Seductive Reasoning (10 page)

He moved his lips slightly, just
enough for her to dip her tongue inside his mouth. She closed her eyes and
moaned.

Why wouldn’t he give in? Why
wouldn’t he respond? What was the matter with her? What was the matter with
him?

Just as those questions floated
through her mind and she was about to cut the experiment short, Seth moved his
mouth against hers, nipping into her lower lip. He moved his head closer,
increased the pressure. All at once the kiss changed from light to desperate,
then to flash point. His tongue stroked deep inside her mouth. His lips suckled
and rubbed over hers, a desperate, greedy mating of mouths. His hands delved
into her hair. He tilted her head, changed the angle of the kiss, and took the
kiss deeper. Then deeper still.

One arm snaked out and drew her
close to him. The hem of her gown rode up to almost her waist. He grasped her
fanny, pushing her into the juncture between his legs, into his growing
erection.

As quickly as the kiss had turned
avid, he pulled back from her. “What’s wrong?” The words shuddered from her
throat. The breath clogged in her lungs, and her knees nearly collapsed. Her
body sang with unfulfilled need and desire.

He moved away from her until they
were no longer touching. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

The stab of pain pricked her heart
unexpectedly. Was he sorry because she didn’t do it right, or sorry she wasn’t
someone else? “I’m not. I almost won. You nearly gave in.”

“But I didn’t, and I don’t intend
to.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Chapter
Five

Seth stood by the bedroom window
and listened to the water run in the bathroom. He glanced at the bed. She’d
already turned back the covers. Candles were lit. She’d even strewn petals over
the sheets. Soft music drifted from the stereo.

The stage was set. The players were
ready.

At least she was ready. He had
thought he would go out of his mind when she walked into the den wearing that
little nothing of a nightgown. She’d caressed him and his control had nearly
cracked. But God, when those soft, sweet lips touched his and her wet tongue
slid into his mouth, he knew he was a goner.

If just sitting with her on the
sofa and seeing her in that nightgown made him nearly lose control, what the
hell would happen when he was in bed with her? He closed his eyes tightly. He
didn’t want to think about the consequences. But he had to. He would be fired
and probably never finish his research and prove his theory without the money.
He needed to win and that meant resisting Kate.

Seth remembered the way she had
responded and given everything she had in that kiss. Kate had wrapped herself
around him and poured on more than seduction. The woman made him feel things
and not just lust and need.

Other things.

Being here, in her house made him
want things he didn’t think he needed--like a real home with a woman
permanently in his life. He knew if he let her crawl under his skin, she would
end up crowding him. Kate had the potential to make him admit his greatest
fear.

He was terrified that one day the
whole world would find out that he was a fraud and didn’t have all the answers.
In truth, he didn’t really know all that much about the cosmos. Proving his
theory would somehow heal the insecurity he harbored inside himself.

He heard a soft rustle behind him
and turned. She stood in the door of the bedroom with the light of the hallway
a golden halo around her. God, she was beautiful, but she also looked
vulnerable. He’d seen that look several times now in her eyes, on her face, and
he didn’t want to think about why. She was here for the same reason he was,
right? To win the bet? She had a goal too. One he knew she wanted as badly as
he wanted his.

She strolled to the bed and sat
down. Kate lifted a hand to her mouth, gently patted her lips, and yawned.
“Time for bed.”

Seth averted his gaze and walked to
a slipper chair over by the window. He stripped off his shirt and laid it
neatly on the back of the chair. When he reached for the zipper in his pants,
he stopped. “Would you mind turning off the light?”

Without a response, he heard the
gentle rasp of sheets and bedclothes, then the snick of the lamp switch.
Darkness engulfed the room. Seth waited for his eyes to adjust, then took off
his slacks. A veil of moonlight floated in through the windows, forming a
silver puddle at his feet. Candles glowed on the dresser, their shadows dancing
over the walls.

Without asking, Seth walked to the
candles and snuffed them out. “Fire hazard.” It was the only explanation he
could think of. In truth, he couldn’t stand to see how beautiful Kate looked in
candlelight another moment, or he might scrap his goal of winning and jump head
first into bed with her.

Okay, relax. Consider the data, the
responses, and an answer will present itself. All he had to do was wait until
she was asleep and then come to bed. “I think I’ll go downstairs and work for a
while.”

“If you go downstairs, I’ll be
forced to come with you, and I’m really tired.”

“You don’t need to come with me. Go
to sleep.”

“No, I wanted to conduct one more
experiment before the day ends.”

“When we were in the den you
said--”

“I know, but I’ve changed by mind.”

Changed her mind. Just like a
woman. “You can’t change your mind. That’s part of being a scientist, part of
conducting experiments. What if Louis Pasteur or Jonas Salk changed their minds
in the middle of their research? Where would the world be?”

“Exactly. They moved forward
because they had to. They both knew the results they sought were at the tips of
their fingers and turning back was not an option. Seth, we have to move forward
and that means you coming to bed with me.”

For some inexplicable reason, whenever
she called him Seth, he wanted to let go and allow himself to be seduced. But
all the seduction in the world wouldn’t help him gain what he really
needed--acceptance.

Women never looked beyond his
façade to his intellect beneath. They never had much interest in his brain,
only his body. Kate had backed him into a corner. So far, he’d been wrong
twice. Well, now was his chance to be right. He wouldn’t let her win another
round today.

Without saying a word, Seth
sauntered to the bed and slipped beneath the sheets. Her scent filled his head.
Her sighs, her breaths resounded in his ears, reverberated through his mind. He
felt her move nearer to him. What if she’d taken off her gown when she’d tucked
herself under the sheets? What if she was completely nude? What then? What
chance would he have to resist her?

Seth shifted quickly to his side
and scooted to the edge of the bed as far as he could go. He couldn’t touch her
again. If he did, he would kiss her again, and if he kissed her while they were
in bed, he wouldn’t stop until he buried himself inside her.

She moved closer and closer, her
body heat caressing his back, his legs, his neck, the base of his spine, his
buttocks. Sensuously, she fit her body to his like a soft spoon and snuggled
in.

Thank God. She still wore a
nightgown. What about panties? No, he wouldn’t think about that. He wouldn’t
think about the fact that the only barrier between them was his shorts and a
scrap of lace.

He exhaled a deep breath and felt a
thread of tension ease deep in his soul. Here, right now, he didn’t have to be
structured; he didn’t have to think about his project or the flaws in his
intellect. He could allow the inhibitions inside him to relax.

Why did Kate’s touch make him
believe it was okay for her to prod the soft, vulnerable places inside him? Why
Kate, when no other woman ever had? One arm wrapped around his waist and the
other rested over the top of his head. “Kate, what are you doing?”

“Getting closer.”

“Why?”

“This is the other experiment I
told you about.”

“I never agreed to this. I only
agreed to sleep in the same bed with you.”

There was silence for a moment.
“I’m cold.”

“Put another blanket on the bed.”

He heard her soft chuckle and it
nearly undid him. She moved her head closer to his and rested her face against
his neck. Her breath wafted over his ear and onto his skin. The scent of her,
the smell of woman surrounded him.

“A blanket won’t yield the same
result. We’re not conducting experiments on blankets and their effectiveness at
chasing away the cold. This experiment is about two people. Shared bodily
warmth. This is about a man and woman and how they respond to each other. What
is your response so far?”

He was hard as a rock. That was his
response. “You first.”

“Okay. Let’s see. I feel every inch
of you against my body. You radiate heat. Being in bed with you is like
sleeping with a heater. I find it impossible to be cold when we’re like this.
You smell incredible. You turn me on. I want to touch you all over. But more
than that, I like you. I want to spend more time with you. Now your turn. What
do you feel?”

“I feel you against me.”

“And? Go on.”

“You’re touchable and soft.”

“Come on, Seth, you can do better
than that.”

Oh, he could do better all right.
He could do a lot better. “I feel various parts of your body against mine.”

“Which parts?”

She wanted him to describe them to
her? “Well, your legs, your arms, your chest and ... and your skin.”

She sighed, but it wasn’t a sigh of
contentment, more like a sigh of frustration. “Okay, not bad. We can record our
responses in the morning.”

Seth felt weak with relief. Thank
God, the experiment was over, and she would slip back to her side of the bed
and leave him the hell alone before he did something he would regret. Only she
didn’t move. Stealthily, her hand moved lower and lower from his chest over his
belly. Her fingers slipped beneath the waistband of his shorts.

He caught her hand and moved it
away from the direction she was headed. He made sure his grip wasn’t hard or
forceful, but gentle and brooked no opposition. She lay there with the front of
her body plastered to the back of his, and he knew he couldn’t close his eyes
and go to sleep.

His heart pounded, his pulse leaped
sporadically through his veins. He wanted her to hold him once more, to kiss
him, to make him feel that he mattered. Not his looks, but who he was inside.
He knew this was an odd way of going about it, but he just couldn’t turn over
and go to sleep without anything more happening between them.

Gently, he turned her face toward
his. She rolled to her back and looked up at him. Her eyes glowed in the
diaphanous moonlight that spread glistening fingers over the bed. Desire burned
deeply in their depths. “Would you kiss me good night?” Her softly whispered
words nearly undid him.

He wanted to. Badly. “That’s not a
good idea.”

“Why not?”

“You know why. I almost lost
control earlier.”

Control. They both wanted control
and they both wanted to win, only there could only be one winner in the end,
and he intended for it to be him. She laid her head on the pillow beside his
head and gazed with longing into his eyes. “I promise to be a good girl. All I
want is a kiss. Nothing more. Tonight anyway.”

Why not give her one kiss? Then
they could both roll over and go to sleep. This was an experiment after all. He
had something to prove. He needed her to see that there was more to a
relationship than just the physical. He would hold back, he was certain he
could do it. He needed Kate to see him beyond the physical. He wanted to show
her his mind. “One kiss. Then you promise to leave me alone and go to sleep?”

“Yes.”

He moved closer and propped himself
up on one elbow so that he towered over her. His body blocked the moonlight
until all he could see was her. Her heat, her scent engulfed him. She pushed
her leg between his, and he knew she felt his erection hard against her thigh.

Slowly, inexorably, he lowered his
head and laid his mouth over hers. He let it rest there for a moment then began
to draw away gradually, but she pulled him back.

Kate nipped at his mouth and he
nipped back. She tongued his lips and he tongued hers. She parted her lips and
opened her mouth for him. He accepted the invitation and pushed his tongue
between her lips. She opened wider for him accepting the thrust of his tongue.
Despite his vow to curb his response to her, he felt his restraint glide out of
control.

Her scent, the silkiness of her
mouth, made his kiss grow more ravenous, hotter, until his body rested fully
over hers and pushed her into the mattress. Seth feasted on her mouth, even as
being in her arms stroked the tension and resistance from his body and soul. It
would be so easy now to just take her in one hard thrust and be done with it.

He slid his mouth from hers and
rained open-mouthed kisses on the side of her neck. She moved her head to give
him better access as he kissed his way down her neck. Desperate to taste more
of her, to feel more of her, he brushed the strap of her nightgown aside and
bared her breasts. The heat from their bodies meshed and surrounded them in a sensual
aura. Her nipples puckered, her breasts swelled. He had to have more to still
the restless need inside him, to cure himself once and for all.

“Please. Please touch me.” She
grabbed at her gown and tried to pull the garment over her head. The sound of her
pleading voice snatched him back to reality. What was he doing? Everything he’d
worked for was about to go up in a haze of lust.

Seth tore his mouth away from hers
and rose quickly from the bed. Cool air wafted over his heated skin making
goose bumps rise. He felt cold and he felt alone. Kate sat up in bed and shoved
the hair from her face. He walked to the window and rested his hands on either
side of the frame.