Tell Me You Crave Me (Search and Seduce #3)(39)

“Lie down right here,” he said and gestured to the long table.

“Are you kidding me right now?” she snapped.

“No, ma’am,” he said. “Go ahead and lie down. Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit.”

He winked, she snarled. But she was keeping her composure enough for him to know that he would so pay for this later. And he was looking forward to that. So far when he’d managed to get Natalie’s claws out, he’d ended up having some of the best nights of his life.

He also knew that everyone was watching, and she wouldn’t make a scene and give away that they were…whatever the hell they were. Intimate?

She went to climb on the table. And he might have helped her, just a little, by cupping her butt real quick. But she laid down on her back, and he arranged her arms at her side.

“I’m going to kill you,” she whispered so only he could hear, just as he took his place to address the class while standing over her.

“Looking forward to it, baby,” he whispered back.



Natalie was going to kill him. There she was, lying on a damn table in front of every damn woman in town, and East was standing over her, controlling everything.

“Now,” East said as he faced the class. He stood behind the table and seemed to tower over Natalie. “First thing you want to do is check for a pulse.”

He put two fingers on her neck, and just that small touch made her take a quick breath. Damn him and his touch. Damn him and his smell, spicy and woodsy and all manly. And all she could do was lie there and try not to let on how much this man affected her. She was ready to wring his neck and kiss him all at the same time.

She was on display. He’d picked on her on purpose. This was his way of annoying her. The way he’d called her out in front of all these people bugged her. She couldn’t help worrying that someone would notice…whatever it was this thing was between them. She wasn’t delusional enough to think what they had was anything special, but she hadn’t expected him to be so casual about putting her up on display. Her mother had tried that the whole time she was growing up. It hadn’t turned out well then, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to turn out well now.

East went on to discuss various things about CPR, and she tried to follow his voice, but all she could see were glimpses of his hard abs straining against his T-shirt, and flashes of his black belt.

She squeezed her thighs together and focused on hating him instead. Hating that he had this effect on her body. Hating that she knew exactly how he could move those hips as he entered her. Hating that she knew what those abs felt like against her palms when she ran them along his skin.

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she was surprised when she felt East’s hand cup her throat.

“You want to tilt the head back,” he said, and gently raised her chin so that it was pointed at the ceiling. His eyes met hers. “You want to make sure nothing is obstructing the mouth.” He gently ran his fingertip along her lips, and she parted them slightly. “Then you want to blow and start the count.”

He leaned in and place his lips on hers and gently blew as his hand trailed down just between her breasts. Her stupid tongue betrayed her and sought out just a taste of him. He clearly noticed, because he winked at her right as he pulled away.

“One, two, three…” he counted, and started pumping her chest lightly. “When you do this in a real-world situation, you’ve got to get really forceful with it. But Miss St. Clair here is a delicate thing, so I wouldn’t want to give her something she can’t handle,” East said to the class as he kept his hands on her.

“Then you do another breath.” He bent down, and his mouth was back on hers, and between that and the feel of his hands she was going to lose her mind. But she forced herself to stay still. Only this time, it was his tongue that took a brief foray of her mouth before pulling away.

Not fair! His insolence pissed her right off. She could see his dumb grin as he continued his count. He was getting to her, and he knew it as well as she did. Damn that dumb, earth-shatteringly sexy grin.

Finally, he addressed the class again. “Once your victim comes back to life, they will likely be full of gratitude and want to thank you in any way possible…”

And that was her cue to sit up. “Or they’ll run far and fast from the trauma they just experienced,” she said.

She hopped down off the table, and East just said, “Let’s give a hand for the lovely victim.”

Everyone clapped, and Natalie tried to tamp down the growing heat in her stomach as she walked back to her seat. She felt flushed with desire and hated that his hands and lips had been enough to raise that in her. She was angry at him for toying with her but desperately wanted more.

Her phone buzzed silently, and she checked the text. It was from Leslie McMann, the caterer she’d met at the party at Honey’s.

I hope you don’t mind, I got your number from your brother. Have you given any thought to my offer? I’d be happy to buy your recipe and brand your cupcakes. I’d also be happy to hire you on as my personal pastry chef. Look forward to hearing from you!

Natalie took a deep breath. It was the only offer she’d gotten lately that sounded worthwhile. Sure, it was terrifying and would be a huge change, but it was something to think about. Judging by the god-awful dates she’d been on in the last couple of weeks, she didn’t really have anything here worth staying for. She glanced at the front of the room, where East was. He’d gotten one thing right: she’d played the part of the victim well. It was time she took the power back and reminded him that she was not another Easton Ambrose plaything.