Chapter 2 - Staying in a hotel room with Adrian Moore!

Liz Walters stumbled into a dimly lit room with a hot guy right behind her. She fumbled with the light buttons on the wall before she turned on the main one.

Looking down at the incredibly gorgeous, hot, sexy, shirtless man who had fallen down at her feet, she at first thought she’d had one too many glasses of cocktail and was seeing things. But considering she’d only had a few, she doubted she was intoxicated.

Her second thought was that she knew this guy but at the same time, she couldn’t remember where she’d seen him.

Anyhow, he shouldn’t be here, Liz thought.

She immediately grabbed the first thing she could have her hands on… it was a vase. It was a heavy, leaded crystal thing, that would probably crack this man’s skull open. She came close – so incredibly close – to dropping it on his head, when a voice whispered in her mind, He’s Mr. Handsome, Adrian. He was drinking with you.

It seemed crazy to suppose that before following her up here, he appeared to be a normal human and socialized with her at the bar. I even shared my problems with him. Liz thought.

“Why did you follow me here? This is my room.” Liz asked, still not letting go of the vase.

“Your room…?” He mumbled, rising to his hands and knees. On all fours, he turned his head from side to side, looking around the room, and added with a slur, “I’m in the right room.”

“No, you are not! This is my room.” Liz argued, leaning against the wall to hold herself upright.

He lifted his head to look up at her. “I think James booked us this hotel room.” And his big green eyes – gorgeous, beautiful, pale green eyes that were ringed by the longest lashes she’d ever seen on a man – got even wider when he caught sight of the vase in her hands. “W-Wait… why is that in your hands?”

Liz grabbed the vase even tighter. “Who’s James?”

“J-James, my secretary…” He stuttered, gulping in nervousness with his eyes still fixed on the vase in her hands. 

Liz nodded but then realized something. “I’m not sleeping here with you.”

“L-Look, the night is almost over. We’ve got a few hours left before we’d have to get up. Can we just sleep already? I’m tired!” Adrian stood up with some struggle and then, staggered right into the queen sized bed.

“Oh, my God,” Liz groaned, plopping the vase back on the table.

She couldn’t stop shaking. Adrenaline had put her on high alert. Now embarrassment was doing its level best to make her quiver into a ball of mush.

How am I going to sleep in the same room, in the same bed with this handsome man? Liz thought.

“This can’t be happening,” she said with a moan.

“I’m hot,” Adrian groaned before peeling off his suit jacket and unbuttoning his shirt. Now all slick-skinned, broad-chested and rippling muscles, he slowly rose to his feet. He glanced around the room, shaking his head slowly, as if in a daze. “Is the AC on?”

Was he as intoxicated as I was? Liz asked herself as she tried to look away but couldn’t.

He was so attractive – not to mention at least twenty degrees hotter – than he had been from across the bar countertop. His jaw was so square, his face so lean and masculine. Such masculinity shouldn’t have looked right with the accompanying long lashes and the down-right full lips, but managed to come across as perfect.

“It’s not on. Can’t you see I’m hot as well?” Feeling her face flame at her own words and the rest of her get a little warmer, too, she tightened her arms around her waist.

Was there any way he could tell that her legs were quivering and she badly wanted to lean against the edge of the bed for support?

But Liz didn’t want to get any closer to him when she was feeling quite hot herself. Was there anything else in her drinks?

“I noticed,” he admitted, his eyes darkening once he met her gaze.

Liz licked her lips, reminded herself to breathe.

A slow, drunken grin tugged at his lips and he glanced down at her dress covered body. “You’re damn hot…” he drawled out.

The tone of his voice and his heated stare sent her heart pounding through her chest.

Liz then felt a burst of anger overcoming her whole being. She reached for the vase again.

Adrian quickly held a hand up, palm out. “Sorry!” Offering her a sheepish and drunken grin, he added, “Look, I’m really sorry for making that comment.”

“I hope that you’re really sorry…” Liz rolled her eyes at him.

Her mind kept screaming at her to get some sleep which she surely needed after those drinks but her body wouldn’t cooperate. Liz felt torn between her heart and her body and deciding what to do seem impossible at this point.

“Can you book me another room?” Liz tried but knew she won’t be getting any when Adrian pursed his lips.

“James is gone and my cards are with him.” He simply said with a shrug. “This bed is all we have to get some rest for the night.”

The image of them sleeping in that bed hit her. She suddenly pictured herself rolling around in the bed sheets all tangled up with this handsome man, getting hot, sweaty, and dirty. Doing all kinds of wild things that has never even crossed her mind when she’d been at the bar all those other nights.

She breathed deeper, willing her heart to slow down. It wasn’t as if she could just lie down and sleep next to this handsome man – she didn’t even know this guy!

“Let me turn that AC on,” Adrian said, rubbing his lightly grizzled jaw.

Liz heard the faint rasp of it and suddenly had yet another image of those unshaven cheeks brushing against her skin.

Once the AC was on, his eyes gleamed as he glanced at the bed – prettily rumpled from when he’d face-planted himself into it with the comforter turned down, the blue sheets soft and inviting.

He sighed in relief. “See… you won’t be feeling hot any longer.” He motioned at the cool air seeping from the AC and into the room.

Those lips quirked up into a grin. He was staring again, Liz realized. Not at the bed this time, but at her. His dark green eyes traveled from her bare throat, down to the V in her dress, then farther down. As if he liked what he’d seen so far, and wanted to see a whole lot more.

Liz reached down and grabbed the edge of the dresser, willing her legs to stop shaking.

“Are you uncomfortable being in the same room with me?” He asked, his voice lowering to a thick whisper. “I am sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Liz shook her head as she tried to calm her heaving chest.

If he noticed, he didn’t ask her to evaluate whether that thumping in her chest was caused by fear… or something else. She didn’t ask herself to, either.

“Well, you come across as anything but okay right now,” he told her, eyeing the vase. “I thought you were going to knock me out.”

“It was a close call.”

“What stopped you?”

“Your handsome face and your bare chest…”

Oh, crap, had she really said that out loud?

Laughter burst through him as he stumbled towards her. “So, you can notice I’m handsome and not wearing a shirt, but I’m not allowed to notice your beautiful body?”

Liz’s eyes narrowed. “There’s a difference between noticing and leering!”

His mouth dropped open in shock. “I wasn’t ogling at you!”

“You were!”

“I was not!”

“Whatever floats your boat…?” Liz rolled her eyes at him.

“Stop rolling your eyes at me.” Adrian uttered.

“I won’t… what will you do?” She made a face at him.

“I’ll kiss you.” He said, stepping closer.

Even though Liz didn’t know him personally, something made her believe that he would definitely kiss her if she so as much tried her luck with him when he’d already told her what he’d do to her if she dared cross his path at this point.

She shivered, literally shivered at the thought of this stranger kissing her when he held her hands in his. Her breath got caught in her throat.

He was holding her hands, she realized, noting its calloused, masculine strength.

She quickly yanked her hands away.

He eyed her for a moment, saying nothing, as if he too, had experienced something strange the moment their fingers had touched. Heck, what hadn’t been strange about them so far? This whole encounter was already beginning to feel surreal and she wondered if, someday in the future, she’d believe it had all been some weird dream.

One corner of his mouth lifted and a twinkle appeared in those deep, dark green eyes. “Hey, I was just kidding.”

“It’s not very gentlemanly of you to go around making such jokes.”

He ignored her. “Do you still feel hot? I’m thirsty.” He stepped in front of the bedside table beside her to pour himself a glass of water.

Liz watched him as he held the glass of water to his lips and pretty soon, quenched his thirst.

She stared at his hand for a moment, struck by its strength, which matched the strong, bare arm. And the strong, bare shoulders. And the strong, bare chest. Below which was a rippled, bare stomach, covered with a light sprinkling of dark hair that wound down into the waistband of his low-slung pants.

This man must have lived a previous life and known Webster, because he’d surely provided the definition of sexy.

“Take a picture it’ll last longer…” his voice snapped her out of her trance.

She hadn’t noticed that he’d caught her eye goggling him.

“I don’t have my phone on me.” She pouted.

It was his turn to flush a little. He looked away, as if wishing he hadn’t made that comment. “Thank God!”

Interesting, Liz thought as a smirk tugged at her lips.

“I’m glad I met someone like you tonight.” Adrian disclosed. His stare grew a little more heated. “You’re not like the other women I’ve met before… you’re different; unique… you’re a miracle, a lifesaver.”

Liz swallowed, suddenly unsure about everything. How was she supposed to react to this revelation?

“Can I just tell you something, if you ever doubt yourself in the future, just remember my words because you’re not seeing yourself the way I see you.” He stated with his voice calm and unfaltering.

Liz’s mouth went dry as the warmth of his body washed over her. She could smell his skin – a mix of soap and sweat and male – and breathed a little deeper. “The way you see me?” She whispered, her eyes half closing.

He lifted a hand, tracing his fingertip down her cheek, until it rested on the corner of her mouth. “I think you understood pretty well what I just said.”

Liz felt like she was floating in the air. She was so drunk she could barely make out the meaning behind his words so she simply chuckled in amusement.

“I wonder how you’re still single -”

“Who told you that I’m single?” Liz bit back a chuckle this time when Adrian turned rigid.

It didn’t take long before his tensed muscles loosened up when he caught the mischief shining in her eyes. “If you had a boyfriend, you wouldn’t be at the bar getting wasted with the little money you’ve got left.”

She hummed in response. “You’re damn right but,” she held a finger to gain his attention. “I’m an independent woman so,” she tsked before adding, “I don’t need any man!”

“Still, if I were your man, I wouldn’t have let you out of my sight.” He said, loud and firm. “And I know how to treat a woman right…” he drawled out.

Liz swallowed hard, heat slamming into her, both at his words and the serious, almost dangerous way he’d said them. “How…?” she weakly asked him, her voice shaky.

“I would have stayed right by your side, just to reassure myself you weren’t going to disappear. To make sure you’re always cherished. To make sure no other man ever dared to look at you, and to remind myself that I could wait, because, by the time you’d drunk your miseries away, you’d be mine… completely.”

“Dear Lord,” she whispered, her eyes falling closed.

Her feet shifted as she edged a tiny bit closer, feeling almost mesmerized by his deep intoxicating voice. Not to mention by the faint brush of his hand on her mouth. “Really…?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said. That hand moved, until he was cupping her head, his fingers tangling in her loose hair.

She arched her face into his palm, unable to resist, turning to him the way a flower turned to the morning sun.

“The moment I saw you, I knew that I couldn’t let you go. I could tell that you’re different… and I couldn’t stop myself… I just knew I had to talk to you and make sure you were okay…”

His words held some deep meaning, but she was too stunned by the feelings rolling through her to work her mind around it. On top of that, she was drunk and so out of it that she could barely stand upright.

She was finding it hard to concentrate on anything except his scent and his warmth and oh, heavens, the way he was stroking her cheekbones with the side of his thumb.

She opened her eyes, staring at him, realizing she’d already memorized his face, his eyes, and his mouth. This handsome stranger was already imprinted on her brain.

“Is this how you would have made sure that I’m okay?” She whispered. She leaned closer, her body swaying.

“Yes, I would have made sure you knew who you were ending the night with.” He moved closer, inching toward her. “I would have made you forget any other man existed.”

Another inch, then he did it. He covered her mouth with his and made her forget every other man existed.

Shocked at first, Liz froze for a second, and then melted under an onslaught of pure fire.

He licked her lips, demanding she part them, and she did, not questioning it.

Their tongues met, exploring, hot and wet and hungry.

There was nothing polite about this kiss, nothing rehearsed or restrained. He didn’t delicately taste her, he devoured her, as if he hadn’t eaten in a week and she was his ultimate dessert.

Time, space and reality were lost.

Liz was riding a wave of pure, sultry instinct, every one of her senses humming, all of her nerve endings jangling against his big, rock-hard body. The air she breathed, he provided. She stayed upright only because she had him to lean against.

Every delicious flavor she’d ever tasted seemed concentrated in his mouth and she started to shake as they all flooded to her.

Even as a tiny voice inside her tried to remind her he was a stranger, and that she should stop this, she lifted her arms, twining them around his neck. Tangling her fingers in his dark brown hair, she held on tight; instinctively wanting to make sure he didn’t go anywhere.

Not before he satisfied this deep, carnal urge she had to be kissed the way every woman ought to be kissed every so often – like she was the sustenance for a man’s very soul.

Nobody had kissed her like this. Not ever.

“Adrian,” she groaned against his mouth when he started to pull away.

Hearing his name on her lips seemed to inflame him, because he dove back in again, his tongue plunging deep. He dropped his hands to her hips, claiming her, tugging her even harder against him. When he cupped her bottom, she sighed into his mouth, arching against the delicious, unmistakable ridge of heat pressing against her groin.

Adrian wanted her, there was no denying it, and he wasn’t making any effort to keep her from realizing that.

Quivering, almost crying, Liz pressed harder against him, needing that strength, that pressure. She barely knew him, but she knew she wanted that power, that thickness. All the long pep talks she’d given to herself about being sensible and not needing this kind of heat, this much passion, evaporated and she knew she would do just about anything to have him.