“Where are you guys now?” Wilkins asked.
“In an office on the third floor. We should be down in just a few minutes.” He hung up the phone and holstered his gun. “We’re clear.”
Cameron exhaled. “Okay. Good. That was definitely not on the agenda for tonight.” She self-consciously smoothed her skirt and picked up her purse. “So we’re going to rejoin the others, then?”
“Yes.”
She headed toward the door and Jack followed her. She reached for the handle, then paused and looked over her shoulder. The sweater slipped off her shoulder once again.
“Thank you for—” She stopped. “What’s wrong?”
Jack stood behind her, staring at that damn gray strap. He caught himself wondering what was softer, the silk or her skin. If he was a smart man, he wouldn’t dare to even think about getting the answer to that.
He reached out to her anyway.
He took hold of her sweater and gently pulled it over her shoulder. He stopped when he reached the strap of her camisole. “This thing has been driving me crazy all night,” he murmured.
Cameron’s voice sounded a little shaky. “I . . . think I ruined it the last time I did laundry.”
The air hung thick between them.
“We should go,” Jack finally said. He needed to get out of that office before he did something he regretted. Something they both regretted.
She nodded, turned back, and unlocked the deadbolt. She grabbed the doorknob . . . then stopped.
Jack waited for her to open the door. When she didn’t, he reached around her, placing his hand over hers. “Cameron, we have to get out of here,” he said in a guttural voice.
“I know.”
Still, neither of them moved. Jack took his hand off hers and moved it to the deadbolt.
He knew he shouldn’t.
But he locked the door anyway.
He heard Cameron inhale unsteadily. Before he could give it a second thought, he brushed her long hair off her shoulder and bent his head to kiss her collarbone.
He got his answer. Silk didn’t hold a f**king candle to her skin.
WITH A SOFT moan, Cameron sank against Jack’s chest. She briefly wondered what she was doing, and why. Then she felt Jack’s lips burn a path along her neck and decided to table those issues for a moment.
His hands moved to her hips and she didn’t know if he spun her around or if she turned herself, maybe both, but suddenly she found herself facing him. She caught the hot glint in his eyes and reached for him just as his mouth came down on hers.
She expected Jack’s kiss to be hard, angry even, but instead it was just . . . wicked. He took his time, tasting her with his mouth, his lips, and his tongue. When his hand moved to the small of her back and pressed her closer, Cameron dropped her purse to the floor and threaded her fingers through his thick hair.
They slammed against the door.
Jack’s hand moved to her chin as his mouth explored hers roughly. Sensing his need for control but not yet willing to give it to him, Cameron cupped his face with her hands and slowed the kiss. Setting the pace, she teased him, biting gently at his bottom lip and sliding her tongue lightly along his. She did it again, playing with him, taking charge.
He growled low in his throat, then grabbed her hands and pinned them against the door.
Too late she recalled that Jack Pallas was not a man to be trifled with.
He wound his tongue around hers in a kiss that was rich and drugging. He settled between her thighs, and Cameron felt his hard, thick erection pressing into her. He could hide nearly every emotion behind that wall of his, but his body betrayed him right then, telling her the only thing she needed to know.
He wanted her.
Heady with that knowledge, Cameron closed her eyes as Jack blazed a trail with his mouth along her throat. The scruff of his jaw scratched against her neck, an erotic sensation that set every nerve of her body on fire.
“Jack,” she whispered.
“Tell me,” he said in her ear.
This was a new side of Jack. Gone was the guarded, controlled exterior. For once, she was seeing . . . him.
Cameron strained against him, helpless with her hands pinned in his. “Let me touch you.” She needed to see—feel—more of him.
He pulled back and let his eyes roam over her, soaking in every inch. He let go of her hands and watched as she pushed his blazer off. She slid her hands past his shoulder harness, feeling the taut muscles of his chest. She found it intoxicating, having such power and strength literally beneath her fingertips.
“This works both ways, baby,” Jack said in a husky voice.
He took her mouth in a kiss so demanding it left her breathless. His hands worked impatiently as he unbuttoned her sweater and pushed it off her shoulders.
“I need to see you,” he muttered against her mouth.
He pulled down the front of her camisole and the cup of her bra, and Cameron gasped as the cool air hit her exposed breast. He stroked her nipple between his fingers, toying with it until she trembled. When he cupped her breast and plumped it up for him, Cameron arched into his hand eagerly. Then he lowered his head and took her nipple into his mouth.
Liquid heat coiled between her legs so fast she nearly sank to the floor right there. Jack slowly drew his tongue over the tight peak, first being gentle while he licked, then taking the rosy tip into his mouth hungrily. Meanwhile, his hand slid underneath her shirt and his fingers began to caress her other breast.
Cameron felt exposed yet also incredibly sensual. And while a voice inside her head told her that she needed to stop, another voice, a devilish one, told her to give in for once, to let go.