Feeling the Heat by Brenda Jackson

was his lazy perusal or his intense gaze—whenever she looked into his eyes there was no doubt about what was on his mind. More than once she’d looked up from her microscope to find those penetrating dark eyes trained directly on her.
    It didn’t take much to get her juices flowing, literally, and for the past week he’d been doing a pretty good job of it. She knew he enjoyed getting on her last nerve, and it seemed that particular nerve was a hot wire located right at the juncture of her thighs.
    She had tried pouring her full concentration into her work. All the test results on the tissues had come back negative. Although they suspected that some deadly virus had killed those five people, as of yet the team hadn’t been able to pinpoint a cause, or come up with conclusive data to support their hypothesis. The granules were still a mystery, and so far they had not been able to trace the source. The Indian government was determined not to make a big to-do about what they considered nothing and wouldn’t let them test any others who’d gotten sick but had recovered. The team had reported their findings to Washington. The only thing left was to wrap things up. She knew that Micah was still concerned and had expressed as much in his report. A contagious virus was bad enough, but one that could not be traced was even worse.
    Although it had been over a week since he’d issued his invitation, she still hadn’t given Micah an answer regarding going with him to Denver. With only three days before they left India, he had to be wondering about her decision. Unfortunately, she still didn’t have a clue how she would answer him. The smart thing would be to head for Florida for a month, especially since Micah hadn’t made the past week easy for her. He deliberately tested her sanity every chance he got. And although he hadn’t tried kissing her again, more than once he had intentionally gotten close to her, brushed against her for no reason at all or set up a situation where he was alone with her. Those were the times he would do nothing but stare at her with a heated gaze as potent as any caress.
    Kalina drew in a deep breath, suddenly feeling hot and in need of cool air. After slipping into her robe, she crossed the room and pushed open the French doors to step out on the balcony. She appreciated the whisper of a breeze that swept across her face. The chill made her shiver but still didn’t put out the fire raging inside her.
    Over the past two years she’d gone each day without caring that she was denying her body’s sexual needs. Now, being around Micah was reminding her of just what she’d gone without. Whenever she was around him, she was reminded of how it felt to have fingertips stroke her skin, hands touch her all over and arms pull her close to the warmth of a male body.
    She missed the caress of a man’s lips against hers, the graze of a male’s knuckles across her breasts, the lick of a man’s tongue and the soft stroke of masculine fingers between her legs.
    There was nothing like the feel of a man’s aroused body sliding inside, distended and engorged, ready to take her on one remarkable ride. Making her pleasure his own. And giving all of himself while she gave everything back to him.
    Her breathing quickened and her pulse rate increased at what she could now admit she’d been missing. What she had given up. No other man had brought her abstinence more to the forefront of her thoughts than Micah. She felt hot, deliriously needy, and she stood there a moment in silence, fighting to get her bearings and control the turbulent, edgy desire thrumming through her.
    Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. All it took was for her to close her eyes to recall how it felt for Micah’s hands to glide over the curve of her backside, cup it in his large palms and bring her closer to his body and his throbbing erection.
    The memories were scorching, hypnotic and almost more than she could handle. But she