A Touch of Silk by Lori Wilde

his head, he reached out and tenderly traced her lips with his thumb. She shivered beneath his caress, and the shot of adrenaline that jumped into his gut floored him.
    Control, Scofield. Control.
    “Oh, no, my sweet, not so fast,” Quinn said, when what he wanted to do more than anything in the world was strip that velvet dress over her head, rip off those long johns and make messy, wet, hot love to her.
    “What do you mean?” she whispered, her eyes growing wide.
    “A proper seduction takes time.”
    “Oh, yes? How much time?” She seemed alarmed.
    “Depends.”
    “On what?”
    He grinned wickedly. “When you’re ready.”
    “I’m ready tonight,” she said a bit peevishly. She narrowed her eyes at him and he understood her frustration. If she thought she was frustrated now, she was in for a big shock.
    “No, you’re not.”
    “Yes, I am.”
    “Listen, sweetheart, we’re doing this my way or not at all. Got that?”
    She glared at him, crossed her arms over her chest, flipped one knee over the other. “I’m not sure I like this.”
    “Before I make love to you, you’ll have to eject that uptight demeanor.”
    “I’m not uptight.”
    “Arms crossed, legs crossed. Babe, you’re closed up tighter than Glacier Bay in January.”
    “So you do think I’m frigid.”
    “No! Okay, that was a bad analogy. I do not think you’re frigid. But in order for you to get the full sexual experience, you’re going to have to relax. And before you can do that, you’re going to have to trust me completely.”
    “And how long will this take?” she asked, purposely uncrossing both her arms and her legs to show she was ready, willing and able to start trusting and relaxing right now.
    He lowered his head, his mouth almost on hers. He smelled the fruity scent of champagne on her lips. Right then and there he almost caved. He barely resisted the urge to capture that sassy mouth with his once more.
    “Don’t worry,” he whispered huskily. “You’ll know.”

    EXHAUSTION CLAIMED her mind, haunted her body. Kay had spent the rest of the night in her lonely bed at Jake Gerard’s B&B pining for a man who was bent on serving up sweet torture.
    And in between the tossing and turning, she had been consumed with rampant fantasies about Quinn. In one scenario he was a wild-eyed pirate who kidnapped and savaged her repeatedly in the hold of his ship. In another fantasy she was a domineering amazon who kept him chained in the basement for her pleasure. In yet another vision he was a wounded soldier fighting for the other side, and she was a caring nursemaid who hid him in her father’s barn.
    Ack!
    She was slowly losing her ever-loving mind. She had to stop thinking about Quinn. She had work to do. An article to write. She was going to get dressed, go out on the town and explore Bear Creek. She refused to dwell on the fact that he wouldn’t make love to her yet and put her out of her misery.
    Groaning, she threw back the covers and crept out of bed, stripping off her nightgown and heading straight for the shower. Standing under the stream of hot water, she kept thinking about what Quinn had said.
    You’re not ready.
    Well, how the hell did he know what she was ready for? He barely knew her. But in a way that was what made this whole venture so exciting. Knowing she would never see him again after her trip to Alaska, having this fabulous memory of her sexual adventure and possessing a wistful fondness for the man who showed her that she was all woman. This knowledge was the only thing that had given her the courage to express her true desires to him. To ask him to become her mentor in love.
    So here she was, with her fanny on the line, ready, willing and able for action. And Quinn had been the one to put the brakes on.
    She soaped her hair but in an instant she was fantasizing again. She saw Quinn in the shower, massaging the shampoo into her scalp, then rinsing her hair.
    Her belly clenched with heated desire as she