The Seduction Game

True to his word, The Risings had not been mentioned. Nothing about buildings, or developments, or anything like that had come up to spoil what Kate was beginning to think might have been one of the very best days of her life. It was almost like they’d been held in a little bubble of happiness.

She did not want it to end.

“You can come up for a drink,” she said as they pulled up alongside her building.

“Are you sure, Kate?”

Will’s voice was low, probing, and Kate felt her entire body heat up as the words left his lips. Because she knew what he was asking and so did he. They both knew.

“Absolutely.” Her voice shook and yet Will gave no indication that he’d noticed anything amiss. He smiled and gestured for her to go ahead.

The heat hit them the moment they went through the door, not surprisingly; most of the windows were shut and the temperature was not getting any lower. Kate wished she had air-conditioning upstairs, not to mention better air-conditioning in the shop, but what little money she had was tucked away for the everyday things, though perhaps she could stretch for a fan? She considered that as they made their way up the narrow staircase, then through the door to her small studio.

“Home, sweet home,” Kate said, dropping her bag on the counter that split off the small space to the kitchenette. She was a little nervous of what Will would think of her home. Though she had forgotten it for most of the day, fact was, Will was very rich and he likely lived somewhere very sophisticated and stylish.

She needn’t have worried. Will was smiling as he viewed her space. “I like what you’ve done here, Kate. You’ve really maximized the square footage. Perhaps you should come and work for me as a planner?”

Kate smiled right back, because he was such a darn liar. Kate’s space was far from maximized and so removed from the contemporary designs she’d seen on the drawings Will had shown her. She let it go, though. How could she not after today? Especially after he’d agreed to stand on the Enterprise transporter pads and be “beamed up.”

“Would you like water or juice? I have juice. Or I could make coffee? I have that, too?” She was babbling. . . yet it was unavoidable. Will stood a handful of yards from her, and he dominated the space. He was just so tall, so muscular. Everything about him screamed man, and that made Kate nervous. A painful kind of nervousness. Butterflies, or maybe those damn birds again, were flapping around in her stomach and the words Will had left her with—was it just a handful of days ago—were racing through her mind, and no matter how hard Kate tried to stay calm or think about inane things like fans, it was impossible.

I’m going to strip you naked. . .

“Some water would be great.”

She took a bottle from her small fridge and filled two glasses, passing one to Will with her gaze lowered. She did not want to meet his, was afraid of what she might see there. But he reached out at the same time as she passed across the glass and their fingers met, brushing against one another. It was such a small amount of contact and really, it shouldn’t have made her feel the way it did.

Excited.

Jumpy.

Full of anticipation.

Only it did.

“Come here, Kate.”

There was no demand in his tone. It was gentle, coaxing, and Kate did as he asked almost like she was following an instruction she didn’t know about. A moment later and she was standing next to him, maybe an inch or so between them and oh so carefully he tucked a finger under her chin, lifting her head so that at last their gazes collided.

“Did I tell you how beautiful you are today?” he asked.

Kate nodded even as she reached up to touch the Vulcan ears she was still wearing. They were both still wearing their ears, and Will still had her ray gun hanging from the side of his belt.

“Well, I’m telling you again,” he said softly. “You are exquisite, Kate. There is nothing about you that isn’t. And I am trying to keep some control here. To take into account the fact that you’re a bag of nerves.”

“I’m fine, I—”

He cut her off. “You are. I’m not so insensitive that I can’t pick up on that. I’m assuming it’s been a long time for you. That you haven’t dated in a while. I don’t want to scare you, Kate. I can take this slowly if I have to.”

“Slowly.” She whispered the word.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Slowly.”

And with that he lowered his head and he kissed her. To Kate it was different in so many ways from the first and even the second kiss. This time she wasn’t in his arms, feeling as though she was being enveloped in him. This time he kept a little distance between them and the only parts of their bodies that were touching were their lips and the finger he continued to hold under her chin. And it was slow, languorous, designed, she was sure, to make her nerves melt away and desire to take over. The only thing that wasn’t different was the way it made her feel. The butterflies that were swarming around her belly. The shivers that raced along her skin. And Kate wasn’t sure who made the first move this time, it might even have been her, but after maybe a minute of the slow, careful kissing, their arms were wrapped around one another, his around her waist, hers around his neck, and the tempo changed completely.

Will kissed her as though he wanted to devour her. His lips consumed hers, demanding that she move with him. Give back as much as he was taking. And then when that seemed like it was too much, like her head was swimming past the point of reason, he relaxed, slowed the movement, teased her all over again.

On and on it went until Kate had no choice but to pull back, sucking in a desperate breath, oxygen becoming an issue. But Will did not let up. His nibbled along her now swollen bottom lip and then he licked that exact spot. Nibble and lick, nibble and lick, and it was desperately intimate, erotic, making Kate press into him, seeking more contact, despite the fact that her head was spinning.

When at last he released her, he kept ahold of her waist, something she could only be thankful for because Kate was dizzy. Dizzy with desire, and need, and want, and unsure what the hell to do.

“Your kisses are like a drug,” Will whispered. “I could stand here in this exact spot all night doing just this.”

He ran his hands up and down her sides, from the spot just underneath her breasts all the way to the very slight curve of her hips. The movement should have tickled but it didn’t, not at all. It made her shiver, made her gasp. And then his hands went around to her back, where he trailed his fingers along her spine and down to the very top of her backside, just skimming before moving back up.

Kate shifted. Desperate for him to move higher or lower, or hell, any one of the places that ached. “Will,” she whispered. Unable to say what it was she wanted.

“Kate?”

There was a clear question in his voice, maybe he needed to hear a definite “go” from her? But she paused, unsure how to continue. How could she tell him that her breasts felt heavy? That her nipples were stiff and needed his hands on them? How could she say that her thighs were clenched so tightly together and that she wanted him to part them and touch her there? She couldn’t. She was too nervous. Too scared. Too goddamn shy. But then maybe she didn’t need to say anything? Hadn’t he promised her that he was going to strip her naked and kiss every inch of her? She shivered as those images ran through her mind and licked her lips.