Page 34 of Pleasure Control

“No.” Laura cracked her window and drew a breath.

Erin leaned forward, her dark eyes wide in disbelief. “No? He wasn’t great? Or no, you didn’t finish what you started?”

“I wouldn’t use the word great, Erin. It was more like amazing, mind-blowing, and earth-shattering. And no, we didn’t finish what we started.” Laura shrugged. “No condoms.”

An impatient sigh filled the car. “Girl, have you learned nothing from me?” She reached into her dash and grabbed a handful of super-sized prophylactics and dangled them in front of Laura.

Erin raised an inquisitive brow. “I take it he needs extra-large?” she inquired hopefully.

Laura gave a tight nod and swallowed as she recalled his magnificent girth. “Oh yeah,” she squeaked out, and linked her hands together.

Erin grinned. “If you want him again, and if you want to finish what you started, seduce him. That’s what I’d do.” She stuffed the condoms in Laura’s bag. “And keep a stash of these with you at all times. You never know what might pop up.”

A short while later, after Erin had dropped her off at her building, Laura made her way inside. As she pulled open the security door, her thoughts returned to Jay. Heck, who was she kidding, her thoughts didn’t return to Jay, they had never left him.

God, she couldn’t believe that they’d ravished each other like that in the director’s bathroom. Nor could she believe the erotic, stimulating things they did with the ice cubes. She’d never been so bold, so daring, so naughty. Or so reckless.

Even though the sex was fantastic, the more time she spent in Jay’s arms, the deeper her emotions spiraled out of control. And to think they had to test the suppressant again. A shiver made its way down her spine.

Jay had said her brilliance amazed him. In fact, he said it did more than just amaze him, and proved that fact to her in orgasmic ways. For a moment Laura pondered the situation. Was Erin right? Did Jay have it bad for her or was it the libido enhancer ruling his actions?

Suddenly Max’s words came back to haunt her. “You’d just be another notch on his bedpost.”

Even if Jay did find her attractive, he was a playboy—a renowned playboy who wasn’t searching for anything more than a wild time.

They simply slept together. Lots of people slept together and it didn’t mean they were in love. She swallowed the knot in her throat and pushed those thoughts to the far corners of her mind.

Exhaustion settled into her bones as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. She’d like nothing more than to go to bed and crash for a week but she knew she couldn’t go to sleep yet. She had to meet Jay at the lab to test her theory.

Just as she prepared to put her key into the lock, she noticed her door was ajar. She straightened in surprise. Had she forgotten to lock it earlier that morning in her haste to make it to that ball game?

When she inched the door open and peered inside, blackness greeted her. Taking one tiny step, she reached for the light switch. Glass crunched beneath her feet. Her heart lurched in her chest and her thoughts raced as air rushed from her lungs in a loud whoosh.

Before she had time to quietly tiptoe out of there, someone, a very big someone, came barreling into the hallway, knocking her backward. Her head hit the wall and her legs went out from underneath her. She winced in pain as she crumpled to the floor.

The intruder’s footsteps pounded down the hallway like thunder as he bolted down the stairwell and out the main door.

It took her a few minutes to pull herself together and gather the strength to rise. Crawling to her feet, Laura stood there, blinking, dazed, trying to figure out what in the heck had just happened.

Erin’s voice sounded from behind. Laura spun around. The quick movement made her dizzy.

“Whoa,” she mumbled, groping for the wall to right herself.

Erin put her arm around Laura’s waist and balanced her. “Laura, what happened? I saw a man running from the building.”

“Call Detective Doyle; his card is on my counter. I think I just ran into the guy who broke into the lab.”

Jay hurried to the research center, grabbed a quick shower in their lab changing room, and dressed in a spare pair of jeans and T-shirt that he kept stashed in his locker. He spent the next hour carefully preparing and heating the new compound. Once completed, he filled a syringe and administered the shot to Clyde. Ever since he’d given the rat an enhancer fifteen minutes earlier, the little guy had been stalking around his cage like a wild panther in search of Bonnie, in search of relief. He knew the feeling well.

Although he had to admit, his sleeping with Laura the previous night had nothing to do with the libido enhancer surging through his body. Oh no. Not at all. He’d slept with Laura because he was damn well crazy about her. What he experienced with her, inside the bedroom and out, was unique, extraordinary, something he’d never experienced with another woman. Or ever would.

He loved everything about her. Her beautiful face, hair, and body. He even found the way she nibbled on her bottom lip endearing. He loved her spirited energy and dedication to her work. He loved her sense of adventure and how she had maintained her humor at the ball game, even when she got bowled over. A low chuckle sounded in his throat. Talk about taking one for the team. Jay especially loved her intelligence. Not only did she arouse

his libido, she stimulated his mind. No other woman had ever done that.

Realization dawned. The deeper emotions he felt with Laura proved he wasn’t incapable of love, like he’d thought, like he’d always been told. It wasn’t that he was a total Cutler clone. Not at all. It was simply that the right woman had never come along and opened his heart.

The significance of his thoughts didn’t elude him.

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