Legal Heat (3 page)

He chuckled. “You’ve only seen the public space. The private playrooms are in the back.”

Katy shivered, suddenly regretting her decision to leave the safety of the crowd. “I’m not really interested in that side of things. I don’t usually come to places like this.”

She paused and gave him a sidelong glance. “Do you come here often? I mean, other than working the bar?”

Mark laughed. “Are you using a line on me?”

Katy bit her lip and turned away to hide her heated cheeks. “No. Of course not. I was wondering if you were…”

“You want to know if I’m in the scene.”

His gentle tone gave her the courage to turn around. “Are you?”

“It’s not something I need, but it can be enjoyable with the right person.”

Katy breathed out a soft
oh
and then froze. Had he heard her? Could he tell her response was one of curiosity and not condemnation?

“What about you?” He folded his arms and cocked an eyebrow. “Did you come here with a secret agenda?”

“No secret agenda. When Valerie told me she worked at the club, I was curious so I agreed to meet her here instead of at my office.”

“Brave girl,” he murmured.

Katy cocked an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. She hadn’t been called a girl since she turned eighteen. “That was slightly condescending.”

His eyes crinkled and a smile played at the corners of his broad, sensuous mouth. “The correct response to a compliment is thank you.”

She walked over to another part of the collection and pulled out a dusty bottle. “I hardly think that was—”

“I’m waiting.”

Surprised by his warning tone, she turned to face him.

He sat back in his chair, long, muscular legs spread, corded forearms crossed, dark eyes calm and focused. But despite his casual manner, she sensed power and tension coiled in his lean body, like a cobra ready to spring.

A thrill of fear raced through her, followed by a sharp spike of arousal. She tempered it quickly. No way would she be pushed around even if secretly his commanding tone turned her on. She replaced the bottle in the rack. “I think we’d better get back upstairs.”

His voice softened. “Why are you running away?”

She spun around to face him. “I’m not running away. I…I’ve seen the wine cellar so I thought—”

“You’re afraid.”

Katy folded her arms. “Not at all.”

“Your body says otherwise.”

She froze and then sucked in a breath. “What do you mean by that?”

“Body language. You’re flushed, trembling. Your breathing rate has increased. Your eyes are wide. Your hands are clenched into fists. Your tongue…” He paused and his voice lowered to a husky growl. “Your tongue keeps darting out to lick your lips. If that isn’t fear, sugar, what could it be?”

Arousal, fierce and unfamiliar, shot through her like an electric current, flaming her body, burning a path to her core. Sweat broke out on her heated skin. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out.

Mark’s lips curled into a slow, sensual smile. “Come here, Katy-who-isn’t-afraid.” The sound of his voice, hard and low, sent a chill down her spine.

No, not a chill. A heat wave. A fever. Maybe she was ill. Maybe that’s why her cheeks burned and sweat trickled between her breasts.

But that didn’t explain the deep yearning that had risen up within her. Oh, she wanted to go to him, tear his clothes off, climb onto his lap, run her hands over his broad chest and then lower. It was as if she had been starving for years and he was a banquet waiting to be tasted.

Maybe that was the truth of it.

Giving herself a mental shake, she willed the sensation to go away. What the hell was going on? Was she seriously contemplating having sex with a stranger in the basement of a fetish club?

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Why?”

“Didn’t you want the Meursault?”

Katy nodded and her pulse kicked up a notch.

“Third row down, second bottle from the left.” He pointed above his head.

Katy raised an eyebrow. “A gentleman would get it for me.”

“I’m not feeling like a gentleman right now. Especially after your stirring performance upstairs and the way you’re looking at me now—like you want to devour me.” The heat in his eyes matched his voice, dark and sinful, like a rich Amarone. How long had it been since a man gazed at her with such desire? After Justin’s
birth, Steven had never once looked at her with anything more than mild interest.

Katy lowered her eyes. “I wasn’t… I didn’t mean…”

He cut her off. “Katy.”

She looked up into amused brown eyes and then drank in the sight of his hard, muscular body sprawled across the chair; his long legs open and inviting.

Craving, deep and delicious, flooded her veins.

“Come here, sugar. I won’t bite.”

“It’s not the biting I’m worried about.” Nor was it him. Her gut told her he wouldn’t hurt her. If he had wanted to try anything, he wouldn’t have waited this long. No, it was her. She had lost control of herself and she had no idea what this new, lust-driven Katy Sinclair was about to do.

Still, his soft, cajoling voice drew her forward. Although she wanted the wine, she wanted him more. But after ten years on the bench, she didn’t remember how to play the game.

Her heels clicked on the flagstone floor as she closed the distance between them, stopping only a foot away. Even seated, he intimidated her. But God was he sexy. Her pulse raced and her throat turned dry.

He studied her for a long moment, his gaze intense and unwavering. “I’m beginning to wonder if we haven’t met before.”

Katy shook her head. “We haven’t. I’m sure of it. You’re not someone I would ever forget.”
Or ever will
. She stepped closer, her body now only inches from his. She caught the scent of his spicy aftershave and something raw and purely masculine. A quiver of fear ran through her followed again by the fierce rush of arousal.

“Good girl.”

“I’m hardly a girl.”

He reached out and put his hands on her hips, drawing her close, until she could feel the heat of his breath on her breasts through the thin cotton of her shirt. She bit her lip to stifle a moan.

“Most definitely not,” he murmured.

Inexplicable desires
wracked Katy’s body. She wanted to thread her fingers through his hair, straddle his body and press her breasts against his full, sensuous lips.

Her briefcase dropped, unbidden, to the floor. She ran a tentative finger along the square line of his jaw, rough with stubble, but pulled away at his sharp intake of breath.

“Put it back.” He lifted her hand and pressed it against his cheek, trapping it with his own. His skin was warm, firm. So sexy. She felt the slip of arousal between her thighs and drew in a ragged breath.

Get a grip, Katy. This isn’t you.

She eased herself out of his grasp. “You’re going to have to move. I’m not reaching over you.”

“Shame.” He stood with the grace of a man half his size and pulled the chair out of her way.

Katy reached for the bottle. Too high. She looked over her shoulder. Mark’s gaze was fixed firmly on her…ass. She snorted a laugh. “When you’re done, maybe you could give me a hand.”

Mark grinned and walked toward her, stopping so close she could feel the heat radiating from his body across every inch of her back. He put one arm around her waist and pulled her into his broad chest.

“Where do you want it, sugar?” he whispered, his breath warm and moist in her ear.

Red, hot flames of need licked through her body. “Want what?”

“My hand.”

She could think of several places she wanted his hand. Places Steven had rarely touched. Emboldened by his obvious interest, and her own simmering arousal, she let her head fall back on his shoulder and looked up at him. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

His body shook with laughter. “What kind of girl?”

“The kind of girl who tells a man where she wants his hand.”

He stroked the curve of her waist and brushed his lips over her ear. “You don’t have to tell me, sugar. I know.”

Ardor overwhelmed her and she scrambled to justify her actions. Sex club. Too much alcohol. Sinfully hot guy. Romantic wine cellar. Ten years of cold, loveless marriage, loneliness and unfulfilled need.

Good enough.
She put her hand over his, sliding them both across her stomach. Mark grunted his approval and pulled her tight against his body. His soft lips blazed a trail of gentle kisses down her neck.

“You are so beautiful,” he growled. “So fucking hot.”

Katy hissed out a breath. She had steeled herself for a little flirting, not for the raw hunger of desire or the burning need for the touch of a stranger. Embarrassed and shocked by her body’s response, she made a half-hearted attempt to pull away.

His arm tightened around her, pressing her so closely against his chest she could feel the steady beat of his heart against her back. He traced his fingers along her shoulder, over her collarbone and down the V of her shirt to the swell of her breasts.

Katy shuddered. His touch electrified her, sending shivers of sparks along every nerve in her body. How long had she dreamed of such an erotic, sensual caress? So different from Steven’s ham-fisted pawing in the dark.

Ever so gently, he traced a finger along the lace edge of her bra, burning a slow trail over each soft crescent. A shiver of need chased down her spine and her betraying body arched toward his touch.

Emboldened by her response, he slowly undid the first few buttons of her shirt and slid his hand beneath the cotton barrier to cup her breast in his heated palm. With firm, but gentle strokes of his thumb, he teased her nipple into a tight peak through the thin lace of her bra, stoking her arousal hot enough to make her whimper with need.

“Shh, sugar. Tony won’t be too happy if I lose control in his prized wine cellar.”

Her sex clenched at his words and delicious anticipation ratcheted through her body.
Please. Lose. Control.

The tips of his fingers drifted lower, exploring her, gliding over every curve and into every hollow of her body.

Desire became a raging inferno, incinerating reality in a tidal wave of emotion. Within minutes this stranger had aroused a passion in her she didn’t even know she had.

“Why did you really come to the club, sugar? Is there something here that called to you?” He inched up her skirt and skimmed his fingers along the inside of her thigh, closer and closer to the tender folds hidden by her very wet, red lace panties.

Dark, erotic sensations pulsed through her body. Yes, something called to her, but she couldn’t put it in words. She couldn’t muster the effort to think instead of feel, speak instead of whimper. So she didn’t even try.

“I’m waiting.” The hint of warning pulled at something low in her belly.

She hissed in a breath and forced the words out. “It’s different. Dangerous. I thought it might be…exciting.”

“Are you excited, sugar?” He cupped her breast and kissed the sensitive hollow at the base of her neck.

Her head fell back against his shoulder and her strangled groan pierced the quiet of the cellar. Lust electrified her skin and sizzled away the last of her doubts.

Mark eased his hand away and smoothed down her skirt. “We’d better slow down.”

“No.” Katy shocked herself at the vehemence in her response. She should be happy. He was, in a perverse way, being a gentleman. But in her wild state of arousal, she had no desire to be a lady.

She spun around to face him. At the sight of his handsome face, now taut with need, something loosened in her core. She pressed her body against his and cupped his face in her hands. “Don’t stop.”

“Christ,” he murmured. “You are tempting beyond belief.” His hands splayed across the curve of her buttocks and he crushed her pelvis against his, pressing his hot, hard erection into her belly.

The evidence of his desire only served to further inflame her arousal. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down toward her aching lips.

But Mark wouldn’t play the game. He kissed her throat, her breasts, her neck—everywhere but where she wanted his hot, wet mouth. His fingers dug into her flesh so hard the pleasure pain ripped a moan from her throat. She tilted her head back, desperately seeking the kiss he was so mercilessly withholding.

Suddenly Mark released her and pushed her away. “I can’t…I want you, sugar. But not like this.”

Reeling, confused, Katy looked away. She didn’t want him to see the bloom in her cheeks. She had never been forward or sexually aggressive in her life. Was it really the combination of alcohol and the highly erotic, sensual environment? Or was it desperation for the intimacy she had craved so long? Maybe it was chemistry, pure and simple. All she knew was that she wanted him so badly, she would do almost anything to have him. Despite his rejection.

“Sugar?” His handsome face rumpled with consternation.

Katy swallowed past the lump in her throat. She was never going to see him again. If she was going to spend the next year getting off on this fantasy, she wanted at least one taste to remember him by.