Okay, she was eternally grateful for that assurance, and now that Steve had eased her insecurities, there was something more pressing she needed to attend to, no matter that there were other couples in the room with them. Most were too busy with their own pleasure to pay attention to anything else going on around them.
Reaching between their bodies, Liz unbuckled his belt, but before she could pull the tab of his zipper down, he stopped her.
He sucked in a startled breath. 'Damn it, Liz, what are you doing?' he growled huskily.
She nipped at his jaw and cupped him in her palm through the fabric of his slacks, massaging the impressive length of him with her fingers. 'Someone put something in my drink, and I'm burning up. I need you inside me. Here.
He swore beneath his breath, his body tensing protectively, possessively, and she knew he was thinking about hunting down those two men and beating the shit out of them.
Right now, Liz had something else in mind for those wonderful hands of his. Catching his wrist, she slid his palm beneath the hem of her dress and determinedly guided his fingers upward, past the lacy band of her stockings. 'Steve… touch me.'
She groaned and trembled when he slipped two fingers beneath the edge of her panties and into the hot, wet folds of her pulsing sex and stroked her engorged flesh. She came immediately, biting her bottom lip as her release slammed through her in a pounding rush of sensation that nearly overwhelmed her with the pleasure of it.
But that one orgasm wasn't enough. Not when she could already feel a second one waiting in the wings, another wave of heat building, slowly cresting to a peak of desire.
'Steve,
He lifted his dark head and stared deep into her eyes as his fingers, wet from her, skimmed up to her hip and tugged on the side ties of her panties. 'Please what?' he asked, his tone low and rough.
This particular fantasy had turned dark and forbidden, a naughty, shameless tryst that surprisingly turned her on, beyond the stimulant she'd been given. There was no reason to couch what she wanted and needed in a flowery request. Right now, she needed a hard, fast coupling for the pure sake of satisfaction.
His restraint shattered, and instead of releasing the second tie on her panties, he ripped them off her hips, then shoved the scrap of fabric into his coat pocket. In a heartbeat, he released his shaft, plucked a foil packet from the bowl on the table next to them, and rolled the condom on.
Then he was back, curling his fingers under her bare bottom, pulling her forward, spreading her legs, and lifting her all in one smooth motion. Her thighs clamped against his hips, and he shoved forward, entering her in a long, hard thrust that impaled her to the hilt. The cry that escaped her throat was lost in the pulsating beat of the music drifting into the velvet room from the bar area.
With Steve standing in front of her, and with the dim lighting, all anyone could see was a couple in an erotic embrace, if they could see anything at all in the dark corner Steve had chosen. Anyone could imagine exactly what they were doing, but they were completely and decently covered-by her dress and the jacket he wore.
Which made the encounter that much more exciting.
She anchored her arms around his neck, locked her ankles against the small of his back, and felt the powerful muscles in his arms, along his shoulders, and in his buttocks Hex as he pumped into her. She welcomed this primal side to Steve, the way he could so easily lose control with her.
Burying her face in the curve of his neck, she inhaled his hot male scent. She bit his earlobe, dipped her tongue into his ear, and felt the clench of her inner muscles around his shaft as another orgasm beckoned.
'Oh, God,' she rasped into his ear, poised on the brink of tumbling over yet another exquisite peak. 'I'm going to come again.'
When the tempest was over, she sagged against him, felt him shift with her still in his arms, then gently lowered her feet back to the floor.
He met her gaze and tenderly brushed tendrils of hair off her cheek. 'We got the information we came for, so let's get the hell out of here.'
She couldn't agree with him more.
Chapter 14
They took a cab home instead of using the company limousine, and as soon as they were inside Steve's place and made their way up to his bedroom, Liz was worked up all over again. She couldn't seem to get enough of him-a fantasy in and of itself, despite how furious Steve was at whoever had given her a sexual stimulant. But now all he could do was give her more of what she needed, and in the private haven of his bedroom, without an audience, he could do just that.
Heat against heat.
Flesh against flesh.
Heartbeat to heartbeat.
But she was going too fast, her movements anxious and aggressive as she pushed his coat from his shoulders, then began unfastening the buttons on his dress shirt. That came off in a frenzy, too, and then she was attacking the front closure on his slacks, trying to get those off him as well.
This was not how he'd imagined that their night together would end. Oh, he'd anticipated that they'd end up in his bedroom, but she was taking charge and aiming for mindless physical pleasure, and he meant to make this night one she'd remember emotionally. Because now that he had the information he needed to trace Rob, he instinctively knew this was his last night with Liz. Tomorrow would bring answers and possibly a firm lead on Valerie's whereabouts, and once Steve gave Liz the assurances she was searching for, she'd most likely end their affair, because she believed she wasn't ready for a relationship, that other responsibilities and obligations were more important than her own happiness.
And if tonight was all he had left, he damn well intended to make it a memorable one, in every way that mattered.
Gently grasping her wrists, he pulled her hands away from the front placket of his slacks. 'Liz, slow down.'
'I want you,' she said urgently, and kissed his chest, ran her tongue up to one rigid nipple, and grazed the tip with her teeth.
He drew in a shuddering breath, tried to keep his thoughts from straying to her shameless attempts to distract him. 'I want you, too.' But his longing for her went deeper than surface sensations. He wanted her heart, her body, and her soul.
She looked up at him with eyes bright with desire, her skin flushed and feverish. 'Steve, I need-'
He pressed his fingers over her warm, soft lips, cutting off her demand. 'Shhh. I know what you need, and I gave you what you wanted back at the mansion.' A hot, fast, wild coupling. 'Now it's my turn to be in charge, and I'm going to make love to you. Slowly, leisurely, thoroughly.'
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he brought her body up against his, holding her securely in his embrace. He caressed her cheek with his palm, felt her tremble with a renewed urgency, and lowered his mouth to hers. He calmed her jitters with a lush, deep kiss, tamed her frenzied passion with the slow, lazy stroke of his tongue against hers. Despite her attempts to quicken the pace, to devour him, he controlled her response until she softened against him.
When he finally felt that she was more relaxed, he loosened his hold and unfastened the top part of her halter dress. Letting the two panels of bright-red material fall open, he bared her from the waist up, except for the
