Zane’s Redemption (16 page)

“I wanted to see you.” Her voice was low and seductive.

Had she always sounded like that, or was he just getting more desperate the longer he denied himself the thrill of taking her and making her his?

“You broke into my house.”

She shrugged. Then her hand connected with his chest, and her fingers played with the lapels of his robe. Before she could slip her hand onto his naked skin, he grasped it and imprisoned it in his palm.

“Stop that.”

No, do it
, he wanted to howl.

Her other hand came up too fast for him to react and pushed the robe apart so her fingers connected with his hairless chest. Her touch burned like the fires of hell, so tempting, so tantalizing, yet so forbidden. Maybe only for a second he could allow himself to soak in her essence, to allow her enthralling scent to permeate his body.

“I want you,” she murmured and pressed her lips against his skin.

Her lips moved, sliding along his heated body, moving upwards to his neck. He tilted his head, unable to resist the pleasure she was offering. Excitement coursed through him when she pulled his skin between her lips and suckled.

His hands grabbed her backside and hauled her against his thick erection.

“Bite me,” he demanded, his voice hoarse.

Portia’s head jerked up, her eyes looking at him, stunned.

“Yes,” he said, louder now, “that’s what it would be like. We’d be like animals, wild, no holds barred. That’s what being with me would be like.” He released her and stepped back. “Admit it: you’re not ready for that. All you want is some nice tame lovemaking. I can’t give you that.”

“That’s not true. I want … more.”

He shook his head. “Go home, baby girl.” Then something hit him. “Where’s Oliver?”

“I escaped him.”

“How?”

“Mind control.”

“You devious little …” Yet he couldn’t really blame her. Like her, he’d do anything if he wanted something bad enough.

“I didn’t hurt him.”

“He has to pick you up and take you home.” He turned to reach for his cell phone on the dresser, but Portia’s hand clamped over his wrist.

“No!”

“You don’t get to choose.”

“You’re a big bully!”

Zane shrugged. What else was new?

“Zane?” Quinn’s voice was accompanied by a knock on his door.

Shit! He shot Portia a scolding look.

“Is everything all right?”

Zane motioned to Portia and then the bed. She understood and hopped in, putting the covers over her up to the neck, turning her head away from the door.

“Everything’s fine,” he said calmly, as he opened the door halfway so Quinn could see Portia’s long, dark hair but not her face. If he hadn’t opened the door, Quinn would have only become suspicious.

Quinn glanced inside the room. “Hey, I was just worried because of the assassin the other day.” Then he grinned. “Anybody special?”

Zane shook his head. “Just a one-nighter.”

“You can send her over to my room when you’re done with her,” Quinn suggested with a lascivious grin.

In his dreams!
“By the time I’m done with her she won’t be able to stand.”

Quinn chuckled. “Lucky bastard.”

Zane slapped him on the shoulder and shut the door. When he turned back to the bed, he saw Portia pushing down the cover and taking off her shoes.

“Stop it right there,” he warned, not wanting her to take any more clothes off. The temptation was big enough when she was fully dressed. If she were naked, he’d have a snowball’s chance in hell of keeping his hands off her.

“What are you gonna do? Scream for help?” she teased.

Zane jumped onto the bed and snatched her arms, holding her down. “You, baby girl, listen to me now. You have a choice: either you behave and I might let you stay until tonight, or I’ll call Oliver right now to pick you up.”

Hell, what was he saying? Letting her stay? To do what? To torture himself for the next few hours by having her close, without being able to touch her? Was he going completely insane?

Portia pursed her lips. “Can you clarify what you mean by ‘behave’?”

“Don’t play your games with me, Portia, I’m warning you.”

“Or you’ll do what?”

Kiss you. Fuck you. Bite you.
Those were the words he wanted to say to her, but couldn’t. All he could do was stare at her and lose himself in the green depths of her eyes, wondering what could have been if they’d met under other circumstances, in another time. If he were a different man, one not consumed by hate and revenge, maybe he could even make her happy. But he was who he was.

“You have to leave.” He released her wrists and rolled to the side.

“But you just said if I behaved, you’d let me stay.”

He shook his head. “It’s better for both of us if you leave now.”

She turned to her side, angled her elbow and rested her head on her hand. “Because you think I don’t want what you want?”

“You have no idea what I want.”

“Then why don’t you tell me?”

“I don’t want to talk.”

She lifted her hand and stroked it along his cheek. Zane closed his eyes, warring between pushing her away and pulling her onto his body. He did neither, her touch felling him like a bullet would a deer. He felt just as vulnerable in Portia’s hands.

“I want to touch you,” she whispered.

“You’re already touching me.” If she did anything more intimate to him, the last thread of his control would snap.

“I want to touch the rest of your body.”

Zane groaned. “Please don’t.”
Please do.

“You might like it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered under his breath.

Shit, he’d never felt so weak in his entire life, not even when he was human, but as much as he knew he should stop her and make her leave, his body didn’t obey any signals from his brain and simply lay there, coiled tightly in anticipation of her caress.

When her hand slipped beneath the fabric and stroked along his chest, his pulse quickened and his breath stuttered. Her fingers were softer than he’d expected, and wherever they touched him, his skin burned like he was being lathered in hot tar. Pain and pleasure joined with every lingering stroke and every sensual caress.

“Didn’t you say you were a virgin?” he breathed, unable to comprehend how the touch of a woman as inexperienced as Portia could have such devastating effects on him.

“I’m following my instincts.”

And her instincts told her at this moment to loosen his belt and pull his robe aside.

He’d never been shy about his body, and he’d always been comfortable with nudity with women as well as around his friends and colleagues, but this time it was different. He felt bare before her, exposed and vulnerable in his desire for her. There was no way he could hide from her now, hide how much he wanted and needed her.

He watched as Portia’s mouth dropped open when her gaze lowered to his cock. His fully erect cock. He couldn’t remember ever having been this hard.

“You are …” She licked her lips. “… big.”

But despite the apprehension he sensed in her, her hand traveled farther south, traversing his stomach with seeming determination and a clear idea of where it was going. If he didn’t stop her soon, she would touch his hard shaft, and within seconds he’d spill in her hand, unable to hold back any longer.

“Portia, please …”

Her hand reached the nest of dark curls that surrounded his cock.

“… stop. Don’t …” Air rushed out of his lungs as her fingers reached the base of his erection and touched the sensitive flesh.

He jerked and gripped her hand in the next instance. “No.”

“Zane, I want to—”

The ringing of his cell phone saved him. Glad to have an excuse, he jumped from the bed, wrapping the robe tightly around him, and answered the phone.

“Yes?”

“Zane, sorry to wake you. It’s Oliver. I need your help.” Oliver sounded agitated, and Zane had a pretty good idea what had him in such a tizzy.

“What’s up?”

“Shit, man, I lost Portia. She tricked me and ran off. I don’t know what to do. Samson and Gabriel are so gonna fire me. You need to help me.”

“Calm down, Oliver. I’m already on it.” Was he ever! “Portia came to see me. She’s here.” But was she safe?

“Oh, thank God! I’ll come right over and get her. I’m so grateful.” Then suddenly Oliver’s tone changed as if he’d just caught on. “Hey, why would she go to your place?”

Ah, fuck, that kid was smarter than he’d given him credit for. “Listen, I won’t tell Samson about your fuck-up if you don’t tell him about this.”

“What’s she doing at your place?”

“What do you think she’s doing?”
Seducing him
, that’s what she was doing to him.

“You tell me.”

“You need to pick her up. Right now.” He ignored Portia’s protest behind him. “But be careful. Quinn is staying here. I don’t want him to hear you. Is that clear?”

“Yes. I’ll be there in ten.”

There was a click in the line.

Zane turned to face Portia, make that a furious Portia.

Her hands at her hips, she stood next to the bed, glaring at him. “I told you I wasn’t leaving.”

“You are, baby girl. Voluntarily.”

“Hah!” she huffed. “You can’t make me. Oliver can’t restrain me. I’ll escape him again.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Watch me!” she threatened.

With a calm he didn’t feel, Zane took one of her hands and led it to his face. He nuzzled his face in her palm and pressed a kiss into it, seeing Portia melt in front of his eyes.

“You won’t do anything of the sort. If you do, I’ll ask my boss to take me off this assignment, and you’ll never see me again.” His threat was a bluff, but he was good at bluffing, his face remaining a stony mask of indifference, a mask he’d worn for decades. It had gotten easier with the years, but tonight, it was the hardest thing he’d had to do.

“You wouldn’t!” Her eyes searched his, but he held steady and didn’t flinch.

When she finally lowered her lids, he saw the disappointment that swept over her face. “You’ve won, but only for today. This is not over.”

He didn’t stop her when she walked down the stairs, but he followed her to the top of the stairs and watched her as she waited for Oliver to arrive. When his car pulled up in the driveway, she opened the door and left without looking back at him even though she had to know he was standing there.

Knowing he couldn’t sleep now even if he tried, he walked into his living room, where Z slumbered peacefully.

“You’re some watch dog! You bark at everything and you couldn’t warn me about her?”

The dog only blinked briefly before continuing his siesta.

Chapter Sixteen

Quinn knocked on the door to Samson’s private office and took another deep breath. He felt like a rat. It wasn’t right that he’d been ordered to keep an eye on Zane. After all, he was Zane’s oldest friend and should be supporting him. But there was also his loyalty to Scanguards and his own worry that his friend might be heading for a cliff.

He’d always seen it in Zane, the desperation that would sometimes grip him when he felt he’d failed in his mission to bring those monsters to justice—monsters like Müller and Brandt. Yet he’d never breathed a word about Zane’s past to anybody in the organization. Nobody knew what Zane had been through. Even Quinn knew only the sketchiest of outlines. The rest he’d puzzled together by himself—and wished he hadn’t. There was such a thing as too much information, and this particular information could turn anyone’s stomach.

“Come,” Samson’s voice sounded from the study.

Quinn turned the antique doorknob and let himself in.

Samson wasn’t alone. As expected, Gabriel was in attendance, like Samson waiting for his report on Zane’s state of mind. After an obligatory shaking of hands, Quinn sat down on the comfortable armchair and looked straight at Samson.

“Glad you could join us. How was your flight?”

“As always, I was in the lap of luxury.”

Samson grinned. “Yeah, we just upgraded the jet. With Delilah and the baby I wanted to make sure there’s a little place for her to lie down.”

“Little?” Quinn chuckled. “That bedroom suite is larger than my entire home in New York.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “If you’re angling for a pay raise, try again.”

Quinn made a face. “Lucky me that I like to slum it.”

Samson laughed. “Is that what they call it these days on Park Avenue?”

Quinn shrugged. “It’s only a condo.”

“A five thousand square foot full floor condo if I remember correctly,” Gabriel added.

“In need of upgrades.”

“Pleasantries aside, does Zane suspect the reason for your visit?” Samson asked.

“I don’t think so. He was his usual abrasive self.” Before entering the room Quinn had already made up his mind not to divulge anything about the assassin Zane had met with. It would require explaining the why and how, and he couldn’t betray Zane’s trust by giving away the secrets of his past.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”

Gabriel nodded in agreement and shifted his foot. “Have you noticed that he’s more aggressive than usual?”

“Actually, no. In fact, he seems calmer than normal. Maybe that dog is doing him some good. Nice little beast.” The puppy was a rambunctious little rascal and the perfect companion for Zane. “The dog even listens to Zane. Whenever he sits down, the pup jumps onto his lap. And Zane doesn’t seem to mind.”

Samson exchanged a grin with Gabriel. “Looks like my idea wasn’t that bad after all.”

“We’ll see,” Gabriel replied. “He’s only had the dog for what, three days, four days? I’d like to see what long term effect he has on him.”

“Is he sleeping?” Samson asked, looking back at Quinn.

“The dog? All day long.”

“Not the dog, Zane.”

Quinn couldn’t suppress a grin. “He sure wasn’t sleeping much during the last day.”

Samson frowned, but Quinn waved him off quickly. “It’s not what you think. He wasn’t brooding. He had a woman over.”

“I thought he never took women to his place,” Samson mused.

Quinn shrugged. “Surprised the hell out of me too, but hey, there she was in his bed. And he wasn’t even willing to share her. Must have been quite a catch. Hey, not that I’m pissed or anything. I can get my own women. But hey, it was quite a departure from his usual modus operandi.” Which generally meant a quick fuck in the backroom of a club or bar, or even in an alley.