Jezebel (28 page)

Last night had
exceeded any and all of her expectations. And despite the soreness
between her legs, she could handle more.

Even now, her
libido was already kicking in and by degrees, a low simmer increased
to a steady boil. Ravenous, Celeste turned her head.

Stretched out
like a sacrifice, Shane lay on his stomach. Eyes closed in sleep,
his muscular arms cradling his head he looked angelic, innocent.

Celeste rolled
her eyes. What a stupid thing to think! The man was a satyr, a
depraved soul that led a full on assault of her body. Even now he
had her wanting him, craving the touch of his hands, his lips, and
his tongue on her skin.

“
You keep
looking at me like that, and you’re gonna give me ideas.”
Shane slipped his arm around her and rolled until she ended up on her
back.

Embarrassed,
Celeste punched him. “You were watching me the entire time?”

Shane nodded
with a lopsided grin. Celeste felt her heart speed up. Even fresh
from slumber, hair jutting all over his head and eyes half closed,
Shane was devastatingly handsome.

“
Weird.”
His hand slipped between their bodies and Celeste moaned. “But
I loved every minute of it.”

The slow,
almost tentative, exploration of his fingers along her rib cage and
the underside of her breast made her arch into him. Everywhere he
touched it burned, jolting every nerve in her body.

“
What do
you say to another round?” He leaned down and he flicked at her
nipple, teasing it and making her curl her toes. “I missed
eight o’clock conditioning, so we got time to play.”

Did he say
eight o’clock? Catching him unaware, Celeste flipped onto her
belly to look at the clock on her vanity. Seeing the tiny hand on
the number ten doused her raging libido like a bucket of ice water.

Unaware of her
sudden change in mood, Shane growled. “A provocative position.”
He nipped her shoulder and Celeste almost lost sight of her
priorities.

“
I’m
going to be late.” Celeste bucked her hips, but he didn’t
budge. “I’m going to be late,” she repeated. This
time her voice had taken on a sense of urgency. Still, Shane ignored
her. He was too busy kissing a hot path down her spine. Celeste
sucked in a calming breath. His mouth was wreaking havoc on her
stamina.

“
St…stop,
Shane,” she pleaded, while trying to squirm away from him.

“
But what
about all the wicked things I want to do to you?”

He gave her an
example by slipping his fingers between her legs. He stroked her sex
and she heard herself moan. He found the little bud at the top of
her mound took it between his fingers and squeezed it gently.
Celeste’s breathing came in short, harsh gasps.

Oh, but he was
being a wicked beast. He seemed to know exactly how to arouse a
woman’s body to the point she lost her better judgment and
didn’t care about the consequences.

“
I
c-can’t,” she panted. “I have rehearsals in an hour
at…at the Roseland ballroom.”

Two of his
fingers dipped into her core. Celeste squeezed her eyes shut as a
shudder rocked her frame. “How about I sweeten the deal and pay
you a week’s wages.”

As if the two
thick fingers sliding in and out of her wasn’t enough!
Incredulous, Celeste rose up on her elbows. “A week’s
worth wages?”

“
A week’s
worth.”

“
And all
I have to do is stay in this bed with you all day?”

Chuckling,
Shane kissed the rise of her buttocks. “Well, not all day. I
still got conditioning this afternoon.”

So it was fine
for her to drop everything, but not him! Spots of red almost blinded
her. If he thought he was going to have his cake and eat it too, he
was sadly mistaken.

Celeste
couldn’t, she wouldn’t take the bait. There was more at
stake here than just money. Biting down hard on her bottom lip, she
fought to regain some clarity.

“
So,
absolutely no conditioning at all today?” she choked around the
knot of anger stuck in her throat.

“
Of
course not,” he scoffed. “I have a fight in a couple of
weeks.”

With more
resilience than she felt, Celeste said: “I have rehearsals in
an hour, so if you’d please…”

“
No,”
he said matter-of-fact and unaware the tables had reversed. “You’re
going to stay in this bed with me all morning.”

Even though she
felt anything but cheerful, Celeste curved her lips in a false smile
as she looked back at him. “And what do you plan on doing to
me?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t see through her
saccharin sweet performance. For good measure, she batted her lashes
at him.

“
I’m
gonna pin your hands over your head like this,” he said doing
just that, “then I’m gonna take you on your knees.”

Celeste
groaned. The thought of him dominating her, created a wave of
sensation that rolled over her, settled in her core, and then zinged
outward plucking all of her nerve endings.

Still, she
maintained her focus. “What did you say?” she asked,
fighting her way out of the erotic haze he’d induced.

Falling into
her trap, Shane leaned down and repeated it in her ear. He barely
spoke two words when she let her arm fly, connecting with flesh and
bone. Not caring if she split his lip or broke his nose, Celeste
wiggled from underneath him.

Before she
could clear the bed, Shane grabbed her ankle, impeding her escape.
“What you do that for?”

“
Sometimes,
you have to slap someone to get their attention.”

“
You
punched me,” he said, wiggling his nose.

“
Punched…slapped…it’s
all relative.” Celeste kicked back at him and he let her go.
In one quick move, she tumbled from the bed.

“
This
isn’t going to work,” she said, jabbing her arms into one
of her dressing robes. “I thought it would, but we’re
just all wrong.”

Celeste avoided
looking at him while she scavenged his garments from the bedroom
floor and then dumped them on the mattress.

Even when she
pivoted toward the bathroom, she remained resolved, refusing to even
make eye contact.

While she
turned on the bath water, she heard the bed springs squeak and then
she felt him at the doorway. Tiny pricks of anticipation ran down
her spine as she imagined him getting dressed. What then? Would he
rail at her? Or simply walk out the door and never look back.

Although not
entirely unaccustomed to a man walking out on her, Celeste couldn’t
ignore the fact that his absence hit her like a sucker punch below
the belt. It would serve her right! She mused. She’d basically
pushed him out the door.

Blinking
back tears, she reached to turn on the bath water, but suddenly
realized she wasn’t alone. Disconcerted, she glanced over her
shoulder and found him leaning against the doorframe. Although still
heavy lidded with sleep, his eyes seemed to bore into her as if
trying to pick through the layers to the truth. Unsettled, Celeste
looked away.

With an inner
calm she didn’t feel, Celeste picked up a bottle of Epsom salts
from the shelf above her bath, popped the cork and poured some in her
bath water.

“
If you
don’t mind, I’d like to take a bath before I leave.”

“
Go right
ahead cause I ain’t leaving,” he said, while slowly
buttoning his trousers.

Celeste hated
the fact that his words made her feel strangely delirious. Still,
she refused to give him any quarter. “What if I asked you
politely?”

Shane shook his
head. “You’re a good time girl. ‘I’m trouble,
you said. I’m no good, you said. But all I see is a coward.”

Celeste opened
her mouth to lay waste to his assumption, but she choked. She’d
been a fairly decent liar in the past. With him, she’d
suddenly become woefully inept.

Why was it so
difficult to open to another person? All she had to do was tell him
the truth—that she was deathly afraid of messing up her second
chance. And that she saw him as a potential impediment to her
achieving her dreams. Pursing her lips, Celeste turned away from him
and caught a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror.

The light
streaming through the window picked up the golden flecks in her
tousled tresses, and the greenish-blue mark on her upper arm. A
battle scar left over from round two against the stairs. Celeste
smiled ruefully.

Despite looking
a wreck and slightly abused, she’d loved every single minute of
his manhandling. Even now in spite of more pressing matters she
wanted him to take her in his arms and make love to her until her
vocal chords ached from screaming her head off.

Life wasn’t
fair. Why couldn’t he see the writing on the wall and just
shove off. He should be happy she wasn’t like other women,
clingy and starving for attention.

“
Coward.”
He bent his arms at the elbow and flapped them. “B-bawk…b-bawk,”
he crowed. “B-bawk…b-bawk.”

Provoked,
Celeste flew at him. “I might be a coward, but you’re a
bully,” she said, pushing him with all her might. It worked
because he stumbled backward until his legs bumped up against the
side of her bed. For good measure, she pushed again until he fell
back onto the bed with his arms and legs akimbo.

Lying there
like a Greek god, muscles rippling beneath his open shirt, he was
magnificent. Unable to help herself, Celeste climbed onto the bed.
While she held his hands down, she straddled him. “I’ll
pay you a week’s wages to stay in bed,” she mimicked.
“Woman, you ought to be barefoot, pregnant and cooking my
meals.”

“
I didn’t
mean it like that, babe.”

Shane
threaded his fingers through hers and the emotions she’d fought
hard to resist returned
,
bubbled to the surface. She even tried to slip her hands from his,
but he caught them and held onto them as he sat up with her still
planted in his lap. His erection nestled in the seam of her sex and
she cursed today’s rehearsal. It was damn crazy to want a man
so badly.

“
I’m
sorry I guess I got a little possessive.”

“
A
little possessive? You went all Cro-Magnon on me.”

A slow grin
curved his full lips and her cheek’s colored with warmth. It
would be so easy to lean forward and kiss him. Of course, that would
lead to other things and she would never make rehearsals.

“
Cro
what?” he asked, pulling her into neutral territory.

“
Cro-Magnon,
you know like a caveman.”

His hands
slipped around her waist and he pulled her close. Celeste gulped.
They fit together like a puzzle piece, all snug and cozy. “Can’t
say dragging you into the nearest cave doesn’t sound
appealing.”

“
You’re
trouble.”

“
I’m
not,” he said, while his hands caressed her shoulders and back.
“Stop being a coward and let me in.”

A sudden need
to connect flooded over her. A need unlike anything she’d
experienced with any other man. Feeling herself capsizing, giving in,
Celeste grabbed hold of his dress shirt and held on tight.

“
Wanting
you is distracting,” she finally whispered. His hands stopped
moving and she faltered.

He lowered his
head, his gaze searching hers. “We’re in the same boat,
which ain’t so bad.”

Celeste shook
her head. “At this point in my life, it is. Emotions are
distracting. Being involved with you, on any level beyond just sexual
gratification, isn’t a good thing right now.”

“
When
will you be ready? Tomorrow

a
month?” he pressed. “God help me if you say a year.”
With a loud sigh, he collapsed back on the bed.

“
Don’t
you get it?” Celeste tugged on his shirt, regaining his
attention.

“
Yeah,
you want me, but then you don’t.” He raked his hand over
his face in obvious frustration. “Just like a dame.”

Celeste leaned
forward and smacked his face. Not hard enough to hurt, but just
enough to sting.