Zac actually sounded aggrieved, and out of nowhere Sally was reminded of all the countless times her mother had tried to appease her father in the past—anything to keep him longer at her side. And she was in danger of doing the same.
Suddenly an icy touch of reality pierced the mindless sexual cocoon that Zac had woven around her.
How like a man to make out it was the woman’s fault…Then she remembered why she was there.
‘What difference would it have made?’ she demanded, and sat up, crossing her arms over her chest. If the coverlet had been anywhere to be seen she would have wrapped herself in it. She was here at Zac’s command, because of what her father had done, and she would not forget again.
‘Basically, you are paying my father for me to be your mistress.’ She shot him a cold, derisory glance. ‘I did try to warn you I might be bad at the job. So don’t blame me if you got less than you bargained for.’
His ruggedly attractive face darkened with anger, his lips drawing back from his teeth. ‘You’re right,’ he said tightly. ‘It makes no difference at all.’ His hand snaked out and caught a handful of her hair. ‘As for being bad…you are a very bright lady and you will soon learn everything you need to know to please me.’
Their eyes met, and she gasped at the predatory look she saw in his, but it was not fear she felt but an atavistic desire.
He jerked her head down and her heart beat out of control as his mouth took hers in a fierce, possessive kiss. His hands dropped to her waist and he lifted her to straddle his thighs—and what followed was like nothing that had gone before…
She fell forward and put her hands out, either side of him, to stop herself ending up splayed against his chest. Her hair falling around her shoulders, she looked at him through her lashes, seeing the barely controlled hunger in his eyes.
‘Stay like that.’ The command was harsh, guttural, and, raising his head, he licked each pouting nipple with devastating effect. Fierce arrows of pleasure shot from her breast to her pelvis. She felt his hands running up and down her spine, his great body pressing up into her. She was amazed that he could arouse her so instantly after what they had just shared. Dropping her head, she brushed her lush, swollen lips against his and kissed him, her tongue exploring his mouth with a feverish delight that he immediately reciprocated. Suddenly he grasped her hair and pulled her head back.
‘No more,’ he rasped, his black eyes searing into her.
His strong hands lifted her hips and she felt the power of his erection pulsing between her thighs.
‘I want to watch you—see the passion in your incredible eyes as you come for me.’
Sally closed her eyes to block out his dark, compelling gaze, a low moan escaping her as he positioned her to accept him. Her head fell back as he thrust up into her, the white-hot flames of passion growing as he lifted her, twisted her, bucked beneath her, driving her wild with the force of her need. She was oblivious to everything but his scent, his power, and the achingly exquisite pleasure, and she cried out as she shuddered helplessly, her body convulsing around him.
Still he did not stop. He reared up and without breaking contact placed her legs either side of his thighs. His hands flattened against her back, so her breasts were crushed against the hardness of his chest, and he took her mouth in deep marauding kiss that incredibly drove her higher again.
He demanded and she gave, their bodies locked together in a mutual, desperate, primitive mating. They kissed, they clawed, and finally he spun her beneath him. He paused and held her once again on the edge of ecstasy, his face a taut, dark mask of rigid control, his black eyes burning into hers.
‘Please…’ She groaned his name. ‘Zac…’
‘At last,’ he growled, and thrust deeper and faster, until the fire of passion finally burned out of control, consuming them both.
For a long time the only sound in the stillness of the room was Zac’s rasping breath. He lay with his head over her shoulder, his weight pinning her to the bed. Later Sally would hate him, and probably herself, but right now she hadn’t the strength.
‘Sorry…’ he murmured, and rolled off her to lie at her side. ‘I’m too heavy for you.’
And she had the oddest notion that the latter comment had been added as an afterthought. His sorry had been an apology for what had just exploded between them.
She didn’t bother answering. She had been exhausted before Zac arrived, and now she was exhausted in a different and amazing way, her body sated and at rest. She didn’t think she could even lift her head. Her heavy lids drifted over her eyes. All she wanted was sleep. She felt an arm reach around her shoulder and her eyes flew open.
‘Sally, are—?’
She cut in. ‘If you are going to ask me if I am okay, don’t bother. I’m fine.’
But she was shocked and, yes, slightly ashamed. She didn’t recognise the totally uninhibited woman she had become in response to Zac’s expert lovemaking.
‘You fulfilled your promise to be great in bed more than I could have possibly imagined,’ she told him truthfully. After all, she had almost begged him at the last…his apologies were not necessary. ‘But I really am too tired for any more tonight, so take your arm off me—you’re wasting your time.’
His arm was withdrawn, and she felt strangely bereft.
‘I was only going to cuddle you. Most women, I believe, like that sort of thing.’
‘Well, you should know—you have had plenty of experience. Thanks, but no thanks.’ She forced herself to look up at him; he was watching her, a dark, brooding expression on his hard face. ‘All I want to do is sleep, so if you wouldn’t mind leaving now…’
‘I could run a bath for you. It will help you relax.’