Page 15 of Just One Silver Fox

“It was an awesome Cleopatra costume. She knew I wouldn’t be able to resist.”

“The great temptress of the Nile,” Nate teased and to his relief, Sonia laughed, her usual mood restored.

“We all have our fantasies.” She turned, hiding her smile from him, and Nate was right behind her as she climbed the stairs. He let his hand settle on the back of her waist and she slowed down as if she liked the weight of it there. He spread his fingers so that his hand spanned her lower back and she flicked a hot glance over her shoulder, one guaranteed to get his blood simmering. At the next landing, he moved a little closer, and started tracing circles on her spine with his thumb. He didn’t think he needed to tell her that this was meshing beautifully with one of his own fantasies.

“You’re dangerous,” she whispered.

“I try.”

Her laugh was one of surprise. “If this is the real you, I wish you’d snapped back sooner.”

“You and me both.” They smiled at each other for an endless moment and the temperature seemed to rise all around them. They ascended the next flight of stairs side by side. “What’s the fantasy about Cleopatra?” he asked.

“Just who she was.”

“A dead Egyptian queen?”

“A legendary seductress who could get any man she wanted and hold onto him forever.” Sonia sighed as if she thought that was out of the question for her.

Which was the interesting part to her, the seductress or the forever bit? Nate could guess. “Like Marc Antony?”

“One look and he was lost. I’d love some of that magic.”

Had the sympathy sex been with some asshole who had broken her heart? Nate felt a familiar protective urge rise again. “Don’t underestimate yourself.”

She smiled. “You’re being sweet again.”

“Just honest.”

“I know my limits. I’m no temptress.”

“Aren’t you?” They reached the next landing. Nate took a step closer and slid his hand up her back in a proprietary gesture. She shivered and leaned against him, her lips parting. He speared his fingers into her hair, capturing the nape of her neck, then bent to kiss her lightly. She shivered, melting against him in a way that made him halfway forget they were still in the foyer. “I find you tempting,” he whispered and it was all true. “You smell good.”

“So do you,” she whispered.

He flicked his tongue across her earlobe then grazed it with his teeth. “You taste good,” he murmured, pulling back to look her in the eyes. “I’ll bet you taste better somewhere else,” he whispered.

Sonia inhaled sharply, her gaze locking with his. “You don’t have to do that.”

That asshole! Nate hoped he never found out who it was.

“What if I want to?” He leaned closer and whispered in her ear again. “I like it, a lot.”

Sonia shivered and leaned closer again. “Why?”

“Oh, it’s sexy,” he murmured, his lips against her ear. He could feel the flutter of her pulse and her quick intakes of breath. “I’ll be able to feel your heart race and your body get hotter. I’ll taste you getting wetter and feel you getting more aroused. I’ll be able to make sure it lasts and lasts until you think you can’t stand it anymore.”

“You’ll make me crazy.”

“That’s the idea,” Nate promised, then stole a lingering kiss.

Sonia caught her breath and backed away abruptly, looking both excited and flustered. The air crackled and sizzled between them, then she quickly pivoted. She seized his hand and tugged him onward.

“We’ll give Celeste a heart attack,” she whispered, indicating the door to a unit that faced the front of the house. Nate saw two shadows beneath the door and guessed that this Celeste was the building busybody.

Sonia hurried up the next flight of stairs, those heels clicking.

Nate followed, enjoying the view and the feel of her hand in his. He would not think about stairways to heaven.

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