Wolf in Plain Sight Read online

  She had good reason to be wary. If she told him to back off, he’d be hard pressed to obey. Every male chromosome in his body screamed at his groin to take her.

  His gaze never leaving hers, he took a deep, calming breath and forced himself to follow the ritual. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “I’m not thirsty.” Her voice pleased him. Feminine, but not too dainty, with a hint of aged whiskey.

  Undeterred, he nodded to the bartender hovering behind her. “Two draft beers.”

  Her brown eyes narrowed, but she remained silent.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I’m just thirsty.”

  “Or impossibly arrogant,” she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

  He bit back a grin. “I haven’t seen you here before,” he said, and then cursed himself for using such a tired line.

  “I’m new to the area,” she said, sounding bored. Her foot sawed faster.

  Great! They sounded like trained parrots. How could he think of conversation when all he wanted was to slide his hands around her naked back? “What’s your name?”

  “Pia.”

  Pia. Cute name, a little sassy like she was. Or rather, like he thought she might be if he could just figure out how to get her talking.

  At least she hadn’t tried to bolt. He leaned past her to reach for one of the beers the bartender laid behind her on the bar. He held it out.

  Her hands remained in her lap, her expression defiant.

  Well, hell. His luck wasn’t running any better. He lifted the glass and gulped the foam.

  She watched him, her eyes following the movement of his throat. Her tongue licked her full lower lip.

  Before he gave it a thought, he handed her the same beer.

  Rather than pouring it on his shoes, her hands slid around the glass. Her gaze remained on the beer.

  Satisfaction throbbed in his belly. She’d probably like an introduction before he asked her to go home with him. “Name’s Max.”

  Her lips pressed together, and then curved into a smile that stretched the full lower lip. The lady had a rather large mouth. It was perfect. “As in maximum?”

  The smile warmed him while giving him confidence he hadn’t totally blown it. He shifted his feet and stepped closer, bringing her crossed legs between his. “Do you doubt it?” he asked, his voice low.

  Her head tilted back, and a frown drew together her finely arched brows. “Do you think I’m impressed with your caveman tactics?”

  His glance slid down to her breasts. Her headlights were erect little points that stabbed toward him. “Damn right,” he said, hoping he hadn’t read her body language wrong.

  With a toss of her hair, she uncrossed her legs, her knee caressing the inside of his thigh. “Sorry about that,” she murmured, although she didn’t look sorry at all. She’d just checked him out.

  His heart kicked into a slow, thrumming throb. The lady knew where this was leading. She’d accepted his beer.

  The part of him that had tensed in pursuit relaxed. She could be his if he didn’t overplay his cards. And he had a decision to make. Savor a slower rise to climax or take her hard and fast? “Dance with me.”

  She shook her head, which swept the ends of her curly brown hair across the tops of her bare shoulders. “I don’t dance.”

  He reached for the beer she held in her lap and set it on the bar. His fingers closed around her slender wrist, and he tugged her up from the stool.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” She tottered on her heels for a moment, and her nipples brushed his chest. Her gaze, wide-eyed, set his heart thumping in a slower, heavier beat. He swept his arm around her waist and pulled her along to the dance floor. He needed her in his arms now.

  They were the only couple on the small square of parquet-printed linoleum. Max didn’t give her a chance to protest, he simply pressed his body to hers—chest to hip, and slid his leg between her thighs. The heavy, grinding rhythm of the rock music suited his mood just fine. He shifted on his feet from side to side, not so much a dance as foreplay. His body introducing itself to hers.

  She stiffened inside the circle of his arms. “Do you ever pay attention to what a woman tells you?” she asked, her words clipped.

  Encouraged she hadn’t hauled off and slapped him yet, he leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Sweetheart, I was listening, but not to what your lips were saying.”

  Her head jerked back, and her gaze bored into his. “Perhaps you should.”

  The look halted him in his tracks. He’d pushed her too hard. “All right.” Sighing his regret, he stepped away. “I’m sorry. I misread the situation.”

  But she didn’t walk away as he expected. Instead, her head tilted to the side, and she studied his face for a long moment, her teeth worrying her lower lip.

  He wiped his expression free of hunger, hoping for another chance.

  Finally, she looked around the bar and shrugged. “Well, seeing as I’m here…”

  He didn’t wait for her to change her mind. He pulled her into his arms.

  She nestled her face in the crook of his neck and groaned. “This is happening too fast.”

  Relaxing to savor the sensations, he chuckled and pulled her closer. “I know what you mean,” he murmured. A dark, musky floral scent rose from her hair and skin, wrapping him in heat.

  Her arms snuck up around his neck, and her small, firm breasts pressed against his chest.

  Once again pretending to dance, he shifted her slightly to glide her nipples across his chest. They’d been erect before their bodies met—they were hardened little bullets now.

  “Do you think you’ll overcome every one of my objections as easily?” she asked, her breath gusting gently in his ear.

  “I promise you won’t have one when the time comes.” He lifted his leg and rubbed his thigh against her crotch.

  Her head fell back, and her chocolate eyes glinted with amusement. “Sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  He was getting there. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I smell your arousal.”

  Her breath gasped, but she didn’t pull away. A tremor shook her body. “Do you think you’re just going to get a quick—”

  Placing a finger over her lips to shut her up, he said, “Whoa, sweetheart.” He nuzzled her cheek. “Nothing about this’ll be quick. This is just the appetizer.” He bent and kissed her sleek shoulder.

  Her head fell back exposing her creamy throat, inviting him to slide his lips along her throat—which he did.

  “You sound like you’re going to eat me,” she said, half laughing, half moaning.

  Max stiffened and spoke between tightened lips, “I will, if you ask me sweetly.”

  Again, she gasped, following with a burst of soft, strained laughter.

  Not the outright “yes” he hoped for, but promising just the same. He wished he had a glib tongue so he could put her at ease, but his body was too insistent, too ready to pounce for him to think straight.

  Every sense tuned to her. Her body draped languidly across his chest. Her legs slid along either side of his thigh, and he wondered if she wanted another rough caress. He decided to test her by rubbing his thigh against her sex.

  She moaned—a sexy sound that made his dick throb.

  His hands glided over her back, then smoothed to her sides. With his thumbs, he caressed the edges of her breasts. She didn’t stiffen in his arms. “Look at me,” he said.

  Her head tilted back. Her eyes were wide open.

  He swept his thumbs beneath the fabric of her top and went straight for the ripe little berries at the center of her breasts.

  Her gaze darted beyond his shoulder to the bar.

  “They can’t see a thing. It’s too dark.” He swooped down to capture her lips.

  Sounding like a kitten, she whimpered, pressing hard against his thumbs. Her hands clutched his shoulders.

  He raked her tongue with his, and then swept around her mouth to touch her teeth, the roof of her mouth, bef
ore he pulled away to drag air into his lungs. “Baby, I want a bed beneath your back for what I’m gonna do to you.” No way could he be subtle or patient with this one. She has to want this as much as I do…

  Again, her throat moved. “And if I can’t wait?”

  He stilled for a moment, and then muttered, “Christ!” His need crowded insistently against the front of his jeans. With a quick glance around the bar for the nearest exit, he pulled her down a hallway and into the restroom.

  Once inside, he locked the door. Then he turned and stalked her, backing her into the old-fashioned wooden stall. “You have to spell it out for me. Do you want me to stop?”

  Her eyes rounded. “I don’t know. I don’t know you.”

  His jaw clamped tight. “I won’t hurt you. Or at least I’ll try not to.”

  Her tongue wet her lips. “Good enough,” she whispered.

  Max palmed her breast with one hand; his other hand glided up her bare thigh and pushed up her short skirt. He went straight to the unexpected scrap of nylon covering her sex. He tipped the lid of the toilet closed with the toe of his boot and sat.

  The woman, Pia, wasted no time climbing onto his lap, her thighs straddling him. Her breasts were level with his mouth, and she pushed the hem of her cropped top up, exposing them.

  Max took the hint and groaned, rooting with his lips until he held a burgeoning nipple between them.

  She grasped the back of his head, pushing her breast deeper into his mouth. Her sex ground against the hard ridge of his cock, riding him. She wriggled her hips so eagerly he thought he might spill his seed in his pants like a teenager.

  He dragged his mouth from her breast. “Wait.” He pushed her off his lap and stood, then placed his hands on the sides of her waist and lifted her high. “Hold onto the top of the stall, sweetheart.”

  Quickly catching his drift, she spread her arms wide across the top of the wooden stall and gripped the edge. He hefted her higher and stepped backward. She “lay”, suspended from the top of the stall, her legs parted and draped over his shoulders. His face was poised at the opening of her legs.

  He glanced up at her flushed face. “I did say I’d eat you if you asked sweetly.”

  Chapter Two

  ‡

  Pia D’Amato wondered how things had gotten this out of control so quickly.

  She’d planned to play hard to get ever since she’d glimpsed him striding toward her. His large, heavily muscled body had radiated hunger, and he’d moved with a rangy, masculine grace that raised her nipples in an instant to full alert. When his gaze had found hers, she’d felt the searing heat of his brand.

  Never one to question the vagaries of fate, she accepted that tonight was meant to be.

  His golden eyes had honed sharp as an eagle’s on a bunny rabbit. Assholes she could deal with, and she’d prepared her standard rebuff. However, the hint of wary desperation—and his expectation she’d resist—made her hesitate. She’d sensed he needed to win their battle of wills, but that he also needed her to give him hurdles to overcome. Why pleasing him became important mystified her.

  Not that she intended to refuse him.

  Then she’d found herself uncharacteristically tongue-tied, overwhelmed by his relentless pursuit. At first, all she could do was blink dumbly and try her best not to drool. What woman could resist the mesmerizing intensity of a full, frontal assault?

  His gaze had stripped her while she sat on her bar stool. The look he’d given her once he’d finished said he’d staked his claim. If any other man had so blatantly given her that once over, she’d have delivered a set down he’d not soon forget.

  But Max was a man like no other. He embodied a mix of strength, stubborn determination, and an underlying vulnerability she was sure he kept buried from the world. Already, he attracted her—madly.

  When his jean-clad thigh had scraped the tender flesh between her legs, she’d laughed at herself, at her eagerness to rub on him like a cat in heat. And she’d thought to manipulate him!

  All she wanted was him—inside her. Now.

  He turned his head, and his hot mouth kissed each thigh, the scrape of his evening shadow glancing against the lips of her pussy. Covered by the sheerest silk thong she owned, she felt moisture dampen them in an instant. As uncomfortable as she found her perch, there was something pretty damn exciting about having all this mega-male’s attention concentrated on the core of her femininity.

  His gaze smoldered, and his nose twitched as he inhaled deeply. But he didn’t give her the kiss she wanted. He really was going to wait for her to ask him sweetly before he plundered her body.

  The man was blatantly male; he called to her body on its most primitive and elemental level. Built large and rugged, his shoulders were so broad they easily spanned her spread thighs. His biceps were so thickly muscled they strained the arms of his dark T-shirt.

  His face was too hard and masculine to be handsome. A square jaw, heavy brow, and a broad nose that was slightly askew on his face, were a match for his rough and ready attitude. He was too much man to manipulate. Too much man to refuse.

  His hot breath gusted against the wetness gathering at her entrance, and her belly tightened around a coil of desire so strong she trembled.

  But her pride demanded she couldn’t beg for release. Bad enough he’d managed to ride roughshod over her willpower. She still wasn’t certain how he’d managed to get her into this predicament—holding on to the top of a bathroom stall with her legs draped over his shoulders—waiting for him to fulfill the promise in his golden gaze.

  And why her? She took a deep breath and glanced down her body. Why had he chosen her? Had she somehow given herself away? Or was she just an easy conquest to him?

  While the thought rankled, she had to admit, the evidence was pretty damn convincing. She was after all splayed wide for his taking, her small breasts squeezed beneath the hem of her halter. Her nipples constricted so tightly they begged for attention.

  Like she would have to beg if she was ever going to feel the warmth of his mouth on her dripping sex.

  And how long had it taken him to convince her? Fifteen minutes? Maybe.

  He tongued the crease between her thigh and her pussy, wetting her skin. The air conditioning cooled on her open thighs. The contrast of the cool air on her crotch, and his warm hands, each cupping a bare buttock, drove her over the edge. To hell with who had control. And to hell with the last remnants of her dignity. She needed his mouth on her most intimate flesh.

  “Please,” she said, surprised by the husky timbre of her voice.

  He kissed her thigh. “I like the way you say that, but I want the words, baby,” he said, and lapped at the fabric covering her sex again.

  Her womb tightened. He wanted the coarse, nasty words—the ones that made her flinch. Saying them would strip away any pretense she might want to keep for her pride’s sake that this was anything but what it was—a physical mating, a carnal fuck.

  Pursing his lips, he blew a stream of warm air over her damp flesh.

  Her breath caught on a sob she didn’t know was coming. “Eat me, Max.”

  His lips lifted, baring his straight, white teeth. Not a smile—more an animalistic grimace of triumph. His hands slid from her ass and around the tops of her thighs. They met at her mons.

  Oh God.

  He bent his head and licked the seam of her pussy through her underwear. He rubbed his tongue over her, pressing into the silk, poking inside her opening to swirl his tongue in the shallow sheath he’d made.

  She moaned and felt her womb clench. All too soon, it wasn’t enough. Why hadn’t she taken off the goddamn panties?

  One clever hand tugged rhythmically at the strap that rode between her buttocks, drawing the elastic tightly against her anus. The other traced her slit through the crotch of her panties.

  “More, please,” she begged, looking away from the hard-faced man who was quickly ratcheting up the heat of his caresses.

  “Tell me
you want me to fuck you with my fingers,” he said, his voice rough as gravel.

  Oh, yes. She pumped her hips, eager for him to hurry.

  “No, baby.” He nipped an outer lip through her panties. “Tell me.”

  She gritted her teeth. “Please, fuck me with your fingers,” she said, her voice rising. “Please fuck me, Max.”

  With his nose, he nuzzled aside the crotch of her panties, and his tongue touched her directly for the first time, delving between her labia to flutter the tip against the notch at the top of her slit.

  Pia nearly screamed, biting her lips to hold it inside.

  His gaze slammed into hers as he curved his fingers to plunge inside her.

  She wished he wouldn’t watch her so intently. She didn’t want to reveal how vulnerable she felt this near to release. Or how close she was to tears at the powerful rush of desire that swept through her.

  “Come for me, baby,” he growled, while pressing his fingers deeper. Then his lips closed over her clitoris, and he sucked—hard.

  Pia flung back her head and howled, her body shuddering as the coil unwound, pulse by pulse.

  When finally her climax waned, she clung limply to the wood, gasping for breath, her body sagging.

  He kissed the nest of hair that covered her mound before sliding her soaked panties back into place. “Come home with me.” Not a request. But not exactly a command. His expression betrayed his naked need.

  Naked as hers still was.

  Her throat closed. This powerful but needy man was her quarry, and she’d betray him tonight.

  *

  Max’s foot was heavy on the gas pedal as he sped toward his house. His body was so hard he hurt. His engorged cock felt strangled inside his jeans.

  He couldn’t get the picture of her unraveling out of his head. Her body had been his for the taking. Open, trembling, then convulsing around his fingers. The sound of her loud wail had filled him with triumph and still rang in his ears. The taste of her arousal remained in his mouth, and he savored it. Her spicy flavor drove an urgency so strong and insistent inside him, he fought the need to pull his truck to the side of the road. But there wasn’t room in the cab to fuck her hard and long, the way he had to—or die.