Double Dare

In the early morning light, Zac stirred. Abby was asleep and he looked at her face in the pale light. He resisted the urge to kiss her and got up. He picked up the robe that lay across the end of the bed, slipped it on, walked over to the balcony and stepped out into the still air. In the distant sky there was a suggestion of dawn. The fountain trickled below, but he could only discern its outline vaguely.

He clutched the wrought-iron railings on the balcony. Abby would be leaving in a few hours. The day after tomorrow would change everything. She'd said that she loved him, that she wanted to be with him. Would she still feel the same way?

He became aware of her presence behind him before he heard her, and turned round. She tied her robe then swept her loose hair back over her shoulder before reaching out to touch him.

"Are you okay?" She looked concerned.

He nodded.

"The sun's coming up," she whispered.

She stared at him as he moved closer to her and took her face in his hands. He kissed her, brushing his mouth over hers, savoring the feeling of her soft warmth.

"It isn't enough for me, one weekend."

She shook her head.

"I want us to share everything." He kissed her forehead and brushed his fingers through her hair. "Think about it, but if you feel the same in a few days would you consider moving in with me? I could do with some help finishing the apartment." He added the last part quickly, covering up his concern about pushing too fast and at the wrong moment.

She stared at him and her expression was wary, her eyes searching his. "I can't think of anything I'd like to do more, but we need to get to know each other a little better, don't we?"

Her wariness hurt, but he couldn't blame her. "Yes," he said quietly, knowing it might not go that way, but wanting to feel that it would happen.

He untied her robe, touched her pussy and slid his finger into its warm groove. She gasped and he looked into her eyes, moving close against her.

She leaned back against the railings as he pressed himself against her. He moved his face into her neck and breathed her scent deeply then sucked her throat as if taking her into his body, never to let her leave. He could hear the pace of her breathing, feel the tension in her.

His hand rose to her throat and circled it. "Do you trust me, Abby?" His fingers stroked her throat. "I must know that you trust me."

She closed her eyes. "Yes, Zac, I think I do."

"Oh, Abby, my love." His fingers stroked her throat. She did love him, unreservedly. He believed that. The only thing he didn't know was how she would react when she found out.

Chapter Fourteen

Suzanne stood in the middle of her bedsit and put her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed with mistrust as she glared at Nathan. "You complete and utter bastard."

"Suz, please, you're wrong. It was a mistake, yes, but it isn't as bad as it sounds."

He paused, studied her expression, and groaned. Loudly. He was sitting on the edge of her bed, naked, scrubbing his hair with the heels of his hands while he tried to explain.

"Excuse me? You came onto me because you were tracking Abby for your boss, and that doesn't sound bad? How does that not sound bad?"

"I didn't come onto you, I..." Shit. No matter how he put it, it sounded dodgy as hell. "I met you because Zac had asked me to keep an eye on her." Desperation hit him. "She's working for him, for Christ sakes, but she lied. What would you think if you were in his shoes?"

She shook her head, staring at him with a mixture of threat and defense. "No way, no way can you get away with this. Either of you."

That last statement was definitely a threat, he thought with resignation. He wished he hadn't brought it up while she was starting to get dressed for the day. There was something totally unnerving about an irate woman wearing only a bra. Being forced to confront a bunch of escaped cons seemed somehow preferable. Her face was flushed in an angry hue, eyes smarting as she gesticulated madly, her bare pussy staring at him just as accusingly as she was. The neat blond thatch, still glistening from their earlier oral indulgences, was like a magnet to his hungry gaze. Or maybe it was easier to look down there than at her accusing stare.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," she shouted. She rolled her eyes, turned away and bent over to snatch up her matching panties, the ones that she'd dropped in horror when he'd begun his confession.

The twin globes of her gorgeous bottom filled his vision. He ached to hold her, remembering how good those buttocks felt in his hands when he lifted her onto his cock and held her tight.

She turned around.

Eyes up, eyes up.

"Bloody men," she muttered under her breath as she pulled the scrap of lace on. She threw him another disapproving glance. "You think the world revolves around you. Well listen here, buster." She pointed at him with a condemning finger. "Abby lied because blokes can't deal with her being cleverer than they are, and she liked Zac so she didn't want to scare him off."