Janelle Denison - Seduced

Very softly, imploringly, he said, "Just this once, make something easy on me, okay? And maybe you could trust me a little, too?"

He saw her internal struggle, and waited patiently, knowing he couldn't do this unless he had her complete and total consent. After a few heartbeats, her expression softened in agreement, and she granted him the permission he sought by sliding her bottom onto the table where he'd indicated.

"Perfect," he murmured, then withdrew the tie from his front pocket. Gradually, he let it unravel. With mesmerizing slowness, he threaded the cool silk through his hands and fingers, and finally wrapped the tapered ends around his fists.

She dampened her bottom lip with her tongue as she watched him manipulate the strip of silk. He expected her to be nervous, and he supposed on some levelshe was uncertain, but there was no mistaking the glimmer of anticipation that darkened her eyes.

It was all the reassurance he needed.

Her gaze traveled from the taut fabric in his hands, to his face. "What do you intend to do with that tie?" she asked, her voice husky.

"I'm going to blindfold you."

Jessica shivered at the direct, male look in Ryan's deep brown eyes, the unmistakable seductive intent… but she wasn't afraid. She was suddenly very aware of the heat of his body, the reckless racing of her pulse, and the spiraling warmth settling low in her belly.

He loosened his hold on the tie, and the silk whispered through his long fingers again. The erotic sound strummed along her nerve endings just as effectively, awakening an undeniable excitement within her.

She struggled to draw a steady breath. For as titillating as she found his suggestion, she wasn't sure why shielding her vision was necessary. "Why do you need to blindfold me?"

"So you'll get the full effect of my experiment."

Stepping in front of her, he leaned forward to cover her eyes. When her locked knees brushed his groin, she automatically parted her legs to make room for him… and realized her mistake. He moved closer, nudging her thighs wider to accommodate his lean hips, making her far too aware of how intimate their position was.

Their close proximity didn't seem to bother him. "Being blindfolded will heighten your other senses,like the texture of the cake, the flavor, the smell. And I don't want you cheating and knowing ahead of time what you'retasting."

He wasn't proposing anything indecent, or sexual even, yet as darkness descended over her eyes and she felt his fingers tying a knot in the scrap of silk at the back of her head, a strange, forbidden thrill rippled through her. Once he had her blindfold secure, he gently tucked the sides of her hair behind her ears-to make sure the strands didn't get sticky with cake and frosting, she was guessing. But his touch lingered longer than necessary. His fingers traced the delicate, sensitive shell of her ears, and his knuckles lightly skimmed along her jaw.

Her breasts tightened in response to his caress, and she managed a breathless laugh. "Is touching me part of your experiment?"

"I'm just making sure your senses are alert."

Her senses were electrified, and more alive than they'd ever been before. And she had no idea where his eyes were, but she felt themeverywhere. She resisted the urge to squirm.

"How many fingers am Iholding up?" he asked.

A teasing smile touched the corner of her mouth. "Two and a half."

He chuckled, and the masculine timbre of that sound shimmied down her spine with impossible pleasure. "Good. Your vision is definitely impaired."

He moved away for a moment, she heard a box opening and other sounds she couldn't identify, and then he returned to the cove between her thighs.

"Here's the first one," he said, and brushed her bottom lip with the confection.

She parted her lips at his urging and took a dainty bite of what he offered. Immediately, she identified it as the white cake. It was moist with a buttercream frosting… and very ordinary tasting. She kept her revelation to herself, still believing vanilla was their safest bet to please thirty people.

"This is the vanilla for sure," she said as she chewed and swallowed. "Are you eating it, too?"

"I'll skip this one." Another box opened. "I already know how bland and boring vanilla is."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "I can hardly wait to taste whatyou selected. Fruitcake, maybe?"

That deep, rich laugh again. And then two things assailed her senses at the same time as he took his place in front of her. The delectable fragrance of chocolate, and a burning sensation where he rested his palm on her thigh. The combination nearly short-circuited her central nervous system.

With effort, she concentrated on the scent wafting beneath her nose. "Chocolate?" she guessed.

"Ahh, but this isn't your ordinary chocolate cake."

She inhaled deeply, catching a whiff of something richer and more decadent. Since he wasn't forthcoming with the flavor, she sampled it for herself. Cocoa, a hint of coffee in the frosting and filling, and chocolate mocha candy shavings that all but melted in her mouth.

"Oh, wow," she murmured appreciatively. She licked a crumb from the corner of her mouth, feeling ravenous and greedy. "Can I have another bite?"

"I thought you might like that one." He fed her another morsel, and slowly dragged his fingers along her lower lip. "It's called Chocolate Mocha Rapture."

Rapture.Her eyes rolled heavenward. Oh, yeah, she'd definitely been transported to another plane. Her body felt flushed, drugged, heavy.Aroused.

He pressed a chilled plastic bottle in her hand and urged it up to her mouth. "Take a drink to cleanse your palate. I don't want anything to taint the next flavor."

Though the water was cold and refreshing sliding down her throat, it did nothing to extinguish the flames Ryan's "experiment" had ignited. Setting the bottle next to her on the table, she waited anxiously for the next dessert.

"Now here we have something sweet andvery sinful."

Her nostrils flared as a luscious aroma consumed her senses. Her stomach rumbled, and she licked her lips in anticipation.

"Open up," he murmured.

She did, and groaned as an exquisite flavor filled her mouth. Ripe strawberries. Whipped cream filling. A light, fluffy frosting. Shavings of white chocolate. She was certain she'd died and gone to heaven.

"More?" he asked, seemingly knowing exactly what she liked.

She nodded, beyond caring that she wanted to overload her senses with the lush sensuality of Ryan's taste test, or that he'd probably gloat later over proving his point that vanilla was a bland choice. She'd never savored such divine recipes, never felt so seduced by tastes and textures.

"Please," she said, parting her lips for him. She took such a huge, devouring bite that the cream filling oozed out of the middle. Instinctively, she lifted her hand to stop the flow, and by luck caught the dollop in her palm, but not before she'd smeared it along her chin, too.

"Argh." The sound of distress caught in her throat. Then, unable to help herself, she laughed with frivolous lightness. "I'm making a mess. I hope you brought napkins."

"Don't need 'em," he replied, his voice infused with amusement, and something far more mischievous. "I'll take care of the spills and leftovers."

She assumed he meant to clean up later when they were done, so she wasn't prepared for his more resourceful method. He caught her wrist and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt his warm mouth nibble off the portion of cake stuck to her palm. A hot ache spread through her as his teeth grazed her flesh, and she all but melted when he thoroughly laved her fingers, then flicked his tongue wickedly along the crevices between. And when he was done with her hand, he went to work on her chin, eating the crumbs and licking away the frosting and filling with agonizingly slow laps of his tongue.

He indulged in her as ifshe were dessert

"Delicious, and so sweet," he murmured, his low voice vibrating against her cheek.

A sultry pressure coiled low as she waited anxiously for him to complete his task and make his way to her mouth and kiss her deeply…

It never happened. As if he hadn't completely turned her inside out with wanting, he moved away and returned to the business at hand, selecting another cake for her to try. This one was Butter Brickle Ecstasy, and it was everything the name implied… pure, unadulterated bliss for the taste buds.

With each sampling, he tempted and teased her, and she luxuriated in the provocative pleasures he evoked. He used his lips and tongue to clean up the sticky messes she deliberately made, yet always stopped short of kissing her mouth.

Frustration nipped at her. She wanted to take off the blindfold and participate without hindrance-and entice him in return. He insisted it remain, or the experiment ended.

He won, because she wasn't ready or willing to forfeit the delightful confections still to come.

He went on to feed her Fuzzy Navel Cake drenched with peach schnapps that she couldn't seem to get enough of, and a melt-in-your-mouth champagne cake with French buttercream frosting that made her feel giddy and drunk-not on alcohol, but the insatiable desire he was gradually building within her.

But it was the last selection that completely undid her: moist chocolate cake layered with chocolate mousse, drizzled with creamy caramel, and topped with a cloud of whipped cream and chunks of butter toffee. This cake was gooey, messy, but a sumptuous feast that tantalized her mouth and pleased her belly.

She moaned deep in her throat as the contents dissolved on her tongue and slid down her throat like honeyed silk. "This cake isincredible. What is it called?"