Delphine Dryden

Amazon

Nook

iTunes

Kobo

Audible

The Theory of Attraction

The Science of Temptation, Book One

Camilla can set her watch by her hunky rocket-scientist neighbor who jogs past her window each day. She relishes each glimpse of his shirtless abs, and is dying to see more. But it’s hard to connect with a man who doesn’t seem to know she exists…

Ivan feels at home in the lab, not in social situations. When he finally approaches his attractive neighbor, it’s not for a date—he wants tutoring in how to behave at an important fundraiser. But before long their explosive chemistry leads Ivan to propose a few private lessons of his own.

Cami soon discovers Ivan’s schedule isn’t the only thing he likes to be strict about—he needs to be charge in the bedroom as well. She’s shocked at how much she comes to enjoy her submissive side, but wonders if a real relationship is in the equation…

Winner of Romantic Times Book Reviews’ July 2012 Seal of Excellence

Winner of the 2012 RT Reviewers’ Choice award for best erotic ebook novella

Finalist in the 2012 Desert Rose RWA Golden Quill contest

Copyright © DELPHINE DRYDEN, 2012. All Rights Reserved, Carina Press.

He hissed through clenched teeth, pulling away for a second and then pressing forward with a groan to pin me to the wall. His hips ground against me, and I shivered as his hands left the wall and circled my upper arms.

“I don’t play these games out in the real world, Cami.” His voice was rough, almost resentful. Torn, he sounded torn. I felt a surge of raw hope and need, even as he said everything he could to deter me. “I know how to fuck. I like to fuck. I just don’t do well with people, and I have very particular tastes.” He had worked his hands forward between me and the wall now, and he cupped my breasts and plucked sharply at my nipples through the infamous shirt. “I can’t be nice about it. I’m tempted by you, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but I’m not like the men you’re used to. I don’t do sweet. This isn’t what you’re looking for.”

“If you don’t know people,” I gasped, biting my lower lip as his fingers tugged and tweaked the already pebbled peaks, “you shouldn’t make assumptions about what they’re looking for. I want this. I want you.”

I curled my hands over his in encouragement, and he responded by pulling his hands away only long enough to slip them under the shirt and then back up to resume his previous torture.

“You don’t even know what this is.”

“Then tell me. What are you, into cross-dressing? A furry? What is the big deal?”

Ivan yanked his hands from under my shirt, grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face him. His expression was grim, his eyes stern and ominous in the scarlet glow. He said he was tempted, but he seemed to be looking for something from me, and I felt frustrated beyond words that I didn’t know what it was. I wanted to give it to him. Short of putting on a fur suit, in that moment I would have agreed to about anything. Maybe that was what he needed to see.

“I like to be in control.”

“I think I got that part.”

“No.” He squeezed his eyes shut, gripping my shoulders at the same time as though he was trying to force the understanding into me. “Camilla, I like to be in control. And for my partner to give up her control to me.”

Slowly, very slowly, a picture was beginning to form in my mind. “You mean like tying people up and stuff?”

That earned a smile. “Sometimes. But there’s more to it than that.”

“Like ordering people’s food for them? And quizzing them on the movie?” And why did that suddenly seem like the sexiest of all possible things?

“You didn’t pay attention to the movie at all, did you?”

I shook my head, unable to speak in the face of the intensity in his eyes as he leaned closer.

“Bad girl.”

Oh holy fuck.