Page 24 of Pleasure Control

Without giving him the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to her, she repeated in a firm voice, “Like I said, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk about my lab partner like that.”

He ignored her and moved closer, a suggestive edge to his smile. “How about tonight, Laura? Would you like to go out? Or stay in? I could bring Chinese to your place. Or you could cook for me.”

Charming.

Lord, the man was getting bolder by the day. Thank God his three-month contract expired next month and he’d be leaving. Otherwise she’d seriously threaten him with a sexual harassment complaint.

She gripped her duffel bag until her knuckles turned white. “Tonight Jay and I are working.” She glanced Jay’s way. As though sensing her distress, Jay caught her gaze. The annoyed look on her face triggered a reaction from him. It amazed her how well they read each other. Jay arched a brow and took a step toward them. Laura gave a tight nod, indicating she had things under control.

Max drove his hands into his pockets. ?

??Tomorrow, then?”

Couldn’t the man take a hint? Or even a direct comment?

“Working,” she replied, turning her back to him.

“I’d like to show you how a woman really should be treated,” he mumbled under his breath.

She gritted her teeth, twisted back around, and added, “Just for the record, Max. I already know how a woman should be treated.”

Jay had personally seen to that. Too bad she’d never again experience his gentle hands caressing her naked flesh, or his sensuous kisses on her mouth, her breasts, or between her thighs. A fine tingle played down her spine as she took pleasure in the memories.

Nope, she’d never experience such perfection again.

Unless, of course, she switched the vials.

Bloody hell!

Chapter 6

With a mustard-covered hot dog in one hand and lemonade in the other, Jay moved through the house in search of Laura. He’d seen her enter through the patio doors earlier, but she’d yet to come back out. What could be keeping her?

Unlike most of the other women at the bonding session, Laura wasn’t the type to spend hours fussing with her appearance. He paused for a moment to realize how refreshing he found that.

Maybe she was hiding from Max. Jay felt a surge of anger rise in him. Whether Laura wanted him to or not, he resolved to take care of that guy once and for all.

Using his elbow, he knocked on the closed bathroom door. “Laura, are you in there?”

When a man’s voice answered, Jay suspected she was elsewhere in the house. After a thorough search of the main floor had turned up nothing, he moved toward the staircase. Perhaps she’d gone to the upstairs bathroom to change. Since Jay had spent way too many bonding sessions at the house, he knew the layout like the back of his hand. He climbed the stairs two at a time, and strode down the long hallway.

He found the bathroom door ajar. With the tip of his toe he pushed on it. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but no sound vocalized as the vision before him sent his thoughts scattering in a million different directions.

Dressed in nothing but her very revealing white silky bra and matching lace panties, she was bent over the sink so enthralled in scribbling in a notepad, she hadn’t even heard his approach. Her long chestnut hair fanned forward, curtaining her face, cloaking him from her line of vision.

As he stood in mute fascination, his breath rushed from his lungs. His mind raced, searching for the perfect words to describe the sensuous image before him.

He remained motionless as heated blood flowed thick and heavy through his veins. He took a long moment to gaze at her near-nakedness. Her angelic beauty floored him. His body reacted with urgent demands. God, he was so aware of her, her every breath, her every movement, her every sexy curve. Pressure brewed deep in his groin. His dry throat cracked.

Sun rays streamed through the window and spilled over her soft angles as he registered every delicious detail. With her back arched and one knee bent forward, she had her ass tipped up in the air, affording him a view of her voluptuous contours.

Sweet Mother of God!

As his dick rose to the occasion, he acknowledged just how much he loved all her soft, cushiony, womanly curves.

Everything about her stance beckoned him and bombarded his body with a primal hunger unlike anything he’d ever before experienced.

His muscles bunched.

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