Seductive Reasoning by Cheryl Gorman

flash point. His tongue stroked deep inside her mouth. His lips suckled
and rubbed over hers, a desperate, greedy mating of mouths. His hands delved
into her hair. He tilted her head, changed the angle of the kiss, and took the
kiss deeper. Then deeper still.
    One arm snaked out and drew her
close to him. The hem of her gown rode up to almost her waist. He grasped her
fanny, pushing her into the juncture between his legs, into his growing
erection.
    As quickly as the kiss had turned
avid, he pulled back from her. “What’s wrong?” The words shuddered from her
throat. The breath clogged in her lungs, and her knees nearly collapsed. Her
body sang with unfulfilled need and desire.
    He moved away from her until they
were no longer touching. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”
    The stab of pain pricked her heart
unexpectedly. Was he sorry because she didn’t do it right, or sorry she wasn’t
someone else? “I’m not. I almost won. You nearly gave in.”
    “But I didn’t, and I don’t intend
to.”
    “We’ll see about that.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter
Five
     
    Seth stood by the bedroom window
and listened to the water run in the bathroom. He glanced at the bed. She’d
already turned back the covers. Candles were lit. She’d even strewn petals over
the sheets. Soft music drifted from the stereo.
    The stage was set. The players were
ready.
    At least she was ready. He had
thought he would go out of his mind when she walked into the den wearing that
little nothing of a nightgown. She’d caressed him and his control had nearly
cracked. But God, when those soft, sweet lips touched his and her wet tongue
slid into his mouth, he knew he was a goner.
    If just sitting with her on the
sofa and seeing her in that nightgown made him nearly lose control, what the
hell would happen when he was in bed with her? He closed his eyes tightly. He
didn’t want to think about the consequences. But he had to. He would be fired
and probably never finish his research and prove his theory without the money.
He needed to win and that meant resisting Kate.
    Seth remembered the way she had
responded and given everything she had in that kiss. Kate had wrapped herself
around him and poured on more than seduction. The woman made him feel things
and not just lust and need.
    Other things.
    Being here, in her house made him
want things he didn’t think he needed--like a real home with a woman
permanently in his life. He knew if he let her crawl under his skin, she would
end up crowding him. Kate had the potential to make him admit his greatest
fear.
    He was terrified that one day the
whole world would find out that he was a fraud and didn’t have all the answers.
In truth, he didn’t really know all that much about the cosmos. Proving his
theory would somehow heal the insecurity he harbored inside himself.
    He heard a soft rustle behind him
and turned. She stood in the door of the bedroom with the light of the hallway
a golden halo around her. God, she was beautiful, but she also looked
vulnerable. He’d seen that look several times now in her eyes, on her face, and
he didn’t want to think about why. She was here for the same reason he was,
right? To win the bet? She had a goal too. One he knew she wanted as badly as
he wanted his.
    She strolled to the bed and sat
down. Kate lifted a hand to her mouth, gently patted her lips, and yawned.
“Time for bed.”
    Seth averted his gaze and walked to
a slipper chair over by the window. He stripped off his shirt and laid it
neatly on the back of the chair. When he reached for the zipper in his pants,
he stopped. “Would you mind turning off the light?”
    Without a response, he heard the
gentle rasp of sheets and bedclothes, then the snick of the lamp switch.
Darkness engulfed the room. Seth waited for his eyes to adjust, then took off
his slacks. A veil of moonlight floated in through the windows, forming a
silver puddle at his feet. Candles glowed on the dresser, their shadows