Essence of Desire (17 page)

Trask shrugged. Her money or her lack of it wasn’t his business, he thought as he made his way into the kitchen. After a thorough glance around, he decided her kitchen was too big. He couldn’t see her spending much time in it, and he seriously doubted that she ever took the time to prepare her son a home cooked meal. Fast foods were probably her specialty. He wouldn’t be surprised to discover that she was on a first-name basis with the people at Burger King.

“I thought I told you to stay put, Trask.”

Trask turned around. Felicia had washed the gook off her face, removed the dorky-looking scarf from her head, and changed into a tank top and a pair of stretch pants. He wondered if all her clothes were clingy or skintight. His body tightened just looking her. He also wondered if there was anything between her skin and the snug-fitting pants she had on. He doubted it since his keen vision didn’t see any panty lines.

“I asked what you’re doing in my kitchen when I told you explicitly to stay put in the living room.”

Trask’s mouth quirked into a smooth smile. “With the tone you used, I assumed you were talking to some invisible dog you have wandering around here. You definitely weren’t talking to me.”

Felicia sighed. Maybe the tone of her voice had been a bit waspish, but what did he expect. He was the last person she had expected to appear on her doorstep. Especially since she had been thinking about him constantly over the past two weeks. She had thought he would drop by Clayton’s parents’ home for Thanksgiving dinner. And when he hadn’t, she had been disappointed for some unknown reason. Later she had convinced herself that the only reason she had wanted to see him was because she’d been in the mood to argue with someone, and he would have been a good candidate. And now seeing him standing in the middle of her kitchen wearing a tan sports jacket with a blue T-shirt, a pair of brand-name running shoes, and a pair of sexy blue jeans made her think her large kitchen suddenly seemed small.

“So how do you think you can help?” Felicia asked.

Trask studied her thoughtfully before saying. “By offering to be Austin’s holiday dad.”

For a moment Felicia just stared at him, letting his words sink in. He was willing to be the temporary dad Austin had asked Santa for? Why? Why was he making the offer? There had to be more to it.

“What’s the catch?” she asked suspiciously. There was something about the way he was looking at her that set her entire body on edge. Her already jittery nerves were playing havoc with her overactive hormones. They were hormones that had never misbehaved until Trask was around.

Trask took a step toward her, closing the distance between them. He reached up and gently brushed his hand lightly against her cheek. “It seems, Felicia, that I have this little problem that you can help me with, while I’m helping you out of your tight spot. So I’m more than willing to be your son’s holiday dad in exchange for something.”

The mere touch of his hand upset Felicia’s balance as explosive currents raced through her. A hot ache grew in her throat, and she forced out her words. “In exchange for what?” The sound of her voice was like a silken whisper.

The look in Trask’s eyes was dark, seductive, and sensuous. The sound of his voice when he responded was deep, husky, and magnetic.

“In exchange, I want you to be my holiday lover.”

Felicia’s mouth gaped open in shock. Surely she had not heard Trask correctly. There was no way he could have said he would volunteer to be Austin’s holiday dad if she would be his holiday lover. But after one look at the quirk on his face that slightly resembled a smile, she knew she had indeed heard him correctly.

And that was when she began seeing red.

“Are you crazy?” she demanded.

The smile that tugged at Trask’s lips widened. He thought Felicia looked totally delectable when angered. “No, I’m not crazy,” he said soothingly. “But I am somewhat in need right now.”

Felicia lifted a brow. She had an idea just what type of need he was referring to. “That sounds like a personal problem,” she snapped.

“It is, and one I hope you can help me solve. You help out with my problem and I’ll help you out with yours.”

Felicia was livid. “Do you think for one minute I’ll let you use my son in exchange for sexual favors?”

Trask leaned against the counter. “Use your son? I don’t see it that way. We will be making him happy for the holidays, and in turn we’ll be making ourselves happy. There’s no way you can deny that you want me as much as I want you.”

“I hate deflating your oversized ego but you’re wrong, Trask. I don’t want you.”

“You’re lying to yourself, Felicia, and you know it. Don’t you think I’ve picked up on this sudden attraction between us? Hell, I don’t understand it, but I’ve stopped trying to figure it out. All I know is that we have this itch for each other that desperately needs scratching. Admit it. You want to make love to me as much as I want to make love to you.”

“In your dreams.”

“Yeah, there, too,” Trask chuckled slightly. “I’ve made love to you a number of times these past two weeks in my dreams. Now I’d prefer the real thing. There’s nothing wrong with a man dreaming about a desirable woman. The problem starts when he thinks about her while he’s awake. And you, Felicia, have crept into my daily thoughts, and I see no other way to get you out of them.”

He took a few steps toward her, barely stopping a few inches away. “What are you afraid of? I’ve never known you to be afraid of anything before in your life, and definitely not of me.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

“Then prove it and prove me wrong. Prove that you don’t have the hots for me like I have them for you. Prove that what I feel is one-sided and that you have no desire to get into my clothes like I want to get into yours.”

He leaned slightly forward, his lips mere inches from hers. “Prove it, Felicia, by letting me kiss you,” he said, his voice a breathless whisper. “And if I don’t get the response I want from you, I’ll leave. But I’ll still be Austin’s dad for the holidays regardless of the outcome of your kiss. Agreed?”

“I don’t. . .” Her voice trailed off when Trask moved his mouth closer.

“Agree, Felicia,” Trask admonished in a low, husky voice.

“What do you have to lose? Especially since you claim you don’t want me as much as I want you. Unless you think you will lose.”

His words, as he had known they would, tossed a challenge she couldn’t or wouldn’t ignore. Her eyes, he noted, were filled with defiance and desire. He was hoping that desire would win out.

Felicia frowned. “Okay, I agree, but I won’t lose, Trask. You will.”

She reached up and ever so casually pushed the jacket off his shoulders before placing her arms around his neck. She decided to be the aggressor and the tip of her tongue darted out and touched his lips before sliding inside his mouth.

Trying hard to ignore the feeling of blood rushing fast and furious through her veins, she closed her eyes and deepened the kiss as their lips fused together in a lingering, heated and delicious moment.

And that was where she made her mistake.

With a skill that undoubtedly came from years of experience, Trask masterfully, unhurriedly, and purposefully took control. He moved his mouth hungrily over her, devouring its softness and capturing her sweetness. He methodically drugged her with a sensation Felicia didn’t know could exist. She was shocked at the response coming from her, and she was shocked even further when she realized she was helpless to do anything about it. The need he was arousing in her was too strong. But her stubbornness refused to let her surrender. Even when the kiss began sending her stomach into a wild swirl, she would not admit defeat. A part of her was determined to make Trask as crazy with desire as he was making her.

Their tongues dueled relentlessly as they reveled in the heat of each other’s mouths. The feel of Trask’s muscular arms around Felicia, as he crushed her to him, made her moan.

When Trask finally raised his head, it was only for a few seconds, to breathe in much needed air before lowering his head again, showering kisses around her lips and along her jaw.

“Competition over,” he rasped near her ear in a deep, husky tone. “Now for pleasure.”

Felicia felt his hands tighten around her as he lifted her and set her on the table to straddle his thighs. In the split second that her mind rationalized what his definition of pleasure might be, he again smothered her lips with demanding mastery. Shivers raced through her and another small moan escaped her throat when she felt his hand move underneath her top.

Leaving her mouth burning with fire, he lifted her top. She arched her back when his tongue began a slow journey from her collarbone down to her bare breasts. His mouth tantalized the throbbing tips, which had swollen to their fullest.

Months of celibacy began taking their toll on Felicia, and she felt her body instinctively sliding forward, seeking out the hard part of Trask. She wanted to rub her body against the huge straining bulge she saw beneath fly of his jeans.

Trask saw just where Felicia’s passionate gaze was centered. His hand pressed at the small of her back as he urged her closer toward the heat of him. When her body found its mark, the teasing friction of her clothes rubbing against his hardness made them both gasp.

He tightened his arms around her and deepened their kiss when his body stroked against her. With her tightly straddling him, their bodies meshed together from thigh to chest. When Trask’s body became even harder, and when Felicia felt his hand lightly caress her thighs, passion, the like of which she had never known before, inched through her veins, and her breath came in long, deep moans. She reached out and her fingers begin toying with Trask’s zipper.

“You want more, Felicia? You want the real thing?” Trask growled out the questions, but did not wait for her answers. He picked her up off the table and into his arms. When her hands inched underneath his shirt, he clenched his teeth against rising need. His abdominal muscles contracted, and his entire body became inflamed in passion--red-hot passion. He no longer thought of victory or which one of them had come out the winner. All he could think about was that never before had he felt a need to bury himself inside a woman. Deep.

He wanted her now. This minute. This second. The hard urgency of his body demanded that he take her, here... on the table, on the counter, on the floor, wherever.

But another part of him knew they would find more pleasure in a bed. He began walking down the hall toward her bedroom with her in his arms. Then he stopped. Her little boy, who was wiping sleep from his eyes, was coming out of his bedroom. The unexpected sight of Felicia’s son helped rein in Trask’s control.

“We got company sweetheart,” Trask whispered to Felicia as he reluctantly slid her down his body and out of his arms.

Felicia’s overdriven passion vanished the moment she saw her son. She hurried to him and crouched in front of him. “Austin? Baby, what’s the matter? Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds as he continued to wipe the sleep from his eyes. When he did focus his gaze, it went from beyond her to Trask, who was standing a few feet away from them.

It seemed to Trask that for the longest time the little boy stared at him. Then his sleepy little face broke in a huge, happy smile. He ran past Felicia and launched himself against Trask, grabbing hold of his leg.

“He did it, Mommy! He did it! Santa gave me a daddy for the holidays!” The little boy looked up at Trask with soft, pleading eyes. “And you will love me, won’t you?”

The unexpected questions were asked so innocently and so desperately that it hit Trask full force in the chest and in his heart. He thought the look on the kid’s face was priceless; it touched him deeply. Suddenly, immediately, Trask’s emotions opened as something stirred deep within.

Reaching down, he effortlessly picked Felicia’s son up into his arms. And for a fleeting moment, he felt a sense of purpose as he cuddled him close. He turned his head toward Felicia when he answered the question her son had asked.

“Yes, I will love you.”

“Promise?” The little boy asked shyly, but pleadingly.

Trask could hardly answer because of the lump that formed in his throat. “Yes, I promise.”

Felicia turned her back to them, but not before Trask saw the tears glistening in her eyes.

Felicia had only to look across the room at Trask and Austin sitting close together on the sofa to know that the entire idea of Trask being the boy’s holiday dad was a mistake. Oh, it wasn’t that he and Austin weren’t getting along, because they were. In fact, in her opinion, they were getting along too nicely. It seemed they had totally forgotten her very existence. What really bothered her was the fact that the man she rarely got along with was getting along perfectly fine with her son.

As she sat on the love seat watching as Austin eagerly told Trask about all the things he wanted them to do together for the holidays, her heart went out to her son. She hadn’t realized just how starved he had been for male companionship and a father figure in his life.

She shook her head as she studied Trask. He seemed to be hanging on to Austin’s every word. She didn’t like admitting it, but he was a natural at handling her son. If she didn’t know better, she would suspect he had a kid or two stashed away someplace and just wasn’t saying so. But she knew that wasn’t the case. If Trask had fathered a child, he would be the type of man to acknowledge it. He would not abandon his child like Steven had abandoned his.