Zane took her hand and guided it to his cock, letting her glide it over his entire length and feel the hardness that dug into his zipper. “Here.”
She squeezed his shaft, making him clench his jaw to fight off his imminent release.
“Woof, woof!”
Z’s barking made him shift his attention away from Portia and her tempting hands.
“That’s really bad timing, Z.”
Portia dropped her hands from him and turned toward the dog. “I think he needs to go outside.”
Zane frowned, but knowing what kind of mess his dog could make, he realized there was no way around this. “I’ll take him. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the meantime? I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
Or maybe in five: for sure the little pup had never experienced snow. The mountain was covered with a fresh snow pack, and the temperature, now that it was dark, was below freezing. He bet that Z would be freezing his ass off in three minutes tops and wanting to return to the warmth in front of the fireplace.
***
Portia’s eyes followed Zane as he escorted the dog out into the snowy wilderness. Darn, that man filled out a pair of jeans just the right way despite his lean body. His muscles shifted with every step, and she wondered what it would feel like when they were finally both naked, his skin sliding against hers.
When he drew the door shut behind him, she stopped holding her breath. She’d better use the time he was gone. There had been no time to change into fresh clothes, even less to take a shower. Considering what they were planning tonight, she felt the need to groom herself, not just to be ready for him, but also to boost her self-confidence. She’d never touched a man as intimately as she’d already touched Zane today, and she hoped that instinct would guide her so she wouldn’t turn out to be a klutz in bed.
In the bedroom, Portia quickly shimmied out of her jeans and sweater, then tossed her socks, panties and bra on a chair. Realizing how uninspiring her underwear looked, she picked it up again and chucked it under the bed. No need for him to see what cringe-worthy panties she wore. It would only serve to turn him off, not on.
A look at the king-sized bed with its decidedly masculine dark striped cover made her shiver despite the welcoming warmth in the small house. In a short while, they would lie in each other’s arms there, naked, wrapped only in their own passion and desire.
Not wasting any more time, Portia hurried into the en-suite bathroom and stepped into the large shower. Soft pebbles caressed the soles of her feet, the same smooth stones that also graced the shower walls. The warm spray of the water ran down her body as soon as she turned the faucet.
She reached for the soap and lathered her skin. When she inhaled, she realized that the soap was unscented. It surprised her, particularly because the scent that Zane gave off was so intensely masculine that she’d thought it came from a scented soap he used. But it appeared that the scent she felt so drawn to was all him. She should have guessed as much. A vampire like Zane, whose raw power and energy constantly bubbled to the surface, would carry such a potent smell.
Portia didn’t bother washing her hair. It would take too long to dry, and considering that Zane was entirely bald, she bet he didn’t have a hairdryer. She quickly rinsed her body clean of the soap and stepped onto the soft rug in front of the shower, reaching for the towel that hung on a wall rack.
“When I said ‘make yourself comfortable’, I didn’t realize I’d be missing something important.”
Her head snapped toward the door, where Zane filled the frame.
Reflexively, she pressed the towel to her front, covering her nakedness, at the same time as a gasp escaped her.
His eyes darkened and honed in on the towel. “You won’t need that.”
Hesitantly, she lowered her hands, pushing the towel down past her nipples, which were suddenly hard and erect, and exposed to his hungry gaze.
Zane’s nostril’s flared, and his body moved. With two steps, he reached her and clasped his hand over hers. She relinquished the towel to his control. It dropped to the floor a second later.
Zane’s shirt brushed against her breasts as he drew her against his body. “I could have watched you shower if that damn dog wasn’t so inexplicably fond of snow.”
She raised her lashes and lost herself in the golden flecks of his eyes. “Or you could have helped me.”
With a groan, he sank his lips onto her mouth and captured her. Her lips parted on his demand, welcoming his forceful invasion. Pure and unadulterated lust careened through her veins instead of the blood that normally ran there. Her pulse quickened to a pace faster than any human dance when Zane’s tongue stroked against hers in a relentless assault, asking for her surrender.