wove into his nape.

Goose bumps scattered across his arms.

Cass was a siren, moving beneath the colored lights and through the artificial smoke that wafted across the dance floor as if she belonged there. Men watched her. Women mimicked her. Eric wanted her. Craved her. Ached for her.

Intense hunger burned through him, a flash fire of desire that incinerated his reserve of common sense. He tightened his hold on her and let their bodies twist and turn and stroke and touch in an elemental way that fed his desire, intensified the building ache in his cock and transformed preliminary want into undeniable need.

He’d clearly come down on one side of the imaginary line he’d drawn—the side of seduction. Whether it was his or hers remained to be seen.

Regardless, it was only one night. Tomorrow he’d go back to the problems of Eric Reeves.

* * *

C
ASS’S PULSE THUNDERED
as the song faded and a new one rolled across the crowd, this one more heavy metal than heavy petting.

Dalton’s hand settled on her lower back, hot as a brand. Slight pressure steered her across the room and toward the small hallway leading to the restrooms. The hallway was lit. The area outside it wasn’t.

Dalton curled his fingers over the low-slung waistband of her jeans. His fingers brushed over the silk of her skin and the satin of her thong, paused, and then fisted the denim roughly enough to make her gasp.

Equal parts desire and sexual fervor rushed through her head in a whitewash of noise.

With a small tug, he spun her around and closed in, pressing her back against a wall in the darkest corner. The smell of his soap, earthy and masculine, washed over her. Her lips parted.

He dipped his head slowly, giving her ample time to protest his obvious intent. When she offered none, he claimed her mouth. No games. No pretense. No hesitation.

She gripped his shoulders and met his hunger touch for touch, taste for taste.

His tongue flicked over hers. The pad of one thumb traced her chin even as the rest of his hand cupped her neck. Long fingers of his free hand wrapped around the back of her head and cradled the shallow dip at the top of her spine. Encouraging her forward, he pulled her up and deeper into the kiss. He nibbled her bottom lip before gently suckling the same.

The faint taste of hops hovered on the tip of his tongue.

She yielded to him on an exhale.

He owned her mouth, directed her body and became her anchor in a brewing emotional storm. Long-forgotten desire curled through her pelvis, warm and wanting. One kiss barely begun, and already she wanted more.

His fingertips traced the hollow of her spine, lower and lower until they slipped over her ass and hauled her forward to straddle his thigh.

Cass gasped, the sound acting like a starting gun to the man who had held her so carefully. He was suddenly everywhere. The kiss that had been gentle, tentative even, morphed into something fierce, demanding, dominating. Dalton simply possessed her. He tilted her head a fraction to better accommodate the slant of his mouth. His lips moved with ruthless precision, driving her higher and wringing a sound of pure desperation from her, a sound he swallowed with a groan.

She fought to give as well as she got. Her arms went around his neck at the same time she wrapped a leg around his hips. He gripped her knee and encouraged her higher. The heavy ridge of his erection rode the seam of her sex and ripped from her throat an erotic whimper laced with need. She rocked against him, meeting his small thrusts.

Someone coughed as they walked by.

Cass whipped her chin away, turning her face into the corner.
What the hell was she doing?
There was a huge difference between letting her hair down and getting it on in public. Her father would declare this the ultimate weakness, right behind love, and would humiliate her for it endlessly. Time to scale things down and regroup. She’d reclaim her raging hormones and shove them back into their box.

That was the problem, though. Those hormones? They didn’t want to be put away. No, they wanted to stay out and play with Dalton.

“Cass?” His voice, deep and gravelly with undisguised want, scraped over her. Clearing his throat, he lowered her leg but didn’t move away from her.

“What is this?” she asked softly.

“This?”

“Whatever’s happening between us. One minute we’re dancing and the next—” she waggled a hand between them “—this.”

He leaned back a bit to watch her through hooded eyes, framing her upper body when he propped his arms against the wall on each side of her. His lower body pinned her. All around them, people danced and talked and drank and lived without paying them much attention. When he finally answered, his words stole her breath. “I hope
this
is more than a single dance but less than a heartache.”

She nodded. They were so on the same page. It could be one night, a night no one would, or could, know about. Anything else could ruin her reputation and get her fired from the Sovereign project. She lifted her chin, determined. “Tonight, then.”

The air between them became a charged milieu, electric and volatile, as they stared at each other.

He moved in so close his lips brushed hers when he asked, “Want to get out of here?”

“It’s Gwen’s bachelorette party. I can’t just leave.” But she wanted to. Badly.

“I understand.” Glancing at his watch, the slight tension around his eyes eased. “Bar closes in thirty minutes.” Full lips tipped up and green eyes glinted in the low light. “We could just occupy this corner until then.”

Caught between the desire to do just that and a potential panic attack at doing just that, she settled her hands on his hips and gently pushed. “Believe it or not, I’m not entirely comfortable with public displays.”

“You dance like a hedonist yet you’re worried about being caught kissing me?” There was an underlying edge to the words.

She tipped her chin up and met his cooling stare. “I’m a relatively private person. I dance, yes, but that’s entirely different from being caught in a dark corner with someone’s hands down my pants.”

He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath before nodding. “Okay. I respect that.” He stepped away, creating space between them she didn’t want. “You want to kill the time on the dance floor?”

“Why don’t we find Gwen? Once she leaves, we can, too,” she answered, scanning the club for her friend.

“Sure.” He took her hand and laced their fingers together.

She didn’t comment, but let him lead her through the crowd toward the table they’d held. Several of the women from the party were there. They looked over at her and Dalton, taking in their linked hands. A couple of suggestive glances were exchanged.

Cass stepped forward, but Dalton tightened his grip. “You ladies know where our lovely little bride has run off to?”

“Last we heard, she was going to dance with the bartender one more time before she headed home. Said she missed Dave.”

He smiled. “Ladies,” Dalton said abruptly. “Have a nice evening.”

Squashing the urge to squirm, she slipped her arm around Dalton’s waist.

He relaxed his grip on her only slightly.

The music cued up, and the mass of people on the dance floor began to move.

Dalton bent low. “Your car or mine?”

5

T
HE RIDE TO
C
ASS’S
apartment passed in silence, giving Eric time to think and, ultimately, feel guilty. He should have told Cass his real name before kissing her. Letting her go on believing he was “Dalton” was far too close to lying by omission. Still, there was simply too much to risk by sharing his real name with a near stranger. If things went south between them, it would be a simple thing for her to out him in conversations with her business associates and friends, women who came to the club who could tie CEO Eric Reeves to stripper Dalton Chase. And if the ultraconservative investors in his company found out, he could lose everything. He couldn’t move forward without their money. Period. And if he couldn’t move forward, he was sliding down progress’s steep slope. There was no standing still in this business. So, no. He wouldn’t tell Cass his real name.