CHAPTER 25
Kenzie
I wasn’t drunk, but I was pretty uninhibited as Dane and I made our way back to our suite after dinner.
“That was an amazing dinner,” I said brightly to him as we pulled up in front of our tower in the limousine. “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that well.”
“It was seafood,” Dane said in an amused voice.
I nodded as he helped me from the car. “But it was fabulous stuff.”
Dane chuckled as he took my hand to guide me to the suite. “Ms. Jordan, I do believe you’re drunk.”
“I’m not,” I denied. “I’m just happy.”
“And what makes you so merry tonight?”
I sighed after we walked into the elevator. “My best friend is going to marry the man of her dreams. She deserves that.”
The doors clanged shut, and Dane didn’t let go of my hand as he replied, “Don’t you deserve that, too?”
“Someday, I hope I find someone who loves me that much. But right now I’m just glad that Paige is so happy. She’s my best friend.”
“And what kind of man would make you happy?” he asked.
“He’d have to love me,” I considered.
“Is he rich?” Dane grumbled.
I shook my head so strongly that it made me a little bit dizzy. “Not necessary. He just has to have a job.”
It would be glorious to have two incomes to support a household. But wealth wasn’t necessary. In fact, I’d probably just proven that I wasn’t completely comfortable with it.
“And what does he look like?”
I stared at him. “I think he looks just like you—in my dreams anyway.”
“Is that so?” he said in a guttural voice as he put one hand on each side of my head, essentially holding me captive.
My confidence fueled by alcohol, I looked directly up at him. “Yep. He’s one hot guy.”
“Kenzie,” he said in a warning voice. “What are you saying?”
“Nothing. Just that if I had a guy, I’d want him to be just like you.” The logic made perfect sense to me.
“And if you had the real thing?” he asked in a harsh tone.
“I can’t have you,” I said with regret.
“Bullshit,” he countered. “Who says?”
“I do. I think you’d break my heart,” I shared earnestly.
“Kenzie, I’d never hurt you.”
“Maybe not knowingly,” I explained. “But I’d never want us to end.”
The elevator door opened, and I pushed on his chest as I saw an older couple waiting to enter.
Dane reluctantly let me go, but snatched my hand as he led me toward our room.
Once inside the suite, he didn’t appear to be ready to relinquish his hold on me. He immediately pinned me to the closed door, his voice husky as he said, “If you want me, I’m all yours, Kenzie.”
“For how long?” I asked boldly.
Jesus! Alcohol was making me bold. But at the moment, I didn’t care.
“As long as you want,” he answered.
I didn’t have a chance to ask any more questions. His wild-eyed stare disappeared from my vision as his mouth swooped down to capture mine.
There was no holding back. Not only was I less cautious because of the girlie drinks, but I was also tired of holding back my emotions. A whole lot of longing was escaping my soul, and I had no desire to stop it.
He kissed me like I was the only woman in the world, the only one he wanted.
I opened to him, and I let him wipe away any inhibitions I had with his passion, responding to him like a flame that had suddenly become an out of control wildfire.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting myself drown in sensation. The feel of his hard, hot body against mine was an aphrodisiac that I couldn’t resist.
“Dane,” I said in a voice full of longing as he released my mouth. “I want you so much. I can’t not want you anymore.”
“I don’t want you not to want me,” he growled next to my ear. “Jesus, Kenzie. I need you so damn bad that I can’t think about anything else. You’re driving me fucking crazy. I wanted to pound the hell out of any guy who even looked at you in this dress tonight.”
“Nobody looked at me,” I argued.
“Two different guys were trying to decide what you looked like naked,” he answered angrily. “I wanted to beat the hell out of them both.”
“Why?”
He pulled back and impaled me with his dark eyes. There was a torment on his face that I wanted to stroke away as he answered, “Because you’re fucking mine. I didn’t want those bastards looking at you like you don’t belong to me.”
“I didn’t want either one of them. I didn’t even notice. I was too focused on you,” I confessed breathlessly. “All I’ve ever really wanted was you.”
“I have to know that you’re going to feel the same way when you’re sober,” he said in a graveled voice as he picked me up and carried me into my room. “I’ll go fucking crazy if you don’t.”
“I’m not drunk,” I said.
“Maybe not totally,” he agreed. “But you’re definitely impaired. I won’t take you this way. I want you to know who’s fucking you. I want you to be totally aware of whose name you’re screaming when you come.”
My body reacted immediately to his blunt statements. Heat flowed between my thighs, and my core clenched with desperate need. “I’ll know exactly who you are.”
He put me on the bed as he went to search for my nightgown. Disappointingly, he helped me undress, only to cover me back up with my pajamas.
“Don’t leave me,” I said as he turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
“You’ll thank me for it tomorrow. Believe me, it’s killing me, but I don’t want a one-nighter, Kenzie. I want you.”
I wanted to yell for him to come back as he left the room. I wanted to know what he meant by saying he wanted me.
My heart ached with a pent-up yearning so painful I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and it took forever for me to finally fall into a troubled sleep.