A Taste Of Temptation. Carrie Alexander

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ at a vial at random. “Is that it? Have you smelled it?”

      “I’ve already freeze-dried the samples. I used the chemical fume hood, although I was told the substance has no scent.” Reaching past her, he picked up a labeled beaker and pried off the top. “This is the excess of the second sample, the one that you claim was yours before your reporter friend turned it in.”

      Zoe barely withheld her shiver. For a brief moment, Shane’s chest had pressed against the back of her shoulders. Not a particularly erogenous zone of hers—until now. She was accustomed to men brushing against her, trying to get familiar, even copping a feel. This was the first time an inadvertent touch had cut through her nervous system like the screech of feedback from a microphone.

      “I shouldn’t do this, but…” He took a whiff. “Nothing. No smell.”

      “May I?”

      He held the beaker before her face. The liquid inside appeared clear at first glance, but there was a very faint pink shimmer, almost a sparkle, when she tilted her nose toward it. She sniffed.

      And smelled nothing, as Shane had said.

      “Wait.” She placed her hand over his when he attempted to withdraw the beaker. She tried again, inhaling long and deep. Even with no actual scent, the potion was indefinably alluring.

      Her eyes closed. There seemed to be a significance, but the substance of it remained frustratingly out of reach, like a distant mist in the jungle.

      Her nostrils tingled. Her lips became soft, full, as if awaiting a kiss. The longing for contact throbbed at her pulse points, and she tightened her hold on Shane’s hand, drawing him into herself.

      “Zoe.” His voice was deliciously rough in her ear as he pressed against her to set down the beaker. “Tell me about these symptoms of lust.”

      Her eyes widened. He didn’t feel it!

      How could he not feel it?

      His fingers moved against her bare shoulder. Almost stroking. The gust of his healthy exhale stirred her hair.

      Perhaps he did feel it.

      She licked her lips. “My friend Kathryn tried the potion. She said it gave her an actual physical reaction.”

      Shane’s fingertips grazed her shoulder blades, creating a trail of sizzling sensation that danced across her skin before his hands fell away. “Which was?”

      “Warmth, escalating to intense heat. Tingling. She said her brain got kind of foggy. She lost her reason.”

      “Not unusual feelings.” He adjusted his glasses. “In an intimate situation.”

      Her lips curled into a teasing grin as she turned to face him. “Especially when you’re with the right person.”

      Or with an entirely unexpected person.

      Neither moved. Heat radiated between them. A blush colored the jut of Shane’s cheekbones. Very faintly, but an honest-to-goodness blush, which didn’t go with his severe man-of-science persona but did fit the geeky boyishness she’d glimpsed when he’d taken off his glasses.

      “I think Kath even tasted the potion,” Zoe heard herself saying. “She didn’t give me the more carnal details, but apparently the effect was astounding. And immediate.” She considered. “Maybe I’ll volunteer to be your guinea pig. Just a tiny taste, do you think? I’m sure nothing too alarming will happen. You can observe me. In a detached, scientific way, of course.”

      Speaking all those words had limbered her numb tongue. She curled it against the back of her teeth, barely able to resist the desire to flick it across Shane’s firm lips. Would he be surprised if she kissed him?

      Once, perhaps. No more. You’d have to be made of stone not to feel what was going on here. Granted, she had accused him of just that. But she’d been wrong. Shane was human. Very human. As prone to temptation as a fat man with a cupcake, judging by the devouring hunger of his stare.

      Her body temperature kicked up another degree. The air was so tense she expected it to crackle when she stroked a palm over his pinstriped shirtfront. Alas, he fell short of true nerd-dom. There weren’t even any pockets for protectors.

      She poked at his chest. “No protection.”

      “Pardon?” The look on his face said that he was thinking condom while she was thinking Revenge of the Nerds.

      She bit her lip, stopping the silly giggle that tickled her throat.

      What was wrong with her? She reveled in silly giggles. Could it be that, despite the lust potion, she wanted him to be impressed by her smarts instead of dazzled by her body?

      “Zoe.” Shane’s face showed the struggle to stay detached. “Experimenting without, um, safeguards is not a good idea.”

      “What’s the fun in that? Don’t you ever try something that you know is a bad idea, just for the adventure of it?” She pressed a knuckle on the knot of his tie and flicked at his chin with one finger. “Do you always behave?”

      He jerked his head out of reach, but he didn’t retreat. “Yes, I do. That’s the way I was raised.”

      “Oh, how sad.” She didn’t admit she’d grown up the same way, with schoolbooks for companions and flash cards for fun. Why spoil the illusion when she was unsure about where she wanted this to go? “I should teach you how to misbehave.”

      “Starting with the lust potion I suppose.” He inhaled, his chest rising beneath her arm. “You’re trying to distract me again, aren’t you?”

      “Is it working?”

      “More than it should. I know better.”

      The intense feeling of needing to touch him had ebbed slightly. “Let’s start here,” she said, loosening the tie with a few quick movements. She stepped away, dragging out the knot until the tie dangled freely against his chest. “There. Now you can breathe without choking.”

      He stroked the tie, because she had. A poor substitute for touching her, but Donovan couldn’t allow himself any more leeway. With her beguiling ways and sexy little body, Zoe was the drug—not the lust potion.

      He’d come within a hair’s breadth of handing over the remaining sample. Not because he believed the potion was legitimate. The odds were that she could have poured it over his head without consequence.

      Some other time, she could have.

      Right now, his lust was already off the charts.

      Hers, however, could use some encouraging in his direction. While her flirtation had been well played, he hadn’t been fooled into believing that she truly wanted him.

      But if he gave her the potion…

      Where the hell had that idea come from? He never broke the rules of the lab.

      He lurched away from her, rubbing a hand across his forehead. Think, man. Anything to get her out of here before you turn into a complete buffoon.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ