Unfortunately, the only man she was remotely interested in was Nathan, who returned from the gym nearly two hours later. Despite being completely drenched in sweat, he looked incredibly hot and sexy in a fitted T-shirt and cotton shorts, his body all buffed from lifting weights. He disappeared into his room, closed the door, and she heard the shower turn on a few minutes later, which prompted all kinds of wicked, naughty fantasies of him completely naked and water sluicing down all those taut, sleek muscles of his.
The sharp pang of arousal arrowed through her, revving up her libido and making her ache for the kind of pleasure and satisfaction she knew Nathan was capable of giving her. Shifting restlessly on the couch, she attempted to force her mind back to her online dating quest, but she just couldn’t drum up the enthusiasm to reply to any of the messages she’d received.
Her mind was on Nathan. The hungry way he’d kissed her last night, and how he’d valiantly tried to avoid their attraction all day long. Including now, considering he’d remained secluded in his bedroom for the past hour and didn’t show any signs of joining her for the evening.
She wanted him, and she was done waiting for Nathan to make the first move. Being the kind of woman who went after what she desired with a no-holds-barred kind of attitude, she decided to take the same approach with Nathan and make him an offer he’d be hard-pressed to refuse.
Powering off her laptop, she crossed the living room to his closed bedroom door, debating only a few seconds whether to knock or just walk in without warning. Opting for the element of surprise, she opened the door, sauntered into his male domain, and found him propped up in his king-sized bed reading a best-selling hardback novel. The only thing he wore was a pair of navy boxer shorts, leaving his chest and abs gloriously bare. His hair was still damp from his recent shower and tousled around his head, making her fingers itch to run through those silky strands.
Startled by her abrupt entrance, he frowned at her and set his book on the night table before concern gradually etched his features. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine.” There was no sense beating around the bush about why she was there in his bedroom, and she wasn’t taking no for an answer. “I think you and I should have sex.”
Much to her amazement, the corner of his mouth hitched up in a charming smile. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying,” he drawled wryly.
She laughed. Yeah, okay, that was blunt, and she was about to get much bolder. “The way I see things, we’re attracted to each other and we already know how good we are together,” she said, slowly strolling toward the foot of his bed, watching his eyes darken with need as she moved closer. “I like sex. A lot. Especially with you. We’re two grown adults who are capable of enjoying a fling, so why not take advantage of our time together, for as long as it lasts?” It was the perfect arrangement to her way of thinking.
“Because sex with you is too much of a distraction.” A muscle in his jaw twitched, and she knew his restraint was crumbling despite his argument.
“You’ve got it all wrong. It’s more distracting if we don’t have sex.” She climbed up onto the mattress and started a slow, provocative crawl up the length of his hot, hard body, her gaze locked on his. “You’re fighting your attraction to me, and it shows in how tense you are when I’m near you. The last thing we want to do is go to the nightclub tomorrow night with you so uptight from all this sexual tension.”
Before he could reply, she lowered her head and placed a warm, damp kiss just below his navel and right above where his fierce erection tented the front of his thin shorts. He sucked in a sharp breath as her lips branded his skin, then groaned deep in his throat when she gently bit down on the firm flesh of his abdomen.
She soothed the sting with a slow, leisurely lap of her tongue, and the ragged hiss that escaped him brought a gratified smile to her lips. It also tightened the knot of need coiling low in her belly, urging her to continue her upward advance, until her knees were straddling his waist and she was sitting on his lap-a familiar position with him. The thick length of his shaft pressed against her bottom, and she splayed her hands on his flat, muscular stomach and gyrated her hips, tempting him with the erotic promise of sliding deep inside her body.
He shuddered, but he’d yet to touch her. She’d already found irrefutable proof that he wanted her, and his ability to hold back only served to present her with the kind of challenge she couldn’t resist. In fact, she looked forward to making him unravel and lose control.
There were too many clothes separating them, and she upped the stakes by removing her tank top and tossing it aside, leaving her completely naked from the waist up. The lust heating his gaze urged her on, and made her feel reckless and wild.
“Just in case you can’t tell, I’m really hot and bothered.” She rocked against the erection nestled so perfectly in the crux of her thighs and cupped her breasts in her hands, using her fingers to pluck at the stiff peaks. “So right now, there are two options for me. Taking care of things myself, which isn’t nearly as fun as the real thing, or having sex with you, which is definitely my preference.”
Smiling with seductive intent, she trailed one hand down her belly and into the waistband of her shorts, and a soft gasp fell from her lips as her fingers glided along her wet folds and found her aching clit. Shamelessly, she stroked herself, letting the pleasure build and tormenting Nathan in the process. With a low, breathy moan, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back as she arched against him, adding pressure and friction exactly where she needed it the most.
She heard him mutter a gruff curse, and knew he was close to breaking-thank God. Lashes half-mast, she looked down at him, taking in the clench of his jaw and the heavy rise and fall of his chest, and knew she almost had him.
“So, what’s it going to be, Nathan?” she asked huskily. “You’d better hurry up and decide before I take matters into my own hands and you miss out on all the fun.”
Quicker than she could anticipate, his hand shot out and he wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck, then pulled her mouth down to his. Lips touched and parted, the kiss instantly turning primal and possessive. Deep, demanding, and greedy. She reveled in the hot, arousing taste of him, the way her bare breasts crushed against his chest and how his large, warm hands skimmed down the slope of her back, then grasped her thighs and pulled her closer for a tighter fit against his groin.
Tangling his fingers in her hair, he tugged her head back, breaking their kiss so he could bury his face in the curve of her neck. “God, you’re such a tease,” he muttered, his breath hot and moist against her skin.
“Yeah, I know.” She exhaled a quivering sigh when he grazed his teeth along a patch of sensitive skin, followed by a long, maddening lick of his tongue all the way up to the shell of her ear.
“Is it really such a bad thing?” she asked. From her perspective, teasing him had gotten her exactly what she wanted. Well, almost, anyway. All she needed now was his cock stroking deep inside her body and giving her the orgasm she craved.
“You make me crazy,” he growled into her ear, sounding frustrated by the fact. “You make me so fucking hard I can’t think straight.”
His graphic words made her shiver, and she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “See, we need to do this, because I don’t want to be responsible for you not being able to think straight while we’re on this case.”
He laughed, a ragged sound filled with amusement, and she knew then she had him hooked.
“You win,” he said, and dipped his head again, this time trailing soft, damp kisses along her collarbone and down to her chest, where he nuzzled his face between her breasts.