Through the heat consuming her with their kiss, she was instantly aware of him lifting her tank top and knew she should resist him. Instead she moaned deep in her throat when she felt a tingling sensation flood her belly beneath the warmth of the hand he placed on her stomach. Moments later, his hand moved, s.h.i.+fting upward and unfastening the front clasp of her bra. And then, without missing a beat, his mouth followed to her breast.
That"s when she lost touch with reality and lost her grip on any control she had. His tongue stroked her nipples and she became engrossed, totally, irrefutably absorbed in the sensations ripping through her. He was devouring her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with the same greed he had bestowed on her lips. Each suck and lick to her nipples elicited a deep pull in the area between her legs. She suddenly felt sensitive there as sensations deluged her. And at that moment she felt the need to whisper his name.
"Donovan."
Donovan was fully aware of the moment Natalie said his name, and the pa.s.sionate tone had his erection throbbing. He wanted to hear her say it again, but right on the verge of having an o.r.g.a.s.m. Her scent was hot and enticing, and was getting to him in the most primitive way.
He moved his hand to the elastic waistband of her shorts and without giving himself much time to think about what he was doing, he eased his hand inside and quickly moved past the silky panties she was wearing, going straight to her feminine mound.
The moment he touched her there, his fingers making contact with her wetness, he heard her release a litany of deep moans. The sound, as well as her intimate response to the area he was touching, drove him over the edge. His desire to taste her became overwhelming. Elemental.
Giving a final thorough lick to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, he quickly went into action by pulling her shorts and panties down her legs. Before she could deny him access, he lowered his head between her thighs, and his mouth went straight to the heated folds of her femininity.
On instinct her hips thrust upward, and he grabbed her hips to hold her there, needing to devour her with a hunger that focused his senses on this particular part of her body. With practiced licks and precise flicks of his tongue, he tasted the invigorating sweetness of her blazing fire, her steamy pa.s.sion, and he didn"t plan to let up any time soon-not until he made her come.
That didn"t take long. When her thighs began trembling, he knew she was about ready to detonate. Every nerve and muscle in his body was poised, prepared and primed for the experience. And when it happened and she screamed out his name, he continued the intimate kiss, claiming this part of her as his. Intense pride filled his chest at the sounds of pleasure she was making. He held nothing back and neither did she. The next time, he silently vowed, he wanted to be staring her in the eyes when it happened. And there would would be a next time. be a next time.
He continued kissing her while at the same time giving her body time to recover. It was only then that he withdrew his mouth, eased back up her panties and shorts before sliding up her body to look at her. Her eyes had a glazed look, and she seemed momentarily at a loss for words.
She moved her mouth as if she was going to say something, and he quickly decided that he wasn"t ready for her to say anything. So he leaned closer, bent his head. Her lips parted and he slid in his tongue and kissed her, sharing her own taste with her. Moments later he reluctantly pulled his mouth away.
She looked up at him. "That should not have happened, Donovan."
He figured she would say something like that. "But it did. You and I both wanted it to happen. We enjoyed it. Admit it," he countered.
Natalie wasn"t ready to admit anything. Her mind had practically turned to mush, and she couldn"t even think straight. She"d arrived this morning to clean his house, not to be the recipient of mouth s.e.x. And especially not to the point at which it had made her scream. She was the most disciplined person she knew, and she had screamed.
"Admit it, Natalie."
She narrowed her gaze and wished she could ignore what had happened between them. Ignore him and that smile curving his lips. So she glanced around the room and said, "I need to finish up in here and leave."
The smile curving his lips widened. "So that"s the way you want to play?"
She had news for him; she hadn"t wanted to play at all and had been doing just fine remaining on the sidelines. He and his naughty tongue had definitely thrown a monkey wrench into things. The vivid memory of his head between her legs had her blus.h.i.+ng.
"Like I said, today was a mistake," she reemphasized.
Donovan quirked a dark brow and recognized her ploy for what it was. She still wasn"t ready to acknowledge what was between them, what he wasn"t about to let slide by. She had said she thought today was a mistake, but she hadn"t said it wouldn"t happen again. Evidently she had missed that fact and he was glad.
Deciding he had pushed her b.u.t.tons enough for one day, he eased into a sitting position. He glanced around the room when she got up off the bed. "There"s nothing else you need to do in here," he said.
He noted she tried looking everywhere but at him when she said, "There"s plenty I need to do. I haven"t dusted, vacuumed the floor or changed the linen," she said briskly.
"Don"t worry about dusting or vacuuming in here today. And I don"t want my linen changed, Natalie. Your scent is absorbed into the sheets, and I want it to stay that way for a while."
She tilted her head and met his gaze. The air suddenly became charged again. Intimate. s.e.xually explosive. She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue before replying, "Suit yourself."
He gave her a slight smile. "I did and I"m extremely satisfied."
She began backing up toward the door. "Well, if you"re sure you don"t want me to do anything else in here, then I"ll be going."
"I"m sure."
"And I"ll be contacting you sometime next week to discuss my replacement," she added firmly.
"No, you won"t. There will be no replacement, Natalie."
Her eyes widened and then glared. "Surely you don"t think that I can continue to be your housekeeper after what happened here today."
"I"m afraid that"s exactly what I think. It"s what I know."
He knew his words sounded arrogant, more than a little presumptuous and selfishly c.o.c.ky. He watched her body stiffen and would not have been surprised if she had thrown some object off his dresser at him. Instead, after glaring at him for a second, she moved closer to his bedroom door.
"If you get restless and edgy later, just come back. I"ll be here. And if not tonight, I"m available any night. If I"m not here just let yourself in." Donovan heard himself give the invite, and a part of him couldn"t believe he"d actually done so.
Instead of answering him, she rushed out of the bedroom and hurried down the stairs.
Just as well, he thought, easing off the bed. Other than his cousins and sisters-in-law, no other woman had ever been given unlimited access to his home. It was evident that he had it bad for Natalie. But he inwardly a.s.sured himself he could handle this temporary bout of madness and that the only reason he was being so indulging with her, so abnormally reckless, was because they had only five weeks left to be together. He was confident by the time her aunt was back on her feet and had resumed her position as his housekeeper that he would have worked Natalie out of his system.
The sound of the front door opening and closing signaled that she was gone.
"How did things go today, Nat?"
Natalie glanced over at Aunt Earline as they sat together at the dinner table. The question was one her aunt asked every day, and Natalie thought that if she was truthful and told her just how things went today, Earline Darwin would be mortified. Aunt Earline must never know that although she and Donovan hadn"t gone all the way, she had been in his bed and together they had practically made kissing an art form, and that in the end he had lapped her up pretty good. Right into an o.r.g.a.s.m. Even now her inner thighs felt extremely warm, and she had to hold her legs together real tight just thinking about what Donovan had done between them.
She plastered a smile on her face. "Everything was okay." There. She"d given a short answer. That was that.
Apparently not when Aunt Earline further asked. "So this change in days works for Donovan Steele?"
She couldn"t help recalling how he"d been conveniently home when she had gotten there and the somewhat smug look on his face when she"d left. "Yes, apparently it does. I was in and out of there in no time." But not before he got me on my back and did some scandalous things to my body. But not before he got me on my back and did some scandalous things to my body.
"That"s good."
Yes, she inwardly admitted, although she didn"t want to do so. It had been good. Too good. The inner workings of her body were now clamoring for a repeat performance. The unshakable Dr. Natalie Ford had been shaken to the core.
An hour or so later she was pacing around the house like a caged bird that needed its freedom. She and Farrah had planned to go out again tonight, somewhere other than the Racetrack Cafe, but Farrah had canceled their plans because she had to work late.
It was early but Aunt Earline had already retired for the night. She planned to watch her all-time favorite movie, Dirty Dancing, Dirty Dancing, for the umpteenth time before going to sleep. Her aunt had encouraged her to go out and have some fun tonight, with or without Farrah. for the umpteenth time before going to sleep. Her aunt had encouraged her to go out and have some fun tonight, with or without Farrah.
As she paced, she couldn"t get Donovan"s invitation out of her mind. "If you get restless and edgy later, just come back. I"ll be here."
The man definitely had some arrogant nerves in his body. What woman would even think about taking him up on his offer? Natalie dropped her face in the palms of her hands and ashamedly admitted that she she was. was.
She slumped down on the sofa. Should she really be ashamed? What was wrong if she did consider having a fling with him? At least she knew where he stood. She definitely wasn"t looking for love and neither was he. In fact if she was thinking about a fling then he would be the perfect candidate. He was probably an expert at flings.
In addition to that, she didn"t have to worry about him getting all crazy on her if he somehow found out she was a chemistry professor at an Ivy League university instead of a bona fide cleaning woman, not if the relations.h.i.+p was s.e.xual and nothing more. And when it was over-for however long it lasted, which would be no more than five more weeks at best-she would return to Princeton, New Jersey, feeling renewed and energized. Farrah had been right Friday night. A meaningless fling with Donovan would give her a new att.i.tude.
She was twenty-six, a professional, a woman who deserved to indulge in a fling or two. She had realized a long time ago that it would be close to difficult to find a man willing to come into her world, and most of the male counterparts she"d found were too stuffy and boring. None had ever come close to attracting her attention the way Donovan had. Besides, he could be the one to prove whether or not Karl"s verdict on her skill as a bed partner was true. A part of her always wondered. Donovan had proved Karl wrong with the kissing, and she couldn"t help wonder if he would prove the other part false, as well.
Natalie eased to her feet. There was only one way to find out.
Donovan tightened his grip on the telephone in his hand. "Okay, Morgan, thanks for keeping me in the loop. We figured sooner or later word of what we were doing would leak out," he said. "We"re good as long as the trade secrets don"t get into the wrong hands."
"You"re right," Morgan said. "But I"ll feel a lot better when that Product Trade Show is over."
Donovan talked to Morgan a few minutes longer before hanging up the phone. For any business, the exploitation of trade secrets was a serious matter and the protection of them was complicated at best, especially when chemical formulas were involved. One of their compet.i.tors had again tried obtaining information, which meant SC was determined more than ever to make sure that didn"t happen.
He glanced at his watch and saw it was close to eight. He had thought about going over to the Racetrack Cafe for a while to hang out with Bronson and the guys, but for some reason he wasn"t in the mood. What he was in the mood for was s.e.x. Even now, his manhood was twitching for release of the most elemental and primitive kind. He had a list of women who were amenable to a booty call tonight, but he only wanted one particular woman. Natalie.
He sucked in a deep, satisfying breath when he recalled how earlier that day he had gone down on her, but not before feasting on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Every muscle and every fiber in his body had been attuned to her.
He then pulled in a frustrated breath at the thought that what he"d done today might have scared her away. He didn"t want to think about the possibility that he had pushed her to the limit, and she would make good on her threat to send in a replacement, or better yet, convince her aunt to drop him as a client.
With nothing better to do, he was about to head back to his office to finish reading the Gleeve-Ware report he"d started on earlier when there was a knock at his door. Thinking it was probably Bronson, Myles or Uri dropping by, he crossed the room in his bare feet and opened the door. His jaw almost dropped.
Standing at his door was Natalie, and she was wearing a black miniskirt and a low-cut white blouse that clearly showed she wasn"t wearing a bra. Not that she needed one with her full and round b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
He took in her outfit and how gorgeous her legs looked in it before returning his gaze back to her face. He stared at her while his manhood, which had been twitching earlier, broke out into a full-fledged throb.
She stared back before saying in what he thought was a soft, ultra s.e.xy voice, "You said to come back if I got to feeling restless and edgy." She took a minute to breathe in before adding. "And I"m here."
Chapter 10.
Everything happened in such rapid succession that Natalie wasn"t sure who made the first move. The thing she did remember was Donovan reaching out and pulling her inside and slamming the door shut behind her. After that she recalled the moment he lowered his mouth to hers, which resulted in a heated exchange of lips and tongues. And she did remember the moment he swept her into his arms to carry her up the stairs, not breaking the kiss in the process.
But what was kind of fuzzy was what brought on what was happening now. He had stopped halfway up the stairs and lowered her bottom to the step to lift up her skirt where he then proceeded to rip off her drenched panties.
"I need one quick taste," he said huskily and with an intensity that she felt all the way to her toes. And before she could blink, he had knelt between her legs and lowered his head to penetrate her deeply with his tongue.
She fought for control, but the only thing she could do was grab the wood railing, totally helpless against the myriad of sensations that shot through her as he used his tongue to stroke her wetter. She was on the verge of exploding when he suddenly withdrew his mouth and stood up, towering over her.
"Can"t wait to make it upstairs," he said, lowering his zipper and then quickly removing his jeans and briefs. He held on to his jeans long enough to pull out a condom packet that he ripped opened with his teeth. Then he tossed the jeans away.
Through pa.s.sion-glazed eyes, she watched as he put the condom on his engorged shaft. She"d never seen Karl perform such a task, and watching Donovan prepare himself inflamed her senses. He was big, a lot bigger than Karl, which had her wondering if perhaps she should be worried.
She quickly dismissed the notion from her mind when he dropped back down to his knees in front of her. He then reached out and grabbed hold of her hips in a firm grip, lifting her bottom off the step while inching his body toward hers, opening her legs wider in the process.
A quiver of antic.i.p.ation raced through every part of her body. When he leaned closer and began easing his shaft inside of her, holding her gaze while doing so, for one unguarded moment she allowed herself to let go.
Donovan, however struggled for control. It took everything within him not to thrust hard in the wake of the excruciating pleasure being inside of her brought. Never would he have thought that pa.s.sing through territory he had never been in before would give him such exquisite pleasure. Her body was tight but was stretching to accommodate his size. And his hands continued to hold tight to her hips while tilting up her bottom for a more perfect fit.
A soft whimper, which he hoped was the result of intense pleasure, escaped from between her lips when he finally reached the hilt. Then she threw her head back and released an intense feminine groan. The sound was electrifying and sent s.h.i.+vers down his spine, propelling him to move within her.
He began riding her slowly at first, absorbing her scent through his nostrils and fighting to retain control while waves of intense pleasure washed over him with pulsating intensity.
Adrenaline rushed forward, gushed through his veins and swelled his erection inside her even more. He heard her breath catch at the same moment her inner muscles clamped down on him. They tightened, holding his shaft hostage, and he nearly lost control. He regained it and began moving within her again with a possessiveness he"d never demonstrated toward any other woman.
He lifted her hips higher off the step, not allowing his hold to ease even the slightest bit while establis.h.i.+ng a rhythm that taunted her and challenged him. He heard her moans, and they threatened to drive him over the edge as he thrusted back and forth inside of her with lightning speed. And she was meeting his thrusts, stroke for stroke. They were making love on the stairs of all places, but the place didn"t matter-only the outcome.
And the outcome was more than he"d bargained for. He released a guttural moan just seconds before she screamed his name as she was plunged into a state of ecstasy. Her o.r.g.a.s.m ignited bursts of pleasure within him at the same time his body shattered in a huge explosion of its own. She clung to him and wrapped her feet securely around his back. Desire sank deep into his pores, and he felt himself being thrown into some unknown abyss.
He bent his head to capture her lips. Refusing to leave her body, he kept a firm grip on her hips as sensations rammed through him nonstop until his release left him feeling drained but completely satisfied. He knew he was in deep trouble when, moments later, he started getting hard again.
This time he wanted to make love to her in a bed. His bed. He withdrew from her body, gathered her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way up the stairs.
Natalie wondered if she would ever be able to move again. She seriously doubted it. After making love with Donovan-on of all places-the stairs, he had brought her up to his bedroom where he finished undressing her and had made love to her all over again. He made love as intensely and thoroughly as he probably did everything else, and more than once he had whispered in a deep, husky voice just how much he enjoyed it. She believed he had, which meant Karl had said all those things only to hurt her.
"You"re awake from your nap," that same deep, husky voice said now.
She found the strength to glance over at Donovan. He was lying beside her, one of his legs was thrown over hers as if holding her captive. She couldn"t miss the fact that they were both naked. After making love with him, she had drifted off to sleep, too exhausted to keep her eyes open any longer. To most people dozing at this hour would equate to retiring for the night, but since she intended to sleep in her bed at her aunt"s house, Donovan was right: she had only taken a nap. A much needed one. But now she was wide awake.
She glanced over at the clock on his nightstand. "It"s late. I need go."
"Not yet. We need to talk."
Tension settled in the back of her neck. She had a feeling she knew what he wanted to talk about. Given his reputation, she was surprised they hadn"t had the discussion before he"d taken her on the stairs. "I already know what you want to say," she said.
"Do you?"
"Yes. You don"t want me to a.s.sume what we"ve done means anything of substance and that you aren"t the marrying kind and prefer short, meaningless affairs."
He stared at her and didn"t say anything for a moment. Then he asked, "Knowing all of that, where does it leave you?"
She couldn"t help but smile. Lord help him, but the man actually thought every woman would be forever scarred because of his rejection. "That leaves me with what I want most, too."
"Which is?"
"A good life without any man cluttering it up."
His brow rose before he responded. "I recall you saying you"d taken a break from men."