Double Dare

"Damn." She sat up and looked around for a clock. A small elegant silver oval on the bedside table told her it was after six. She was supposed to check for Adrianna's papers and call the broker to notify him to trade on the Exchange, before eight.

"What is it?" Zac pulled her back towards him. He kissed her mouth before he let her reply, and she was momentarily absorbed into his aura again.

"I have to be at work, soon." She drew away reluctantly.

He looked at her while he stroked from her throat down across her breasts, drawing her to him with the lightest touch. She breathed in determinedly and got up. He watched as she dressed, lying on one side, the black sheet draped over his hip.

Abby couldn't take her eyes off him as she fumbled into her dress and found her shoes. He looked like pure sex, spread on the decadent bed, tempting her to come and enjoy his body again. The dusting of black hair across his chest tapered into a line that led the eye down. She looked at the shape of his abdomen, the firm ridges of muscle that went from beneath his rib cage to disappear under the sheet. The black material hid his beautiful cock from her view and she wanted to go over and pull the sheet off him, to take pleasure in looking at his cock too. But she knew that if she did, she wouldn't be able to leave.

When she walked over to collect her earrings from the bedside table, Zac rolled over, put out his hand and grabbed her wrist as she reached out.

"Will you call me later?" Tension emanated from him.

She looked into his eyes, sparkling azure in the morning light. The dark line of his brows failed to shadow their brightness, and their question.

"Yes," she replied, wondering why it was like this, the tension between them when arranging to meet again. Was it because she thought of it as a secret affair? Why didn't he ask to call on her? Did he think she had someone else and he was a bit on the side? He still held her wrist tight in his grasp.

"I'll give you my contacts," she said, wondering if that was it. She hadn't thought. "I haven't got my card on me." He slowly pulled her down to him, to his mouth, and kissed her, one hand resting around the curve of her breast.

"But I will call," she murmured against his mouth, and he released her.

"Perhaps not soon enough to satisfy my insatiable lust for you," he whispered, his eyes growing dark.

She stood there looking at him, mesmerized. He was making it difficult for her to leave without actually doing much at all. Part of her was unable to believe that she had to walk away from him, making her unwilling to do so.

He smiled, stretched, and got up. His cock was long and hard, half risen. Her sex clenched. Her sense of purpose floated away.

"I'll phone for a taxi," he said, breaking the hold.

She turned to watch a

s he walked from the room, leaving her standing by the bed. She listened to his muted voice in the next room. When he came back and stood in the doorway she took in the look of his naked body. The way he wore it with such nonchalance was unbearably sexy.

"Two minutes," he said. He looked her up and down, his expression unfathomable.

She walked over to him. She wanted to say something, to voice the desire that held her captive. His strange thoughtfulness while he watched her made it difficult, even though she had to admit it was hellish sexy. Enigmatic was good, but she was experiencing a yen to unravel the more mysterious side to him.

She laid her hand along his jaw, moving against the graze of stubble that met her touch then reached up to kiss him. "Soon?" she whispered.

His expression was guarded, but he smiled in response, his eyelids lowered, his gaze on her mouth. "Soon." He grabbed a robe, pulling it on, and led her to the door. "How about dinner tonight?"

She smiled. For some reason, she'd felt as if he wasn't going to make a follow up date and leave it to her, like some kind of test. Outside, the taxi sounded its horn. "I'd love to," she said and reached up for a hurried goodbye kiss.

* * * *

Just over an hour later, after a shower and a change of clothes, Abby was on the phone to their broker at the London stock exchange. The release documents were, as promised, on her desk when she got in to work. Once she'd got the ball rolling, she set the FTSE index screen to streaming and tucked into the breakfast bagel she'd ordered in. There was nothing to do now but wait for the result, then she could write it up and move on.

After she'd eaten, she sent Caroline an email asking for some of her legal advice time, then stretched and stood up, looking out the window and down at the busy street below. When she'd first taken over the office she hadn't liked to get too close to the window. She always felt like she might fall through it. Then time assured her of its invincibility and now she would lean into it, imagining what it would be like to fall through the space, into another world. The people swarmed on the street far below. She was high on life, her affair with Zac, her work on the Ashburn portfolio.

She looked at her watch, just a few minutes to wait for the results. How many hours till she met Zac? What was he doing now? Where was he? She shook the questions off. She had to survive at least another few hours before she could have him again. Ludicrous though it was, it was killing her. I'm crazy for him, she realized.

There was a knock at the door and before she had time to answer, Tom walked in. He was carrying two stemmed glasses and a bottle of what looked like Bucksfizz.

Abby stared at him, bemused.

"Well, Abby, what an absolute coup on your behalf. I've been watching the FTSE and I think we can anticipate a celebration." He walked over and put the glasses down, then perched himself on the edge of the desk while he unwrapped the foil on the bottle and glanced at the computer screen.

"Yes. The company has been in sustained growth for several months now," Abby replied, as casually as possible, trying not to react to his unexpected appearance. The bottle was chilled. He'd been prepared for this. How did he know, and why was he so interested?