“Thank you, David, but this really isn’t necessary.” He remained standing there silently with his hand extended.
“Fine!” Exasperated, she handed him the card. He leaned over, inserted it into the slot, and pushed the door open.
As she accepted the return of her key, she felt she should make one last attempt at clearing the air between them. After all, she liked David. She just didn’t want to be a part of whatever game he was playing. “Look, David, I apologize for my outburst. I’m sorry I was so abrupt, but I thought I should clear up any misconceptions you might have about you and me. I know where you think this is going but I can assure you, as far as I’m concerned, it goes no farther than right here, right now.”
He ignored her apology and protest and leaned forward. In a silky voice, low and husky, he asked, “What are you afraid of, Sarona? What do you think could happen between us? And what if something did happen; would that be such a bad thing? If you’d lighten up and let yourself go to explore the possibilities, you might be surprised. You just might enjoy it.”
Staring into his incredibly sexy brown eyes, Sarona felt a loss of control, vulnerable and cornered with her back against the wall. She was infuriated with the feeling. Her anger was in her voice, captured in her stance and seen in eyes that glittered with belligerent defiance.
“I don’t understand why you’re here and insisting on wasting your time and mine. We both know I’m not your type, that I’m not what you want; your history with women speaks to that. I’ve seen the kind of woman who gets your attention and I’m smart enough to know I don’t fit into that mold.”
He leaned in closer to her, his face a scant few inches from hers, never touching. He let his nose follow the contour of her shoulder, the curve of her neck, the fragrance of her hair, inhaling deeply, as if drawing in and savoring the smell of her.
She felt it. He felt it. The pull of an electrical undercurrent between them so strong she was certain they would ignite, explode, and burst into flames right then and there. It was the most erotic thing she had ever experienced, and it left her breathless, dizzy, and swaying, waiting for the air to return to her lungs. She stood stark still as he pulled back to stare straight into her eyes. Her eyes looked at his lips, mesmerized by his masculine beauty; her ears were captivated by the seductive whisper of a uniquely unsettling voice, calm and unhurried, filled with intense yet controlled emotion — a voice dangerously close to making her lose all sense of direction, place, and time.
“Those other women you allude to were merely a passing interest, a phase in my life when the appearance of the container meant more than its content. Meeting you, being with you, has shown me a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover.’ I like the cover your book comes wrapped in, and I look forward to exploring it, page by page, from cover to cover. I won’t be satisfied until your pages are thumbed and worn from use, and every word and phrase is committed to memory.” He continued to stare into her liquid brown eyes, determined to make his intentions known and understood.
“The only misconceptions here, Sarona, are the ones you have fixed in your mind. I’m telling you right here, right now that no matter what you may think you know, you don’t know who I am, and you have no idea what I want or what I desire. But I intend to inform you in no uncertain terms.”
He reached out his hand and, with two extended fingers, lifted her chin. Though her mind rebelled, her lips trembled with anticipation, waiting for the brush of soft, tender flesh on flesh. “You know what your problem is, Sarona?” he asked in a husky whisper, the sound of his voice echoing down her spine as the pad of his thumb brushed back and forth and stroked the fullness of her bottom lip. “You think too much.” His eyes held her captivated as he lowered his head. He took her mouth with his own — claimed, captured, and took possession and enveloped her in a fire so hot and so intense, she was certain she’d burn up and turn into ashes right there where she stood.
The kiss, surprisingly light and tender, sent shock waves of warmth cascading throughout her body. His tongue licked her lips, separated and gently delved within, seeking out and caressing the recesses of her mouth. Her response was automatic as her mouth opened and melded to his.
Tongues touched, tasted, intertwined, and dueled for dominance, acceptance … liberation. The sensation was hot, sending nearly unbearable heat like liquid fire coursing through her veins, through her stomach, moving lower to pool at the juncture between her legs. Her nipples tightened, peaked, and protruded, suddenly sensitive to the brush of material stretched taut across her fully extended and aching breasts.
The feeling was electrifying, so profound she felt the heat generate a gush of moisture that thoroughly saturated and soaked her meager slip of underwear. Her mind melted, her body swayed, and her legs nearly buckled from the onslaught of sensations that flowed through and ravaged her entire body.
David reluctantly ended the kiss and released her chin then stepped back and pushed the door open for her to enter her suite. As she backed her way inside on less than stable footing, she heard him say in a voice filled with smug satisfaction, “I like kissing you, Sarona. It’s definitely something we’re going to have to do a lot more of, and much more often.” He then turned and sauntered away, back down the hallway, and didn’t look back.
• • •
“Hello?” came the sleep-laden sound of Joyce’s voice on the other end of the telephone line.
“Joyce, I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Sarona asked. “I forgot about the time difference between here and there.”
“Yeah, girlfriend, Joyce said, stifling a yawn, “but you know it’s okay. What’s up?”
“Joyce, I’m in trouble and I don’t know what to do!” Sarona said, the tone of forlorn frustration evident in her voice. Joyce immediately came fully awake, alerted to the sound of her voice.
“What’s wrong, what’s happened?”
“I’m sorry; I don’t mean to upset you. It’s nothing life-threatening or serious, but it scares me, and I need you to tell me what to do!” Sarona wailed.
“Okay, okay. Just calm down and tell me what the problem is.”
“It’s David!”
“David?”
“Yes, David!” she nearly shouted.
“Sarona, darling, I’m confused. Who is David and what is the problem with him?”
“You know who David is. I told you about him, remember? Casanova?”
“Casanova?” Joyce repeated, still clueless about where the conversation was leading.
“Yes!”
“Sarona, sweetheart, it’s one in the morning here. You need to refresh my memory if you expect me to know who or what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, right,” Sarona said. “I’ll start from the beginning. Remember when I told you about how lately, it seemed everywhere I traveled there was this white guy who was just so fine, smelled so good, and had all the women running after him, and how he always seemed to pop up in my face wanting to talk?”
“Yeah, I do remember something like that. You said he looked like a Greek God and that he gave off some kind of natural pheromones that drove women wild.”
“That’s right, that’s him, that’s David!”
“I take it David’s there with you on this trip as well?”
“Uh huh.”
“Something happened?”
“Well, yes … no … uh, not yet.”
“Okay, sweetie, it’s too late in the night to play twenty questions. Why don’t you just tell me what happened.”
Sarona sat back and, propping herself up on the bed pillows, she began to recount her encounters with David over the past thirty-six hours. She left nothing out describing how he had engineered their initial meeting, how great the conversation had been, how she had come to the realization he was interested in more than just conversation, that he had confronted her and told her he didn’t like the way she treated him, and finally how he had, more or less, issued an edict, punct
uated with that mind-blowing kiss, not forgetting to include how she was affected and how her body had reacted to said kiss.
“It was the hottest, most erotic, mind-numbing experience I’ve ever had in my entire life! My lips are still trembling, my body is still shaking, and my underwear is drenched! I’m sitting here waiting for my heart to stop pounding!”
“Well, it sounds to me like you’ve had an interesting few days,” Joyce said with a chuckle. “So tell me, my dear, because I feel I’m missing something here, what’s the problem? He’s handsome, intelligent, and imaginative, has a great personality, and it sounds like he’s pretty smart because he’s attracted to you. All this sounds like pretty positive things in his favor to me. And, since I know you so very well, I know the problem can’t be because he’s white.”
“No, of course it isn’t. I don’t care about that. The problem is he’s such a player! He has women trailing and chasing after him everywhere we go, and I don’t want to be one of them.”
“I’m confused, Sarona. You say the women chase after him. How does that make him a player?”
“Well, he doesn’t try to discourage them or send them away. And since I’ve known him, I’ve never seen the man with the same woman twice. If you ask me, it’s like he’s working on a Guinness World Record of how many women one man can sleep with in his lifetime.”
“Honey, he’s a man! You can’t expect him or any red blooded, full-grown man to turn away feminine advances. You’re a woman; you know how determined and ruthless we can be when we want something. Contrary to popular belief that men are the stronger sex, I don’t think there’s a man alive who can withstand the will of a woman when she has her mind made up. And, when it comes to a woman offering sex, why would he want to?
“Girl, you know this all started with Adam and Eve and that apple.” Joyce suddenly lowered her voice to a hushed tone as though imparting some dark secret. “If Adam had had any sense or willpower, he would have just said no, but you know she came at him waving more than that apple in his face! And thus,” she stated with over-exaggerated significance, “the ‘weakness’ was born, giving every man alive a biblical excuse to justify his inability to resist a woman’s wiles. ‘The devil made me do it’ has become the mantra of millions.”
“Stop it!” Sarona bubbled with laugher. “Don’t you dare blame this on Eve!”
“I’m serious! Eve was the mother of more than the human race, she was the mother of working it … and women have been waving and working it ever since! I’m not lying. Check the history books! There are Marc Antony and Cleopatra, Samson and Delilah, and Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.”
“You know, Joyce — ” She chuckled at her friend’s outrageous rationalization. “ — in some twisted way, with your twisted logic, sometimes you actually make sense.”
“I know,” Joyce replied with smug satisfaction. “I have some questions for you,” she added, returning to the sincerity of Sarona’s concern. “Is he married?”
“No.”
“Is he engaged?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Is he obligated in any way to some other woman?”
“No, not that I know of; actually he seems to be between relationships,” Sarona murmured, remembering Shelia Preston.
“Okay, so far so good. Do you like him?”
“Yes.”
“Do you find him physically attractive?”
“Oh, God, yes!” Sarona gushed as memory fluttered through her body, reminding her precisely how deep the attraction went.
“Then I don’t see a problem here, Sarona. If you’re both attracted to one another, there are no other outside complications, and you’re both consenting adults, then I say let go and let nature take its course.”
“But what about all those other women?”
“What about them? Do you know if any of what you’ve seen has any basis in fact, or are you simply letting your eyes determine what your mind believes? How many times have you been lied about or gossiped about because of something someone thought they saw? Don’t penalize him for being a man, Sarona, and don’t let things you have no control over control you.”
“But Joyce, a man like David can wreak havoc on a woman’s ability to reason! In only two short nights, he’s worked his charm and managed to make me feel special, desired, almost … important. I admit I like how he makes me feel right now, but I also admit that I’m a coward; I don’t want to deal with the aftermath when it’s done and over and he moves on.”
“I understand the need to feel special and desired, Sarona. I think we all, as women, have that embedded in our DNA; we are, after all, the more romantic of our species. And I know you have your reasons for holding back, but girl, if it was me — and you know me — I would catch the wave, go with the flow, and enjoy the ride. Why waste time worrying about how it’s going to end before it even begins? If it ends, it ends. But, for this moment, if you feel special, desired and almost important, then embrace the feeling. It may never come again, or maybe it might never end. Life is about chances, Sarona. Take a chance.”
“I know I’m blowing this all out of proportion, but I’m scared, Joyce. I’m scared of what this could turn into … scared of what he could do to me.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I know your concerns are valid, and I’m not saying to totally throw caution to the wind, Sarona. It’s okay to be scared; fear can be a good thing, most of the time. It’s there for a reason, to protect us; but sometimes if we think too hard and too long, it can be a hindrance that disables and cheats us out of the what ifs in life. Don’t let it do that to you, girlfriend. Don’t let it hinder your heart, deny your desires, or take away the moments that can take your breath away.”
“I hear what you’re saying, Joyce,” Sarona said with a sigh of acceptance. “I guess I needed to hear it come from someone else, someone I trust. It’s why I always call you. You’re the voice of reason to the crazy chaos that goes on in my head sometimes. I’m sorry I woke you, but I’m glad you’re there. Thanks for listening.”
“It’s not a problem. That’s what I’m here for.”
“Besides,” Joyce said with an unmistakably mischievous lilt to her voice, “need I remind you of just how long it’s been since you’ve had sex? I mean, shout hallelujah, reaching for the rafters, no holds barred sex with another living, breathing human being, and not the battery operated kind.”
“No, you do not!” Sarona laughingly responded. A vivid memory of her detailed fantasy flashed through her mind, and suddenly she was a little embarrassed at just how close to the truth her friend really was.
• • •
She needed a stiff drink, and the bourbon she found stocked in the suite bar would do just fine. As she swallowed the sparkling amber liquid, she prayed it would somehow magically erase the taste of his kiss and eradicate the memory of his electrifying touch. The feel of his lips had been warm, soft, and silky; the taste of his breath hot and sweet in her mouth — a perfect melding and mingling of moist heat and flavor together. His alluring scent still lingered in her nose, and the look of pure, carnal hunger that burned in his eyes haunted her mind — a hunger she was certain had been mirrored in her own.
She wondered at the intensity of the fire that burned him from within; the depth of his passion, the height of his desire. And she feared he would stop at nothing to assuage his need to satisfy both. His touch had set her on fire, and his kiss had left her in a state of arousal and anticipation; the combination of the two had her balancing precariously on the border between good common sense and sheer insanity.
She reluctantly acknowledged that David’s declaration had been a turning point for the both of them. He’d made it clear what he wanted, and he wanted her. That one kiss had brought about a change — a change that provided perfect clarity. She now saw clearly what she’d feared the most — the inevitable. She knew with reluctant conviction she was destined to take the next step and drop her defenses, ignore her reservations, and gi
ve in to her yearning.
She reached up and lightly brushed trembling fingertips across lips that still tingled from a kiss that burned in her mind and was imprinted on her soul. Emitting an inward sigh of defeat, she closed her eyes and made one last acknowledgement: she was in danger of losing her tenuous grip on common sense and giving up her soul to say yes to the devil himself. Tonight’s turning point had swiftly become a point of no return.
Chapter 6
David had not escaped unscathed. For all his show of control as he’d sauntered down the hall, his legs were as unsure and shaky as a newborn colt. He ignored that his heart beat at a runaway pace and his groin was full to the point of bursting, his shaft rock hard and aching.
Once inside the elevator, his pretense of calm and control dissolved completely. He pushed the button to his floor and leaned forward, resting his head against the panel, struggling for composure. If one stolen pleasure could evoke such a potent and powerful response then God help him when they took it to the next level!
Once inside his room, he was too keyed up to relax. His senses were too raw and sensitive from the sensations that seared him from the inside out. Residual warmth from the heat of that one kiss flowed along his nerve endings. He was rocked by the feel of her soft lips, the taste of her mouth, the fragrance of her hair, and the sweet scent of erotic musk that lingered on his skin and teased his senses. It was as though he had reached out and touched fire, drawn like a moth to its flame. He knew it and couldn’t keep himself from it, because like the moth, he needed to tempt fate. He needed to tease the heat and flick his fingers back and forth through the blaze, to deny the danger and defy the inevitable — being scorched, seared, or burned alive by the tempered heat of the flame.
He had a sinking feeling he truly was playing with fire. Although he was painfully aware of Sarona’s reluctance to move beyond more than conversation, he’d made clear his intentions and expectations. She couldn’t say she hadn’t been warned. And, although she may have been caught off guard by that unexpected kiss, her response was scorching hot and filled with passion; a passion he planned to explore further. He’d taken the next step and there was no turning back.
Prelude to a Seduction Page 7