Forbidden: A Shade Darker – The Complete Collection. Leslie Kelly

WASN’T SURE who he spoke to, thanked or acknowledged as he left the crowded fund-raiser. He’d been planning to stay until after midnight, but as soon as he’d looked into Emily’s face and heard what she was really saying, he’d been able to do nothing but head for the exit.

      Emily had stopped him, asking him to let her go out first, since it wouldn’t be seemly for a hotel employee to leave with the guest of honor. He’d done as she asked, watching her leave and following her two minutes later.

      She was waiting for him outside the ballroom, in a side corridor.

      “That was the longest two minutes in history,” he said, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms. He thrust his hands in her hair and covered her mouth with his, kissing her hungrily. She kissed him back, just as hungry, just as desperate.

      They finally broke apart, and he forced himself to remember that, even though she was no longer on duty, since it was after eleven, this was still her place of employment.

      “Let’s get upstairs,” he told her, “I don’t want to get you into trouble.”

      “This job’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” she said, a naughty smile quirking her lips.

      That was good. Because, if Rand had his way, she wouldn’t have her job for long. One night was never going to be enough, not now that he knew all the feelings and desires he’d carried around for Emily for seven years were still alive and strong. He had every intention of talking her into coming with him when he left here to return to L.A.

      But that was for tomorrow, when he finally told her the rest of the story. That he’d really come here because he wanted a whole lot more from her than sex. She hadn’t been ready to hear it earlier, and probably wouldn’t have believed it.

      Sex, though—hot, steamy, wild sex—well, they’d both been waiting for that for long enough.

      On the way down the corridor, they practically mowed over another couple who’d just entered from outside, bringing in some cold Chicago night air along with them. The guy wore an Army uniform and had a possessive arm draped around the pretty, thirty-ish woman’s waist. Emily seemed to know her. Or, at least, the woman knew Emily.

      “Hello. Miss Crowder, isn’t it?”

      Emily paused, half tripping Rand with the sudden stop. “Hi, Dr. Blake. I guess you made it home for the holidays. I heard you almost got stuck in New York because of that crazy blizzard last week.”

      The other woman laughed softly, exchanging a glance with her escort, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “Fortunately, I was able to hitch a ride with an excellent driver.”

      The tall, dark-haired man spoke. “We have a soft spot for this event, and wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

      Rand extended a hand to the Army officer. “Happy New Year, and thank you for your service.”

      The other man shook it. “Are you who I think you are?”

      “Yeah,” Rand said with a noncommittal shrug.

      “You’re taking your life in your hands coming to Cubs country.”

      The two men laughed. “Hey, some things are worth the risk,” Rand replied, eyeing Emily.

      “Don’t I know it.”

      “Well, nice running into you,” the pretty female doctor said, amusement in her eyes, as if she was aware that Emily and Rand were racing out of here to be alone together. “Happy New Year.”

      “Same to you,” Emily replied.

      The other couple departed, and Emily explained, “She’s my cat’s vet, Ellie Blake. She’s a major supporter of tonight’s event.”

      “The fund-raiser was a big success.”

      “I’m glad. It’s a great cause.”

      “I know. One of my biggest regrets about being on the road so much is that I can’t have a dog. So I try to support as many homeless pets as possible.”

      She gave him a melting look, as if touched or surprised by something he considered as natural as breathing. Maybe it seemed a little strange, but Rand wasn’t ashamed to admit he was a softie when it came to anything involving kids or animals

      “You did a good thing by coming here.”

      Yeah. He intended to do a lot more good things, too. This trip up to his room was taking far too long for his liking.

      Funny that they could make small talk as they hurried across the lobby, as if they weren’t both desperate and dizzy with excitement to be alone together. He hoped seven years of waiting wouldn’t make him so anxious that he shot off like an inexperienced kid.

      They crossed paths with a few more people as they worked their way toward the opposite tower, which housed the only elevator that accessed the penthouse. He managed to smile and nod when he had to, but didn’t let anybody slow them down or impede their progress. Maybe he was being rude, but, frankly, he’d been waiting seven years and he couldn’t stand to wait another seven minutes.

      Passing the front desk, Emily paused to speak to the night manager, the one who’d called him masturbation-bait—and God, hadn’t that been awkward to walk up on—to tell her she was going off duty. The woman gave them both a broad smile, and Emily a not-so-surreptitious thumbs-up.

      Finally, though, they reached the elevators.

      “I probably should go to my office and...”

      “No. You should get up to that penthouse with me. Now.”

      She grinned. “You really are impatient, aren’t you?”

      Considering that he was ready to howl with frustration because the elevator was taking too long, he’d cop to that.

      “You’re lucky I worked the three-to-eleven shift.”

      “Even if you had to work until morning, I’d have stalked you through the hotel until I found a closet to drag you into.”

      He smiled as he felt a slow shiver roll through her slight body, realizing that she was every bit as excited and eager as he was. Standing beside her, his fingers on the small of her back, stroking the tiny protrusion of her spine, breathing in her sweetly spicy scent, the tension within him ratcheted up even higher. He had no idea how he was going to keep his hands off her once they were alone in the elevator. Heaven help him if anybody else boarded it with them.

      The doors opened and he didn’t even wait to see if anyone came out. He simply put an arm around Emily’s waist and ushered her in. Fortunately, it was empty. Equally as fortunately, no one else called for them to wait.

      The second the doors closed with a whoosh, Rand eased her into the corner, wrapped her in his arms and hauled her up against his body. He caught her mouth in a hot, wet kiss that held nothing back, loving the slide of her small, sweet tongue and the heat of every breath she exhaled into his mouth.

      They tilted their heads, angling deeper, and he groaned as she wrapped one slim leg around his and arched into him. He was unable to resist his body’s demand to thrust and claim, and rocked into the apex of her thighs.

      “Oh, yes, Rand, you feel so good,” she groaned, straining against his rock-hard erection.

      He buried his face in her throat. “I hate that there are cameras in here.”

      “They’re only for show,” she said, her tone wickedly sultry. “The system has some glitches because the hotel’s so new. The cameras don’t work yet.”

      Possibilities filled his head as he tried to remember just how long it took the elevator to reach the penthouse. Not long enough for what he most wanted to do. But long enough to tide them over.

      He reached for her skirt, lifting it up to reveal the tops of those crazy-sexy stockings. “I have been fantasizing about these things all day.”