7 Minutes in Heaven (Are You Game?) (2 page)

“Wh-who are you?” Her voice came out a timid whisper, but she couldn’t summon the energy or desire to be offended by her sudden lack of backbone.

“You know who I am.”

His deep voice rumbled in her ears and sent shockwaves of sensation skittering over her skin. A shiver slid down her spine as warmth flickered into flame in her belly. She licked her lips. “No. No, I don’t.”

“Cass,” he whispered as he moved closer. “I’m the man who’s going to bring you to your knees.”

Oh God.

He brushed her lips with his, the move slow and steady, allowing plenty of time for her to turn away. Only she didn’t. Instead, she moved into him. Met him halfway and took as much as she gave. They didn’t ease into the kiss—they dove deep. He thrust his tongue against hers, caressed and teased until she was panting for breath and thinking they had way too many clothes on. Cassie tilted her head and moaned when he took advantage of the better angle. The kiss went on and on. Each slide, each lick, each nip, drove her further into the sexual haze surrounding them.

He dug his fingers into her waist as he tightened his grip and crushed her against him. Her breasts pressed into solid muscle, her nipples going taut on contact with the hot wall of his chest. She tore her mouth from his and gasped for breath only to lose any hope of breathing normally when he trailed his lips over her chin and down her neck. He sucked and nibbled, devouring every centimetre of skin left bare above her collar. Every nerve ending buzzed until her blood hummed with the all-consuming lust flooding her system.

Cassie tangled her fingers in his hair, the silky strands curling around them as though tying her to him. She didn’t remember wrapping her arms around him. Didn’t remember hooking her legs around his waist either, but she couldn’t deny she was currently covering him like shrink-wrap. He bucked his hips and his very impressive erection pressed into her sex. There was no stopping her hips from thrusting back, from grinding her clit on the hard length of his cock in her search for relief. For more. With a growl, his mouth came back to hers and she lost herself in the sublime talent of his tongue.

He slid his hands up her sides, his thumbs coming to rest on the lower curve of her breasts, and another growl rumbled through his chest as she wiggled in an attempt to move his hands higher. He didn’t disappoint. With skill, he manoeuvred those big hands between them and cupped her full mounds in his palms. Her nipples throbbed and she arched her back, pressing her breasts deeper into his hold. She needed more. So much more. Cassie sucked his tongue into her mouth and then slowly let it out, raking her teeth along the sides as she did. The pounding of her heart echoed in her ears and through her body, thumping with a bone-jarring intensity.

He tore his mouth from hers and growled, “Fuck.”

She couldn’t catch her breath, couldn’t fathom the change when he tried to push her away. “What?”

His dark gaze met hers, his chest heaving as he dragged in air. “There’s someone banging on the door.”

“What?”

He lowered his forehead to rest it on hers. “There’s someone knocking on the door behind me.”

Cassie’s lust-fogged brain took another second to comprehend the meaning of his words, but when it did mortification swamped her. She was in a client’s pantry making out with a guy she didn’t know. With a groan, she closed her eyes and dropped her head to the side, butting her brow against his shoulder. How could she forget where she was and what she was supposed to be doing? And why the hell was she still wrapped around this stranger like a wet Speedo on a Bondi lifesaver? A shiver rolled over her.

Oh,
so
not the right analogy to be thinking. She should be concentrating on getting herself off. Another shiver rippled through her. Oh God, not
off
off. Cassie dropped her legs and tried to unravel her arms from the giant’s neck. But her feet didn’t touch the floor and his large hands on her waist held her prisoner against him. Her heart raced with residual arousal and the embarrassment of her recent behaviour, while her mind spun in circles in search of what to say.

“Cass.”

Damn. The man knew how to use his voice to make her sit up and take notice. She never knew her name could render her senseless with desire. Except the way he said it, in that deep, gravely tone, made her insides not only sit up but dance a little jig too. Cassie swallowed over the lump in her throat and blurted out the first words that came to mind.

“I don’t even know your name.” Heat scorched her face. She’d spent the last few minutes locked in a pantry making out with a stranger. It was the one game she hadn’t put on tonight’s list—not that it had stopped some of the guests from playing it. 7 Minutes in Heaven. Only seven minutes was nowhere near long enough with the man who held her in his arms. And altogether too long for her peace of mind.

Chapter Two

Luc relaxed the muscles in his arms and did the one thing he really didn’t want to. He set Cassie on her feet. Whoever had been hammering on the door had stopped, but the damage was done. Regret was written all over her pretty face. Scrubbing a hand over his stubbled jaw, he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Luc,” he said

Cassie’s gaze met his, one delicate eyebrow arched.

“My name. It’s Lucas Wilhelm. I’m head of McDermott Security, a position I’ve held for ten years.” Luc added the last part in the hope of reassuring her.

“Oh. Um, well…” She lowered her eyes, hiding the uncertainty swirling in their honey-coloured depths.

Placing two fingers under her chin, he tipped her head back until her gaze met his once more. “Don’t back down now, Cass. Where’s the woman who’s fought me for control for the last couple of hours gone?”

She shook her head, dislodging his fingers. “She just had common sense kissed right out of her.”

The small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth pulled at his gut and eased his mind. He hadn’t been sure at first, but now he didn’t doubt she’d bounce back from their mind-numbing lip-lock. Luc had expected they’d be explosive, he just hadn’t realised how unstable their chemistry was. He’d have to keep his hands off her until they were in more suitable surroundings or they’d find themselves sans clothes. There was one sure-fire way to keep her at a distance though. Strip her of control.

“As of now, this party is over.”

“What?” Her eyes narrowed to slits.

If looks could kill, the one she aimed his way would slice him to ribbons, and Luc figured she’d used it to de-ball many a man before him. Good thing he’d spent years developing a tough exterior. Although she’d found a way under his skin already, he wasn’t about to cower beneath her hostile stare. Luc embraced the hum in his veins. The zap delivered courtesy of her returning ballsy attitude. He’d never gone looking for a fight. Sure he’d been in plenty, but he’d never started one. Except now. With Cassie. And there was no denying the thrill thrumming in his blood. He was more than looking forward to their combat. He was eager for it to begin.

“As you can hear, there’s no longer music blasting through the house and that’s thanks to Lachlan McDermott ripping out power cables. If I were you, I wouldn’t be surprised when your DJ files a damage report and insurance claim.” Luc smiled as a growl rumbled in her throat. He’d never heard that particular sound from a woman, and he’d certainly never found it a turn on coming from any man, but there was no mistaking the tightening of his sac or the hardening of his cock.

“Damn men.” Cassie shoved passed him and flung open the door, using it to push him out of the way.

Before he got his head in gear and made it out from behind the door, she’d disappeared into the kitchen. With long strides, Luc followed only to witness her sexy arse vanish through the far doorway. Covering the distance in seconds, he found his men doing as he’d ordered. Between them and Cassie’s staff, the guests were quickly being ushered from the house in a tidal wave of drunkenness. His search for Cassie was hindered by the surge of bodies moving towards the front door, with his chances to spot her zero he let himself be swept up in the tide. When he reached the front yard, hire cars and drivers lined the street. Inebriated partiers tumbled into backseats, car doors slammed and departing vehicles were quickly swallowed up by the night.

With the party down to the last few stragglers, he turned back to the house determined to find Cassie while his men dealt with the remaining guests. He found her back in the kitchen. Leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, he folded his arms, crossed one ankle over the other and watched as she gave orders while packing box after box with glasses. The image of efficiency, her movements were economical and fluid, her speed and accuracy proving she’d done this a thousand times before. Luc relaxed and enjoyed the view. His pants grew snug and he had to shift his stance to alleviate the pressure on his hardening cock.

She turned and stared straight at him. Her gaze travelled from his face to his toes and back again, the slow survey like a physical caress, and a shaft of heat speared his groin. A knowing smile graced her mouth and more fire exploded in his crotch as he remembered the taste of those lips. He pushed off the wall and angled his body so the evidence of his arousal wouldn’t be so blatant. Cassie’s gaze dipped and her smile grew, sending the heat in his groin licking along his veins until he burned from top to bottom—inside out. The woman was dangerous, she poked at every nerve he had and flayed them raw without trying. Luc couldn’t wait to have her beneath him.

“Are you going to stand there all night scaring my employees or are you planning to make yourself useful?”

Luc jerked at her words. He’d thought for sure she’d continue to ignore him, and he smiled as he stepped towards her. Her next words stopped him in his tracks.

“Oh wait, that’s right, you don’t take orders. You
give
them.”

His gaze narrowed, the burst of anger he felt a total overreaction, but then every emotion involving Cassandra Moreland was exaggerated. The smart-aleck grin on her face didn’t help either. Nor the fact she was just as averse to taking orders as he was. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t take them. It was more that he normally delivered them. He could take direction just as well as the next guy. He’d taken an order from Lachlan McDermott hadn’t he? And Cassie definitely couldn’t talk. She was exactly the same if their recent interaction was anything to go by.

“Pot, meet Kettle,” Luc mumbled.

Her shoulders straightened. “What did you call me?”

“You heard.” He walked closer. “We’re two peas in a pod, Cass, and you know it.”

“Bullshit.” She slammed the plastic lid on the tub in front of her and snapped the locking handles into place with unnecessary force. “I can take orders.”

“Really?” Luc leaned on the bench that separated them. “Prove it.”

Cassie’s eyes widened before they reduced to narrow slits and his insides clenched. God, why did her anger get him off? And why the hell did he continue to poke at her? The suddenness of her smile didn’t bode well, but Luc waited with bated breath for her next words. She didn’t disappoint him.

“On one condition.”

“What?”

“You do the same.”

Oh, this was going to be good. Inwardly he smiled, but he didn’t let any of his excitement at her obvious capitulation to his challenge show. “Deal.”

“Wait, we haven’t worked out the terms.”

“That’s the easy part. We’ll each take orders from the other for twenty-four hours.” Luc couldn’t help it, he upped the ante. Leaning forward, he brought his face inches from hers. His gaze dropped to her lips and he watched as her tongue slipped out to slide along the plump pink flesh he wanted to taste again so badly he ached with it. “For a whole day, anything I tell you to do, you do and vice versa.”

Cassie sucked in a breath. He couldn’t be suggesting what she thought. “You don’t mean…”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean.”

She glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “You can’t expect me to agree to this? You’re basically propositioning me.”

Lucas laughed. “Nice to know where your mind is, but I don’t recall mentioning sex.”

Damn. He was right, he hadn’t mentioned sex, but he’d definitely implied it, what with the way he kept looking at her. Or was it because her mind had been on a continuous loop of imagined pleasure with Lucas ever since their kiss in the pantry? Fantasies of being naked with him had plagued her from the moment she’d walked away. She couldn’t help it, they may not have done much more than kiss, but her body had shot straight to overheated and stayed there. Her recent lack of a sex-life might have something to do with her fixation with the sexily muscled giant in front of her too. God, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a man-delivered orgasm, and he’d promised to deliver one with only his lips.

Cassie took a calming breath—or at least she hoped the lungful of oxygen would be—and let her mind clear of carnal thoughts so she could at least weigh up the pros and cons of being what effectively was this man’s slave for twenty-four hours. If he had no intention of moving their little challenge into the bedroom then she could deal with any order he gave. At least she thought she could. Hopefully he wouldn’t get her to clean his bathroom. She didn’t do boys’ toilets anymore. She’d spent her teenage years sharing one bathroom with five brothers and not one of them had ever cleaned up after themselves. Or aimed straight.