Secret Seduction (5 page)

Her breathing quickened and her heart thumped.

Flashes of pleasure bombarding her, Vanessa let out a muted purr of confirmation, telling him he was on the right path as he blazed a trail down her torso with his wicked tongue. She felt his hand at the waistband of her panties, his fingertips taunting her by slipping underneath the silky elastic.

“I’m going to love you with my mouth,” he promised, not asking her permission, simply telling her what he was going to do.

His comment shot her arousal to a fevered pitch. His heated breath against her bare belly was driving her insane. His fingertips shifted through her moist curls, headed for the area she most wanted him to touch.

In response, she arched her back.

Come on, come on.

If she didn’t feel the warmth of his hot, wet tongue against her soon, she was going to lose her mind.

Tanner slipped her panties over her hips, slid them down her thighs, past her knees. She kicked them off.

“You smell so sweet.” He inhaled and then placed a smattering of kisses down the area below her navel.

She felt every quiver of her body, every ragged breath.

With excruciating slowness, Tanner moved his hand to cover the triangle of hair between her legs.

Vanessa moaned her pleasure as his hand cupped her gently.

She allowed her legs to drop open, giving him full access to her body. He lay on his belly between her knees and lightly brushed his lips over her feminine folds.

He hissed in air. “You are so wet.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of wonder in his voice. Desire for him seared her nerve endings as she surrendered to him completely.

It wasn’t easy for her. Vanessa wasn’t used to exposing herself like this, neither out of bed nor in it. Ever since she’d escaped Carlo Vega, she’d been in control of her own life. But now passion was forcing her to relinquish the reins to Tanner’s tender tongue. She wasn’t sure she liked it.

The air was thick, weighted with tension. The sheets smelled slightly scorched, as if they’d spent too many minutes in a commercial drier. Her breath crawled sluggishly through her lungs, filling her with lazy heat. Her limbs were made of marble, heavy and smooth.

Then everything vanished from her mind except the erotic moisture of his lips against her throbbing sex. And when his mouth formed a gentle suction over her clit, she came completely unraveled.

Gently he inserted one thick finger inside her tender folds. She lost all sense of herself, all sense of time. The world tumbled, creating an easy glide into ecstasy.

The pressure mounting inside her womb was sublime torment. At that point, nothing else mattered to her except Tanner making love to her with his mouth and his fingers.

He teased her clit, nipping lightly with his teeth.

All the air left her body and she felt reborn. Her pulse pounded like drums in her ears, rushing blood through her veins, pushing her toward an inevitable conclusion.

Tanner was desperately fighting off completion, but it was almost impossible. She knew the soft sounds of her sexy cries, and the way she threaded her fingers through his hair were getting to him.

She wanted him to be inside her. He had to get inside her now. “Please,” she whispered. “Please take me.”

“Not yet.”

Cruel, sweet torment. He kept at her. Licking and teasing until she was shaking from head to toe and oh, so wet.

He paused long enough to retrieve a condom from his wallet and slip it on and with the intermission she felt oddly bereft. He spent a few moments working her up again and then finally, finally he slowly entered her.

Vanessa whimpered gratefully.

Her body enveloped him. She provided him with her heavenly, moist cocoon. She met each of his thrusts with corresponding movement of her hips, arching her back up to meet him. Urging him to quicken his pace.

Instinct took over. She could no longer think, could only feel. Her focus was attuned to one thing and one thing only—the merging of their bodies. His energy swirled up through her until her whole universe spun dizzily. His stark reaction was such a powerful thing to behold. Vanessa felt both awed and blown away by his responsiveness.

His hands trembled as he held her. He thrust into her again and again. Her entire being seemed to pull him deeper and deeper into her until she simply could not differentiate where his body stopped and hers began.

He cried out one last time and shoved himself as deep as he would go into her warmth. The walls of her sucked at him, gripping, kneading, pulling him into the very core of her.

Then Tanner’s body shuddered as he poured into her.

They clung to each other, helpless, as wave after wave of the orgasm rippled through them. Binding them together in one blazing, crazy light before expelling them into the infinite beyond.

Gasping, Tanner rolled over, sinking onto his back and taking her with him.

He held her close as her chest heaved. He held her and they listened to the rain and Vanessa thought, What in the hell have I done?

She pulled her dress down over her head and poked her arms through the sleeves, then realized she’d forgotten her bra.

Where was her bra?

Frantically her gaze fell on the bed where the blond Viking she’d picked up at Emilio’s lay on his belly, a pillow thrown over his head. What had seemed like a splendid idea in the heat of last night’s passion was looking more and more like a very big mistake by the cold gray light of morning. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed herself. They’d spent hours exploring each other’s bodies, giving and receiving pleasure after pleasure.

Her cheeks warmed just thinking about it.

It had been great actually. Maybe even the best sex she’d ever had. And he’d stirred something deep inside her. Something she couldn’t identify because it wasn’t like anything she’d ever felt before.

That was most unnerving of all.

Please let me get out of here without him waking up, she pleaded to the heavens. Dropping to the floor, she raised the bed skirt and searched underneath.

No bra.

It was probably in the bed with him.

She did find her panties on the floor and wriggled into them as quietly as she could. A quick trip to the other side of the room retrieved her high heels. She wondered how she had come to be the kind of woman who picked up men in bars for one-night stands. Wondered how she was supposed to handle this casual new way of being. She didn’t know if it was freedom or rock bottom.

Forget the bra. Get out of here. And go jiggling out of the hotel, dressed in last night’s now very rumpled dress? It would be a true walk of shame.

Embarrassing as that might be, she simply had to get away from the smell of their lovemaking and that weird sensation knotting her stomach.

She plunked down in the chair parked at the desk long enough to slip on her stilettos. Bra be damned, she was almost out of here. Once her shoes were on, she stood up, only to be confronted by the sight of the gorgeous Viking sitting up in bed stark naked.

His hair was sexily tousled and his eyes were half-closed, but he was awake and eyeing her as if she was his favorite dish of ice cream. She could almost feel his gaze reach across the room and stroke her.

Gulp.

“Running out on me?”

Inwardly she groaned and dipped her head, unable to look at him. She reached for her purse that had somehow ended up slung across the back of the desk chair. “Hmm, no, not at all,” she lied. “I’ve got a really busy day planned.”

A grin curled the corner of his mouth upward. “Uh-huh, sure you do.”

“I do. I have to get the oil changed in my car, swing by the ATM and take some movies back to Blockbuster.” That was the truth.

“Yeah, your day sounds jam-packed.”

“It is.” She could hear the defensiveness in her own voice. “Well, see ya.” She headed for the door.

“Wait.”

She stifled a sigh and turned around. “Yes?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Huh?”

He held up her bra, the thin strap of black material dangling from the tip of his big finger.

Vanessa went for it.

He pulled his hand back, holding the bra out of her reach.

She lunged and lost her balance on the stilettos and ended up tumbling headlong onto the bed.

Vanessa glanced up.

Tanner was looking down.

What she saw in his eyes stunned her. It was a mixture of longing, regret and sadness so deep she could feel it straight to her soul.

But in an instant, the look disappeared, replaced by stark sexual hunger and she almost believed she’d imagined it.

Almost.

The physician part of her brain told her that this man had been using her to salve some secret pain of his own, just as she’d been using him to forget about Carlo Vega. No need reading something more into this than there was.

But the urge to grab him and go at it again was so overwhelming she knew she had to get out of here. Stat.

Anxious to escape, Vanessa scrambled to her feet. But she wasn’t quick enough.

Tanner reached out a hand, encircling her wrist with his strong fingers. “I’d like to see you again.”

She shook her head. “I’m afraid that’s impossible.”

“Impossible?” His touch burned her skin, sent heat flaring up her arm.

Vanessa sucked in her breath. She might be a lot of things but she was no coward. She’d been cornered. She’d tell him the truth.

“Look, Tanner…” she began and tried to tug away from him, but he wasn’t letting go. The man was like a snapping turtle and she found herself wishing for thunder.

“I’m listening.”

“Last night was great. A lot of fun. We met each other’s needs, and I thank you for being there. It’s just that—”

“I’m not good enough to be seen with you in the light of day.”

“No, no.” She shook her head. “That’s not how it is.”

“How is it?”

He had a way of looking at her that made her feel both guilty and empowered. It was an odd sensation.

She cleared her throat. “Look, I don’t normally do things like this. Picking up strangers in a bar.”

“And you think I do?” He wasn’t letting go.

“You don’t?”

He shook his head. “First time.”

His gaze never left her face. He looked so earnest, she believed him. “Okay, here’s the deal. I don’t have room in my life for a relationship.”

“You could make room.”

“Not much.”

“We could take off one afternoon and go kayaking. Or you could call me on those nights when you’re watching movies all alone. I could bring the popcorn.”

It was so tempting. Too damned tempting. Panic fluttered, turning in her chest. “I don’t like popcorn.”

“Sure you do. Everyone likes popcorn. We can even rent Dark Victory.”

“Look, I’d just rather not, okay?”

Abruptly, he let go of her wrist. Vanessa, who’d been pulling against his grip, stumbled backward at the sudden release. She breathed a sigh of relief, even though her skin still tingled from his touch. “Thank you for letting go.”

“Have a nice life,” he said.

“You’re mad.”

“No,” he said. “I’m disappointed.”

“Disappointed?”

“I thought—” He paused. “Never mind what I thought.”

He’d thought they had a special connection? It would have been laughable except for the small knot in her stomach that whispered, I thought we had a special connection, too.

Vanessa had to get out of here before she crawled right back up into bed beside him.

“Take care of yourself, Tanner,” she said, grabbed up her purse and ran out the door.

And you claim not to be a coward.

“SO WHERE WERE YOU last night?”

It was an innocent enough question. Vanessa was supposed to have called Elle last night to make plans for Julie’s birthday, but she’d forgotten. To Vanessa’s ears, Elle’s question sounded like an accusation. She shrugged, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to admit where she’d been. “I got caught up in something.”

“A man’s arms perhaps?” Julie Demarco asked with a teasing gleam in her lively blue eyes.

“You’re such a die-hard romantic,” Vanessa said, effectively dodging her comment.

All three friends worked at Confidential Rejuvenations. The cloistered hospital had been built fifteen years earlier on the banks of the Colorado River. It was owned by a group of private physicians with high social standing and powerful connections in Hollywood, the Austin music industry and Texas politics. It was the place where anyone who was anyone came to receive the very best in specialized medicine and cutting-edge health care.

While their jobs held a degree of glamorous cachet, they were also stressful. To deal with the demands of their professions and the secrets the job forced them to keep, Vanessa, Julie and Elle had formed an after-hours club where they could get together and vent. Sharing their hopes, dreams and fantasies with one another. Today, they were meeting for lunch at a cozy tearoom that also served as an antique store in a genteel area of Austin. Vanessa appreciated her two best friends, but sometimes—like now—she wished that they weren’t so perceptive.

“How are things in the E.R.?” Vanessa asked, hoping to throw Elle off the scent. “Has it calmed down any after what happened with Mark?”

A few months earlier, Elle’s ex-husband Mark Lawson, who had also been one of the co-owners of Confidential Rejuvenations, had been murdered by the gangster he’d been doing business with, selling designer party drugs on the black market. Elle and Dante, an undercover FBI agent who’d been investigating Mark, had barely escaped with their lives.

Elle scowled at the memory. “Things were improving. We’d stopped seeing kids come into the E.R. with overdoses, and we thought all the petty vandalism was over, but last night someone sliced all the tires on the cars in the employee parking lot.”

“Oh, gosh,” Julie said. “The hospital saboteur strikes again?”

Elle blew out her breath. “Apparently.”

Besides the issues with Mark, over the past few months several odd incidents had occurred at the hospital. From anonymous leaks to the press about celebrity patients to an arson fire in the laundry room to items stolen from the kitchen and central supply. Taken one by one, the occurrences were nothing more than criminal mischief, but put together they seemed suspicious, especially with all the security cameras in the hospital. It seemed odd that the perpetrator hadn’t been caught on the monitor.

“Dante told me the hospital board hired a new head of security,” Elle said. “Let’s hope this puts an end to this mess. Confidential Rejuvenations had taken a big financial hit from the fallout over what Mark did. The last thing the hospital needs is more scandal.”

Vanessa nodded. She knew all too well how scandal could ruin lives.

“Anyway,” Julie said. “Back to Nessa’s boyfriend.”

“There is no boyfriend,” Vanessa corrected.

Elle eyed Vanessa speculatively, running a hand over the beige linen table cloth. “I don’t know, you look different somehow.”

“Must be the lighting in here,” Vanessa said, embarrassed to think she had that freshly and well-laid look about her. She picked up her menu. “I’m having the curried chicken salad. How about you guys?”

Elle leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes. “No, it’s not the lighting. Your skin is glowing and you keep glancing off into the distance and smiling as if you have a sweet secret. And when you walked in, your step seemed peppier than usual. You’ve had great sex.”

A waitress brought over a communal bowl of bread-and-butter pickles, the house specialty, and took their orders, but the momentary distraction offered Vanessa no reprieve.

As soon as the waitress left, Julie rubbed her palms together. “Oooh, something juicy’s up with Nessa.”

“Nothing’s up,” Vanessa denied, but her voice was higher than usual, totally giving her away.

Elle’s eyes widened and she chuckled. “Omigosh, you were with a guy last night.”

Apparently it wasn’t going to do her any good to deny it. Vanessa took a deep breath. “Yes, okay, I met a guy last night. But it’s not a big deal. Don’t make anything out of it.”

Julie rested her elbows on the table and propped her chin in her upturned palms. “I want every detail. Since I’m sans boyfriend, I have to live vicariously through you and Elle.”

“There’s nothing much to tell. I think I’ll have the fruit cup as well as the chicken salad.”

Julie and Elle exchanged glances and for one brief moment Vanessa thought they were just going to let the topic drop, but no such luck.

“What’s his name?” Elle asked.

“What’s he do for a living?” Julie quizzed.

“You guys,” Vanessa sighed in exasperation. “It’s nothing. Seriously.”

“Are you going to see him again?”

Pretending she hadn’t heard the question, Vanessa reached for a bread-and-butter pickle and munched on it.

“Come on, Nessa, throw me a crumb,” Julie begged. “I need details. My love life is in the toilet.”

Vanessa chewed the pickle, determined not to make a huge hairy deal of a one-night stand. She didn’t regret it, but neither was she particularly proud of it. She wouldn’t be seeing Tanner again. It had been a glorious, blissful, one-time-only thing. Besides, she didn’t even know the guy’s last name, so that settled it right there.

“How cute is he?” Elle asked, her eyes twinkling.

Vanessa sighed. “You’re not going to let this go are you?”

Julie grinned. “Nope.”

“We met, we danced, we had dinner, we got a hotel room. End of story,” Vanessa said in a rush. She shifted in her seat, looked out past the restaurant to the antique section of the store. “Is that armoire new? I don’t remember seeing it the last time we were here.”

But Julie wasn’t having any of it. “You had a one-night stand?” Her voice was filled with a mixture of shock and admiration. “I’d never have the courage for something like that. Weren’t you scared?”