Chapter Six
Noah was so engrossed in work that he didn't hear or see Natalie enter his office until a small square packet dropped right on top of the paperwork he was reviewing. It took him a few seconds to recognize what had landed on his desk, but once the knowledge sank in, his stomach gave a sharp twist of dread.
Reluctantly, he glanced up and found Natalie standing on the other side of his desk, hands on her slender hips, her eyes blazing accusation, and her expression pinched with impatience.
He inwardly cringed. Oh, man, was he ever in trouble.
'What happened to the bandage on your cheek?' he asked in a quick attempt to deflect the attention off of him.
Her narrowed gaze told him she wasn't about to fall for his switch in topic. 'I don't give a damn about my cheek at the moment. I'd rather you explain
Very calmly, he picked up the incriminating evidence and turned it over in his fingers, taking a long, drawn-out moment to examine it and buy himself some extra time. 'Well, I have to say that it looks like a condom to me.'
'Don't be a smart-ass, Noah,' she said irritably, and pinned him with a direct look. 'That's not what I meant and you know it. I can see for myself that it's a condom. What I want to know is why you lied about having any in the house.'
He leaned back in his chair and affected a casual shrug. Ignoring the hurt and confusion in her eyes was a tad more difficult. 'Because I don't think you're ready to make love.'
Soft, dry laughter escaped her. 'Don't you think that's a decision I can make for myself?'
Feeling uneasy at the direction this conversation was taking, he stood and stuffed the client information he'd been reviewing back into its proper file and set it aside. 'You have amnesia, sweetheart, so I'm trying to make the decision
'And how long do you think I need until I can handle making love with you? A week? A month? A year?' She rounded the desk and boldly maneuvered herself between him and his desk so that they were aligned from chests to thighs, forcing him to acknowledge her and their sizzling attraction.
As if he could ignore it.
That quick, he grew hard and stiff with wanting her, his erection fitting perfectly at the crux of her thighs. Her fiery mood and determination turned him on, and he knew he had to do something fast or he'd succumb to her seductive scheme. Just as he attempted to take a safe step away from her for much-needed space, she grabbed his shirt and held him in place.
She rose up on her toes, putting her mouth inches below his. 'I want you so badly, Noah, I ache with it.' She lowered her lashes and nipped lightly at his jaw, then used her soft tongue to soothe the love bite. 'Stop treating me like a fragile piece of glass. I swear I won't break.'
Bracing his hands on either side of her hips on the desk to keep from touching her, he shuddered and groaned, holding fast to his dwindling resolve. 'Natalie-'
'Don't tell me no.' The plea was heartfelt and brimmed with a wealth of emotion as her lips traveled up to his ear. 'I need the closeness and intimacy of making love with you. I might have lost parts of my memory, but not my desire for you. That's stronger than ever.'
Noah squeezed his eyes shut as he battled between right and wrong. The words she'd just spoken were so honest, saying so much about her feelings for him-that while she'd turned him down for nine months, her indifference had been a ruse. She'd wanted him, too, and without those memories of keeping her distance, she was allowing her emotions and passions to run wild and free.
Seemingly taking his silence as acquiescence, she pulled his shirt from the waistband of his jeans, shoved it up and over his head and tossed it to the floor at their feet. She flattened her palms on his bare chest, and her breathing deepened as she caressed his taut, heated flesh and strummed her fingers down to his hard abdomen.
Arousal surged through his bloodstream and arrowed straight to his groin. His erection pulsed against the fly of his snug jeans, making a mockery of the release he'd given himself that morning in the shower.
Bolder still, she dragged her tongue along the shell of his ear, then dipped inside. 'I'm wet with the thought of having you deep inside of me, Noah,' she said huskily, and lifted one of her legs high along his thigh so that she could rub herself against his erection. 'Touch me and you'll see for yourself.'
His fingers curled into tight fists against the hardwood desk as he fought the temptation to obey her request.
She gave him no choice. Grabbing his wrist, she slid his hand under the hem of her dress and up her smooth thigh, then pressed his fingers against the damp panel of cotton covering her mound. 'Oh, yes,' she breathed, a pleased, dreamy smile tipping the corner of her mouth.
He swallowed hard, which did nothing to calm the chaotic buzz of lust and need clamoring inside him. She was so damned brazen and sensual, her feminine confidence affecting him on a purely masculine level that made him want to drive into her, hard and fast and deep. She trusted him to take her body, to give her the physical intimacy she craved-he could see the certainty in her eyes, her expression beckoning him to fulfill every one of her sexual fantasies.
And he knew in that moment that he wouldn't be able to refuse her this time-wouldn't be able to refuse himself, no matter how wrong it might be to make love to her. Her memory might be skewed, but her desire for him was very real. And that's all he needed to know to assuage his own misgivings and set his hunger for her free.
Without warning, he lowered his head, crushed his lips to hers and swallowed her gasp of surprise. It took her only a handful of seconds to respond to his rapacious kiss, to welcome the thrust of his tongue into the silky, heated depths of her mouth. As they both indulged in the rough, delicious embrace, he knew there would be nothing slow, romantic or easy about this first joining.
Without breaking their kiss, he reached behind her and ruthlessly swept aside the items on his desk. Grasping her waist in his hands, he lifted her up onto the surface, heedless of the cramped space offered by the desk cluttered with his computer and other office paraphernalia. They wouldn't need much room for what he had in mind.
With his mouth, lips and tongue consuming hers, he shoved the skirt of her dress up to her hips and out of the way. He pushed her knees apart, spreading her legs so that he fit in between and his throbbing erection nestled at the heart of her femininity. She locked her feet against the back of his hardened thighs to hold him in place, and gyrated her hips in a slow, circular motion. He felt the heat and dewy moisture from her panties saturating through the denim of his jeans, and he growled at the raw, untamed sensation that ripped through him.
Abruptly, she ended the kiss and leaned back, bracing her hands on the desk behind her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she panted for breath, and her eyes were heavy lidded with arousal, the irises a sultry shade of blue. 'Open the front of my dress, Noah,' she whispered invitingly. 'I want your mouth on my breasts.'
He didn't hesitate, and immediately tackled the buttons that kept her so modestly covered. Once the blouse portion of her dress was undone, he spread the sides open wide. Leaning forward, he lavished kisses over the soft swells of her breasts overflowing her bra and dipped his tongue along the deep cleavage in between.
She shivered and reverently whispered his name.
Wanting her upper body naked, he pulled the dress and straps of her bra off her shoulders and down her arms until her breasts were bared and the bunched material tightened at the crease of her elbow. She shifted, trying to lift her hands from the desk so that she could slip out of the sleeves, but he stopped her before she could follow through on her intent.
'Don't move,' he ordered, liking the way her current position kept him in total control. 'I want you to keep your hands right where they are.'
Excitement glowed in her gaze and her skin flushed in anticipation. Burying a hand into her thick hair, he tangled his fingers through the soft strands and tugged her head back so that her slender throat was completely exposed to him. Driven by something primitive and possessive that overruled his common sense, he placed his open mouth on her arched neck and grazed his tongue across her delicate skin. He found a particular sensitive spot that made her shiver and drew that tender flesh between his teeth. He nipped and suckled, and did something he'd
