Codename: Romeo (15 page)

A light tap on the door broke into her thoughts. “It’s open.”

Erik stepped inside. Shadows obscured his features. His hair hung freely on his broad shoulders that filled most of the doorway. Her body reacted to his presence with a delightfully warming sensation.

“I want to clarify something.”

She took one of the pillows and folded it in her arms. “I don’t think we need to drag it out.”

“Excuse me?”

With an indifferent shrug, she tried to look as if his rejection didn’t bother her. “I got the point. This is a job to you.”

“That’s not it.”

“I’m sure you’ve known more beautiful and much more interesting women than me.”

He leaned against the wall and grinned. “Not to my recollection.”

“I’m too old for you, then.”

“Less than a year older, but I don’t get myself worked up over numbers, anyway.”

“You’re probably afraid for your life. Heaven knows, I’m accident prone around you.”

He chuckled. “All right. I’ll concede that one to you.”

In a fit of pique, she threw the pillow at him. Just her luck, when she tried to hit a target she missed by a mile. “What do you want?”

“Exactly how many ways do you know to make parts of my body defy gravity?”

“What?”

“You said a variety of ways. I’m not a genius like you, Tori. I need specifics.” He walked towards the bed. “Maybe even a little hands-on instruction.”

Confused by his sudden turn around, she wondered if she misunderstood his meaning. “I thought you said this wasn’t a good idea.”

“In my career, I’ve discovered that if I stand around waiting for a good idea to come to me, I could wind up dead.”

Victoria shook her head. “I won’t kill you if you don’t make love to me. I don’t believe in violence.”

Erik laughed. “For a pacifist, you sure know how to broadside a man.”

She stared at him for a long moment. Her pulse quickened, and nerve endings tingled with excitement. What now? She didn’t know how to initiate a seduction.

He returned her gaze but made no move. “Science was never my best subject, Tori. You’ll have to walk me through this experiment.”

Now, an experiment … that she knew. She enjoyed indulging in research. No doubt indulging in Erik would be even more stimulating.

She took a deep breath and rose from the bed. The act itself was a perfectly natural biological function. If she could continue to treat this like an experiment, she might just make it through without losing her nerve. She wasn’t afraid of Erik but she was frightened by the way he touched her, both physically and emotionally. Those feelings couldn’t be rationalized. She was better off just enjoying her little soiree into the unknown.

“The first step is to remove this.” She pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it onto a chair.

“And the next step?”

“From here, we wing it.”

“Wing it?”

“When dealing with cause and effect research, it’s better not to have a specific agenda.” She tilted her head up and sprinkled a line of kisses along his face and throat. “Better to just push forward and analyze the results later,” she whispered against his ear.

One spot on his neck seemed particularly sensitive, drawing a deep groan from him as she sucked on the soft skin. He tasted good. More satisfying than anything she’d served for dinner.

Her finger traced a path down the center of his torso, twisting at the soft mat of hair on his chest. What was it about this man that felt so good? Every touch, every stroke of her hand along his hard muscles, gave her a host of pleasurable sensations. No logical explanation, no mathematical equation, explained the way he made her feel. He didn’t even have to do anything.

Erik’s body tensed. Well, whatever was happening, at least it wasn’t happening to her alone. She smiled up at him. “Have you figured out the goal of this experiment yet, Erik?”

He inhaled sharply. “Yeah. It’s to see the threshold of torture your subject can take before losing control.”

His mouth lifted in a lazy grin then brushed over her lips. Before he could take possession, she lowered her head and traced her tongue along the same path her hand had taken. As he reached for her, she sat on the bed and pinned his arms to his sides. She continued to press kisses against his stomach.

A gentle tug on the waistband of his jeans brought him down next to her. With her tongue, she laved the hard crown of his nipple.

He slipped his hand inside her dress and cupped her breast, rolling the pebbled tip between his thumb and forefinger.

She gazed at him and grinned. “The second law of motion. Every action causes a reaction.”

“I think I’m being manipulated.” His voice was deep and choked with desire.

“Well, I’ll admit, I’m slanting my research for a certain response. But then, it takes a strong stimulus to overcome the forces of gravity.”

A force he’d already learned to overcome in her. She was floating way above the clouds. Intense waves of pleasure cascaded over her, so blissfully erotic that she never wanted the feeling to end. Had she really believed this would be enough?

She continued her seductive exploration of his body, closing her mind to anything but the moment. Any consequences she would deal with later. Right now, she needed him. She wanted him. And in truth, she loved him too.

With trembling hands she reached for the snap of his jeans and tugged them open. She slipped her hand inside, her fingers tangling in the hair below his navel.

Erik gasped for a breath. “I’d say you’ve overcome the gravitational force.”

She enjoyed her small reign of power. “You know, you’re allowed to participate too.”

This time, when he reached for her, she offered no resistance. He ran his hand over the outside of her dress. She quivered in anticipation.

“First step, we get rid of this, right?” he asked. He removed her dress and tossed it on top of his shirt.

He explored every nuance of her neck and shoulders, covering her skin in moist kisses. Her body swayed, and she held onto him for support.

“And now I get to wing it.” He didn’t wait for her answer. His mouth covered her breast, sucking and releasing the hard peaks until she thought she would go mad. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more. Impatiently, she pulled at her remaining undergarments with frustration.

Erik covered her hands with one of his own. “We don’t want to rush this. It could influence the results.”

He urged her onto the soft mattress. As if enjoying his revenge, he took his time removing her stockings and panties, thwarting any attempt on her part to hurry the process. His own jeans followed, landing in a careless heap on the floor.

Her heart skipped a couple of beats. He was magnificent, a finely toned combination of muscle and flesh. She reached for him.

Erik knelt down next to her and parted her legs with his hand. Her body writhed as he ran his fingers along the inside of her thigh. He knew just where to touch her to get a response. She’d never learned this benefit of the nervous system in anatomy class.

He stroked her cheek with his other hand and pushed back the hair from her face. “Do you like that?”

Heat coursed though her. She opened her mouth to answer but only managed a muttered cry. He moved his hand higher, intimately caressing the folds of skin, damp with desire. Her body shuddered from the pure pleasure he gave her.

* * * *

“Erik?”

Her husky voice added to his anticipation. He wanted her now.

“Just give me a second.” He grabbed his jeans and removed his wallet. She shot him a curious glance until he extracted the foil packet. “After all, I am supposed to protect you.”

“Need help?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

“No.” Her kind of help would end this experiment too soon.

In seconds he returned, lowering himself over her. As he pressed inside, she tensed almost imperceptibly. So attuned to her, he noticed immediately and paused to give her time to accommodate him.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” she said on a slow exhale.

Damn, she was easy to please. She might be hell on his conscience, but she was heaven on his ego.

She wrapped her arms and legs tightly through his. Their bodies moved together in an escalating rhythm. It was impossible to tell where he ended and she began. She matched his every move. They joined as one, fueled by a passion that consumed them. Her body gave into the release. She dug her nails into his shoulders as spasms rocked her. Her muscles clenched around him, and the last of his control shattered. He thrust deeply inside her one last time and gave into his own long-awaited climax.

When the final shimmering tremors of release ebbed, he collapsed on top of her. She wriggled beneath him until she found a position where her soft curves would absorb the weight of him. He tried to roll off her but a muffled cry of protest escaped her lips. Locking his arm around her waist, he flipped to his back and pulled her on top of him.

She kissed him then folded her arms on his chest and laid her head down. “Wow.”

He cupped his hands over her softly rounded bottom. “Is that your scientific conclusion, Doctor?”

“Just an observation. One experiment doesn’t prove anything. It could have been a fluke. The question is: can you repeat the results time and time again?”

He cocked his eyebrow in challenge. “Do you doubt that I can?”

“I’m a scientist, Erik. I like to have things proven to me.”

He would like nothing better than to do just that. The idea of devoting a considerable amount of time embroiled in her kind of scientific research appealed to him more than it should. The woman was smart as a whip and sexy as sin. When she let loose, she really let loose. She deserved more than she accepted, more than he could offer.

“Don’t go there,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

She traced the outline of his jaw with her fingertip. “Do you think I can’t feel the tension in you? You’re venturing out on a little guilt trip. I started it. If anyone should feel guilty, I should.”

“And do you?”

“Not particularly.” She slipped off him onto the mattress. “However, if you insist on ruining a perfectly wonderful experience for me….” She shoved him away at the same moment he grabbed her arm. He fell off the bed, pulling Victoria onto the floor with him.

Her eyes rounded in surprise, and her face flushed scarlet. Tears spilled down her cheeks. Suddenly she started to laugh.

“I hope you’re getting hazard pay for this assignment,” she said on a deep exhale.

He shook his head. “I’m not getting paid for this.”

“I know. So why are you beating yourself up over something I wanted?” Before he could answer, the phone rang. Tori wrinkled her nose. “This better be an emergency.”

She slid herself up along his body and reached for the cell phone. He cupped his hand around her breast and stroked the taut nipple.

A breath caught in her throat, and she barely squeaked out a hello into the phone. “No, nothing’s wrong….” She bit her bottom lip as he increased the pressure. Finally, she laced her fingers through his and sat up. “Happy Thanksgiving,” she said to her caller. “My holiday? Very nice, all things considered.”

Erik cocked his eyebrow.

She shook her head. “You worry too much, Steven. Agent Sanders is taking good care of me.” He dropped his hand immediately.

“Hold on. Let me go find him.” She hit the mute button on the phone. “He wants to speak to you.”

“Oh, great,” he grumbled.

She tipped her head to one side. “You’re not going to tell him about the football game this morning, are you?”

“Looks like I’m going to be keeping a few things from the bureau chief.” He glanced around the room for his clothes.

Victoria folded her arms behind her head and rested against the edge of the bed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, even though he knew that he should. For a woman so innately shy, she seemed comfortable with nudity. He felt as if he should at least pull on a pair of jeans. Before he could, she handed him the phone.

Chapter Eleven

“Hello, sir.”

Victoria took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She could kill her brother for his lousy timing. She didn’t want to give Erik time to build up his walls again.

“No, everything is fine here.”

She ran her fingers through his hair, still damp from his earlier physical exertion.

He shot her a warning glare, which she ignored. “She was resistant to the protection at first, but she seems resigned to situation. You could even say she’s making the most of it.” He clamped his finger over her wrist and held her errant hand in a vice grip. “You know, scientific research … I’m not sure I understand what she’s doing either, but she appears satisfied with the results … I’ll keep that in mind, sir….”

His expression changed. He straightened and listened more attentively. She gave him a questioning glance, but he gestured that he would explain later. There must have been a development in the case. Was this the beginning of the end of her time with him?

“Keep me posted.” He disconnected and then reached for his clothes.

“What did Steven want?”

“They traced the call the courier made to you to a phone booth in South Burlington.”

“You already knew she was from there.”

“But all they had was an old address and a PO Box she hasn’t been to in weeks. The local police are combing the neighborhood to see if anyone can identify her from the airport photograph.”

Victoria hid a smile of relief. “I couldn’t identify her from that photograph and I had the hotel room next to her. No one is likely to recognize her.”

He arched his eyebrow. “You don’t sound too upset.”

“Should I be?” Anything that prolonged their time together wasn’t likely to upset her. She knew all this would end, and soon. She wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

He pulled on his jeans. “Yesterday you wanted me out of your house.”

She grinned. “And I changed my mind when I discovered the amazing amount of fun I could have performing gravity-defying experiments.”