Fixing Justice (18 page)

Draegyn stood and moved to the bank of windows that looked out over the city lights as he continued speaking quietly into the phone. She might appear a little worse for wear from their sensual activity but so did he, she thought, taking in the heart-stoppingly gorgeous picture he made standing in the dimly lit corner of the room.

Tori had done quite a number on his shirt, which hung open while one shirttail remained tucked into his pants. Her greedy eyes drank him in, unflinchingly satisfied at the prominent bulge that pressed against the front of his pants. Any lingering self-doubts she carried about not being pretty or sexy enough for a man like him evaporated at the sight of that undeniable proof that he had been as aroused and excited as she had been. Fuck Alex and his shitty timing. God dammit! What did a girl have to do to catch a break?

Mentally conceding the phone call was a surefire buzzkill, she tidied up the mess they made, even stacked the remnants of their meal on the room service trolley, and wheeled it to the door for housekeeping. Not sure what else to do, she lifted her gaze to Draegyn only to find him staring intently at her. She blushed and tried a weak smile.

Twin slashes of color highlighted his cheekbones, a testament to how seriously out-of-control they’d gotten with each other. He didn’t look happy about the interruption, and the tiny shrug and brief grimace that crossed his features effectively brought their relaxed evening of getting to know each other to a screeching halt.

She felt stupid just standing there. It seemed a bit desperate in her mind. Like a puppy waiting for attention. Since it wasn’t very likely that they were going to continue what they’d started, not tonight anyway, Tori decided it was best to retreat. Grasping hold of her confidence with determination, she ambled to where he stood with the phone pressed to his ear, enjoying the way his eyes darkened and mouth grew taut at her approach.

She stopped inches away from his body, reaching out to run her hand flat down the front of his chest. His nostrils flared at her brazen touch. Leaning in she breathed, “G’night,” close to his mouth. He took the invitation and closed the distance between their lips for a swift, hard kiss filled with the frustration and regret they both were feeling. He mouthed
goodnight
and before she did something she shouldn’t, like let her hand drift over the front of his pants, she spun and walked toward her bedroom. Turning to him one last time, she flashed him a sultry smile that left no doubt how disappointed she was. As she slowly swung the door closed, he met her look, expression for expression. She was sure her heavy sigh hung in the air long after the door clicked shut.

Well, this sucks,
Drae groused silently. One minute he had a sexy and very turned on waif writhing in his arms while they engaged in the hottest, wettest kiss he’d ever experienced and the next, he was immersed in a cock-blocking phone call that doused their sensual fire quicker than a tsunami of cold water. If it weren’t for the fact that something serious was being brought to his attention, he would have been sorely tempted not to strangle Alex.

Remembering the hot passage that Victoria read aloud from her romance paperback, Drae knew it was going to take a hell of a lot more than a phone call to ease the throbbing hard-on he was experiencing. It had been a day of surprises where that little lady was concerned. As if his reaction to her makeover hadn’t been enough, discovering that she liked her reading materials spicy with a double dose of naughty had been a huge turn on. He had little doubt that if their interlude hadn’t been so rudely interrupted, his questing fingers would have ended up delving deep into her damp folds instead of stopping at the skimpy silk panties.

Her passion hadn’t surprised him, not after the way she had come alive in his arms that night at her apartment when she’d been crying. No, tonight’s surprise had unfolded slowly, like their kiss. It was her untutored response to him that shook his world. There was absolutely nothing about Victoria that was fake or contrived. When she shook in his arms, it wasn’t part of an act meant to enslave his senses. It was one hundred percent pure response and as a result, he’d never felt so primal or more male, in his entire life.

Maybe it was a good thing that they’d been interrupted. After all, he already admitted he really like her. Very much. If they’d gone on much longer, they would have indulged in a one-way journey to pound-town even though that wasn’t what he wanted from her. No, a good fuck, no matter how erotically charged, was something he had little trouble finding. Victoria, however, wasn’t in that category. When he did finally have a chance to take her to bed, it wasn’t going to be a randy plowing for the sake of relieving a basic need.

Her hot kisses and the way she clung to him made him want to explore the unexpected and unfamiliar depth of feelings he was experiencing. He might very well be losing his fucking mind, but the way he felt when she wrapped her arms around him, or the little sounds she made while her tongue dueled so sweetly with his made Drae want to strip her naked, as slowly as possible and avail himself of every centimeter of her delicious body. He wanted to make love to her for hours, watch her writhe in his arms as he sank into her wet depths until they couldn’t take it anymore. And he especially wanted to lose himself in her gorgeous brown eyes as she came around him while his cock was buried balls deep.

Just thinking about being inside her made his heart thump wildly. The only thing stopping him from kicking down her door so he could plunge into her silky wetness were the very thoughts he’d just had. He wanted more from her. Victoria Bennett wasn’t anything like the jaundiced first impressions he had of her. There was something special, unique, and sweet about her that made him feel protective as well as aroused. She’d blown apart the lifetime of distrust he’d been nursing where women were concerned with her smart-ass mouth and adorably prickly assertiveness. He’d never wanted a woman the way he wanted her and especially had never craved a connection the way he did where she was concerned.

Aww shit
. While he was lost in his private thoughts, Alex had been nattering on, and he hadn’t caught but a word of what had been said. Eyeing Victoria’s closed bedroom door with regret, he sighed and tried to concentrate on the situation at hand. Tomorrow would be soon enough to see where all this was heading. He owed it to everyone involved, and that included the agency, to keep his wits about him and not do anything that would cause problems down the road.

“Yeah, I’m still here, bro. Just thinking, that’s all,” he murmured into the phone. “Let’s rework the problem and come up with an alternate plan, okay?” It would be almost an hour more before the call would wrap-up and by then he was more than ready to fall facedown onto a soft bed.

Tori woke to a dream hangover.
Oh God.
There was nothing worse than rolling out of bed feeling foggy and disoriented. Crawling from the warm cocoon, she stumbled into the bathroom and flicked on the unforgiving lights. “Bad idea,” she muttered, quickly turning off the offensive lighting. She turned to the mirror above the sink and did a quick morning assessment.

Hair? An absolute mess. Huffing irritably, her fingers snagged through the tangles, sweeping the brown locks back from her face. It didn’t matter how carefully she styled her hair because after a night of tossing and turning, she managed to resemble a wind tunnel mannequin. She would never be one of those women who woke up looking perfect and flawless.

Making a quick ponytail, she went through the motions of a morning routine with a minimum of effort; brush teeth, cleanse face, and apply moisturizer. She didn’t like to waste time on anything more complicated. She was who and what she was and no amount of fussing was going to change that. The under eye shadows were a result of having her sex drive unleashed, by a master no less, only to end up without a way to manage the unfulfilled aftermath. She was still annoyed by Alex’s untimely interruption.

In the dead of night, after she’d awoken from an erotically charged dream, Tori slipped quietly from her room to retrieve the paperback romance she’d lost track of after Draegyn had taken it from her hands. Maybe reading for a while would help her brain empty so she could get back to sleep. Although she looked everywhere, the book was nowhere to be found, forcing her to simply tough it out and pray for sleep to return.

And now here it was, way too early in the morning to be up and about. This seemed as good a time as any to hit the hotel fitness room before the regular morning rush. In her present frame of mind she didn’t want to compete for time on the equipment. No, what she wanted was to be left alone to work up a serious sweat and clear away the hangover cobwebs.

Checking out her reflection one last time, she grabbed a pair of ear buds, her phone, and after hastily scribbling a short note to let Draegyn know where she was, headed off to the workout facility. Because it was so early, she had her pick of machines, settling on an elliptical she knew would give her a fierce workout. Scrolling through her playlists she found something that would definitively have her up and moving.

Three quarters of an hour later, with thighs on fire and her arms set to explode, she yanked the earphones out and eased into a cool down rhythm. It felt good to push her muscles and it really did go a long way to helping restore focus.

No urgent messages.
Good
, Drae though as he flung his phone aside and made for the suite’s kitchenette. He’d found Victoria’s note letting him know she’d gone to the fitness center the moment he’d stepped from his room in search of coffee. Knowing he was alone, he hadn’t bothered to fully dress, preferring to suck back something dark and hot before jumping in the shower. The old sweats he’d pulled on hung low on his hips and actually did more to emphasize his manhood than conceal it. As usual, he was dealing with a morning hard-on that seemed to be mocking him.

Ah, let’s see now. What’ve we got
, he wondered while spinning the elaborate carousel crammed with every single cup brew imaginable. Absently rubbing his abdomen while he thought, Drae tried to concentrate on the task at hand and failed miserably. His night had sucked balls. Far from restful, he’d been plagued all through the long hours, when he should have been sleeping, with vivid images of Victoria writhing in his lap and the way the skin along her thigh had prickled at his soft touch.

He hadn’t helped the situation any, he reflected grimly. No, fool that he was, he’d picked up Victoria’s romance book and taken it with him when he finally got off the phone with Alex and retreated to his bedroom. He was curious, especially after the racy passage she’d read to him. In the end, he’d read the whole damn thing. Aside from the sometimes-mawkish story line and the you-had-to-have-seen-it-coming-ending, he enjoyed the tension between the two main characters and found the love scenes nothing short of hot.

Reading that book had given him a step-by-step blueprint of what an erotic seduction looked like in her head. Something he really didn’t need to be thinking about. Leaning his hips against the counter while waiting for the coffee to brew, he sighed. Nothing he did seemed to take the edge off what was a growing need to take the woman invading his thoughts and dreams and make her his and his alone. The very idea fucked with his head in every way it could. He’d never,
ever
felt that way about a woman before and frankly until now thought such feelings were a load of crap. Romantic fodder for the foolish. How far the mighty have fallen, he thought.