Incarnate by Claire Kent

One
     
    He was no longer a young man
    Seth was approaching fifty now, and Erin knew he would never respond to her the way a younger man would. He wasn’t about speed or urgency or a quick succession of extremes. His passions were slower, deeper, longer, more powerful because of it.
    He was just as intense and passionate as he’d always been. His nature hadn’t changed. But he was older now.
    So was she.
    She couldn’t use the kind of simplistic seduction she used to use—a flash of her breasts, a particular pose, a raunchy suggestion whispered huskily in his ear. That would intrigue him, get his attention, but it would never cause his physical needs to take precedence over his will.
    His will had always been strong. It had only gotten stronger.
    Any persuasion Erin wanted to pursue would have to be more nuanced, more sophisticated, more complex and multi-faceted. She would have to appeal to him in ways that went beyond the physical. Lead him into urgency slowly and from there to distraction.
    Her body wasn’t what it used to be either. She still worked out—just enough to fit into the same dress-size she’d worn through her thirties. But she’d been pregnant twice, gone through childbirth twice, breastfed two babies, and dealt with the unavoidable consequences of age and gravity.
    She still looked pretty good, but she didn’t look the way she’d looked at twenty-five.
    So Erin didn’t change into a skimpy negligee before she went to find Seth, and she didn’t bring with her anything naughty or suggestive. Seth had never been an easy man—even in sex—and she’d be a fool to expect him to easily succumb, especially using such obvious, unsubtle techniques. Instead, she dressed with care and spent a half hour planning an appropriate strategy.
    So, at ten-thirty on a Sunday evening, when she walked down the hall of their luxurious downtown apartment toward Seth’s home office, she was confident. He was an impressive man, but she wasn’t unimpressive herself.
    And she’d been married to him for almost fifteen years. She could handle this.
    She’d made a promise to her daughter, and she intended to keep her word.
    She’d just never tell Mackenzie how she’d gone about it.
    The door was half-open so Erin just stood in the doorway, watching him work.
    Almost ten years ago, he’d left his cushy law firm to start his own practice, primarily so that he would have more freedom about his work schedule and so he wouldn’t have to travel so often—allowing him more family time. He was always careful now about spending enough time with her and the girls, but he still worked harder than almost anyone she knew, so he was often in his home office in the evenings.
    She didn’t speak as she watched him and didn’t make any noise, but it took Seth less than a minute before he lifted his eyes from the document he was reading.
    He smiled at her—the way he always did when she appeared unexpectedly—the expression transforming the focused tension on his face to something close to awe. It never failed to make her heart clench that, before he could trigger his characteristic cool control, his face would reflect an astonished delight that she was a part of his life.
    The sappy feelings, which sometimes faded but never really went away, almost distracted Erin from her purpose.
    Almost.
    She took a step inside the office. “Are you busy?”
    Seth shook his head, his blue eyes giving her an automatic once-over. “No. Did you want sex?”
    Erin sucked in an indignant breath. Damned man—she could never get even a step ahead of him. “How did you know? I hadn’t even said anything.”
    Chuckling and leaning back in his desk chair, Seth’s expression was both fond and amused. He was still one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen—the sleek sexiness of his youth maturing into a face with more character and eyes that were far more knowing. He was just a little softer around the belly and there was gray sprinkled