Pleasure Prolonged (second in Pleasure Games) **January, 07**

All talk and no action scientist Erin Shay decides it's time to take a stab at being the bad girl she pretends to be. What better way to give her libidinous body the action it is craving then by testing Pleasure Prolonged, a serum designed to give men multiple orgasms and prolonged erections, with her sexy new lab Partner Kale Alexander. Kale is nobody's fool. He knows that Erin's bad girl act is just that. An act. A facade. Despite her claim that she's into casual, uncomplicated sex, Kale discovers otherwise. Erin doesn't take sex lightly. Neither does he. He sets out to show her that when they slip between the sheets, or behind the closed doors of an elevator, there is nothing casual about it. Excerpt Meet me in an elevator sometime. Her footsteps stilled as a fine tingle stirred her most erogenous zone. Good Lord, she needed to pull herself together. She diligently tried to shrug off his sexual invitation as she resumed her pace. Not only was it frowned upon to intimately consort with a colleague, as Deanne had so graciously pointed out, but she would never be able to get any work done as long as she continued to imagine the kinds of private, intimate things he would do behind the closed doors of an elevator. Private, intimate things he would do to her. She blew out a shuddery breath and surveyed the lobby. Deanne hurried past her and made her way to the stairwell. God forbid the woman took the elevator and stored a calorie. Of course, the fact that the antique elevator wheezed like a pneumonia patient and made unscheduled stops between floors, leaving its occupants trapped while it recaptured steam, made for another good reason to take the stairs. Erin glanced around again. No sign of Kale. She released a sigh and ignored the odd wave of disappointment that stirred her blood. Cripes, she wasn’t really considering having sex in an elevator with Kale, was she? When the steel doors opened, she rushed ahead and stepped inside. Catching sight of her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, she smoothed her hands over her windblown hair. Okay, okay, so she couldn’t deny that she’d taken extra care with in her appearance that morning as she carefully knotted her hair in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. The way Kale liked it. She touched her finger to her lips, and for the umpteenth time since the wedding reception, she relived Kale’s sensuous kiss. Here it was days later and that kiss were still messing with her mind. No man had ever kissed her like that before. The truth was, the two men she’d been intimate with had spent more time worrying about their pleasures, than hers. Her trips between the sheets were over long before they had even begun, leaving Erin having to take matters into her own hands. Of course, there was that one time that she thought she’d had an orgasm with her ex-fiancé, but then she quickly realized the flutters in her body were from a bout of indigestion. That’s what she got for eating pepperoni pizza before bed. Something told her Kale would never leave her unsatisfied and frustrated. Her body fairly vibrated just thinking about how he’d undoubtedly take matters into his hands. She drew her lip between her teeth and allowed herself another moment to reminisce about Kale’s warm mouth over hers. To think he’d barely gotten started. She could only imagine how wonderful it would have been if he’d had the time to thoroughly explore her mouth…her body. Damn, she could feel herself coming unglued just thinking about it. She’d spent all of last night agonizing over how to proceed where Kale was involved. There was no denying the physical attraction between them. It was an attraction unlike anything she’d ever felt before. It set her loins on fire and muddled her usually clear thoughts. Kale had certainly made his intentions clear at the reception. All she had to do was gather her courage and play the part of the bad girl. The woman in her told her to go for it. Have casual sex, enjoy it, and move on. Thanks to her ex-fiancé she no longer believed in happily-ever-after and wasn’t looking for a relationship. Kale would be returning to Los Angeles in a little over a month’s time and had made it clear he wanted her only sexually. They had no future. Nor did she want one. On the other hand, the emotional part of her advised her to be careful, warning her that having sex with him would be a bad idea. Since her breakup with Dwayne she’d taken control of her life, her work, and her emotions. But when she was with Kale, that control seemed to pack up and leave town. The man threatened all her barriers. She wasn’t so certain she could satisfy her sexual desires without the risk of feeling some deeper emotional connection with him. Erin pressed floor fourteen on the glowing orange number panel and leaned against the wall. Her thoughts drifted. Fourteen floors of wild, hot, untamed sex. Whew. Time to shed her winter coat. Moments before the doors pinged shut a pair of well-worn sneakers jammed between them, shaking the old elevator and bouncing the doors back open. Those sneakers led to a pair of faded jeans slung low on the hips. The jeans led to a very familiar tight waist, thick chest, and broad shoulders. Erin gulped. Oh God, it couldn’t be. Her eyes locked with his. Kale! Oh God, it was. Awareness flared through her as he stepped inside. His presence swallowed up the small space. Desire flickered across his face as his gaze fixed on her with intent. His bad-boy grin curled her toes. “Going down?” She didn’t miss the double entendre. His words sent a tingle along her nerve endings, sparking a pool of moisture to dampen the silky curls at the apex between her legs. She took a moment to consider her situation. Here she was alone in an elevator with a gorgeous guy who oozed sexuality and sent waves of passion ripping through her. A guy who’d made it perfectly clear that he liked getting intimate in public places. A guy who wasn’t looking for more than she could give. Her pulse kicked up a notch. A guy who didn’t know she was all talk and no action. She had two choices, really. One, she could slip from the elevator and bolt, or two, she could slip out of her panties and put her money where her mouth was. Her gaze drifted downward to examine the massive bulge in his jeans. Or rather, his cock where her mouth was. When she looked at it that way, it really narrowed down her choices. He ran his fingers through his hair, his jaw flexed. He edged toward her. “Well?” he asked in a gentle yet commanding voice. She felt the rush of his warm breath over her cheeks and shivered in delight. Perhaps she should have casual sex with him. That might help get him out of her system and put her focus back on her career where it belonged, especially if she wanted a shot at advancement. Surely if she tried hard enough she could engage in a frivolous affair and keep her heart out of the arrangement. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Oh yeah, she was going down all right. Faster than a hockey player without his protective cup.