Seth pushed himself further into her. Even though she was wet and ready for him, his large size stole her breath. He pushed farther and farther until he was seated fully inside.
She looked at him, and what she saw amazed her. Unbridled passion masked his face. His eyes glistened with blue fire in the semi-darkness. Seth gripped the back of her knees, lifted her legs, and placed them over his shoulders.
She was completely open to him now.
Completely vulnerable.
He would deny her nothing. Her love for him surrounded her like an aura and quickened the slick heat of urgency whipping through her blood.
He withdrew slightly from her body, and then plunged hard, fast, and deep. The pressure and yearning flared, heavy and intense. She gasped as a groan slipped up her throat like a bubble and lodged there. Before she could fill her lungs with air, he withdrew and slammed into her again, harder, deeper.
Forever.
Her arms snaked around him; her hands gripped his fanny and tried to pull him closer. She needed more, the penetration more complete. Kate held him where she wanted him and took his mouth in a bone-searing kiss. Keeping her mouth on his, her lips ravaged, her tongue danced with his while her mind screamed for him never to stop. She ate at his mouth like a woman deprived and thirsting for a man’s kiss, his touch, his body.
All the while, his hips pumped faster and faster, his sex prodded deeper and deeper inside her. The fervor of his lovemaking narrowed the world down to Seth and where their bodies joined.
He tossed her up until she hung at the jagged crest of climax, but he didn’t push her over. With her head still spinning and her blood a surging flood in her veins, he started the whole process over again, making the need to come almost agonizing in its insistence. Kate writhed beneath him, murmuring his name, pleading with him to fling her over.
Her breasts pressed into his chest, rubbing his nipples and the hard wall of muscle. The lower part of his body pushed relentlessly into her, the ecstasy erupting in a burst of seething appetite and longing. Tension built like heat rising, growing hotter and hotter until the fire suffused her.
His body continued its thorough assault on her senses until a cry escaped her throat. The rapture of release slammed into her, hurling her up farther than she’d even gone before. Her inner body gripped him. Hard. The muscles contracted with the force of her orgasm and the delicious pleasure nearly blinded her.
Kate wrapped her arms around him and held on for dear life. The movements of his body never slowed. The muscles of his back turned rigid, the sweat slick on his skin, coating her fingers.
His body jerked as the climax hit him. A guttural sound escaped his throat, and his ragged, harsh breath rushed over her skin. His sex grew harder, the plunging motion stilled by the force of his climax.
She sucked in a labored breath of air and kissed the side of Seth’s neck. He lifted his head. His hair was damp with sweat, his eyes still hazed with passion. Kate brushed the hair from his face and looked into his eyes. Her heart tumbled in her chest.
Kate grasped the back of his head and brought his mouth down to hers. She swirled her tongue into his mouth and kissed him more gently than she’d ever kissed anyone before. With tears blurring her vision, tears that Kate didn’t want Seth to see, she pressed her face into the side of his neck.
Love spread ribbons of hope and unspoken promises through her heart. She loved him. She’d won the wager and she didn’t give a damn.
Chapter Twelve
“So what’s the scoop on you and Miss Hot Thong? Is all that dark hair natural?”
Seth sipped some icy beer from his glass, concentrated on the clusters of people strolling past, and struggled to restrain his biting temper. This was the second time he wanted to break Mark in half with his bare hands.
He sat in the alfresco dining area at a small café in Cherry Creek. A plate of fresh ravioli lay on a plate in front of him. Sunshine spilled through the slatted covering over his head. A basket crammed with hot bread and a huge bowl of mixed salad filled the rest of the table.
After a moment, Seth’s anger dulled to a growl and he turned his attention back to Mark. “Don’t ever refer to her as Miss Hot Thong again. Got it?”
A breeze pungent with the scent of geraniums from swinging baskets blew over Seth but did little to tame his ire.
Mark leaned back in his chair with an expression of shock on his face. He held up his hands with his palms facing outward. “Hey, pal. No offense. Something more must have happened between you two than just a little underwear. Don’t tell me you fell in love?” He laughed and chugged his beer.
Seth sat his glass of beer down with a loud thump and reached for his fork. “What the hell would you know about it? As soon as you get under their skirts, you’re out the door.”
Mark’s mouth fell open. “Good God. You are in love.”
Seth shook his head. “So what?” Crazy. It was like he’d always been in love with her only he didn’t know it. He jabbed a square of ravioli with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth. How often over the past few days had he fought against his growing feelings for her? Every damn minute but it hadn’t done any good. His anger faded completely. “I love her so much I can’t see straight.”
Mark’s eyes widened and he nodded. “So the distinguished Professor Fallon takes the fall.”
Seth smiled and slumped against the back of his chair. “Not a fall exactly, more like a high impact crash.”
Mark reached for a crouton from the salad bowl and popped it into his mouth. “Does she love you?”
You’ve become important to me, Seth. Kate’s words echoed through his mind. “She said I was important to her, but she didn’t say anything about love. Neither did I for that matter.”
“Good, then it’s not too late. When my brother fell in love and got married, life as he knew it ended. Zip. Zap. Zoom.” He made a slashing motion with his hand. “Just like that. Over. No more drinks with his friends, no late night poker games, no sitting around on the weekend watching sports. Then the kids came along and everything changed again, only this time to little league games, ballet classes, and homework.”
Seth shrugged. “What’s your point?”
Mark gripped his hands on the edge of the table. “My point, buddy, is that you need to make damn sure how you feel about this woman before you do anything drastic.” He threw his hands up in the air. “You’ve only known her for a few days. How can you be sure she’s the one? Maybe it’s hormones talking. Rein it in, pal. Take some time to think it over before you do something you might regret.”
Regret Kate? Never.
Mark swallowed a mouthful of lasagna, wiped his lips with his cloth napkin, and tossed it onto the table top. “Look, why don’t we head up to A Basin this weekend, catch some spring skiing?” He grinned and cocked a brow. “There’ll be lots of babes on the slopes wearing nothing but tight shirts and up to their ass shorts. Women with nothing on their minds except a few laughs and a romp in the sack. After a weekend with somebody new, you’ll be able to put things in perspective. Trust me.”
His friend didn’t have a clue. Seth didn’t want to roll in the sack with another woman. The only woman he wanted by his side was Kate. “No, thanks.”
Mark huffed out a breath. “Fine. What about your project? What about the money? Are you just giving all that up?”
His project.
He had forgotten about his project and the possibility of losing his job. He shrugged but remained silent. None of those things mattered to him anymore. If anyone had told him he would have felt this way a week ago, he would have thought they’d totally lost their mind. All that mattered was Kate but he didn’t intend to share his new feelings with Mark. The first person he told would be Kate.
“Since you and Kate obviously spent the last few days doing the between-the-sheets rumba, what happens now?” Mark asked. “Are you going back on the show with her?”
Before he’d met Kate, his project had been his
entire focus. When he wasn’t teaching a class he had been doing research, taking notes, planning his next step. The last thing on his mind had been women. But Kate wasn’t just any woman. She was the woman.
When had his interest switched from the stars to a woman with a glint in her eye, the sexiest mouth he’d ever had the pleasure of kissing, and a soul more beautiful than he could ever have imagined?
Since meeting her, his priorities had shifted one-hundred eighty degrees, something he would never have believed possible. He wanted more than anything to be with Kate rather than spend his time gazing at the heavens through a telescope. When had he found such pleasure in talking to a woman, touching her, kissing her, making exquisite love to her?
Seth looked at Mark. “Yeah, I’ll go back on the show.”
Mark stared at him. “What are you going to say when they ask you if anything happened between you and Kate? Are you going to deny the whole thing and take the money--like you should, I might add--or confess undying love right there on television?”
Seth hunched over, his arms resting on the table. “We’ve talked a little bit about the show, but we haven’t really decided anything.”
Mark slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “After the show last Friday, Matthew’s called an emergency board meeting on Saturday to discuss what she calls the issue.”
Seth adjusted his glasses. Yeah, he was there but he didn’t want to admit it to Mark. “Issue, huh. What happened at the board meeting?” he asked innocently.
Mark’s expression stilled and grew serious. He raised his right brow and looked at him.
Seth laid his hand on the table. “She wants the board to fire me.”
Mark nodded. “Yep. You know how she gets when she smells anything offbeat. She’s like a barracuda.” He tilted his head. “Remember last year when she caught Jenkins in his office late one evening with a student? Granted they weren’t doing anything but sharing a sandwich and going over the student’s grades, but the bitch gave him a stern reprimand and then put the entire incident on his permanent record.”
Seth grimaced. “Yeah, I remember. She and Jenkins had been seeing each other and she thought he was stepping out on her.” He finished off his beer, dug some bills out of his pocket, and threw them on the table. “Thanks for coming. By the way, you didn’t happen to pick up my mail did you?”
Mark nodded. He pulled a stack of envelopes from his briefcase.
Seth glanced through it quickly until the return address on an envelope caught his eye. Could this be an answer to his grant application? Did he hold his future in his hands or the end of his relationship with Kate?
Kate hung a green silk teddy with tiny fish embroidered over its surface on a hangar and placed it on the rack for Pisces. Celtic music floated on the air. A smile curved her lips. Making love with Seth had been beyond anything she could have imagined. She placed another garment on the rack, then checked her supply of love poems.
She’d slept restlessly during the remainder of the night, waking up almost every hour and looking at Seth to make sure he was still beside her. But where else would he be? For most of the night, some part of his body had touched her. A hand on her thigh, or breast, an arm slung over her waist.
Kate checked the credit card machine and the cash in the register. Everything was in order. After the last time they’d made love, she’d fallen deeply asleep, the exhaustion of the evening finally overwhelming her.
She had expected him to leave her.
She had expected him to be gone when she’d awakened, leaving behind a tasteful and logical note putting an end to their week together. But instead, Seth had awakened her this morning in the sexiest way possible. He’d slipped inside her and brought her to mind shattering orgasm. Again. Then he’d kissed her softly after promising to see her later, and left her sated in his bed.
Had he accepted her?
He had talked to her, flirted with her, and made love to her as if it was safe and he already accepted her. This evening, they were scheduled to reappear on the Martina Landers Show. Uncertainty churned through Kate’s stomach. Would he admit that she’d seduced him and in fact that he’d seduced her as well? Or would he deny everything, take the money, and go back to his job?
Kate started across the store to double-check the dressing rooms when she heard a knock on the door. She intended to tell whoever it was that the shop wouldn’t open for at least another hour when she saw through the shop window that her mother was standing on the porch.
Kate stopped dead in her tracks. Why was her mother here? This would make the second visit this week. Her mother averaged maybe two visits a month. Kate refused to allow the old insecurities and alienation she had always felt with her mother to come crashing down.
With more confidence than she’d ever felt, Kate smoothed a hand over her skirt and was glad she had not opted for something more conservative. She’d felt such feminine power when she’d gotten up this morning, and the short, sleeveless dress fit her mood perfectly. Putting on a smile, Kate walked to the door and opened it.
“Good morning, Katherine,” her mother said. “May I come in?”
She was dressed flawlessly as always. Her suit was impeccable, her hair and makeup attractive but understated. Suddenly, Kate wanted to shake her mother, to rattle her from that rigid cage she’d built around herself. Kate opened the door wider. “Of course.”
Her mother stepped inside and glanced around briefly before bringing her gaze back to Kate. She cleared her throat, and Kate was fascinated by a look of discomfort on her mother’s face. The woman was always in control, always cool, and never showed unnecessary emotions. But clearly a range of them reflected on her face and in her eyes. “I want to talk to you.”
“Okay, let’s go into the kitchen.”
Her mother diverted her gaze to the shop and then back to Kate. “I’d like to talk here, if that’s all right.”
Kate’s heart lifted in her chest. Maybe she wasn’t here to lecture her. No matter what her mother said to her this time, she wouldn’t allow her to crush her dreams again. “Okay.”
Kate strolled to a table to straighten some lingerie. She needed something to keep her hands busy.
Her mother exhaled a deep breath. “I came to say I’m sorry.”
Kate dropped the garments and jerked her head around. If her mother had said she was planning to strip and dance naked in the street, she couldn’t have been more shocked. “You’re sorry. For what?”
She twisted the handle of her purse between her fingers and Kate realized this was the first time she’d ever seen her cool, in-control mother nervous. “For the other day. In front of Dr. Fallon.”
“What about Dr. Fallon?”
Both of them turned to see Seth standing in the doorway of the shop, looking good enough to eat. A blush seared Kate’s neck because she remembered she’d done just that.
Seth walked over to her and took her hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her heart somersaulted in her chest. He rubbed the pad of his thumb over the palm of her hand. Tendrils of passion, little sparks of fire ignited along her nerve endings. She remembered what those fingers could do.
Her mother straightened and stopped playing with her purse. “I’m afraid I gave you the wrong impression.” She looked directly at Seth.
“What impression was that?” Seth asked.
“Please understand that our family has always felt that Kate had the potential for something better. We had hoped that she would prove to herself and to her family that she was capable of more than just designing underwear.
“Katherine has a keen, observant mind that could be exercised in loftier pursuits. We’ve never understood why she felt it necessary to design women’s undergarments.”
Why couldn’t she just say that she was proud? Kate wondered. She knew why. Her mother was a Gemini and love held them back and kept them from rushing headlong into life. Her mother felt love was restrictive. But love for Kat
e meant liberation.
Kate straightened her shoulders and faced her mother head on. “You’re my mother, and I love you. But I am finished with trying to prove myself. It’s your turn to prove you love me enough to trust that what I’m doing is right for me.”
Her mother’s chin jerked upward as if Kate had punched her in the face. Her gaze bored into Kate’s. Kate squeezed Seth’s hand, thrilled that she had said what she’d never before had the courage to say to her mother.
Was her mother proud of her? She had no idea. It was a simple question with a very complicated and nearly impossible answer.
Her mother pressed her lips together briefly. “I recognize your achievements, Katherine, but I also feel it is important that you reach your full potential and reasonable goals.”
Seth tilted his head. “What do you consider reasonable goals Mrs. Summers?”
“Worthy pursuits.”
“Such as?”
She threw Seth a very pointed look. One Kate had seen all of her life. A look that meant she had no intention of discussing the topic further. Her mother had always expected her children to listen carefully and follow her wishes to the letter. Kate had done neither. She’d fought against the restrictive bonds her mother had tried to place on her, her whole life. “Mother, didn’t you hear a word I said?”
She turned her gaze back to Kate. The nervousness was gone, the cool façade firmly back in place. “I heard you quite clearly.”
Kate checked her watch. “The proof is in the pudding. The shop doesn’t open for another half hour. I have some new designs for Gemini. Your size and color. What do you say?”
Her mother looked uncomfortable again. Kate liked seeing her this way. It made her more human, more real, and more the mother she’d always wanted. “All right. I’ll take a look at them.”
Kate smiled. “Not just look. I insist you try some on.”
Kate stood outside the dressing room and waited while her mother tried on the garments she’d picked out for her.
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