Intimate Seduction (10 page)

T
his, Natalie thought, was a deliberate seduction, as calculated as it could get. And just as shrewd. Vastly intimate. There was no doubt in her mind that he was a master at it, had years of experience and had sharpened his skills just for her.

His tongue was having a field day with hers, driving her to the brink of madness by bringing forth ideas in her mind that she’d never considered before. A part of her desperately wanted to believe that his kissing her this way was a waste of his time, that she was immune to such seductive tactics. But another part of her, the one that was enjoying the feel of his tongue mating with hers, wasn’t sure just how strong her willpower was.

Over the years she had encountered a number of men who’d wanted to take her to bed to not only
dissect her mind but to break it down in the process. They’d felt threatened by her intellect, and when she refused to let their ruse work, they began feeling intimidated and saw her as a bother. She had handled their rebuff by displaying her competency even more. As far as she was concerned, not wanting to accept her as an equal was their problem and not hers. As a result, she’d been labeled problematic. That, coupled with her desire not to ever encounter a man close to Karl in attitude and temperament, had forced her long ago to take herself out of the game. That was one of the reasons she thought Donovan Steele was as lethal as they came.

There was nothing typical with him. Everything seemed out of the ordinary. She was way out of her league with him, beyond her limited experience with men.

Through the heat consuming her with their kiss, she was instantly aware of him lifting her tank top and knew she should resist him. Instead she moaned deep in her throat when she felt a tingling sensation flood her belly beneath the warmth of the hand he placed on her stomach. Moments later, his hand moved, shifting upward and unfastening the front clasp of her bra. And then, without missing a beat, his mouth followed to her breast.

That’s when she lost touch with reality and lost her grip on any control she had. His tongue stroked her nipples and she became engrossed, totally, irrefutably absorbed in the sensations ripping through her. He was devouring her breasts with the same greed he had bestowed on her lips. Each suck and lick to her nip
ples elicited a deep pull in the area between her legs. She suddenly felt sensitive there as sensations deluged her. And at that moment she felt the need to whisper his name.

“Donovan.”

Donovan was fully aware of the moment Natalie said his name, and the passionate tone had his erection throbbing. He wanted to hear her say it again, but right on the verge of having an orgasm. Her scent was hot and enticing, and was getting to him in the most primitive way.

He moved his hand to the elastic waistband of her shorts and without giving himself much time to think about what he was doing, he eased his hand inside and quickly moved past the silky panties she was wearing, going straight to her feminine mound.

The moment he touched her there, his fingers making contact with her wetness, he heard her release a litany of deep moans. The sound, as well as her intimate response to the area he was touching, drove him over the edge. His desire to taste her became overwhelming. Elemental.

Giving a final thorough lick to her breasts, he quickly went into action by pulling her shorts and panties down her legs. Before she could deny him access, he lowered his head between her thighs, and his mouth went straight to the heated folds of her femininity.

On instinct her hips thrust upward, and he grabbed her hips to hold her there, needing to devour her with a hunger that focused his senses on this particular part of her body. With practiced licks and precise flicks of
his tongue, he tasted the invigorating sweetness of her blazing fire, her steamy passion, and he didn’t plan to let up any time soon—not until he made her come.

That didn’t take long. When her thighs began trembling, he knew she was about ready to detonate. Every nerve and muscle in his body was poised, prepared and primed for the experience. And when it happened and she screamed out his name, he continued the intimate kiss, claiming this part of her as his. Intense pride filled his chest at the sounds of pleasure she was making. He held nothing back and neither did she. The next time, he silently vowed, he wanted to be staring her in the eyes when it happened. And there
would
be a next time.

He continued kissing her while at the same time giving her body time to recover. It was only then that he withdrew his mouth, eased back up her panties and shorts before sliding up her body to look at her. Her eyes had a glazed look, and she seemed momentarily at a loss for words.

She moved her mouth as if she was going to say something, and he quickly decided that he wasn’t ready for her to say anything. So he leaned closer, bent his head. Her lips parted and he slid in his tongue and kissed her, sharing her own taste with her. Moments later he reluctantly pulled his mouth away.

She looked up at him. “That should not have happened, Donovan.”

He figured she would say something like that. “But it did. You and I both wanted it to happen. We enjoyed it. Admit it,” he countered.

Natalie wasn’t ready to admit anything. Her mind
had practically turned to mush, and she couldn’t even think straight. She’d arrived this morning to clean his house, not to be the recipient of mouth sex. And especially not to the point at which it had made her scream. She was the most disciplined person she knew, and she had screamed.

“Admit it, Natalie.”

She narrowed her gaze and wished she could ignore what had happened between them. Ignore him and that smile curving his lips. So she glanced around the room and said, “I need to finish up in here and leave.”

The smile curving his lips widened. “So that’s the way you want to play?”

She had news for him; she hadn’t wanted to play at all and had been doing just fine remaining on the sidelines. He and his naughty tongue had definitely thrown a monkey wrench into things. The vivid memory of his head between her legs had her blushing.

“Like I said, today was a mistake,” she reemphasized.

Donovan quirked a dark brow and recognized her ploy for what it was. She still wasn’t ready to acknowledge what was between them, what he wasn’t about to let slide by. She had said she thought today was a mistake, but she hadn’t said it wouldn’t happen again. Evidently she had missed that fact and he was glad.

Deciding he had pushed her buttons enough for one day, he eased into a sitting position. He glanced around the room when she got up off the bed. “There’s nothing else you need to do in here,” he said.

He noted she tried looking everywhere but at him when she said, “There’s plenty I need to do. I haven’t
dusted, vacuumed the floor or changed the linen,” she said briskly.

“Don’t worry about dusting or vacuuming in here today. And I don’t want my linen changed, Natalie. Your scent is absorbed into the sheets, and I want it to stay that way for a while.”

She tilted her head and met his gaze. The air suddenly became charged again. Intimate. Sexually explosive. She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue before replying, “Suit yourself.”

He gave her a slight smile. “I did and I’m extremely satisfied.”

She began backing up toward the door. “Well, if you’re sure you don’t want me to do anything else in here, then I’ll be going.”

“I’m sure.”

“And I’ll be contacting you sometime next week to discuss my replacement,” she added firmly.

“No, you won’t. There will be no replacement, Natalie.”

Her eyes widened and then glared. “Surely you don’t think that I can continue to be your housekeeper after what happened here today.”

“I’m afraid that’s exactly what I think. It’s what I know.”

He knew his words sounded arrogant, more than a little presumptuous and selfishly cocky. He watched her body stiffen and would not have been surprised if she had thrown some object off his dresser at him. Instead, after glaring at him for a second, she moved closer to his bedroom door.

“If you get restless and edgy later, just come back.
I’ll be here. And if not tonight, I’m available any night. If I’m not here just let yourself in.” Donovan heard himself give the invite, and a part of him couldn’t believe he’d actually done so.

Instead of answering him, she rushed out of the bedroom and hurried down the stairs.

Just as well, he thought, easing off the bed. Other than his cousins and sisters-in-law, no other woman had ever been given unlimited access to his home. It was evident that he had it bad for Natalie. But he inwardly assured himself he could handle this temporary bout of madness and that the only reason he was being so indulging with her, so abnormally reckless, was because they had only five weeks left to be together. He was confident by the time her aunt was back on her feet and had resumed her position as his housekeeper that he would have worked Natalie out of his system.

The sound of the front door opening and closing signaled that she was gone.

“How did things go today, Nat?”

Natalie glanced over at Aunt Earline as they sat together at the dinner table. The question was one her aunt asked every day, and Natalie thought that if she was truthful and told her just how things went today, Earline Darwin would be mortified. Aunt Earline must never know that although she and Donovan hadn’t gone all the way, she had been in his bed and together they had practically made kissing an art form, and that in the end he had lapped her up pretty good. Right into an orgasm. Even now her inner thighs felt extremely
warm, and she had to hold her legs together real tight just thinking about what Donovan had done between them.

She plastered a smile on her face. “Everything was okay.” There. She’d given a short answer. That was that.

Apparently not when Aunt Earline further asked. “So this change in days works for Donovan Steele?”

She couldn’t help recalling how he’d been conveniently home when she had gotten there and the somewhat smug look on his face when she’d left. “Yes, apparently it does. I was in and out of there in no time.”
But not before he got me on my back and did some scandalous things to my body.

“That’s good.”

Yes, she inwardly admitted, although she didn’t want to do so. It had been good. Too good. The inner workings of her body were now clamoring for a repeat performance. The unshakable Dr. Natalie Ford had been shaken to the core.

An hour or so later she was pacing around the house like a caged bird that needed its freedom. She and Farrah had planned to go out again tonight, somewhere other than the Racetrack Café, but Farrah had canceled their plans because she had to work late.

It was early but Aunt Earline had already retired for the night. She planned to watch her all-time favorite movie,
Dirty Dancing,
for the umpteenth time before going to sleep. Her aunt had encouraged her to go out and have some fun tonight, with or without Farrah.

As she paced, she couldn’t get Donovan’s invitation out of her mind. “If you get restless and edgy later, just come back. I’ll be here.”

The man definitely had some arrogant nerves in his body. What woman would even think about taking him up on his offer? Natalie dropped her face in the palms of her hands and ashamedly admitted that
she
was.

She slumped down on the sofa. Should she really be ashamed? What was wrong if she did consider having a fling with him? At least she knew where he stood. She definitely wasn’t looking for love and neither was he. In fact if she was thinking about a fling then he would be the perfect candidate. He was probably an expert at flings.

In addition to that, she didn’t have to worry about him getting all crazy on her if he somehow found out she was a chemistry professor at an Ivy League university instead of a bona fide cleaning woman, not if the relationship was sexual and nothing more. And when it was over—for however long it lasted, which would be no more than five more weeks at best—she would return to Princeton, New Jersey, feeling renewed and energized. Farrah had been right Friday night. A meaningless fling with Donovan would give her a new attitude.

She was twenty-six, a professional, a woman who deserved to indulge in a fling or two. She had realized a long time ago that it would be close to difficult to find a man willing to come into her world, and most of the male counterparts she’d found were too stuffy and boring. None had ever come close to attracting her attention the way Donovan had. Besides, he could be the one to prove whether or not Karl’s verdict on her skill as a bed partner was true. A part of her always
wondered. Donovan had proved Karl wrong with the kissing, and she couldn’t help wonder if he would prove the other part false, as well.

Natalie eased to her feet. There was only one way to find out.

Donovan tightened his grip on the telephone in his hand. “Okay, Morgan, thanks for keeping me in the loop. We figured sooner or later word of what we were doing would leak out,” he said. “We’re good as long as the trade secrets don’t get into the wrong hands.”

“You’re right,” Morgan said. “But I’ll feel a lot better when that Product Trade Show is over.”

Donovan talked to Morgan a few minutes longer before hanging up the phone. For any business, the exploitation of trade secrets was a serious matter and the protection of them was complicated at best, especially when chemical formulas were involved. One of their competitors had again tried obtaining information, which meant SC was determined more than ever to make sure that didn’t happen.

He glanced at his watch and saw it was close to eight. He had thought about going over to the Racetrack Café for a while to hang out with Bronson and the guys, but for some reason he wasn’t in the mood. What he was in the mood for was sex. Even now, his manhood was twitching for release of the most elemental and primitive kind. He had a list of women who were amenable to a booty call tonight, but he only wanted one particular woman. Natalie.

He sucked in a deep, satisfying breath when he recalled how earlier that day he had gone down on her,
but not before feasting on her breasts. Every muscle and every fiber in his body had been attuned to her.