Tempting (15 page)

His eyes darkened slightly. “No one since the divorce. A few dates that didn't go anywhere.”

Did he count seeing Fiona as dating? Was he seeing his ex-wife? “What ended the marriage?” she asked, knowing it was an intensely personal question but figuring he'd seen hers, so he could show his.

“She cheated,” he said flatly. “I walked in on her screwing some guy.” He frowned. “I don't even know who he is. I never bothered to find out.”

Dani stared at him. She couldn't believe she and Alex had cheating in common. “I'm sorry. I know how that feels. I walked in on Hugh. It's how I found out.”

“They were doing it on the dining room table,” he said.

“Hugh and his groupie were in his office. Equally tacky.” She shook her head. “I hated the betrayal of it. If we hadn't already started divorce proceedings, I would have left him then.”

“That's what I did. Once Fiona broke my trust, it was finished. She wanted to talk things over, to give the relationship a second chance. Like your Ryan, I suspect she was only sorry she'd been caught.”

Dani drew in a breath. “So you're not seeing her?”

“Hell no. Why would I?”

“I ran into her recently and she implied you were getting back together, or at least talking about it.” As had Katherine, although Dani didn't want to go there.

“She's one of those people I told you about,” he said. “The kind who want to be close to the seat of power. She's interested now that my father is running for president.”

“Okay. Good. Thanks for telling me.”

 

T
HERE WERE ONLY A FEW
lights on the covered patio. In the dimness, Dani's eyes looked more brown than hazel. Still, Alex could read a lot of emotions flashing across them, the last one being relief.

Had she been worried about Fiona? God knows what the bitch had said. Fiona would do just about anything to get what she wanted. At one time he'd admired her single-minded determination. These days—not so much.

Dani was different. There was an honesty about her that he appreciated. She seemed to lead with her heart, which could get her into trouble if she wasn't careful. Not with him—he had no plans to hurt her, although he wouldn't mind getting to know her better. Especially if that involved them being naked.

His body tightened as the image filled his mind. There had been a couple of casual sexual relationships after he and Fiona had split up, but they'd been little more than a way to scratch an itch. He hadn't thought he was looking for anything more, but maybe he'd been wrong.

“What are you thinking?” she asked. “You have the strangest expression on your face.”

“That you've changed everything in a very short period of time.”

She sighed. “That's not a good thing, is it?”

“Why not? Maybe we needed a change.”

“What your mother needs is a vacation,” Dani said. “I hate that this has upset her. Dealing with the reality of me can't be easy for her. She's so fabulous. I want to be her when I grow up.”

“You're grown-up now.”

“Don't say that. Then I can't have her as a goal.”

He liked that Dani respected Katherine and that she was sensitive to what his mother was going through.

But talking about his mother wasn't how he wanted to spend his evening.

“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Want me to start dinner?”

She stood. “You mean heat dinner?”

“Whatever works.”

“Sure.”

She led the way back into the kitchen. As she put her glass of wine on the counter, she turned and they bumped.

He held out his arm to keep his wine from spilling. She reached for it at the same time, but instead of grabbing the glass, her hand ended up on his chest.

Desire hit him with the subtlety of a bomb blast. Need consumed him, made him hard and threatened any self-control he'd learned in the past thirty-plus years. Her eyes widened, her breath caught and he would swear she was just as interested as he.

“I know what you're thinking,” he said as he put his glass next to hers and then grabbed the hand touching him. “That I lured you to my cabin in the woods so that I could have my way with you. Just so you know…there really is a dinner.”

One they could easily eat later rather than sooner.

“Yes, well, food is good,” Dani mumbled. “It's not that I'm not interested. You're very appealing and nice and I like you.”

Appealing and nice? Nice? He dropped her hand. Great. So he'd imagined her reaction to him. She probably thought of him as a brother.

But what about their kisses? She'd been aroused. He'd felt her interest. He refused to believe their chemistry was all one-sided.

“It's not that I don't want you to have your way with me,” she continued. “I'm tempted. But we have family issues. The potential for scandal. Not to mention my past. I've learned to be very cautious. Relationships are bad, at least for me.”

“You're comparing me to two assholes and a priest?”

“Ex-priest and I'm not exactly comparing you. It's just I don't want to make another mistake. I know it's unfair that you're stuck paying for my mistakes, but there we are. I'm starting to think the only way I'll ever be comfortable getting naked with a guy again is to be totally in charge. I'd probably have to tie him up first.”

Alex leaned against the counter and nodded slowly. “I've never done that, but I'm open to the possibility.”

 

D
INNER WAS DELICIOUS
. A spicy chicken dish with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Dani didn't know where Alex had picked up the meal, but she wanted the restaurant's phone number. Not that she'd been able to eat that much. She continued to be in shock, first by the fact that she'd blurted out bondage would be required for her to have sex and second because Alex hadn't run screaming into the night at the thought.

She knew he could be dangerous to her. Now she had a bad feeling she was in way over her head.

They sat on the sofa in his great room. The lights were low, the music seductive, the man irresistible. Hmm, she might have a problem here. So what was she going to do about it?

Before she could make a decision, mature or not, he put his hand on the back of her neck. Just a light touch, fingers barely grazing her skin. Yet goose bumps broke out on her arms and she found herself wanting to shift so she could rub against him.

She turned to him and found him closer than she'd realized. Close enough that leaning in and kissing him made all the sense in the world.

His mouth was an impossible combination of firm and soft. It was a perfect mouth for kissing and maybe other things, she thought, imagining how it would feel to have him press his lips to her everywhere.

He slid his hand up the back of her neck until his fingers threaded through her hair. He put his other hand on her waist. Again, a light touch, nothing demanding. Just tempting…very tempting.

She strained to get closer, which was probably his plan all along. To make her want him so much that making love would be her idea rather than his. Smart man.

Despite the gentle brush of his tongue against her lower lip, she drew back.

“Alex, I…” She stared into his dark eyes. Fire burned there. Hot fire that made her want to be swallowed in the flames. “I really want to do this.”

“Good. Me, too.”

“There are complications.”

“I have condoms.”

“What? Oh, not that, although I appreciate that you're willing to use them. I meant us. Who we are. The fact that our lives are oddly intertwined. My hideous past.”

He smiled at her, then kissed her again. “I'm totally open to your terms.”

That took her a second. “My terms?” Then she shrieked. “Bondage. Are you saying bondage?”

“You're the one who wanted to tie me up.”

“If you have velvet handcuffs in your nightstand, I am so out of here.”

“Ties,” he said as he kissed her again. “Really nice ties. Silk.”

His teasing felt almost as good as his mouth. She gave herself over to his kiss, letting desire sweep through her, the heat of it melting away lingering good sense.

Alex was so much of what she wanted and nearly nothing she didn't. He was single, funny, open to new experiences and interested in her. He cared about his family, did the right thing, respected vows and hadn't cheated on his wife. He'd also never been a priest. All pluses.

He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her close. She sank into him, loving the feel of his hard body against hers. She put her arms around his neck and gave herself over to the kiss, parting for him, letting him sweep her away. She needed a good sweeping away.

She let her body sink into his, enjoying the differences a man brought to the table…or the bed. She liked how he was all hard planes and jutting arousal. She liked how her insides got squishy and wet in response. She liked imagining what it would be like to make love to him.

He swept his tongue across hers, exploring, pushing, taking. Then he pulled away from her mouth and began kissing his way along her jaw. He nipped, then licked, making her gasp. He nibbled his way down her neck, pausing to suck on her earlobe. When he dipped lower, along the V of her sweater, she had the sudden thought that she should have worn something much lower cut.

He shifted so he was stretched out on the sofa and she was on top of him. The position gave her the feeling of being in charge, which she liked.

“It's warm in here,” he murmured as he tugged at the hem of her top. “You must be hot.”

“In a thousand different ways,” she joked.

She helped him pull off the sweater, then bent over him, kissing him as he ran his hands up and down her back.

His touch skimmed over her skin, heating her from the inside out. He moved to her rear and cupped the curves. The action made her rub against him.

There were too many layers of clothing for her to feel much, but the pressure of his hardness against her moist, swollen center made her want him.

He eased his hands up to her waist, then around to her back where he unfastened her bra. She pulled it away and bent over him, letting her breasts hang free.

“Hell of a show,” he whispered as he placed his hands on her breasts.

He moved slowly, discovering her curves, teasing her, circling around and around, getting close to her nipples without actually touching them. She nearly whimpered in anticipation. But instead of using his fingers, he raised his upper body and drew her right nipple into his mouth.

He sucked gently, tugging just enough for her to feel the connection to that place between her legs. Her skin puckered, her toes curled. He used his hand on her other breast which was nice, but not nearly as good. Need built inside of her and she began to move back and forth against his arousal, riding him in an attempt to ease her own tension.

He switched to her other breast, sucking and licking and biting just hard enough to make her breath catch.

More, she thought desperately. She needed more.

“Alex.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “We should probably move the party.”

She nodded, then slid off him. She was topless, but not self-conscious. Not when he could barely keep his eyes off her.

They both kicked off their shoes, then he took her hand and led the way down the hallway. As they entered the bedroom, he grabbed a remote that turned on a gas fireplace.

Flames provided enough light for her to see the large bedroom. The furniture was big and masculine and the bed was massive. Then Alex pulled her close and she didn't care about anything but what they were going to do to each other.

He jerked off his sweater and pulled her closer. Bare skin to bare skin, she thought with a sigh. Now that worked for her in a big way.

He unfastened her slacks and pushed them down, along with her panties. Then they were kissing and she stepped out of her clothes and tried to move backward, only she couldn't get her legs to work right, probably because he'd slipped his hand between them.

Get to the bed,
she told herself. It would be better there. But it was hard to think about anything but the back-and-forth motion of his fingers on her swollen center.

He explored her, finding that one magic place, then worshipping it with a gentle, rhythmic touch. She moaned, then nipped at his bottom lip.

“You're driving me crazy,” she whispered.

“That would be the point.”

But he released her long enough for her to pull back the covers and scramble onto the bed. She yanked off her socks, then stretched out on the cool sheets.

Alex did a little prep work of his own. He stripped off his clothes in about an eighth of a second and joined her.