She couldn’t help wondering about the identity of the woman who had broken his heart and tossed him out. And there had been a woman, she was certain of it. A woman he had trusted and loved. She had hurt him, left him bitter, full of anger. He hadn’t let go and, until he did, he would never fully belong to any woman.
She knew the feeling because she doubted if she could ever fully belong to any man. There was no man to blame; it just wasn’t in her makeup. She dated when it pleased her and gave her heart to no man. Sex had always been an afterthought because there had never been a time she knew she couldn’t do without it. There had never been anything earth-shattering about any of her bed partners...until that one night with Winston.
And she knew that was the reason she had hauled ass that morning he’d been in the shower and why she was fighting a repeat performance with him now. She had felt things when he’d been inside her that she hadn’t ever felt before. And the thought that making love to a man could push her over the edge was scary.
And that’s why she knew she couldn’t let him touch her again that way. She would not only lose her mind, she would be at a risk of losing her soul, and then the loss of her heart would surely follow.
“So why don’t you put us both out of our misery, Ainsley? Let’s make love all over this damn place,” he said in a deep, husky voice that was more than tempting. It was downright lethal.
She met his gaze thinking it never ceased to amaze her how some men operated. Going between a woman’s legs was just that...going between a woman’s legs. Not love. Not a desire to commit. No strings attached.
“Who says I’m in misery?” she asked, trying not to get unnerved by him.
“I say so. And I intend to take you out of it.”
And the next thing she knew he was out of his chair—nearly knocking it over in the process—moving around to her side of the table and pulling her into his arms.
She tried to protest but he kissed her into silence.
Chapter 9
Ainsley tried resisting but only for a little while, less than a couple seconds to be exact. Winston knew the moment he’d broken through her resistance. That was all the time it took to ease his tongue between her parted lips and sweep her into sweet surrender.
And it was definitely sweet. Her senses had gotten torched like his and she was returning his kiss, mating with his tongue, and opening her mouth wider to consume and be consumed. She was his for the taking and he was doing a damn good job of it.
There was something so profoundly sensual about kissing her. He had enjoyed it that night and he was enjoying it now. Already, his lower body was throbbing beneath his bathrobe, screaming for release and pushing him to indulge even more. And then there was the provocative scent of her, jostling his senses all over the place and taunting him to be greedier. Even after her shower when the smell of Misty Rain should be entrenched into her skin, he could still pick out her natural scent and it was stirring up intense desire within him.
He lowered his hands to her waist to ease open the sash to her robe, needing to touch her bare skin. His hands traced a path over her breasts, spanned her small waist and caressed her shapely hips. She tried pulling away her mouth, but he took possession and locked his down on hers, feasting more greedily, and he knew he’d won her over when she began moaning and returning the kiss in equal measure.
Winston moved his thigh between her legs and felt her heated skin on his flesh. All the while he’d been sitting across from her, he had imagined touching her this way, tasting her, making love to her again.
He slowly pulled back his mouth. “I love the feel of your sex on my thigh. All it will take is for you to open yourself a little and I can ease inside,” he murmured, trailing heated kisses along the corner of her mouth and down the side of her neck.
To really push her over the edge, he moved his hand lower to touch her intimately and moaned when he found her wet. There was nothing like the scent of an aroused woman and hers flowed through his nostrils, clung to his membranes. She moaned and leaned closer to him, letting him know she liked the feel of his fingers inside of her. He studied her features, saw the intensity in the gaze staring back at him, the beauty of her, and a deep hunger erupted within him. He knew at that moment he could eat her alive.
“Do you know what I like even more than your aroused scent?” he whispered close to her ear.
“No,” she said in a tortured moan. “What?”
“Your taste.” He dropped to his knees and before she could push him away, his mouth latched onto her sex. The moment his tongue invaded her he remembered why he’d wanted to do this again. Why he enjoyed going down on her. Her taste was so delicious it was almost addicting.
He was finding out the hard way that Ainsley St. James was an irresistible morsel he couldn’t get enough of.
* * *
Ainsley knew she was a goner at the first flicker of his tongue. “Oh, yes!”
She bracketed his head with her hands and swallowed the tightening lump in her throat when his tongue went deeper, feasting on her like she was an after-dinner dessert.
“Oh, my,” she moaned when she saw what he intended to do. Lick her right into a climax. And he wasn’t wasting precious time doing so. She first felt the intense stirring in her bones followed by a rush of blood through her veins. The orgasm ripped through her and her thighs began to tremble. He tightened his hands on her hips, licking harder followed by gentle nipping sensations from his teeth.
At that moment she felt as if everything inside her had been waiting just for this moment, the first move by him to remind her of what it had been like before. He kept going with long, leisurely strokes taking her orgasm to an unimaginable level.
She slowly began winding down, feeling drained and sapped, as if she was having a serious meltdown. With no strength left, she sagged against him, clung tightly to his shoulders as he absorbed her tremors with his mouth.
And when her thighs stopped quivering, he released her and pressed his face against her stomach. He placed a light kiss right under her belly button before leaning back to gaze up at her. His lips were still wet from her juices. All she could do was stare at him. At that moment she was assaulted by all types of emotions. What had started out almost a week and a half ago as impersonal sex between two individuals was beginning to get personal and she didn’t know how to stop it.
“You enjoyed that?” he asked quietly, breaking the silence between them.
All she could do was nod, but that was enough to elicit the smile that touched his lips. Standing, he picked her up in his arms to carry her over to the counter and sit her on it. Then he kissed her, soothing her soft moans and letting her taste herself on his tongue. And she knew at that moment that, although Winston had an aversion to ever letting a woman dig her claws into him, he was an unselfish lover. The kind any woman would want and for her everything other men before him had never been.
Ending the kiss, he pulled back slightly and whispered against her moist lips, “I love giving you pleasure.”
She didn’t doubt that, if the last time and today was anything to go by. After drawing in a deep breath she exhaled, fanning the dark hairs matting his chest. She finally found the strength to lift her head and look into the penetrating eyes that ensnared hers. There was no regret there and she knew he wouldn’t find it in her eyes. He’d scored another point if his purpose had been to prove one. Yet she’d gotten something out of this, as well. And since she was the one who’d come unglued, she could even say she’d gotten more than he had. He had given her pleasure but had held back his own. Why?
Even now from the feel of his erection pressing against her leg she knew he was powerfully aroused. Why didn’t he take full advantage when he had the chance?
As if he read the question in her eyes, he took his finger and placed it under her chin and said huskily, “The next time I go inside you will be because I know you want me there, and not because I’ve gotten there through any type of underhanded seductio
n on my part.”
She didn’t have to wonder what he was talking about. The mere fact that she was sitting in his kitchen naked proved the intensity of her desire for him. They had proven before that sex between them wasn’t just good, it was off the charts. They had the ability to share unadulterated sexual pleasure. She couldn’t deny that even if she tried.
He reached out and stood her on the floor. “Your clothes should be dry now,” he said huskily, his hands reaching out and cupping her breasts as if he appreciated their fullness. “Get dressed and meet me back here in five minutes.”
He dropped his hands to his side and added in a serious tone, “I’m going upstairs to get dressed and I trust that you won’t take it upon yourself to wander about. Any area beyond the kitchen and laundry room is off-limits. I wouldn’t advise you to seek out Chambers and disturb him from his work. You’ll only get on his bad side and, in the end, he’ll refuse to see you, no matter what I say.”
She watched him go, feeling the nipples of her breasts ache. When he was no longer in sight, she sighed deeply. She couldn’t believe what had happened in this kitchen. No, she corrected herself. She could believe. The man had a way with his fingers and mouth.
And he had a way with her.
He should not have tasted her again, Winston thought as he pulled a T-shirt over his head. Now he wouldn’t be getting a lick of sleep for sure tonight.
Lick...
Sensual shivers went through him as he remembered. It was as if his tongue was meant to go inside her somewhere, whether it was in her mouth or between her legs. He might as well brand it with a big, whopping A.
He finished dressing, listening to the storm still raging outside. But that was nothing compared to the storm raging inside him. Now he would be walking around with a hard-on for no telling how long. He should have known better, but going down on her had been as natural as breathing.
And that wasn’t good. She could become an addiction. A weakness. A woman he thought he couldn’t do without. And that was unacceptable. Already whenever he saw her, he thought of sex, was constantly hard. Ready. And for a man who could get so involved with his work that he could put sex on the back burner for months before thinking about it, that wasn’t good.
He decided it would be best for all concerned if he kept his distance from her for the rest of her stay here. With all the rain he wouldn’t risk sending her across the bridge and he wouldn’t risk taking her back by boat, either.
But first thing in the morning he intended to see her off with a stiff warning. If she returned for whatever reason, he wouldn’t hesitate calling the authorities.
* * *
Shivers ran all over Ainsley as she slid into her dry jeans. She pushed back several strands of hair from her face and wished she had a band to put it in a ponytail. Hey, forget the band for your hair. What you need is a damn lock to your cookie jar.
She took a deep breath and then slowly inhaled knowing that was so true. She could have stopped him the minute he’d dropped to his knees with a sharp slap to his face. Instead, what did she do? Grabbed ahold of his head and all but shoved her cookie down his throat. And he had eaten it up. Literally.
Ainsley rubbed a hand along her face, purely disgusted with herself. Although he didn’t get any further than going down on her, he really should not have made it that far. She should have done something.
Oh, but she had.
She had moaned out her enjoyment and would have even been ready to return the favor with no arm-twisting. Both mortified and irritated, she put on her blouse and tucked it into her jeans. He had set her up, knowing all along how things would end. Right now he was probably pleased with himself.
Dressed, she leaned against the wall trying to fight back the sensations still thrumming through her body, especially there...between her legs. His mouth had triggered all kind of primal urges with the first brush of his tongue. And then there was the way he had cupped her breasts as if he’d every right to do so. She hadn’t protested then, either. It didn’t make sense how a man she’d met no more than two weeks ago could elicit that much desire within her.
Deciding she wanted to forget what happened and hoped he did as well, she glanced around. Even the laundry room off the kitchen was impressive. She saw another door and wondered where it led and was tempted to go find out. Then she remembered Winston’s warning. The last thing she wanted was to get on Dr. Chambers’s bad side and ruin things with him before she got a chance to officially meet him and plead her case for an interview.
Ainsley glanced out the window and saw it was still storming. There was no doubt in her mind that tomorrow morning Winston intended to ask her to leave, which meant she had to come up with a plan and fast. Chambers was here on the grounds somewhere, and she needed to find out where. This place was huge and he could be just about anywhere. She wondered...
Moving quickly to the kitchen she headed straight to the wall where the security panel was located. Checking over her shoulders to make sure Winston wasn’t lurking around, she edged closer. As if the security system sensed her presence, lights on the panel board began blinking.
After swallowing, Ainsley said, “Charley, where’s Dr. Chambers.”
More lights began blinking. “Repeat command. Failed communication.”
She let out a disgusted sigh. She didn’t have much time before Winston returned, breathing down her neck again and there was no doubt in her mind he would watch her like a hawk for the rest of the evening. That meant she needed to at least know in what part of the house the doctor was working. Winston had to sleep sometime and when he did she would make her move. She hated having to disturb Dr. Chambers, but according to what she’d read in one of his books, he did just as much work at night as he did in the day. A lot of the sea animals he was studying were creatures of the night.
Deciding to take another approach, she asked. “Where’s the lab?”
“Basement floor, east wing.”
She nodded. At least she’d gotten that much information, although she wasn’t sure where the east wing was. But she was determined to find it.
“Fascinated by Charley I see.”
Ainsley quickly swung around hoping she didn’t have a guilty look on her face. And she tried not to make it obvious she was checking out Winston. He had changed into another pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt. Heat immediately surged through her and she fought it back. He looked good but deep down she knew there was more to Winston Coltrane than the clothes he wore.
He was definitely a complex man. Complex and fascinating at the same time. And she would round it off with bold. She had a feeling he did whatever the hell he felt like and answered to no one. What other man would seduce a woman in the kitchen of his employer’s home, actually go down on her when someone might walk in on them at any minute? But then, didn’t that make her just as bold as him?
“Come on, time to feed the dolphins,” he said.
“Dolphins?”
“Yes.”
She glanced out the window. “In case you’ve forgotten, it’s storming and—”
“The dolphin tank is on the back in an enclosed area.”
“Oh.”
Already he was walking away toward the laundry room and opening that door that she’d been curious about earlier. She quickly followed, determined not to be left behind. As soon as she walked through the doorway she saw the stairs that led down to what seemed to be a basement area.
He stood aside. “After you.”
She nodded and began walking down the stairs. She shook her head at just how trusting she was of this man she really didn’t know. Other than knowing his name was Winston Coltrane and he was a bodyguard to Dr. R. J. Chambers, she didn’t really know a lot about him. She hadn’t found it necessary to ask for a full disclosure of his life the night they’d spent together. All she knew at the time was that the man had set her stomach fluttering the moment she’d laid eyes on him and the sexual chemistry flowing between them had been strong. But st
ill, he was taking her down some stairs that could lead to heaven knows where, so she decided she needed to know more about him.
“So why would a bodyguard feed dolphins? Is that part of your duties?” she asked over her shoulder.
“It is if you have a degree in marine biology.”
She almost missed the next step and he quickly reached out to grab her by the waist to keep her from falling. “Thanks, you can let go of me now.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
He slowly removed his hand and she felt the withdrawal of his touch in every part of her body. She frowned up at him. “You never told me that,” she said in an accusing voice.
Stifling a grin, he said, “Never told you what?”
“That you were anything to Dr. Chambers other than his bodyguard. You’re also his assistant, aren’t you?”
He hunched his shoulders. “Possibly.”
“You are, so go ahead and admit it. Otherwise why would you be feeding dolphins?”
He smiled. “Because they’re hungry. Now stop asking questions and let’s move on. We’re almost an hour late and Lucy and Ricky don’t like late meals.”
“Lucy and Ricky?”
“Yes.”
She chuckled. “Oh, that’s cute. Who named them?” she asked as they began making their way down the stairs again.
“Dr. Chambers.”
“That figures.” And then she decided to ask. “Do you think Dr. Chambers will come down while we’re here?”
“I doubt it. He has more important things to do. A full moon is expected in a few days and he wants everything to be ready.”
They had reached the bottom floor and he came to stand beside her. “Ready for what?”
Bachelor Unclaimed Page 8
