Seducing the Stargazer Read online

  “Can it wait until tomorrow?”

  Before he went to swig down the rest of his beer, she stopped him and took the bottle out of his hand. “Actually, it can’t.”

  “Fine.” As he stood, he swiped the bottle away, drank it down, and slammed it on his desk.

  She led him through his own place to the balcony, then held her hands out and presented him with the telescope. “Look!”

  He let out a groan. “This is what couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”

  “Neither you or I are solar astronomers.” She took his arm and dragged him over to the telescope. “Though the stars will always be here, they will never be exactly like this right here, right now. Take a look.”

  “I’m exhausted.” Shaking his head, he sighed but bent down and looked into the lens. “The moon, nice.” He backed away, grabbed a handful of cheese cubes off the table, and headed toward the door.

  She dashed in front of him and put her hands on her hips. “Really?” Since when did any astronomer look at the moon and say it was only the moon? Apparently, he was still brooding from the press conference.

  “What do you want, Wynn?” His voice came out harsh, challenging.

  A long time ago, she promised herself if they were ever in the same place at the same time, she would never allow him to simply walk away again. “I want you to do something you haven’t done in way too long, and look in the damn telescope.”

  “You don’t know anything about what I do.” He shot the words at her and stomped over to the telescope. Once more he gazed in the lens.

  “I used to,” she whispered her comeback and then let it lie. While she followed his career, the man was right. The one person she used to know best, she didn’t know anymore. For quite some time, he remained hunched over the instrument. She knew he had to be looking at something and not simply stewing in his own juice, because he made some adjustments to the instrument.

  “Look what I found.” His voice softened and he held his hand out to her.

  Never able to resist him, she grabbed it. Gently, he pulled her toward the telescope.

  She took her turn and smiled at what he centered in her view. “Hello, Mars, my old friend.”

  “That’s for you.” He moved behind her and put his hands on her waist.

  At his simple touch, her body heated. She couldn’t give in that easily. The man had always been an emotional rollercoaster, one second sweet and romantic, the next blocking her out. In the day since she moved in with him, they had already run the gamut of feelings, from a kiss that made her crave more, to him not wanting her to speak at the press conference, and then shutting her out.

  Again, she changed the view, until one of her favorite stars took center stage. “Your turn.”

  She went to move, but Garner held her in place and curled around her to look into the telescope.

  “Ah.” He tilted his head and glanced at her. “Antares. A red giant.”

  “It reminds me of you.” Between him gazing at her with his eyes half closed, and how he tightened his embrace, she found it hard to concentrate.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Because it’s considered the heart of the scorpion?”

  “Maybe I don’t want to get stung.” She had experienced the harm he could inflict before, but his was a passive pain. Rather than bite, he simply disappeared. What could he do now?

  “Who said I sting?” He kissed her behind her ear.

  Her breath caught. Too many days she prayed to be in this exact position, and deep down she knew she put herself here, but when faced with getting what she wanted, she tensed. Who knew how long it would last this time? “Garner.”

  He trailed his lips down her neck to her shoulder. “Tell me, did that hurt?”

  She turned in his arms. “That’s a matter of opinion.”

  “Then we better make sure.” His lips descended upon hers.

  As if they had years of being together behind them, in unison their mouths opened, their tongues tangled, their tastes combined.

  He pulled her in tight, one hand cupping her backside, the other grazing the side of her breast. “You make me insane.”

  “It goes both ways.” She raked her nails though his hair.

  He stopped, took her chin in his hand, and stared at her before crushing his lips to hers once more.

  Together they kissed, their hands roaming over the other, stoking nerve endings to life Wynn thought were dormant long ago when Garner never spoke to her after their one night together.

  With her in his arms, he moved until her back hit the wall. Then he lowered his head, nibbling and licking down her jaw line, her neck, down to her chest where he made quick work of unbuttoning her shirt. He kissed the top of her breasts as his thumb teased her already taut nipple.

  A moan escaped her throat, her body flooded with desire. Since the one time he made love to her, all she wanted was this, him. In truth, no one could create such arousal in her as this man. Maybe she came back to be sure, or maybe she wanted it to be false. Not that any of it mattered. At the moment, with all his attention on her, she wanted him, maybe even more than five years ago. “Garner.”

  Again he kissed her, deep, passionate, all consuming. Their bodies melded together, allowing her to clearly feel his erection pressing against her. The evidence of his desire only served to amp hers up even more.

  “Damn,” he growled.

  Needing to be closer to him, she lifted her leg, hooking it around his hip.

  He took her hint and held her thigh in place, grinding against her, and all too soon they were both panting. At the end of it all, did they simply want each other and need to give in? “Garner.” If they kept this up, any moment she would go over the edge.

  He groaned and lowered his face to her shoulder. His breaths ragged, he took her hand.

  At last he looked up at her. “We have a lot of work to complete tomorrow. I should say goodnight.”

  “Is that what you want?” She forced herself to keep her tone even. Was this all some game to see if he could rile her up?

  “I’m going to say goodnight.” He kissed the back of her hand then let go, stepping away, and took another look in the telescope. “The moon is gorgeous tonight.”

  As he passed her on his way out, he let his fingers skim over her cheek.

  Until she was sure he left, she stared up at the sky, her focus going straight to the little pinpoint of light that represented Antares, the heart of the scorpion in the constellation. Perhaps she was always doomed to return and get stung.

  Chapter Nine

  “Five…four…three…two…one…and we have lift off.” The announcer counted down the successful launch.

  Mouth half open, body tensed, throat dry, from his uncomfortable seat behind his desk, Garner watched a plume of white smoke billow below the rocket before it finally ascended, taking off in grandeur.

  He leaned his head back and took a deep breath, wondering if it was as good for him as it was for the rocket. Of course, he didn’t have lift off therefore it didn’t count.

  What he did have was a pair of blue balls that left him pacing around his office at four in the morning trying to get some writing done. After abruptly leaving him and Wynn in a state of want the night before, he spent the rest of the night realizing what a grave mistake he made. When he couldn’t get a word down on paper, he decided cleaning out his email might be in order. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one up in the wee hours of the morning. He received five different messages from Jim, informing him they were scheduling the rocket launch in a month and a half to keep the investors from pulling out and how much work they needed to get done. Garner then spent the next two hours watching video clips of the amazing phallic symbols bursting into the atmosphere for inspiration.

  “Dr. Knox.” Wheeling a cart, Mrs. Benton entered his office. “I have your coffee.”

  “Thank you.” He watched Mrs. Benton prepare his brew, first by pouring the steaming liqui
d into the mug then by lifting the aerosol canister and creating a perfect dollop of whipped cream.

  He exhaled and crossed his legs. Yes, the night before, he stopped, didn't go in for the kill, finish the job. Aside from his raging erection snaking down his leg as he walked away, he couldn't erase from his mind the image of Wynn looking at him with utter confusion. He could have had her easily. She wanted him.

  Yet he left them both unsatisfied, and he did it on purpose. What he wanted for years, he denied himself. It wasn't time for them, but then he had to ask what he waited for? They were five years older. They both knew they weren't a match, so why didn't he allow them a little relief among former friends?

  Last night he had to kiss her, touch her, have that connection. But he refused to sleep with her and then risk having her reiterate how she thought he wasn’t a true scientist. He was a lower-life form.

  Still, he also denied any self-initiated relief, choosing to stay horny and miserable with no outlet. Something was most definitely wrong with him.

  "Here you are." Mrs. Benton put the cup down in front of him.

  "It wasn't the right time." Caught in his own thoughts, he didn't realize he said the words aloud and blinked.

  "You don't want coffee?" She went to remove the cup.

  He held up his hand, stopping the woman from taking his elixir away. "I want Wynn." In an effort to not draw attention to what he said, he picked up the cup and took a sip. The warm liquid with the perfect amount of creamy sweetness traveled down his throat.

  Mrs. Benton raised her eyebrows. "Would you like me to wake Dr. Carlsbad?"

  Waking Wynn. If he had to be up and uncomfortable, he might as well share the wealth. Plus, they had work to do and she worked for him. "Yes, would you please bring her here right away? I have something of an urgent nature to discuss with her." If they only had six weeks until the launch, they didn’t have a moment to spare.

  After giving him a nod, Mrs. Benton turned on her heel and marched out of his office.

  While he waited, he replayed the rocket launch. Must feel good to let loose, explode and soar to the stars.

  He clicked the video closed, took another sip of his coffee, and stared at the entrance to his office. What was taking this much time? Did Mrs. Benton wake her from a sound, restful sleep? Did she go to bed frustrated or did she slip beneath the covers, slide her hand between her legs and pleasure herself as she thought about him?

  The vision dancing in his head caused his erection to return in full force.

  Maybe a little self-indulgence was in order. At this point, it would take less than a nanosecond to achieve relief. He could probably be back before Wynn arrived, and he could be calm and collected.

  Right before he was in a position to stand, she made her grand entrance.

  Hair tousled, her robe open showing her tight t-shirt with a picture of a carbon molecule on it and shorts—she was a sight that would have been made only more glorious if he would have spent the night making love to her.

  She stretched, causing the t-shirt to ride up and reveal a tantalizing stripe of skin before she plopped down in the chair across from his desk. With a yawn, she reached into the pocket on her robe, pulled out a little tube and proceeded to squirt a stream of hand lotion into her palm then rubbed it in nice and slow.

  The sound of slippery slick skin sliding together filled the room. Mouth open, he stared at the display. What was she doing?

  At last, she looked up at him. “Do you want some?” She held the tube out to him.

  Only if she got down on her knees and applied it personally with her lubed up hands. He couldn’t even answer.

  “Dr. Carlsbad, would you care for some coffee?” Mrs. Benton returned to her cart.

  Wynn nodded and curled her legs under her. “Extra whipped cream, please.”

  Mrs. Benton went about her business, including topping Wynn’s mug off with a huge dollop of the creamy white goodness.

  If rockets, hand lotion and thoughts of the woman in front of him taking care of her own business wasn’t bad enough, when Wynn dipped her finger into the whipped cream and as a grand finale licked it off her finger, he had enough.

  “Wynn!” He hit his palm flat on the desk.

  She didn’t even flinch. Instead, she took a long sip of the coffee and peered at him over the rim of the cup.

  “What did you do after we went our separate ways last night?” He leaned over his desk.

  Rather than answer, she smacked her lips and narrowed her eyes.

  Now he had to know. “Did you take care of business?” With Mrs. Benton scurrying around the room, he tilted his head in an attempt to speak a secret language.

  “In terms of…” She let her voice trail off, a sweet tease.

  “You know…did you?” He raised his eyebrows.

  Mrs. Benton must have understood what he asked, because she glanced over at them, shook her head and left the room.

  Apparently, Wynn did as well, but rather than acting shocked or slapping him across the face, or preferably giving him a live demonstration, she unfurled herself from the chair, put her elbow on the desk, and rested her head in her hand. “Did you?”

  Fine, he would be honest, but only because he needed for her to understand the sacrifice. “No.”

  What he would call an evil smile draped over her pretty pink lips. “Too bad for you.” She sat back. “Maybe you need to spend more time staring at the stars and taking care of real business.”

  Her words were the exact reason he hadn’t slept with her. She always looked down at him, considered him some lower life form because he didn’t live to research. “I hardly consider foreplay showing me astronomy 101.” Perhaps a little lesson in the art of seduction was in order and he strummed his fingers on the desk. “For the record, I don’t need to take care of my own business.”

  “Well, I think you do or I may not have been woken up by one of your many personalities.” She put her coffee mug down on his desk and stood. “Today, I get the mad scientist. Let me know when the brilliant visionary returns.”

  He balled his hand in a fist. “I don’t need to be shown the moon, especially by you.”

  “You’re wrong. If anyone needs to look at the moon, it’s you. Maybe you also need to see for yourself the asteroid that stopped your launch. You’re writing a book, you speak to the public, you own the definitive blog on space, and you need to not only look up and see what your fans are seeing, but it wouldn’t hurt you to look beyond as well. See what your public can’t see and tell them about it. Stop worrying about appearances and money.” Hands on her hips, she turned to leave. “For the record, I’m glad I’m the one who got to tell you.”

  See what his public saw. Her words echoed through his mind. Suddenly his book flashed in front of his eyes, he could picture himself actually writing, but he had to put himself in his reader’s position, and also take them beyond. Take them into infinity. “Wynn!” Before she reached the door, he stopped her.

  She spun toward him and crossed her arms. “Do we have actual work we need to be doing?”

  The woman was gorgeous, a natural beauty. Simply looking at her made his desire grow yet again. He needed to get himself under control, clear his head, and he needed to do it with Wynn. As if it were a beacon to all the answers he searched for, he spied the star at the edge of his desk and lifted it between his fingers. “Several things.”

  “What do you need now, Dr. Knox?” Her voice came out terse, official. She took their game seriously, as did he.

  For the first time that morning, his desire waned enough for him to have a coherent moment. “I bet you will never guess what I want you to do.”

  “You want to add a bet? I’ll take those odds.” She burst out into laughter. “I think I can bet I know exactly what you want me to do.”

  “Then I win.” Though he wanted her, he needed her in a different mode. “I need help with my book and my blog. We need to take a littl
e trip.”

  She pursed her lips and took the star, then handed it right back to him. “I’ll go get ready, but remember, I work for you twenty-four seven. You wasted a favor.” Once more she headed toward the door, but stopped before she left and glanced back over her shoulder. “You should have taken that 2.5 seconds to take care of your business. You’re off your game.”

  “Maybe you should take the star. Trust me, you will need me before we ever even reach the subject of the Selene telescope.” He buzzed Mrs. Benton to help him make his arrangements and slipped it into his pocket.

  Chapter Ten

  Money. As the saying went, money not only made the world go around, it also changed everything. As Wynn flew once again in Garner’s private plane to destination unknown, she had the front row seat to the power of money.

  Though she wanted to tell him to use his cash to fund some research, do some good, she knew her words would fall on deaf ears. As always, he would do what he wanted without regard for anyone else.

  Case in point, their impromptu trip.

  From the moment Garner decided three hours ago that they needed to get out of town, everyone scurried around making it happen. Apparently along the way he chose to make the event into some grand surprise for her, as no one would tell her where they were going or what they were doing. Quite frankly, it was becoming tiresome. All she knew was that Mrs. Benton laid out her clothes for her and all she needed to bring was herself, everything else was taken care of by others.

  The flight attendant came around again, served her a fresh glass of tomato juice and gave Garner a ginger ale. “Doctor.” In a sing-song voice, the woman addressed Garner. “The captain wanted me to tell you that we are ready to descend.”

  Garner gave the woman a nod. “Is everything as I ordered?”

  “Absolutely, and I have the blindfold you requested.” The woman handed him a bandana, then smiled down at Wynn, while she closed all the window shades before she walked away.

  Wynn sat up and clutched her armrest. “Blindfold?”