Chapter 12
12
Philip arrived at four o’clock sharp the next afternoon. Again, Bethany felt a sharp twinge when she noticed the backseat was empty. All day, she’d nervously dangled on tenterhooks as the hours crept by, and her phone remained silent.
The pendulous swing from fielding his calls several times an hour to nothing in almost thirty-six hours played havoc with her nerves.
Those nerves escalated as she slid into the backseat and secured her seatbelt. With a small nod, Philip steered the car into traffic and headed for the Upper East Side.
Yesterday, when she’d arrived with Sheena and Gary for the mysterious interview, she’d been too curious as to the details of the meeting to pay much attention to her surroundings.
Today, knowing this was Zach’s place for however long he chose to remain in New York, her interest heightened as she walked into the plush lobby of the condo whose address constantly appeared on glossy property magazines.
White oak hardwood floors and Venetian papered walls dominated the entryway. The discreet concierge service tucked into a neat corner was staffed by a uniformed couple who looked like they’d just stepped out of a photo shoot.
Philip accessed the elevator to Zach’s condo with his own key card. Expecting him to step in beside her for the ride up, she looked up in surprise when he nodded and withdrew.
“Mr. Savage will be waiting for you. Good evening, ma’am.” With that, the burly man silently retreated.
Steel butterflies battered her insides as the elevator whisked her upward. Turning her head, she stared at her reflection in the mirrored interior of the gilt-framed elevator and groaned silently at the feverish excitement in her eyes.
She looked away quickly. Her hand closed convulsively over her leather document case as her pulse spiked frantically and her breathing altered.
When the elevator opened, he was waiting for her.
Fierce grey eyes bore into her; the narrow-eyed look focused in that unnerving way which caused nervousness and excitement to war within her.
“Bethany.”
God, the way he said her name. Like a prayer. Like a decadent invitation to sin. All wrapped in a wicked, husky rasp that had the power to stop her breath.
She forced herself to move, to not stand there like a gaping idiot, intent on devouring him with her eyes. But despite cautioning herself against it, she couldn’t help noticing how delicious he looked. His white sleeves were rolled up, exposing strong, muscled arms. Dark grey trousers streamlined his lean hips and strong thighs in a way that would’ve made most male models envious.
He didn’t move when she reached him. He seemed content to stare at her, one hand braced on the elevator door to keep it from sliding shut.
“I wasn’t sure whether you would come,” he said finally. His voice held a hint of uncertainty even as his gaze roved possessively over her.
“I work for you now. I don’t have a choice.”
A dark foreboding look gleamed in his eyes before it disappeared a second later. Reaching out, he caught her hand and pulled her forward. “Whatever the circumstances, I’m glad you’re here.” He kissed the back of her hand and tugged her along the wide, exquisitely designed hallway.
She glanced at his gorgeous face as she walked beside him. “Even if I’m not totally happy with the circumstances?”
His jaw tightened. “What would it take, besides the obvious, to make you happy?”
She looked away and bit her tongue against the urge to ask why he hadn’t called her in the last day and half. She wasn’t that pathetic… yet.
“There’s nothing you can do, Zach.”
He sucked in a harsh breath as he steered her into the living room. “I refuse to accept that. Take your jacket off.”
Setting her case down, she shrugged out of her lightweight jacket, which matched her knee-length business dress, and looked around. It seemed important to at least pretend there was something else in the room that held her interest besides Zach.
The décor in his New York condo was a world removed from his Marrakech palace but no less decadent or jaw-dropping. Pieces of art that would make her mother gape in awe and envy graced the walls, including a painting she was willing to bet was an original Klimt.
Four large cream sofas were spread out over the vast floor, each large enough to almost double up as a day bed. Rugs warmed highly polished parquet floors, and a coffee table made of a solid slab of roughly carved white stone sat in the middle of the large sun-filled space.
She absorbed it all in seconds. Then her attention veered back to the man who’d stalked closer to stand behind her. His warm, masculine scent enveloped her, making her remember just how much she’d loved to breathe him in. She stood, frozen and completely captivated as light fingers brushed aside the hair she’d left loose and long down her neck. She could no more stop the full body electric shudder from cascading over her than she could stop her heart from beating.
Swallowing hard, she forced her brain to function.
What had he just said?
I refuse to accept that…
“You manipulated yourself back into my life when we agreed that I needed time. Don’t act surprised that I’m not playing ball, Zach.”
His sigh pushed a warm breath over her nape. “What would it take for you to play ball?”
“Nothing.”
His low growl was bitten off abruptly, and a hard kiss landed on her first vertebrae. She gasped and jerked around, but he was moving toward the drinks cabinet at the far side of the room.
“Wine spritzer?” he asked with a raised brow.
Her nod was clumsy and her fingers unsteady as she clawed them through her hair. She watched him fix her drink, his shoulders tense and unyielding.
Glass in hand, he walked back to her, grey eyes fixed on her in a way that made her throat dry. Silently, he held out her drink.
“Thank you.”
He stood, watching as she took a sip. She licked her lips and his eyes darkened, raw hunger tightening his features.
“Shall we get down to business?” she suggested into the strained atmosphere.
“Not yet. I’ll show you around first,” he replied. Tension still raked through his frame, and his watchfulness had ramped up another thousand degrees.
Bethany had seen that look the first time they’d met, in his office at Newark Airport. He’d proceeded to annihilate her senses in a way that she was still reeling from.
She wanted to refuse him. Wanted to set the glass down, grab her case and run out of there as fast as her shaky legs would carry her.
But she stayed put. Because Zach continued to captivate her. Because her feelings for him were as chaotic and as beautifully complicated as ever. And no matter what had happened since that momentous night in Marrakech, she knew she and Zach were far from over.
She also had a feeling she wouldn’t get more than a step before he nuked any plans she had to flee.
He slid an arm around her waist and propelled her toward the door. In the hallway, his hand tightened.
“You’ve seen the meeting room. Next to that is my office.” He opened the door, and she caught a glimpse of an imposing desk, bare except for the large laptop, Tiffany lamp and silver phone gracing its glossy surface. A large screen faced the desk and another immense leather sofa faced floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the spectacular view.
He tugged her down the hallway to the dining room, another breathtaking room decorated with top-of-the-line pieces, which blended comfort with unspeakable luxury. The tour of the kitchen was cursory, as was the extensive library.
Exiting the library, he led her to a door with a keypad fixed next to the handle. He keyed in a code and it swung open to reveal stairs leading upwards.
“After you,” he murmured in a husky rasp.
Again, memories of Newark assailed her. Her legs were shaved this time, but her tight dress did nothing to hide her ass from his avid stare. The heat of it branded her skin as she went ahead of him, and the constricting skirt of her dress reduced her steps to tiny, ridiculously faltering moves.
Over the hammering of her heart, Bethany wondered whether she’d imagined the same hiss of arousal she’d heard that first time, too.
Drowning in déjà vu, she quickly hurried up the stairs and turned to face him.
Molten eyes stared down at her as he raked a hand through his hair. “You’ve lost weight, sweetheart. I don’t like it.”
Not what she’d been expecting. “Drowning in angst will do that to a girl,” she quipped.
His mouth tightened, but he said nothing as he led her down another, smaller hallway. A bathroom and smaller office veered off the eastern corner of the condo. Double doors opened onto an entryway, beyond which a large pool stretched the length under stylish gleaming lights. Residual sensations of her phobia and memories from Marrakech clashed as she watched the shimmering water.
Gently, Zach slid his hand around her waist. “We have more work to do with your water issues, but not today. Come.”
He steered her back into the main hallway.
Off the west, three doors led to stylishly decorated bedrooms, two of which were clearly guest rooms.
By the time he brought her to a stop in front of the last door, Bethany’s pulse was beating so rapidly, her head swam.
His attention glued to her face, he threw the door open and pushed her inside.
She stumbled in and drew to a halt. All Bethany saw was the bed. Huge, imposing and built for sex, the bed was made of solid oak with an intricate headboard that rose almost halfway up the bedroom wall. Decadent white cotton sheets and countless pillows brought into stunning relief the thick indigo and black spread gracing the lower half of the bed.
Once again, he stalked closer and stopped behind her. “Bathroom’s through there. Double dressing room is next to it.”
She tore her gaze from the bed. “And that last room?” she asked, although a part of her suspected the answer. The way heat shot through her body, there could only be one answer.
“It’s your new toy room, Bethany. I had it made especially for you,” he whispered in her ear. “Do you want to see it?”
Adrenaline and excitement surged through her body, jerking her around to face him. “No thanks. I have all the toys I need.”
His face darkened, and he shook his head. Dark hair flopped onto his forehead, giving him a rakish look that was far too sinful for words.
“No, Peaches. From now on, I’m in charge of your orgasms. You got a free pass the other night in the self-pleasuring department because you needed to get your head straight. No more. Until my heart stops beating, you won’t come again without me because I intend to take an active role in all your orgasms. Are we clear?”
She detested the electric shiver that amped through her at his powerful words. “For fuck’s sake. How exactly do you intend to police my orgasms? And how will you even know?”
His sensual mouth twitched in a semblance of a smile. “You forget I know how you look when you come. I know how soft and languid you feel after a climax. You use any gadget on that sweet pussy without me, and I will take a paddle to your gorgeous ass.”
“God, Zach.” She closed her eyes and shook her head to get some semblance of clarity. When she opened them again, her eyes widened. “What are you doing?” she croaked.
Eyes fixed on her, he continued to pull his shirt from his trousers and began to unbutton it. Slowly. Button after button popped through its hole as he kicked the door behind him shut with an ominous thud.
“We’re going to fuck, baby. Right now. Because I’m at the end of my fucking tether.”