Intent to Seduce. Cara Summers
“I feel that way in the lab too—and it’s so exciting. That’s why I need a man right now. I have to have someone to practice on. And Sophie suggested you.”
Lucas’s mouth went dry as dust. “You…” He cleared his throat. “You can’t be serious.”
“But I am. I tried to explain to Sophie. This is the exact procedure I follow in the lab. Theories always have to be tested. But you shouldn’t feel pressured. I can certainly find someone else to test my research on. I have a friend in Paris who has several volunteers lined up. But Sophie insisted that I ask you first.”
Lucas stared at her. It had to be the beer. He removed his bottle from her hand. “Let me make sure I have this straight. You’re asking me to become your lover so that you can field-test your research on me?”
“Exactly. And it won’t go any further than that. I promise that I’m not out to trap you into marriage. Sophie said you would be worried about that. This is strictly a no-strings arrangement. I’ve been on the Pill for three months, and I’ve always practiced safe sex, not that I’ve had to worry about it lately. What about you?”
Lucas stared at her, incredulous.
“Is there anything in your sexual history I should be concerned about,” she asked.
“No, I’m a very careful man.”
Mac nodded. “Of course, you could still use a condom as an extra precaution…”
“Of course. And if I agree to the arrangement…?”
“There are some particular male sexual fantasies that I want to try out. If you’re willing.” She took his bottle back and emptied it.
As her proposition swam around in his mind, Lucas watched a thin trickle of beer run down her throat. He imagined the bitter taste it would have, along with the sweeter, warmer flavor of her skin. But if he gave in to the temptation of leaning forward and following the path of the beer with his tongue, he wouldn’t stop there. He would have to kiss her. And if he did, he wouldn’t stop there either.
He felt as if he was fighting against a riptide that was carrying him farther and farther from shore, from his sanity. Even as the battle went on in his mind, he was leaning forward. Then the shingles moved beneath him.
“You’re slipping.” Mac grabbed his arm, and then she was sliding too.
In the instant it took him to realize that they were both going over the edge, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. If he’d been alone, he would have simply tucked his arms in and rolled. As it was, the moment his feet hit the ground, he twisted and fell backward to take the brunt of the impact. It took his breath away.
As soon as he could, he loosened his grip on her. “Are you all right?”
She raised her head and looked down at him. “Fine. What about you?”
For a moment he didn’t respond. All he could focus on was the way sunlight brought out the fiery glints in her hair and the way the amber flecks had brightened in her eyes. The way her body had softened until it fit perfectly against his.
He couldn’t recall ever wanting a woman this much. “About your plan…”
“Oh,” she said, her eyes suddenly narrowing. “Do you want to…? That would be great. If you’d like to get started…” She pushed against him. “I’ll get the questionnaire.”
“Questionnaire?”
“So I can tell which fantasies are your favorites.”
He was thinking of carrying her down the beach to the small inlet where the palms touched overhead. There, he could make love to her until she couldn’t think of anything, of anyone but him.
And the doc was thinking of paperwork!
“It won’t take long. Once I know exactly what you like to fantasize about, I can run them through this program I created on my laptop.”
“Wait a minute.” When she tried to rise, he grabbed her wrist and sat up with her. The frantic skipping of her pulse against his thumb told him she wasn’t anywhere near as cool as her voice had sounded.
Oh, she was excited all right. But was it about making love with him, or was it because she was thinking of her questionnaires and programs? “I stopped indulging in fantasies when I was twelve. I much prefer reality.”
“Oh…are you saying you don’t want to? I told Sophie that you don’t think of me that way.”
“I think of you that way.” He couldn’t stop himself from thinking of her that way.
“Then…” She moistened her lips. “You’ll do it?”
The strength of his desire to agree had him releasing her wrist carefully. He had to think, to weigh the possible outcomes. And he couldn’t think at all when she was sitting on his lap, her mouth only a breath away. “I never make snap decisions in business. I’m sure you never do in the lab.”
“No, of course not.”
“Then I suggest we take twenty-four hours to think it over before either of us jumps into anything. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
He saw something flicker in her eyes, but he wasn’t sure whether it was relief or disappointment. Then to his complete astonishment, she settled her head on his shoulder and yawned.
“I feel so much better now that I’ve told you why I came here.”
Better wasn’t exactly the way he would choose to describe the mix of emotions moving through him. Desire, he could handle. But there was something unsettling about the warmth that was also spreading through him, solid and sure. And it shouldn’t feel so damn right to have her sitting on his lap. He should be setting her away from him, but he hadn’t been able to prevent his arms from moving around her.
And then he didn’t move at all. For a few moments he allowed himself to simply sit and hold her. The silence was broken only by the sound of waves rushing onto the shore and the cry of a gull overhead.
Who in the hell was Dr. MacKenzie Lloyd? Was she the cool, unflappable scientist? Or was she the sensual woman who’d just offered to practice her sex research on him? And which one was having this effect on him?
Glancing down, he saw that her eyes were shut, her breathing even. She was asleep. Lucas frowned. Was she so indifferent to him that, one minute, she could tell him that she wanted to create sexual fantasies for him and then, the next, calmly doze off?
There was a part of him that wanted to wake her with a kiss. To catapult her from slumber to wakefulness by arousing in her at least some of the feelings that were tormenting him. He wondered if this was what that prince had felt when he’d fought his way into the castle and come upon Sleeping Beauty.
He’d always privately thought the poor guy had gotten more trouble than he’d bargained for when he’d kissed that beauty awake.
And Lucas Wainright hadn’t gotten to where he was without looking before he leaped.
Twenty-four hours. He repeated the number to himself several times as he rose to his feet and carried Mac into the cabin. By the time he settled her on the bed and retreated from the cabin down to the beach, he wasn’t sure whether it was a caution or a promise.
5
WHEN SHE WOKE the next morning, the first thing Mac was aware of was the heat. Her entire body seemed to be on fire. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she felt a trickle of sweat run down her neck.
One quick glance around the room reminded her of where she was. Lucas’s cabin. Then her eyes widened as the memory of just what she’d been dreaming about flooded into her mind. She’d been making love to Lucas, or more precisely, he’d been making love to her—touching her with those