Serial Book 1- Tempted to Submit Read Online Free

that I actually trembled.
    He opened his mouth as if to speak, but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the arrival of the dessert that I hadn’t wanted, and wasn’t sure I could stomach, not with my internal upheaval.
    I couldn’t help but notice that the scarlet color of the strawberries was enticing against the stark white of the bowl. I caught the eye of the waitress, who winked at me knowingly as she added a separate dish full of soft whipped cream.
    I felt my skin flush, the same hue as the berries, with mortification. For something to do, I took a 18 Surrender to Temptation Part I: Tempted to Submit / Jameson, Lauren
    berry in my fingers, toying with it so that I didn’t have to look Zach in the eyes.
    He had to know how attracted to him I was feeling, I was certain of that. There wasn’t a woman in the small restaurant that wasn’t watching him at least out of the corner of her eye— and that included Suzanne, the owner, who had looked at least eighty when my parents had first brought me here twenty years ago.
    “Let me.” Zach’s voice had dropped in timbre, sounding even more alluring to my ears than it already had. Reaching across the cheerfully checkered tablecloth, he took the strawberry from my fingers.
    The small patch of skin burned where his fingers brushed my hand. Inhaling sharply, I jolted, forgetting that now wasn’t a good time, forgetting that I’d just met this man. His expression mirrored mine in intensity. I had no idea what had just happened, but unless I had been robbed of all of my senses, he felt it, too.
    “Open your mouth.” Zach swiped the berry that he had nipped from my fingers through the mound of whipped cream before pressing it against my lips. I opened my mouth, my tongue flickering out to lick up the cream.
    He moaned softly. Emboldened by forces that mystified me, I took a small bite of the juicy berry, chewing slowly, licking my lips after I’d swallowed.
    His eyes followed the motions of my mouth, entranced, before flickering back up to look me in the eyes.
    “What is going on?” I regretted the words the moment that I’d said them—how naive was I? I knew exactly what was going on, but I didn’t have the sophistication to make the next move.
    Though my better judgment was screaming at me, I was praying that Zach would ask me to come with him to his hotel, to his house, to his tent, if that’s where his bed was. My flesh felt swollen, full to bursting with need.
    With a brief thought of the dark blue negligee that was still in its bag in my car, I told myself that I Surrender to Temptation Part I: Tempted to Submit / Jameson, Lauren 19
    deserved one night of pleasure.
    My words might as well have been a slap. Another persona entirely came over Zach, one who was calm, in complete control, and who washed away all traces of the sexual creature who’d been in his place only moments before.
    “I must go. I have an early morning.” He shifted on the chair, pulling a wallet from the pocket of his snug jeans. The movement made the muscles of his arm tense, and I was entranced, as well as confused.
    “Oh.” That had been abrupt. I blinked, my mind sorting furiously through the last few minutes.
    Had I said something wrong? Done something strange?
    I didn’t think so, and I had just enough wine left in me to be irritated by the sudden withdrawal of this fascinating man.
    “Well, thanks for the company.” My voice was heavy with sarcasm. “Always lovely to meet a new person.”
    Zach had been in the process of standing, and he straightened as though I’d struck him. I again got the impression that he was not at all accustomed to being questioned.
    “Agreed.” He peeled a bill out of the folds of a wallet that looked to be made of hand-tooled leather and placed it on the table without checking the denomination.
    “Before you go, tell me something: What’s a man like you doing in a tiny beach town like this?” I had nothing to lose by asking. Clearly