The Ransom (26 page)

“Are you sure you’re all right with this? We don’t have to. We can go back to having coffee.” He smiled.

She drew in a breath and shook her head. “No, I want to. I-I think I’ve wanted to from the moment I saw you.”

His eyes darkened with desire and he growled low in his throat. Taking her once again in his arms, he pulled her up tight against him and kissed her softly, teasingly, on the mouth. Desire rekindled in her belly and the ache between her legs intensified, helping to chase the nerves away. She put her arms back around his neck and clung to him, enjoying the pressure of his lips on hers.

Needing to feel the warmth of his skin, she slid her hands down his chest and tugged at the ends of his T-shirt. It came out of the waistband of his shorts and she pushed it up over his head, loving the feel of his taut chest muscles beneath her fingers.

She skimmed over one of his nipples by accident and he gasped. The flat, brown nub pebbled and she was overwhelmed by a sudden surge of satisfaction. She’d never felt so powerful before, so in control. She couldn’t quite believe a man who looked like a movie star could find her so desirable. His response gave her the confidence she needed.

Reaching around behind her, she undid the clasp on her bra and let the scrap of black lace fall to the floor. She was immediately rewarded by a flash of desire in Lane’s eyes that darkened them to an earthy green. He pulled her hard against him and she sighed at the feel of his warm, firm skin against hers.

“God, you feel so good.” Lane nuzzled the side of her neck. She shivered from the contact and tightened her arms around him, crushing her breasts against his chest.

He groaned again and his hands reached down to cup her bottom and lift her up against his erection. Liquid fire pooled between her legs and she moved restlessly against him. Need had built up deep inside her, a need that only he could satisfy.

“Make love to me, Lane.”

The words fell out of her mouth and she blushed.
How could she have been so brazen?
She’d never asked a man for sex before. The very idea was too embarrassing to contemplate and yet with Lane, it felt so right.

He set her a little away from him and stared down at her. His eyes were dark with desire, his breath came fast.

“Are you sure?”

She loved that he asked her again. Nerves once again surged through her, but Zara refused to let them distract her. She wanted him—no question. She’d never wanted anyone more.

“Yes,” she whispered and was immediately rewarded by a flare of emotion in his eyes. His hands went to her hips and he drew her forward until her belly once again pressed against the length of his hardness.

His gaze burned into hers. “Can you feel how much I want you?”

“Yes.”

“Touch me.”

Zara gulped. The nerves intensified. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. It was more that she didn’t know how.

“Don’t you want to?” A tiny frown marked the space between Lane’s eyes.

She nodded, a little frantically. “Of course I do. You’re magnificent. Your body is…beautiful.”

“Then what?” he questioned softly, taking her hand in his and lifting it to his chest.

Her hand lay flat against the warmth of his bare skin. His heart pounded an excited rhythm beneath her palm. Her fingers curled through the slight smattering of dark brown hair that covered his chest.

“I-I’ve never touched a man before. I mean…I’ve been kissed, but not very many times and it felt nothing like when you…”

Her face was aflame. She couldn’t go on. She turned her head away and buried her face against his chest. He held her against him, giving her a few moments to recover.

Sooner than she was ready to have eye contact, he tilted her chin up with a gentle finger and forced her to look at him.

* * *

Lane stared down at her and his pulse pumped hard.
He couldn’t believe it.
She was a virgin. He should have known. From the moment they’d spied each other across the frilly, pink bedroom that belonged to her sister, he’d known she was different.

He’d spent his life seeking out women who weren’t looking for long-term relationships; who were more than happy with a one-or-two night stand. They were women who played the field and that had suited him just fine.

And then he’d met Zara.

She held his gaze, her face still flushed with embarrassment. As the silence stretched out between them, confusion and uncertainty flooded her eyes. He hastened to reassure her.

“Please, don’t be embarrassed by your lack of experience, sweetheart. You should be proud of it. Everyone seems to be in such a big hurry these days to sleep with as many people as they can, I think we’ve forgotten how special making love can be, how special it
should
be.”

He lifted her hand off his chest and pressed a kiss against her palm before drawing her over to the couch. Pushing her gently onto the leather seat, he bent and picked up her dress. In silence, he offered it to her. She threw him a grateful look and took it from him.

Tugging it over her head, she stood and shimmied it down her body. When she was once again clothed and sitting on the couch, he sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders and drew her in close to his side.

“I lost my virginity when I was seventeen,” he said quietly. “She was a girl I’d known for a while, but we’d never dated. I’d seen her around, hanging out at McDonalds and down at the local skate park. She’d been a few years ahead of me in school, but despite the age difference, she seemed interested.” He paused and drew in a breath before continuing.

“It was a Saturday night. I’d been at the skate park with a couple of my brothers for most of the afternoon. She turned up and sat there, watching. I was getting ready to leave when she came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go and get a coke at McDonalds.”

Zara bit her lip, but remained silent. Lane stared at her, trying to gauge her feelings. He didn’t know how she’d react to listening to how he’d lost his virginity or if she even cared, but something inside him told him she did and he squeezed her thigh, hoping to reassure her.

“I knew she liked me,” he said. “She’d been hanging around for weeks. I liked her, too, although I liked her more when I realized she wanted to have sex with me.” He offered Zara a rueful smile and cursed the blush that rose on his cheeks. A smile tugged at her lips.

“Hey, I’m not making any excuses. It was totally all about me. I was seventeen and randy as hell. I wasn’t about to turn her down.”

“What about your brothers? Weren’t they there, too?”

“I sent them home. I told them to tell Mom I’d met a friend and was going to McDonalds for a coke.”

Her smile widened. “All of which was true. Did they believe you?”

Lane grinned back at her. “I’m the oldest. My brothers knew something was going on, but I think they were too young to realize I was going to have sex.” He grimaced. “Unfortunately, Mom wasn’t so naive.”

Zara’s smile widened. “I’ll bet.”

Lane cleared his throat. “Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that sometimes we wish things had turned out differently. Afterwards, I wondered what it would feel like to do it with someone I really cared about. I felt a little cheated. I felt like I’d let myself down.”

He stared at her, hoping she’d understand. Her breath hitched and her eyes glittered with emotion. She didn’t look away.

He dropped his voice to a whisper. “I’m not going to pretend there haven’t been others since then, Zara, but I’m telling you the truth when I say I’m still wondering what it feels like to make love to someone I really, really care about.”

Her eyes widened in comprehension. Her lips moved, but no words came, as if she didn’t quite know what to say. He leaned toward her and claimed her lips, silencing her efforts.

“I want to love you with every part of my body. I want to teach you everything I know. I want to drive you wild, so wild, you’ll hardly be able to stand it. I want to make you mine.”

He leaned down and pressed kisses against her forehead, her cheeks, her eyelids before taking her mouth once again. Softly, tenderly, he kissed her. His cock was rock hard.

His body screamed for more, but slowly, gently, he pulled away. He wrapped his arms around her and with his chin resting on her head, fought to regain control.

“I want your first time to be special and it won’t be as good as it could be if we rush things. I want us to get to know each other, to spend more time together before we go any further. You deserve dinners and champagne and candles. You deserve moonlit walks along the beach, picnics in the park, dancing until midnight. Call me old fashioned, but I guess that’s what I’d like—for both of us.”

She moved slightly away and stared up at him, her eyes dark with uncertainty. “I thought you wanted me?”

His gut clenched against the urge to sweep her back into his arms and make love to her like she wanted. But he resisted the temptation and breathed in deeply to regain control. It would be better for both of them if they waited. He only hoped she understood.

“Of course I want you. I want nothing more than to be buried deep inside you, watching you while you come, but you need to trust me on this one, sweetheart. Let’s wait a little longer; let me earn my place in your bed. I want to be worthy of the honor.”

Her shoulders slumped and she turned her head away, resting it against his chest. A long while later, she spoke, her voice low. “Are you sure? Because, you know, I’d be happy for you to be the first.”

“Oh, don’t you worry, I’m going to be the first,” Lane said possessively, tightening his arms around her. “Let’s not make any mistake about that.”

She relaxed against him. “I’m glad.”

They sat on the couch in silence. Lane breathed in the scent of her hair and tried to ignore the guilt that prodded his conscience.
What was he doing with this beautiful, innocent woman?
He didn’t do commitment. He’d never done commitment. She wasn’t like the girls he usually dated. She deserved more. Far more.

Anguish burned inside him.
What was he going to do?
Could he put aside his fears that his life would turn out like his father’s? Was he willing to take the risk? At that moment, he simply didn’t know and the knowledge just about killed him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Tuesday, January 30, 7:12 p.m.

Draco took a drag on his cigarette and held the smoke deep in his lungs. When at last he exhaled, only the tiniest whiff of smoke clouded the air in front of him. He shifted in his seat and tapped on the steering wheel with his fingers in an effort to relieve the boredom.

The Dowton bitch had been in there for hours. The first hint of evening had already darkened the sky and still there was no sign of her. He didn’t have a clue who lived in the four-storey Chatswood apartment block, but whatever she was doing in there was taking some time.

Irritation surged through him. He scrubbed at his hair and then took another drag on his cigarette. After having his plans to snatch her thwarted the previous night, he’d lain in wait for her outside her house. He knew that sooner or later, she’d emerge and when she did, he’d be ready.

His patience had paid off. Around lunch time, he’d spied her BMW leaving the AG’s mansion. He idled in behind her, careful to keep a reasonable distance between them. He didn’t know where she was headed, but if he could, he intended to intercept her the minute she stepped from her vehicle.

He’d followed her all the way over the Harbour Bridge and into the northern suburbs. Finally, she brought her car to a stop in front of the unit block situated close to the busy Pacific Highway. Draco looked around him and cursed. It was Tuesday afternoon and the streets were crowded with traffic.

It was madness to even contemplate grabbing her in front of so many witnesses. These days, every man, woman and child had a phone in their pocket and it would have been an act tantamount to signing his own prison sentence if he hauled her into his car then and there and stole her away in front of them. He’d done enough time on the inside not to be leery of heading back and he was certain she’d put up a fight.

So, he’d found a shady spot across the road and settled in to wait. He guessed she was visiting a friend, but it had been too late for lunch and too early for dinner. He’d expected the visit to be brief.

Four hours later, he was forced to revise his initial assessment of the situation. He stretched his legs as far as he was able in the cramped confines of his white commodore sedan and rubbed at the ache behind his knee. During his last stint in Long Bay Jail, he’d copped a savage hit from an iron bar wielded by a member of a rival biker gang. The shattered bones and severed tendons had never quite healed under the oh-so-caring ministrations of the jail’s resident surgeon and now, after sitting idle for such a long time in his car, the injury was lodging its protest.

Draco cursed aloud, now encompassing Allison in his increasing irritation. If the stupid bitch had just paid up when he’d asked, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. It was all her fault.

He immediately squirmed, knowing full well his own part in the situation. He’d been the one to suggest she cut out her debt on her back. Initially, things had worked out well. He’d given her all the ice she demanded and had enjoyed the classiest pussy he’d ever known.