Page 59 of More Than Nothing
She forced herself not to seek Roman out. For the most part she couldn’t even see him and assumed he was still sitting at the table, chatting with the others. Craig dragged her onto the dance floor, where Elenie propped him up as best she could while he danced with drunken enthusiasm.
“Did you know the police chief was hiding a fiancée?” His voice was loud above the music. “Can’t say I blame him for dumping you when he had her on speed dial. She’s proper classy.” Elenie refused to let him provoke her. “Maybe he just wanted a quick fuck while she was out of town.” Jerking her closer, Craig clamped her tightly against his groin. “Did he discover you’re just a tease who doesn’t put out?” He started to laugh. “Jesus, given the choice, I’d give the hot lawyer one, too!”
Elenie leaned away when he tried to stick his tongue in her ear. “Martinez was a mistake. I should have known better.”
She suspected Craig was too hammered to pay any attention but it was worth making the defense. There was no doubt in her mind he would report anything she said straight back to Frank. If he remembered it.
As the song came to an end, Elenie fought her way out of his grasp. “I need to go to the restroom.”
“Be my guest!” With a mocking incline of his head, Craig slapped her on the ass and headed back to the bar.
Elenie pushed through the double doors leading out from the conference room, desperate for a little air, craving some space. The lobby was deserted. She considered heading outside but it was late, the night was a cool one, and her dress was ridiculously tiny.
“This way.” Roman’s voice, as tight and deep as a bass chord, raised instant goosebumps on her skin. He took her elbow and swept her swiftly through another door. In front of them, a flightof stairs stretched upward but he ignored them and turned right into a short corridor. After checking inside, he guided her into a tiny, darkened room and closed the door behind them. It looked as if they’d found themselves in a small office space. Maybe one also used for storage, she wasn’t sure.
All of Elenie’s focus was on the man in front of her anyway.
Neither of them spoke.
Roman pushed at the shirtsleeves cuffed at his wrists and closed the gap between them. Her breath hitched at the firestorm blazing in his eyes. He was so close she could have run a finger along that narrow scar beneath his jaw. He smelled delicious. Oak and pepper combined with the scent of his skin to send her senses tumbling like dominoes.
“Zena is not my fiancée.” Each word was a stone dropped into the puddle of tension.
Elenie wet her lips with her tongue. “She seems to think differently.”
Roman dragged a long, ragged breath in and pushed frustrated fingers through his hair. “I didn’t plan to bring her. She turned up in my office this afternoon and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I made it clear we’re not back together. She just chose not to listen.”
Elenie examined his face for a lie. She wanted so much to believe him. “She’s everything I’m not.”
“Yes, she is.”
Wow, that hurt. Elenie closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. When she tried to turn away, Roman reached out to grip her wrist.
“She’s judgmental and ruthlessly ambitious. She’s not very kind, has zero sense of humor, and she doesn’t make my heart beat out of my fucking chest.”
He pulled her a step closer with the lightest of pressure. Elenie’s knees turned liquid in relief. A gasp caught in her throat at the need etched on his serious face.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked. A battle raged in his eyes.
He was leaving. This was dangerous. It couldn’t work. And she didn’t care.
All the logical, sensible reasons why he shouldn’t disappeared like wisps of smoke on a strong breeze. In this moment, none of them mattered.
Unable to summon proper words, Elenie nodded.
The air quivered around them and a lifetime passed before Roman finally lowered his head, so very slowly, watching her with fierce intensity until the second his mouth met hers. He pressed a gentle kiss to the center of her lips, a low rumble rising from his chest. His touch was warm, the contact feather-light. His fingers trembled. Elenie gave a shuddering sigh, every nerve pathway flooded with a rip current so strong she couldn’t fight it. As her mouth parted, his tongue dipped between her teeth. It tangled, smooth and insistent, with her own, and she curled her fingers around his forearms, tighter and tighter. Hands pushing into her hair, he kissed her again and again.
“Finally.” Roman growled against her lips. “Fucking finally.”
A wave broke over them both and they surged together.
His body slammed into hers, backing her against the door, and she moaned. Sandwiched between the unforgiving wooden surface and Roman’s solid muscles, Elenie grabbed a handful of his shirt to keep her afloat. He tasted of lemon and Malbec, the hot sweep of his tongue driving her insane. He was a rigid wall of unstoppable need, trapping her like a car crusher. And Elenie felt herself falling apart. Pieces here, pieces there, breaking off and spinning into the air.
Roman’s hands moved from her hair to her neck, sparking lightning shivers over the surface of her skin as they brushed her bare shoulders. His rough fingers skimmed lower, tracing the curves of her body, his mouth an addictive obsession. Reaching her hips, he pulled her even closer, his hardness grinding against her stomach, a groan wrenched from his throat, tendons tight beneath his jawline.
Warmth flooded through her; her skin was on fire. Her fingers gripped the soft strands of hair at the back of his neck and she arched into him, demanding with her hands, offering with her mouth. Roman grasped her thighs, lifting her against him in a fluid, powerful motion, muscles bunching. Elenie fought against the stupid dress. Its body-hugging shape restricted her movements, sequins catching on his clothing. Shoving the hem up and out of the way with a raw curse, Roman wrapped her legs around him.
There was nothing gentle about this kiss. It seized and blazed and feasted and looted. Their need was desperate. The desire explosive.
