Breathing out in frustration, she rinsed before wrapping her hair tightly in a towel and drying off her body. Half an hour later, her hair was more or less dry, her body was lotioned, smooth and softly scented.
Checking the wristwatch she had laid on the bathroom counter, she calculated the chances of contacting Jonas before midnight. The man kept some very odd hours. He hadn’t answered his cell phone all evening, and he hadn’t returned the coded messages she had left despite the message she had sent earlier to his personal relay system within his office. Something was very wrong here, and the potential for her death was rising.
Scheme tightened the towel around her body and moved purposely toward the sitting room. Then, she came to an abrupt stop. Directly in front of Tanner, who lounged on the overstuffed couch facing her.
Jacketless, the top buttons of his dress shirt undone, his golden eyes darkening in lust, the Bengal moved with deceptive laziness, pulling himself to his feet as his gaze moved slowly over her scantily covered body.
“Well, you are persistent,” she murmured, her fingers moving to tighten on the tuck of the towel at her br**sts.
His gaze licked over the swell of her br**sts above the towel as her ni**les tightened, rasping against the material.
It was instant, her response to him. Her ni**les tightened violently, her cl*t instantly came to life and a damp warmth glazed the folds of her sex.
“You didn’t return to your home,” he said softly, his voice rumbling erotically. “Why a hotel instead?”
She arched her brow. “Perhaps I’m expecting company.”
“So why not in your own home?” he asked her again. “Most women prefer to have sex in their own beds. A form of intimacy, I believe.” His lips quirked with endearing male charm.
“Perhaps the intimacy isn’t what I’m after.” She shrugged, turning back to the bedroom to dress in the lounging pajamas rather than conducting this conversation in a towel.
And she really didn’t relish the thought of dying naked. If he were there to kill her, she’d just as soon be dressed, thank you very much.
As she moved to close the louvered door between the rooms, a broad hand pushed it open and Tanner’s hard male body leaned against the door frame.
“I have a feeling letting you out of my sight might be a very bad idea right now.” His gaze flicked over her again. “You don’t have to dress on my account. You’ll just be removing the clothing later.”
“Oh, certain of yourself, aren’t you?” She arched her brows mockingly but moved to the bed anyway.
Some imp of scandalous amusement filled her. Dropping the towel, she ignored him as she picked up the violet silk and lace thong and pulled it over it her legs.
She dressed casually, convincing herself that being na**d in front of him didn’t affect her, though she knew better.
The soft, light, velvet sleeveless lounging top came next. Pulling it over her head, she let her gaze connect with his and nearly lost her breath.
His eyes were glittering with hungry lust now, stroking over her high br**sts before the material dropped over them. Picking up the loose bottoms, she inserted one leg, then the next, before pulling them on, feeling his gaze on her flesh almost as clearly as she would have a physical touch.
“You know I can smell your arousal.” He did a growly thing with his voice that had shivers racing up her spine. “Why bother to dress?”
“Are you hungry?” She ignored the question. “I was about to call down for room service.”
“Oh, I’m hungry,” he murmured. “But I don’t think food is going to still my particular appetite.”
Her womb flexed, spasmed. For a moment, regret sliced through her so heavily that it nearly stole her breath. Another place, another time, she could have enjoyed the byplay, the sensual threat. She was a woman who enjoyed the chase, the thrust and parry before the foreplay moved to the bedroom.
She had enjoyed it until Chaz had taught her how very deceptive it could be. Until she had learned the pure evil that inhabited her father’s heart when he destroyed her unborn child, and how easily Chaz had aided him.
Sexual byplay was now a threat. No matter how enjoyable. No matter how tempting.
“Food is the only offer being made. At the moment,” she informed him, allowing a small smile to tip her lips as she gazed up at him through the screen of her lashes. “Are you particular or do you trust me to order?”
She moved for the doorway, intending to move between him and the frame.
“Why the game?” His hand caught her upper arm. “You want to be in that bed with me as much as I want to be there.”
The touch was soft, light; the only restraint it evoked was that of her own response to him. She slammed to a stop, staring at the strong fingers curving around her flesh.
“What I want, and what I allow myself, Mr. Reynolds, are rarely the same thing,” she warned him tightly. “Restraint builds character. Perhaps you should try it.”
“Too bad it doesn’t build honor and decency,” he retorted as he released her arm, following her into the sitting room.
“I’ve actually heard it does.” Her lips twitched in amusement. “The good sisters at Our Lady’s Academy assured me it would strengthen those qualities in me.”
While they were laying the strap to her back.
“Ah yes, Our Lady’s Academy,” he mused. “You were expelled, yes?”
“I was.” And it was a very fond memory. “The good sisters there decided I was a lost cause that even they couldn’t save.”
Her father hadn’t been nearly as understanding as she had hoped he would be. The healing bruises from the nuns’ beatings had been added to exponentially. It had taken her weeks to recover.
“Are you a lost cause, Scheme?”
She turned to him, wondering at the sudden somber vein in his voice as she tried to match it to the almost angry glint in his eye.
“Completely,” she answered quickly, honestly. “Really, Tanner, you seem disappointed. Did you expect anything less?”
Punching the button for room service, she ordered a selection of meats, cheese and bread, and her favorite wine. If Tanner was here to kill her after he f**ked her, then she was going to enjoy her last meal.
After hanging up, she moved to the balcony doors. Sliding the curtains open, Scheme opened the doors and stepped onto the shadowed expanse of the balcony overlooking D.C. They were twenty floors up, and the view was breathtaking. And she hoped the shadows outside would help to still the nervousness rising inside her.