Read Online High by Zara Cox - Free Book Online Page B

middle-aged
masseuse appeared fifteen minutes later, she’d talked herself down from the
raging, sex-depraved stranger she’d become and back to being the normal,
sex-deprived woman she was used to.
    ***
    He’d meant it when he said he had no
interest in the band. In fact, Zach seemed discomfited to the point of edginess,
and they were barely thirty minutes into Friday’s Child’s private concert.
    “You don’t like rock bands, is that
it?” She had to lean in close to be heard over the sound of the lead singer’s
growly number; close enough to feel the heat of Zach’s skin just above the
collar of his shirt and smell the tangy scent of his aftershave.
    In the semi-smoky club, she could see
women, and some men, giving him the once over and stopping to look again. Not
once did he return their gazes or show interest. His attention was focused
solely, squarely on her in a way that made her feel as if she was plugged
permanently into an electric feed caused by his eyes alone.
    He shook his head and a strand of his
hair brushed her face. A tremble went through her.
    “I like rock bands just fine.”
    “But?” she probed, wanting him to throw
her a bone. Despite him saying they didn’t need the superfluous contraptions of
the whole getting-to-know-one-another thing, she wanted to know something about
the enigma that was Zachary Savage.
    He made a sound that was halfway
between a sigh and a huff. “Someone I once knew loved their music. Hearing them
brings back memories.”
    She was so shocked he’d given her
something personal that she didn’t want to acknowledge just what it was he’d
told her. And she felt the next question bubble up before she could stop it.
“Someone. Care to elaborate?”
    His eyes darkened. “Not particularly.”
    Again, stark and blunt. He didn’t have to say the words for her to know she needed to back off.
    This time she heeded the advice.
Pulling her gaze from his forceful stare, she glanced towards the stage where
the song was reaching its conclusion.
    Jax went through an elaborate series of
drum riffs, ending in a deafening crescendo that made the room go wild.
    As they accepted the rousing applause,
he looked over to her, pointed a drumstick at her and winked.
    Blushing, she smiled and waved.
    “You’re giving him the wrong signals.
Stop,” Zach said, his voice holding an edge she was beginning to recognize.
    “Excuse me?”
    “Don’t let him think you’re available,
because you’re not. And before you challenge me on that, think about the
futility of it for a moment. Would you rather spend your last hours in Shanghai
arguing with me or enjoying the band?”
    “I excel at multi-tasking. I can do
both.”
    “Instead of arguing you can tell me
what’s wrong with your feet,” he said.
    “My feet?”
    “You’ve been rubbing your arches
against that table leg for the last ten minutes.”
    “They hurt more that I thought they
would. The masseuse asked if I wanted them rubbed but I declined because I
didn’t want to be late for dinner.”
    She’d been eager to see him again. And
he seemed to know it. The smile he gave her sent goosebumps shivering over her
flesh. His lids descended and he seemed to debate with himself for several
seconds. Then his warm palm slid under her calf and lifted her leg into his
lap.
    He started behind her knee. Warm,
pleasurable hands kneaded her tight muscles in a sure massage that sucked the
breath right of out of her lungs and made her blood pound hard in her ears. His
eyes fixed on her face, he applied a subtle pressure
all the way down her leg until he hit the prerequisite spot, right in the
middle of her foot.
    Bethany couldn’t help the moan that
escaped her throat. He heard it. Grey eyes darkened to almost black and his
nostrils flared in reaction. He pressed his thumb over the sleek muscle again,
hard enough to cause pleasure and pain. Her sex throbbed violently.
    “Do you like that?”
    She was too far gone to even think of
being