off-limits.” His voice was rough, the guttural tone surprising him.
He watched as her cheeks flushed before his gaze flickered down to watch her abdomen convulse.
“I’m told a lot of things that I ignore, Ian.” Composed, husky, filled with hunger.
He heard it all in her voice and it made him impossibly harder. There was no anger in her, only a bit of humor, a lot of arousal.
24
Shameless
Son of a bitch. He was going to explode if he wasn’t careful. The rueful suggestiveness in her voice had every man in the room shifting in his chair, obviously as hard as he was. How long had it been since he had seen such natural sensuality?
Such supreme confidence in a woman and her effect on the male sex?
He forced himself to move, to walk to her, to keep from throwing her across a table just to see if she was wearing panties under that tiny skirt. He had a feeling she wasn’t.
Did she shave or wax? he wondered. If she were his, she would be bare, pierced, screaming as his dick stretched her wide.
He gritted his teeth, forcing back the thoughts. Dane would fucking kill him. And rightly so. There was little enough innocence left in the world, he would be damned if he would be the cause of so much as a single virgin losing hers. And she was a virgin.
Innocence shrouded her, glowed from inside her despite her sensuality. There was no possibility that she was anything less.
“You don’t ignore the rules here, Courtney.” Touching her was going to be hell.
“They’re here for a reason. Get back to the main part of the house. Now.”
Her brows snapped into a frown as the flush on her cheeks deepened.
“Do I look like a child to you?” She waved her hand down her upper body as she cocked a hip and faced him in challenge. “Excuse me, Ian, but I haven’t been a child for quite a while, and I don’t appreciate being spoken to as though I were one.”
His hands itched. They fucking itched to feel the soft, sweet flesh of her well-rounded ass burning beneath them. Damn her, he had never, ever wanted to possess anything as desperately as he wanted to possess Courtney now.
“You know what this club is, Courtney.” He crossed his arms over his chest, fighting to instill derision, censure in his voice. “How would your father feel if he saw you here?”
“How many times has he visited?” She smiled knowingly. “I know my parent’s lifestyle, Ian. Just as I know my father is indeed a member of your very elite establishment. As I have already explained to you, I am not a child.”
“You are not a member of this club,” he snapped then. “Members only, Courtney, for a reason. Now get your ass out of here.”
“So, how does one go about receiving membership?” She seemed to ignore the harshness of his voice. Even her eyes hadn’t dimmed, nor sparkled with pain or anger.
As though the cruel words hadn’t even registered. “I will assume some of your women are allowed in here?”
“Our women.” He smiled tightly. “You do not belong to any man here. You are exempt.”
Her eyes narrowed, though the smile that tipped her lips was almost frightening.
Knowing. As old and as knowledgeable as Eve herself. She licked her lips slowly, her gaze flickering around the room.
“Then I need a patron of sorts?” she asked softly. “I think that could be arranged.”
25
Lora Leigh
Like hell.
Touching her was the worst mistake possible, but every damned man in the room was ready to stand up and offer their services. His gaze hardened as he followed her look, warning them all. It didn’t sit well with any of them.
“Such force,” she murmured in amusement, aptly deciphering his look. “Very well, Ian. I’ll leave your very lovely club and return to the main portion of the house. It’s obvious I’ll find no entertainment here…” She paused before staring back at him, her look direct, determined. “But there are other places I’m certain I’ll be welcome.”
She moved around him slowly,