Delia groaned. “Oh my god, you’re al whacked. I’m caling your brother.”
“If it makes you feel better,” Kim said dryly, bending down to kiss her friend’s cheek. “Go for it. See you guys Monday.”
“If you’re stil alive then!” Delia yeled after her. “You sex-crazy maniac.”
Kim was smiling al the way to her car, but when she slid behind the wheel her humor was gone. Replaced by a hotter, more pressing emotion. There was a gorgeous, dangerously seductive man waiting in a hotel room for her. A man who was aching and lonely, just like she was. For tonight, at least, she wouldn’t have to take a damn pil to fal asleep.
CHAPTER 4
The minute Raze walked into his hotel suite, he felt as if the air had thinned. Being alone was rubbing him the wrong way, which was so opposite from his usual desire for as much solitude as he could wrangle. There was too much stimuli in the world to alow him peace—the pounding of heartbeats, the steady surge of blood in veins, the various scents that betrayed mood and train of thought. He avoided crowds when he could, but now it seemed he was stuck in an odd place where being by himself was more miserable than being around others.
Roling his shoulders back, he puled the box of condoms out of a shopping bag and set it on the end table by the smal loveseat. He left the new bottle of wine on the dinette table and tossed the bag in the trash, wondering what the hel to do with himself.
He ran both hands over his head and down the back of his neck, growling as he struggled with an unusual sense of anxiety. This time lapse from meeting a lover to fucking her was a step he’d been skipping for a few centuries now. He usualy laid ‘em where he found ‘em, and that worked for everyone. If he’d hooked up with the bartender, it likely would have gone down right there at the club, in the back somewhere, quick and dirty. Waiting for Kim was excruciating, because it gave her time to have second thoughts. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if she changed her mind. She’d made him want her. Now no one else was going to do.
Raze moved into the bedroom and plugged his iPod into the docking station, his tension easing a little as Hinder drifted out of the speaker. Feeling confined by his clothes, he began puling them off. His shirt went first, folowed by his boots, then his jeans and boxer briefs. He was tossing his clothes over the back of a bedroom chair when he heard the knock out in the living area.
The surge of lust that hit him affected the steadiness of the first step he took. Then it perversely strengthened his stride. His purpose and focus narrowed to his body’s need for the woman on the other side of the door. It was a base and elemental craving, purely physical, but a part of him was distantly aware that it was her bold yet easygoing personality that had tipped the scales enough to tempt him to this madness. She was al wrong for him. So wrong. But he knew when he pushed inside her it was going to feel so damn right.
He puled the door open. His breath hissed on a sharp inhale at the sight of Kim on his doorstep, dressed in a fitted white tank top and worn jeans that hugged her like a lover. She’d let her hair down, freeing the riotous mass of inky curls to tumble around her slender shoulders and halfway down her back. Her feet were bared by jeweled sandals, revealing toenails that were painted black and big toes decorated with white flowers and swirls. Gold hoops hung from her ears, replacing the diamond studs she’d worn before. He was flattered she’d given thought to how she looked for him.
Presently, however, she seemed focused on looking at him.
“Wow,” she breathed. “Part of my mind is saying I should be freaking out that you’re answering the door naked. Another part is thinking: Holy shit, did I get lucky or what? Don’t turn out to be crazy, please. I realy need this right now.”
The raging need inside him quieted. The soft plea in Kim’s voice and the momentary shadow of pain in her beautiful eyes altered the dynamic of his approach. He caught her gently by the elbow and tugged her in. When she cleared the door, he released it to shut by itself and he lowered his mouth to hers.
Swalowing her gasp, Raze slipped his arms around her, stroking his hands up her spine and molding her slender body to his. Her duffle bag hit the floor and her hands came up, one holding the back of his head while the other cupped his cheek.
The tender, encompassing nature of the embrace startled him even as it soothed the ragged edges of his volatile mood. He lifted her feet from the floor, tilting his head to get a deeper seal. His tongue stroked into her mouth, finding the taste of cinnamon and her own natural sweetness. He groaned, ravenous for her, but unwiling to devour. He’d thought he needed hard and fast. She’d thought she needed that, too. They’d both been wrong.
She caught his lower lip between her teeth and tugged, her lips soft and wet, her tongue a velvet lash. He wanted those lips and tongue al over his body. Her hands, too. They were strong and sure, confident. Her moan vibrated against him, luring his fangs to descend.
Not ready for that, Raze set her down reluctantly, his gaze locked with hers. She was flushed and beautiful, her eyes clear and open, yet tinged with sadness. As he watched, tears weled and slipped off her bottom lashes.
“Oh, shit,” she whispered, releasing him to swipe at her cheeks. “I asked you not to be crazy and then I get weepy over a kiss. I swear I’m not mental.”
“It’s okay.”
“You like picking up teary, emotional women?”
“You picked me up,” he corrected with a smile. “And there’s usualy only one reason a woman like you picks up a guy like me. I’m not sorry to find out differently.”
“You thought I objectified you.” She ran a sheepish hand through her black-as-midnight hair. “I can’t say you’re entirely wrong about that.”
“I thought that’s what I wanted.” Impersonal, with expectations that were easy to meet. But it turned out she was right—what he’d needed was her. Giving her the oblivion she wanted was going to keep him busy in ways a quick and dirty fuck would never have done. There was a connection between them, and he realized he needed that far more than he needed an orgasm.
Obviously, Baron’s taunts had dug deeper than Raze had given the man credit for. Women didn’t connect with him beyond the physical, he didn’t give them enough of himself to get that close. It wasn’t deliberate on his part; he just didn’t work that way. He’d dealt with infatuation and even sexual obsession that women mistook as love, but it was always fleeting. Quickly come and gone. But Kim... she needed what he was capable of giving. It moved him that for once he could fil a need that was more than skin deep.