The double meaning of those words sent a spike of euphoria through me.
I tugged on his chain, just enough to taunt him. “You seem like the kind of high school student who would have spent more time in detention than in the actual classroom.”
A boyish grin flitted over those spectacular lips. “You have me all figured out.” He dragged his palms up my thighs and leaned forward to erase more distance between us. “What subjects do you teach?”
I dropped his cross and curved my palm over his shoulder, my lips going to his ear. “French.”
That barrel chest of his rumbled with a low noise. “Are you jesting me?”
“Non. C’est ma deuxièmelangue.”
“Your accent is impeccable,mon ange,” he whispered close to my mouth and it caused me to shiver.
“Monange, eh?” I threw back teasingly.
“Yes. You look like an angel wrapped in sin and I want to unravel you, Darla.”
My eyes fluttered closed as his honesty hit me deep in the crevice of my vital organ.
“From the minute you walked into the club with your friends, you caught my attention. I watched you dance. I watched you drink. And I watched you laugh. I forced myself to stay away from you, but then…you just fell into my lap, didn’t you?” Zeno’s mouth skimmed my earlobe. “You’re so captivating and I can’t resist you.”
“Why is it that you wanted to stay away from me?” I’d never had someone speak to me so forwardly, let alone tell me that I was captivating.
It was refreshing and extremely rousing.
“Men like me should stay away from women like you,” he grated. “You’re too sweet-looking. Innocent. I have these tastes—these needs—that might scare you. Do you understand me, Darla?”
I should walk away right now, but his darkness enticed me.
“Am I correct to presume you’re talking about the three floors above?”
I felt the crude twist of his lips on my collarbone. “I can’t think past the thought of getting you out of this tight fucking dress.” He squeezed my knees for emphasis and I swallowed my needy sound. “I want one night with you. Filthy. Dirty. No holds barred sex.” His mouth pressed a hot kiss to my bare shoulder and I swear my insides twisted in the shape of lust. “I want to corrupt you,mon ange.”
Our gazes met intensely and held like a delicious slow burn.
My heart mimicked the loud pounding bass of the song, murmuring about a wicked game. I couldn’t seem to breathe right in Zeno’s presence. It was far too prominent and took over too much space.
“What do you say?” he asked. “Toi et moi. Une nuit ensemble. I can show you—I can make you feel—so many things, Darla.”
Zeno was like a riddle. Transfixing, complex, and filled with an abundance of possibilities. There wasn’t a single doubt that this man could teach me things I never dreamed of if I allowed him the chance.
Over the years, I had accumulated many desires that my ex-boyfriend Owen was never able to fulfill and that I was too afraid to demand. I held them close in my palm, like an ace card, waiting and waiting for the right time. Maybe tonight I could finally reveal my deck without being judged.
Zeno was probably into relationships of the dominant and submissive variety. While I wasn’t fully committed to that sort of lifestyle, there were parts of it that attracted me. I longed to experience a smidge of it, even for a short time.
After all, what happened in Chaleur stayed in Chaleur, and I really wanted to take him up on his offer.
He stood up, causing my thighs to split wider to accommodate this big man. Our chests brushed on the way and I watched his gold cross gleam in the light.
Zeno was threaded with the markings of a man who went to church on Sunday and dropped to his knees for more than just confessing his sins.
He tipped my chin up with his knuckles and the cold metal of his watch against my neck sent a jolt through me.
“There’s no pressure, Darla. You don’t have to decide right now, but if you change your mind…” His fingers fished out a maraschino cherry from my drink. Holding the stem, he trickled it over my lip like a gentle caress and my mouth parted on volition, ready to bite into it…before he pulled it away with a teasing snap of his fingers and bit into the cherry himself. His tongue wiped out to collect the remnant juice at the corner of his mouth. He set the stem down on a napkin and slid a key card into my palm. “You know where to find me.”
I wasn’t one for casual hooking up. I wanted a relationship built on mutual trust and respect. But one look at this gorgeous man and I realized I wanted to bend my own rules just a little bit.
“I’ll be waiting for you.” Zeno’s tantalizing cologne wrapped around me with its note of seduction and luring promises. “And I swear if you allow me, Darla, I’m going to show you things you’ve only imagined in your wildest dreams.”