The Dare Collection: June 2018. Lauren Hawkeye

guy for you if it’s a relationship you’re after.’ He couldn’t reiterate that enough, especially considering her past and her profession. Now more than ever he wasn’t relationship material.

      She dipped her chin, capturing his thumb with her pouty lips and sucking on the pad. She tongued his digit and then released him with a pop.

      ‘I’m not interested in a relationship. And if I were, you’d be the last man I’d consider.’

      Ash bit back a groan and rubbed his erection into the soft mound of her belly.

      ‘So we agree. You chalk up a few more...notches on your casual sex bedpost. We fuck this out of our systems. Then we walk away.’

      She lifted onto her tiptoes and he bent lower to meet her halfway. Her lips feathered his neck as she whispered, ‘We keep it fun—when the fun stops, we stop.’

      She peeled back, challenge blazing in her mesmeric stare.

      ‘I can do fun.’ Only this time he’d take his time, savour every sexy inch of her, glut himself until he was spent and sated and his head straightened out.

      A single nod. ‘What about the tour of the club?’

      ‘I’ve seen enough.’ His fingers curled over her hips, the silky fabric of her dress bunching in his grip. The way his body coiled to the point of bursting, he could tear the damn dress in two.

      He’d never brokered a more fulfilling merger and, as with the best deals, everyone would get what they wanted. He rolled his shoulders and followed her from the dance floor.

      As if it had been painted in luminous orange paint across the ground, he was about to cross a line he’d long ago vowed out of bounds. But damn if he didn’t want to throw on a pair of sneakers and sprint over, hell for leather.

       CHAPTER SIX

      ESSIE PAUSED AT the foot of the stairs leading to the VIP booths, dragging Ash to an abrupt halt. His brow dipped and he faced her, clasping both her hands between them.

      ‘Second thoughts?’ He cupped her cheek, pushing back wild wisps of hair from her hot face.

       It’s just sex. Fun.

      She fought the wave of trembles that doused her from head to toe and shook her head, and then tilted it in the direction of the bouncer guarding the upper balcony.

      ‘Lucas said we had a VIP booth.’ She caught her lip between her teeth. Her breath stalled as she waited for Ash to get on the same page. Every inch of her craved him. Slickness coated her inner thighs, her core clenched in anticipation and her nipples chafed against her dress with every rapid breath she took. She’d never make it back to the hotel before flinging herself on him and demanding what he’d held out on for so long.

      ‘I’ve never experienced sex in a public place... That could be...fun.’ She tilted her head, her fluttering heart knocking against her ribs. They’d either consummate this new agreement in the back of the limo Ash had hired to drive them to and from the club tonight, or they’d do it here, in the privacy of the VIP area of this chic, sophisticated club. She held her breath. When had she become such a risk-taking exhibitionist? What was he doing to her, this sexy but closed-off man, who at first glance seemed to have it all?

      Ash’s eyes scorched her. ‘You want me to fuck you here? Upstairs?’

      She nibbled the inside of her cheek, her flush hopefully hidden by the alternating dim and flash of neon lights. He’d suggested she broaden her horizons, something that worked for her out-of-control libido. What better way to build on the success of her first one-night stand? Keep things playful and risqué. Embrace the heady sense of power she earned from their no-strings encounters. If she focussed on the sex, she wouldn’t think about anything else. Her doubts, her past, her bad decisions.

      She nodded, her belly twisting with delicious spasms.

      Ash’s stare bored into hers while he clearly mulled over her suggestion. This bold, uninhibited demand was so unlike her. But this was what he did to her, what he brought out in her. And what she hoped like hell he’d embrace. She’d been turned on all day, all week. It was his fault—time to atone.

      Because right now she barely recognised the wanton woman he drew out. Hormones raged through her. She pressed her thighs together to ease the persistent thrum of her clit.

      Ash scooped his arm around her shoulders, nodded briefly to the bouncer manning the foot of the stairs and escorted a tingling-from-head-to-toe Essie to the upper balcony.

      Essie tottered alongside his determined strides, grateful he, too, saw the merits and timeliness of her risqué plan.

      At the top of the stairs, he swooped on her, hauling her up with an arm around her waist and his hot and greedy mouth, demanding an uninhibited kiss. Essie clung, losing herself to the thrusting power of his tongue sliding over hers and his strong arms banded around her back, connecting them from shoulder to thigh. Her head spun. This was happening.

      Ash released her. ‘You sure about this?’

      She nodded, too turned on for speech. And too enthralled for doubts.

      He strode ahead, tugging her behind. Now they’d established the ground rules, he was all action. Thank goodness. She didn’t want to have to resort to begging and pawing at him. So tacky.

      The balcony overlooked the writhing mass of bodies on the dance floor below. To the left was a row of discreet curtained-off booths, each lined with low, banquette-style sofas and featuring an LED illuminated coffee table. Ash led the way to the last booth in the row, the one closest to what Essie guessed was a door leading to a fire escape.

      Adrenaline slammed through her, shunting energy to every part of her body until her pulse thrummed right down to her fingertips. Her senses heightened, her skin buzzing under the glide of fabric, the music vibrating through the floor and into her bones and her vision eclipsed by the virile, determined man in front of her.

      Ash tugged her by the hand and flicked the gossamer curtains closed behind them. If someone came close enough, they’d see through the filmy barrier. But the angle from the ground floor provided sufficient privacy to keep Essie invested in her reckless, spur-of-the-moment idea.

      He kept hold of her hand, his body close, taut with energy.

      ‘You’re astounding, do you know that?’ He scanned her features with heated eyes.

      She shook her head, her throat hot. If he didn’t touch her soon, or allow her to touch him, she’d disintegrate into a million pieces.

      He flared his nostrils, sucking in a breath, and then said, ‘Take your underwear off.’ A husky command. He held up his hand, palm flat, waiting for her offering. If that was his lawyer voice...he probably sealed every deal he touched.

      Essie’s blood turned to melted wax. Ignoring the liquidity of her limbs, she tilted her head, eyebrows arched. Who knew she housed such a perverse streak? He couldn’t get his way all the time, even when his demands benefited her.

      ‘You’re a long way from Kansas, counsellor.’ But she obliged, because this daring tryst had been her idea. No time for coyness now, not when she was finally getting what she’d craved since the day after she’d met him, when she’d foolishly raised the stakes with her secret scribblings about Illegally Hot. Time to be all in, or get the hell out of Dodge.

      She braced herself steady with one hand on Ash’s forearm, while she shimmied her panties down her thighs and then stepped out of them, one foot at a time.

      Holding his self-satisfied stare, she dropped her damp thong in the centre of his palm, with as seductive a smile as she could manage. Why deny the effect he had on her? That he’d agreed to this told her he was equally affected.

      Whatever else they were, physically they worked.

      Ash glanced