Seth planted kisses on her cheeks and the sides of her neck, causing pleasure and longing to flare into tiny fires wherever his mouth touched her skin. He tugged the lobe of her ear into his mouth and gently nipped it with his teeth before soothing the love bite with his tongue.
The past few days had made her dizzy with the need to touch him. She’d never wanted to touch a man more in her life, but Kate kept her hands from his face and body when he lifted his mouth from her neck.
She felt bereft; longing darkened her soul and crowded her heart. Seth leaned over and lightly kissed her mouth. “Come with me.”
Kate watched Seth walk to a sofa beneath the window in the shop. Lingerie lay draped over the back and brightly colored cushions adorned the front. Seth sat down, curved the fingers of his right hand, and made a motion bidding her to come to him.
Unfettered hunger swirled through her body. She wanted him. She needed to touch him, to hold him. The need she felt went beyond the physical and dug deep into her heart. Seth had become important to her. Kate looked at him, unable to move toward him.
What should she do? Should she go to him and risk breaking her promise not to touch him or let him come to her? Seth tossed the cushions to the floor and stared into her eyes. His gaze burned like blue fire and never left her face. “Come here, Kate. Don’t be afraid.”
She inhaled a sudden, uneven breath. The front of her dress stretched over her breasts, the nipples already taut and aroused. “If I do, I’ll touch you. I know I will.”
Seth smiled. Kate returned his smile with a tentative curve of her lips.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do all the work. Come here and sit in my lap.”
Her gaze shifted for an instant to his lap, and she saw his blatant arousal. Time seemed to stop. The light faded a little more and for one heart-stopping moment, Kate believed he intended to make love to her.
Excitement zipped through Kate’s blood as she moved to his side. Seth pulled her down into his lap, then pushed her gently back to rest against his arm. His eyes bored into hers, a sensual, completely male invitation. She opened her mouth to ask him to let her touch him, but he laid his fingers over her lips. “Shh,” he whispered.
Seth kissed her cheeks, her eyes, and she reveled in the caress of his lips on her face. His arousal pushed against her fanny, and she had to fight the urge to rub against it. Seth slicked his tongue over her lips. Once. Twice.
Every sexual instinct in her body sprang to full, exquisite attention. With a groan, Seth splayed his fingers of one hand around the back of her head and covered her mouth.
He slid his other hand under the hem of her skirt and pushed her thighs apart. She opened for him willingly.
Now. Finally, now was all her sexually charged mind could think. With his big hand, Seth gripped the edge of her panties, eased them down her legs, and tossed them to the floor. Tenderly, he separated the folds of her femininity and stroked the soft, wet center of her sex. Kate felt her feminine elixir pour from her body and coat his fingers.
She whimpered against the exquisite assault and pushed her crotch against his hand. Her legs spread farther apart, giving him complete access. Seth ruthlessly caressed the tight nub while still more of her heat slicked over his hand. With each stroke, her moans intensified and rose to a soft cry.
Her hands stayed fixed to her sides. Though she wanted badly to touch him, she needed him to do this even more.
“Remember, no touching, Kate,” he implored in a mind-numbing, erotic voice. “Just feel and let go. Don’t hold back from me.”
No. She could never hold back from Seth. Never. Seth penetrated the tight, silky wet of her body. Helplessly, her body gripped his fingers, wanting to keep them inside her always. The heat and scent of her own arousal grew and perfumed the air. She watched Seth inhale deeply and felt the strength of tiny hidden muscles as they clenched his finger. The fire of her climax consumed her in one, long, flourish of sensation. Her eyes glazed over.
She held her hands against her body in tight fists determined not to touch him. Seth smiled and pulled her close to him.
“Touch me now, Kate. Go ahead and touch me,” he whispered.
Thank God.
Kate buried her face in the side of his neck and murmured his name while the force of her climax still pushed and prodded against his fingers.
She clung to him, and he soothed her by rubbing his hand over her back and placing soft kisses on her neck. She wrapped her arms around him and wished the week didn’t have to end.
Stars flirted in the night sky, a vast unknown universe filled with innumerable secrets. The moon, as white and clean as a new pearl, sailed through the ocean of black. The moon’s rays floated down like a mist and lit the flower-filled meadow with silver.
Seth sat in a folding chair and adjusted his telescope. Kate sat close beside him with her face raised toward the sky. Her arm brushed against his arm. Her knee kissed his. Her hand touched his thigh. Heat radiated from her touch and gathered between his legs.
He liked it. He was a here for a reason--to show Kate the romance of the stars and moonlight around them.
He’d plied her with food. They’d feasted on cold chicken and potato salad. They’d drunk wine from paper cups. Then he’d enticed her with a brownie or two.
Her T-shirt stretched over the soft mounds of her breasts and teased him with the taut peaks of her nipples. No bra. The woman came prepared. What about panties? Was she wearing any under that teensy weensy pair of denim shorts that showed miles of leg? Was she naked and waiting for him to touch her again?
He’d done just that the night before in her shop. What had made him cuddle her in his lap, caress her and bring her to climax in his arms? Was he crazy? Nearly. Yes.
A light breeze stirred the evening air, filled with the scent of clover, wild daisies and Kate’s elusive vanilla scent. The smell of her brought back the vivid memory of the night he’d given in, stripped her gown off and loved her with his mouth. Only his mouth. He grew rigid and gritted his teeth against the sweet pain. If he had taken her, he wouldn’t be in agony now. He would have gotten her out of his system. For good. Only why did he think that making love once with Kate would be enough?
He skimmed his gaze over her profile and listened to her slow, even inhalations. God, she was beautiful. He fantasized about seeing her naked with the moon’s silver rays and starlight sprinkling over her skin. He imagined unbuttoning her shorts, sliding them down her delectable legs and nipping her behind her knees with his teeth. Then he’d work his way upward. Slowly. Until he had his mouth on her again, until he could taste her once more.
“Oh, look, there’s a shooting star.”
Her words jerked him from his erotic fantasy. “Yes,” Seth murmured and made an adjustment to the telescope. “You’ll probably see quite a few of those.”
“I can’t wait.” Kate turned and smiled at him. She gave him one of her sexy smiles, just a gentle curve of her lips that made him melt inside. “In one of those astronomy books it says that scientists estimate that about 200 million meteors hit the earth’s atmosphere every day.”
He could have been knocked over with a feather. “True. I must say I’m impressed.”
He turned back to his telescope fiddled with a knob and cleared his throat. When facts and figures dripped like that from her tongue, it made her even sexier. Why hadn’t she tried to put the moves on him? She’d touched his thigh, but that was all. Irritated for reasons he couldn’t fathom, Seth focused on a constellation.
“Thank you,” her soft voice intoned.
Seth glanced at her. Even in the moonlight he saw tears shimmer in her eyes and a profound look of pride settle on her face. What had her parents done to her? Didn’t they realize how smart she was? How quick a mind she had? He wanted to pull her into his arms, kiss her, and soothe away any doubts she had.
“Because the moon is nearly full,” Seth said instead, “there will be some ambient light that will interfere with seeing the star
s clearly, but I think you’ll be pleased.”
“I’m already pleased.”
He shifted to the side. “Take a look.”
Kate moved her eye over the eyepiece and stared at a cluster of brilliant stars. “They’re beautiful.”
There was such awe in Kate’s voice, as if she were seeing the stars for the first time.
“Would you like to look at the moon?”
“Oh, yes.”
Seth turned the telescope until the moon’s surface filled his vision. He moved to the side and nodded. “Go ahead. Take a peek.”
He listened to her sharp inhalation of breath, a catchy rasp of excitement and wonder. He remembered the first time he’d looked at the moon’s surface through a telescope and knew he’d found his niche.
“It’s so beautiful.” Kate’s soft voice rubbed tenderly over his nerve endings. She licked her lips and a sheen of moisture gleamed in the half-light. Seth clenched his teeth to stifle a groan.
She lifted her eye from the telescope and gazed at him. Touching his jaw with the tips of her fingers, she drew closer, and laid her mouth gently over his. Breath backed up in his lungs. She nipped his lower lip teasingly, then drew away. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For this.”
“You’re welcome.”
She moved her hand down over his neck and caressed the hollow of his throat with the tips of her fingers. A little lower, Seth thought. He needed her to go lower.
Her hand dipped lower. Yes. He felt the backs of her fingers move against his chest as she slipped the buttons of his shirt from their holes. She rested her palm in the middle of his chest and glided her hand lower over the slim band of hair that swept over his stomach. “In one of the astronomy books you gave me to read it said the moon has some long, narrow valleys on the surface called rilles.”
Like being drawn toward magnetic north, Seth leaned forward and kissed her. He formed a suction on her mouth so he could taste both her lips at once and skim his tongue over them. As he did, she opened her mouth and he thrust his tongue inside. She tasted of wine and chocolate. A heady taste that filled his brain and stroked his libido. Oh God, he had to have her.
Kate drew back, her eyes slumberous. “I’m not finished.”
Neither was he.
“As I was saying,” she unsnapped his jeans and slid the zipper down with a sharp little rasp stimulating his nerves. “The book stated that most of these rilles are straight.” Her hand slid lower and dipped inside his underwear. When her greedy, feminine hand wrapped around him, arousal pounded through his veins and gripped his penis in a vice of want and need. “They look like riverbeds,” her husky voice intoned.
She pulled her hand slightly upward stretching the skin over the broad head of his penis. A groan shuddered from his throat. He clenched his hands at his sides. If he reached for her now, he would take her. She rubbed her thumb over the tip then replaced it briefly with her tongue.
Oh, God.
She pumped him again, moving her hand in a sensuous and mind blowing motion over his distended and piqued flesh. The heat built, the rush, the hot driving fire toward climax.
“The book also said they were probably formed from flowing lava,” she whispered, her voice thick and unsteady.
Seth spilled his seed into her hand.
Chapter Ten
Why didn’t he feel embarrassed? He’d come in Kate’s hand. He knew that climaxing in her hand would never be enough.
He had to be inside her.
He needed to be inside her.
And yet--when he did, she would pack her bags, go back to her life and he would return to his as if nothing had happened. Only something had happened, and he was damned afraid he would never be the same again.
He stripped out of his running clothes and turned on the shower. He stepped inside and let the hot water pound over his skin. He should be relaxed. He’d been given a mind blowing orgasm by Kate, then ran for five miles, and yet every nerve, every muscle in his body stretched with tension.
Seth grabbed the bar of soap and rubbed it over his body until he built a thick lather. He turned toward the shower head and let the water pour over him. He knew how this would end. If he let her get that close to him again, he would chuck his goal and have at her like a starving man. That would get her out of his life. Out of his life is what he wanted--wasn’t it?
What about the money? Why hadn’t he just pushed her away from him? One answer resounded through his brain and ripped apart a belief he’d held for years.
She’d challenged him in the worst way possible. He’d always believed that a woman couldn’t possibly fit into his life, into his world. In a short span of time, Kate had destroyed that belief.
She expected him to follow through on what she’d started in the meadow. Kate would be relentless now. She wouldn’t wait. She’d charge full steam ahead.
Seth knew what he had to do. He only hoped he had the strength to do it.
Kate stood outside the bathroom door in Seth’s house and listened to the wet, slippery sounds of the shower.
Seth had gone out for a run as soon as they returned from stargazing. Upon his return, he’d been sweaty and flushed. He’d looked so virile, sexy and male that he’d nearly stolen her breath. She imagined the water sluicing over the toned pectoral muscles of his broad chest, soaking the mat of dark hair covering his nipples, gliding down his hard abdomen into a narrow line until it gathered around his sex that nestled between his legs.
Her nerve endings fired with equal sparks of anxiety and excitement. She inhaled a deep breath. Oh God, would he reject her or finally give in and take her in his arms? Only one way to find out. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Kate tapped lightly on the bathroom door.
“I’m almost done,” Seth called to her from the other side.
Kate gripped the knob in her hand. The door opened soundlessly. She eased inside, closed the door, and rested her back against the wooden panel. Seth’s fuzzy outline met her gaze through the shower door. Steam billowed in the air and fogged the bathroom mirror. “You’re not nearly done.”
The shower door slid open with a jerk and Seth stuck his head out. Water and soap suds dripped from his hair onto his face. His eyes brimmed with shock and annoyance. Kate’s heart pounded in her chest.
“What are you doing?”
Gathering her courage, Kate pushed herself from where she leaned on the door and walked toward him. “Earlier, you got yours. It’s only fair I get mine.”
“Your what?”
She smiled, unbuttoned her dress, dropping it to the floor. Reaching behind her, she unclasped her bra, tossed it aside, and slithered out of her panties. Just before she reached him, he slammed the shower door. Kate watched Seth’s indistinct form as he shoved his head under the pulsing shower and rinsed his hair.
Kate clasped the handle of the shower door, pushed it open and stepped inside. She closed the door at her back. Seth pulled his head from under the shower and looked at her over his shoulder. His gaze raked over her swiftly before he turned off the water. He grabbed the end of the towel he’d draped over the shower door, wrapped it around his waist then turned to face her. “You didn’t answer my question.”
She moved closer to him. The steam felt glorious swirling around her legs and over her full, aroused breasts. Wet heat pooled between her legs. Kate lowered her gaze to the towel wrapped around his waist. His erection tented the terry cloth perfectly. She smiled. “It’s time.”
He straightened his shoulders. “Kate, what happened earlier has a scientific and logical explanation. It was a simple case of male hormones and sexual drive run amok.”
She was sick of hearing about science. Her siblings were doctors, and she knew first hand that science never resolved anything, it just raised more questions. Emotions and issues of the heart had a beginning, middle, and end. He swiped a sodden lock of hair out of his eyes. “Get dressed and leave me alone.”
Kate raised her brows.
“Is that what you really want me to do?”
“Yes. Aggressive women don’t turn me on.”
Determined to prove him wrong, Kate rubbed her breasts against his chest. He sucked in a choked breath, and she knew she’d hit home. Kate tilted her head, raised her mouth, and brushed her lips over his. “You’re a terrible liar, Seth.”
“I’m not lying, Kate.” A rasping tremor grated from his throat, mocking his denial. “I don’t like pushy women.”
Hearing her name tumble from his lips in that very male I-really-want-you-voice nearly made her come on the spot. She pulled his bottom lip into her mouth, then laved it with her tongue. She snaked one hand down over his chest where her thumb teased a nipple.
Kate lifted her mouth from his and smiled. The feel of him seeped into her skin and invaded her bloodstream. “I’m not being aggressive.”
“To hell you aren’t.”
He wrapped a towel around his lower body in an effort to hide his arousal. The sight turned her inside out. “Not yet.” She shifted closer until she touched him from her breasts to her toes. His body, a solid, rock wall pressed against her softer, feminine one, made her tingle.
Kate nudged her hips forward in a gentle motion and pushed the soft mound of her sex against his erection. Sweet God. Heat and a clawing need to mate raced to her core like every hot, burning fantasy she’d ever dreamed in her life.
She inclined her head and kissed the side of his neck. She licked her tongue over his wet skin, nibbling with her lips, scraping her teeth over him lightly. His scent and blatant masculinity jolted her heart, making her pulse clamor and race.
Kate slid lower and caressed the base of his neck with a light brush of her lips, then opened her mouth, nipped with her teeth, and soothed the love bites with her tongue.
Thunder cracked overhead. Lightning flickered and popped outside the bathroom window. His chest rubbed and tantalized her tight, aroused nipples. She desperately wanted him to lower his head, take them into his mouth and suckle until they turned hard and needy.
Stubbornly, he held his hands rigidly at his sides and balled them into fists. God, he smelled good. Like soap and aroused male. The scent of their near mating in the meadow mingled with his own natural scent and fogged her brain. His olive skin stretched over sinuous muscle and drove her to distraction. Mindlessly, Kate massaged her body against his like a cat wanting to be petted.
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