Page 39 of In Love and War
“First of all, what the hell do you mean bymeof all people? You think Ilikeworking withyou,of all people? I didn’t ask for this either, you prick!”
I took a step forward, my fists now balled at my sides. “You haveno ideahow hard I worked for him, or what I went through when I was at Yuval and how much I sacrificed. Howdareyou reduce it all down to sex?”
My blood was absolutely boiling, and my entire body was shaking with rage as my heart hammered against my ribs. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this angry.
Or been made to feel this small.
“You need to stop yelling,” he warned. There was a different edge to his tone now, and his eyes had the same intensity to them as I’d seen last night at dinner.
“No! Screw you, Zac!” I was still close enough to the door that my voice could easily travel down the hall. “You’re not the only one whodeservesto be here. I’m smart, and I’ve workedso hard—that’swhy he asked for me. I don’t need tofuckmy way into opportunities. Howdare you?”
“Amelia.Shut. Up,” he growled through his teeth, his jaw locked.
“Make me,asshole!” Afraid I might throw something at his stupid fucking face if I stayed any longer, I turned around and stormed toward the door.
I yanked it open, but it only moved a few inches before his hand came up from behind my head and pushed it back shut with a bang.
I didn’t have a chance to try to pull again with more force, because the next thing I knew, I was being whipped around, my back slamming against the door, hard.
The impact made my head drop as I flinched in surprise. But then, just as quickly, his right hand was on my throat, pushing my chin up toward his face as he looked down at me.
His stormy sapphire eyes were entirely fixed on my lips.
“Wh—” But I couldn’t get the word out, because his mouth crushed down onto mine.
It took a moment to register the feel of his warm, soft lips pressing into me. But then, my brain completely shut off, the thoughts that were running rampant a second ago turning into incoherent static, and my body took over.
My arms lifted up from my sides and wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him closer, and I began to kiss him back, just as hard.
My returned enthusiasm incited a groan out of Zac against my lips, and his right hand moved from my neck to the back of my head, grabbing a fistful of my hair and further deepening the kiss, while his left arm dropped from holding the door closed and wrapped around my hips instead, bringing my body to his.
My entire being lit on fire when his mouth slid open and his tongue teased mine with a light brush. A surprised moan escaped my throat at the contact, and my tongue chased his as it retreated, wanting more.
I was drowning in him and couldn’t get enough all at the same time. The scent of his cologne mixed with soap, the taste of sweet cinnamon and coffee in his mouth, and the feel of hard muscles against my body.
My hips seemed to move on their own when they pressed up closer to him, and my groin tightened with triumphant glee at the feel of how hard he was.
He seemed to enjoy the contact just as much as I did based on the low rumble in his throat. Before I could think about moving again, his hand trailed down from my lower back to my ass and held me in place.
A loud knock on the door violently tore me away from the lustfully drunken haze and reignited the engine of my brain.
What the fuck!
My panicked hands jumped to his chest and pushed him away, before landing over my mouth as I gaped at him from behind them in disbelief.
At first, he looked disoriented and dazed. And then, as the oxygen reached his brain, absolute and utter bewildered shock swept over his features and he stared back at me, breathless.
“Shit,” he finally said.
Before I could even think about stringing together the words to respond, the knocking was back, making me jump.
Zac pulled me away from the door and opened it, noticeably agitated by the interruption.
“Mr. Evans, I am so sorry to bother you this afternoon,” a man’s voice came from the other side, though he wasn’t in my line of sight. “But a member of our cleaning staff seems to have heard some… raised voices coming from your suite. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay, sir. We did try your cell, but there was no answer.”
“Yes, it’s fine. Thank you. I just had the TV on a little too loud.”
“Yes, of course.” He didn’t sound convinced, but it was obvious Zac was annoyed, so he probably didn’t want to push it. “I do apologize again for bothering you. Have a good night, sir.”
