What a Woman Wants (10 page)

She smiled as she met his gaze. “Yes, I know that now, and that what’s made everything so special to me, Zach. I was being loved even when I didn’t know it.”

He nodded. It was on the tip of his tongue to say,
And you’re still being loved and don’t know it, sweetheart.
He needed to put distance between them before he did kiss her, so he slowly shifted her legs from his lap and stood up. “I’ll leave so you can get some rest. Since we had a huge lunch, what about a late dinner and one of those midnight movies?”

“Sounds good to me. Anything in particular you want to see?”

He shook his head as he placed his hands in his trousers, still tempted to pull her off the sofa into his arms. “Whatever you decide is fine with me,” he said.

“All right.”

She was about to stand when he said, “No, I can let myself out. I’ll see you later, in a few hours.”

And without giving her a chance to say anything else, he quickly headed for the door.

As Adam washed
and dried his hands at the sink, he glanced over at his newest acquisition. In just a few days he’d made a lot of progress, but there was a lot of restoring yet to be done. When Kent had said the vehicle had had a rough life, he truly meant it. The previous owner evidently hadn’t fully appreciated what a gem he’d possessed. But no matter, Adam was the new owner and he would give this
baby
the respect it deserved.

Talking about respect
...

Not for the first time he couldn’t stop his thoughts from turning to Dr. Shannon Carmichael. The proverbial spoiled little rich girl who grew up to become the spoiled and rich woman, she was used to having her way in all things, even in her selection of men.

After she’d left the other night, he had gone up to his apartment and instead of immediately taking a shower, he contacted the guy who handled investigative work for his family’s law firm. In a matter of hours, Adam had been given all the info he needed on the good doctor. She had been telling the truth about how she viewed things in life. She’d never been married and, according to what he’d read, it didn’t seem likely she would be doing so anytime soon or ever. And although she wasn’t a celebrity by any means—definitely not in the same ranks as a Paris Hilton—because her parents were such well-known educators in this country, the media had evidently found her social life interesting and had pegged her with the nickname of “The Prize.” It seemed a lot of men wanted her, but she was too discriminating for any of them. According to the report, to say she was nit-picky was an understatement. But the one thing that seemed constant was that she preferred dating professional men, especially those with titles behind their names. If you didn’t have one, then save yourself the trouble*

Adam remembered how she had shown up unexpectedly that one night. After his brash behavior, he was certain that he had seen the last of her, since it had been a week already and she hadn’t shown back up. For women like Shannon, a bruised ego was something they didn’t get over. One part of his mind thought,
Good riddance.
But another part—the part that had kept him walking the floor at night with a hard-on followed by a cold shower every morning— could just imagine what he’d rejected. Maybe he’d been a fool to turn down what she’d so blatantly offered.

And it hadn’t help matters that he’d found the scrap of silk panties he’d practically ripped off her on the floor next to his car that following morning. If anything, as a true Tennessee gentleman, he should have offered to purchase her another pair. But then when it came to her, he didn’t quite feel like a gentleman. He wanted to be the roughneck she assumed he was, the type of person that she evidently wanted firsthand knowledge of—right between her gorgeous legs.

Adam went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer. He needed it. Today he had helped Kent get a customer’s classic ‘68 Mal-ibu ready for a race in a few weeks at the newly opened Savannah River Drag Way, an event Adam intended to travel the forty-five minutes into Savannah to attend.

Clicking off the lights, he was about to turn toward the stairs to go up to his apartment when he heard a sound. He glanced over at the window, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him. He saw her standing outside the window as she had done the last time he saw her.

He lifted his dark brows in surprise. It seemed the good doctor’s bruised ego hadn’t kept her from returning after all. In fact, knowing how the human mind worked, especially the female mind, he would bet the classic 1965 Corvair that was parked in his garage in Memphis that there was a purpose behind her visit. Some women, he’d discovered, didn’t take rejection well, and he had a feeling she topped the list. No doubt she had something in store for him, something he might not be able to resist a second time, given his present horny state.

And for the first time since meeting her, he had a feeling that he was in big trouble. But still, he intended to do things his way. And it would be a way she wouldn’t easily forget—and he hoped like hell it was one she wouldn’t be quick to regret. If she wanted the raw, unrefined side of him, then tonight she would get it.

If Shannon hadn’t
seen Adam through the window before he’d turned off the lights, she would not have been certain he was inside. But she had seen him, and she knew he’d seen her.

She nearly jumped when the sound of the huge garage door rising startled her. Since he hadn’t turned the lights back on, the en-tranceway looked dark and spooky. She waited a few moments for him to appear, and when he didn’t, she drew in a deep breath, wondered just what kind of game he was playing, and walked over the threshold into the darkened garage.

The sound of her high-heeled shoes crossing the cement floor was loud, and she decided that if Adam wouldn’t turn the lights back on, then she would... once she figured out just where the light switch was. She stopped and glanced around. Everything was dark, and she forced her nerves to relax. As soon as they did, she nearly jumped out of her skin once more when the sound of the garage door being lowered made her jittery all over again. With great effort, she tried to regain her cool. She had never liked the dark.

Having had enough of Adam’s foolishness, she said out loud, “Aren’t you too old to be playing games?”

“Is that what I’m doing?”

She nearly leaped out of her shoes. The deep masculine voice had spoken from directly behind her, and before she could move, he settied his body right smack up against her butt. He felt hot, male, and huge.

“Why did you come back?” he asked, leaning closer and whispering the question gruffly in her ear.

She was about to give him some smart-ass response when he reached around and flattened his palm against her bare stomach to pull her back even more firmly against him. His touch sent blood quickly rushing through her and heat pooling between her legs.

“What the hell are you wearing?” he asked, almost growling. “Or should I be asking what the hell aren’t you wearing?”

“Why don’t you turn on the lights and see,” Shannon growled back. Her outfit, at least what there was of it, undoubtedly had caught his attention the moment he’d touched her bare belly. She had intended to be bold tonight, and she certainly was. When she discovered that Frederick’s of Hollywood was having a grand opening on the island, she’d been ecstatic. The moment she had walked into the store she had seen the perfect outfit, one that would raise Adam Corbain’s temperature up a few notches.

“I think I’ll keep the lights off for now. You can model this outfit for me later. Right now I want to touch you all over.”

His hot breath made her shiver when he leaned closer to her shoulder and nibbled her there and then again when his hand moved from her bare belly up to her lacy bralette and he slipped his hand underneath to gently rub his palm over her breasts. She couldn’t stop the moan that poured forth from her lips. And when she automatically settled her tush even closer to fit against him, he seemed to grow larger.

She closed her eyes as he stroked her breasts with his hands, massaging the tips of her nipples and sending her pulse racing.

“You picked a bad night to come back,” he said, whispering the words hoarsely in her ear even while grinding his groin against her backside.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I’m horny.”

His words, raw and jagged, turned her on instead of turning her off. She decided the first time she’d met him that he took the term
bad boy
to a whole other level, and he was proving her theory right.

“Your being horny doesn’t scare me, Adam,” she whispered, excited.

He slowly moved his hands from her breasts to slide them down past her bare belly to the waistband of the lace thong, which had ties on the side. “And if I go further and slide my hand lower, beneath the waistband of this concoction here, what will I find?” he asked, while easing his hand lower.

“That I’m as horny as you are.”

Adam managed to hold himself in check to keep from laughing. Just where did this woman come from? When it came to being sexually blatant, she could hold her own with any man. She was definitely more ballsy and brash than any woman he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting.

“You think so,” he countered.

“More than likely,” she purred.

“Umm, let’s see.”

Pulling her even closer back to him, he fitted his knees between her legs, opening them wider. He then traced a path lower beneath the waistline of thong. When his fingers reached their mark, they suddenly went still. “The curls?”

Shannon knew what he was asking, not that it was any of his business. But she decided to respond anyway. “I went to the spa a couple of days ago and decided to get a bikini wax.”

“I like hair,” he rumbled in her ear.

“Then grow some.”

Her smart-ass reply evidently got to him—if his responding growl was any indication. And then to prove his point he snatched her around and devoured her mouth, exploring her insides greedily with the insistent thrust of his tongue.

She hadn’t had time to catch her breath. All she could do was wrap her arms around him, breathe in the manly scent of him, and match his mouth play for play. She felt her entire body flaming, and when he shifted her body to give himself access to the heat between her legs, she released a deep moan.

His fingers went to work, just as they’d done the last time and she wasn’t sure what was worse: his tongue in her mouth or his fingers in her center. He was driving her mad, and she felt a pull in the lower part of her body that seemed ready to explode.

Seconds later it did.

She screamed when an orgasm hit, and he soothed the sound with gentle kisses along her face and neck. It seemed to take her forever to recover, to come back down off the high he’d sent her on, but when she did, she found herself swept off her feet and into strong arms. Then she noticed they were moving.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, barely able to get the words out.

“Upstairs to my bedroom, into the light,” he answered matter-of-factly. “I want to see just what the hell you’re wearing.”

The moment Adam
placed her on his bed, Shannon glanced around. The efficiency apartment was neat, tidy, but her scrutiny of his living quarters came to an abrupt end when he came to the bed and stood over her. He had turned a light on the moment they had stepped over the threshold, and he was standing there, looking down at her, getting an eyeful. She couldn’t recall ever giving any man such liberties before.

“I like it.”

His words surprised the hell out of her, and what shocked her even more was the mere idea that she was actually glad that he approved. He then leaned over and lifted the short lace skirt that covered her thong. “Now I understand the reason for the bikini wax.”

She started to tell him that she didn’t care if he understood or not. What she did with her body wasn’t any of his business. And she was about to tell him just that when he reached down, captured her hand, and pulled her to her feet. Before she could ask what he thought he was doing, he showed her, tilting her face up to him and inserting his tongue into her mouth, just as unceremoniously as he pleased. And when he began thrusting that tongue back and forth inside her mouth—right, left, up, down, all around—she began to experience sensations she’d never felt before. This man was actually breaking down every nut and bolt of her sexual system.

He slowly broke off the kiss and pulled back, and his dark eyes searched hers a moment before he said in a deep, husky voice, “You’re going to have to work for it.”

She blinked, and then her eyes darkened. “Work for what?”

He placed her hand on his crotch. Let her feel the size and the hardness. “For this.”

She snatched her hand back and placed them on her hips. “And why should I? I’ve already had my pleasure for tonight.”

He smiled and his gaze became even more intense. “There’s a hell of a lot more where it came from.”

“Might be, but as a rule I’m only good for one a night.”

He brushed her hair off her shoulders and said as casual as you please, “I beg to differ. Care to prove me wrong?”

Shannon’s eyes narrowed. He was trying to be in charge again. “Yes, I beg to differ, and I don’t have any problems proving you wrong. Some women’s body aren’t equipped for multiples and mine is one of them.”

Adam found what she’d said amusing. “You actually believe that?”

Shannon tilted her head back and stared at him without a trace of a smile anywhere on her face. “I actually know that.”

“Okay, then, I’ll prove you wrong after I get some work out of you.

She frowned. “What kind of work?”

“In the kitchen on the counter are the headlights to the car I’m working on downstairs. I need them cleaned with the glass cleaner that’s sitting next to them.”

Shannon almost told him what he could do with both his headlights and his glass cleaner, but she held her tongue. She knew this was a challenge. Although he thought he could push her over the edge again tonight, she knew that he couldn’t. But she was thinking about another night in the future. The orgasms of the last time and tonight had spoiled her, and she didn’t want to do anything to ruin the possibility of a three-peat. She fully intended to come back.

“And what are you going to do while I’m cleaning those headlights?”

“Take a shower.”

Shannon met his gaze. “All right, but if you take too long, I’m leaving.”

He let out a sensuous laugh. “You’re not going anywhere. You got to prove me wrong tonight, remember.” And then he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Despite her determination
to maintain her cool, Shannon practically held her breath until she heard the sound of the shower going. Adam was right. All she had to do was to remember what she’d experienced with his skilled fingers to know she wasn’t going anywhere. Especially when he seemed so convinced he could do the impossible. He seemed so certain of it, so downright confident in his abilities. She’d always detested men who thought they knew her better than she knew herself, and she always took pride in her ability to keep them guessing.