She didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she looked amused as I began to dance to the beat. She danced opposite me, her grin persisting into the second verse. That’s when a hand closed around my arm, pulling me roughly around.
“Hey!” My protest died on my lips when I saw that rough someone was Nero—and that he was looking at me with eyes that burned with fury.
“Come with me,” he said with a coldness that countered the heat in his eyes.
“Go easy on her, Nero,” Captain Somerset said. “She’s wound up right now.”
“Thank you, Captain. That will be all,” he said to her with equal coldness, but his eyes never left mine.
Captain Somerset turned and walked away, leaving us alone. I looked at Nero, a smile tugging on my mouth.
“I hope I didn’t do anything inappropriate,” I said, bursting into giggles.
Nero said nothing. His hand still firmly locked around my arm, he led me from the ballroom. I could see people turning to watch us leave, but I couldn’t seem to care. Cool. This whole euphoria thing had its perks. It sure beat worrying about what everyone was saying about me. I started laughing. Or maybe I’d never stopped. I couldn’t remember. Nero showed me into his office, then closed the door behind us.
“Are you all right?” he asked, finally letting go of my arm.
Closing the door was overkill. It’s not like I was planning on running out. Why would I want to be anywhere else right now? I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Leda?”
“I like the sound of my name on your tongue.” I winked at Nero. “But you can call me Pandora if you want. I like that too.” Smiling, I traced my finger across his chest, following the smooth, hard lines of leather. “The bringer of chaos. Of mischief.” I allowed my hand to venture lower.
That boring, rational part of me was screaming at me to stop, reminding me of what would happen if I became Nero’s lover, but I just couldn’t stop. He’s been so sweet to me last night. So tender. And yet so strong. I slid my hand around him, scraping my fingernails into the hard muscle beneath the leather.
I knew the Nectar was making me act like this, but I didn’t care. I wanted Nero and he wanted me. There was no reason not to take what I wanted. I leaned back against his desk, arching my back to push out my breasts. His eyes dipped to them, then quickly flickered back to my face.
“You’re tempting me,” he said, his voice a low, sexy rumble in his chest.
“You tempt me every moment of every day you’re in the same room with me. Seeing you there, so close and yet not touching me. It’s agonizing, Nero.”
A rare look of shock crossed his face. “When the Nectar wears off, you’re going to hate yourself for saying that.”
“The only person I’m going to hate is you, Nero, if you don’t come over this instant and make love to me.”
His eyes widened as I dipped my hand below my skirt, slipping my panties down my legs. I kicked them the rest of the way off, and they landed at his feet. Then I hopped onto his desk, hiking up my short skirt.
I saw it the moment I had him. Magic flashed in his eyes, and then the next moment he was suddenly in front of me, his hands pinning mine to the desk. As the heat of his skin burned into me—saturating me—a hollow, wanton ache echoed inside of me, an ache I knew only he could quell.
“I knew,” I whispered against his ear. “I knew from the beginning that we would end up like this.”
My head fell back, a soft moan escaping my lips as his mouth closed on my neck. His tongue flicked out. The touch of it on my throat shot a shock wave of pure pleasure through me, scorching me from the inside out. His hands closed tightly around my wrists, and my pulse popped against my skin, throbbing in sweet anticipation. That sweetness turned to ash when he suddenly pulled away. I moved to follow him, but I found myself stuck in place. My gaze dropped to my hands, which were handcuffed to the desk. I pulled against the restraints, but they were Legion-issued and not breakable by someone of my strength.
“What are you doing?” I growled, continuing to push against the cold, unyielding metal around my wrists. “I never expected you were into the kinky stuff.”
“You don’t know me,” he said in a harsh whisper, bracing his hands against his desk as he leaned in. “So don’t presume that you know what I’m into.” His words slid across my skin like satin promises. His face was so close, and his body so far away.
“Then show me,” I said, arching my body toward him.
He pulled away. “This is not you, Leda. It’s the Nectar. It should burn through your system, settling in half an hour. When it has, you will be able to see clearly enough to get out of those restraints.”
I pounded hard against the restraints, but like Nero, they didn’t yield. A strangled stream of curses spilled out of my mouth. His brows lifted, but he didn’t say a thing.
“You cruel, twisted angel,” I growled as he walked toward the door. “How could you leave me like this?”
A smile touched his lips. He turned back around, and in a flash, his face was in front of mine. “Once the magic has settled inside of you, and you’re thinking straight, come see me. I have some work for you to do pre-mission.” Each hot caress of his breath against my skin was pure agony. “I will not take advantage of you in this state, but if you still need me after the haze has passed, I would be more than happy to oblige.” He kissed my jaw with excruciating, maddening slowness.