Sexy Wreck

Chapter 4

Jealousy, a sensation Zeke hadn't experienced in much too long, reared it ugly head before he could not stop the emotion. His temper flared at the other man's predatory move toward Axelle, a possessive, unwelcome response he refused to act upon.

"Jesus, Zeke." Jefferson said, cutting through his dark, festering thoughts. "Would you stop glaring already??"

"That guy has his hand on her ass" he bit out, disgusted with himself for caring so much.

Rafael grinned with the keen male insight. "And you wish it were your hand on her ass instead, don't you?"

Zeke couldn't argue the truth, so he didn't even try. Through narrowed gaze, he watched Axelle removed the other man's wandering hands from her bottom, but the chump merely grabbed her around her waist, jerked her hips to his, and ground himself lewdly against her. She stiffened and braced her hands against his shoulders to hold him away, but her partner wasn't letting go and used the crush of people around them to his advantage.

Zeke's hand curled into a fist, and the muscles in his arm bunched with tension. He wanted to pummel the guy, then tear him apart, limb by limb. "He's practically molesting her out on the dance floor."

"Then maybe you ought to go over there and do something abou it" Fiona suggested oh so helpfully.

"Maybe I will." Watching the other man ignore Axelle

s attempt to slip from his grasp again, Zeke felt as though he's been prodded with a hot brand, provoked beyond reason. Because it certainly wasn't any into the fray of writhing, dancing bodies to rescue her.

Coming up behind the guy, Zeke placed his hand where neck met shoulder and applied a firm pressure with his fingers that immediately caught the other man's attention.

"What the hell?" The other man instantly let go of Axelle and tried to whirl around to face his accoster, but Zeke's unrelenting hold prevented him from moving freely.

"The lady's with me" Zeke said, low and menacing and gave the guy a push to the side. "Touch her again and I won't be responsible for my actions."

The other man straightened his shirt and shot Zeke a scathing glance But after taking one look at Zeke's superior size and strength, the chump obviously thought better of challenging him and left the dance floor.

Zeke had every intention of dragging Axelle back to the table, but before he could do so she slipped her hands around his neck, ensnaring him with her arms and holding him in place with her sultry, disarming gaze.

She shook her head in wonder, causing those soft, disheveled waves to caress her cheek and jaw. "Talk about trading one bundle of trouble for another." she teased.

"Just say thank you." he said gruffly, and placed his hands lightly on her slender waist, because it was the safest place to keep them when he was so damned tempted to slide them elsewhere

She swayed closer with the beat of music, aligning their bodies even more intimately than she's been with the previous guy. This time, of her own free will. "Thank you, thought I didn't need the help."

His body responded to the warmth and softness of her supple curves, hardening him in a scalding rush of need. "What? You like being mauled by men?"

She laughed, the provocative vibration causing her breasted to jiggle enticingly against his chest. "Not that all depend on the man and the situation, though I have to agree that this wasn't the right man or situation. If you hadn't shown up when you did, he would have been the very unhappy recipient of having my knee jammed up against his groin."

He winced at the unpleasant image, and quickly realized that this sassy, spirited woman easily could have held her own with her dance partner.

"You, however, are the right man, in many ways." He fingers played with the rebel-long strands of hair at the nape of his neck, and she tipped her head to the side. She smiled up at him flirtatiously, that lush mouth of hers displaying a wealth of erotic potential. "What is it going to take to change you mind about posing for my magazine?"

So, they were back to that again. "Absolutely nothing." He released a long exhalation just as an idea entered his mind, one that would benefit them both and finally end this agonizing situation for him. "Why don't I just write you a substantial check, donate it to your charity, and we can leave it at that?"

"I don't want your money, Zeke." she said softly, and glided her hands along his shoulders and down to his chest in a too arousing caress. "I want you."

Her words held a dual meaning, one that encompassed her pursuit for her magazine and the other holding more seductive, sexual connotation. He would have liked nothing more than to take her up on that second offer, to finally slake the lust that had been riding him hard for the past hour and was increasing with each sow, rhythmic slide of her body along the length of his.

And if he wasn't careful, that lust was going to overrule his common sense. "You'd be better off thaking the money, sweetheart, because that's all you're getting from me"

She mulled that over for a moment. "Tell you waht, I'll make a deal with you."

He had to admit that he was curious to heat what she had to say, not that he'd agree to any king of compromise. "What kind of deal?"

Her gaze captured his and searched depe, past those emotional barriers he'd errected and seemingly touchig a piece of his soul in the process. "Tell me what you're realluy hiding from, and maybe I'll back off."

Zeke's lungs squeezed tight, making normal breathing difficult. How the hell she'd managed to hit him where he was most susceptible, he didn't know. And he wasn't anout to stick around to find out either. Needing to get away from Axelle and her too accurate intuition, he released her abruptly, pilled her arms from around his neck, and headed toward the men'/ room without looking back.