No sooner had she experienced that sensation of flooding warmth, than Liza found herself lifted, pressed against the elevator wall and the iron-hot length of Stygian’s erection lodged between her thighs, tormenting her through the layers of their clothing.
The tight running pants and thin exercise bra were little protection against the burning heat of his body—and his hunger.
“What—?” Lips parting, for breath or for his kiss?
Liza wasn’t certain, but she knew she needed both—ached for both to the point that it took several heartbeats to realize she was holding her breath.
And that her hands were gripping the hard width of his shoulders.
“What?” he growled. “What are you questioning, Liza? My hunger—or yours?”
Her stomach tightened, rippling in response to the hunger in his voice as a growl rumbled beneath the word.
“Let me go.” The demand was undermined by the whimpering need in her body.
Hell, she may as well be begging him to continue for all the denial that wasn’t in her voice.
“Let you go?” He pressed tighter into the cradle of her thighs as his hands parted them further. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
The black in his eyes flickered with blue, fascinating her with the sparkle of color.
Her breasts trembled against the hard width of his chest as her breathing accelerated. Heat flushed her face, spreading through her body as she fought to keep her lashes from drifting closed.
As she stared up at him, she felt one hand move from her hips a second before his palm slapped against the elevator control panel. The cubicle came to a stop, lights flashing before they dimmed and remained steady. The electronic voice warned: “Please be patient, we are working to reset operation.”
Liza’s eyes widened.
“Don’t leave the hotel.” He lowered his head and the rasp of the day-old beard against the sensitive shell of her ear had her eyes closing in desperate need.
“I can’t stay here. Why would I want to?”
“To stay with me?” he suggested, his lips touching just beneath her ear, sending tingles of incredible sensation rushing along her nerve endings.
To stay with him?
God, she wanted to stay with him.
She didn’t know him, she only knew of him. She’d watched him for weeks as he moved about the periphery of her life, always surprised when she saw him though always expecting his presence.
“This won’t work.”
“Won’t it?” As he nuzzled against her ear, heat and searing need flashed through her senses. “Then why are you holding on to me as though you’ll never let go?”
Her nails were biting into the fabric of his shirt as though desperate to reach his flesh.
The sensual side of her was desperat
e to get to bare skin, to feel him against her, the warmth of him, the pleasure of him stroking her.
“Why did you manhandle me against the wall?” she accused back, but once again there was no anger to her tone, nothing to really impress him with the fact that she meant it.
If she did mean it.
“I want you, Liza,” he rasped at her ear then. “From the moment I saw you the night your friend approached Malachi, I’ve wanted you. I’ve wanted you bad.”
The words affected her more for the sheer simplicity of the statement than the roughness of his tone.
“You want to draw me in.” That was her fear, her certainty. “Whatever Wyatt thinks he can use me for, you want to convince me to allow.”