Chapter 8
Faye almost danced down the street as she walked away from the museum. It was lovely to have spent so many hours working on the mystery of all of those interesting symbols in Mr. Tismona’s paintings. She was attacking the issue from a different angle now. She’d taken pictures of every symbol and would print them out to see if there was an overarching theme to them. So far, she’d been trying to understand them within the context of the individual paintings. But maybe the answer to all of the mysterious objects was bigger than the individual pieces. Maybe the whole collection was more important than just one painting!
It was a two mile walk back to her apartment but thankfully the sun was setting by that time of day. She would shower and change clothes before walking over to the hotel for dinner with Zantar. At the thought of going to the hotel, on a day when she was supposed to be on sick leave, her stomach tightened. What if she ran into her boss? Or even worse, the hotel manager? She didn’t want to see either man right now. Maybe she should call Zantar and ask if they could go out for dinner.
Then thoughts of this morning came back to her mind. Not that they’d ever really been far from her consciousness, she admonished herself. In fact, what had transpired earlier today had been taunting her all day. She would think about the beautiful pleasure he’d given to her that morning and…well, then she’d be tormented by how he’d walked away without any of the pleasure she’d enjoyed! And yet, she didn’t really know how to pleasure him in the same way. Did men do it that way? With their clothes on? She suspected that it would be a bit messy if…oh good grief, she mentally muttered to herself. She was being ridiculous!
But was she?
Faye stepped into her tiny shower, trying to banish all of those thoughts from her mind. Unfortunately, they refused to leave, popping up and making her whole body tingle with the hope of more tonight.
Another good reason for them to go to a restaurant instead of dining at the hotel tonight.
Yes, she’d just call him and suggest that really great Mexican restaurant she’d discovered recently. They had excellent guacamole and the fish tacos were truly delicious!
Turning off the water, she stepped out of the tiny shower, wrapping a towel around her nakedness. “What to wear,” she whispered to herself as she padded barefoot to the small closet in her tiny bedroom. She was shifting the hangars, examining the pretty sundresses she’d brought with her when someone knocked on the door. Faye’s eyes swiveled over to the door, her heart thudding in her chest. No one knew where she lived except for the hotel. Had her boss come to her apartment, angry with her for not coming in to work? But the doctor had said that she should take time off! And the manager! Yesterday, he’d told her to get out!
“Oh dear,” she whispered, grabbing her bathrobe and pulling it on, tightening the belt. It wasn’t an appropriate outfit to be fired in, but Faye didn’t have time to pull on something different because there was another pounding on her door.
Faye hurried over and pulled it open, intending to tell whoever was on the other side of the door to give her a moment to put on more appropriate clothing. But when she opened the door, Faye’s mouth fell open as she took in Zantar standing outside, looking huge and magnificent. And furious!
“I thought we were meeting in an hour!” she gasped, her hand reaching up to grip the open neckline of her bathrobe.
“Are you okay?” he demanded, stepping into the room and looking around. As soon as he took in the small, studio apartment, his eyes sharpened. “Is this where you’ve been living?”
Faye looked around, taking in the full size bed and small sofa. There was a tiny kitchen area, but basically, it was all one room. Except for the bathroom. She had done her best to make the whole space pretty with her limited time and budget.
“It’s good enough for my purposes,” she told him. “I know that it’s small, but I’m not here very often. The bed is very comfort…” she stopped when his eyes latched onto the bed, then swiveled towards her. The heat there caused her breath to catch in her throat! She could feel his desire and an answering call bubbled up inside of her.
“You just showered?” he asked, his voice deeper now.
“Yes.”
“And you aren’t hurt?”
She blinked, shaking her head. “Is that why you are here early? To make sure I’m okay? Why would you think I was hurt?”
“Yes,” he replied, nodding sharply. “Someone was watching the back door to the museum today. I suspect that they were waiting for you to come out. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to identify the person yet.”
Her eyes widened even more with that news. “Watching…? Why would they be waiting for me?” A dark eyebrow lifted and she gasped. “You think someone from the hotel was waiting to…hurt me?”
He shrugged. “The thought crossed my mind.”
Faye leaned against the wall, shock causing her body to run hot, then cold and she shivered. “But…I…!”
Zantar couldn’t hold back any longer. She just looked so lost and hurt. He pulled her into his arms, holding her close and trying to offer her comfort. He lived with threats to his life all the time. It was just a part of his existence. But Faye…she wasn’t used to someone trying to hurt her and he could feel her trembling as she tried to process what he was telling her.
“My guards are looking into the situation, Faye. We’ll get to the bottom of it.” His hands dove into her hair, the wet strands still soft and he tangled his fingers in the tresses. “I’ll protect you!” he told her harshly.
She lifted her eyes up to his, tilting her head back. “But…why?” she sniffed. “And who? I mean, I’m just a schoolteacher. I’m not very important!”
His fingers tightened in her hair because he couldn’t believe what she was telling him. How could she think that way? “You’re important to me!”
And with that, he kissed her, his mouth moving over hers as if she were his last breath and he had to inhale all of her. Lifting her up, he cradled her in his arms, unaware of what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to show her, had to prove that she was important to him.
When he’d heard the news that someone had been waiting for her…some sleazy male with a spotty beard and cheap clothes, but with an expensive watch…he’d just about lost his mind. He’d left the meetings early, explaining to the others that his woman was in trouble. He hadn’t waited around to see if they understood. All he knew was that he had to get to Faye, to see her and hold her and make sure that she was safe and whole.
Kissing her, touching her, feeling her respond reassured him that she was safe, but it wasn’t enough. Plus, now that he’d started, he couldn’t seem to stop. Nor could he convince himself that there was a reason to stop! She wasn’t pushing him away, they weren’t in a public place and she felt too damn good!
Blindly, he lifted her up and carried her to the bed, kissing her the whole time. He couldn’t seem to stop! When her fingers reached up, touching his skin, he knew that he didn’t have to hold back. He couldn’t hold back! Not this time.
Laying her down on the bed, he whipped off his tie and jacket, then released several buttons on his shirt, opening the material. “Touch me, Faye,” he urged, his voice rough with need. “I need to feel your hands on my skin.” He didn’t wait for her. He simply lifted her hand and pressed her fingers against his chest, then closed his eyes as he absorbed her touch. It was even better than what he’d imagined over the past several nights while dreaming about this.
Then her fingers moved, her other hand came up and her touch singed him! He was on fire and her touch was like more gasoline, burning him hotter!
He grumbled, the sound coming low in his chest, then he found himself lowering over her, sliding onto the tiny bed so that he could feel her against his whole body. He flipped off his shoes and came down next to her, pressing one knee between her legs so that he could shift against her. That’s all he’d do, he vowed. Just like this morning, he’d give her pleasure and then they’d leave. He’d take her out to dinner in a public restaurant, then kiss her good night afterwards and walk away.
But that was before his mind registered that she was completely naked underneath the thin robe. When his hands moved around to pull her close, the robe was already sliding away, the neckline opening for him to see the soft, perfect breasts tipped with pretty, pale pink nipples. He had to taste one, to feel the tip against his tongue. His hand reached around to cup her bottom, to feel her breast in his other hand. They were perfect! So absolutely perfect. And when he kissed the tip, Faye gasped. She wiggled. She groaned. So he tasted the tip, teased it, wanting to give her as much pleasure as possible.
That’s when she did that thrusting thing with her hips, pressing her core against him in a rhythmic pattern. That, in addition to her touch, her fingers sliding against his chest and, dear heaven, lower to brush lightly against his erection, he was lost. So damn lost! Vaguely, he was aware of her fingers fumbling with the buckle on his belt, but he needed more of those gasps and kept teasing her nipples. Just one more gasp, he told himself, then he’d pull back. Just one more! Moving to her other breast, he started to take that tip into his mouth, but then he felt her fingers on his shaft! Her bare fingers! Damn, she wrapped her fingers around him, tugging him, smoothing her whole hand against him, that soft thumb rubbing around the edge, over the top, then just under the tip and he felt like he was about to explode! Just from a woman’s hand? No, not just any woman’s hand. This was Faye’s hand. This was Faye touching him!