Lust and Bound (2 page)

He leaned close, his warm breath fluttering the curls near her left ear. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“You make it sound like someone’s threatening me.” Fear sidled through her belly. Was he trying to tell her something? Did he know? She faced him then, his scent, a crisp blend of wood and spice, beckoned her as easily as his touch.

His roughened palm scraped against her skin when he cupped her face. The gentle caress was enough to still her momentary panic.

“No. Just being realistic.”

Okay. He didn’t know.  Relief flooded her limbs. She licked dry lips, noting how he followed the movement. “You’re right. I should be more aware of my safety.”

“Good girl.”

Pleasure stole through her at his approval.

“Ready?”

She blinked and looked around. Right, she still needed to wash his hair. “Um yeah.”

Putting distance between them seemed the best plan until she could rein in her thoughts.

“So how did your date go?” he said once he was seated.

“It didn’t.” Trisha draped a vinyl cape over the front of him.

Zach arched a brow. “Not your type?”

“You could say that.” She donned a black apron, gathered her hair and clipped it out of the way. Again, he followed the movement and it stroked her feminine pride.

“Leave your hair down.”

“When I’m done. Other than that it gets wet.” Her gaze drifted over his face, puzzled by the slight frown flirting with the corners of his mouth. And he had such a great mouth. No doubt his lips would be soft and firm when they were pressed to hers. She shook herself, first things first, wash hair, flirt later. “So, drive anybody famous lately?” She needed a distraction and asking him about his transportation company seemed the right way to go.

At least until she plunged her fingers through the silky mane of his hair. She barely stifled the sigh tripping over her tongue. Tingles raced up her arm as she combed her fingers through his ebony tresses. It was a sin to love a man’s hair this much.

Maybe that was the problem. She already had an idea of what she wanted and no other man measured up to the standard.

Warm water cascaded over her hand and she directed the spray over his scalp. Dragging her fingers through his hair, she worried her lip. Would he agree to what she had in mind, or would he shut her down? She drifted her gaze over his face, from the long thick fringe of lashes resting against smooth high cheeks, past his wide slightly crooked nose, to his full lips.

She shook her head, while she continued to wet his hair. Too bad it had to take another man asking her out before he considered. Although, in Zach’s defense, he’d been hinting at taking her out since her divorce. She was the one hesitating, unsure of just how far she would go with a man as delicious as Zach.

He shifted in the chair, the plastic cape rustling when he moved his arm. His elbow brushed against her thigh, igniting sparks. She fumbled the water nozzle in the sink.

His soft chuckle filled the otherwise quiet room. “You seem a little jumpy. Everything all right?”

Except when you touch me
. She shut off the water and concentrated on finding the right shampoo. “Just fine.” While she lathered soap in his hair, she tried not to think about wanting to move her fingers to other parts of his body.

“You always get the water the way I like it.”

She glanced up to find his eyes on her again. He smiled and her knees went weak. “I—yeah—have it marked.”

“Really?”

Nodding, she massaged his scalp, strong tiny circles that elicited a soft moan from his lips. That one little noise struck a chord and she wanted to hear more. She drifted her fingers back and forth, over and down the base of his skull, behind his ears and repeated. Each pass, her heart thumped a little faster and his grunts grew a little louder. Just once she’d like to tell him how he really made her feel, beg him to do something about the need tightening her nipples and dampening her panties.

Rough, strong hands closed around her wrists. She stilled and stared into eyes now dark with desire. She licked dry lips and offered an innocent smile. “Too hard?”

“Not quite.”

She looked forward to his weekly trips, just for this stolen moment. Would he mind if she touched his full, sexy lips? Maybe straddled his lap and continued running her fingers through his hair. The thought produced an ache only one thing would ease.

“Too soft?”

He chuckled, his thumbs circling the sensitive skin on the inside of each wrist. “You’re doing it just right.” His voice held a sensual note that hinted at satin sheets and wicked nights.

“I should wash the shampoo out,” she said.

He held onto her wrists another moment before he allowed his fingers to slide up her arms and drop to her waist. “You do this every time.”

Water splashed in the sink. She held her breath when his fingers inched along her calf and found the sensitive spot behind her knee.

“I do the same thing to everyone.”

He quirked an eyebrow and she rinsed out the suds. “I don’t think you do.” His hand inched higher, his fingers disappearing beneath the hem of her skirt, before retreating. She didn’t know if she should be upset or relieved.

She repeated the shampoo, rinsed and squeezed the water from his hair. When she reached across him for a towel, he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him.

“Hey!” His lips cut off any further protest. She sank into his kiss, firm and possessive, teasing and demanding all in one explosive caress. His fingers curled in her hair, dislodging the clip, while his other hand cupped the curve of her butt.

She clutched at his shoulders, allowing him access, reveling in the firm, commanding way his lips moved against hers, relishing the hand kneading her ample ass, and she ringed her arms around his neck.

A chime trilled near her ear and they fell apart. In her haste to move, Trisha ended up on the floor.

“Ow!”

Zach scrambled to his feet. “Jeez! Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She grasped his hand and he tugged her upright.

He drifted a hand over her hip. “You sure?”

“You’re dripping all over the place.” Did he just kiss her? She reached for a couple of towels.

He grasped her hands, stilling her agitated movements. Concern shadowed his eyes. “Trisha?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“I want to see you.”

She studied his face a moment. “You are seeing me.”

When he threaded his fingers through her hair and wrapped a handful of her curls around his fist, she trembled. A gentle tug tilted her head back and she parted her lips in anticipation. Her scalp tingled with sensation.

“I like that about you, Trish. You always have an answer ready.”

She grasped his wrist when he drew her closer. His other hand settled on the curve of her hip. With one look, he held her mesmerized.

“Tell me what you’re looking for.”

He was so close the heat of his body beckoned, not to mention the absolute delicious scent of masculinity and spice. She tried to resist his pull, but it had been too long, and she was already thinking about it, about him.

His hand tightened in her hair, and the small bite followed by his other hand drifting up her ribcage to flutter a soft caress over her breast left her momentarily weak. “Tell me.”

“Someone like you.” Even as the words left her mouth heat flooded her cheeks.

“Someone like me or me?” He leaned close.

She remained focused on his eyes. “You.”

A smirk spread his luscious lips. “Do you have plans for this weekend?”

“No.” She held her breath when he circled a thumb on her nipple.

“You do now.”

An entire weekend with Zach, she must have done something right. Maybe there was one thing he could do for her, something she’d thought about for months and that occupied her fantasies every time she used her vibrator.

Water dripped on her arm, breaking her concentration. “I should finish your hair.” Yet she didn’t move, couldn’t move even if he told her to.

“Do you have a fantasy, Trish?”

Did she? Heat flared in her cheeks as she thought about one, a very special one close to her heart, but he wouldn’t want to do that. She shook her head instead.

“Liar. I see it in your eyes. Okay. You’ll tell me what it is before the weekend’s over.” He released her and sat down.

She shivered with the sudden loss of his body heat. How could he remain so calm when she was so...flustered? They were silent. Trisha worked conditioner into his hair.

“So about tonight,” he said after awhile.

“What about it?”

“How about dancing?”

She glanced down at her clothes, scooped neck purple top and a black skirt.

“I can give you time to change.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Then maybe we can figure out a few more things for this weekend.”

She grinned.  A weekend with Zach. Only one thing would be better. Sex.

Chapter Two

An up-tempo beat guided her steps, while colored lights reflected off a silver retro disco ball. Laughter and conversations mingled with the music. Trisha pressed her body closer when Zach curved his arm around her waist.

Would he say yes? It was just one night, a prelude to the weekend, but she wanted tonight. The heat of his body and the sensuous slide of his skin were the only things she craved. He had to say yes.

Since her divorce, she wanted to experience all the lust she could handle, but there had to be more than the usual insert peg A into slot B.  She drifted her gaze over Zach’s broad, muscular shoulders. How she would love to rake her nails across his chiseled flesh. Surely this big strong man wouldn’t like things soft and slow. Desire set her pulse to racing and she moved closer.

Another dancer jarred her, momentarily disrupting her rhythm and concentration. The arm at her waist held her upright. She flashed an appreciative smile and resumed dancing. Each calculated bump of her pelvis into the hard body of her partner coincided with the pulsating beat of music. Zach merely smiled and whisked her farther into the bodies clogging the dance floor, stomping and gyrating to a DJ who knew how to keep the party hopping. And those that weren’t shaking their groove thang hovered around the long bar at one end of the club or lounged at tables.

Keeping time to the music she spun, her hips swaying suggestively, and swept her long curly hair over one shoulder. A tingle of delight whispered through her when she encountered the bulge straining against his slacks and the hope he would say yes stirred again. Surprised pleasure coursed through her veins when he grasped her hips and ground against her butt. Each stroke of his erection produced an answering trickle of heat between her thighs.

Sliding a hand behind his head, she drew him down for a kiss. He grabbed her hand. And to her disappointment twirled her. Okay, so maybe he didn’t want to kiss her again, but his mouth, his full, firm lips were so made for kissing.

When she was in his arms again, he dipped his head. His warm breath sent tingles of want down her spine while he spoke in her ear. “You seem to have more on your mind than just dancing?”

She tossed him a sultry smile. “Maybe.”

“You are a continual surprise.”

“And you’re a really good dancer.” She hoped all those articles about dancing and sex were right, because she couldn’t wait to test the theory. All he had to do was say yes.

“I try.” He cinched her tighter, flattening her breasts to the solid muscles of his chest.

Each breath she exhaled pressed her taut nipples into the wall of his perfect pecs. The contact only intensified the ache, while his hand drifted lower on the curve of her hip, igniting sparks. Or did she only imagine his hand drifting lower? Real or not, she didn’t care. He could squeeze her ample derriere as long as he kept touching her. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she inhaled the spicy scent of his cologne, made more intoxicating by his warm masculinity. Did the man taste as good as he smelled?

The smooth linen of his shirt tickled her bare arm, sending a ripple of want through her system.  She allowed her gaze to linger on his mouth, the full lips were no doubt soft and firm, and she longed to feel them pressed to hers or to the ache between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together in an attempt to ease the throbbing. She toyed with a lock of his hair, the strands slipping through her fingers like silk. Tonight the soft waves bounced around his broad shoulders, giving him the look of a fallen angel or forgotten poet. A sigh escaped her lips. This man was pure sin and she would be his willing follower.

She combed her fingers through his hair, fascinated by the silky texture. Would his tresses feel just as sensuous whispering against her inner thighs as he went down on her? A wave of heat flooded her already damp pussy. Would he take his time or hurry through? She bit her bottom lip, noticing how his eyes followed the movement. Would he be the answer to her long orgasmic drought?

She wanted Zach Walters, craved his touch and longed to have his long rigid...body blanketing hers. For once she didn’t worry about the flab hanging from her arms or the bustier pushing up her breasts and holding in her muffin top. Stifling a soft moan, she resisted the temptation of burying her nose in his throat at the open collar. She wanted to nibble that tantalizing expanse of skin. Maybe it was all the dancing and being tucked so close to him, but each time his hot perusal swept her body, she figured he wanted her too.