He may have liked the taste of her before, but now her distinct flavor was a part of him. He’d licked and sampled her until her savory mix of female and vanilla suffused his blood. Seth ran his tongue over his lips where he still tasted the erotic sugar of her skin and their own sweat.
Seth caressed her back with the tips of his fingers, then slid his hand lower until his palm covered her fanny. Lately, he’d had his nose next to Kate, his mouth on her neck, between her legs. She smelled and tasted as delicious and seductive there as she did everywhere else on her body.
Kate folded her arms on top of his chest and rested her chin on her hands. Her eyes brimmed with tenderness, her lips swollen from his kisses. “You’ve become important to me, Seth.”
That was the last thing he expected her to say. Her quiet words pierced his heart and lifted his soul, but he wasn’t ready to admit that she’d become important to him too.
Or that he’d fallen in love with her.
He’d never been comfortable with emotions because they were uncharted territory for him. Dangerous waters. But at some point in the last few days, he’d grown accustomed to having her and her emotions around. “I knew the first time I laid eyes on you that you spelled trouble for me.”
“Really. Is that why you stayed away from me?”
He caressed her cheek and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “You bet. You were so open and honest. I didn’t know how to handle it.”
Uncertainty covered her face. “And now?”
He had accepted his fate. Seth swiped a finger over her nose. “I was fine before I met you. My life was good, quiet and predictable.” He’d managed to let Kate slide under his skin, become connected to his bones. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?”
A slight frown creased her brow. “Do you mean tonight? Or in the morning?”
Seth exhaled a deep breath and traced her lips with his finger. “You mean the bet, don’t you? You think it’s time we went--”
“Our separate ways?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
The thought of her not being there every day scared the hell out of him. “Is that what you want?” She knew she’d won. Was she ready to claim the money?
A brief smile trembled over her mouth. “I’m not sure what I want anymore. I’ve never been good at planning or sticking to anything important for too long--except for making my shop a success. I always felt that important things stifled me somehow and made me stay in one place, instead of allowing me the freedom to explore and live my life as I pleased. My family is important and they have been trying to rein me in for years.”
“Is that what you’re afraid of? Being reined in?”
She lowered her head and rested her left cheek on the top of her hands. Seth lifted her chin, bringing her gaze back to his. “Tell me. What scares you the most?”
Her eyes filled with tears but she blinked them back. “I’m--I’m scared I’ll never be accepted.” She exhaled a deep breath as if something had released its hold on her. “I’ve yearned for it my whole life. I’ve wanted it from my family and friends. But most of all I’ve wanted it from my relationships with men.”
I accept you, Kate. Why couldn’t he say it? There was nothing he could do about his intellect or his looks. Was he afraid of losing something vital deep inside, something he never let anyone see? His vulnerability.
“What are you afraid of Seth?”
You, crushing my heart into dust.
Seth gazed out the window to avoid answering her question. The rain had receded and only the occasional boom of thunder could be heard in the distance. The moon slipped briefly from behind a cloud and shimmered quietly in the night sky.
Kate pointed to the shadows on the face of the moon. “Whoever said there was a man in the moon never really looked. It’s clearly a woman with her hair flowing out behind her and a secret smile on her lips.”
How many times had he looked through a telescope at that moon and never known that she was gently mocking him? “You’re right. It is a woman.” The moon knew what he was in for. “I love space, the stars and the planets. Astronomy is my life. Only now, I have to go back to that life without--”
“Without the money? Without finishing what you started?”
No. Without you in my life. “Something like that. I want to thank you, Kate.”
“For what?”
“For seeing more than just my face.”
She smiled seductively. “You mean other women only saw your looks and incredible body?”
Seth grinned. “Can you believe that?”
Her eyes held a thoughtful expression and the seductive smile faded. “No, I can’t. Your intelligence is such an important part of you. How could any woman not see that?”
Seth’s heart swelled with pleasure at her words. Kate had appreciated his intellect, his teaching ability, and his love of astronomy. All of the other women he had ever dated even casually had only wanted his body. Kate wanted a piece of his mind.
“I really enjoyed being in your class. I learned a lot, but I wish I were half as smart.”
“You are smart. Look what you’ve done with your business.”
“I am bright. I have to be to build my business, but I don’t come close to your intellect. You know so much more than I do. I own a lingerie shop and you’re a professor with a high I.Q.
“One day you’ll meet a woman who will fit intellectually and socially with you, a woman who can give teas and shake hands with the academic crowd. A woman who will fit in.”
Her words hit him like a fist in his solar plexus.
Of course, why would she want to stick with a stuffed shirt like him? He wasn’t her type and never would be. She needed a man who could be spontaneous right along with her, a man who would make love with her, anytime, anywhere.
“Let’s face it, I sell underwear. I don’t contemplate the origins of the universe or discover new stars or constellations. It must be exciting to look out into the heavens every day and wonder what’s really out there.
“Other planets, solar systems, maybe even other life forms. There is so much about the universe that scientists don’t know, but that’s good. If technology enabled us to uncover all the answers, just think how boring life would be.”
His deepest fear eased.
He was okay. So he was a scientist and his students believed he knew almost everything about astronomy and the heavens. So what?
Seth was no longer afraid, afraid to admit the truth. He turned Kate’s face back toward his. “I’ve got a news flash for you, sweetheart. I’m really a fraud.” There. He’d said it. He’d finally admitted it out loud.
She raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know all that much about the universe.”
Kate smiled with affection burning in her eyes. She reached for him and curled her arms around his neck. He knew he loved her before, but now the love consumed him.
“So? I don’t know all that much about astrology.”
“You’re kidding.”
She smiled. “I’m no expert but I like my customers to believe I am. I learn new things all the time, and I have to work hard to incorporate those new findings into my designs.” She paused for a moment, biting her lower lip as if she were unsure of what she was going to say. “The unvarnished truth is I’m not all that sure of my sexuality.”
Shock crawled through his body. “Lady, let me assure you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your sexuality. You’re an incredible woman.”
Hope glinted in her eyes. “Do you really mean that?” she asked softly.
Seth pulled Kate into his arms and held on tight. “I really mean it. I really do.” How could she believe otherwise? Instead of sinking like a stone, Kate had held him up, with her arms, her passion and her heart wrapped around him. She’d made it possible for him to let his inhibitions and his fears go, and she was still here.
For now.
A few minutes later, Seth slid Kate from his arms.
“Where’re you going?”
“Don’t move. I’m a little hungry. I’ll be right back.”
Hungry. Who cared about food at a time like this? The only thing Kate was hungry for was Seth wrapped around her, his sex shoved deep inside her until neither one of them cared anymore.
Kate watched him walk from the room stark naked, his cute butt disappearing through the doorway along with the rest of him. She heard him pad down the hallway and into the kitchen. She listened to him as he opened and closed the refrigerator door, then heard the sound of his footsteps as he walked back down the hall. When he came back into the room, he held his hands behind his back. “What’s that?”
“A surprise. Close your eyes.”
Kate tilted her head to try to see behind his back.
“Uh, uh. No peeking. Eyes closed.”
She felt the corners of her mouth twitch before she closed her eyes. “It better be good.”
“You’re going to love it. Trust me. Promise not to look.”
She inhaled and exhaled a breath and with it the scent of Seth. At the moment, she couldn’t deny him anything. “I promise.”
She felt the mattress dip as he climbed onto the bed. Slowly, he pulled the sheet down and a chill swept over her body. Curious, she barely opened her eyes.
“You promised. No peeking.”
Kate quickly closed her eyes. “You aren’t going to do anything kinky, are you?”
“Maybe. But I promise it won’t hurt a bit.”
The sound of his voice, all raspy with satisfied male tickled her nerve endings. She opened one eye and looked at his penis, fully aroused and throbbing with life. Kate raised a brow.
Seth seducing her?
His fingers caressed her breasts and teased her nipples until they were hard and distended. Easing down slowly, he smoothed his fingers over her stomach, her abdomen. The tips of his slightly calloused fingers sent ribbons of desire skittering over her skin. His hand moved lower. Yes, she needed him to go lower.
Arousal swirled through her stomach and excitement danced up her spine. With every little movement he made, every subtle shift in his body, every time he nudged her thigh and rubbed his penis against her, need sprang free again.
The scent of desire, sex and want filled her head. She knew the smell now. She knew how it devoured and swept away reason. Intimately. Seth’s tangy scent grew stronger and mingled with the musky smell of his body preparing to enter her. The feeling intoxicated and stroked a bundle of nerves deep within her sex.
What would happen tomorrow? Would he walk away from her? Would he walk out of her life for good?
Clearly, he’d lost the bet. Would he try to stay with her for the remainder of the week or leave?
The answer to that question drifted out of her mind when he stroked her sex with his fingers. Heat pumped between her legs, feminine fluid readied her body to take him inside. With every caress, pressure built and need clamped jagged teeth into her desire. Oh God. Yes.
Seth moved his head, his breath hot on her skin and licked his tongue over one of her nipples. Passion danced over her skin and burned through her blood. He moved his mouth from her nipples and planted open-mouthed kisses over her stomach and abdomen. His tongue a hot sensuous flame, sipping as if he tasted nectar.
“Bend your knees,” his voice barely a murmur.
She couldn’t deny him anything. Not now. She bent her legs and felt his large palms rub the inside of her thighs. He pushed gently, opening her wider. Cool air wafted over her, making her aware of how exposed she was. He rolled on top of her and pressed his sex against hers. She knew what delight awaited her now.
This time, she reaped all the pleasure.
“I’ve wanted to seduce you from the moment I saw you at the television station.”
She lifted his chin, gazing into his eyes. “You forgot about your surprise.”
He threw her a drop-dead sexy smile that sent shivers over her skin. “No, I didn’t.”
The glow of passion in his eyes told her he wanted her. Badly. Seth sat back and knelt in front of her, his sex lifted proud and hard between his legs. The part of him he’d driven hard and deep within her, the part that had lifted her up higher than she’d ever gone and flung her into all consuming ecstasy.
Gently, he spread her legs farther apart until he had a full view of her. He pressed his thumb to her still dewy femininity then leaned into her and licked away the fluid. “Hold that thought.”
Seth grabbed a container of vanilla ice cream and pried off the top with his hand. She watched him toss the lid over the side of the bed and grin at her. “I hope you like ice cream.”
She couldn’t believe the change in Seth. When they first met, he’d been so uptight, but now, with her, he’d really relaxed. He’d let himself go. The realization made her feel powerful and totally female. “I love ice cream.”
He dipped his fingers into the tub and scooped out a handful of the creamy dessert. Seth set the bucket on top of the bed, leaned forward, and smeared the icy confection over both of Kate’s breasts. She sucked in a breath against the intense cold that touched her heated skin.
“Easy, I’m going to soothe you in a minute.”
He continued to rub the ice cream down her body, over her rib cage, to her stomach. The difference in temperature of the ice cream and the touch of his hand aroused her further. He stopped long enough to fill her belly button, then continued to spread the dessert over her abdomen but stopped short of her mound.
By now, the temperature of her skin had begun to melt the ice cream, and rivulets of it ran over her breasts and dribbled between her thighs. The feeling was erotic and brought the sexual need arcing between them to a fevered pitch.
Seth leaned forward, opened his mouth, and licked the ice cream from her breasts. The feel of his hot tongue slicking over her drove Kate wild.
A moan slid from her throat, and she reached for him. Seth grasped her wrists together and gently raised her arms over her head. “Uh, uh. This is entirely my treat.”
He continued to glide his lips, his tongue over her skin eating every drop of ice cream from her body in long, slow licks. With each stroke of his tongue, the feel of him, the longing for him to hold her, to make love to her, burrowed further into her heart.
Did she want to make this relationship work? His tongue played a wicked dance over her breasts. Breath clogged in her lungs. Yes. What she felt for Seth was so huge, so overwhelming. A powerful emotion that she was terrified to let in pushed viciously at her soul. Unable to hold it back any longer, she surrendered to the feelings and felt her heart tumble into love with Seth.
Oh God. What have I done? She had never been in love before. She didn’t know how to be in love. Seth eased his mouth over her. As he moved closer and closer to the juncture of her legs, she pushed her hips forward needing him to taste her there.
“Not yet.”
Suddenly, Seth removed his mouth from her body. She felt bereft and lost at the absence of his touch. Then she saw him reach for something else.
A can of whipped cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup.
“Oh, my.”
Seth threw her a wicked grin, lifted the can of whipped cream and shook vigorously. He popped off the cap, pressed his index finger on the nozzle, and held it next to her feminine core. She heard a squirting noise and jerked against the cold cream that he sprayed over her.
“Hold on. The best is yet to come.”
If it got any better she didn’t think she’d survive. Kate looked down between her legs and widened her eyes. First, he sprayed a mound of whipped cream between her delicate folds, and then he drizzled chocolate syrup on top, decorating her completely.
“Looks delicious.”
She watched as Seth straddled her legs.
“Your sex looks like a delicious dessert between your thighs.”
Seth leaned over and licked her from top to bottom. Blood pulsed like a flood tide and pushed fire through the lower
part of her body. Kate sucked in a sharp breath of air. A ragged cry of pleasure skittered from her throat.
He smiled. “God, you taste good.”
He gave her another lick, only this time he curled his tongue over her swollen center. Her vision blurred and her bones dissolved.
“Do you like what I’m doing?”
“Oh, yeah,” her eyes glazed. “What’s not to like?”
Seth chuckled and nibbled his way over her. She felt her own life pulse against his lips and tongue.
“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful,” his voice rumbled. He licked her once more between her legs and suckled the tender nub into his mouth.
Sensual delight exploded through her body. Her hips bowed up from the mattress and her hands gripped the sides of his head to hold him in place. “Don’t stop. Whatever you do, don’t stop.”
Seth slid his tongue over her relentlessly while the ache throbbed harder between her thighs. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”
The ache was a sweet, delectable pain that only one thing could satisfy.
Completion.
Completion with Seth deep and hard inside her.
“Seth, I can’t ... hold on much longer. I want to come with you inside me. Please.”
Heat pooled hot and liquid between her legs. Pure lust blazed through her lower body like a rapidly spreading fire. She jerked her hips upward with the onslaught, and her feminine core throbbed against his mouth. Kate felt her feminine juices spill from her body onto his tongue. She’d never known anything so wonderful.
Seth lifted his mouth from her, his lips glistening and fresh with her climax. Her blood ran molten. Hunger and the fierce craving for him to plunge inside her made her shift her lower body until he was poised to enter her. “Please. I need you inside me. Now. Don’t make me wait.”
Sweat glistened on both their bodies. Quickly, Seth slipped on a condom and pushed into her a little bit at the time. She felt the tip of his swollen penis slip past the barrier of her delicate folds. Kate sucked in a breath as little fires of passion ignited inside her, shoving her closer to the edge.
A climax held her shimmering, hot and suspended over the chasm, and yet she wanted him, she needed him to make it last.
Seductive Reasoning Page 16
