Annie West - Sultry Nights

He drove away the questions. He had no need to question anything. Kate Lancaster was here, his for now, and that was all that mattered. They were wasting time. He studied her downbent head, the gleaming blonde hair, the satin smooth skin of her bared shoulders under the straps of her dress, the swell of her breasts … and he knew just how to drive away those thoughts, the tenseness which made ambiguous feelings run through him.

Tiarnan kept a hold of her hand and stood, tugging her up with him. Kate’s eyes met his and the world seemed to stop turning momentarily. ‘I know just what we need.’

‘You do?’

Kate’s voice came out like a squeak. She cursed her inability to sound insouciant when she needed to. He nodded, and started to walk back into the house, taking her with him, his grip strong and sure. Her legs felt like jelly. Panic started to rise up, strangling her. She had to tell him, had to say something. He thought she was something she wasn’t …

‘Tiarnan, I—’

He turned and pressed a finger to her lips.

‘I’m taking you out.’

Confusion cut through the panic. The scarily vivid images of their naked limbs entwined on his bed faded.

‘What? Where?’

He looked at her for a long moment, and then just said, ‘Dancing.’

Kate’s hand was still in Tiarnan’s as he led them into a dimly lit bar not too far from the house. A throbbing pulsing beat of music enveloped them instantly, along with the heat of bodies and muted conversations.

He’d waited till she had put on some shoes and had obviously made a call, as an open-top Jeep with a smiling driver had been waiting for them outside the villa. He led her to the bar now, only letting go of her hand to put an arm around her waist and draw her in close. Kate saw the bartender spot him and come over with a huge smile on his face.

‘Tiarnan, my man! It’s good to see you.’ The barman’s openly curious and very flirty glance took Kate in with blatant appreciation.

She felt embarrassed, and very out of her depth. Tiarnan kept surprising her at every turn, and the thought that he might have read her trepidation and done this to somehow make things easier for her made her feel vulnerable.

‘And your beautiful guest …’

For the first time in his life Tiarnan felt the intense spiking of jealousy as his old friend Luc looked Kate up and down with what seemed to be insulting impunity. He’d noticed every other man’s head swivelling too, as they’d walked into the bar. Kate stood out like a magnificent bird of paradise.

Resisting the unfathomable urge to walk straight back out again, he forced himself to sound civil and say, ‘Luc, good to see you too. We’ll have two of your best rums.’

He looked down at Kate and was surprised to see her looking almost … self-conscious. He tugged her in closer and she looked up, a flare of colour racing across her cheekbones.

‘Is that OK?’

Kate felt almost disembodied, looking up into Tiarnan’s eyes. ‘Is what OK?’

‘Martinique rum—you should try it.’

She just nodded, still barely aware of what he was saying. Their solicitous host insisted on showing them over to a secluded booth with a view over the faded grandeur of the bar, which was open to the street, and the dark inkiness of the sea in the distance. They were in the ground floor of an old colonial building. The crowd were local, the music was a kind of sexy upbeat Salsa. And then it changed smoothly to something slow and very hot. Some of the couples on the dance floor certainly looked as if they were just moments away from disappearing to a dark corner where—

Kate willed down the intense blush she could feel on her face as she looked at the couples, and just then Tiarnan’s hand cupped her jaw, turning her to face him. She felt feverish.

He shook his head, and a thumb moved back and forth across her cheek. ‘Enchanting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone blush the way you do.’

Kate burned inside and out. The enormity of where she was and who she was sitting with was hitting her anew all over again. ‘It’s just my colouring.’

Their eyes stayed locked for a long moment, until Kate felt as if she was melting inside. Just as she was about to beg to be released from that intense gaze, Tiarnan suddenly broke it and looked away, making Kate feel absurdly bereft all of a sudden. She was a mass of contradictions and warring desires.

Tiarnan’s friend approached with two glasses, and left again with a mischievous smile and a look that Kate didn’t miss. When Tiarnan had introduced them briefly she’d thought he’d been uncharacteristically curt to the other man, but Luc didn’t seem to mind. She took a sip of the dark liquid and coughed immediately, her eyes smarting.

Tiarnan quirked a brow and smiled. ‘Strong stuff.’

Kate grabbed for some water and drank it down. ‘You could have warned me.’ She watched as Tiarnan took another sip himself, watched the way the strong column of his throat worked. At that moment the music changed back to an infectiously upbeat rhythm.

Tiarnan extended a hand across the table. ‘Come on, let’s dance.’

Kate shrank back with genuine fear. She could see couples dancing with effortless grace and style, making moves she could never even hope to mimic. She shook her head desperately, ‘I can’t dance, Tiarnan.’

He left his hand where it was.

‘Seriously,’ she said pleadingly. ‘I’m really, really bad, I’ll just embarrass you.’

He stood up and took her hand from her lap, pulling her up.

She tried to resist. ‘I’ll watch you dance with someone else—honestly.’

He wasn’t listening. He pulled her remorselessly after him. Kate was having flashbacks to excruciating moments on other dance floors where she’d shuffled around, invariably much to Sorcha’s hysterical amusement. Or memories of standing on various hapless men’s feet and apologising profusely.

She tried to pull away again. ‘Tiarnan, you don’t understand. I’ve two left feet—just like my father. I’ve never been able to—’

Tiarnan turned and pulled her into his arms, and Kate shut up instantly at the feel of his body so close to hers, one hand low on her back and the other held high. She could feel Tiarnan’s hips move sinuously against hers, his legs making hers move in tandem with his.

His voice came low near her ear, making her tingle, ‘Just feel the beat—let it go through you.’

All Kate felt was boneless, with an indecent need running through her.

Tiarnan moved them apart and put both hands on her hips. ‘See? Look at my feet. Copy what I’m doing.’

She could barely function. Tiarnan’s broad chest and those lean hips were hypnotising her. She didn’t know if what she was doing was anything like dancing, but she did feel the deeply sexy beat in her blood, and when Tiarnan turned her around and pulled her back against him, his arm across her midriff, she didn’t even care that she couldn’t dance. She had to close her eyes and try not to let out a low moan of pleasure.

Then the music changed again to slow and sexy. Tiarnan twirled her around with effortless ease and pulled her into him, so close that she could feel the imprint of his body all along hers. He tipped up her chin. Her head fell back.

‘See? Anyone can dance.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ Kate said huskily, her eyes seemingly riveted to Tiarnan’s mouth, and as if to prove her point she stumbled and stood on his foot. She looked up to see him wince slightly and smiled sweetly. ‘See?’

‘It’ll take a lot more than standing on my foot to diminish this.’

His voice was low and dark with promise as he pulled her even closer, and Kate’s eyes widened on his when she felt the hard thrust of his arousal just above the apex of her legs. The silk of her dress was no barrier to the size and strength of it. Hot liquid seemed to pool southwards in answer to his body’s calling. Her hand clenched on his shoulder, as if to stop herself falling.