She didn’t want that. It would change the dynamic of who she was and the information to be gained in the circles she moved in.
“A relationship that doesn’t exist? Who are you lying to, Gypsy? Because I sure as hell know better and you do as well,” he informed her warningly as he moved against her, cajoling her, seducing her into sharing the dance, to share the intimacy he was inviting.
“You’re taking far too much for granted,” she retorted furiously, yet she wasn’t fighting him either.
She was breathless.
She could feel the blood heating, pounding through her veins, the sensual side of her nature weakening far too quickly.
She ached for him. The flesh between her thighs became hotter, wetter, her clit throbbing as her sex melted and creamed for him.
It was impossible to deny she wanted him when her body refused to cooperate and remain cool and unresponsive.
“I haven’t yet,” he said softly as she tilted her head back to stare up at him. “But I’m certain I will before the night’s out, Gypsy Rum. I’m very certain of it.”
Before she could argue the statement or tell him to go to hell, he brushed his lips against hers, his tongue flicking in a quick little lick against her lips before he pulled back no more than a breath of distance.
The pleasure was shocking.
It held her in his arms, staring up at him in confusion as impulses, hungers and needs began firing through her body with a heat she hadn’t expected.
It surprised her.
Shocked her.
His lips had lifted just far enough from hers to tease her, to make her wonder if he would speak, and when he did, if his lips would stroke against her again.
His gaze was locked on hers, unblinking, the blue of his eyes deeper than Cassandra’s, more mesmerizing, holding her, making her wonder at what she saw reflected back at her.
There was so much in his gaze. A hint of another color, perhaps, a world of hunger, of need, a deep, brilliant pool of male lust so vibrant it made her wonder if he was even aware he was revealing it.
“Why?” she whispered.
Why her? Why was he pushing this when it was more than obvious she was hesitant to begin anything with him?
“Why not?” It wasn’t the question, but the tone of voice, the look in his eyes, that shocked her.
Steel-hard determination, pure male hunger and narrow-eyed possessiveness struck at her, wrapped around her and made her wonder if she was smothering from fear, or breathless from anticipation.
“Leave with me,” he asked her then.
Eyes widening before she could stop the reaction, she parted her lips to refuse, though forming the word didn’t come easily.
“Just to talk.” His finger landed against her lips, holding back what she wanted to say but couldn’t. “I want you, bad enough to wait if I have to. But if I have to wait, at least torture me for a few hours.”
“And that would be enough for you?” she quipped mockingly despite the flush of arousal that was beginning to heat her body.
God, how long had it been since she had allowed herself to want a man? If she even thought she would be attracted to one, she ran in the opposite direction as fast as possible.
“It’s more than I have otherwise.” The seductive roughness of his voice stroked against her senses as she wondered why she wasn’t trying to run as hard and as fast as possible from him.
Gypsy breathed in slowly, deeply.
“I promise, no means no,” he said.
For a moment, she wondered if he could read her mind, if he knew things about her that even the Unknown didn’t know.
Things no one should know.
Slowly, she nodded, her senses exploding in disbelief as she realized what she had done. Then he was stroking his hand along her arm, catching her hand in his and drawing her from the dance floor.
There were too many eyes watching, she told herself. She had to leave alone. She couldn’t leave with him. If she did so, then the rules would change. She would no longer be everyone’s “friend” and would then be seen as a possible fuck instead.
That could destroy her ability to do the job she had been doing for so many years now.
She had to stop this.
She had to make him let her go.
So why was she moving with him instead, allowing him to curl his fingers with hers, hold her hand possessively as they moved through the exit and into the parking lot?
His arm slid around her, his fingers curling over her hip as he drew her closer.
“Your car?” he asked, pausing just outside the door.
Gypsy swallowed tightly. “My car. My apartment.”
He nodded, following her lead to the Jeep, silent, watching her as she slid behind the wheel before he moved to the passenger side.
She was surprised he didn’t insist on driving. She was surprised when he simply slid into the seat, buckled his seat belt and stared back at her expectantly.
“I’ve lost my mind,” she muttered, then activated the engine, lowering the roof and then sliding the vehicle into gear and pulling from the parking slot. “This is not the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Do you always do what’s smart?” he asked.
“If possible. Always, if possible.”
He smiled back at her rather than assuring her it wasn’t possible this time.
She had lost her mind tonight, but she promised herself she would find it as soon as he left. The second she was alone again she would find it, lock it up tight and make sure he couldn’t steal it from her ever again.
CHAPTER 10
She was going to make him crazy.
Rule could feel it coming.
The need to touch her, to taste her and to have her was burning through his system, engorging his cock and tightening his balls to a near-painful degree.
Watching her dance on that damned dance floor, her body swaying and moving against those other men as she laughed and flirted with them, had caused more than one growl to escape his control.
All that had kept him from tearing those men apart was Dane’s order that the enforcers at the bar converge on her and ensure that she wasn’t the contact their suspected spies were passing information to.
Jonas wanted that link, just as he wanted to know the threat they could become where Claire Martinez was concerned.
Jonas was certain Gypsy was connected. He was certain she was either one of the links who gathered the information and reported it to an upper contact, or one of the last links in the chain of information.
Protecting her ass was becoming difficult. Hazardous maybe, because Jonas was just a little too complacent about the direction and lack of results in this investigation.
Added to that, her parents’ attempt to smuggle that damned audio recorder into the meeting was only increasing the attention on Gypsy, as well as the suspicion.
And none of it mattered right now.
Tonight, he didn’t fucking care what Jonas was doing, was up to, or how he would handle it.
Tonight, Gypsy was his, in whatever way he could claim her, and as often as he could make it happen.
Giving her the information about the recording device her mother had brought to the meeting would wait. Not long, but it would wait.
...
Pulling the Jeep into the small parking lot of her apartment, Gypsy parked, activated the roof and waited until it was secured before turning the motor off.
She drew in a hard breath, even as the scent of her need intensified, along with her confusion.
She wanted him, yet she didn’t know why she wanted him. Why she was burning for him.
Stepping from the vehicle, he moved to the driver’s side, opened her door and waited until she slid from the seat, swallowing tightly.
“I have a car coming for me in two hours,” he told her, his lips quirking into a grin as her gaze flashed up to him. “Rest assured, sweetheart, what I want will take far longer than two hours to even get close to finishing. You’re completely safe for the night.”