intrigue

Nouns

(n) a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends machination,
(n) a clandestine love affair

Verbs

(v) cause to be interested or curious fascinate,
(v) form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner scheme, connive,

Synonyms

fascinate machination scheme connive

Words of close approximity

intriguer