Secret Seduction (10 page)

Bull’s-eye.

Her muscles flexed. She saw blinding flashes of light, heard the rushing sound of ocean waves in her head. Uncontrollable spasms rattled her body.

She didn’t know where she was or who she was with. Who was she? Woman or creature?

In delicious anguish, she cried out her delight.

He rocked back on his heels, clasped her to his chest and held her tight, his hand threaded in her hair until her heart calmed.

Then, when she had rested, he made love to her again, sinking his flesh into hers. He was her lover and he wanted her desperately and she wanted him right back with the same high-octane intensity.

The entire time he made love to her, he stared deeply into her eyes as if he was lost in her gaze and could not find his way out. They were locked.

Mated.

Both trembling and clinging to each other.

His cock filled her up, pushing deep inside of her until he could go no farther, then he pulled back. In and out, he moved in a smooth rhythm that rocked her soul. He rode her, she rode him until they both came in a searing white blinding light.

You can’t. Not as long as you have to lie to her.

Thing of it was, she really needed him. Vanessa was wound so tight she’d practically attacked him with a scalpel because she thought her safety was in jeopardy. It was almost as if she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. What had happened to her and why did she view him as the enemy?

That she saw him as a threat bothered him.

A lot.

Propped up with his back against the kitchen island, Tanner held her in his arms, felt her body trembling with pleasure and the power of her release. They were skin to skin, body to body. Him, hard muscles; her, soft curves.

It had been four years since he’d felt a connection like this. He’d missed it. He savored the closeness, his mind holding on to the memory of just how great intimacy could be.

“Wow,” Vanessa breathed, and idly curled her fingers through his chest hairs. “What was that?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“You were amazing. I’ve never had…no one…never two at one time…” she murmured.

“Are you trying to tell me that was the first time you ever had multiple orgasms?”

“Uh-huh.”

She was sitting naked in his lap, her bare bottom against his thighs, her hair curling over his arm. Tanner lowered his head and kissed her lightly.

Lips touched. Tongues greeted. Teeth nipped.

He breathed in the taste of her. Earthy red wine. Polished grapes. Inside, his heart expanded, then contracted, beating just for her.

“Mmm,” she purred and reached up to stroke the line of his jaw.

Pulling her lips from his, she ran her hot little mouth over his chin. He tilted back his head as she worked her way down his neck to his Adam’s apple.

She softly bit down. It tickled.

Tanner chuckled.

“I like making you laugh,” she said.

“Half an hour ago you were ready to slice me to pieces,” he said. “And now you like making me laugh?”

“What can I say?” Her eyes glistened and she gave a casual shrug. “I’m mercurial.”

“Seriously, Vanessa. I want you to know you can trust me,” he said as sincerely as he could.

“Ah,” she teased, “but can you trust me?”

“I feel that I can, yes. So how about it?”

“I want to trust you.”

“That’s good.” He kissed her forehead.

“Your arm,” she said. “I forgot. How is it?”

In the heat of their lovemaking, he, too, had forgotten about his wound, forgotten his belongings were strewn over the lawn, but now that she mentioned it, the damned cut was throbbing. “I’ll live.”

Vanessa uncurled herself from his lap and got to her feet. He couldn’t take his eyes off her firm, high breasts. God, she was stunning.

“Come on,” she said and extended her hand to him. “A glass of wine should take the edge right off the pain. Doctor’s orders.”

He really should go pick up his things off the lawn, instead he took her hand and let her pull him up. He liked that she was so tall and could look him straight in the eyes without tilting up her head.

Still gloriously naked, she moved to the counter, took the stopper from a bottle of red wine and poured two half glasses. No two ways about it, the woman intrigued him. Vanessa could be as commanding as a general one minute, as sensual as a cat the next. She was complex and he wanted to know more about her. Like why she was so guarded in life, but so uninhibited when it came to sex.

Vanessa led the way into her living room, decorated sparsely but tastefully in beiges and light browns. Her couch was leather, her coffee table brass and glass. She curled up on the couch, tugging her long legs up underneath her and covering her lap with a fat pecan colored throw pillow.

Tanner sat beside her, his dick half hard again. He opted for a lap pillow himself. A smile lifted the corners of her lips, flashing straight white teeth as she brought the wineglass up for a sip.

The minx.

She knew exactly what she was doing to him. It was all he could do to keep from plunking his glass on the coffee table, closing the distance between them and making love to her all over again.

To hide his desire, he took a long swallow of wine. Sweet, mellow warmth curled down his throat to his stomach and beyond. Another swallow washed away the stinging in his arm.

And then something shocking occurred to him. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten to use a condom. Protection had never entered his lust-soaked mind. He set down his wineglass, pressed his hands against the pillow in his lap. “Vanessa, we forgot…I forgot…”

“Uh-huh?”

“To use protection,” he finished, stunned by his own stupidity. It wasn’t like him. He’d never done anything so spontaneous and irresponsible.

“Don’t worry. I’m on the Pill.”

“But there’s other things.”

“I keep tabs on my health.”

“Me, too,” he said. “I did have a complete physical a year ago. Got the all clear on STDs.”

“A lot can happen in a year.”

“Not with me. I haven’t had…” He swallowed. “Since my wife…that is until you.”

“Let me get this straight,” she said as she slowly ran a finger around the rim of her wineglass in a rhythmic circular motion. “You haven’t been with anyone except your wife until you met me?”

“That’s right.”

“How long has that been?”

“Four years,” he admitted.

“You’ve been celibate four whole years?” She sounded shocked.

“I had a tough time after my wife died.” Tanner was surprised he was talking to her about it. He hardly ever talked about Maria, because it was so difficult. “Some guys go off the deep end, have lots of sex. I just wasn’t interested before now. Before you.”

Would admitting that scare her off? he wondered.

“You’re a widower.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

She didn’t ask how it had happened the way most people did when they found out about Maria. He was glad for that because he didn’t know if he could talk about it with Vanessa, but it felt as if he should say something else.

“She was Latino,” he said. “Like you.”

“Really?” Vanessa arched an eyebrow. “So you have a type. Do I remind you of her? Is that the attraction?”

He shook his head. “Not at all.”

Initially, at Emilio’s, she’d reminded him a little of Maria, but since he’d gotten to know Vanessa he’d discovered she and Maria were nothing alike. His wife had been a bit scattered in her thinking. A ditz, her family had called her lovingly. Sweet, impulsive, trusting Maria was the kind of person who never met a stranger. That had been her fatal flaw—assuming everyone was as guileless as she was. She could have used some of Vanessa’s suspiciousness.

With Vanessa’s face bathed in lamplight, he noticed the planes of her high cheekbones, the faint frown line between her eyebrows. Her face told him what he’d already guessed. Here was a woman who’d never lost herself to love. A woman who was terrified to let herself go. What made him think he could crack the code to her heart?

She slipped a strand of dark brown hair behind an ear and canted her head at him. She gazed at him for a long time without saying anything. In the tension of the moment it was all Tanner could to do to keep from staring at her bare breasts.

“Do you still miss her?”

Tanner nodded, his chest tight. Maria had been the love of his life and he didn’t believe that lightning could strike twice, yet there was something about Vanessa that had him questioning his beliefs. What if a guy could be lucky enough to have two great loves in one lifetime?

Love? Are you out of your freaking mind? It’s bad enough that you’re having sex with the woman you’re supposed to be guarding. Falling in love with her isn’t a possibility.

“Losing your wife must have been rough.”

“Worst thing that ever happened to me,” he confessed. Tanner realized this was the most he’d ever talked about Maria since the funeral. He didn’t know if that was good or bad.

“You must have loved her very much.” She sounded wistful.

“We had something great.” He nodded. “But life has a way of kicking the crap out of your hopes and dreams. Things happen. Circumstances change.” He paused, thinking about the past.

“Yeah,” she whispered, with a faraway look on her face that had him wondering if she’d lost someone she cared about.

“Have you ever been in love?” he found himself asking.

She gave a short laugh. “You mean with something other than medicine? I’m afraid not.”

“Why not? You’re a beautiful, sexy woman. I’m sure you have men falling at your feet.”

“I can’t afford the distraction. It takes full concentration to become a surgeon,” she said.

“Is this your last year as a resident?”

“It is.”

“So you’ve kept your relationships casual.”

Her eyes met his. “Exactly.” Her meaning was clear. Don’t get any ideas that you’re not dispensable.

“Any plans to change that when you’re no longer a resident?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” She yawned. He could tell it was faked. “It’s getting late.”

His cue to exit, but Tanner didn’t want to leave. “I’d like to stay the night,” he said.

All the better to watch over you.

“I don’t think that would be such a hot idea.” She got up and moved to the kitchen.

“No? Why not?” Tanner couldn’t stop watching her curvaceous hips sway as she walked. He stood and followed her.

Vanessa bent to scoop his clothes up off the floor and then shoved them into his arms. “Look, I have an early surgery in the morning. Having you stay the night would be a distraction I can’t afford. I wouldn’t get any sleep.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“I like to sleep alone.”

“Have you ever tried sleeping with someone? Really sleeping?”

“No,” she admitted. “All the more reason not to start now.”

“You’re an independent woman, I’ve gotta give you that.”

She smiled. He could see she took it as a compliment. He wondered exactly how long she’d been this lonely. “If you need anything, anything at all, I’m right next door.”

The reminder of his proximity brought the suspicious look back on her face. “As if I could forget something like that.”

Tanner dressed. “I had a good time.”

“Me, too,” she admitted, donning her own clothes.

He leaned in to kiss her and the conflicted expression in her dark eyes told him she wanted to resist him. He puckered.

She waited.

But at last she gave in. Her lips met his in a tentative kiss.

“What are we doing?” she murmured, her words creating a tickly vibration against his mouth.

“Kissing.”

“Beyond that?”

“Nothing,” he lied as they moved together down the hallway to her front door. “You’re a busy doctor and I’m having my first fling after losing my wife.”

She licked her lips, clearly liking his answer. “So you think we could keep doing this for a while?”

“What? Having sex?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d like that very much.”

“Me, too.”

“Well…” Tanner paused. “How does this work? I’m just getting back into the game.”

“You’ll need to have those stitches removed in ten days,” she said, a knowing grin on her face. “Why don’t you give me a call then?”

Ten days, Tanner thought as Vanessa shut the door behind him. Ten tortuous days until he could make love to her again. How the hell was he going to make it so long without her?

AFTER TANNER LEFT, Vanessa paced the kitchen, uncertain what to do about the feelings jumping around inside her. She wrapped her arms around her chest and tried to calm down. Fantasia, sensing her jumbled mood, paced, too, stalking the kitchen like a miniature leopard on the hunt, all black and sleek.

Vanessa made herself a pot of coffee and downed a cup to shake the cobwebs of great sex and wine from her mind. She took a shower, washing the smell of Tanner off her body, hoping that would make her stop thinking about what he’d done to her. She cleaned up the bathroom, putting away her medical supplies, getting rid of all evidence that he’d been in her condo.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop the montage of images flipping through her head as she relived every delicious moment of their savage lovemaking. They’d needed each other.

Badly.

It was damned scary how hungry they’d been for each other’s bodies. Grappling, groping, hanging on for dear life. What was even scarier was that she’d green-lighted an affair with him. Not so smart when they were working in the same place, living next door to each other.