Against the Fire by Kat Martin

her. She had to know, had to find out if the wildly sensuous woman she became on stage was really part of her nature, some part that had been dammed up until now. Until Gabriel Raines.
    She felt his mouth on her breasts and realized he had unzipped her dress and eased the top down, unfastened the front of her black push-up bra.
    “Beautiful,” he said, his teeth lightly grazing her nipple, his tongue circling the tip. Her knees felt weak as he took the fullness into his mouth and began to suckle her. His big hands slid up beneath her silver dress and he cupped the bare globes of her bottom, covered only by the tiny red thong panties she wore. Lifting her into the V between his thighs, he let her feel the thick ridge bulging beneath the zipper of his jeans.
    “Oh, God…”
    His tone gentled. “It’s all right, I’ve got you. I’m not going to hurt you.”
    She was clinging to him, she realized, practically wrapping herself around him. She should have been embarrassed, should have been mortified at her behavior. Instead, she just wanted more.
    She reached toward the bulge in his jeans, tentatively cupped him. He was huge and pulsing. Her fingers itched to pull down his zipper and wrap around his hard length.
    Gabe groaned. “Take it easy, sweetheart. I can only stand so much.”
    “I want you,” she said. “I’ve never felt…I want you so much, Gabe.”
    His erection leaped beneath her hand. “I want you, too.” He dragged in a deep, shuddering breath. “But if I take you like this, in this damnable storage room, tomorrow you’ll regret it. You’ll never forgive me.”
    “I don’t care. I just…I just need…”
    “I know what you need.” He eased her skirt down over her hips and refastened her bra, drew her dress back into place.
    “We’re leaving.” He reached out and took hold of her hand. “Right this minute.”
    She was shaking with need. She had never been this turned on in her life. “But…where are we going?”
    “My place. If we go to yours, you’ll turn back into Mattie Baker and it’s too soon for that to happen.”
    He was right. She was already beginning to hesitate, to reconsider her actions. Before she could panic completely, Gabe was tugging her down the corridor, hauling her up the stairs.
    “I came with a friend,” she said. “She’ll worry if I leave without telling her.”
    “What’s her name?”
    “Tracy Spencer.”
    “Stay here.” He left her at the top of the stairs, strode across the room to a tall, good-looking man with short blond hair.
    In minutes he returned. “Sam knows Tracy. I told him we were leaving. He’ll tell her I took you home.”
    “Maybe I should—”
    His hot kiss cut off her words and had her tingling all over. As he tugged her out the front door, she stumbled and Gabe swept her up in his arms. “All right?”
    She just nodded, feeling featherlight and utterly feminine. In seconds they had reached his truck and he had lifted her into the passenger seat. He rounded the pickup and climbed inside, hauled her over next to him on the bench seat and fastened the middle seat belt across her lap.
    She must have been in some kind of trance because she didn’t resist when he drove away, heading off toward wherever he lived. It wasn’t very far because she was still silent, her heart still thumping madly, when he helped her down from the truck, led her into the elevator in the lobby, and pushed the button for the fourth floor.
    “Cold feet yet?” he asked.
    When she nodded, he bent down and gave her one of those wet, searing kisses that had gotten her into this in the first place. She felt hot and needy, felt as if her skin was stretched too tight. Inside her bra, her nipples were hard and aching. When the elevator door slid open with a ding, Gabe settled a hand at her waist and urged her across the hall. An instant later, she was standing in the middle of his living room.
    “You want a drink?”
    She needed a dozen straight shots, but there was