Page 36 of Planned Seduction
All her well-laid plans to just be friends, and here she sat, quietly simmering with desire. “Tell you what.” Her voice was a breathless whisper. “Pass over those peas and let me put them on the tender area. The ice should help with the bruising.” The cold might also help bring her body temperature down below boiling point.
He had to foil her brilliant plan. “Actually, there’s anti-inflammatory cream next to the telly. Could you rub some into my neck?”
“Sure.”
She grabbed the small tube and squeezed a blob of cold gel onto her fingers. Quietly reluctant, she sat down behind him again, questioning her self-restraint. Could she work her hands over the muscles in his shoulders and stop there? Unlikely. There were plenty of other muscles packed into Daniel’s well-honed physique she wanted to get her hands on.
She warmed the gel before turning her attention to his invisible bruise. At least the medicinal smell reduced the temptation to take a bite of him. “Here?” She touched his neck lightly.
“A little lower.”
She gently massaged his neck and shoulder, trying her damnedest not to relish the feel of his skin. Velvet-covered steel. She kneaded the gel into knotted muscles, resisting the urge to follow the sinewy line down his back and onto his buttocks. The hard curve of his ass was just visible beneath his low-slung shorts. Visions raced through her mind of her massaging him there, rubbing and caressing before moving her hand around his hips until she found his cock.
She squeezed her hands into fists as she felt a tug of desire deep within. Shit, she shouldn’t feel this way. Not now, not when they’d come so far. They were really, truly, and honestly just friends again.
So why was she so arou—
“Ouch.” Daniel’s wince of pain brought her crashing back to reality. Her fist was clenched around his shoulder.
“Oh God. Sorry.” She willed her hand to relax. “I was, um…distracted.”
“That’s okay.” His voice sounded as strained as hers.
Christ, he felt it, too.
This massage was so over.
She gave a last gentle squeeze then stood and raced off to wash her hands and throw some cold water over her face.
“Would you like sushi?” she asked when she returned. “You must be starving.” She needed to keep busy or she’d head straight back to the couch and resume the massage. If she did that, there was no way she’d stick to his neck and shoulder.
“In a minute.” Daniel rolled his shoulders. Amy’s gaze was glued to the shift of muscles as they rippled beneath his skin. When he stretched, the sinuous movement pushed her restraint to the limit.
“You have very effective hands, Morgan. I don’t know what you did, but I’m not so…” He gave a wry smile. “My shoulder’s not so stiff anymore.”
She used her effective hands to pile some sushi on a plate and passed it to him, hoping he didn’t notice the tremor in her grip. “Eat.”
Wordlessly, he accepted the dish, setting it down on the arm of the couch. Before she could pull her hand away, he caught it and turned it around, stroking it.
“Magic hands.” He ran his thumb over her palm, sending tingles up her spine.
The air between them zapped with electricity.
With all the force she could muster, which was almost none, she pulled her hand away.
“Eat,” she commanded in a whisper.
Daniel lifted a piece of sushi to his open mouth and closed his lips around the rice.
She’d eaten sushi with him a hundred times before. Why was the very action of his chewing and swallowing now the most erotic thing she’d ever seen?
Talk. Say something—anything.“You forgot the wasabi.”
“Morgan, I’m so hot right now, a little wasabi would not make one bit of difference.”
“Don’t, Danny,” she whispered. “You promised. We can’t go there. We can’t do this.”
“We’re adults. We can go wherever we want.”
