“For you, it’s not. I’m Donovan. I thought we had straightened that issue out on Friday.”

  She dried her hands. “Had we?”

  “I was certain that we had,” he said, watching her put his cleaning supplies back under the cabinet and appreciating how she bent over to do so. He glanced around and sniffed the air. The placed looked clean and smelled good.

  “Then I guess it’s gone back to being business as usual,” she said smartly, coming to a stop in front of him and tilting her head back to look up at him.

  He wanted to show her just how wrong she was by pulling her into his arms and kissing that agitated look off her face.

  “Excuse me.”

  It was then that he realized she needed to get by and expected him to move out of he way. It would have been the gentlemanly thing to do. But all he could think about was that his bed was less than six feet behind him, and he would love to take her over there, strip her naked and then make love to her.

  “You want me to move?” he asked, knowing she did but liking her standing in front of him, closer than she even realized. Her scent was sensual and set off a flutter of desire in his stomach. And like Friday night, her hair was pulled back in a cute ponytail with ringlets of curls crowning her face.

  On sudden impulse, he reached out, and with a flick of his wrist, while ignoring the look on surprise on her face he sent her hair tumbling around her shoulders.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, indignant.

  Her indignation was something he could handle. What he couldn’t handle—at least not much longer—was desiring her so much he could no longer think straight. His erection was growing heavier by the minute. “I just did something I was tempted to do Friday night. I wanted to see your hair tumble around your shoulders, and then I wanted to do this.” He reached out and ran his fingers through the lustrous strands.

  It was a bold move, and she stared up at him like he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had. While she seemed at a loss for words, totally stunned, he figured he might as well push the envelope and take things to another level.

  On that decision, he lowered his mouth to hers and swept his tongue between her startled, parted lips. She moaned, which triggered his own groan, and his erection grew harder. Like the last time, this kiss was hot. It was also something desperate. Their tongues mingled and then began dueling, and in the process he felt his senses get shredded to pieces. When he felt her trembling, he wrapped his arms around her, needing to hold her as much as he wanted to believe she needed to be held.

  He could tell she was too overtaken by the kiss to notice he was slowly walking backward, pulling her with him. And he continued to kiss her provocatively, without any restraints, not thinking of letting up and with a hunger that astounded him. He claimed her mouth with a free-for-all kiss as all those dreams that had tortured him this past week came surging back with megaforce. When the back of his legs touched his bed, he deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to him, gathered her tighter into his arms. Together they went tumbling backward, actually free-falling into the sheets.

  But he didn’t let up. In fact, knowing he had her where he wanted her actually made him sort of crazy, and it wasn’t helping that she was responding to him with a passion that he felt all through his body.

  He deepened the kiss to drown farther in the sweet recesses of her mouth, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted to touch her all over, taste her until he got enough…which wouldn’t be any time soon. She had become an itch he needed to scratch—but way below the surface. The stark reality of just how much he wanted her loomed in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t deal with that now. For him to desire any woman to this degree was unheard of, totally crazy. Insane. And he simply refused to admit to the possibility that he, the master of seduction, was the one getting seduced.

  And with that possibility flashing through his mind like a bold warning, he suddenly freed her mouth to draw back to look at her, observe her in silence. Her eyes were closed, she was breathing heavily and her lips looked liked they’d been thoroughly kissed. But the main thought in his mind, what he considered as a major accomplishment, was that she was in his bed, flat on her back beneath him.

  He knew at that moment that she was fully aware, just like he was, of what could or would happen next. Here, in this bed with her, a bed he’d never shared with another woman, the thought of which had fueled his lust since meeting her.

  She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. He looked back and what he saw was a beautiful woman whose hair was tumbled around a flushed face, and whose honey-brown eyes had a degree of warmth that symbolized a level of passion he rarely saw in a woman.

  Enthralled, he held her gaze, wanting more than anything to get naked and sink into the deep, luscious depths of her. On his tongue he tasted her, even while imagining another taste of her he wanted to become familiar with. Her intimate taste. The thought of doing so made his sex surge, and he knew she felt it when it did.

  “You’re trying to seduce me,” she whispered as fragments of passion exploded bit by bit, inch by inch in his stomach from the sound of her voice. He was getting turned on even more seeing her lips move.

  There was only one response he could give her, one of complete honesty. “Yes, I am trying to seduce you.” And then helpless to do or say anything else at that moment, he lowered his head to kiss her again.

  Chapter 9

  This, Natalie thought, was a deliberate seduction, as calculated as it could get. And just as shrewd. Vastly intimate. There was no doubt in her mind that he was a master at it, had years of experience and had sharpened his skills just for her.

  His tongue was having a field day with hers, driving her to the brink of madness by bringing forth ideas in her mind that she’d never considered before. A part of her desperately wanted to believe that his kissing her this way was a waste of his time, that she was immune to such seductive tactics. But another part of her, the one that was enjoying the feel of his tongue mating with hers, wasn’t sure just how strong her willpower was.

  Over the years she had encountered a number of men who’d wanted to take her to bed to not only dissect her mind but to break it down in the process. They’d felt threatened by her intellect, and when she refused to let their ruse work, they began feeling intimidated and saw her as a bother. She had handled their rebuff by displaying her competency even more. As far as she was concerned, not wanting to accept her as an equal was their problem and not hers. As a result, she’d been labeled problematic. That, coupled with her desire not to ever encounter a man close to Karl in attitude and temperament, had forced her long ago to take herself out of the game. That was one of the reasons she thought Donovan Steele was as lethal as they came.

  There was nothing typical with him. Everything seemed out of the ordinary. She was way out of her league with him, beyond her limited experience with men.

  Through the heat consuming her with their kiss, she was instantly aware of him lifting her tank top and knew she should resist him. Instead she moaned deep in her throat when she felt a tingling sensation flood her belly beneath the warmth of the hand he placed on her stomach. Moments later, his hand moved, shifting upward and unfastening the front clasp of her bra. And then, without missing a beat, his mouth followed to her breast.

  That’s when she lost touch with reality and lost her grip on any control she had. His tongue stroked her nipples and she became engrossed, totally, irrefutably absorbed in the sensations ripping through her. He was devouring her breasts with the same greed he had bestowed on her lips. Each suck and lick to her nipples elicited a deep pull in the area between her legs. She suddenly felt sensitive there as sensations deluged her. And at that moment she felt the need to whisper his name.

  “Donovan.”

  Donovan was fully aware of the moment Natalie said his name, and the passionate tone had his erection throbbing. He wanted to hear her say it again, but right on the verge of having an orgasm. Her scent was hot and enticing, and was getting to him in the most primitive way.

  He moved his hand to the elastic waistband of her shorts and without giving himself much time to think about what he was doing, he eased his hand inside and quickly moved past the silky panties she was wearing, going straight to her feminine mound.

  The moment he touched her there, his fingers making contact with her wetness, he heard her release a litany of deep moans. The sound, as well as her intimate response to the area he was touching, drove him over the edge. His desire to taste her became overwhelming. Elemental.

  Giving a final thorough lick to her breasts, he quickly went into action by pulling her shorts and panties down her legs. Before she could deny him access, he lowered his head between her thighs, and his mouth went straight to the heated folds of her femininity.

  On instinct her hips thrust upward, and he grabbed her hips to hold her there, needing to devour her with a hunger that focused his senses on this particular part of her body. With practiced licks and precise flicks of his tongue, he tasted the invigorating sweetness of her blazing fire, her steamy passion, and he didn’t plan to let up any time soon—not until he made her come.

  That didn’t take long. When her thighs began trembling, he knew she was about ready to detonate. Every nerve and muscle in his body was poised, prepared and primed for the experience. And when it happened and she screamed out his name, he continued the intimate kiss, claiming this part of her as his. Intense pride filled his chest at the sounds of pleasure she was making. He held nothing back and neither did she. The next time, he silently vowed, he wanted to be staring her in the eyes when it happened. And there would be a next time.

  He continued kissing her while at the same time giving her body time to recover. It was only then that he withdrew his mouth, eased back up her panties and shorts before sliding up her body to look at her. Her eyes had a glazed look, and she seemed momentarily at a loss for words.

  She moved her mouth as if she was going to say something, and he quickly decided that he wasn’t ready for her to say anything. So he leaned closer, bent his head. Her lips parted and he slid in his tongue and kissed her, sharing her own taste with her. Moments later he reluctantly pulled his mouth away.

  She looked up at him. “That should not have happened, Donovan.”

  He figured she would say something like that. “But it did. You and I both wanted it to happen. We enjoyed it. Admit it,” he countered.

  Natalie wasn’t ready to admit anything. Her mind had practically turned to mush, and she couldn’t even think straight. She’d arrived this morning to clean his house, not to be the recipient of mouth sex. And especially not to the point at which it had made her scream. She was the most disciplined person she knew, and she had screamed.

  “Admit it, Natalie.”

  She narrowed her gaze and wished she could ignore what had happened between them. Ignore him and that smile curving his lips. So she glanced around the room and said, “I need to finish up in here and leave.”

  The smile curving his lips widened. “So that’s the way you want to play?”

  She had news for him; she hadn’t wanted to play at all and had been doing just fine remaining on the sidelines. He and his naughty tongue had definitely thrown a monkey wrench into things. The vivid memory of his head between her legs had her blushing.

  “Like I said, today was a mistake,” she reemphasized.

  Donovan quirked a dark brow and recognized her ploy for what it was. She still wasn’t ready to acknowledge what was between them, what he wasn’t about to let slide by. She had said she thought today was a mistake, but she hadn’t said it wouldn’t happen again. Evidently she had missed that fact and he was glad.

  Deciding he had pushed her buttons enough for one day, he eased into a sitting position. He glanced around the room when she got up off the bed. “There’s nothing else you need to do in here,” he said.

  He noted she tried looking everywhere but at him when she said, “There’s plenty I need to do. I haven’t dusted, vacuumed the floor or changed the linen,” she said briskly.

  “Don’t worry about dusting or vacuuming in here today. And I don’t want my linen changed, Natalie. Your scent is absorbed into the sheets, and I want it to stay that way for a while.”

  She tilted her head and met his gaze. The air suddenly became charged again. Intimate. Sexually explosive. She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue before replying, “Suit yourself.”

  He gave her a slight smile. “I did and I’m extremely satisfied.”

  She began backing up toward the door. “Well, if you’re sure you don’t want me to do anything else in here, then I’ll be going.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “And I’ll be contacting you sometime next week to discuss my replacement,” she added firmly.

  “No, you won’t. There will be no replacement, Natalie.”

  Her eyes widened and then glared. “Surely you don’t think that I can continue to be your housekeeper after what happened here today.”

  “I’m afraid that’s exactly what I think. It’s what I know.”

  He knew his words sounded arrogant, more than a little presumptuous and selfishly cocky. He watched her body stiffen and would not have been surprised if she had thrown some object off his dresser at him. Instead, after glaring at him for a second, she moved closer to his bedroom door.

  “If you get restless and edgy later, just come back. I’ll be here. And if not tonight, I’m available any night. If I’m not here just let yourself in.” Donovan heard himself give the invite, and a part of him couldn’t believe he’d actually done so.

  Instead of answering him, she rushed out of the bedroom and hurried down the stairs.

  Just as well, he thought, easing off the bed. Other than his cousins and sisters-in-law, no other woman had ever been given unlimited access to his home. It was evident that he had it bad for Natalie. But he inwardly assured himself he could handle this temporary bout of madness and that the only reason he was being so indulging with her, so abnormally reckless, was because they had only five weeks left to be together. He was confident by the time her aunt was back on her feet and had resumed her position as his housekeeper that he would have worked Natalie out of his system.

  The sound of the front door opening and closing signaled that she was gone.

  “How did things go today, Nat?”

  Natalie glanced over at Aunt Earline as they sat together at the dinner table. The question was one her aunt asked every day, and Natalie thought that if she was truthful and told her just how things went today, Earline Darwin would be mortified. Aunt Earline must never know that although she and Donovan hadn’t gone all the way, she had been in his bed and together they had practically made kissing an art form, and that in the end he had lapped her up pretty good. Right into an orgasm. Even now her inner thighs felt extremely warm, and she had to hold her legs together real tight just thinking about what Donovan had done between them.

  She plastered a smile on her face. “Everything was okay.” There. She’d given a short answer. That was that.

  Apparently not when Aunt Earline further asked. “So this change in days works for Donovan Steele?”

  She couldn’t help recalling how he’d been conveniently home when she had gotten there and the somewhat smug look on his face when she’d left. “Yes, apparently it does. I was in and out of there in no time.” But not before he got me on my back and did some scandalous things to my body.

  “That’s good.”

  Yes, she inwardly admitted, although she didn’t want to do so. It had been good. Too good. The inner workings of her body were now clamoring for a repeat performance. The unshakable Dr. Natalie Ford had been shaken to the core.

  An hour or so later she was pacing around the house like a caged bird that needed its freedom. She and Farrah had planned to go out again tonight, somewhere other than the Racetrack Café, but Farrah had canceled their plans because she had to work late.

  It was early but Aunt Earline had already retired for the night. She planned to watch her all-time favorite movie, Dirty Dancing, for the umpteenth time before going to sleep. Her aunt had encouraged her to go out and have some fun tonight, with or without Farrah.

  As she paced, she couldn’t get Donovan’s invitation out of her mind. “If you get restless and edgy later, just come back. I’ll be here.”

  The man definitely had some arrogant nerves in his body. What woman would even think about taking him up on his offer? Natalie dropped her face in the palms of her hands and ashamedly admitted that she was.

  She slumped down on the sofa. Should she really be ashamed? What was wrong if she did consider having a fling with him? At least she knew where he stood. She definitely wasn’t looking for love and neither was he. In fact if she was thinking about a fling then he would be the perfect candidate. He was probably an expert at flings.

  In addition to that, she didn’t have to worry about him getting all crazy on her if he somehow found out she was a chemistry professor at an Ivy League university instead of a bona fide cleaning woman, not if the relationship was sexual and nothing more. And when it was over—for however long it lasted, which would be no more than five more weeks at best—she would return to Princeton, New Jersey, feeling renewed and energized. Farrah had been right Friday night. A meaningless fling with Donovan would give her a new attitude.

  She was twenty-six, a professional, a woman who deserved to indulge in a fling or two. She had realized a long time ago that it would be close to difficult to find a man willing to come into her world, and most of the male counterparts she’d found were too stuffy and boring. None had ever come close to attracting her attention the way Donovan had. Besides, he could be the one to prove whether or not Karl’s verdict on her skill as a bed partner was true. A part of her always wondered. Donovan had proved Karl wrong with the kissing, and she couldn’t help wonder if he would prove the other part false, as well.