Surrounded By Temptation(17)

Which was not the same as falling in love. It couldn’t be since love was just a state of mind.

But if she became attached to him, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her objectivity. Therefore, she needed a little reprieve before continuing with her temptation testing.

But she was beginning to wonder who she was testing more, her or Rob. The last years of her marriage to Will had been methodical at best, so this uncharted territory with Rob sparked something deep inside her. It didn’t matter. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it.

From the reports she was getting from Thomas on Jack, he was doing well with the medication. Of course, he wasn’t being tested like Rob, but it relieved Ariel that Jack wasn’t experiencing any adverse side effects. It gave her room to focus solely on Rob.

She’d made dinner plans with him for tonight. It’d been over twenty-four hours since she’d last laid eyes on him, and she was feeling antsy. Did that mean she missed him? She hoped not. She tried to tell herself that it was her work she missed. But she figured Rob needed this time away, too. She didn’t need to push him too hard. It wasn’t like every single woman he encountered would drop to her knees and suck his dick or even tempt him subtly. If he did this well with her aggressive tactics then he could survive in a world with less overbearing women.

The thought of Rob being with another woman made her heart race and a cold sweat break out. Maybe it just meant she was possessive of what this man could do for her sexually. It didn’t have to mean anything more.

Surely it didn’t.

The soft knock on the door brought her out of her reverie. She took a deep breath and strode over to it, channeling a self-confidence she did not feel. When she opened the door, her gaze landed on the snippet of chest peeking out from the few buttons Rob had left undone at the top of his shirt. She swallowed, trying to find the saliva that suddenly dissipated. Lord, the man was sex on a stick. Sinewy and tanned from working outside with an aura of barely contained beast radiating around him. Her eyes traveled south as she took him in. His jean-clad thighs flexed under her perusal and she had a sudden urge to rub them. She refrained. Realizing she should make eye contact, she started to look up, but the sight of his dick, hard and straining in his jeans, made her gasp and rather than look up slowly at him, her head snapped up.

Rob’s eyes were narrowed, his jaw working as he seemingly ground his teeth. “You’re practically naked.”

Right. The little nightie. She licked her lips. “I’m covered in all the areas that matter.” She turned to head toward the kitchen, and the groan she heard from Rob reminded her of what the backside of this ensemble looked like. It was lacy blue with matching thong, but where the front hung down just past her pussy, the hem gathered up toward the back, leaving her ass completely exposed. She looked over her shoulder, but was too intimidated to look directly into his eyes. “I hope you like spaghetti.”

She heard the door shut behind her, the click of the lock almost deafening. She gathered some plates and started scooping the pasta onto one when she felt his hands stroke her arms gently. She shivered at his touch and cursed herself for responding so quickly to him.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered in her ear, his breath heating her skin. Then his lips found her neck and she wasn’t sure how she managed to put the plate on the counter instead of letting it crash to the floor.

Ariel tilted her neck, giving him better access as she told herself it was a natural impulse because this wasn’t supposed to be happening. Tonight, she’d planned on testing his will power without ever actually touching each other. Maybe she should’ve started with this test first. Too late to worry about that now.

“The test tonight is temptation without touching,” she panted. Oh crap, he was squeezing her sides and grinding his cock against her butt cheeks as he continued to kiss and nip at her neck.

His mouth moved to her ear, and his hot breath fanned her overly sensitive skin. “Then I fail.”

She only had a moment of shock at the guttural sound of his voice before he whipped her around and crushed his mouth to hers. His kiss was rough, his scruffy beard growth abrading her face while his hands fisted in the nightie that adorned her body. God, he was so raw, so animalistic that she was totally lost in him. The little noises that sounded as if they’d come from deep within him vibrated against her, making it difficult for her to continue resisting, but his humming turned into a growl when his wicked finesse wasn’t pushing her into complete submission. He bit at her lips when his tongue didn’t get the entry it demanded.