The swamp tease I’m supposed to be doing right now.
Fen gulped, and immediately hoped Carter hadn’t heard. When he’d suggested the drying-off plan, she’d only thought of the social awkwardness. Now that they were actually doing it, she was excruciatingly conscious of the fact that she was going to be naked within touching distance of Carter who was already naked. The problem wasn’t that it was awkward. The problem was that it was bizarrely, insanely, hair-tearingly hot.
Focus,she ordered.
Gritting her teeth, Fen took off her stiletto heels and placed them neatly by the fire. Grass and weeds gave under her bare feet. Everything was damp and squishy around here, which should have been the opposite of sexy, but right now it was making her think of the give of warm flesh under her hand, and the dampness that she could feel gathering between her thighs.
Stop it,she told her body.
Her body ignored her.
She had to reach beneath her skirt to peel off her nylons. They had been custom-made with a subtle geometric pattern, and were probably not worth keeping except as nets for very small fish. But the feeling of her own hands moving over her legs distracted her from annoyance at their tragic destruction, making her wish they were Carter’s hands.
As she hung them up, she realized that she should have taken her panties off at the same time. Now she had to repeat the whole process of reaching up under her skirt while wishing it was Carter reaching there, pulling them down her legs while wishing it was Carter doing the pulling, hanging them up on a tree branch… at least that part was fine, as she didn’t care who did the hanging.
And now she was standing there, fully dressed but with no panties. What a perfect scenario for someone, oh like say Carter for instance, to push her up against the convenient tree, with both of them so desperate that neither of them could even take the time to get her undressed.
Stop it,she told her mind.He’s your enemy—well, he’s definitely your rival. He tried to take over your company. You are, right now, trying to take over his. He is the last person in the world you should eventhinkabout having sex with.
Her mind ignored her. As she took off her blouse, she imagined Carter taking it off. When her fingers brushed against her nipples as she removed her bra, she imagined Carter teasing them with his clever inventor’s fingers. When she removed her skirt and stood absolutely naked, touched by nothing but air, she imagined Carter standing up, striding toward her, and touching her everywhere, with his hands and his body and his mouth.
Fine,she thought.I give up. I will sit here and silently stew by myself—well, unfortunately, notby myself—and plan on an epic session with my vibrator as soon as I get home.
She had begun to imagine that session when her attention was caught by a flash of something metallic overhead. Her arousal vanished in a cold rush of fear.
Fen spun around. “Carter! Carter!”
“What, what is it?” As he leaped up, he snatched his pants and held them over his crotch like a wet, wadded up, extra-large fig leaf.
At that moment, modesty was the last thing on her mind. But Carter clearly cared a lot about it, so she put her forearm over her breasts and held her wet skirt over the rest of her relevant parts. “I think I saw a drone!”
“Where?”
“There.” She pointed. “It went that way. I didn’t get a good look at it, but it was metallic and moving fast. Those hunters are spying on us!”
He peered around, frowning. “Did you see what color it was?”
She had no idea why that would be relevant, but hewasthe tech guy. “Gold.”
“Oh.” Relief flickered across his face, then was replaced with alarm. “Hmm. Why don’t I go… look for it. Maybe I can, uh, disable it.”
“Disable it how? It was way too high to reach.”
“I better hurry.” He turned his back, yanked on his pants, grabbed his tools, jammed his feet into his shoes, and fled.
Fen was left naked and alone.
Chapter 6
I hate my life,Carter thought as he plunged through the swamp, wearing nothing but clammy wet linen pants and the trashed remains of his Ferragamo shoes.
He’d been within touching distance of the surprisingly sexy, remarkably beautiful, unexpectedly interesting, and completely naked Fen Kim, and not only could he do nothing but sit there listening to her undress and trying not to spontaneously combust, but he hadn’t even gotten a good look at her when she’d shouted his name as he’d been too busy trying to cover up his hard-on. At least he’d been quick enough to hide it.
Hehopedhe’d been quick enough.
“Come on, you nuisancy thing you,” he muttered. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
The golden dragonette swooped into view, chirping happily. Carter could see how Fen had mistaken her for a drone, if she’d seen her high in the sky and moving fast. He waved his hands at her, trying to fend her off, but she dodged him, landed on his shoulder, and stuck her narrow head under his chin.
