‘Yup. Fine.’
‘Good. You need the larger drum just below your right knee and nudge the smaller one to your left.’
If she focused really hard on the drums instead of the press of his body, she could do this.
‘You comfy?’
‘Just peachy.’ Never mind that her muscles were in clench mode and it was nothing to do with drum-holding.
‘Good. That’s important. Make sure you’ve got the drum firmly in place between your legs.’
His voice was so low, so full of innuendo that Olivia was torn between a desire to elbow him or call him on it. She went for option two.
Wriggling her bottom backwards she grinned at the evidence of exactly what innuendo was doing to him. ‘You sure you’re talking about the drum?’ she whispered.
His breath hitched and the solid muscle of his thigh convulsed against her leg. ‘Excellent question. What would you like me to be talking about, Olivia?’
He pressed the edge of his erection against the small of her back and she moaned. She had to ground herself; she really did. They had agreed to bypass the attraction, so what exactly was Adam doing? Maybe he was being carried away by the music—in which case it was up to her to be the sane one.
‘The drums,’ she said hoarsely. ‘That’s what we’re talking about here.’
‘Anything you say, cupcake.’ He caressed her hands, his thumbs stroking her index fingers until she couldn’t think straight. ‘In which case now you need to limber up,’ he growled. ‘You’ll need to use your fingers and thumbs to do a lot of the work.’
‘Meep. Meep.’
‘This is what you’ll need to get a beat going.’ His nose brushed her cheek; he was so very close they were practically melded. Her entire body was on alert as his scent enveloped her.
Reality, Liv. Try to focus.
Saru had started playing now, and the singer strummed the first chord of the song.
‘Just go with it, Olivia,’ Adam murmured. ‘Go with the rhythm. Lose yourself in it.’
For a second her body tensed against his and then something shifted inside her chest—a leaden block, pushed aside by the volcano of desire that was building up inside her like a fever. She closed her eyes and allowed her body to sway to the beat, encased by the strength of Adam’s arms. She felt his body move with hers and dizziness soared. Her hands, still underneath his, moved instinctively to the rhythmic beat of the music until the singer sang a final harmonic refrain, the echo of his voice soaring into the warm glow of the bar.
Applause rang out and Olivia opened her eyes, suddenly aware of the insane grin on her face.
‘That was amazing,’ she breathed. And so was this: Adam’s hard body pressed up against her, the high of having done something so out of character. She wondered if it was possible that aliens had abducted the real Olivia Evans.
‘There’s nothing like it,’ Adam agreed.
Saru jumped down off the stage and after a long moment Adam released her waist and rose to his feet. Olivia gave a small shiver. Of cold, she reassured herself. Not loss, because that would be absurd.
Her heart still pounded, her head still spun, and desire still smouldered, desperate to erupt. Damn it, she wanted that physical connection to remain.
Without letting herself question it further she rose and twisted round, closed the gap between them in a single small step. She looped her arms round the solid column of his waist, curled her fingers into the waistband of his shorts and rocked right up against him.
TEN
Adam stared down into her wide hazel eyes, saw her lush pink lips part. There was no way in heaven or hell he could resist her. One taste, one kiss—that was all he’d allow himself. After the glorious frustration of having her lush body so close, her apple scent intoxicating him whilst her sheer abandon in the music had stopped him short, a kiss was surely not too much to take?
‘Adam? Please. This time I won’t pull back.’
Whoa...
A kiss was one thing; Olivia was asking for more. Huzzah.
Somehow he had to think past the temptation to throw her over his shoulder, race back to the hotel, and take her at her word. Before she changed her mind.
‘Damn it.’ The words emerged from his throat hoarse and guttural. Twice they’d been carried away, and two times Olivia had hauled herself back. There must be reasons for that.
Complicated reasons.
So if she was surrendering herself now that was a huge deal for her.
Which further muddied the already swamp-like water.
About the only thing Adam was sure of now, apart from his body’s urgent desire, was that complications were bad news.
For all concerned.