The Seduction Hypothesis Read online

  The Seduction Hypothesis

  By Delphine Dryden

  Book two in the Science of Temptation.

  (1 Curious Sub + 1 Dom in Denial)—Inhibitions = 4 Naughty Nights

  Wildlife biologist Lindsey thought attending a fan convention with her new boyfriend Ben was a great idea—until their relationship imploded. Lindsey still lusts after her ex—but if he wants her, he’s going to have to prove he can give her what she needs.

  Ben will do anything to win Lindsey back, and when he sees her in her skimpy black vinyl convention getup, he realizes what she’s been craving all along. And he’s inspired to finally give in to his own dark desire to take complete sexual control…

  Lindsey is surprised by her reaction to Ben’s kinky new seduction techniques, and suddenly sees the brilliant but boring code guru in a different light. After several erotic encounters in hotel rooms and stairwells, she’s falling for him all over again. And wondering if the intimate connection will last once they head home…

  Love smart, sexy heroes & heroines? Check out The Theory of Attraction, available now!

  38,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  The month of May always brings, for me, the promise of new beginnings. I realize that it’s actually nearly the end of spring, but for some reason, I love the idea of May and that it means summer is coming and the fun is really about to begin!

  This month, very fitting for my excitement about new beginnings, we have three debut authors with stories releasing. Brighton Walsh joins Carina Press with her charming contemporary romance Plus One, where lifelong friends find deep-seated feelings growing into something more than friendship. Meanwhile, debut author Shawna Reppert has crafted a unique and captivating fantasy romance world in her male/male romance The Stolen Luck. Joining these two authors with a debut is S.G. Wong with the first Lola Starke novel, Die on Your Feet. Not only is this an unusual mix of mystery, paranormal and noir, but this book also has a striking cover that captured my imagination from the first look.

  Although not a debut author, Tamara Morgan joins Carina Press with the first in a new contemporary romance series. In The Rebound Girl, an outgoing plastic surgeon gets more than she bargained for when she offers to be the rebound girl for a sexy kindergarten teacher getting over his recent breakup.

  Along with new beginnings also come bittersweet goodbyes, and this month we wrap up Jax Garren’s fantastic science-fiction trilogy Tales of the Underlight. This series has kept us all on the edges of our seats with both the sexual tension between Hauk and Jolie and the fight to take out the Order of Ananke. Don’t miss the final installment, How Beauty Loved the Beast. Also wrapping up a trilogy this month, though on the opposite end of the romance spectrum, is contemporary romance author Kate Davies, offering the final installment of her high-school reunion trilogy, Girls Most Likely to…, with Life of the Party.

  As well, we have exciting offerings from a variety of veteran Carina Press authors this month. Jeffe Kennedy’s Ruby takes us to a contemporary world of BDSM and a sexy Cajun chef during the sensuality of New Orleans’s Mardis Gras. And last month saw the release of Volume 1 of our Love Letters anthologies. This month, discover four hot stories with a military twist in Love Letters Volume 2: Duty to Please.

  Sandy James, Shawna Thomas, Cathy Pegau and Stacy Gail all return to previously established worlds in their respective books. In Sandy James’s The Brazen Amazon, the Air Amazon is sent to protect computer wizard Zach from a rogue goddess who wants to use him to destroy the world. Journey of Dominion, book two of The Triune Stones series from Shawna Thomas, continues the story of Sara, trained from birth for one purpose: to reunite three ancient stones to restore balance to the lands.

  Female/female romance Deep Deception by Cathy Pegau follows the harrowing story of a beautiful agent and the woman she has no choice but to trust…until the secrets they’re each keeping threaten to get them both killed. And the plan for a demonic apocalypse is at last uncovered by a maimed member of the Nephilim and a scarred young woman who’s been to hell and back in Stacy Gail’s Wounded Angel, book three of The Earth Angels.

  Last but certainly not least, Dee J. Adams brings us the next installment in her high-octane Adrenaline Highs series with romantic suspense Living Dangerously. If you’re new to Dee’s books, you can easily start here, or go back to the beginning with Dangerous Race.

  This month, start a new series, revisit a favorite world or discover a new-to-you author with our May releases. And don’t forget to check out our catalog for backlist from these and other authors in all your preferred genres.

  We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to [email protected]. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  www.carinapress.com

  www.twitter.com/carinapress

  www.facebook.com/carinapress

  Dedication

  For all the geeky nerds and nerdy geeks in my real life…far too many to list by name.

  Acknowledgements

  At a time when I needed them most, a lot of people helped me pull this book together. My wonderful agent, Courtney Miller-Callihan, who always makes me feel like a rock star. The ever-enthusiastic Angela James at Carina, who was so interested in a series spun off The Theory of Attraction that I decided I would be foolish not to write one. My extraordinary editor Deb Nemeth, whose patience and insight made this book so much more than it was when it started out. Kristi Pewthers for the tireless fieldwork (I know it was tough, reporting from DragonCon, but you suffered through it bravely and have the video to prove it). And always, always, Christine d’Abo and Ruthie Knox for their unflagging support, shameless flattery, cheerleading, salted caramels and unbelievably specific research assistance.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  The drive from Houston to Phoenix was supposed to take about nineteen hours, and Lindsey could see the handwriting on the wall before she even boarded the RV.

  Only six of them were going, and she knew the other five well enough to predict their immediate future. The next nineteen hours would feature a running argument between her friends Ed and Lin that ranged from tabletop gaming rules to the best algorithms for parallel data compilation. She would be willing to bet money on it. There would also be, almost certainly, an in-depth geekout over the latest developments in bioinformatics, and Cami seemed able to talk endlessly about the technical intricacies of decrypting rodent genomes.

  At some point Ed would jump ship from the data compilation discussion to join the bioinformatics talk. Lin, who hated to miss out on anything Ed was doing, would try to horn in on that conversation but become frustrated when he exhausted his limited knowledge of the narrow intersection between computing and rat DNA. Then he’d get whiny and start making snippy comments.

  Cami’s boyfriend, Ivan, who was driving, would naturally obsess over the rules of the road. He’d probably conduct periodic checks to make sure they all had their seat belts securely fastened. Lindsey knew he’d mapped out each fuel stop and every possible contingency with all the precision and attention to detail he applied to one of his astrophysics projects.

  And Ben wo
uld spend the whole time glaring at Lindsey whenever she wasn’t looking, and pretending to ignore her whenever she was. He’d probably glare at Ivan then, although Ivan would be oblivious to it. Just as Ivan had always been oblivious to Lindsey, despite Ben’s repeated snarking about how well they seemed to get along.

  But she’d purchased the ticket to BeastCon months earlier, when things were still new and wonderful with Ben, and damned if she’d let the fact that they’d since broken up ruin her well-earned vacation trip. If it ruined his, that was his problem.

  “This is light. Is there another one with your costumes or something?” Ed hoisted Lindsey’s wheeled bag easily, sliding it into the cargo compartment with one firm shove.

  “Nope. That’s the whole shebang. Costumes and everything. They just don’t weigh that much.”

  A lightbulb seemed to go on over Ed’s head—Lindsey could almost see the lewd thoughts forming beneath his rumpled curls. Lightweight costumes are skimpy costumes. Then those big puppy-dog eyes slid down her body, assessing her far too openly.

  “Guh. Do I even wanna know?”

  “One’s a steampunk fairy sorta thing, but there isn’t much to it yet. Mostly my old steampunk outfit plus wings. I might not end up wearing it. One’s my Slave Leia costume from last year, we’re doing a Slave Leia meet-up on Friday morning. And then, um...”

  Ben brushed between them, and Lindsey had to take a step back for him to wrestle his suitcase into the hold.

  “Excuse me,” he said, a fraction too late for courtesy.

  “The third one,” she went on, irritation lending her confidence, “is Sub Red from Balls ‘n’ Chain. Her dungeon getup.”

  It was the hottest new graphic novel series on the market—graphic being the operative word—and as soon as Lindsey had read the first issue she’d known what she would be wearing for the parade and main costume contest at the next BeastCon.

  Ed dropped the suitcase he’d picked up after hers, and barely winced as he yanked his toe out from under it. “Ah. Okay. So, I can see where that one wouldn’t weigh a lot. Or anything, really. I guess.”

  With a final, unnecessary shove to his bag, Ben straightened and rolled his eyes at them both before stalking off again.

  Oh, for God’s sake, does he honestly think I was flirting? Is he gonna be jealous of Ed now, too?

  The others were milling around the RV’s door now, doing that final round of “I feel like I left something” over their steaming travel mugs of coffee. Retrieving her own cup of precious caffeine infusion from the curb, Lindsey joined them.

  Ivan was ticking off boxes from the checklist he’d pulled up on his tablet, muttering to himself as he ran down the list. His girlfriend Cami had sworn he was anxious beyond belief about the trip, but Lindsey would have never known it to look at him now. He seemed as in charge and confident as a man could get, like a general about to muster the troops. As Lindsey watched, Cami pressed herself to his side, huddling for warmth against the damp March pre-dawn chill. When Ivan slid one arm around her and pulled her closer, not even looking but doing it automatically, Lindsey suffered a pang of envy that clamped her throat tight for a few horrible seconds.

  Ben had it all wrong. She didn’t envy Cami, not like he thought. She might have an appreciation for Ivan’s looks, she’d admit that, but what really fascinated her wasn’t exactly Ivan himself. It was them. The way they were together, the way he looked at Cami, touched her. There was something intense there, some undercurrent of connection that got to Lindsey every time she sensed it. She couldn’t figure out why, but she knew she wanted that dynamic for herself. She needed what they had.

  But it was hard to explain to your jealous ex-boyfriend that you had a crush on a dynamic.

  * * *

  Miserable.

  It was a good word, Ben thought. Just the right one. A lot of the definitions of miserable used another great word, wretched.

  But nothing brought that home quite like the prospect of spending the better part of a full day stuck in a fancy motor home with the object and agent of his wretched misery. Lindsey McKay, ginger pixie of doom.

  It was a very, very fancy motor home, he amended to himself as he climbed aboard and looked around in awe. Butter-creamy leather on the front seats and sofa, gleaming dark hardwood and obviously custom tile work in the kitchenette.

  “Jesus,” Lin was saying, executing a slow one-eighty before settling his gaze on the kitchenette and his backpack and laptop bag on the sofa. “My first apartment was smaller than this. And it sure as hell didn’t have granite countertops. What did you say your parents do, Ivan?”

  Ivan shrugged as he slid into the driver’s seat, which bore more than a passing resemblance to the captain’s chair on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise D. “They own some land, you know. With cattle and stuff.”

  Cami mouthed “big oil” at Lin before taking the shotgun seat.

  Ben cursed silently. He’d stared too long, gawking at the lush fittings like an awestruck hick, and now most of the seats in the big main area of the RV were occupied. Lin was sprawled over the small sofa, taking up more than his fair share of space with belongings spread to either side of him. Ed had already snagged what appeared to be a navigator’s chair, a third bucket seat behind the two in the RV’s cockpit.

  The only thing left was the banquette in the kitchenette area, and there was only one seat left there. The other side was, of course, full of his kryptonite, in the form of a perky redheaded ecology grad student who’d rocked his world in bed then caused him to lose all reason and sense in any other venue.

  He looked at Lin and cleared his throat, making a gesture he hoped was universal toward one end of the couch. Move over? Room for one more?

  Lin blinked at him a few times, letting his legendary cluelessness serve him as a weapon. “Huh?” He moved one pudgy hand protectively over the backpack on the seat to his side. Move along, buddy. Nothing to see here. No room at the inn.

  “Um. Nothing.” Ben liked his friends, but he hated geeks so much sometimes.

  He approached the bench seat in the kitchenette with the heavy tread of a prisoner heading toward a gibbet. He knew it was just a matter of time before he said something stupid, probably hurtful, his oldest defense mechanism against pretty girls. It took until his ass hit the plush upholstery of the seat opposite Lindsey.

  “You want me to see if Ed will switch with me?” And not in a nice tone of voice, either. Good and jerky.

  Jesus, Ben, you asshole.

  Lindsey glanced up from her e-reader—he saw she was playing a word game, not reading—and stared at him for a moment. No expression, just that porcelain-perfect jaw set tightly enough to trigger faint dimples bracketing her mouth. Then she returned to her game, tuning him out, and he felt like cursing out loud. Or like lunging across the table and wiping that look off her face by kissing her until she couldn’t breathe. Until her eyes got that foggy, dopey, needy look he’d so recently lived for. Until she begged him for more. Then did that thing where she smiled and the sun came out.

  She had always liked doing a crossword or something like that over her first cup of coffee. It suddenly clicked in Ben’s brain that that was part of the problem with the banquette, the kitchen-like setting, which seemed so much worse than sharing an RV or even a couch with Lindsey. He missed seeing her in the mornings, making coffee together, sharing breakfast while he looked at blog posts and she did a crossword. He’d always offered to help with the clues. His history and geography knowledge was a perfect mesh with Lindsey’s fund of information about science and literature. It didn’t matter whose apartment they were at, breakfast together had always seemed so domestic, so...nice. He thought it was strange to miss nice almost as much as he missed kissing her until she couldn’t breathe. Even more, maybe.

  “Seat belts,” Ivan reminded everyone, his voice a calm counterpoint to Ben’s turmoil. He managed not to sound like a dad when he said it. No wonder Lindsey had a crush on the guy. He might be weird
, but he was always in control. And he did that thing where he could listen to a girl and she suddenly felt like the only person in the world who mattered to him.

  Lindsey had mattered to Ben. She still mattered to him, a fact he didn’t always admit to himself but that he couldn’t wholly deny either. He felt like they weren’t through yet.

  Objectively speaking, it was a dumb way to feel. He was the one who’d broken up with her, after all. She’d been hurt, then angry, then resigned, but she’d never been happy with his explanation for leaving. Which made sense, because Ben had never been happy with it either. He hadn’t told the truth, that he’d simply panicked and regretted it shortly thereafter. His regret had sadly coincided with her anger, and a rapprochement had seemed beyond hope.

  Now, dismissal rolled off Lindsey like an icy wave every time he got within ten feet of her. Ben tugged his hood up for protection against the chill, closed his eyes and pretended to go to sleep.

  BeastCon had fucking better be worth it. It was going to be a long, long drive to Phoenix.

  Chapter Two

  Bioinformatics: check. Tabletop gaming: check. Lin, petulant and letting everyone know it: right on schedule. Lindsey gazed around the RV, wishing she could have afforded to fly to the convention instead.

  Things were more interesting outside. They were somewhere past Kerrville, not yet to Junction, and the landscape had changed dramatically in the past few miles from the lush limestone-based Hill Country to the starker desert geomorph of West Texas. Good snake-spotting country, though not quite as good as the land just to the south, closer to the border. Lindsey wished Ivan’s rigid schedule allowed for stopping to explore the countryside.

  Her eyes lit on Ivan, still driving, his hands looking relaxed but strong on the oversized steering wheel. Cami was curled in the bucket seat next to him, resting her head on the armrest. Every so often Ivan reached over and touched her hair, smoothing stray pieces away from her face.