“Wow…” I turn my attention back to Ivy and watch her lean up and kiss Ruslan. Watching her, it’s easy to sink into the allure of this life and Bradley, in particular. He’s going out of his way to make me feel safe.
But how long will I be here?
Peter’s out there somewhere, maybe scared or hurt, while I’m here at a party? Disappointment in myself swells in my chest and a chill races down my spine. If ever there ever were a chance to slip away, it’s here. There are no fingerprint-locked elevators here, that’s for sure.
But slipping away from Bradley is going to be tough. As he hands me my second drink, an idea creeps up and my heart begins to race all over again as I study his deeply handsome face.
That idea surges forward, taking over my body. One moment, I’m staring at him and the next, I’m cupping his strong jaw and pulling him down by his shirt with my other hand until our lips crash together in a deep, hot kiss.
Heat runs rampant through my body, causing a prickle of warmth at the base of my hairline and my heart to turn into a beating drum as Bradley drops one hand to my waist for balance. He lets me kiss him and after a second of it, he kisses me back.
My mind falls silent.
Then I graze my teeth against his lower lip and break the kiss. “You owe me,” I gasp. “From last time.”
“Do I?” he replies, and his grip on my waist turns from a caress to a barrier. “You know my rule, Zira. That hasn’t changed.”
“I know,” I reply breathlessly and I push into his hold. “I want this. I want you. I want to feel like a person in control and this is what I want. You are what I want.”
20
BRADLEY
One of the quiet lounges behind the bar, usually reserved for private parties and functions, serves as the perfect place to take Zira. The dangers of a beautiful woman are imprinted in my mind from my years of falling into the same traps, but something’s different with Zira.
Alcohol warms my veins and her tongue ignites a needy fire across my skin that I’m not strong enough to resist this time. This time, I’m falling for her, and the first time she kisses me, it’s like I’ve been anchored deep in a peaceful reality where the only two people to exist are her and me. My heart lifts, fluttering in time to the slow kisses we weave together. Her arms drape over my shoulders, and I curl one around her waist to keep her against me. My other hand strokes her cheek, following the flex of her jaw with my fingertips every time we kiss.
“You’re gentler than I expected,” Zira whispers against my lips. “Big, strong man like you and you kiss like I’m fragile.”
“You are fragile,” I murmur back, nudging my nose against hers and deepening our kiss. “Strength isn’t always about force.”
She moans softly and slides both hands into my hair, then brings them down to stroke along either side of my jaw. A final kiss and she steps away, holding my arm so that I turn as she lazily steps away until my back is to the couch. Then she pushes me lightly and I follow her command to sit.
Zira’s dress slips from her bare shoulders like silk, flowing down her curves and kissing every inch of her on the way down. She’s absolutely gorgeous. Her breasts huddle together in a strapless bra, and I follow the dress down to the curve of her stomach, her wide hips and shapely thighs, and then down to the floor. It pools there like a puddle, and she steps out of it in just her heels. The snap of elastic draws my attention back up and with her hands behind her back, her bra loosens around her breasts and joins her dress on the floor. The reveal of her dusky nipples, small and perked as if already eager to reach me, makes my mouth water, and a lazy smile slips across Zira’s lips.
“Like what you see?”
“The fact that you even have to ask me that…” I say huskily. “Come here.” I hold out my hand, and Zira sways toward me as if she’s putting on a show. Part of me considers stopping because Zira’s still performing for me, regardless of whether she realizes it or not, but I can’t resist her a second time, not right now.
She ends up in my lap, heated weight right over my crotch, and my stirring dick immediately hardens like a rock underneath it. Zira definitely feels it, judging by how her hips wiggle down against me. Together, we shed my shirt, and Zira runs her hands all over my body, from pecs to abs and back again while trailing her nails until every part of me is shivering and alert to her touch.
“Wow,” she breathes. “You’re built like a fucking truck. I almost want to know how much you weigh.”
“Enough to know you’ll snap under me,” I tease as I caress her jaw and bring her in for another kiss.
Those are the last words we speak. Once we kiss, nothing else needs to be spoken as the heat rising between us speaks for itself. I can’t keep my hands off her. Stroking her bare back brings both my hands to her shapely ass where I grip handfuls of her and draw her hard against me, dragging her weight against my trapped cock.
Her tongue enters my mouth, and she repeatedly strokes through my hair while curving her body into me so every roll of her hips drags her nipples against my bare skin and turns my mind to mush. I don’t know where to focus and for a split second, I simply sit and enjoy having her in my arms. The sweetness of her lips, the softness of her skin, her supple breasts cushioning against my chest.
Then I roll us. Zira ends up on the couch with a squeak, and I slot almost perfectly between her spread thighs. Keeping the kisses slow and deep, I link fingers with one of Zira’s hands and press it down onto the couch above her head. My other hand joins hers in fiddling with my pants and undoing the zipper, button, and belt in order to push them down past my hips.
The only interruption comes from seeking out the small tube of lube in my back pocket, and luckily, Zira doesn’t ask why I have it. She doesn’t need a breakdown of how handy something like that is when a gun jams or for preserving fingerprints on the handle of a blade. She’s happy I have it, and that’s all that matters.
With skilled fingers that leave me with my own quiet questions, Zira takes the small tube from me and with one hand twists the cap off, squeezes some onto her palm, and then discards it. A second later, her hand warms the lube against the shaft of my cock and her touch draws a deep, soft moan from somewhere in my chest while my hips punch forward into her touch.
She smirks proudly and when we next kiss, her teeth sink lightly into my lower lip and I thrust my tongue deep into her mouth with a low, soft groan. Her hand moves back and forth from shaft to crown and she coats my cock in lube, smirking the entire time. This lasts until we break for air and our eyes meet.
‘Wow’ she mouths at me, as any word she might have actually tried to say melts into a soft moan as I pull her panties aside, line myself up, and gently push into her with a slow, controlled roll of my hips.
