Jennifer Probst - Heart of Steel

“Does everyone deserve a chance? Or just the people you can keep at a safe distance?”

She pushed back her heavy mane of hair. “I don’t keep myself at a distance. I always try to give something of myself to people.”

“Even men?”

She bristled at his comment. “Everyone. Men and woman. I don’t draw distinctions between the two. If you’re talking about a romantic sense I’m bound to disappoint you. I never get involved with my students or my business partners.”

He raised an eyebrow at her warning. “Doesn’t leave a lot of territory open now, does it?”

She rose from the sofa and wondered how this man got her so defensive on the subject of her love life. Or lack of it. She glared at him. “Quantity is not my concern, Logan. Quality is what makes a relationship work, and I can guarantee I won’t find that with a man making a six figure salary, but is too busy to come home at night. I need more.”

He studied her in silence. Intensity radiated around him. She struggled to take a deep breath, suddenly afraid of him, of the powerful emotions that crackled in the room like a burst of summer lightning. She backed away a bit. He was no longer her charming dinner companion, but a dangerous man who seemed to feel something she couldn’t understand.

And she was alone with him.

Slowly, Logan stood up and placed the snifter on the table. He crossed the room in two strides and stopped before her. “Your apartment suits you.” His voice vibrated through her body like a caress. “It reminds me of a woman filled with life—one who uses every moment to feel pleasure.”

His hot steel gaze burned her. She stared, transfixed by his words and his voice and the heat that emanated from his body. “But at the same time there’s a part of you that remains in control, selfishly contained in a small, dark space. That part is cold and clinical, and vows to never melt into the other.”

He took the glass from her hand, set it beside his, then moved closer. The back of his hand caressed her face. “You hold yourself back, Chandler, waiting for someone who will never come; a fantasy figure who seems safer than a man of flesh and blood, a man who will probably make mistakes and possibly hurt you. But the man you deny yourself could also make your spirit soar. You’re too afraid to reach out and take him.”

He pulled her towards him with slow, deliberate movements. His warm breath penetrated her hair as his arms pressed her body into his. “Don’t run from me.” His voice commanded, whispered, in her ear. Then his mouth came down on hers.

Caught in the fog enveloping her mind, Chandler held herself perfectly still in his embrace. Her senses were overwhelmed by his unique scent as it mingled with his cologne. The heat of his kiss and the coiled power of his hard body ignited a raw sensual energy that threatened to engulf her.

Frantically, she realized the position she’d put herself in. Chandler knew he intended to prove her wrong regarding her attraction to corporate executives. By her denial, she’d waved a bright red flag in front of him and challenged his ego. She needed to remain calm and let him kiss her. He'd realize his mistake, apologize, and they’d continue their business arrangement and avoid future pitfalls.

Logan immediately felt her refusal to respond to him. Obviously, his yoga teacher held on to her rational thoughts and treated him as an experiment. He clamped down hard on the fierce need that raced through his body to make her surrender to her emotions, as he’d been forced to. He deliberately relaxed his hold and eased the pressure of the kiss, moving his lips teasingly over hers, inviting her to kiss him back. Slowly, he sipped at her mouth as if she were a precious drink of water in the hot desert sun, learning her taste and texture. Nibbling at her lower lip, his tongue teased its pouty outline as he continued a maddening game of arousal and retreat attempting to both sooth and ignite her.

Chandler unconsciously pressed her body closer to his, seeking something more to quench the fire in her belly that suddenly flamed to life.

The strong hands that had first dragged her to his embrace now glided over her shoulders and down her arms in a gentle caress. His fingers smoothed her flesh through the sheer black silk and made her wonder what his touch would feel like on her bare skin. Her mind clamored for her to push him away when his grip loosened, but her body longed to feel the promise behind his teasing kiss. The blood pumped through her veins with each deliberate movement of his hands and mouth.

Logan’s mouth brushed hers, then withdrew. He pulled his hands through her thick hair, rubbing each strand between his fingers in slow, easy movements. He lightly touched the tips of her breasts which immediately hardened under her stretch lace bodysuit. A moan escaped her lips.

“Open your mouth for me, Chandler,” he whispered. And then he was inside. His tongue pushed through the seam of her lips, glided over the smoothness of her teeth, and plunged into the slick recess of her mouth to engage in a passionate battle. He drank in her taste with a hunger she could no longer fight. Her arms slid up and around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

He crushed her soft, full breasts against his chest and insinuated one thigh between her legs, pushing her slightly off balance. Deftly, he undid the buttons of her silk blouse down to her waist and slipped it off her shoulders. The material fell away and cool air kissed her flesh, making her shiver. He dragged his mouth away and took in her swollen lips. “Do you realize how much I want you?” She trembled as his fingers stroked her breast. Her nipple rose into his palm as his thumb made teasing circles. “I knew it would be like this between us.”

Logan eased the stretchy black bodysuit over her shoulders and exposed her naked breasts to his gaze. He plucked her tight nipples, murmuring in satisfaction as she arched upward and silently begged for more. His fingers sunk into the hair at her nape and tugged her head back to drop over his arm. “God, you're beautiful."

Chandler felt like a pagan goddess about to be sacrificed. Her hair hung down her bare back, her breasts tilted upward, naked to his gaze and waiting for his mouth. Her body greedily demanded the pleasure this powerful man could give her, needing to be rid of the constraints her mind imposed over her many years of discipline. When was the last time she let a man pleasure her? For the first time, Chandler realized by letting her body take over, she felt gloriously free.

His warm breath teased her nipple as he lowered himself over her and opened his mouth fully over her breast. Throaty moans escaped her lips as he bestowed pleasure, bringing her to a fevered pitch of longing, knowing there was more. She became sensitized to the scrape of his teeth, the stroking of his tongue, the touch of his lips. A throbbing ache settled between her thighs. Overwhelmed by the sensation of being totally possessed, she sank into a place where only pleasure ruled. All her seething emotions and erotic desires, long hidden, suddenly burst free.

When Logan swept her up into his arms and carried her to the sofa, there was no thought in her mind to protest. He pressed her deep into the cushions, fully removed her blouse, and further pushed her bodysuit down to her waist. His leg lay heavily over hers, causing the slits in her skirt to fall open to mid-thigh.

“Touch me.”

His softly spoken demand made her tremble as she tugged the turtleneck out of his waistband and pushed the material upward, sliding her fingers beneath. She lingered over his hard stomach, tracing the swirling pattern of dark hair that covered his torso. He groaned when her nail brushed his flat nipple, causing her to pull back, unsure. When he remained perfectly still, her fingers retraced her path with wonder. His chest rose as he dragged in air. The crisp hairs tickled her palms as her gaze followed the dark line past his stomach to pause at the edge of his belt buckle.