Making His Move (3 page)

And, yeah, he knew he wasn’t being completely honest with her. Given how strongly she affected him, there was a strong chance that he wanted a hell of a lot more than sex from her. He just didn’t know if it was something he could have. If it was something Sophie even wanted.

As if needing what was about to happen completely spelled out for her, she straightened away from the side of the elevator, and said, “You want to have sex with
me
?”

God, she was so adorable it was killing him. He gripped her upper arms and yanked her closer, then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. “Yeah, Sophie. I want to fuck you and taste you and feel you inside and out so badly it’s been like a pain in my gut that won’t go away. I’m completely obsessed,” he gritted against her soft mouth, kissing her deep and hard between the words. “I want you so damn bad it’s been driving me fucking crazy, wondering if I was ever gonna have you or if you’d just cut me cold and tell me to fuck off.”

She gave a nervous laugh that tasted impossibly sweet. “I, um, don’t think I’ve ever actually told someone to fuck off before.”

“Then I’d have been the first,” he muttered, licking his tongue across her cushiony lips, letting it tease just inside once more. “But you’re not telling me to fuck off, are you, beautiful?” It was hard to identify the burning emotion in his chest, threatening to pound its way out to the surface, but Chris knew it was something he needed to get control of, for both their sakes.

“I’m not an idiot,” she whispered, letting her tongue stroke against his. “If you want me, you can have me.”

And just like that, Chris almost came in his fucking slacks. Forcing himself to put a little distance between them before it was too late, he moved back from her and grabbed his bag, hooking the strap over his shoulder. The moment the elevator finally slowed and the doors opened, he offered up a silent thanks to whatever higher power was up there listening and grabbed her hand, more than ready to get the hell out of there.

“Where are we going?” Sophie asked, as Chris ushered her out of the building and to the parking lot so quickly she could barely keep up, much less make sense out of everything that was happening.

“Where’s your car?” he asked in a low voice, holding on to her hand as if he never intended to let go.

“What?”

He turned his head sharply to the side, locking his dark eyes on hers. “Car, Sophie. Where did you park this morning?”

“We’re taking
my
car?” She blinked again, her mind feeling numb, her gaze snagging again and again on the rugged beauty of his face in the warm afternoon sunshine. She couldn’t have been any more dazzled if a truck-sized diamond had been shining in her eyes.

He gave her a quick nod in response to her question.

“But…but what about
your
car?” He had a sporty little black thing that must’ve cost a fortune. Surely he wasn’t going to leave it at the institute for...well, for however long this was going to take, no matter how tight the security was.

“Fuck my car,” he grunted, cutting that narrowed gaze over the lot, his height allowing him an easy view. It took him only a moment to spot her silver Toyota, and then he was pulling her along beside him as he headed toward it. “It’s being detailed today and I’m not waiting for them to bring it over.”

Sophie wondered if she was looking as dazed as she felt, because the moment they reached the Toyota, he cupped her cheek and gave her a look that was both tender and impatient at the same time, and asked her if she wanted him to drive. She nodded, handing over the keys she’d been carrying in the pocket of her lab coat. He opened the passenger door for her, then quickly made his way around to the other side, and after moving the seat back, he slid his tall body in behind the wheel. Then he set about getting them on their way with the sexy-as-hell commanding precision that made him so successful at everything he did, and before she knew how it had happened, they had cleared the downtown. He didn’t ask where she lived, so she assumed they were headed to his place when he pulled into the fast moving traffic on the freeway.

“How old are you?” he asked into the thick silence.

She slid him a curious look that he caught when he glanced her way, before quickly turning his attention back to the road.

“We’ve never talked about your age before,” he murmured, smoothly overtaking the car in front of them. “I’ve tried to ask in a roundabout way, but you always hedged. And I didn’t want to snoop in your employment file.”

“I’m almost twenty-five,” she told him, watching with a greedy, foreign ache in her belly at the way his strong hands controlled her car, her sex going warm and wet within her panties at the thought of those powerful hands working her body, controlling her pleasure.

He turned his head and shot her another quick look. “Almost? You’re not even twenty-five yet?”

“I, um, graduated early,” she murmured, feeling a thread of panic. “Is that...too young for you?” As much as guys spouted off about wanting women younger than they were, she knew there were a lot that drew the line at getting involved with someone they saw as “too young” for them.

He didn’t say anything at first, and she wondered if she was going to do something awful, like burst into tears. Wow, wouldn’t that do wonders for convincing him she was mature enough for a hot, sexy affair? Then she caught the crooked smile twitching at the corner of his beautiful mouth, a bit of wryness to his tone as he said, “As long as you aren’t jailbait, Soph, I’m not sure there’s anything that could keep me away from you at this point.”

Relief poured through her veins, pure and sweet. “How old are you?” she asked, guessing somewhere in his early thirties. His face held the rough attraction of maturity, but his lean, muscular physique looked as though he could’ve just walked off a college football field.

“Almost thirty-five.” Arching one of his tawny brows, he shot her a curious look. “Too old for you?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Hardly.”

“Christ, I love the way you laugh,” he muttered under his breath, and she could have sworn they were going even faster as he overtook another car. But despite the speed, she could tell he was a skilled driver, and trusted him not to put them in danger. Feeling unusually safe, when she was usually a nervous passenger in a car, she studied his rugged profile and simply soaked in the pleasure of being with him, the cool air blowing in from the vents all but crackling with electricity.

“What?” she asked, when he suddenly sucked in a deep breath.

He shifted a bit in his seat, but kept his dark eyes focused hard on the road. “Are you on the Pill?”

“Why?” The single word emerged as a breathless gasp, though that had more to do with the thought of feeling him inside her, skin on skin, than it did with the intimate nature of the question.

Forging ahead, he said, “I just had a physical last month and I’m clean. I haven’t been with anyone since months before that.”

Surprise had her blinking, since she would have thought Chris’s bed enjoyed a steady stream of beautiful women.

“What about you, Soph?”

She blushed when she realized what he was asking her. “Oh, um, me too. I mean...I’m fine,” she stammered, a little dazed at the idea that Chris thought she had other men in her life.

He exited the freeway and stopped at a red light, before sliding her another hot, heavy-lidded look that made her breath hitch. “I don’t fuck without protection, Sophie.
Ever
. But this...this is different. I’d be goddamn lying if I said I didn’t want to know what it feels like to be buried inside you without anything between us. So I’ll wear a condom for as long as you want me to, but if you decide you trust me enough to go in bare, just say the word and it’ll happen.”

She made some kind of small, murmured sound of pleasure, even while the scientist in her was shouting that she couldn’t just take his word for anything. That she needed to be practical...logical. That she needed to be
smart
, and protect herself, in more ways than one.

His jaw worked as he turned his attention back to the light, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel even tighter. “You still with me, Soph?”

The bottom dropped out of her stomach at the husky words that held an unmistakable edge of emotion, and she shoved that niggling voice of doubt to the back of her mind, deciding to play it by ear and see how things went. “I’m on the Pill,” she told him, happy as hell that she’d put herself on birth control in college. “I’m not saying yes...yet. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to know what that feels like, too.”

His eyes turned even darker. Then the light changed...and he floored the accelerator.

T
wenty minutes later, Sophie’s head was still spinning when Chris opened the front door to his condo and showed her inside. Dark hardwood floors stretched across the enormous living room, while the walls were painted a light cream color that looked great against the clean lines of the espresso-colored leather sofa and dark tables. But the best feature was the far wall of windows, revealing a stunning view of the Pacific.

“Wow,” she said, taking a few steps into the condo as he shut the door behind them. “This place is beautiful, Chris.”

“Thanks. My grandparents left me some money when they passed, and I used it to buy the condo. My cousin did the same and lives right next door with her little boy, Jase.”

She turned toward him as he came to stand beside her, her hands nervously tucked in the pockets of her lab coat. “Do you have a lot of family in San Diego?”

“Yeah, but most of it’s on my mom’s side. She’s an artist. The one who made me these,” he said, lifting the hand that sported the silver bracelet and thumb ring. “They don’t really fit with the position at Blackwood, but I’ve worn them for so long it doesn’t feel right to take them off.”

“I think they work just fine with your position. They...fit you.”

Those sexy lips of his curved with a grin. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, her face warm as she tried to look away from his mouth, but couldn’t. Everything still had the surreal feeling of a dream, the cool air heavy and hazy, and she hoped like hell she didn’t wake up before it was over. She’d probably die if she missed even a second of this.

He pulled his jacket off and tossed it on to the nearby sofa, then loosened his tie and undid the top few buttons on his white shirt. She stared at his strong, corded throat for a moment, then gave a hard swallow when she lifted her gaze and found him watching her with a dark, heavy-lidded stare. He didn’t say anything as he moved in front of her, put his hands on her waist, and started backing her up until she came up against the door. But then, words didn’t really seem all that necessary when he was revealing so much with the hot, visceral look in his eyes. One that said he wanted her and was done waiting. Her head shot back of its own volition as he lowered his face over hers.

“I can’t believe you’re finally here,” he said against her open mouth a heartbeat later, nipping her lower lip with his teeth as he gripped the lapels of her lab coat and started tugging it off her. She couldn’t believe she was still wearing the stupid thing, but her brain cells had been pretty much in meltdown mode ever since he’d pulled her on to the elevator back at Blackwood. “You still with me, Soph?”

Was she? Her scientist’s mind took a split second to think about the question and break it down. Physically, yes, she was more “with” him than she’d ever been with any man. And that was fine. It was freaking fantastic, because she wanted to have her mind blown and she knew, without any doubt, that Chris Riley was more than capable of the job.

But she’d have been lying to herself if she’d said there wasn’t a sliver of doubt...or maybe fear...worrying its way through her lust-hazed thoughts. And what worried her was the
after
. She knew exactly what he was offering her here — a hot, decadent one night stand — and while she was ready to dive right in, she couldn’t help but question what this would do to their friendship.

And you can worry about that later
, her starved inner wild woman hissed inside her head, shoving the scientist into a room and slamming the door on her sour expression.
Right now, all you need to do is say Yes...More...Hurry! And enjoy yourself!

Determined to follow her own advice, she managed a breathless, “I’m with you,” as he kissed his way across the trembling line of her jaw, and she turned her head to give him better access as he tossed the ugly lab coat into the nearest corner. It landed on a small potted tree, and she had to choke back a giggle, her nerves quickly fading beneath the heady burn of desire firing through her. Needing to touch him, she lifted her hands and curled them over his broad shoulders, squeezing the hard, powerful muscles. She could feel his heat through the soft fabric of his shirt, and she dug her nails into him as he fisted one hand in the back of her pinned-up hair and pulled her head back even farther. His incredible mouth was open and hot against the sensitive skin at the side of her throat as he tasted her.

“I want inside you so fucking bad, Soph.”

Mmm...Yes
. She loved the idea of taking him deep inside her, where she knew she’d feel the stretch and burn of his penetration. The academic in her had a full understanding of the fact that his impressive size meant her smaller body was going to experience a pinch of pain when his massive Tab B went into her tight Slot A. But the hot-blooded, pleasure-starved woman that also lived in there didn’t give a damn. With each hitching breath, Sophie was pulling more of Chris’s mouthwatering scent into her system, so desperate for him she was actually starting to tremble like someone with a fever. Her lips parted as the big hands he’d placed on her hips started bunching up the fabric of her skirt, and she was about two seconds away from begging him to hurry, when a dog barked outside and someone suddenly knocked on the door, the loud banging reverberating through her head.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” he groaned, tearing his mouth from the sensitive patch of skin just behind her ear. “I
hate
like hell to do this, but I’ve got to get that.”

Sophie choked back a gasp as he reached for the doorknob, quickly shuffling to the side so that she’d be hidden behind the door when he pulled it open. No way in hell could she face whoever was on the other side right now. She could only imagine what she looked like, with her kiss-swollen mouth, pink face and dazed eyes.

“Sorry, cuz,” she heard a woman say as soon as he opened the door. “I would have kept him but it’s parents’ night at Jase’s school and I’d like to get over there as early as possible.”

“No worries,” Chris replied, and Sophie noticed that he’d pulled the hem of his shirt out of his slacks, no doubt to hide the fact he was hard as steel at the moment. “I should have come straight over when I got home,” he was saying, “but I, uh, got distracted.”

Sophie bit her lip, trying not to laugh, then suddenly yelped when he grabbed her hand and yanked her out from behind the door, trapping her against his side with his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, his hand settling possessively on her hip. In his other hand, he held the leash of a giant black Labrador, the dog’s dark eyes fixed on her as it sat at his feet, tongue lolling out the side of its mouth.

“Karin, this is Sophie. She’s one of the top scientists at Blackwood.”

Chris’s deep voice pulled her attention away from the adorable dog, and she found herself staring up at a tall, beautiful woman who definitely looked like she shared Chris’s impressive gene pool. His cousin smiled, her brown eyes both friendly and familiar.

“Nice distraction,” Karin teased, before winking at Chris.

He laughed. “Busted.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sophie managed to murmur, knowing her face must be bright pink as she offered the woman her hand.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Karin said, giving her a firm, welcoming handshake.

“Any problems?” Chris asked, tightening his hold on Sophie’s waist.

Karin gave him a tight smile. “Not today.”

His breath released on a soft puff of air, and Sophie could have sworn he sounded relieved. “Good. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

His cousin nodded in agreement, then flashed them both a rueful grin. “Well, I’ll just head off and get out of your way.”

Chris pulled the Lab back to his side when it tried to jump up on Sophie, its heavy tail whapping against the floor. “Thanks for letting him hang out with you today.”

“No problem.” Looking at Sophie, Karin said, “I hope I’ll see you again.”

She smiled, not knowing what to say. If she agreed, he might think she was assuming this would lead to more than just a hot hook-up. And while that might be something straight out of her dreams, she was too much of a realist to actually believe it would happen.

While Sophie had thought things over during the drive, she’d realized that if Chris were serious about her, he would have done something about it long before now. She wasn’t exactly sure what had gotten into him today — God knew some of the things he’d said to her had sounded incredibly romantic in a raw, possessive kind of way — but she wasn’t going to analyze it to death the way she usually would. Instead, she was going to simply enjoy it while it lasted and soak up as much pleasure from it as she could.

Heck, maybe it
was
the fortune cookie at work. And if it was, she’d never been so thankful for a little mystical intervention as she was at that precise moment in time.

The sound of him throwing the deadbolt on the front door ripped her from her thoughts, and she blinked him back into focus. “I cannot believe you just did that,” she groaned, her shoulders shaking as she gave a soft, embarrassed laugh.

He shot her a look that she knew was meant to be innocent, though it didn’t come anywhere close. “Did what?”

“Introduced me to someone in your family when I look like I’ve been rolling around in the hay!”

“The hay?” he said, laughing.

She made a flustered gesture with her hand. “You know what I mean.”

“You don’t look like you’ve been rolling around in the hay,” he told her with a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he swept his gaze from her feet up to her flushed face. “You look beautiful, Soph.”

“Thanks,” she whispered a little dreamily, when she was finally able to find her voice. “I, um, think you’re beautiful, too.”

His smile disappeared as his expression took on a hard, feral edge. He made a rough noise that sounded like an actual growl, and started lowering his head. But the instant his mouth touched hers, the dog nudged his way between them, wriggling with excitement. Chris pulled his head back, his dark gaze suddenly glittering with hunger
and
humor. “Let me get rid of this guy,” he said in a sexy rumble, tugging the dog away.

“What’s his name?”

“Max.”

“
This
is Max?” she asked with surprise.

Chris grinned. “What did you expect? A Chihuahua?”

“No. I just...whenever you talked about hanging out at the beach with Max, or going hiking with Max, I thought you were talking about another guy!”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Good thing I never mentioned Max’s habit of peeing on tires. That would have really had you second-guessing my choice in friends.”

She smiled as she reached down and petted the dog’s massive head. “You’re a cutie, aren’t you?”

Max’s tale thumped rapidly against the floor, his excitement palpable.

“Come on, you flirt,” Chris murmured, taking the Lab to the kitchen and shutting him inside. He tossed the leash on to the dark end table, along with his tie, then slid Sophie a hungry, heavy-lidded look. “Now where were we?” he asked in a low voice, coming toward her.

She caught her lower lip in her teeth, blood pounding in her ears, her heart hammering with both excitement and nerves. But she wasn’t going to let it hold her back, and she was proud of the way her voice barely shook as she told him, “If I recall correctly, you were just about to rip my clothes off.”

“Damn, I’m brilliant,” he drawled huskily, reaching out and grabbing her around the waist.

Another soft laugh fell past her lips as she crashed against his muscular chest. “You don’t have to convince me of that.”

“But I
do
have to have you.” He placed one big hand on her hip, the other curving around the side of her throat, holding her in place as he claimed her mouth in a scalding kiss that damn near melted her bones, it was so freaking hot.

“I need you naked,” he muttered into her mouth, flicking his tongue across her teeth. “I’m tired of trying to imagine what you look like under all those little cock-teasing outfits you torment me with day after day at work. I want to learn every inch of your bare body.
Now
, Sophie.”

“You, too,” she gasped, spreading her hands over his hard shoulders. She stroked across the powerful musculature, down to his strong arms, squeezing the hard weight of his biceps. She wanted to grab the front sides of his shirt and rip it until buttons were pinging all over the floor, but he pulled away before she could try out the movie-inspired move.

With wide eyes, Sophie watched Chris drop down on his knees in front of her. Keeping his head lowered, he slipped her ballet flats off her feet and tossed them aside. Then his head lifted a little and he roughly attacked the slim buttons at the side of her skirt, his big hands shaking a bit with what felt like need,
for her
, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Seconds later, her skirt joined her shoes, and Chris’s big hands were reaching up under the hem of her blush-colored blouse and snagging the top of her tights, wrenching them down and off. Suddenly, she was standing in front of him wearing nothing more than her bra, fitted blouse and tiny scrap of panties that had a telling wet spot on the front.