Chapter Six
Technically, that implied she was going to kiss Zafir in front of a group of spying undergrads for the children, too, but Dani had other reasons.
This physical contact seemed a sensible way to determine whether Zaf might be seduced away from his romantic ideals and into her bed-temporarily, of course.
Until she got bored of him. Or until he met someone else, someone serious, someone who didn t accidentally work through their partner s birthday parties or, when asked what day it was, respond with The date of Sylvia Plath s death instead of Our anniversary, of course, darling.
Ahem. For example.
So, yes: kissing Zaf was entirely practical. Until it wasn t.
One minute he was staring down at her with a slightly astonished expression; the next his endless eyes were hooded and one of his big hands was cupping her nape, the other grabbing her hip.
It was around that point when Dani forgot the definition of the word practical , and also how to spell it, and also whether it was English or French or possibly Latin.
One slight, restrained squeeze from Zaf, and her thoughts were thrust toward bare, sweat-slicked skin and gasping breaths, moans intermingling and thrusts timed with the pounding of her heart.
Then his lips brushed hers, and everything changed completely.
So soft, so sweet, that butterfly graze.
A cautious, barely there kiss that made something in her belly seem to sparkle and fizz, that made her hands shake as she slid her fingers through the rough silk of his hair.
Zaf tasted like rich, warm comfort and straightforward sweetness, sherbet-sharp and almost, impossibly, familiar.
She could feel the tip of his nose against her cheek, could feel his eyelashes brushing her own.
Time suspended, like he d cupped the sands of an hourglass safely in his palms, and the sensation was so breathtakingly strange that she might do something awful, like crack into a thousand tiny pieces, or ask him for more.
He angled his head, increased the pressure, and parted her stunned lips easily, his tongue a dart that sampled her in little, teasing sips.
The way he touched her, the way his big body curved around her, all that said possession .
But the way he kissed her, slow and gentle, tiny gifts of pleasure rippling the surface of her still lake-the way he kissed her said care .
And it worked. Dear fucking Lord, did it work.
Dani was helpless and hopeless and mindless in seconds, tilting her head and opening for him, rubbing her aching breasts against his chest because she knew without a doubt he was the source of all relief, pressing her thighs together as liquid heat ruined her knickers, clinging to him as the race of her heart and the thick honey of her pulse joined forces to make her breaths faint and her knees weak.
Then everything stopped.
Zaf pulled back, and awareness came to her in slow waves. First was the sound of him panting as if he d run a mile, and that was satisfying enough to make Dani almost forget that he d just wiped her mind clean with his mouth. Almost.
Second came the realization that her feet weren t on the floor anymore.
Apparently, he d gotten tired of bending down for her and had simply wrapped an arm around her waist and .
. . picked her up. Only a little bit, until their mouths were level.
Now he put her down just as easily, her body sliding over his as he lowered her to the floor.
There was a close, dark world between them, made up of shadows and those goddamn, dizzying pants.
Of the hitch in Dani s breath and the rigid line of Zaf s erection, jabbing her stomach.
As far as seduction went, that was a wonderful start. Now, if only she was more certain of who had just been seduced.
That was fun, Dani managed after a moment, hoping she sounded more in control than she felt.
Zaf blinked rapidly, each flick of those long, dark lashes almost hypnotic. Yeah, he said, his voice rough at the edges, crumbling like brick. Okay. Yeah. That. Fun. You-think so?
Yes, she repeated slowly, because he d clearly gone a bit dizzy.
At least she wasn t the only one who d temporarily lost control of her faculties.
Dani leaned into his erection, and felt a wave of reassurance when he sucked in a breath and screwed his eyes shut.
This was how things were supposed to go; people touched, bodies reacted, promises of pleasure were fulfilled.
She gave what she was capable of, and he accepted.
Yes. All was absolutely in order. And if she d felt some odd, additional, heart-pounding, hand-shaking need that was flavored distinctly like Zaf, as if he, specifically, mattered-well. Clearly, that was another sign. The universe s final kick, just to make sure she took the hint.
Are our watchers still here? Dani asked, because someone had to say something, and she didn t want to scare him off by suggesting they find an unoccupied bathroom somewhere.
No, Zaf said. No, they re gone. Then he stepped back, putting some space between them, and said awkwardly, I need to . . . get rid of this. A nod southward.
A delighted grin spread over her face. Zafir! Maybe he d be up for the bathroom after all.
Not like that, he snorted. I meant I need you to leave.
Oh. She tried not to pout. Fair enough.
Sorry, by the way. About, er . . .
Stabbing me in the stomach with your massive cock? That s okay.
Zaf coughed, spluttered, managed to choke on fresh air, then bent double as he wheezed.
Dani watched him in mild alarm. Clearly, it would take a while to open his starry, romantic eyes to his destiny of being casually screwed by one Danika Brown on a semiregular basis.
Aaand Zaf was still coughing. Should she administer the Heimlich?
Maybe, but she wasn t entirely confident she could get her arms around him . . .
Before she could further consider the logistics, Zaf caught his breath and straightened up, his cheeks flushed dark. Bloody hell , Danika. And here I was worried about freaking you out.
What? Am I supposed to be offended that kissing me gets you going? It s just a bodily function, Zaf.
Oh, never mind, he muttered, throwing up his hands and looking as if he generally despaired of her. You try to be a gentleman-
Attempting to be gentlemanly after fucking my mouth was never going to work.
I did not fuck your mouth, he said, apparently quite outraged. I just-actually, you know what? This conversation is not helping my dick. Go away. My lunch break ends in -he checked his watch and swore- five minutes. Seriously, disappear.
Fine, she snickered, but we need to swap numbers so we can coordinate shenanigans.
Shenanigans, he repeated dryly.
Well, I m not going to say so we can coordinate our fake relationship, am I?
But you just said it.
She narrowed her eyes and muttered, Shut up and give me your phone.
Zaf was used to sleepless nights. No matter how hard he tried, nine times out of ten, his brain wouldn t turn off without the help of medication.
But, since that same medication made his early mornings at work a fucking nightmare, he tended to save it for the weekends.
So, spending Wednesday night staring at his bedroom ceiling? Pretty routine.
But the kaleidoscope of need coloring his mind was nothing he d ever dealt with before.
Danika, Danika, Danika. Hours had passed since he d seen her, but she still dominated his thoughts. He d been trying so hard to stop wanting her so badly-but then she d agreed to be his fake girlfriend and kissed the sense out of him. So what the hell was he supposed to do now?
Be grateful for the help and wank over the kiss, apparently.
He d already jerked off twice-once as soon as he got home, once in the shower after a Tackle It session-but he was ready to go again. Which, for a thirty-one-year-old man, could not be healthy. Then again, like she d said: It s just a bodily function.
Right. Except he d kissed other women and managed to walk away without developing the libido of a fucking rabbit.
Of course, he couldn t remember the last time a kiss had sparked in his chest like this, had left him on the edge of combustion in a thousand ways.
He d wanted to grab her the second she d let go, and his hands still ached to hold her now.
Meanwhile, she d probably forgotten all about it.
It was depressing, how that possibility-no, that probability -got him down.
I m too fucking old for this, he muttered-the horniness and the crush.
But he was still thinking of her, because he couldn t stop, and his cock was hard and in his hand beneath the covers, because of course it was.
The tiny, breathless noises Dani had made as he kissed her filled Zaf s ears like surround sound.
His free hand flexed around the ghost of her lush hip.
Her taste, cool mint and honeyed brilliance, flooded his mouth like water after a drought.
He was remembering the rhythm of her desperate, hitching breaths, squeezing his dick as his balls tightened, when the sound of his phone s text tone startled him out of his skin.
For fuck s sake.
Zaf groaned, teetering on the edge of ignoring that bloody thing for once. Then he sighed, gave up on his dick, and picked up the phone. He never could ignore a text or a call. It wasn t as if everyone in the world had his number, only the people who needed it-the people who might need him .
Squinting at the harsh light of the display, he saw Danika s name and felt his heart kick happily in response. Shit. That couldn t be good.
He liked her way too much, and he knew it. In the books Zaf read, making out with a friend usually lead to a happy ending, as did faking a relationship with one. But in reality, she wasn t interested, and if he didn t get these feelings under control, he d only end up hurting himself.