The Ultimate Seduction

Chapter Four

Noah yanked off his clothes, flung them onto the small leather couch in his downstairs office and pulled on his cotton sweatpants, forgoing a shirt as he always did at night. Sitting behind his desk, he picked up the piece of paper with the florist's name and phone number he'd jotted down at the hospital earlier, intent on focusing his restless energy on business.

Instead, sinful, brazen thoughts ruthlessly intruded, of Natalie upstairs in the bathtub, naked and wet, her skin soft, sleek and fragrant. The vivid mental image of touching all that feminine flesh with his hands and tasting it with slow, leisurely licks of his tongue gave him a thick, rampant hard-on, which was becoming a too frequent occurrence when it came to her. One that was getting more and more difficult to control.

He shifted in his seat, which did nothing to help ease his throbbing discomfort. He groaned and scrubbed a hand along his taut jaw. Being chivalrous was killing him in excruciatingly slow degrees, and Natalie wasn't helping matters by sending out tempting sexual vibes that were doing a damn good job of weakening his resolve.

Her uninhibited behavior was understandable in her amnesiac state because she had no clear recollection of her reserved response to him before the accident. Yet he found it hard to reconcile the trusting, sensual creature she was now with the self-contained woman she'd been around him before the accident. The two were complete opposites, but both were enigmas with secrets he wanted to unearth and explore.

He suspected her current open mind-set had a lot to do with the fact that she believed they were engaged and living together. That sense of security gave her more freedom to be affectionate and flirtatious, daring even. It was a playful side to her that he enjoyed, yet the contrast made him even more curious as to what had kept her so reserved and private before the accident. What had been so devastating that she'd kept herself at arm's length and lived such a solitary life? Obviously, it had something to do with the haunting fear he'd witnessed right before and after she'd kissed him in that dark shop alcove.

He had every intention of discovering the answer to that particular question. Her past obviously affected the present and her future-as well as any chance he might have with her. But along with his determination to make sense of the mystery she'd become, he couldn't help but wonder, and worry, that once her memories returned, would she retreat from him yet again?

The possibility made his gut twist. He knew his time with her was limited, and that meant using their current predicament to cement an emotional bond between them that would last beyond finding the guy who was stalking her. And during their time together he had to resist her newfound femininity and sexy overtures. He wasn't about to take advantage of her mind's current inability to remember their prior platonic relationship.

His still-hard erection mocked him. He was a man with a healthy sexual drive, and he'd been celibate too long because he hadn't wanted any other woman except for Natalie for months now. Having her in his house, in his bed, was going to be pure torture.

With a harsh breath, he cleared his mind of his sorry aroused state and reached for the phone. He dialed Bobby's cell phone number, and his friend answered on the second ring.

"Malone here," he said, his tone curt and businesslike.

"Hey, it's Noah. I need to ask a favor."

"You got it." Bobby's reply was automatic. As good friends who worked in the same investigative field, they often traded professional favors. "What's up?"

"I need you to do a check on something for me." Leaning back in his chair, Noah explained about the bouquet of flowers that had been delivered to Natalie at the hospital and the ominous note attached. "Could you stop at the florist shop, flash your badge and find out who sent the arrangement? I want a name and address and a credit card number if the perp used one."

"Consider it done. In fact, I was just heading out to get a bite to eat and I'll swing by the florist afterward."

"Great." Noah gave him the address of the place. "I'd do it myself, but I don't want to leave Natalie alone." And he obviously didn't want her going with him, since she believed he'd been the one to send the arrangement.

"By the way, how is she doing?" Bobby asked.

"Pretty good. She's accepted the situation, which makes things easier for me."

Bobby chuckled. "As opposed to harder?" he joked.

Noah winced at Bobby's well-aimed innuendo. His friend knew him too well. "Call me when you have the information, wise guy." He hung up the phone before Bobby could give him any more flack.

He glanced at the clock-thirty minutes had passed since he'd left Natalie upstairs. Figuring he'd check on her before Bobby called back, he headed up to his room. She hadn't completely shut the bathroom door, and he didn't care for the silence that greeted him.

Slowly, he pushed open the door. "Natalie?" he called softly, not wanting to frighten her but concerned about her not responding.

No answer, so he stepped inside, his gaze immediately drawn to the woman who'd fallen asleep in his tub. She was submerged to her neck, her head resting against the rim, and there were just enough bubbles to keep her decently covered-and to preserve his sanity. Thank God.

He hunkered down next to the tub and gently skimmed his fingers over her warm, flushed cheek. "Natalie, honey, wake up."

Her lashes fluttered open, and she smiled up at him drowsily. "I fell asleep," she murmured.

"You most certainly did." Standing, he grabbed the big fluffy towel hanging over the brass rod so he could leave it within reaching distance for her before he bolted back out of the bathroom. "You need to get out of the tub, get dressed and into bed."

Just as he turned back around to face her she stood up, without wearing an ounce of timidity, or anything else for that matter. His breath left his lungs painfully and the last bit of his fortitude fled as he stared in awed fascination at the rivulets of water sluicing down her centerfold body.

Mouth dry, his avid gaze followed the sleek trail of moisture, taking in her plump, full breasts tipped with dusky pink areolas and nipples as hard as pebbles that all but begged for him to nibble, lick and suck. He was certain he could span her tiny waist with his big hands, and she had the sexiest navel he'd ever seen. The dewy thatch of honey-blond curls between her thighs teased his imagination of what lay beyond, and those endlessly long legs of hers were made to bring a man to his knees and tempt him to sin.

He was the furthest thing to a saint when it came to her, and his shaft twitched, throbbed and swelled full to bursting. She was every hot, lascivious scenario he'd ever envisioned. Every carnal thought that had passed through his mind. Every erotic daydream he'd ever had.

And reality, in all its breathtaking glory, beckoned-

"Noah?" She shivered, and goose bumps dotted her smooth, wet flesh. "You're looking at me as if you've never seen me naked before."

Oh, hell. Shaking himself out of his lustful stupor, he summoned a playful grin. "Honey, that's just the kind of effect you have on me." That much was the truth.

Her fingers fluttered along her belly, and her breasts quivered at the brief, absentminded touch. "You have that kind of effect on me, too, and you're not even naked."

He swallowed a groan. Resigned to remaining in the bathroom with her, he kept his eyes safely above her shoulders and opened the towel for her. "Step out of the tub so we can get you dried off."

She did as he requested, and he briskly swiped her dry from neck to toes, ignoring her pleasurable moans while reciting multiplication tables in his mind to keep himself distracted from the task at hand. Finding the shirt he'd given her earlier, he yanked it over her head and waited for her to push her arms through the sleeves, then handed over her panties for her to slip into.

Once she was decently covered and she'd undipped her hair, he led her back into the adjoining room. His movements were quick, efficient and economical, with no room for anything sexual to intervene. He pulled down the covers on the bed, patted the cool sheet, and she obediently crawled up onto the mattress.

Despite the magnitude of his longing for her, his actions were as honorable as the oath he'd made to protect and serve his country when he'd joined the marines. He pulled the covers up to her chest, and just when he thought he was in the clear and would escape the room without further incident, Natalie wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him with a sultry invitation in her gaze.

She drew his head down and skimmed her lips along the corner of his mouth and across his cheek, her breath warm and sweet. "Come to bed with me," she whispered.

Every cell in his body screamed yes. Heat flashed through him, making him ache with raw desire, and he clutched the bedspread in his fists to keep him grounded, physically and mentally. He knew without a doubt she didn't have sleeping on her mind, and he also knew he was precariously close to giving in to what they both wanted so badly. It would be so, so easy to crawl under the covers with her and sink deep into her willing body. To lose himself in her heat and softness, and finally quench the feverish hunger burning inside him.

He couldn't be so selfish with his needs, not when there was so much more at stake-foremost the risk of her regretting their lovemaking once she regained her memory. With his hormones rallying in protest of his decision, he strove to let her down gently, in a way she wouldn't construe as an outright rejection.

"I'm expecting a call from Bobby." Unwinding her arms from his neck, he placed a kiss in each of her palms. "You get some rest and I'll be back up in a little while, okay?"

An adorable pout puffed out her bottom lip, but she issued no argument, just sought for a kernel of reassurance. "Promise?"

He nodded, unable to refuse her simple request. "Yeah, I promise," he said, sealing his own fate when he'd originally intended to crash on the couch downstairs for the night.

Satisfied that he'd return later, she snuggled deeper beneath the blankets, sighed and let her lashes drift shut.

Unplugging the phone in the room so Bobby's call wouldn't disturb her, Noah went back to his office, knowing it would be hours until he joined Natalie in his bed. He wanted her deep asleep and unaware of him before he dared to slip under the covers with her.

Ten minutes later Bobby called back with the information Noah was waiting for.

"This guy isn't stupid," Bobby said, a thread of disgust in his voice. "He paid cash for the flowers and gave the cashier what I highly suspect is a bogus name and an address that isn't his."

Surprised, Noah asked, "You ran a check already?"

"Yep, and you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you."

Feeling distinctly uneasy, he stabbed his fingers through his already mussed hair. "Give it to me straight, Malone." The request was unnecessary. Bobby wasn't one to bullshit around with something so serious.

"The guy who placed the order used the name Richard Haynes, who just happens to be a prominent surgeon in San Francisco who is squeaky clean, so I'm fairly certain that isn't the perp's real name, though I'll follow up on that tomorrow." He paused for a moment, then revealed, "And the contact address he used on the form came up as none other than Natalie's apartment."

Noah's stomach cramped as though he'd been sucker-punched. "He used her address?" he asked incredulously.

"Appears so. How's that for being ballsy?"

Noah rubbed his fingers across his forehead. "It's goddamn unbelievable."

The guy, whoever he was, knew where Natalie lived. The knowledge stunned and infuriated Noah, and while he hated the helpless feeling of not knowing the true identity of the stalker, he was grateful that she was safe with him at his house.

"Thanks for the info, Bobby," he said, grateful, too, for his friend's connections and support. "I owe you one."

"Buy me a beer once all this blows over and we'll call it even. In the meantime, watch your back. And Natalie's."

"I plan to." He hung up the phone, and turned his attention to the Reno, Nevada, address he'd confiscated from Natalie's place earlier that day.

He booted up his computer, jumped on the Internet and did an extensive search on an online database and a private network he belonged to that narrowed down her old address to an apartment complex. He scribbled down the manager's name and phone number to call on Monday, then spent the next few hours making notes on the various sources he wanted to contact to get a lead on her background, as well as information on the kind of life she led in Reno-where she worked, who she dated and what had prompted her to move.

It was after midnight when he finally dragged himself back upstairs to his bedroom. He slipped into the darkened room quietly, squinting to see his way to the opposite side of the bed where Natalie had fallen asleep. He felt his blood chill when he realized the covers were thrown back and the bed was empty. The light in the bathroom wasn't on, either, and a dozen unpleasant scenarios flew through his head before he could stop them.

There was a movement by the window, a flash of white that captured his attention. His muscles tensed, ready for action, his mind already contemplating the short distance to his gun tucked away in his dresser.

"Noah?"

Natalie's soft, husky voice reached him just as she stepped out of the shadows by the window and came into better focus. He relaxed a fraction, bewitched by the moonlight streaming into the room that silhouetted her body beneath his white T-shirt. Her blond hair was tousled around her shoulders, and a silvery, shimmering light haloed her head. She looked ethereal, and too damned sexy for his peace of mind.

He cleared his throat and stepped deeper into the room. "Yeah, it's me. Are you okay?"

Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "As good as can be expected, I suppose. I was just going to come looking for you."

"You should be in bed." Stopping in front of her, he narrowed his gaze to better take in her features, wondering if she was in any pain. "Do you need another Motrin for your muscle aches and your head?"

"No, I'm fine physically." A small smile touched her lips and her eyes shone with uncertainty. "It's the mental stuff that keeps throwing me for a loop."

He gently rubbed his hands up and down her arms, warming her skin, causing his own to tighten in response to touching her. "Give it time," he said softly. "You're not going to regain your memory overnight."

Her brows puckered in frustration. "I know that, but when I try to sleep, my dreams are fragmented and confusing, and there's so much I don't understand. I see shadows and I feel like I'm running from something or someone, but I can't grasp what the threat is, or if it's even real."

Her voice quivered, and he suspected her subconscious was trying to break through with the truth. Her big blue eyes stared up at him as if he held the answers to her secrets and the key to all her hidden depths. He wished he did, but he was learning about her past right along with her.

"I know it's difficult, but the doctor said not to force yourself to remember, because that can possibly suppress your memories deeper."

"I can't help it." Moisture glittered in her eyes, and her voice caught with emotion. "I feel so lost, and there's only one thing I'm sure of at this moment."

"And what's that?"

Her gaze held his, the vulnerability etching her expression so heartbreakingly real. "My desire for you." Stepping closer, she placed her hands on his bare chest and rubbed her soft, cool palms over his hot flesh. "What I feel for you is so intense and overwhelming, and I know you're trying to be a gentleman because of the accident, but right now I crave you, Noah Sommers. I need to feel alive, and I don't think I could bear it if you turned me down right now."

In a move that stunned him, she peeled the shirt she wore over her head and dropped it to the floor. Sliding her arms around his neck before he could back away, she aligned their bodies from chest to thighs, and nuzzled her lips against his throat. "Make love to me, Noah," she whispered huskily.

The blood in Noah's veins sizzled and his shaft thickened against her belly through his sweatpants. Her full, naked breasts and all her smooth bare skin seared him, wreaking havoc with his conscience and personal ethics. He fought his own weakness, but in the end he didn't have it in him to say no to her sensual plea, not when she needed this physical connection in a way that superceded mere sex. He could give her the intimacy her body and soul yearned for, even knowing he'd be sacrificing his own pleasure for hers.

Without a word, he led her back to the bed, pressed her down onto the mattress and positioned himself so that he was half on top of her. With his chest pinned against her lush breasts, he wedged his knee between her thighs and pushed his fingers through her hair, capturing her lips in a hungry, greedy kiss.

She opened to him with a sigh of abandon, welcoming the thrust of his tongue deep inside and meeting it with her own. Ready and willing. Wild and wanton. It was a kiss as seductive as the night, as electrifying as the attraction they'd resisted for too long.

With his free hand, he began a slow, tentative exploration, seeking erogenous zones and all those sensitive feminine places women loved to be stroked and caressed. He trailed his fingers along the silky skin of her neck and shoulders and felt her shiver in response. His hand skimmed lower, until he finally cupped a smooth, firm breast in his palm. He kneaded that generous swell of flesh he'd admired for months now, savored the exquisite feel of her, then rasped his thumb across the pearled tips of her nipples.

She moaned low and deep, and grasping his hair in her fists, she tugged his head down. Knowing instinctively what she wanted, he obeyed her silent command and buried his face between the soft fullness of her breasts. His teeth scraped over one perfect swell, followed by the slow, wet, luxurious lap of his tongue all the way to the burgeoning crest. She gasped in delight, her fingers biting into the muscles of his upper arms as she arched her back, silently begging him for more.

Opening his mouth wide, he suckled her hard and deep, and laved her nipple with the flat of his tongue. Sliding his hand along the curve of her waist and around to her bottom, he rilled his palm with one delectable cheek. He squeezed gently, then slid his fingers to the crease of her knee, pulled her leg over his hip, and rocked slowly, rhythmically against her.

Their position was as intimate as making love, his shaft hot and heavy against the juncture of her thighs. Yet judging by her restless movements and the anxious, needy sounds she made deep in her throat, it wasn't enough. She was on fire, desperate for release, and he sought to give it to her in the most erotic, carnal way possible-for his own pleasure as much as her own.

Moving quickly, fluidly, he sat up and knelt between her sprawled legs. He looked up the length of her gorgeous body to her face, searching for any signs of apprehension, and found nothing but passion and need. The trust she offered him with her body was humbling. She lay there, seductive as sin itself, her lashes half mast, her lips moist and parted, and her white cotton panties drenched with desire. For him. His nostrils flared as he inhaled her heady, arousing scent. He felt huge, hot and throbbing, and he feared he'd come just by looking at her.

"Touch me, Noah," she said, her voice a low, caressing sound that made him a willing slave to her every desire."Please."

Needing a moment to regroup and calm his own racing heart, he lightly strummed his fingers along her flesh through her damp panties, and stopped when he felt her tremble in response. "With my fingers?"

Her breathing deepened, and she nodded. "Yes-"

Grasping the back of her knee, he leaned down and placed hot, damp kisses all the way up her thigh, and stopped short of his ultimate goal. "How about with my mouth?" he said, breathing hot, moist air on her skin.

She squirmed and clutched the sheets in her hands. "Oh, yes."

"What about my tongue?" Moving a bit higher, he delved the tip of his tongue into her navel in lazy, sensuous swirls that made her moan and thrash. "Do you want me to use that, too?"

"Oh, yes-" An impatient sob escaped her. "Noah, stop teasing me, please."

Knowing he'd tormented her enough, he pulled her panties down her long legs and off, tossed them to the floor, and slid his palms back up the insides of her slender thighs until his thumbs finally grazed the outer folds of her feminine flesh. He looked his fill of her, so plump and pink and glistening. And so uninhibited he knew she'd allow him anything at all.

It was a heady, dizzying thought. He raised his gaze to her face, taking in her flushed cheeks and those unwavering blue eyes waiting for him to make her feel alive, and cherished, and desired. It was a simple task from his perspective, and he separated the slick folds of her sex with his fingers and stroked her slowly, seductively. A deep, throaty, on-the-edge moan escaped her, and her body undulated for a more explicit touch.

Done toying with her, he settled himself between her spread thighs, slid his hands beneath her hips, and pressed an intimate, openmouthed kiss at the very heart of her. He nibbled her delicate flesh and gently suckled her swollen clitoris while his fingers continued to explore. She was incredibly sweet and tender, so open and responsive, he knew he'd never get enough of her.

At the first heated, silken swirl of his tongue, her entire body bowed and trembled on the precipice of an orgasm. With the second and third strokes she came with a gut-wrenching and very vocal climax that rippled through him, as well. He ruthlessly took her over the edge, reveling in her satisfaction, in the ecstasy he alone had given her.

While she floated back down from her release, he leisurely kissed his way back up the length of her, drinking in her pale, moonlit flesh and the tiny quivers still reverberating through her body. Her breathing was erratic, and she slid her fingers into his hair, holding him close as he tugged at a nipple with his lips and rolled the straining bead against his tongue before moving up to nuzzle her neck.

He'd thought he'd given her enough pleasure to exhaust her for the night-hell, he was drained and he hadn't had the luxury of coming-yet the provocative, restless way she tried to move over him made him quickly realize that one climax had seemingly only whet her appetite for more.

Her mouth landed on his chest, and her teeth scraped across his nipple, distracting him as her palm slipped down his abdomen and beneath the waistband of his sweatpants. In an aggressive move he hadn't anticipated, she took his hot, rigid penis in her hand and encircled him in a slow, squeezing stroke that made his entire body shake.

His hips bucked instinctively, and a low, guttural groan hissed out between his clenched teeth. Heeding the warning of his own impending orgasm rushing forth, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her fingers away, determined to regain the upper hand with her and the situation.

She looked up with him, her eyes fever-bright and her features just as wild and untamed. "Noah," she whimpered, the sound needy and utterly demanding. She twisted and strained toward him, rubbing her sweet curves against his chest, belly and thighs.

He stretched her arms above her head to maintain control, and held her wrists together with one hand. "Shh, baby," he murmured soothingly in her ear. "I'll give you whatever you need."

"I need you," she said raggedly. "Inside me."

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Her carnal request seared his senses and came damn close to crippling his fortitude. With a strength that nearly killed him, he said, "I don't have any condoms to make love to you. Not that way." They were the hardest words he'd ever spoken, considering he knew he had a few packets in the bathroom's medicine cabinet.

A desperate sound filled the darkened room, and she writhed against his hold. "Please, Noah."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you." He cursed himself for being such a gentleman when he ached to drive deep inside of her and assuage his own raging lust. Then he dipped his head to slide his tongue along her lower lip. "Just relax and stop fighting me."

His mouth came down on hers, hot and hard, and the seduction started all over again. While the first time had been a slow, easy buildup, Noah skipped all coaxing preliminaries and opted for a single-minded approach to assuaging her sexual energy.

His free hand slipped between her thighs, and he finessed her with sleek caresses before slipping one finger, then two, deep inside of her. He delved his thumb against her softly swollen flesh, and she groaned and tried to tug her arms free, but he refused to let her go. He kissed her rapaciously, making love to her not only with his mouth but his hand, as well. His fingers thrust into her in a slow, thick rhythm, and his thumb added to the friction.

He felt her inner muscles contract around his fingers and knew she was on the verge of another orgasm. He lifted his mouth from hers just as she reached the peak, because this time he wanted to watch her as she came for him. Her legs clamped tight around his hand, and her hips surged upward, seeking and taking what he offered.

Her eyes fluttered closed and her head rolled back on the pillow as her body convulsed with a hard, all-consuming release that made her shudder and scream. He didn't stop after the first wave, but ruthlessly pushed her higher, wringing every last bit of tension from her with yet another slow, sinuous orgasm that left her limp and sated. As he gradually brought her back down with tender caresses and soft kisses, she wept his name, and it was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.

He released her hands, and she opened her eyes and glanced up at him with a dreamy smile that told him he'd satisfied her plenty-for tonight, anyway. The woman was utterly insatiable, as though it had been years since she'd allowed herself such sexual freedom and she was making up for lost time.

With a soft, repleted sigh, she snuggled up to his side. Wrapping an arm over his belly, she rested her head on his shoulder and promptly fell asleep, leaving him reeling from the entire episode-and battling with the fiercest erection of his entire life.

He thought about heading to the bathroom to give his body some badly needed relief from the throbbing pressure, but Natalie was draped over him and he didn't want to disturb her or, Lord forbid, wake her up and have the lascivious cycle start all over again. He'd never survive another round.

He inhaled a calming breath and willed himself to relax and focus on what lay ahead for him and Natalie-mainly, to discover the key to her past and the threat looming over her. There was still so much he didn't know about her, so much he didn't understand. Despite all that, there was one thing he knew for absolute certain. He cared for Natalie, and that knowledge shook him up in a way nothing ever had.

The feelings crowding his chest had been completely foreign to him until Natalie. He was falling hard and fast for her, rushing headlong into emotions he'd never before allowed with a woman. He'd always been the one to pull back in a relationship, to withhold, because it was easier and smarter to keep his distance than to get sentimentally involved and get hurt.

Maintaining a light, flirtatious demeanor had come easily to him, and he was beginning to suspect he'd just never come across the right woman to inspire anything deeper, to make him want to take a leap beyond a superficial relationship and take a chance with his emotions.

Natalie, quite possibly, could be that woman. Because for the first time in his adult life he instinctively wanted to give to another person, as well as keep her safe from harm.

He'd never taken care of another person before, had never taken on such a huge responsibility as she presented-not in such a personal, soul-stirring way. Being the strong one in their family, the protector, had always been Cole's job-a huge obligation thrust upon him at such a young age, and one Cole had taken very seriously. It had allowed Noah to adopt a carefree facade that hid a deeper pain and an inner fear of getting too attached to any one person.

His parents' nasty divorce had shaken the foundation of his stable young life, and he'd spent years wondering why a mother who'd claimed to love her children hadn't fought for custody of her two oldest boys, but instead had chosen to rip Joelle from their lives as a way of hurting their father. Her selfish actions had not only pained Noah, but caused him to question what he'd done wrong to make his mother shun him.

In an attempt to make up for that feeling of inadequacy, he'd driven himself to please his father, a man with a heart of gold who made sure all his children knew his affection was unconditional. Noah had thrived on the security and stability of his dad's love, and had been so devastated by his death he still felt the loss.

And now fresh misgivings were rearing their ugly head, because he knew when everything was said and done with Natalie and she regained the memory of her old life, he stood to lose yet another person who'd affected him in such a profound way. A woman who made him realize just how empty and hollow his life had been without her in it.

The revelation caused his heart to thump hard in his chest. Turning his head, he buried his nose in her hair, breathing deeply and losing himself in her scent. He resigned himself to the fact that he had no choice but to take things one day at a time with her and hope that she didn't resent him when her memory returned. He also prayed that when that day of reckoning came, she'd understand that he'd used her genuine desire and trust as a way to protect her.