Reading Online Novel

Intent to Seduce & A Glimpse of Fire(61)



“So soft,” he whispered. “So incredibly soft.”

She reached between them, stroking his penis. “So hard. So incredibly hard.”

He laughed, an abrupt gurgling sound, before rolling her back into position beneath him. “Okay, you asked for it.”

She smiled. “Yes, I did.”

To her surprise, he turned away. But then she saw that he’d reached into the nightstand and brought out a foil packet. He ripped it open and then handed it to her. She didn’t know why it never came up, but she’d never actually done this before. The guy she was with always had.

Carefully she rolled the condom down the hard thickness, smiling when he reacted with a small jerk, his stomach clenching.

“Amused, are we?” he asked, his smile turning feral before he held her hands out wide and touched the tip of his tongue to her nipples ever so lightly. Just enough to make her crazy.

Then before she knew what had happened, he’d spread her thighs. Increasing the pressure of his mouth on her nipples, he explored her with his hand, gently probed her with his fingers until she clenched around them.

She wanted him inside her so badly, she must have somehow communicated it to him. With a guttural groan he positioned himself over her and slid inside with precise aim, as if this were their hundredth time. She bucked at the initial contact, tensing, until she adjusted to the size and feel of him.

He slowly withdrew, never breaking contact, and then thrust deeper. She shuddered and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him impossibly closer. Her response ignited him and he thrust faster, deeper, the muscles in his arms and shoulders straining as he held himself poised above her.

She clenched tightly around him and he groaned, started to withdraw, but she wouldn’t have it and lifted her hips to stay joined with him. Clearly realizing her intention, he whispered her name and then thrust into her again and again and again until the first wave hit her. She turned her head into the pillow to keep from making too much noise as the convulsions nearly sent her flying off the bed.

He had no such restraint. He cried out as he climaxed, pounding against her, meeting her thrust for thrust until he collapsed on top of her, panting her name and showering her face with kisses.

Dallas lay back, boneless and spent, unable to catch her breath. Eric kissed her a final time on the mouth and then fell onto his back, sounding just as breathless.

“Wow,” he said.

“Yeah, wow.” She smiled and laid a hand on his thigh. “Double wow.”

Chuckling, he rolled over to face her. “What are you doing tomorrow night? I know a great Italian restaurant.”

She smiled at his amazing ability to recover. “I can’t. I’ve got something going on tomorrow evening.”

“How about Wednesday? Are we still on for my client’s reception?”

“Sure.”

He lay back with one arm behind his head, looked at her and gave her a smile that made her insides tingle. “Is seven okay with you?”

“Whatever time you think we should be there.”

“I’ll pick you up at your place around six forty-five.”

She shook her head. “I’ll meet you there at seven.”

He didn’t like it, given the sudden frown that drew his brows together.

She snuggled against him and toyed with the hair on his chest. “What’s the address?”

“Trying to distract me?” He turned onto his side and curled an arm around her, hauling her against his chest. “You have to do better than that.”

She reached between them and found him growing hard again. “Am I getting warmer?”

His laugh was shaky. “I am.”

“It’s almost midnight. I really should be going,” she said, curling her hand around him and feeling him twitch.

“I don’t think so.”

Before she could reply, he had her on her back, her wrists pinned to the pillows, and she knew she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.



DALLAS SLOWLY OPENED HER EYES. She blinked at the unfamiliar teak armoire and the valet beside it. The walls were painted a taupe color. Not white. This wasn’t her room. Where the hell was she?

She felt movement in the bed. Warm skin brushed her bare back. Remembering where she was and who was curled against her, she smiled. Briefly she closed her eyes again. How could she have fallen asleep? She re ally had to go home. She still had some work to do for the meeting tomorrow evening. Just another few minutes, she decided and slowly turned over to face him.

Eric was still asleep, his lips slightly parted, his chin dark with stubble. She instantly recalled the slightly rough feel on her bare breasts and shivered.

He stirred and she lay quiet, waiting with mixed emotions to see if he’d waken. If he did, they’d probably go a third round. As enticing as that sounded, they both had to get up early tomorrow and he had a big presentation to make to a new client.

Her gaze went to the digital alarm clock and she bit back a curse. It was already after one-thirty. She had to go. No more fooling around. She slowly slipped out of bed and quietly gathered her clothes in the dark. To avoid waking him, she carried everything to the bath room and dressed there.

When she was finished, she went to the kitchen, where she’d seen a notepad by the phone. She thought for a moment about what she wanted to say and then scribbled him a note.

The obvious place to have left it would be on her vacated pillow, but she dared not wake him. Instead she anchored a corner of the paper under the coffeemaker and then she grabbed her purse. She got to the door, hesitated and then, cursing herself under her breath, snuck back to his room for a final irresistible peek.

He was still sound asleep, his beautiful chest bare, the sheet bunched at his waist. Tempted to crawl back in beside him, she took a deep breath and then backed away from the door. With foolish reluctance, she let herself out.





CHAPTER NINE




DALLAS FILLED TWO PITCHERS WITH WATER and set them next to the coffeepot on the credenza against the wall. She counted the number of chairs at the long conference table and hoped twelve would be enough. Then again, if they weren’t, that would still be a good thing. The first meeting had been held at her apartment, but the number of women interested in improving their work conditions had swelled to the point that Dallas could no longer accommodate everyone.

Fortunately her sister had offered the conference room at the law firm where she worked. Like the rest of the family, Dakota thought Dallas was nuts for shunning her MBA and choosing manual labor. But at least she accepted Dallas’s choice and was sympathetic to the plight of women who worked in male-dominated jobs. She was also the least snobby of the Shea clan. Al though she had her moments.

Dallas checked her watch. The women would start arriving at any minute. She unwrapped the tray of cookies she’d picked up at the corner bakery.

“Hey.” Dakota poked her head in. “Everything okay?”

“Perfect.” Dallas waved her inside. “Change your mind about staying for the meeting?”

“I can’t.” She glanced at her watch. “I have a class in forty minutes.”

“You’re teaching again?”

“Just a couple of summer courses.”

“Like you don’t have your hands full enough here.”

“No lectures.” Dakota glared, but she couldn’t man age to keep the corners of her mouth from curving slightly. “I get paid to give them. That makes me a professional. Don’t mess with me.”

Dallas grinned at her younger sister. “Glad to see some of the old fire in you again.”

“Don’t go there.”

“What?”

“I like what I’m doing, okay?”

“I’m sure you do.”

“God, you know how much I hate that passive-aggressive tone—” Dakota stopped and stared at Dallas in disbelief. “You sounded just like Mom.”

“Funny,” she said and muttered a curse.

“Seriously. You totally sounded like her.”

Dallas bristled and turned away to pour herself a cup of coffee. Of all the insults Dakota could have hurled, that was the lowest.

“No, really. I’m not trying to be obnoxious.” She shrugged. “You really sounded like her.”

Dallas sighed.

“But only for a second.”

They looked at each other and laughed. It felt good. Just like the old days. Before Dakota had gotten so caught up in her career that she forgot to enjoy life. Just like the rest of the family.

“You want a cup of coffee?” Dallas asked.

“Nope. You know I don’t drink that nasty stuff. Anyway, I gotta go.” Dakota checked her watch again and then abruptly brought her head up. “I almost forgot. Mom wants us all to come to the house for dinner on Saturday.”

Great. “What’s the occasion?”

Dakota shrugged. “I think she just wants to see everyone.”

“I think I can make it. I’ll check my calendar.”

Dakota hesitated, her serious gray eyes tentative. She obviously wanted to say something. Probably in defense of their mother’s dominating edicts. The woman never made requests. They were more like demands. And Andrea Shea expected unconditional compliance.

To her credit, she’d taught her daughters self-sufficiency, the importance of an education and to never trade on their looks. Dakota could have easily made it in modeling. With her honey-colored hair, gray eyes and wide smile, she was perfect for the camera. A real natural. But she’d been a serious and bright student who’d never given her appearance a second thought, much less attempted to parlay her looks into a career.