“Is it? I mean, you say you guys have stuff in common. You’re gorgeous. She allegedly is. You want to do it…I mean, if she’s got some hang-up…”
“It’s not that, not exactly.”
I sighed. “Look, I won’t lie. I like you. I really like you. But even if I wasn’t interested in you like this, I’d still be telling you you’re crazy. You shouldn’t waste your life on someone like that, shouldn’t waste your sex life…”
Again, he shook his head. “It’s about more than sex.”
I shifted closer and put my hand on his bare arm, trailing my fingers along his skin. He jumped but didn’t stop me.
“When was the last time?” I asked.
“The last time what?”
“You know.”
No answer.
“Seth,” I said in exasperation, still touching him. “This is crazy. Do you hear yourself?
You make it sound like you can go without sex for the rest of your life. Can you? Can you go without being kissed? Can you go without having someone’s hands slide up your chest? Can you go without touching a woman? Can you go without throwing her down and peeling her clothes off? Can you go without being wrapped up with— in—another person? Having that union? That passion?”
Seth was staring at me like he had no clue who I was. That was reasonable since I was pretty sure I’d slipped out of Beth’s personality and into my own. At the same time, I think my words and the lust in my voice had kindled something in him. I could see it in his face—a doubt over what he’d been trying so hard to believe all this time and a yearning for what he’d wanted.
That was all I needed to see. I made my move.
Pushing myself over him, so a leg draped over his lap, I kissed him. In the fraction of a second before our lips touched, I realized it was fully possible Kurtis had screwed with me this whole time and that I was about to suck away part of Seth’s life.
But I didn’t.
There was no rush of power, no flow of his thoughts or energy into me. It was just a kiss, an ordinary kiss like any two mortals might have. Well…except that it wasn’t ordinary. Not for me at least. It was Seth. Me kissing Seth. And so help me, he was kissing me—Beth—back. His lips were as warm and soft as they’d been every other time we’d had our brief kisses, but this time we didn’t pull back. It was…amazing. And that was when I learned that whatever shyness Seth might show in conversation did not translate to physical actions.
He returned the kiss with intensity, lips and tongue caressing my own, filled with an untamed energy that just barely managed to keep control. I pulled myself completely onto his lap, straddling him, and wrapped my arms around his neck. His own arms encircled my waist.
“How long?” I asked between kisses, my voice breathy. “How long since anyone’s kissed you like this? Been on you like this?”
He didn’t answer, but the hands on the small of my back caught the edge of my shirt and lifted it over my head. I’d dressed casual tonight—plain black T-shirt—but the bra underneath was red, and the hourglass figure made it look great.
I yanked his own shirt off and felt the heat in my own body increase as I took in the smooth, lightly tanned skin of his chest. I’d seen it many times, of course, but now—being able to kiss it and really touch it—I looked at in a totally different way. I leaned in and kissed him harder, pressing my br**sts up to his chest. His hands were on my back again, but when they didn’t unfasten my bra, I did the honors.
I saw his gaze travel from my face to my br**sts, instinctual male desire filling his face. Pushing him over, I forced him to lie back as I crawled on top and continued straddling him. My hands found the edge of his jeans and unbuttoned them. Then, I took a hold of his hands and placed them on my stomach.
“Don’t you want me?” I asked. “Don’t you want to touch me?”
I didn’t know who exactly I was speaking for anymore, Beth or Georgina, but it didn’t matter. I’d forgotten the whole reason for this. All I knew was that we were going to do it. Seth and I were going to have sex. I had about forty-five minutes—forty-five precious, golden minutes—in which we could do anything we wanted with no consequences.
And what I wanted right now was for Seth to run his hands over me. He wasn’t, though I could still see the longing all over him. And when I laid down on top of him and ground our hips together, I could feel the longing. I kissed him again, furiously, and then pulled my mouth back just a breath so that I could speak.
“We’re going to do this…and it’s going to be good. Very good. You…inside me. Good, so very—what?”
Seth suddenly struggled up, pushing me—not harshly—off of him. Once he was free, he stood up and backed away from the couch. He ran a hand over his eyes.
“Oh, God. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It’s happening,” I told him, practically panting. “Come back—”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“But you—you started to—”
“I know, I know,” he groaned. He buttoned his pants. “I got caught up.”
“You wanted me,” I growled. “You still do.” I stood up too and wriggled out of the jeans I wore, pulling my panties off in the process. Standing before him naked, I fixed him with a challenging glare. “Tell me you don’t. Tell me you don’t want to have sex with me.”
Those serious brown eyes swept the length of me, of all my curves and smooth skin. The desire was still written all over him, but a hard glint in the depths of his eyes showed he was fighting it. The flesh was willing, but the spirit was weak—or rather, the spirit was strong.
“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for his shirt. “You’re very beautiful. Very beautiful. And hanging out with you is fun. There’s something about you—it’s almost like—well.” He shrugged the thought away, though I had a good feeling what it had been. “But I can’t. I can’t do this. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here tonight.”
“But…” My lower lip trembled as I attempted confusion while still looking sexy. “She won’t…she won’t give you what you want…”
“I want her. I want to be with her.”
“You can still have her,” I argued. “And tonight you can have me. Then you can go back, and she’ll never know. She probably wouldn’t even mind.”
“I would know,” he said. He pulled the T-shirt on and smoothed it. “That’s what matters.”
“I don’t…I don’t understand…there are no strings attached…”
“I love her,” he told me, moving toward the door. “I can’t explain it any better than that. I’m sorry.” He turned away. The door opened, then closed.
I stood there in the living room, naked, staring at where he’d last been. Kurtis materialized beside me.
“Well, well,” he said, following my gaze to the door.
“Was I convincing enough?” I asked. Part of the conditions had been that I couldn’t do a half-ass seduction job.
“Very,” he said wryly. “So much so that I’m guessing there wasn’t actually a lot of acting going on.”
I tore my gaze from the door and looked at the demon. Clothing and my Georgina shape materialized onto me. “But he did it. He resisted and held to his beliefs.”
Kurtis smiled. “Disappointed?”
I thought about it, thought how it had felt—however briefly—to have complete access to Seth. The possibility of actually having sex was tantalizing and bittersweet. Of course, if we’d done it, it wouldn’t have really been me and Seth. It would have been him and…an illusion. That wasn’t how I wanted sex to be with us.
“A little,” I answered. “But not enough.” I sighed. “This was stupid of me. Testing him like that. I never doubted him…not really. I don’t know why I had to prove it.”
“People do stupid things for love,” he told me. I’d said the exact same thing to Starla.
“They do stupider things when they’re jealous.”