Speak Easy (Speak Easy 1)

“I switched mine, remember?” She patted my hand. “It’s all right. Ted can drive me. And Rosie’s here too.” She pointed to a table near the dance floor, where Rosie was cuddling up to a tall man in a tuxedo.

“All right. Well, have fun.” I hugged her and headed for the exit, refusing to look in the direction of Enzo and Gina’s table.

If I had, I would’ve seen that Enzo wasn’t there.

Just as I reached the hallway leading to the exit, he stepped in front of me, his eyes snapping with anger. “Why were you talking to Raymond?”

“None of your business.” My heart clunked.

“He’s an idiot,” Enzo spat, and I realized he wasn’t so much suspicious as jealous.

Ha! How do you like it? “You’re drunk,” I hissed. “Go back to your girl and her Kentucky distillery.” I tried to step around him, but he wrapped his fingers around my forearm, his eyes darkening with fury.

“No.”

I attempted to shake him off. “Let me go.”

&nbs

p; “I want you to stay.”

“And I’m sure you’re used to getting what you want from women, but the answer is no.” I clenched my teeth and my thighs together. “Now let go of my arm.” He only gripped me harder, pulled me closer.

“I know you want me.”

How badly I wanted to deny it, but my insides were aching for him. I lifted my chin. “I want you to beg.”

A smile spread across his lips before he yanked me behind a red curtain into the dim hatcheck room. “Leave us,” he said to the girl working in there. She slipped out without a word, and Enzo swung the curtain closed. Then he spun me around, twisting my right arm behind my back and crushing my chest to the wall. I gasped as he pressed into me, heating the side of my face with heavy breaths. His tongue traced the shell of my ear. “You want me to beg?”

I could feel how hard he was against the small of my back. Every inch of me buzzed with fearsome desire. “Yes.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Miss O’Mara.” Grinding against me, he whispered in my ear. “I’m begging you. Please.”

In that moment I knew nothing but want—for his body, for total abandon, for the mindless ecstasy I knew he could bring. “Yes,” I said. “Yes.”

“In five minutes, give my name to the bartender and he’ll let you into the storage room. I’ll meet you at the entrance to the tunnel.” Releasing me, he disappeared through the curtain.

I stood there, mouth open, my breath coming quick and heavy. The hatcheck girl returned and I avoided meeting her eyes. Don’t look at anyone, I told myself as I slipped through the curtain. Keep your eyes low, put one foot in front of the other, and for God’s sake, don’t think! Hurrying to the bar on surprisingly steady legs, I pictured him in his black three-piece suit. Imagined those pieces coming off, one by one.

Yes, I wanted his clothes off. I wanted to feel his bare, hot skin on mine. I wanted to make him weak with desire and bring him to heel. I wanted to hear him say he wanted me, couldn’t resist me. Keeping my back to the room, I counted off five minutes, growing more agitated with every passing second. Speaking low, I gave the bartender his name and was granted access to the storage room. I walked to the far wall, and two seconds later the door opened and Enzo pulled me into the tunnel. As soon as he shut the door behind me, I lunged for him. His arms lashed around my back and his whisky-flavored tongue drove into my mouth, igniting a flame at my center that flared throughout my body like wildfire. I tried to push his coat from his shoulders.

“Not here.” He took my arm and pulled me quickly through the blindingly dark tunnel. We exited into a stairwell, and I stumbled going up. He caught me by the elbows, dragging me to my feet, and five seconds later we burst into the paneled hallway, which was dark and empty of guards.

Is he taking me to the office again? We raced down the hall, and for one fleeting moment, I had the fear that it was all a setup and Angel would be waiting for me behind his desk, ready to impose a new deadline or demand more money.

At the office door, Enzo took out his keys and unlocked it before shoving me inside. Then he shut the door behind us and locked it again with a loud click. In the silence that followed, I was glad to hear his breathing was as labored as mine. His keys and my purse hit the floor. My heart felt as if it would crack my ribs, it rattled against them so hard.

“My father is away tonight.” Enzo moved toward me in the darkness.

“Is he?” I took a step back, wanting him to chase me.

“Yes. So this is my office right now. Everything in it is mine.” As my eyes adjusted, I watched him remove his coat and unbutton his vest. My insides jittered in anticipation, and I backed up further. He dropped the vest and loosened his tie as my back hit the sideboard, rattling the decanters and glassware on top. I made a quarter turn and kept moving backward. He pursued me slowly, releasing his arms from his braces, ditching his collar and tie, and unbuttoning his shirt. My tailbone hit something hard. “Stay there,” he said. “I want to fuck you on that desk.”

He closed the distance between us quickly, pulling his shirt from his trousers. Caging me in with a hand on either side of my hips, he devoured his way down my neck to my shoulder. My nipples peaked in response to the nearness of his mouth. I wanted it. I wanted everything. Right now. “Do it,” I whispered.

His voice was raw with want. “I’ve thought of nothing else since I last saw you. I can’t even look at this fucking piece of furniture without seeing your legs open for me.” As I sucked in air, he caught me underneath the arms and set me on top of the desk.

Pulse pounding, I pulled my dress up to my hips, revealing the lace between my legs. Then I opened my knees. Wide. “Like this?” Finally my voice was low and sultry, like I always wished it would be.