Dan cast a quick glance at the taxi driver before turning back to her and practically pinning her to the seat with the intensity of his gaze. ‘Privacy.’
She pouted. ‘Party pooper.’
He gave her a glimmer of a smile. ‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘We’re here.’
So they were, thought Zoe, wrenching her eyes from his and seeing they were pulling up outside a house at one end of a fine Georgian terrace. And a good thing it was too because despite her aversion to exhibitionism she wasn’t sure she could stop herself from touching him for much longer.
While Dan paid the driver she got out, her limbs feeling so loose and wobbly that she had to clutch onto the side of the taxi in order not to stumble. Then he grabbed her hand and strode across the pavement and up the three steps to the front door. He unlocked the door and ushered her inside and closed it behind them, instantly blocking out the rumbling of the city and the chill of the night and cocooning them in the warm quiet shadows of the hall.
She watched him turn the key in the lock, her pulse racing and her breath becoming all shallow and shaky. He slowly turned to her and for a moment they just stared at each other and then it was as if they were springs that had been held apart and suddenly let go.
As he lunged for her Zoe dropped her handbag and lurched forwards. He pulled her into his arms and hauled her up against him and she wound her arms around his neck and lifted her head at the same time as he lowered his. His lips crashed down onto hers and his tongue slid into her mouth and deep inside she felt desire flood through her like a great rush of water breaking through a dam wall.
Managing to slip her coat off with one hand, Dan slid his other hand up and into her hair and angled her head, and as he deepened the kiss Zoe melted into him. She moaned and shivered at the feel of his erection against her stomach. She arched her back and pressed herself even closer and with a soft groan Dan twisted her round, pushing her up against the front door and pinning her body to it with his hips.
He planted his hands either side of her head and then he tore his mouth away from hers. She gasped for breath, her heart thundering so hard she feared it might leap from her chest, and was just about to protest about the absence of his mouth when his lips connected with her jaw, trailed along to her ear and then down, and any protest she’d had died in her throat.
‘What the hell was all that about?’ he muttered against her neck.
What with the way her skin was burning and her head swimming Zoe could barely think let alone speak. ‘What was what all about?’ she said hoarsely, threading her fingers through his hair, closing her eyes and tipping her head back to give him better access to her throat.
‘Road markings.’
‘A distraction,’ she managed and gasped as he gently nipped the skin covering her collarbone.
She felt his mouth curve into a smile against the pulse at the base of her neck. ‘I was going for the studiously ignoring you approach.’
‘And there was me thinking you just weren’t all that interested in traffic planning.’
‘I was more interested in the underwear part,’ he said, lifting his head and staring down at her. ‘Or rather the lack of it. Now that’s a fascinating subject. Five per cent, did you say?’
Zoe blushed. ‘I might have been a little sketchy on the percentages.’
‘And you, a statistician? I’m appalled.’
‘Didn’t you know eighty-six per cent of statistics are made up?’
‘I thought it was forty-two.’
‘No, it’s definitely sixty-seven.’
He bent his head and murmured into her ear, ‘Tell me more about this absence of underwear. In your particular experience.’
Zoe shivered as the vibration of his voice and the warmth of his breath curled all the way through her. ‘I might have been a bit misleading on that front, too.’
‘Oh dear, twice in one night?’
‘I wanted to get your undivided attention.’
‘You got it. You have it.’
‘I know.’
Dan moved his hands to her waist and her breath hitched in her throat. ‘Perhaps I’d better check, though, just to see whether there’s any “might” about it.’
‘You know, you’re full of good ideas.’
He drew back a little and smiled down at her. ‘I’ve barely even started.’