The Seduction Request

by Michelle Celmer

  He brushed a finger across her nipple ring and Emily sighed and closed her eyes. He unsnapped her shorts and as he slid them down her legs he dropped to his knees. All that was left now was a strappy little thong, but he didn’t remove it. Instead he pressed his cheek into the softness of her belly, against her sweetly scented skin. He loved the way she smelled, the way she tasted. The way she looked at him, with so much honesty and admiration, as if he were the center of her universe. That scared the hell out of him. What if he let her down again? Suppose he wasn’t good enough?

  She wrapped her arms around his head and for a minute they simply held each other. He needed her so deeply, so completely, he felt torn up inside. As if his guts had been ripped out, kicked around, then thrown back in upside down. He wasn’t used to feeling this for anyone. Not in a very long time. Not since that first night on the beach. It was awful and wonderful at the same time.

  He turned his head and she gasped, and he realized how rough his face must have felt against her tender skin. He pulled away. “I should shave first. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She cupped his cheeks in her hands. “I like you this way,” she said. “It’s sexy and dangerous.”

  “You like things dangerous, huh?” He slid his hands up the tops of her thighs and dipped his thumbs underneath each edge of the thong. Emily watched, eyes glazed with desire, as he hooked his fingers under the elastic band and eased the underwear down her legs. The skin under that barely there strip of fabric was golden, the hair pale and downy and soft to the touch.

  Perfect.

  “Condoms,” she said suddenly. “Tell me you have some.”

  “In the bedroom.” He pulled himself to his feet, wincing a little at the pinch of pain in his knee. “You get the shower ready and I’ll go get them.”

  Emily watched his tight backside as he walked out of the room, then she opened the shower door and turned on the water. She adjusted the temperature, testing it with the inside of her wrist, then stepped under the steamy spray.

  Matt stepped in behind her, carrying several condom packets. He set them on the soap dish. “Mission accomplished. The rest of the box is by the sink just in case.”

  Emily watched as hot water sluiced down his body, over tanned ripples of muscle. He threw his head back into the spray to wet his hair, looking as if he belonged on the pages of a Playgirl magazine. She had to wonder again what a man like him was doing with a woman like her. A woman whose breasts were a touch too small and whose hips were a tad too wide. Yet he looked at her with nothing but appreciation and astonishment.

  And hunger.

  With a single look he could devour her—like the look he was giving her right now.

  She grabbed a bottle of shampoo and poured some into her palm. “Turn around. I’ll wash your hair.”

  He turned and let his head fall back. She rubbed the shampoo into that thick, dark hair and built up a lather, massaging his scalp and scratching lightly with her nails.

  “That feels good,” he said, his voice low and thick. “No one has ever done this before.”

  She rubbed the base of his skull and around his ears. “You’ve never had your hair shampooed when you get a haircut?”

  “I go to a barber. The same one for, oh, ten years I think.”

  “You’re a loyal customer.”

  Matt shrugged. “He does a good job.”

  She patted his shoulder. “Rinse.”

  He dipped his head under the water, rinsing the suds from his hair. While he did that, she grabbed a bar of soap, building a thick lather in her hands.

  He shook the excess water from his hair and drew a hand across his face. “Do I get to do yours now?”

  “Soon. Turn and face the wall.”

  He lifted an inquisitive brow, but did as she asked, bracing his hands against the tile wall. “You’re not going to do anything kinky, are you?”

  She propped her chin on his shoulder, smoothing her soapy hands up his chest, and said in a teasing voice, “I’ll try anything at least once. What did you have in mind?”

  “If I had any blood left in my brain I could answer that question. But if you’ll let me turn around, I can show you.”

  A shiver of anticipation danced up her spine. “Not yet.”

  She drew his nipples between her slippery fingers, pinching lightly. He sucked in a sharp breath. She lathered the silky hair under his arms and the wide breadth of his shoulders, astonished by the solid muscle there. Women all over the world lusted after this man and right now he was all hers. And in a few weeks they would go their separate ways again. She hoped that this time they could part as friends.

  Just maybe, if he could stay in Michigan… If he could put her before his career…

  She shook away the thought. If she wasn’t careful she would ruin what time they did have together. She was going to be thankful for their limited time. She was going to savor each and every minute and store it in her memory.

  And darn it, she thought as a wave of emotion choked her, she was not going to cry.

  “When do I get to wash you?” Matt asked.

  “Soon,” she promised, hoping her voice didn’t betray her emotions. She lathered his back and rubbed herself against him, grazing his soapy skin with the hardened points of her breasts. She ran both hands down his tight, perfectly formed backside, then lower, and felt him shudder.

  “Em—”

  “Shh.” She slipped her hands around to his firm, flat stomach, then down into the coarse hair at his groin. She reached lower still, carefully cupping him and he groaned.

  He let his head drop, his forehead resting against the wall. “You wouldn’t believe how amazing that feels.”

  She explored gently, purposely avoiding the one place she knew he wanted to be touched the most until finally he’d had enough. At least she assumed so when he spun around and pinned her to the adjacent wall. She gasped as her back hit the cold tile and Matt’s mouth came down hard on her own. His beard was rough against her face, his mouth hot. She wrapped her arms around his neck, arched up, riding intimately against the hard length of him.

  “We need a condom,” he groaned against her lips. Breaking the kiss, he grabbed one from the soap dish, tore the package open with his teeth and she watched as he rolled it on. He really was magnificent. Everything about him was so strong and male. And so large. He was big all over.

  “I love this,” he said, reaching up to toy with her nipple ring. Then he lowered his head and took it between his teeth, tugging. Suddenly her legs didn’t want to hold her up anymore, but that was okay, because Matt lifted her right up off her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist and framed his face in her hands, locking her eyes on his as he slowly entered her. Inch by wonderful inch he filled her, the transition smooth and effortless because she was so completely ready for him. And when he’d buried himself as deeply as he could go, he stopped and for a long moment they simply held each other. She knew from the look in his eyes he was thinking the exact same thing she was—they were a perfect fit. And not just physically. Mentally, intellectually, spiritually—they were undeniably compatible. Except for the teensy problem of him being obsessed with his work and living a couple of thousand miles away.

  Again she began to feel that deep sadness, that emptiness when she imagined her life without him in it. Then Matt began to move, so tenderly, his eyes still locked on hers. It was so beautiful, so magical, tears filled her eyes. She wanted to stay like this all night, Matt’s hard body pressed against her, the hot water sharp on her sensitized skin. Her body was already trembling, screaming for release.

  “Oh, Em.” He pressed his forehead to hers and she could feel him tensing, feel him fighting to hold back for her and that simple act of selflessness was her undoing. She shuddered in his arms, crying out as sweet ecstasy swept over her. When she thought for sure Matt was only seconds behind her, he didn’t stop. He drove deep and steady inside her until she felt the pressure begin to build once more. She hovered on t
he edge, not quite ready to tumble over, then Matt lowered his head, took her nipple ring in his mouth…

  They shattered together, their release fierce and intense. They remained wrapped in each other’s arms for several minutes afterward, until Matt’s knee began to burn from the extra weight, but damn, he didn’t want to let go yet. Each time he made love to Emily it was more special, more out-of-this-world fantastic.

  His legs began to shake and Emily lifted her head from his shoulder.

  “Your knee hurts,” she said, sliding from his arms. “Why don’t we go lie down?”

  “Uh-uh,” he said grabbing a bar of soap. “First I get to wash you. Turn and face the wall.”

  She assumed the position, then looked back at him over her shoulder. “Are you going to do something kinky?”

  “Hell, yeah.” He slid his soapy hands all over her back and across her shoulders.

  She let out a long contented breath and her head dropped forward. “That’s nice.”

  “I’m just getting started.” He slid lower, down the sweet curve of her behind, and when she was soapy enough, he pulled her against him. She let out a little gasp of surprise when she realized he was very ready for her again. He was just as surprised. He had no idea he possessed that level of stamina anymore.

  She pressed her backside erotically against the length of him. The slippery heat, the bold gesture, nearly did him in. He covered her breasts with his soapy hands. Their soft fullness fitting perfectly in his palms. He massaged gently, squeezing her nipples as she’d done to him. She moaned and pressed herself even harder against him.

  He washed lower, down her hips and stomach, then he slipped a hand between her thighs and she shuddered in his arms. He filled her with one finger and she writhed against him—one more and she moaned. She was slick and hot and so ready for him he knew he had to have her again. And as much as he wanted to make love to her right there in the shower, he knew his knee would never last under the strain.

  “I was thinking it might be time to move this into the bedroom,” he said.

  “Yes,” she agreed breathlessly. “Let’s go.”

  Thirteen

  They stepped out of the shower, grabbed the box of protection from the bathroom counter, and fell into bed soaking wet.

  For a while they only kissed, which was okay with Matt because no one kissed like Emily. Then their hands began to wander, and soon their mouths joined in on the action. They touched and tasted each other in a manner that would make most women blush. But not Emily. She couldn’t seem to get enough—enough of touching him or of being touched. And when just touching wasn’t enough, she straddled him and drove him deep inside her body.

  He lost track of exactly how many times they made love, but when they finally took a break, when he was too exhausted to do any more than lie there like a lump, she sat up, bright-eyed, her hair adorably messy and said, “I’m starved. Want to go out and get a bite to eat?”

  He looked up at her from his sprawled-out position on the rumpled sheets and thought, thank God for room service. Nothing short of a fire was going to get him out of this bed. “There’s a menu by the phone. Knock yourself out.”

  She ordered sandwiches and beer, then sprawled out next to him while they waited for it to arrive. They didn’t talk, just lay there quietly being together. He wondered what life would be like without this, and had a disturbing thought.

  If the restaurant was no longer being built, he had no reason to stay in Michigan. It would be time to go back home soon.

  He thought about returning to his life in L.A., and felt sick inside. What he had there wasn’t a life. He’d never felt more alive, more complete, than these last few days with Emily. Where he belonged was in Chapel with her. This was home.

  What he hadn’t recognized before was so obvious to him now. No restaurant he could build, no business deal he could close would ever fill the void. What was missing from his life, what had been missing all these years, was her.

  And he loved her. Deep down, he’d always known that, and he’d run from it.

  It ended here. Today he stopped running.

  “Emily, I—” He was interrupted by a loud knock, and cursed whoever had the lousy timing to interrupt them at that precise moment. “It’s probably our room service. I’ll just be a minute.”

  He rolled out of bed and tugged a pair of jeans on. There was another loud knock and he yelled, “Hold on.”

  He shut the bedroom door partway behind him and yanked the suite door open, but instead of room service, Ty strutted past him and into the suite.

  “I’ve got it,” Ty said, waving a manila envelope.

  “Got what?”

  “The report from the P.I. All the dirt I need on Emily’s boyfriend.”

  Matt swore silently. “Maybe now’s not the time—”

  “He’s cheating on her.” Ty pulled a stack of photos from the envelope and shoved them into Matt’s hands. Then added with obvious disgust, “With a guy.”

  Matt glanced down at the pictures in his hands and—Whoa!—promptly handed them back. “You can have those back now.”

  “You’re off the hook. You can stop trying to seduce Emily now.”

  Matt cringed, praying Emily wasn’t hearing every word they were saying. “Ty, it wasn’t—”

  “My parents and I can’t thank you enough for helping us. When we show Emily these pictures, she won’t have a choice but to leave the guy. I’m taking them to my parents right now.”

  “You’re not taking those pictures anywhere.”

  They both turned to see Emily standing in the bedroom doorway, fully dressed. She had that look on her face, that barely contained fury that told him he was in worse trouble than he’d thought. Matt cursed under his breath.

  Ty paled about four shades. “You might have mentioned my sister was here, Matt.”

  “If you had shut up for two seconds I would have.”

  “I have an idea. Why don’t you both shut up.” Emily walked over to her brother and held out her hand. He actually cringed, as if he thought she might deck him. “Give me the envelope.”

  “I’m so sorry, Em,” Ty said, handing her the photos. “You’ll get over him. He wasn’t good enough for you. You’ve got Matt now.”

  “No, I don’t,” she said, glancing at Matt, icy venom in her eyes. She dumped the contents of the envelope out on the table. She stuffed the negatives in her pocket and began tearing the photos.

  “Hey!” Ty shouted.

  “I can’t believe you paid a private investigator to follow Alex. You’ve done some really stupid things in your life, but this definitely tops them all.” Emily dumped the shredded photos in a trash can. “Are these all the pictures?”

  “That’s all of them. But tearing them up isn’t going to change the fact that he’s cheating on you, Em. You have to break up with him.”

  “Ty, you are such an idiot. Alex isn’t my boyfriend, nor has he ever been.”

  “But you said—”

  “I never said anything. You guys just assumed, and I never denied it.”

  “But—”

  “Go home, Ty. Matt and I need to talk. Then I’m going to go explain everything to Mom and Dad. You will not say a word about this until I’ve talked to them, understand?”

  Ty nodded and shrank toward the door, obviously intimidated by her threatening tone. “Okay. But when you’re done talking to Mom and Dad, you’re going to explain a few things to me.”

  “Go,” Emily said sternly, and her brother grudgingly left, flashing Matt a look of sympathy on his way out.

  Matt shut the door and turned to Emily. Oh, man, he’d seen her mad before, but never like this. Her eyes had deepened to the steel-blue of his vintage ’65 Mustang and he could swear he saw smoke coming out of her ears. “Give me a chance to explain.”

  “You know what my family is like, the way they try to control my life. And you were helping them? Pretending to be my friend so what, you could keep tabs on me for them?”
She shook with anger. “You don’t have to seduce me anymore? What is he, your pimp?”

  “It wasn’t like that, Emily.” The words sounded lame, even to him. “I would have pursued you whether he put me up to it or not. I wouldn’t have been able to stay away from you.”

  “I’m supposed to believe that?”

  “I made a mistake. But your parents and Ty were really worried about you. They asked for my help. What was I supposed to tell them?”

  “You could have told them no.”

  “How could I do that? If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I owe them so much.”

  “Did it ever occur to you to tell me? Who were you protecting?”

  “Your brother and your parents. And myself,” he admitted, because to do otherwise would be a lie. “I was afraid you would be angry with me.”

  “Well, you were right, I’m angry.”

  “By helping them, I thought I was helping you.”

  “No, Matt, the only person you were trying to help was you. That’s the way it’s always been. I’m just sorry I didn’t see it until now.”

  She turned to leave. He was losing her.

  “Emily, wait! I know what it is. The thing that’s missing from my life. I finally figured it out.”

  She stopped, her hand on the knob.

  “It’s you. You’re the thing that makes me feel complete. I’m in love with you, Emily.”

  She stood very still for a long moment, then she turned to him, tears rolling down her cheeks. “The really sad thing is that I love you, too, Matt.”

  Then she was gone.

  Matt stood in the empty lot next to Touchdown, watching the demolition team assemble.

  “She’ll cool down,” someone said and he turned to see Ty standing behind him. “So this is it? You’re just going to give up?”

  Matt shrugged. “Not much choice. My investors all backed out and I can’t take the risk of putting the money up myself. The weird thing is, all I can feel is relieved it’s over. Building a restaurant here would have been a mistake. I knew it all along. I just wouldn’t let myself see it.”