HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series) (7 page)

She sighed and shook her head.
“I’m getting off this insane rodeo ride, Zach.”

“I’ll let you, for now. But it’s
only a matter of time before you’re riding me again, baby. So saddle up.”

Chapter Nine

Her first day back at work was
frenetic. Sheena Malcolm, her boss, asked about her Aunt Mel, then looked in
turn skeptical and anxious when Bethany gave the highly sketchy details of her
aunt’s phantom illness.

Sheena tugged on the sleeves of
her Prada suit and lingered outside Bethany’s cubicle. “You won’t need to
return there anytime soon, will you?” she asked, with a thin sniff.

The pain that had found permanent
residence beneath her breastbone kicked her hard. “No, I imagine not. Aunt Mel
is expected to make a full recovery.” Keeping her fingers crossed behind her
back that karma would be kind to her, she held her breath until Sheena
retreated to her glass-walled office.

At lunchtime, she grabbed a
sandwich from the deli on the first floor and returned to her desk to pick at
it. Her phone beeped intermittently with messages from Zach but she ignored
them. She needed all her concentration to get through the pile of work on her
desk.

By four, she’d planned a Michelin
culinary crawl for corporate heads of a Wall Street investment giant, chased
down the last RSVP for an art gallery opening, and sent out the itinerary for a
Napa wine tasting stag event she was organizing for an Internet mogul.

Her feet ached, her back ached
and her heart ached from tripping over itself every time she heard the faint
beep of another incoming message.

At six, she finally gave herself
permission to read Zach’s messages. They contained more of the same, relentless
pleas.

Persistent. She had to give him
points for his persistence.

She was reading through the last
message, and fighting not to blush at the blatant description of what he
intended to do to her once their hiatus was over, when the phone blared to
life, causing her to nearly drop it.

“Have you finished for the day?”
The deep, sexy voice attacked her senses without mercy.

She swallowed hard before she
could speak. “Just about. And hello to you too, Zach.”

“Hey, Peaches. Come downstairs.
I’ll give you a ride home.”

She jumped up and nearly toppled
over when she tripped over her discarded shoes. “You’re here? Why?” she
blurted.

“I was in the neighborhood,” he
answered vaguely. “I’m double parked so you need to be quick.”

She floundered. The nearest
window that overlooked the street twenty floors below was in Sheena’s office,
and no way was she going in there to find out if Zach was really double parked
or whether, as she suspected, he was bluffing.

She also wanted to tell him she
didn’t need a ride home but the words stuck in her throat.

As if sensing her battle, he
sighed. “Come down or I’ll have to come upstairs and get you. I don’t think
you’ll want that.”

“Blackmail, Zach?”

“Friendly suggestion. Now tell me
you’re on your way.”

Her belly flipped over. “I’m on
my way.”

“Good girl.”

She stepped into her shoes and
gathered up her stuff. Gary Wright, the other partner of Neon, walked past as
she turned off her computer.

Normally, he was aloof and
avoided eye contact with the staff, leaving Sheena to do all the hiring, firing
and general ball breaking.

This evening he stopped and slanted
her an
almost
smile.

“Good to have you back, Bethany.”

She glanced at him in surprise.
“Umm…thanks.”

He nodded and she could swear she
saw his gaze assessing her briefly before he looked towards Sheena’s office.

As if she was on some silent bat
signal, Sheena burst out of her office at that moment. The large plant at the
side of Bethany’s desk precluded Sheena from seeing her until she was almost at
her cubicle. “Gary, we have an appointment at ten tomor—” she said
excitedly, only to stop when she saw Bethany. “I didn’t know you were still
here, Bethany.” She exchanged glances with Gary.

“I was just leaving.”

Sheena nodded. “Well, have a
great evening. And see you tomorrow.”

Bethany was still mulling over
the strange scene when she walked through the revolving doors and exited into
the warm July evening.

Zach was indeed double-parked on
the busy street. In the driver’s seat, Philip kept the engine running.

The sight of him made her
footsteps falter. He leaned against the side of his town car without a care in
the world. Black designer slacks caressed his lean hips and his dress shirt and
dark lightweight jacket emphasized his mouth-watering torso and broad
shoulders.

The casual kerchief tucked into
his breast pocket gave him a debonair air that was so jaw-droppingly powerful,
a full body shudder raked her.

He really had no right to be so
insanely gorgeous. His rugged good looks were attracting every single passing
female glance. Jealousy tore through her as she noticed one particularly brazen
female actually stop, stare, and smile a come-fuck-me-hard smile that made
Bethany want rip her face off.

“Are you going to stand there all
night, slaying passers by with your eyes?” he drawled.

She was in no mood for his
mockery. “You should’ve stayed in the car. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with
your female appreciation sidewalk traffic jam.”

He straightened and held the door
open for her. She found it infinitesimally gratifying that his gaze never once
strayed from its intense focus on her. “Your grouchiness is cute. Step into my
cave, and I’ll see if I can make it better.”

A reluctant smile twitched her
mouth.

She slid in and he followed
quickly. He slammed and locked the doors. The glance he sliced her held a touch
of anxiety, as if he was afraid she’d bolt. It was certainly something she’d
considered when she’d stepped out of the building and seen him again.

His ability to capture and hold
her attention to the exclusion of all else had always bothered her. Being with
Zach was like holding a live electric wire. It was only a matter of time before
she experienced another profound shock.

Right now though, with the soft
seats beneath her and the cool air-condition of the plush car washing over,
moving her exhausted body would’ve taken some effort.

She slid her shoes off as they
moved into traffic.

Zach’s gaze fell to her exposed
feet and back to hers. Before she could guess what he intended, he lifted one
foot into his lap and pressed his thumbs deep into her throbbing muscles.
Memories of her Shanghai foot massage washed over her and she just managed to
smother a moan.

“Feel good?”

“You know it does,” she accused
darkly.

His smile held a trace of
satisfaction and that healthy dose of anxiety. He continued to massage her
soles, his fingers moving expertly over her tight, stretched muscles.

Bethany found herself easing back
into the seat. When she sighed, he looked over at her.

“Everything okay at work?”

She eyed him. “Sure. Why do you
ask?”

“You looked slightly bemused as
you stepped out.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, Gary, my other
boss who has barely said a word to me since I started working there, actually
engaged in conversation with me tonight.
And
he actually said something nice. And Sheena was acting weird too.” She
shrugged.

Zach’s hands stilled for a moment
before they resumed the massage. “Did they say anything in particular?”

She relaxed deeper into the soft
leather seat and sighed as the air-conditioning cooled her skin. “Not really.
It was just weird, is all.” She laughed. “Maybe they missed me. The amount of
work waiting for me certainly indicates so.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. You’re
a valuable asset to any company, I’m sure.”

“Hmm, a foot massage and
compliments. Anyone would think you wanted something, Savage.”

His answering smile looked a
little strained. He shifted in his seat. Her foot settled deeper in his lap and
she understood why.

Zach was hard. And hot and
straining his pants. The car swayed into a turn and her heel grazed his length.
He hissed out a breath.

Molten grey eyes connected with
hers. Slowly, his hand slid from her sole to her ankle, caressing up her leg.

“Zach,” her protest was feeble
enough to be completely useless.

“I want to make you feel good,
baby. Let me.” His hand slid higher, cupped her calf and massaged her bare
skin.

Heat scythed through her. Her
pussy clenched hard, her need so acute it became a pain lodged between her
legs. He reached the sensitive area at the back of her knees then pressed his
fingers deep.

She jerked but when she tried to
withdraw he held on.

“Up.” He indicated her other
foot.

She considered refusing. Then she
considered how unhappy her foot would be if it didn’t get the same boneless
relief her other foot had just received. It was really a no brainer. Besides,
she was fully clothed, in a moving car in the busiest city in the world.

Yeah, keep deluding yourself.

Zach’s smile grew even tighter
around the edges when she raised her other foot and placed it in his lap. His
erection was granite-hard, and his chest rose and fell in harsh breaths.

Bethany wanted to ask why he was
torturing himself so much, then thought the better of it. She knew why. She was
suffering the same deep, dark hunger. Their chemistry defied reason and she’d
known the moment she’d entered the car that a version of this would play out.

They watched each other, their
breaths growing more frantic with each passing second as his caress deepened
and slowed.

When his hands slid under her
black skirt, her whole body shuddered in response.

Sure, expert fingers grazed her
inner thighs. Her nipples peaked and throbbed painfully as her breasts swelled
against her pink shirt.

Wetness oozed between her thighs,
soaked her panties and infused the air between them. She knew the moment Zach
smelled her arousal.

He shuddered and gritted his
teeth. “God, I need to make you come!” He brushed her skirt higher. “Will you
let me?”

“Zach…” Another feeble protest
barely worth the effort.

But he took it seriously. He
slammed his head against the headrest, squeezed his eyes shut and gripped her
thigh hard enough to leave marks by morning.

“You should know, I can’t even
jack myself off anymore. You’ve ruined me for everything, Bethany. Even my
fucking masturbation. I hope you’re pleased with yourself.”

Against her will she felt
laughter bubbling up her throat. She pressed the curves of her feet over his
erection and was rewarded with a dark, hungry growl. “I’m glad you didn’t jack
it until it fell off.”

He grunted a half laugh, then
immediately sobered. “You’re cracking jokes. Dare I hope that this is a step forward
for us?” he probed gently. His eyes were full of hope and the grip on her thigh
trembled slightly as he stared at her.

“This isn’t really funny, Zach.
This last week hasn’t been a walk in the park for me. I hurt. Very much. It’s
been…the pain has been unbearable,” she whispered. A part of her wondered why
she was opening herself up to him like this, making herself even more
vulnerable than she already was.

But then hadn’t she been like
this with Zach right from the beginning? Being this close to him was like
walking around with her nerves exposed. She felt raw. She’d felt naked with him
from the moment she’d laid eyes on him.

She stared at his gorgeous,
haunted face and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Bethany! Shit, baby, don’t cry.”

He scooped her up and placed her
in his lap. His mouth grazing her cheek triggered faster tears. “You’re
shutting me out of the important bits of your life, and I can’t…I can’t take
it. God, I’m so pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic and they’re
not the most important bits. You are.”

“If they’re not then why won’t
you talk about them?”

“Because some parts of it are not
mine to tell.”

“But they’re a part of who you
are. That shouldn’t be a secret.”

He sighed, then gripped her waist
hard, before he raised her face to his. “They won’t be. Not for much longer.”

“Do you give me your word?”

He stared back at her for a long,
hard moment. Then he nodded. “Yes.”

Her breath shuddered out. “So
what happens until then?”

Molten grey eyes slid over her
face, dropped to her mouth and stayed. “Until then…you use me for sex?”

She started to snort, then
realized he wasn’t laughing. In fact, his face, his eyes, his whole body was
tense with a poised expectation as he waited for her answer.

“God, you really mean that, don’t
you?” she gasped.

“I haven’t fucked you in ten
days. Trust me when I say, I’d walk through a fucking volcano right now for
another taste of your pussy. Then I’d walk back for a chance to bury my cock in
your tight heat.” He crooned his need in a voice so husky with lust, she could
barely hear him over the dark rumbled in her own ears.

“That sound like…fiery work.”

He smiled that tight,
I-wanna-fuck-you-so-bad smile. “You don’t know the half of it, baby.”

His cock swelled beneath her ass
as he shifted.

“I think I can feel…some of it.”

He laughed. “More jokes, Peaches?
Maybe I should tell Philip to keep driving. I could be buried deep inside you
come morning.”

The reminder had her glancing out
the window for the first time since she got into the car. She didn’t know
whether to be relieved or disappointed that they were approaching her
neighborhood.

Surprise rocked through her as
the car glided to a stop in front of her favorite Italian take out.

“How did you know?” she asked as
Philip got out and headed into the restaurant.