Chapter 4
4
“So, who’s had more sex in the last month than you’ve had in the last year?”
He dropped the question so casually that she stumbled halfway up the stairs to the upper deck.
Zachary caught her arm just below the elbow and steadied her. As if she didn’t have enough to contend with, now she looked like a klutz. Which in turn annoyed her.
She faced him on the stairs, another shock exploding in her belly when her eyes clashed with his. “You were eavesdropping?”
“I was waiting for you to answer your door. You chose to speak within my earshot,” he answered without a hint of remorse as his eyes did that raking-over-her-face thing she found hot and unnerving.
“Even if that’s what happened, don’t you think it’s a bit inappropriate to repeat a private conversation?”
His lips firmed as he rested his hand a single inch from hers on the railing. “Maybe, but I can’t un-hear what I heard, Bethany. And I told you, I’m not good at pretending. So I can’t pretend I’m not interested in who you were talking to. Especially not when you were discussing a subject matter that holds a certain importance to me.”
Her heart hammered at the strangely hypnotizing effect of his words. She fought very hard to think rationally. This was the real world, albeit a rarefied one right now—but the real world nevertheless. People didn’t say things like that to each other.
“How can it hold importance to you? We met a little over two hours ago.”
He regarded her as if he could see right through her, to the heart of her every need. Her every desire.
“Answer the question, Bethany,” he said simply.
“I was talking to a friend.” She moved away from him then whirled back to face him, irritated by the compulsion to answer and also by his demand to know intimate details about her. “Let’s get something straight right now. What happened in your office doesn’t give you the right to probe into my private conversations.”
His hands fisted at his sides, and she once again got the impression that he was stopping himself from reaching for her. “I beg to differ, but if you prefer we can take this slower?—”
“Or we can stop whatever this is dead in its tracks,” she said. Bethany wasn’t afraid to admit that the direction of the conversation disturbed her. There was a look in his eyes, one that implied a possessiveness that thrilled and bothered her at the same time. No man had ever looked at her with the focus and intensity with which Zachary Savage did. It made her palms damp and her heart race as if she’d run a marathon. She passed her tongue over her lower lip and, when he zeroed in on that telling movement, sucked in a breath. “Umm, maybe this tour was a bad idea. I can get my personal guide to?—”
A single shake of his head, and a long black curl fell between his eyes. With a casual hand, he raked it back.
“No, we’ll shelve this discussion for later. I promised you a tour. I think you’ll find this upper deck even more interesting than the lower deck.” He smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. He fell into step beside her and went through a wide arch.
Her eyes widened as she took in the vista before her. On the far side, a stage had been set up, clearly for music entertainment.
“We have a rock band, Friday’s Child, on board. They’ll be providing the music for the Shanghai and Aleutian Islands trips. But there are other forms of entertainment on board, too. We pick up a new crew every two cities to give the guests a fresh experience and to allow the crew a break.”
She looked over to the opposite side of the area. Intimate seating provided private entertainment areas, and even across the vast space, she saw a pole that only had one purpose. “Are the pole dancers specially invited or can anyone join in and have a turn?”
“All entertainment is provided by The Indigo Lounge, but guests are at liberty to participate as much or as little as they wish. The objective is to have a great time away from unwanted scrutiny.”
“Right, I see.”
Within another space, a private screening area had been set up, although the booths were unlike anything she’d seen in a regular cinema. They were high and extremely sequestered with indigo-colored velvet screens to ensure utmost privacy. Each seating area could accommodate a group of ten. A tallboy drawer was carved into the end of each row of seats. She pulled open the first of the five drawers and her eyes widened.
Sex toys in all shapes and sizes, including an exact replica of what she carried in her own luggage, graced the top drawer. The second contained bull whips and handcuffs in varying sizes.
Slowly, she slid the drawers shut and glanced up to find Zach’s eyes on her.
“I take it you don’t show just cartoons here?” A blush rushed to her face as their eyes clashed.
Again, that smile that barely touched his lips. “No, but if you crave cartoons, I’m sure I can find you something from our extensive selection.”
He led her through another coded door. Delicate Oriental music chimed through inconspicuous speakers. When her eyes acclimatized to the low lighting, she saw massage beds grouped in intimate pairs and surrounded by fat, unlit candles. A hostess, dressed in a short indigo tank dress with gold piping, appeared from behind a discreet curtain and bowed.
“Our masseuses offer a whole range of therapies,” Zachary explained in a low voice. “All you need to do is ask and it’ll be done. Travelling, even in the lap of luxury, can be quite exhausting,” he murmured. “What better way to relax than with a massage, either individually or with someone special?” His voice reeked pure sex.
On the one hand, Bethany was relieved that his frosty anger had receded, but he was back to his sexily lethal self, and as she glanced at him and saw his narrow-eyed gaze on her, she knew relief was the last thing she should be feeling.
The last space he showed her blew her clean away. They stood at the nearest point to the nose of the plane where a panoramic window revealed a clear one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view. Since they were only an hour into their trip and clear of the clouds below, all Bethany could see was pure blue sky. She leaned against the railing in front of her and stretched up on her toes to get a better look.
“Wow,” she breathed.
He leaned in behind her, his hands on either side of hers on the railing. He caged her in, just as he’d done in his office, and her breath stalled in her throat as he moved in close.
“I’ll bring you up here in a few hours just before the sun goes down,” he said in a low voice, which pulsed with dark, sultry promise even when he wasn’t saying anything sexual. “It’s incredible to see the twilight sky as the stars come out.”
She’d heard Keely go ape-shit over some actor’s voice, but Bethany had never experienced sexual arousal for that reason. Until now. She felt a low drag in her stomach and wished he would keep speaking so she could melt in his voice.
“I’d… I’d really like that.”
“Good.” They stayed like that for several minutes, watching the view in warm silence as the jet raced east. With her every breath, she became more and more caught up in his scent, in the essence of Zach Savage and the incredible things his aura did to her.
“I didn’t mean to pry into your life earlier.” He stopped and she felt him shake his head. “No, scratch that. I meant to do exactly that.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I want to know every single detail about you, Bethany. I won’t apologize if that seems excessive or forward; it’s the truth.”
Her breath caught and her grip on the railing tightened. She felt as if she were swaying even though she didn’t move. “You really don’t believe in sugar-coating your words, do you?”
“There’s no room for ambivalence in my life. I’m required to make huge decisions every day. I can’t afford to mince my words.”
“But surely that applies in your business life, not your private one?” she asked, still unable to move from where he’d imprisoned her.
He moved closer still, until his pelvis brushed against her ass. Heat flushed through her. She looked down at their hands, her delicate ones next to his strong and powerful grip. So close and yet not touching.
“When it comes right down to it, the same principles apply in all areas of my life. I won’t mislead you into thinking this is something more or less than it is or will ever be. I want you. I intend to have you and I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that goal, including finding out everything I can about you. You can help by answering my questions.”
“You know, you could simply say that you’d like to get to know me, and let this thing evolve more naturally.”
His small exhalation of breath told her he was chuckling. She kept her gaze focused forward. They might have met only a short time ago, but she already knew a smiling Zachary Savage was lethal to her senses.
“Indeed. And it was what I intended to do at the end of the tour. But then the subject of sex came up. I haven’t been able to think of anything else since.”
“I guess I understand how that could derail the best intentions.”
He laughed, a low, rich, gorgeous sound that shot heat straight to her core. His fingers gripped the railing tighter, then he eased his hands closer to hers.
But still he didn’t touch her. There was something about the delayed gratification of that move that made her insides clench.
“So, have dinner with me tonight.”
Before she could respond, she heard voices as a group entered the sky-viewing area.
Zachary stiffened and she heard his low growl just before he stepped away.
Sucking in a long-denied full breath, she turned, careful to keep her hold on the railing because of her decidedly shaky legs.
The first group included a sultan or sheikh of some sort if the attire he wore was a guess. He was accompanied by four women ranging from early to mid-twenties. Each woman was dressed in stunning designer gear with priceless jewelry and impeccable make up. And they all pandered to him as if they worshipped the ground he walked on.
“He’s the son of a sultan. Those are his wives,” Zach murmured as the women caught their first glimpse of the sky and giggled excitedly.
Bethany barely stopped her face from contorting into a grimace. “Right, because why have one wife when four will do?”
Striking grey eyes latched onto hers, deadly serious in their intensity. “Rest assured, I’m a one-woman man, Bethany. As long as I have your word that you’re a one-man woman, we won’t have a problem. Because I will devote my every waking moment to ensuring your pleasure so you don’t have to look elsewhere for it. Do I have your word?”
“I—”
Sultan Junior saw Zachary and threw his arms out with a loud and effusive greeting. Zachary emitted another frustrated growl. He threw her an apologetic glance.
“Excuse me. I was hoping to stay under the radar, but I guess that’s blown out of the water now.”
She waved him off, unable to keep from watching his sexy swagger as he walked away.
Dear God. On the one hand, she knew what was happening. The calm before the storm; the foreplay before the fucking. But if anyone had warned Bethany she would be this turned on by it, she’d have laughed herself hoarse.
At twenty-four, she’d had far fewer sex partners than the average woman her age, her longest relationship being with her fourth boyfriend, Chris—until his bombshell announcement six months ago.
She’d moved to New York because of him, had moved in with him at his request, and for the best part of a year, she’d fooled herself into thinking they were in the final stages of courtship before the big proposal. At first, the weekend business trips hadn’t tweaked her radar. But after eight weekends in a row and the disconcerting knowledge that she was having more sex with Dildo Pete than with Chris, she’d known something was seriously wrong.
But not even in her wildest raging nightmares had she dreamed the man she’d thought she’d spend the rest of her life with would confess he now preferred men.
“Hey, there.”
She dragged herself from Fucked Up Memory Lane to find the guy she’d seen at the check-out desk in front of her. The rest of his group had also arrived on the deck with their hostess and were checking out the view.
“Uh… hi.” She hoped her smile didn’t reveal her inner thoughts.
He held out a hand. “I’m Jackson Blaine. Friends call me Jax.”
“Bethany,” she replied, and shook his hand. His face was open and friendly, with sparkling brown eyes and a dimpled smile that set her at ease. All in all, he was very easy on the eyes.
“I’m a drummer with Friday’s Child. We’re gigging in a couple of hours on the lower deck. Stop by if you want.”
She was about to nod when she glanced past him and felt the force of Zachary Savage’s narrow-eyed stare. A shiver coursed through her, and her heart skipped several beats before it attempted to right itself.
“I… I’ll think about it.”
“Great.” Jax smiled. “That’s some view, huh?” He indicated the sky beyond the deck.
With monumental effort, she tore her gaze from Zach, but not before she saw his attention swing to Jax.
“Yes, it’s incredible.” She turned and stared unseeingly at the view, another shiver coursing through her. She didn’t need to look at him to know she was still the subject of Zachary Savage’s focus.
Beside her, Jax talked a bit. She made appropriate answers until his group joined him. Introductions were made that she barely remembered.
She managed to nod when he smiled.
“So, see you in a couple of hours?”
“Why will you be seeing him in a couple of hours?”
Zach had materialized beside her. Again he stood close, so very close, but didn’t touch her. She wondered whether he’d practiced that particular move, or whether it came naturally to him, an inherent part of his sexual aura. Whatever it was, it turned her on so damned fiercely that she wanted to growl. She, who’d never once growled in her life.
“Friday’s Child just invited me to a gig.”
His brows clamped with displeasure. “I changed my plans because of you. Mingling with the other guests doesn’t interest me.”
Again, his arrogance irritated her. But the knowledge that he’d changed his plans because of her turned her on—much more than she could rationally cope with.
Jesus, she needed to claw back some reason here, before she lost her damned mind.
“But it interests me. I promised Keely I’d try and leave my suite at least once a day.”
He stiffened and leaned closer. “Who’s Keely?”
“Someone I care about.”
“And why is having fun important to you on this trip?”
“Because…” She stopped and wondered again why she felt the need to bare all to this man. The easiest thing would’ve been to tell him to mind his own business and leave her alone.
But she didn’t want Zachary Savage to leave her alone. In fact, it was the very last thing she wanted him to do. “Because I need to put some ghosts to rest.”
His eyes gleamed, went a little hard, then settled back into their usual intense focus. He nodded and again his gaze dropped to her mouth. “I know a little bit about ghosts, sweetheart. Let me help.”
“I hardly know you.”
“I can help with that too. Leave your suite. Move into mine.”