Chapter Five
Heat was the first thing Daisy noticed when she tried to move. She opened one eye. The room was dark, the only sound was the swish of the overhead fan.
Warmth coated her from her cheek to the soles of her feet. Something heavy lay across her waist. She murmured to her cat to move, but because warmth soaked through to her bones, she snuggled in and fell asleep.
The next time she woke up, a weak sun pushed through fluffy clouds. The warmth she’d earlier encountered was still plastered against her back. Something heavy draped across her thigh. For a heart-stopping moment she thought she’d had a stroke, and only one side of her was functioning. She wiggled her butt, which worked fine. Something impressively hard flexed against her ass.
“Easy.” Her pillow rumbled.
Daisy’s eyes flew open, her heartbeat raced to attack levels, and she jerked. She went to sit up, but the weight around her waist tightened.
“What are you doing?” she asked, horror mixed with something she wasn’t going to explain, but an illegal plume of warmth hit between her legs and radiated outward.
“I tried to sleep on top, but you move like a train. Couldn’t wake you up, so I tucked you into my shoulder, held you tight, and you didn’t move.”
This was unprecedented. This wasn’t on her list. This wasn’t on any list.
“This isn’t on my list.” Sweat gathered under her arms. Who knew that using Zan Gillard as a pillow was better than anything Sealy put out.
They’d shared body heat, but that had been necessity. This, coupled with the simmering tension between them, confused her brain, but apparently not her body with that serious heat between her legs short-circuiting the nerve-endings that were now super sensitive everywhere. His breath on her face could shatter her cheekbone. She could out make out the tiny ridges, whirls, and valley patterns of his fingertips on her hip, and the steady beat of his heart under her ear while hers must be beating like the Energizer Bunny on speed.
“Wasn’t on my list, either.” Zan’s morning, growly voice plowed through her, making her squirm, which caused his impressive erection to creep closer.
I need to leave.
His sexy voice, his hard body under her shoulder, coupled with the best night’s sleep she’d had in ages, should have had her bolting out of bed with renewed energy.
Excellent plan.
She pushed up on her free arm but came to a jarring halt when the cuffs stopped movement. A girl couldn’t catch a break. She shifted, or he did, but something long and hard was now nestled near her butt cheeks. She gasped as pleasure stole the remaining breath in her lungs. A tidal wave of heat drenched her and the silk between her legs. Her scent rose between them. No point trying to breathe evenly because she’d hyperventilate and faint like a B-list actress in a daytime soap. The atmosphere in the room now charged.
She squirmed backward, planting him deeper, breathless at the sensations causing waves of desperate, frantic, almost violent need of him to claim her body. A needy moan fell from her mouth.
“I want to see you come like you did yesterday morning, hear your moan, but his time I want you to say my name.” His husky voice was low in her ear.
“What?” she gasped, her voice ragged.
“Burrowed into my chest, I want your eyes open, looking at me.”
“I didn’t,” she whispered, heat rolling from her toes, across her chest, and making a touchdown on her mortified face. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Hell no.”
His hand moved from her hip to cup her breast, his thumb brushing against her nipple. An electrical storm pulsed under her skin. Before she knew it, she was on her back staring into feverish green eyes in a flushed face. His gaze roamed over her in a predatory way. She arched off the bed and sought his lips. Demanding, needing, wanting…him. He smashed his mouth against hers, a full contact kiss that demanded her resistance.
She froze.
I’ve dreamed of this kiss. I know this set of lips.
She pulled away and searched his eyes. “Captain America,” she whispered.
Hazy eyes scorched her. “Had to say a lot of Hail Marys for kissing a nun when I wanted to push her against a wall and take her.”
“You remembered?”
“Never forgotten.”
His mouth crushed down on hers again. He tasted of everything she’d dreamed about. This was the kiss. This was the man. His tongue touched hers, and all her defenses melted away. He broke the kiss to work his mouth down to her aching breasts.
His hand went to the nightstand, and she heard the distant sound of the cuffs being removed.
“Keep your hands above your head.”
The pressure between her legs started to slow burn like lava through her belly, and every nerve ending, until she was a molten ball of squirming need. Her head thrashed, her back arched. The lacy nightie stood no chance and was up and over her head, leaving only a silky thong.
His dark, hungry gaze swept down her, which made her quiver. Without warning, he leaned forward, his tongue flicking her nipple while his other hand cupped her breast.
“Oh, Jesus.”
He smiled against her flushed skin. “I’ll also take, please Zan, God yes, harder, Zan, do it again.”
She writhed and wrapped her arms around him.
“Keep your hands above your head, or I’ll cuff you.”
She nodded, unable to articulate a single word. When he sucked her tight nipple hard into his mouth, she gasped at the way her breasts swelled. She arched to press her greedy breasts into his mouth, have him pull her nipple hard.
She squirmed, her head thrashing from side to side, but she kept her hands above her head, loving being imprisoned, loving being at his mercy. He could do anything to her. She wanted it all and more.
He ripped the thong from her body, which only made her wetter and her eyes rolled back in her head. She opened her quivering legs, aching for him to fill her, stretch her until he invaded and owned every part of her. He grinned like he knew exactly what she wanted, and damn him if he was going to make her beg. Finally, he sank a finger into her, grinding deep.
“Yes,” she moaned.
She pooled at the sensation, then started pushing back.
“Is this all for me?” A wicked grin transformed his face.
“Yes.” Her voice caught.
He ground deeper with one finger.
“Touch me, please,” she said, not caring about the desperation in her voice.
His expert finger drifted across where she was begging to be touched. She pushed her legs as wide as she could, inviting him deeper into her. His eyes wild. He teased her until she squirmed and writhed underneath him, not caring she sounded like an animal in heat. Muscles coiled deep in her stomach forming a quivering knot, begging for release.
“Beautiful,” he rasped then kissed her. His tongue assaulted hers, his lips soft and hard at the same time. His mouth demanding. Her tongue dueled with his, nipping at his lips and smiling when he growled.
She angled upward, wanting to grasp the sensations powering through her body, twisting her belly. His fingers were replaced with his mouth, his tongue on her clit, burying his fingers deeper into her quivering core.
“Zan,” she breathed.
“Say my name again.”
Her hands were buried deep in his hair, his glittering eyes holding her captive.
She was his prisoner, and he held the key to her body, her soul, her mind.
“Zan,” she pleaded. “Please.”
“What do you want?” Emerald eyes burned through to her soul.
“You, I want you. I need you,” she moaned when his tongue flicked over the tight bunch of nerves that had her tied in knots.
Her head thrashed, her hips bucked and she angled higher, her spine arching. He sucked her clit into his mouth, hard. Her breathing hitched, her body bucked, and she tipped into oblivion. His name hoarse in her throat, she bucked underneath him, legs hooked around his hips trying to drag him into her body.
“I need you inside me, Zan,” she rasped out, wriggling to angle him into her.
“Love it when you say my name.”
Clearly, he was a man of action—the condom was already on. She wasn’t stopping to ask where it had come from. He nudged her opening and halted. The man was huge, but she needed him stretching her, pushing her limits. She pushed her hips up, desperate for the mix of pleasure and pain.
“I’m not hurting you.” Sweat covered his body. A muscle jumped deep in his jaw. His eyes tortured.
“Why are you stopping?”
“I’m not going to hurt you.” Something worked behind his glittering eyes.
“I need you.” Desperation wrung from her throat.
One second he wasn’t there, and then he filled her. She cried out in the hard and beautiful way he read her body, knowing she was ready. She stilled, taking him all in, adjusted her hips, but he stilled her with a hand splayed on her stomach.
She stared into his dark, unfathomable eyes that now brimmed with ownership. Another wave of heat hit her breasts, her belly, and her internal muscles milked him. That was all he needed. He rocked into her.
“Yes,” she moaned.
He loomed over her, driving into her deeper and harder, finding a spot that had never been hit before. Another climax built, but this time coming from somewhere deeper. It rose up, twisting her muscles tighter and tighter when he slammed into her, shattering her and pulling a silent scream from her lips. He rolled, trapping her beneath his powerful hips, until he shuddered, his forehead brushing hers.
After she’d floated back to earth, he moved sticky hair off her face. Her blood flowed like syrup. She didn’t snatch the blankets to her like she normally did.
“I’ve got a lot of things I want to do to you.”
The intensity on his face made her shiver.
A smile hovered on her lips. She’d never felt this way before, but this man unleashed something she wanted to explore. She’d had nice sex with nice men who mostly gave her a nice orgasm, and she returned the favor. Nice, safe sex, but inside she wanted more, something she wasn’t even sure she understood.
Until now.
“Next time we walk in the room you’re going to be against the wall, your skirt will be up, and I’ll be inside you.”
Her nipples were on plan with his plan and burrowed into his chest, showing their appreciation. She licked suddenly dry lips and his gaze strayed there. She wiggled her hips when he started hardening inside her, her thighs tightening around him.
The second time around, he rode her slower, his eyes never leaving her face. He took her with his mouth, his tongue sliding against hers, demanding, and she took it all and gave it back with her list of demands. Her hands reached out to run her fingers through his hair. Using the pads of her fingers, she traced over the cords in his neck, glided over the smooth skin of his chest where the tattoo curled around an impressive pec.
Her tongue needed alone time with his nipple ring. He played her like an exquisite violin, knowing when to stroke and when to pluck. She came hard. The orgasm ripped through her. Her muscles jerked as if she’d been shot until she was left with only the ability to breathe. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Unexpected tears blurred her eyes at the intimate gesture. Her heart clenched at the possessive look on his face as his gaze raked over her, a small satisfied smile curled his lips. He traced a finger from shoulder to hip, and she shivered. The small smile became a grin.
He pulled her to his side, then kissed the back of her neck. She couldn’t move to make it to the bathroom, and her mind was a jumble of broken thoughts. He looked at her like he had the ability to look into her soul, browse around, and pluck a random thought, read it, and put it back. She shouldn’t be at ease with this man. The complicated history between them was enough, but competing for the same resort made this a screw-up of giant proportions. Not to mention the money she didn’t have; she couldn’t walk away. Here was the man she’d been fantasizing about for the last six months. The man who had multiple personalities. He could be kind and thoughtful one moment, then cut her the next without caring about the collateral damage he left behind.
Her fingers came to her still tingling lips. To another time when she’d snuck into a masquerade party to save her sister from making a fool of herself when she’d been stopped at midnight by a sexy stranger and kissed.
Like this.
She thought back to the party. She turned. “I can’t believe you’re my Captain America,” she whispered.
He pulled hair from her face. “Wondered if you’d remember.”
How could she not? His kiss and her reaction to him had thrown her. His kiss was seared into her soul.
“You did a Cinderella.”
She chuckled. She had. She’d fled after the kiss, having never found her sister, but that kiss had stayed with her.
“You knew it was me?”
He twisted her hair around his finger, pulling her to him. “Yeah, your mask slipped when you turned.” He shrugged. “Nothing would ever come of it, it was only a kiss.”
She stilled.
Nothing would ever come of it.
It was only a kiss.
He hadn’t sought her out then, and why would he? Nothing had changed. With the complicated history between them, it was only her living the fantasy. Was it only her that melted at his touch? Was it only her heart that got a little fuzzy when he looked at her with that bold ownership look in his eyes?
She lay tucked into him, unable to sleep. Her emotions were raw, chaffed. His breathing evened out.
“Soon, baby, I’ll own everything of yours.”
She froze. Icy fingers reached up and grabbed her heart.
Everything? What did he mean everything? Her heart, her body, her soul?
The icy fingers started a painful massage. Did he mean her company?
Yesterday morning he’d looked at her like he’d wiped her off the bottom of his shoe. Now he held her like a possession. Was that all this was? A ploy?
Was the Levi bid already a done deal? Had the Titanic hit the iceberg and she was still in the saloon playing cards while all around her everything slipped away, but she was the moron with the dreamy smile on her face that everything was okay.
She’d been played.
This was wrong on so many levels. She was wrong on so many levels. Professionally, she should fire herself. She’d acted like a lusty teen at a Bieber concert and thrown herself at him. She screwed her eyes shut. Everyone depended on her to bring this deal home and here she was in the arms of her rival who’d said he’d own everything of hers. A man who’d said he didn’t do relationships. A man who yesterday morning couldn’t stand her, and she couldn’t stand him. A man who wanted nothing from her but a public apology for something her sister didn’t do and money she didn’t have.
Before she made a fool of herself by either hitting him or worse, crying all over him, she slipped from the bed, made it to the bathroom, then shut and locked the door. She slid to the floor, her back pressed against the hard wood, her butt landing on cold tile.
She rubbed her arms, trying to generate warmth.
A thump landed on the door.
“What’s wrong?”
“Bad burrito for dinner.” Damn, her voice wobbled. She stood, flushed the toilet, and ran the faucet. She couldn’t face him with the haunted look on her pale face, tears pooling in her eyes. She jumped when a fist landed on the door.
“You didn’t have a burrito, you had spinach lasagna.”
Damn him for being observant.
“Bad spinach.” She flushed the toilet again, then splashed her face with water, washing away the tears smarting her eyes.
“You want to open up so we can talk about this?”
No, she didn’t, she truly didn’t. It wasn’t that she’d experienced the best sex of her life with her sworn enemy. Well, there was that. Air crushed her windpipe. He’d looked at her with tenderness, and something deep stirred in her soul. He’d made her feel more than she thought possible, and she had the awful, gut-wrenching feeling it was all a ploy.
She’d been played.
Soon he’d own everything of hers?
She didn’t think so.
She sucked back the waterworks burning her throat, making it hard to breathe and concentrate. She’d had amazing sex with a man who had no interest in her apart from taking her down. This was now business only, and not complicated feelings that were starting to stir in her heart.
She chewed on the side of her nail until copper filled her mouth.
Where to go from here.
They could talk about the sex as rational adults. They’d made a mistake. No one would ever know.
Another thump vibrated down the door.
She swiped at her face, trying to buy time when there wasn’t any. She pulled herself up from the floor, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around herself.
“Give me a minute.” The words sounded small and pinched.
“Thirty seconds,” he growled.
With trembling fingers, she pulled her hair away from her face.
She needed a list and a plan.
I can do this.
She had to do this.
She went through her options.
Pretend it never happened. It was obviously a one-time thing that would never happen again.
The doorknob rattled.
Time to move.
She pressed her hands down the towel and unlocked the door on the third attempt then pushed it open. Before he could speak, she held up a hand. “What did you mean when you said, ‘soon, baby, I’ll own everything of yours’?”
He stilled, his face paled, and surprise was replaced by an easy grin.
“This is why you’re locked up in a bathroom, pale and trembling?” He shrugged. “I’ve always talked in my sleep. My brothers used to record me and play it back. Most of the time it was shit talk.”
Most of the time.
She crossed her arms across her chest. “Really? Because it sounded like it was directed at me and it sounded personal.”
Serious green eyes bored into hers. “What I meant was, for the time we’re here I’m going to own you.”
Her heart started stacking up a fortress while her body got ready to party.
Oh, hell no.
She shook her head. “Nope. That was a one off. I’m blaming the island. It won’t happen again.”
Damn, he was impressive.
Apparently, the man didn’t mind being naked. She snuck a last glance over his magnificent body. Sweat glistened on his chest. His legs were planted wide. Soft lips that had fitted to hers were now in a hard line. Arms crossed over a chest that Superman wanted back. She gulped at the thick metal that pierced his left nipple. The sun had tanned his olive skin to the color of a perfect cappuccino. She swallowed and turned her head.
A warm hand clasped her chin and turned her head until their gazes were level.
“Trust me, beautiful, it will be happening again.”