And he’d said it without ever looking away from her eyes.
Now the hand she’d blatantly rubbed over her thigh was locked around her fingers, towing her through the far end of the club toward what appeared to be a service area congested with people. People who wanted Levi.
“Hey, boss—”
“Yo, Levi—”
“Davis, hold up—”
The calls shot out one after another, but Levi didn’t break stride or stop for any of them. His only response as they rounded a corner leading to the back stairs was a curt, “Floor manager. I’m off.”
Stopping at the base of the stairs, Levi let her pass, resting his hands at her hips as he followed her up.
Anticipation simmered through her veins as she climbed the short flight. With each step, her dress shifted under Levi’s palms. Inching up. Sliding down. The silky-soft friction of one sheer layer of fabric coasting over the other in a decadent rush.
At the second floor, Levi stepped close, tightening his grip. The hall was dim, the illumination more blue than bright, with a single door halfway down on the left. Guided by his body against hers, they walked the distance to what turned out to be his office.
Elise entered a room that was more functional than cool, outfitted with an oversized desk, bank of filing cabinets, low-profile table, black leather couch, and a couple of armless chairs that looked as though they’d come from restaurant stock. Like the apartment, there was nothing personal within. But unlike the loft, where the music could only be heard and felt, here she could see everything.
Crossing to the solid wall of smoked glass, she looked down over the main room of the club, the center bar, and the dance floor beyond where bodies moved in union to the heavy beat of the music. “Your club is incredible. You designed all this?”
“Concepts mostly these days. I’ve got a team working for me, so there’s a lot of credit to go around.”
“It’s wonderful.” Then, fingers trailing over the glass, she commented, “I didn’t realize there was anything up here.”
“It’s a combination of mirroring and other effects that basically keep it one way.”
Elise shot a glance over her shoulder to watch Levi close and lock the office door. Then test it once.
A smile tipped the corner of her mouth as wet heat licked a teasing path through her center. “One way. So no one can see me here?”
“No one but me.”
Levi blanketed her from head to heel as he pressed into her from behind, burrowed his nose into her hair. Starting at her shoulders, he followed the lines of her arms until he caught her wrists in a loose hold, brought them overhead to link around the back of his neck.
“Like this.” Warm breath washed over her ear and with it came a low groan of masculine appreciation that sent shivers of excitement shooting the length of her body, tightening her nipples and core.
Again those thick hands skimmed down her arms, following the outer swell of her breasts, drifting in to touch the frame of her pelvis and then down to the tops of her thighs and inward the slightest degree. Her breath caught as he played at the hem of her dress, fingering the bare skin beneath. Making her shiver with anticipation as he toyed with the sensitive flesh still too far from where she wanted him to be.
“Levi.” His name slipped out on a soft gasp at another light stroke of his fingertips against her inner thighs, this one higher, deeper.
And then his lips were against the shell of her ear, his breath teasing the whorl. “What did you come here for tonight, Elise?”
Her pulse skipped, though whether it was the question itself, or the light clasp of teeth against her over-sensitized skin, she couldn’t know. She loved it that he wanted to hear her say the words, loved that, with him, she wasn’t afraid to play this sensual game, or tease a little in return … no matter how far out of her depth she’d found herself.
Closing her eyes, she let the imp in her answer, “I thought we could talk.”
“Liar, liar.” The low rumble of his claim stroked over her, working her senses into a frenzied pitch.
Her gaze dropped to her dress, riding inches too high against his wrists where his hands dipped beneath. “How do you know?”
She could feel the smile on his lips at her ear as those knowing fingers stroked higher again. Hear the anticipation in the rough scrape of his words against her senses.
“Clubs like HeadRush aren’t conducive to intimate conversation. That’s not why people come to them. And then—” one finger brushed feather soft against the silk of her panties—the wet silk “—there’s this.”
A shudder ran through her, so intense it nearly buckled her knees. But this was too exciting—too intense to risk that it might stop. So she held strong, silently willing another soft stroke.
“Tell me, beautiful. Tell me what you want before I decide you’re going to have to beg to get it.”
Her head fell to the side, allowing more access for those warm, wet words to wash over her ear and neck. “Make me.”
ELISE could feel the muscles behind her clench, the pressure of his palm at her thigh increase for one fleeting, delicious moment, before his quiet curse ground through gritted teeth. Reveling in the tightening strain on the tether of Levi’s control, she eased her hips further into his groin and was rewarded with the thick column of his arousal insistent at her lower back.
Heck, she was half ready to beg right now, but she wanted to see what holding back would get her. She wanted to play.
His fingertip followed an erotic trail along the scalloped edge of her panties and then hooked the sodden panel between her legs, giving it a light tug away from her body. Enough that the conditioned air circulating through the office around them washed cool over her hot flesh.
“I want these off.”
Oh, God. She wanted them off too. Gone. Savagely torn free by the bite of his teeth.
Or better, ripped from her body by those huge hands. Just the image alone had a quiet cry escaping on her next breath.
Only the hands that worked the panties down were gentle. Slow. Painstakingly careful as they nudged the delicate lingerie past her hips and let it fall to the floor where she gingerly stepped free of it.
Gathering her dress in his fists, Levi drew the garment over her abdomen, ribs, and the rise of her breasts—pausing to abrade the tight buds with a series of slow, soft circles that left her panting, hot and aching, before he worked the sheath to her shoulders.
At his slight nudge she released her hold around his neck and let him strip her completely.
She was bare. Completely exposed. Standing in Levi’s office, surrounded by a building full of employees and masses of club-goers who had no idea they were even there. It was the most provocative thing she’d ever done.
The car didn’t count. That had been an act of desperation. But this, this was conscious thought pushing her to dive headfirst into Levi’s pool of hedonistic pleasure.
When Levi’s hands returned, there was nothing between them and the bare skin of her body. He covered her breasts, taking the achy press of her nipples against his palms. Coasted lower to what she was beginning to recognize as his favorite hold at her hips, and pulled her back into contact with the steely ridge that fit snug against her behind, and the powerful slabs of his thighs and bulk of his chest.