Chapter 5
5
He was serious. Of course he was. One thing she was learning very quickly about Zachary Savage was that he didn’t say things he didn’t mean. The shiver that went through her shook her to the depths of her soul.
“My suite is perfectly adequate, but thank you for the offer.”
“I’m not inviting you to my bed, Bethany. Not yet.”
Disappointment shot through her, but Keely had taught her a passable poker face, which she prayed would stick now. “Pray tell, why not?”
“The time isn’t right.”
“Hypothetically speaking, if I won’t be sharing your bed, then why invite me at all…? Right, it’s a possessive thing.”
The group had started to leave the sky-viewing area. When she started to follow, he restrained her. “I don’t think I need to keep an eye on you”—he ignored her shocked snort and continued—“I just want to reassure myself that your needs are met until the appropriate time when we can take this to the next level. Besides, this is technically my place of work, and I don’t fuck where I work, although I’m seriously tempted to make an exception for you.”
“You seriously expect me to believe you’ve never had sex on your plane before?”
His eyes darkened, became inscrutable. “Not on my Indigo planes, no.”
“But you’re a member of the mile high club?”
He paused for several seconds. “A tacky term, I find, but yes, I’ve had sex on a plane. If you desire a similar experience, I’ll provide you with one, but it won’t be on this plane.”
She grew hot and bothered. The look in his eyes promised all sorts of filthy sin. Her nipples puckered, strained against her dress. His gaze dropped to her breasts. A slow smile curved his lips when he witnessed the evidence of his words on her.
“Does that turn you on, Bethany? The thought of being fucked on a plane as we race toward the stars?”
“I plead the fifth.”
His smile widened. “I get the feeling you won’t be a walk in the park.”
“I told you, it’s a long cake walk between?—”
“Feelings and fucking, yes, I remember. Which is why I want you to have dinner with me. I want to work on shortening the walk.”
“If dinner is a euphemism for talking me into moving into your suite, the answer is no.”
“It involves a lot more, but I accept your answer to this particular question.”
Surprise rocked her. “You do?”
He nodded. “It was a desperate Hail Mary, which, I admit, would’ve been more problematic in the long run. No need to torture us both until we get off this plane.” His gaze refocused on her lips and stayed there. Then he breathed in slowly as if reinforcing his willpower.
Bethany licked her lips as several chaotic emotions rushed through her.
“Say yes, Bethany. It’s just dinner and conversation.”
They both knew it was a lot more, but she went along with the ruse.
“Jeez, I don’t know—a boring dinner or an evening with a rock band.”
His smile was self-assurance personified. “Dinner with me won’t be boring. I guarantee you that.”
She believed him, although she didn’t give him the satisfaction of saying that. A man with his charisma could read the dictionary backwards and make it sound sexy. “Be that as it may, I make my own decisions. And I didn’t quite hear you ask me to dinner. I don’t respond well to demands.”
“Come anyway, I have a proposition for you.”
“We only just met. How could you possibly have a proposition for me?”
He sobered and regarded her with a look that held a hint of reproach. “We can do a merry dance around this if you want, Peaches. But all we’re doing is wasting time.” His gaze hardened. “Unless you’re not free to be with me?”
“If I wasn’t, do you think I’d come on a trip like this on my own?”
He swallowed, a look of sheer relief on his face that sent a pulse of emotion through her. Why had she thought him enigmatic when she’d first seen him and read about him? Zach Savage wore his emotions on his sleeve.
No, that wasn’t quite correct. There were some emotions he wasn’t afraid to exhibit. She’d seen the way he behaved with his employees and with the guests on the plane. To them, he wore a smile that said “friendly, but keep away.” And yet with her, so far he’d displayed displeasure, annoyance, pride and an ever-present, all-encompassing hunger.
“Then there’s nothing to stop you.”
“No, there’s nothing. Except me.”
“You’d stop yourself from enjoying my company just for the sake of proving to me that you can?”
She shrugged. “I may not want to. Don’t think you know me just because our bodies react a certain way to one another, Zachary.”
His eyes darkened. “I love the way you say my name. I might let you call me Zachary after all.”
“Why, thank you for the honor.”
Her snarky tone caught his attention. He sighed. “Bethany, what’s this about? All I want is your company.”
“No, I seriously doubt that.”
“You’re right, I want a whole lot more. But for now I just want dinner.”
She sighed. “Okay. Just dinner. Your place at eight?”
He inclined his head in a way that made him look almost regal. “I’ll come and collect you.”
“No. Philip, my very able bodyguard who I met so very briefly before you commandeered my attention, will escort me.”
His eyes gleamed a hint of displeasure, but he nodded. “I’m going to enjoy making you turn all these nos into yeses.”
She summoned a smile from somewhere, despite the fact that looking into those eyes of his made her head spin. “Good luck with that.”
He stepped closer, lowered his head as if to kiss her.
Bethany’s lungs seized, her whole body poised for the contact, but at the last moment, he froze and stepped back.
In silence, he escorted her back to her suite. She passed Tracy, her hostess, who smiled at them, but Bethany read the questions in her wide-eyed look.
At her door, he leaned against the doorjamb as she entered her code. “Right, see you later,” she said as the door clicked open.
He straightened then slowly brushed his fingers over her cheek, a caress that stroked every single nerve in her body. Against her better judgment, she started to sway toward him. But again, he froze and jammed his hands into his back pockets the way he had before. “See you at eight. Don’t be late.”
“I’m never late,” she threw back.
His husky laugh as he walked away resonated through her for a very long time.
* * *
For dinner, she chose a mid-thigh, black leather China-doll dress coupled with black patterned tights and platform pumps.
Catching her hair up in a loose knot, she completed the look with silver chandelier earrings and her favorite scarlet lipstick.
Philip, a burly, towering giant of a man from Papua New Guinea, knocked on her door at five to eight sharp.
He returned her smile with a bow. “Good evening, Miss Green.” He stepped back and waited until she’d shut her door.
To her surprise, he led her toward the back of the plane to a hitherto unseen private elevator.
“This will take you straight to Mr. Savage’s suite. Enjoy your evening.”
She maintained her poker smile until the elevator doors shut, then she breathed out and glanced around at the chrome and jet-polished interior. Even the small space screamed unimaginable wealth.
When it opened several seconds later, Zachary Savage stood in the doorway, dressed in a white shirt and black slacks, which hugged lean hips and powerful thighs and did unspeakable things to her system.
To take her mind off it, she blurted, “You have your own elevator?”
One brow quirked, as did his smile. “I have my own everything, Bethany. You’ll soon discover that I’m a man who intensely dislikes sharing.”
He stood to one side and ushered her inside.
His suite was smaller than hers, which surprised her. But the space was nevertheless as divine as the rest of the plane.
He poured a glass of Chianti and passed it to her. Then he settled his tall, mouthwatering frame next to her on the sofa.
The moment he turned his attention on her, her breath caught in her lungs.
Jesus, everything this guy did was lethal, including just sitting and staring.
“Dinner will be served in a few minutes. That gives me just enough time to put my proposition to you.”
Bethany sipped her wine to buy herself more time. Because everything inside her was poised to scream yes to whatever he said. Which scared the living shit out of her.
“I’m listening.”
“I want to be your guide in Shanghai. We’ll condense the two days into one day, but I’ll make sure you see all the important sights. Then I want you to ditch the Indigo Lounge experience and come to Marrakech with me.”
* * *
Zach watched her stunning face go through a myriad of expressions. He held his breath, forcing himself to remain still as his question ricocheted through her mind.
Jesus, he’d never wanted a woman as much as he wanted her. The fact that he couldn’t have her immediately, that his integrity demanded he set things right elsewhere, ate at him like a damned disease.
That dress she was wearing, the leather that came up to mid-thigh—Christ, it was a miracle he could remain conscious while all his blood was rushing south. As for those ridiculous bow patterns on her tights, he would gladly have torn them to shreds with his teeth to get to her soft, endlessly arousing flesh.
Instead, he sipped his drink and waited for her to answer.
“What’s in Marrakech?”
He exhaled in relief. It wasn’t a definite yes… but she wasn’t saying no. And he’d be damned if he was prepared to give her the chance to say no.
“One of my homes. It’s at the foothills of the Atlas Mountains with the desert oasis right at your fingertips.”
She jerked and her eyes went wide. “An oasis as in, there’s a body of water there?” she whispered, her face growing a little pale.
Zach frowned, hating the expression in her eyes. “You don’t like the water?”
She pursed bee-stung lips—lips he was dying to kiss—and shook her head. “I’m not a big fan of any body of water.”
Shit. That could be a problem. But not one he intended to let stand in the way of his goals. Because having Bethany Green had become his number one mission. She drew him like a moth to a flame. He wanted to burn in her heat, die in her fire.
He had no idea what was happening, what had started happening when he’d first laid eyes on her, but hell if he was going to slow down to find out. He was well and truly captivated. The episode in his office had nearly blown his mind clean away. He’d never done anything like that before. In some circumstances, it could be grounds for some serious questions about his work practices, but at the time he hadn’t given a damn. Hell, he’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Seeing her and claiming her had been a natural progression that he hadn’t questioned for a single moment. He intended that progression to advance all the way to his bedroom.
“There will be other things to explore besides the water. Many, many other things.”
At his blatant answer, a flush heated her cheeks. Exquisite blue eyes, set within an even more exquisite face, stared at him. She took another sip of wine and licked a drop off her lower lip.
His low groan made her eyes widen even further.
“How long do we have to stay in Shanghai?”
“The I.L. stops there for two days. We can do a twelve-hour abbreviated tour.”
“So Marrakech means I’ll miss the rest of the tour?”
“Yes.”
Her plump lower lip pouted. “I was quite looking forward to Bora Bora.”
“I will give you Bora Bora. I have a place there too. But before we do that, I have business to take care of in Paris, then in Morocco. Then I’m free to be with you. I don’t want to leave you. Say yes, Bethany.”
She sucked in a breath. One that pressed her generous breasts against the leather and displayed her tight, hard nipples. When she uncrossed her long legs and re-crossed them, Zach felt the pulse hammer at his temples. He wanted those legs splayed wide for him as he tongued her plump clit and watched her come, over and over. Then he wanted them high around his shoulders as he drove his cock into her.
His dick hardened so fast and painfully that he nearly grabbed it to ease the intense discomfort.
As if sensing his agitation, her gaze locked on his then dropped to his crotch. She couldn’t miss her effect on him, and he didn’t bother to hide it. He wanted her to see how hot he was for her. How much he desired her.
Slowly, she licked her lips. Her breath came out in soft, hot pants. Then her lids lifted and she murmured the word he wanted to hear.
“Yes.”