High Energy, Joy, Dara [books to read this summer .txt] 📗

to "explain" all about the energy.

She tried to stifle a giggle. Her original assessment of him had been

correct—the man was a kook. But such an outrageously wonderful kook! She sighed,

unconsciously leaning further back into him.

What time was it, anyway? It was impossible to tell here in Tyber's private

grotto. The only lights in the darkened room came from the aquariums. She

squinted her eyes, peering closely into the Atlantis aquarium in front of her.

There was some kind of odd timepiece in there… 8:30 if she read the strange dial

correctly.

Time to get up and maybe, just maybe, skulk away. It was not that she didn't

want to see Tyber; it was just that she didn't want to face him. This had all

the earmarks of being a very embarrassing morning-after scene. They both had

been rash.

What if he regretted the evening? Wanted to forget it as soon as possible? What

if he had already forgotten it? A man could have short-term memory loss when it

suited him.

Besides, she was giving up men.

And mornings were the best time for that sort of thing.

Like starting a diet.

She took a deep breath and tentatively placed her hand on his to see if she

could gently release his hold of her. His arms tightened around her stomach.

Shoot!

She slowly tried to slide her leg out from under his. He wouldn't budge. Why did

men feel they had the right to sprawl unchecked in a bed?

Now that she realized escape was going to be impossible, Zanita fumed. You never

saw women doing that—commandeering the bed and everything in it without an ounce

of remorse. Pinning people to the bed and stopping them from leaving—it was

reprehensible!

Zanita stiffened as a deep, sleep-hoarse voice murmured next to her ear, "Mmm.

Much better than my teddy bear." His silky lips nuzzled her throat. They were

hot.

Zanita swallowed. "Tyber, I don't think we should—" Her voice ended in a squeak

as his mouth covered a spot of skin just below her ear and heartily drew on it.

"Have I explained resistance to you yet?" he whispered against her throat as his

thumbs traced the underside curves of her breasts. "No? Resistance is a—"

"Tyber, I can't believe you're talking physics now! Besides, I need to get up

and…" She never finished her sentence because he had neatly flipped her over

onto her back and was now leaning over her. She was surprised as much by his

action as by the look of him.

He was a sexy man in the morning.

His hair hung long and tousled over his shoulders. His blue eyes were

half-closed, still drowsy; they had a slumberous appeal to them. His mouth was

soft, the beautifully shaped lips still slightly swollen from her ardent kisses

of the previous night.

Zanita was momentarily struck spellbound.

Which gave Tyber the opening he was looking for.

He wedged his leg between her thighs and dropped his head.

"Do you know the best way to overcome resistance?" he mouthed against her lips

as he clasped her hands, threading his fingers through hers to pinion her to the

mattress.

"Using a greater force to get one's way?" Zanita responded in a sugary-sweet

tone, trying her best to irk him. She knew it hadn't worked when he chuckled low

against her mouth.

"That is an option." His big toe skittered teasingly down her instep. "But I

think—believe—it is always preferable to introduce another force to overcome the

resistant force." He stroked his leg against her inner thigh. Zanita sucked in

her breath.

Desire. He was using her desire to overcome her resistance.

His leg moved higher and higher as he rubbed and stroked it against the inside

of her legs. With each pass he came closer and closer to her juncture, never

quite reaching it. The tricky devil! Whoever thought she would be waylaid by a

scientific principle?

Challenging, passion-dilated eyes gazed directly into hers.

The anticipation was killing her. Would he? Won't he? Please…

Even though she bit her lip with his next teasing caress, Zanita could not stop

the moan from escaping her lips. The small, sexy sound made Tyber's glazed focus

shift to her mouth.

"Give over to me, baby," he groaned.

That was it. She was lost. Zanita raised her head slightly off the pillow,

bringing her lips a hairsbreadth from his own. "Oh, Tyber, what am I going to do

with you?"

"Any damn thing you want." His mouth crashed down on hers.

Zanita entered the kitchen, shocked to see that Blooey had prepared a huge

Sunday brunch for them. Tyber was still in the shower, having played the

gentleman by waiting for her to finish hers before taking his when she flatly

refused to share it with him. How did he expect her to give up men when he

continually made her fall off the wagon?

No. No more.

She'd be the first to admit that she had momentarily been swayed off her course

by an incredible set of pecs and a boyishly charming, pouting lower lip and

wickedly seductive eyes. But that was all over with.

The light of day had come, literally, when she opened the bathroom drapes. With

it had come reason. Sensibility. A sense of purpose.

Zanita shivered slightly in her shorts and sleeveless top. The weather had

changed. The brief Indian summer had already gone. Swirling autumn leaves flew

by the kitchen windows in a brisk breeze. Zanita wryly noted that Hambone was

curled up next to the wood stove on a small braided rug. She would bet her next

month's salary that the cat would wisely stay by the coveted spot until next

spring.

Blooey walked into the room from the pantry, not seeming at all surprised by her

appearance. She couldn't help but wonder how many other times he had witnessed a

similar occurrence. Her glance took in the appetizing brunch laid out on the

table. No, he wasn't surprised at all that she had spent the night.

Her shoulders sagged.

She supposed that anyone who looked like Tyber probably had guest brunches on a

regular basis. There probably were a lot of women out there willing to overlook

the fact that he was a physicist. She sighed.

"Good morrow, yer ladyship! Are ye hungry? I fixed a fair bit of food fer ye,

thinkin' ye might be ravenous." He winked saucily at her. Zanita blushed.

"What's this now? Don't be shy, Lady Masterson. 'Tis a well-known fact the

Captain be a vigorous