“That’s not true!” she pushed herself up onto her elbows, eyes wide and innocent, which only enraged him more.
“Oh yeah,” he sneered, “So what were you gonna do, go shopping and come back with a midnight snack for us?” Zack knew he shouldn’t be treating her like this; she was an innocent after all. Of course she would try and escape, anyone in her position would. He had no right to feel that there was some kind of connection between them. Who was he trying to kid? In her eyes he was just a common criminal, ready to take her hostage for his own convenience.
“Zack, I was not going to report you to the police,” she stared up at him with those big honey eyes, her dark golden hair hanging in sexy disarray past her shoulders. He felt like a man dying of thirst who’d just found an oasis and he wanted to plunge himself into it, loose himself and forget why he was here and what lay ahead of him. But even if she was telling the truth, which he doubted, he had to focus on nothing but the mission ahead of him. Nothing else mattered.
She was talking and he tried to follow what she was saying, even though he didn’t believe her. “I was going to my friend Shahida’s place. I was not going to the police,” her gaze implored him, but he just shook his head. It didn’t make any sense. “I was going to phone you. Look. Look in my bag – there’s another cell phone in there that I was going to use to contact you.” She pointed at the bag, which he’d brought in from the lounge after she’d fainted.
He went over to it reluctantly, even if she did have another phone, that didn’t prove anything, but he needed to know. He wanted to believe her.
“It’s there, in the outside pocket,” she rushed on. “It’s my personal phone, the other one’s for work calls.”
Zack squatted down and pulled out the shiny, black cell phone, staring at it for a long moment. “This doesn’t mean anything, Chloe. How do I know you weren’t planning on calling the police with it?”
“No!” she was kneeling on the bed now, her t-shirt sliding off one shoulder to reveal the golden skin beneath. He so wanted to believe her, he wanted to believe her and more, much more. “Damn you Zack! You know I’m telling you the truth, otherwise why would I have even told you about the second phone? I could have kept that to myself and maybe used it later.”
His hungry eyes roamed her vulnerable face. She was so beautiful, she made him ache. It was true; she didn’t have to tell him about the phone, God! He straightened up, dragging his fingers through his hair. How could he think straight when all he wanted was to believe her? Women had been using these wiles since the beginning of time, betrayed husbands - and lovers - who were stupid enough to believe them. He had never thought that he could be the victim of a woman’s schemes. Had been arrogant enough to think he was above allowing his – body - to rule his head. But how wrong was he? Yet he still wanted to believe her.
“Do you believe me now?” she was sitting back on her knees, looking as if she really cared about what he thought, but all he could think right now was that he wanted her so badly it hurt. He grabbed his jeans from the soft chair in the corner, turning his back on her to drag them on, and then turned around to face her.
“If you weren’t going to call the police, then why did you want to escape?” he asked softly.
She dropped her gaze, staring down at her hands in her lap instead. “This – this situation,” she stammered finally. “This apartment, it’s too small. You need your space and - and so do I. I think you know what I mean Zack, it would be better if I wasn’t - here.”
Zack frowned. “You’re not frightened of me are you?”
“No, not really.” her voice was husky now. “Maybe I should be, but I’m not.”
Was she afraid of the attraction between them? Zack felt his senses leap. He knew she was aware of him as a man, but if she felt just a fraction of what he felt about her… God, this was dangerous. Dangerous to her and to the mission. Maybe he should take the chance and let her go, that would be more sensible, but he knew he wasn’t going to do that. No way. He wanted her around, even if he couldn’t touch her, just being around her was enough.
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Zack put the door keys under his pillow along with the two cell phones. He was lying on top of the quilt beside her, wearing just the boxer shorts, hands behind his head as usual, while she lay beneath the lightweight quilt, inside the bed. He’d made some warm milk earlier to help her sleep, but her mind was still racing with questions.
“So, are you not going to tell me how you did it?”
He didn’t bother to ask what she meant; he just tried to think about how much he could tell her. One thing he didn’t want to tell her about was his mission.
“Well, I’m not the invisible man,” he said with a smile in his gravelly voice.
She turned to face him, but he continued to stare at the ceiling. “Then what are you Zack?”
“I’m – I can change my shape – a little.”
“What do you mean? You can squeeze through bars. Make yourself thinner?”
“Something like that.”
“But then how did you get into this apartment? There were no windows open for you to – squeeze through?”
She watched his smooth, bronzed chest rise and fall in a sigh. “Do you really want to know this, Chloe?”
“Yes. Are you some kind of, of – shapeshifter?” Even to her own ears it sounded ridiculous.
“Yes, something like that. At least that’s what they call it in this world.”
Chloe began to tremble – a shapeshifter, and why did he keep referring to this world? Was she going crazy? Losing her mind? Did he even exist, or had she just make him up in her head? Maybe she was so desperate for a man in her life that she’d conjured up a shapeshifter from another world!
He was looking at her now, his expression concerned. “Are you Ok?” He leaned over her, trying to fathom what she was thinking. Was she repulsed by him now that she knew? Seeing him as some kind of freak? She had said that she wasn’t frightened of him, but maybe fear was better than whatever she was feeling about him now.
She focused on her breathing, trying to still the rising anxiety.
“Chloe, look at me, are you Ok?”
She stared into his darkened eyes, her body still trembling, but her breathing steady. “I don’t know if it’s you that’s crazy or me, Zack, but it’s scaring the hell out of me.”
He reached out and stroked her hair, his touch soothing yet exciting at the same time. Chloe felt her breathing speed up a notch.
“God Chloe, I’m sorry I got you involved in this,” his fingers were stroking her cheek now, his thumb almost touching her lips. She felt so tempted to feel his skin against her mouth, to taste him with her tongue.
Chloe moistened her lips and his eyes dropped to her mouth. His pupils were huge almost covering the pale blue irises; and she could feel his warm breath against her cheek, he smelt like heaven. She felt the pad of his thumb on her moist bottom lip and her body suddenly felt hot and heavy. His thumb was rubbing against the silky skin of her lip and her tongue snaked out to taste him. She could hear his breathing change, becoming laboured and uneven, while his thumb continued to trace the soft outline of her lips. Finally he lowered his head and replaced his thumb with his mouth.
His lips were firm yet gentle as he slanted his head allowing his tongue to explore the shape of her mouth before softly biting her bottom lip and sucking it into his mouth. Chloe’s body felt tight and hot, as heat dragged down between her thighs; finally he covered her mouth with his in a deep, sensual kiss. Hot, sweet pleasure engulfed her, leaving her boneless, weak and clinging to him as his hard body covered hers, pressing down on her with an urgency that caused her to arch herself against him. He groaned, grinding his hips against hers through the thin quilt. Her hands moved from his neck into his thick, silky hair, pulling him even closer. His tongue was exploring and demanding at the same time, twisting and mating with hers, then teasing and withdrawing until she moaned in prote
st.
Chloe gulped for air unable to speak, she had never been kissed like this before, never responded with such abandon and her mind was clouded with passion. Although her brain was telling her this wasn’t a good idea, it was simply too difficult to focus on anything besides the desire flooding her body.
“God, this is crazy,” his raspy voice was full of regret or derision, she wasn’t sure which, but it got her brain functioning again. Yes, she had never been kissed like this before, never responded with such abandon, yet she didn’t know this man – didn’t know who he was or what he was.
“Stop,” her hands moved to the hard muscles of his chest, lingered and then pushed. “Please Zack - stop,” she breathed, desire still pulsing through her body.
For a moment she thought he was going to ignore her, his face buried in the curve of her neck, his breathing ragged. Then, suddenly, he threw himself back onto his side of the bed, in one of those unnaturally fluid movements, and covered his eyes with his forearm.
Chloe scrambled up, gasping for breath, wanting to get off the bed, but not sure if her trembling legs could hold her. She was hot, her skin tight and ultra- sensitive as she dragged her knees up to her chin, trying desperately to ignore the pulsing ache between her legs. Zack had not moved, but she couldn’t look at him, though she could hear his heavy breathing, and when she glanced towards his side she wished she hadn’t. The boxer shorts did little to hide his state of arousal and Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, her body flushing hot with embarrassment – and something else – something she didn’t want to define.
Zack lay there, swearing to himself, while he tried to get control of his raging libido. His body was aching with need, but he ignored it. How could he have allowed himself to kiss her; she was frightened enough as it was! But she had responded; he quelled the thought before it had time to register, before his mind began to roam with his body egging it on. The taste and smell of her was all over him, not just the soap she used, but the scent that was purely hers combined with the musky scent of what might have been.
Anger at himself and his one-track mind brought him back to the present. He should never have come to her home. He’d convinced himself it was his only option, but now he knew he’d been kidding himself all along, he’d wanted her – still wanted her – and it was a constant distraction. He moved his arm away from his eyes and steeled his expression before turning to look at her. She was sitting up avoiding his gaze. What was she thinking? Was she scared? The idea that she was frightened of him now, maybe saw him as some kind of pervert tore through him. He had to know.
“Chloe, I’m sorry,” he didn’t move in case he scared her more than she already was.
There was a long silence. “Why?” she finally looked at him and Zack stared back feeling like an idiot. “Why are you sorry?”
It was not the response he was expecting, and he searched his brain for an answer. “Because I took advantage of you – you were in shock, you were scared,” he sat up, keeping a safe distance between them. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me, I would never – you know – force myself on you.”
“Don’t worry, Zack,” she said ruefully. “I don’t think you’re going to rape me.” She paused for a long moment. “I’m more afraid of what you are than of what you might do to me.”
He believed her. It was a relief to know she didn’t see him as a rapist, but that didn’t change the fact that she couldn’t fathom what he was. They were worlds apart, almost a different species and the futility of this depressed him. It was not something he wanted to think about right now.
He noticed the dusky shadows beneath her eyes; her face was pale and drawn.
“You’re exhausted,” and so was he. “Let’s go to sleep, Chloe and if you want to know more about what I am, we can talk about it in the morning, hmm.”
She nodded sleepily and he pulled the quilt over her as she stretched out like a cat, on her side, facing him. Her eyes were half closed; her silky hair spread out, like spun gold on the pillow behind her and his hands itched to touch her again. Make lazy, sleepy love to her, all night long. He thrust the fantasy aside, pulling the covers up to his waist, trying futilely to ignore that unique fragrance of hers, that warm, soft body lying beside him.
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