Seductive Reasoning (22 page)

Gently, he spread her legs farther
apart until he had a full view of her. He pressed his thumb to her still dewy
femininity then leaned into her and licked away the fluid. “Hold that thought.”

Seth grabbed a container of vanilla
ice cream and pried off the top with his hand. She watched him toss the lid
over the side of the bed and grin at her. “I hope you like ice cream.”

She couldn’t believe the change in
Seth. When they first met, he’d been so uptight, but now, with her, he’d really
relaxed. He’d let himself go. The realization made her feel powerful and
totally female. “I love ice cream.”

He dipped his fingers into the tub
and scooped out a handful of the creamy dessert. Seth set the bucket on top of
the bed, leaned forward, and smeared the icy confection over both of Kate’s
breasts. She sucked in a breath against the intense cold that touched her
heated skin.

“Easy, I’m going to soothe you in a
minute.”

He continued to rub the ice cream
down her body, over her rib cage, to her stomach. The difference in temperature
of the ice cream and the touch of his hand aroused her further. He stopped long
enough to fill her belly button, then continued to spread the dessert over her
abdomen but stopped short of her mound.

By now, the temperature of her skin
had begun to melt the ice cream, and rivulets of it ran over her breasts and
dribbled between her thighs. The feeling was erotic and brought the sexual need
arcing between them to a fevered pitch.

Seth leaned forward, opened his
mouth, and licked the ice cream from her breasts. The feel of his hot tongue
slicking over her drove Kate wild.

A moan slid from her throat, and
she reached for him. Seth grasped her wrists together and gently raised her
arms over her head. “Uh, uh. This is entirely my treat.”

He continued to glide his lips, his
tongue over her skin eating every drop of ice cream from her body in long, slow
licks. With each stroke of his tongue, the feel of him, the longing for him to
hold her, to make love to her, burrowed further into her heart.

Did she want to make this
relationship work? His tongue played a wicked dance over her breasts. Breath
clogged in her lungs. Yes. What she felt for Seth was so huge, so overwhelming.
A powerful emotion that she was terrified to let in pushed viciously at her
soul. Unable to hold it back any longer, she surrendered to the feelings and
felt her heart tumble into love with Seth.

Oh God. What have I done? She had
never been in love before. She didn’t know how to be in love. Seth eased his
mouth over her. As he moved closer and closer to the juncture of her legs, she
pushed her hips forward needing him to taste her there.

“Not yet.”

Suddenly, Seth removed his mouth
from her body. She felt bereft and lost at the absence of his touch. Then she
saw him reach for something else.

A can of whipped cream and a bottle
of chocolate syrup.

“Oh, my.”

Seth threw her a wicked grin,
lifted the can of whipped cream and shook vigorously. He popped off the cap,
pressed his index finger on the nozzle, and held it next to her feminine core.
She heard a squirting noise and jerked against the cold cream that he sprayed
over her.

“Hold on. The best is yet to come.”

If it got any better she didn’t
think she’d survive. Kate looked down between her legs and widened her eyes.
First, he sprayed a mound of whipped cream between her delicate folds, and then
he drizzled chocolate syrup on top, decorating her completely.

“Looks delicious.”

She watched as Seth straddled her
legs.

“Your sex looks like a delicious
dessert between your thighs.”

Seth leaned over and licked her
from top to bottom. Blood pulsed like a flood tide and pushed fire through the
lower part of her body. Kate sucked in a sharp breath of air. A ragged cry of
pleasure skittered from her throat.

He smiled. “God, you taste good.”

He gave her another lick, only this
time he curled his tongue over her swollen center. Her vision blurred and her
bones dissolved.

“Do you like what I’m doing?”

“Oh, yeah,” her eyes glazed.
“What’s not to like?”

Seth chuckled and nibbled his way
over her. She felt her own life pulse against his lips and tongue.

“I’ve never seen anything more
beautiful,” his voice rumbled. He licked her once more between her legs and
suckled the tender nub into his mouth.

Sensual delight exploded through
her body. Her hips bowed up from the mattress and her hands gripped the sides
of his head to hold him in place. “Don’t stop. Whatever you do, don’t stop.”

Seth slid his tongue over her
relentlessly while the ache throbbed harder between her thighs. “Don’t worry.
I’m not going anywhere.”

The ache was a sweet, delectable
pain that only one thing could satisfy.

Completion.

Completion with Seth deep and hard
inside her.

“Seth, I can’t ... hold on much
longer. I want to come with you inside me. Please.”

Heat pooled hot and liquid between
her legs. Pure lust blazed through her lower body like a rapidly spreading
fire. She jerked her hips upward with the onslaught, and her feminine core
throbbed against his mouth. Kate felt her feminine juices spill from her body
onto his tongue. She’d never known anything so wonderful.

Seth lifted his mouth from her, his
lips glistening and fresh with her climax. Her blood ran molten. Hunger and the
fierce craving for him to plunge inside her made her shift her lower body until
he was poised to enter her. “Please. I need you inside me. Now. Don’t make me
wait.”

Sweat glistened on both their
bodies. Quickly, Seth slipped on a condom and pushed into her a little bit at
the time. She felt the tip of his swollen penis slip past the barrier of her
delicate folds. Kate sucked in a breath as little fires of passion ignited
inside her, shoving her closer to the edge.

A climax held her shimmering, hot
and suspended over the chasm, and yet she wanted him, she needed him to make it
last.

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.