Page 66 of Night and Day
“So, no million-dollar opportunity?” Izzy studied her face, concern wrinkling his brow. “Are you disappointed?”
Mia shook her head. “I don’t want his hypothetical millions.”
“So, howareyou feeling?” The palpable concern in his eyes shot through her heart.
She looked at her toes. “Honestly, I feel like a fool. But I’m relieved at the same time. I’m sure you know why.” Her voice nearly disappeared in her throat, heart beating out of control. He knew. They both knew.
Izzy dropped the paper bag and took hold of her head, entwining his fingers in her hair. “You said you wanted to kiss me?”
She nodded breathlessly, and his mouth crashed onto hers, claiming her for New Zealand, for this place on earth. She reached for his shoulders, shivering as she made contact with the now familiar solid muscle. He felt like a tree trunk, all width and height and solidness that held her in its steady grip. His hands slid to her lower back, sending a tingle down her spine. Mia raised on her toes to get closer. She wanted more of him. All of him.
“Finally,” he rasped in her ear, then returned his tongue to where she needed it, owning her mouth, sending a powerful jolt into her core as his hands enclosed around her waist, tugging her closer.
Mia wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but his no-holds-barred passion stole her breath and cleared her mind, replacing every thought with one consuming need. The night sky seemed blurry, the stars in the sky spinning.
Finding her balance, she tripped on the paper bag at his feet. “What’s in here? Where did you go?”
“Just picked up some supplies.” She tried to peek into the bag, but he folded it closed, securing it under his arm. “It’s a surprise for tomorrow, to celebrate your last day—”
“Don’t say it,” Mia pleaded, running her fingers over the rough beard and lips she’d been dying to touch. The contrast of rough and soft. So real. He grabbed her wrist and kissed her fingers, then trailed his mouth along her bare arm until he found her mouth again. She parted her lips, allowing him to go deeper, and he responded with a fervour that created a hot, insistent throb in her core. She’d take the pain of separation later, if only she could have him now. There was no way she could step away. There had never been a way.
Izzy’s hands lowered to cup her bottom, and she instinctively pressed against him, gasping at the hardness that met her lower belly. He was so much taller. He slipped a finger under the waistband of her underwear, grinning from ear to ear. “We should really go inside. The neighbours might enjoy the show, but I’m not ready to share.”
Mia’s face flushed with heat. “I didn’t mean to run around in my underwear. It was... spur of the moment. I saw your car and I couldn’t wait.”
“I know the feeling,” he growled.
Without warning, he secured the paper bag under his arm and scooped her up, somehow holding everything as he rushed to the door. Mia’s protest melted into a squeaky laugh. She’d never been carried by another person, not since childhood, and it flooded her body with an odd sensation – weightless, helpless, and so dazed she could have sworn she was drunk or high, her senses overwhelmed by him, her legs dangling like a rag doll’s. A rag doll carried by a gorilla.
They tumbled into the house, the sweet torture of anticipation building with every step. Izzy dropped the paper bag at the kitchen doorway and carried her all the way to the basement.
The soft glow of his floor lamp greeted them down in his lair. This was his hideout, his contained universe she’d crashed. She didn’t belong here, yet she’d never felt so at home anywhere. Izzy lowered her, and she caught the shadow in his eyes. Would he push her away again?
He looked into her eyes. “If we do this, I don’t... take it lightly. This is it. You’re mine.”
Mia’s face burned. “I’m yours tonight,” she whispered, a lump rising in her throat.
Izzy grabbed a handful of her T-shirt and tightened it inside his fist, pulling her closer. She’d never seen a look like that in a man’s eyes, burning passion laced with pain, and it both scared and exhilarated her.
His voice carried a dark edge. “I need more time.”
Mia swallowed. Glow worms had longer relationships than she could have with this man. “Izzy, if I could... I’d stay a week or two longer. Believe me, I would.”
He nodded slowly, eyes full of pain, and slid his hands around her waist, pulling her against him. “I’d need more than that, though. A lot more.”
She barely dared look into his eyes – deep, dark windows to a vast landscape, so open and candid that she almost bolted but his arms held her tight, melting her hesitancy, second by second. “How long would you keep me for?”
“Forever,” came his rough answer, just before mouth landed on hers, chasing out all the other words.
Hot urgency zipped through her, settling between her legs. Throbbing heat engulfed her entire body, building up a hollow ache she could hardly tolerate. She needed him closer, with nothing in between. She slid her hands under his T-shirt, urging him to pull it off. Izzy complied, throwing the shirt over his shoulder, exposing an upper body that made her think of some Viking character, except darker, more dangerous. No one who spent their time hiding in a basement was allowed to look like that.
“You know you could make money just posing in your underwear, right?” She traced her finger down his impeccable abs.
Izzy laughed. “I lift weights when I’m bored or frustrated.”
“Sexually frustrated?” She swallowed the last bit of saliva in her mouth.
He lifted a knowing eyebrow. “That, too.”
