Suddenly Sexy

chapter 6



Maddie swallowed the lump in her throat and forced her reservations to shut the hell up. Get back in there, girl, and go for it. This is a once in a life-time opportunity. Kissing Sam Hennessy won’t happen again this century.

"No," she said, "I'm not mad at you. I was just kidding around." She tried to sound light, girlish, like the sort of woman he’d like.

"Oh." Sam grinned and Maddie melted. He had an amazing smile. His lips curved up to form a perfect Cupid's bow and two dimples punctuated either end. She wanted to touch them and taste his soft, kissable lips.

"Good. I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression of me," he said. "I’m not the kind of guy I was in high school."

"What kind of guy is that?" she asked innocently.

"The kind that didn’t know a great girl when he met one."

Ah. Right. She was sure he meant something by that but her scrambled brain couldn’t think properly. "And I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression of me," she said.

Even as she said it, she wondered what the right impression was. Deep down she was still the nerd he'd accused her of being years ago, only now she'd added other layers to her personality to hide it. But when push came to shove, she was still the same person, still a boring nerd. She organized her books alphabetically by author, she read science journals and she made love with the light out. Not even a lamp on.

Would that bother him?

"No wrong impressions here," he murmured.

How had he got so close without her noticing? The man was as stealthy as a panther and had more tricks up his sleeve than David Copperfield. And he looked at her the way she looked at dessert. The intensity behind his stare unnerved her. She felt naked and vulnerable, and yet beautiful at the same time.

"Oh. Good." Her voice was so high, the words sounded like they came from Mickey Mouse. "So are you taking me home now or what?"

The "or what" hung in the air between them. If his answer had the word kiss in it, she was going to get out of the car and walk home. As much as she wanted to taste his lips, her conscience couldn't allow the date to go that far. He had no control over his behavior because of Pheramour so it wasn't fair to—

The kiss she was trying to avoid took her by surprise. Once she got over her initial shock, no way could she stop it. Her conscience could go take a hike. This was Sam Hennessy! She could definitely allow the date to progress beyond the friendly chatter they'd exchanged up till now.

It was just a kiss, not sex.

But what a kiss! Heat arrowed through her body, scoring a direct hit on her inner thighs. The kiss was hard at first, but softened, became slow and consuming like a brush fire. He tasted of pizza and he smelled all male. The combination was delicious and Maddie sank into his lips, wanting his silky tongue in her mouth, on her throat, her nipples...everywhere.

Most dreams never live up to expectations when they become reality. Sam Hennessy's kiss not only lived up to her childhood fantasy, it exceeded it with flying colors. She'd give him an A+. Kissing him was everything she'd dreamed of all those years ago in Cynthia's tree house.

Everything and more. The young Maddie had never imagined it would be so hot, so passionate. He had the softest lips of any man she'd ever kissed. And when he cupped her cheeks and gently stroked her face with his thumbs, there wasn't a word in the dictionary to describe the sensations thundering through her body.

Wow, the man who'd kissed so many women was kissing her! The man she’d dreamed of for fifteen years, had her locked in a thrilling embrace.

Oh God. What if she wasn’t doing it right? How could she live up to his expectations?

She pulled away, then instantly regretted the loss of contact. A wisp of air separated them, cooling her. She sighed involuntarily and licked her lips to try and taste him all over again.

Why in hell had she broken the kiss?

But it was the right thing to do. She was the school nerd. She may have changed, but she hadn't changed enough for Sam Hennessy to want to kiss her. Not without Pheramour.

"What's wrong?" He lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger to look into her face.

She jerked her head away so she didn't have to look in his eyes. Those blue pools were like a truth serum—how could you lie to someone with such honest, trusting eyes?

"Nothing. But I think I'd like to go home now."

Damn it, why did she have to think? Why did she have to analyze and decipher and calculate? Why couldn't she be one of those women who kissed men just for the hell of it?

Because she was Maddie Clarke, and thinking through the consequences of actions was what she did best. She couldn't change that fact even if she'd wanted to.

Sam shuffled back to his side of the car. She thought she heard him sigh but she must have been mistaken. Sam Hennessy wasn’t a sigher. Although there were definitely waves of chilly confusion coming from his direction.

He revved up the Porsche and drove down Mount Dandenong, his face lost in the shadows. They drove in silence back to Maddie's place, giving them both time to think about what had happened. As much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she had enjoyed the kiss, she just wished the atmosphere wasn't so tense between them now because of it. The silence practically throbbed.

"Maddie," Sam said when he parked the Porsche outside her place. He rubbed his jaw and looked everywhere except at her. "I'm sorry if I did something I shouldn't have up there. I just couldn't help myself. Forgive me?"

How could she not? His crooked smile revealed one sexy dimple and his long lashes framed eyes that, now they were looking directly at her, made her knees quake.

"Nothing to forgive," she said breezily. "It was just as much my fault."

"Sure was." His voice was husky, low. "Can I come inside?"

Uh-oh. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why? Afraid I'll kiss you again?"

Not half as afraid as she was of sleeping with him.

She got out of the car and he followed. He took her hand and led her to the porch steps. He sat on the second one and drew her down on the top, her feet on the step beside him. He leaned back on his elbow and stretched out his long legs. Insects serenaded them from the depths of the evening darkness. Maddie breathed in the fragrant summer air, relaxing for the first time since the kiss. No, since before then. Since he’d strolled back into her life as if he’d never been gone.

"Beautiful night," Sam said quietly. "I miss Melbourne's nights. Sydney's just aren't the same. Sounds silly I suppose, but the stars seem brighter down here. It's nice to come home and just sit outside like this on a warm night and watch them."

"You still consider Melbourne home, even after all these years?"

"Yeah. I did a hell of a lot of growing up here."

"You did a hell of a lot of all sorts of things, but is that a reason to come back? Especially when everything's changed so much?"

He fingered the cuff of her jeans. "Some things changed." His knuckles grazed her ankle and Maddie caught her breath. "Others not so much, but I see them differently now. Maybe that's why I'm back." He glanced up at her and his eyes twinkled in the moonlight. "To discover the things I missed the first time round."

Oh boy. So much for loosening up. Everything inside her suddenly coiled up like a tight spring.

"Relax," he said, laughing softly.

"I’m relaxed." About as relaxed as a mouse that had just spotted a cat prowling outside its mouse hole.

Sam’s hand rubbed slowly up and down her calf beneath her jeans in what she supposed were meant to be soothing strokes. She felt anything but soothed. Her pulse rate spiked and blood pounded between her ears like a waterfall. Sam Hennessy was coming onto her. First the kiss, now the leg thing. Yep, definitely coming onto her. She didn’t need to have a science degree to read the signs.

Thank God she’d shaved her legs.

"Maddie," he said, massaging her calf muscle.

"Hmmm?" He was good. He definitely knew how to lull a girl into a false sense of security. She was aware she had to be on her toes right now but damned if she couldn’t think straight. Not with Sam Hennessy feeling up her leg.

Boy, she was in way over her head. None of the guys she’d dated in the past had made her feel this good. None had taken the time to gently caress her calf like this. They all seemed to want to start at her chest.

"Are you going to invite me inside?"

Oh. So he did want something more. She should have guessed. He was male after all. "It’s nice out here," she said.

"Yeah, but these steps are getting hard."

"Your car seats are soft." She cringed as soon as she said it. It sounded like she wanted him to leave and she definitely didn’t want that. He might have only one thing on his mind, and it might have been put there thanks to Pheramour but it felt sooo good. To hell with it. The opportunity to kiss Sam Hennessy wouldn’t come around every lifetime so she might as well make the most of it in this one. "But so is my couch. Let’s go."

She led the way inside and pointed at the couch. He made a show of testing the cushions. "Yep, they’re softer than the steps." He sat and stretched his legs out under the coffee table, looking like he belonged exactly there, on her couch, in her lounge room. All he needed was the TV remote.

"Coffee?" she offered.

"Got any ice cream?"

He was kidding, right? "You want ice cream?"

"Yeah, sure. Why?"

"Well," she regarded him quizzically, "it’s not very sophisticated."

He shrugged. "I’m not a very sophisticated guy."

"It’s not low fat," she said.

"Good."

Where did he put it? He didn’t look like the kind of guy who ate ice cream every night. She went into the kitchen and came out a few minutes later with two bowls of triple chocolate and handed one to Sam.

He ate his with all the attention ice cream deserved—in deferential silence and with a great deal of attention. He even licked the spoon clean. She watched it slide in and out of his mouth, his tongue lapping up every last morsel, his eyes half-closing with the goodness of it. For a moment, she even forgot to eat her own ice cream, that’s how good the show was.

When he finished, he put his bowl on the coffee table and watched her. She pretended she didn’t notice when all the while her body was aware of his eyes on her, taking in every little thing she did to that spoon just as she had noticed him.

Unfortunately she spoiled the moment and spilled some ice cream down her chin and it dripped onto her lap. What a loser.

"Here, let me get that."

Before she realized he meant the drip on her chin and not the one in her lap, he’d already pressed his mouth to her lower lip. His warm tongue darted out and licked away the ice cream. Oh, yesssss. He was the world’s best kisser, no doubt about it. Gentle yet insistent, exploring without probing. Tingles radiated from every corner of her body and bubbled inside her like fizzy cola. One shake and she’d explode.

Without breaking the kiss, he took her bowl and placed it on the coffee table. One hand then went to her hip, his other scooped around her lower back and pulled her to him in an expert move.

Pressed against his hard body, she couldn’t go anywhere and certainly didn’t want to. This was too good, he was too good. Slowly, slowly, the coil inside her unwound. The tension of earlier eased and then completely disappeared, leaving her feeling like the ice cream she’d just consumed. Melted. Gooey through and through.

"That’s better," he murmured against her lips. "Now, how about seconds?"

He wasn’t referring to ice cream. He kissed her again while his fingers caressed her thigh, tickling and teasing. She shifted and somehow the movement brought his fingers closer to her crotch. He cupped her through her jeans, pressing the stiff fabric into her most sensitive area. She gasped into his mouth. He smiled against her lips as he unbuttoned her fly.

In one swift movement, he opened it and slid his big hand down between jeans and panties, finding her * without seeming to try. The only thing separating skin from skin was a filmy piece of pink cotton.

Oh boy! She heard her own ragged breathing, her gasps and sighs, but didn’t care. To Hell with what she sounded like, this was Heaven with a capital H.

She arched her hips up to meet his fingers, wanting them to explore further, deeper, beyond the panties. Christ, what had she been thinking wearing underwear! The damn things only got in the way.

His mouth moved to her throat, nibbling and licking the sensitive flesh, driving her closer to something she knew would be amazing. She didn’t know how she knew but if Sam Hennessy was involved, it had to be extraordinary. And all the while one of his fingers rubbed her through the thin fabric, now moist with her juices. Heat swept over her, caressed her skin and drove her wild. God, if it was this good with just one finger, imagine if his cock were inside her.

That thought reminded her of her selfishness. Something she wanted to correct and fast. For years she’d wondered what his penis would feel like and now she had the perfect opportunity to find out. Just as he had done to her, she pressed her hand to the front of his jeans. The hard length of his erection strained against the denim, long and thick.

It was all for her.

He moaned into her mouth and she felt his body shudder. She had caused that. Her hands. The power of it was thrilling. What would happen if she touched skin with skin?

She unbuttoned his fly—

The phone rang. She ignored it and continued with her task. But it rang. And rang.

She swore. What if it was important? Who rang late at night anyway? Oh no, Linda! The kids!

She broke the kiss. "I have to get it."

"No you don’t," he rasped.

"I’ll never be able to keep my mind on the task if I don’t know who’s calling." She got up and refastened her fly as she ran for the phone. "What?" she said into the receiver, half-irritable, half-anxious.

"It’s me," came Linda’s too-perky voice.

"What’s wrong? Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn’t they be?"

"Because you’re ringing me at," Maddie checked her watch, "quarter past eleven. Shouldn’t you be in bed?"

"Shouldn’t you?" Linda said, teasing. "Well? How’d it go? Did you kiss him? Did you do the deed?"

Almost. Maddie risked a glance back at Sam, still sitting on the couch. He’d done up his fly and was watching her with equal parts curiosity and annoyance. Damn but he was sexy with his lips swollen from kisses and a lazy, take-me smile softening his features.

It hit her like a slap to her forehead. He’d wanted her. He’d wanted to do it right there on her couch. With her!

Or was it Pheramour making him want her?

Crap! Way to go, Mad, you sure know how to let reality destroy fantasy.

"Well?" Linda prompted.

Pete’s voice in the background said, "Hang up the phone and come back to bed."

"Do as your husband says for once," Maddie told her sister. "I’ve gotta go." Go and make excuses to the hottest guy in Melbourne.

He was going to think her insane. She probably was, but she couldn’t do it. Now that she was thinking properly again, she couldn’t let the evening progress any further. Not as a scientist, not as a woman, and not as a friend. She couldn’t take advantage of Sam while he was under the influence of Pheramour.

Damn, damn and crapola!

She heard Linda demand to know what had happened but Maddie said a quick goodbye and hung up. She turned back to Sam and made a big production out of yawning and stretching.

"Boy, I’m tired. Really, really tired."

Several beats passed in which he watched her from beneath lowered lids. No way did he believe her but he finally lifted one shoulder in a shrug and stood. "Guess we’ll see each other around sometime."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the date."

"Thanks for the ice cream." He leaned down and she thought he was going to kiss her on the cheek but instead he whispered, "and everything." His nose and lips brushed the spot beneath her earlobe as if he wanted to taste her there, smell her.

Her eyelids fluttered closed and it was all she could do to stop herself from kissing him again. The man had so much magnetism he was dangerous around metal, and women.

"Bye," he said, withdrawing way too quickly.

Her eyes flew open and she tried to pretend she was completely at ease and in control when in reality her head was spinning and her heart racing. She couldn’t let him walk out, not like this.

Yet she had to.

He opened the door himself because she was rooted to the spot. Then he was gone. She still couldn’t move. Didn’t want to. Didn’t want to break the spell of Sam Hennessy still lingering in her house. When she finally did, it was to take the empty bowls back to the sink but not before she picked up his spoon and licked it all over.