by Laura Kaye
He liked looking at her? His words had made her think of him peering down his body to watch her worship his cock with her mouth which made her need for that to happen again. Whether her stupid brain thought it was a good idea or not.
And then there was his pronouncement that he’d take pleasure in her trying to kick his ass, which would’ve been hot all on its own. But it was even hotter now that she had firsthand experience wrestling with the man. She’d enjoyed that way more than she probably should’ve, especially since he’d bested her.
Somehow, though, feeling him wrapped around her and holding her tight, she hadn’t really felt like a loser…
All of which was probably why she’d taken more time than usual to put on some makeup after she’d showered at the gym. And now, here they both were at dinner, hanging out with her friends. Noah and his girlfriend, Kristina. Billy, who was flying solo tonight because his girlfriend, Shayna, was on assignment covering a story for her job as a photojournalist for the local paper. Sean, Mo, and Dani rounded out their regular gang.
Just like at CMDS, Jesse fit in really well here with everyone. And, damnit, it felt like the two of them fit well together. Maybe the fact that they were co-workers wasn’t that big of a deal. Then why did it feel like it was?
“So, Tara,” Sean said after everyone’s food had been served, “a friend of mine said good things about you earlier today.”
His comment pulled her from her thoughts, and she grinned. “Uh oh.” She took a bite of her fries.
“No, no, for real,” he said, which was useful since Sean was such a relentless teaser. You couldn’t hold it against the guy, though, because he’d do anything for any of them. And Tara figured his constant sarcasm and general smart-assery was an outlet for whatever stress being a firefighter caused. “You work with Jud Taylor, right?”
Her foot started bouncing as twin reactions coursed through her. First, surprise that Jud and Sean knew one another. Second, her belly made a slow descent to the floor in anticipation of where this was about to go. “Uh, yeah. We’re on the same dive team. Same one Jesse’s on now, too.”
Sean nodded, seemingly not picking up on her growing anxiety. “He said you pulled his southern ass out of the ocean after a diving stage came down on him.”
“Wow, that sounds scary as hell,” Dani said, respect plain on her face.
Tara nodded, even though her gut told her to deflect. “His ‘southern ass’?”
Laughing, Sean shrugged as he cut his steak. “His words.”
That sounded like Jud. “Uh, yeah, I guess. All part of the job,” she managed.
“Now you sound like me,” the guy said, winking at her.
Dani threw him a smirk. “When have you ever been humble, Riddick? Like, name even one time.”
Tara chuckled, hoping it didn’t sound as forced as it felt. A hand came down on her leg. She glanced to her right where Jesse sat laughing at the razzing suddenly being slung back and forth between Dani and Sean.
It didn’t look like he was paying attention to Tara, but it absolutely felt like he was. “How long have you two been together?” Jesse asked the pair, his tone amused.
The table absolutely erupted in pandemonium. Noah and Billy burst into laughter as Sean totally gawped like a deer in headlights before launching into a full-fledged denial. Meanwhile, Dani actually blushed, which Tara didn’t think she’d ever before seen. The two had always had a frenemies thing going on, but the past few months, it seemed to have ratcheted between them ’til it always felt like they were on the verge of fighting…or screwing each other senseless.
“We’re not together, man,” Sean said again, stabbing a piece of his steak.
“Hell, no, we’re not,” Dani agreed. Which, come to think of it, was like the first thing Tara had ever heard Dani agree with Sean about… “How the heck did you get that we were together?”
“Shit, sorry.” Jesse laughed, holding up his free hand. “I, uh, I guess I thought the bickering was like, I don’t know, an old married couple’s schtick.”
Noah’s face was bright red from laughing so hard, and Billy had tears in his eyes. For his part, Mo’s deep chuckle rumbled under it all.
“Uh, geez, I really stepped in it, didn’t I?” Jesse said, all self-deprecating.
Which was when Tara realized that he’d asked the question on purpose, suspecting it would derail the other topic of conversation. Something warm bloomed inside her chest—gratitude, connection, affection. Under the table, she placed her hand on top of his. His fingers curled around hers in return.
Tara’s heart squeezed.
“Y’all are fucksticks,” Dani said. “Every one of you. And I thought I was liking you, Jesse.” She pointed her knife at him.
“Newbie error,” Jesse said, smiling sheepishly. “Won’t happen again.”
“Good plan,” Sean said, crossing his arms. Which mirrored Dani’s body language exactly.
Even though it sounded like Dani was joking, Tara worried that she might really be upset that Jesse had put them on the spot, and no way did Tara want her to hold that against him. So she finally put on her big-girl panties and protected him like he’d done for her. “Don’t be mad at Jesse. He was only trying to change the subject because he knows that I didn’t really want to talk about yesterday’s rescue.”
Jesse’s gaze cut to her, his brow furrowed in concern. She squeezed his hand.
“Why not, T?” Mo asked, leaning his big arms against the table.
Tara shrugged and played with her water glass. “It’s just…every person around this table has saved someone else’s life. It’s the job. And it feels weird to get praised for doing what’s expected, and what anyone would do for you.”
Mo nodded as he dug into his crab cake. “I get that.”
“Everyone except me,” Kristina said. Tara didn’t know the woman who worked as an art teacher as well as Dani, but she liked her a lot. Kristina and Noah were beyond sweet together, and they’d thrown a killer Halloween party that the whole club had attended and still talked about. “But what you just said makes a lot of sense to me.”
Noah raised Kris’s hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “You saved me, baby. Don’t ever doubt it.”
Kristina leaned over and hugged Noah, but her expression was so moved that Tara suspected she’d done it to hide tears. And, wow. That was relationship goals, right there.
Which made her realize that Jesse was still holding her hand. And that Tara had been honest with the group…and was fine. Her foot was still. Her anxiety had eased off.
“Sorry, T. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Just, my buddy seemed damned impressed.”
“Don’t worry about it, Sean. How do you know Jud, anyway?” She gave Jesse’s hand one last squeeze, and then pulled away so she could pick up her chicken sandwich. Jesse squeezed her thigh before he withdrew, a little gesture that struck her as both sweet and sexy.
“Our paths crossed in the navy,” Sean said. “We’ve gotten together a few times since we both landed in DC. But the kicker was he emailed me to ask if I’d ever heard of WFC, because one of his teammates invited him. Don’t know why I didn’t think to invite him myself.”
Tara nodded around a bite. “Yeah, as soon as his foot’s healed up, he’s going to come check it out.”
After that, the conversation turned to Kristina’s teaching, an interesting case Billy was investigating in his work as a private detective, and Mo’s job search. And though Tara listened and participated, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Jesse had done for her.
In truth, what he’d done for her again and again. Taken care of her. Protected her. Been there for her in a way no one had in a long time.
It made her want things she was scared to want. But that didn’t make her desire any less.
Chapter 14
“Thanks for taking me today,” Jesse said as he and Tara crossed the garage in her building toward the elevator. “It’s good to have a way to me
et some new people here.”
Tara smiled up at him as she pressed the call button. Tonight was the first time he’d ever seen her wear makeup, and of course she was a total stunner. Then again, he didn’t need her in makeup to see her that way. “I’m glad you came and that you liked it.”
They stood side by side. Waiting. And for Jesse, wanting. This day with Tara had done absolutely nothing good for his interest in and desire for her. He was trying hard to respect her wishes, even though denying what was going on inside him felt so damn wrong.
She made him feel like he’d never really known warmth until he felt her sun. Like he’d never really been able to see until he stood awash in her light. Like he’d never realized he’d been locked from heaven itself until she handed him the keys and guided him inside.
The elevator doors slid open, and they stepped in. Tara pushed the buttons for the lobby and her floor.
It was crazy—utterly goddamned crazy—that this was happening to him, and for the first time at the age of thirty-seven, and after he’d only known her for a little over a week. He knew none of it made sense.
But all of that just made him even more certain and feeling even more urgent about claiming this amazing person he’d found and holding on tight. Jesus, he was in a bad fucking way where Tara Hunter was concerned.
He heaved a deep breath.
“You okay?”
A single nod. “Yeah.”
They passed the last floor before the lobby. Almost time for him to leave her again. Which he didn’t want to do.
Fuck it. “Tara—”
“Jesse—” She began at the same time.
“You first,” he said, his heart suddenly pounding in his chest. Because she was either about to put him all the way back in his place—or she wasn’t. And that…that he could work with.
The bell dinged, and the doors slid open to the lobby. Facing Tara, Jesse stood stock still.
“No,” she said with a small, nervous smile. “It’s nothing.”
The door slid shut, and he did nothing to catch it. “The truth, always. Right?”
Her chin dropped, but she nodded. “Right.” The elevator headed up again. “It’s just that, uh, I realized I didn’t actually know what I wanted to say.”
Jesse stepped closer, close enough to smell the fragrance of berries in her hair. “About what?”
One shoulder just barely lifted in a shrug. “About…not knowing if I can have or should have what I want.” The words spilled out in a rush until she just shook her head. The bell dinged their arrival to the eleventh floor.
Her words were uncomfortable and hopeful all at the same time, like she’d put her hand in his chest and now he’d find out if she’d done it to rip the useless organ out or hold it together. He tipped her chin up again, because he needed to see her when she answered this. “What do you want?”
The doors slid open, but she didn’t move. This time, Jesse caught the elevator before it closed. After a few seconds, an alarm buzzed.
Jesse leaned in until he almost could’ve rested his forehead on hers. Come on, Tara. “What do you want?” he whispered.
“What were you going to say?” she asked.
He shook his head and arched an eyebrow. “Tell me what you want first.”
She met his gaze head on. And she was so damn beautiful that it made him hurt with want. “You.”
Jesse was hard in an instant. Hard and fucking victorious. “Jesus, Tara, you can have me any damn time. That’s what I was going to say.”
One moment, she seemed torn and contemplative, and the next, Tara was all over him. He caught her around the waist with one arm as their mouths claimed one another, and then he was hauling her legs up around his hips so he could carry her out of the elevator.
Her hands were in his hair and her breasts pressed to his chest and her hips wiggled where his hands grasped her ass. Her actions were nearly frantic, like she was a live electric current he was trying to harness.
“Eleven twenty,” she rasped.
“I remember,” he said, arriving at her door. “Key?”
“In the pocket of my bag.” He fished for it with one hand until he was straining and she was laughing. “Put me down so I can get it.”
“No fucking way. I just got you in my arms again.” Finally, he found it, and he dangled it in front of her, goddamned proud of himself.
“My hero,” she said, leaning in for another kiss. And then another. And another. Her tongue slid over his so fucking good. And then she was sucking on his and rolling her hips against him and nearly taking him to his knees.
“Tara?” he managed around the edge of a kiss.
“Hmm?”
“How well do you know your neighbors?”
Her expression went comically confused. “Uh, not that well. Why?”
“Because in about ten seconds, I’m going to fuck you against this door unless we get inside.”
“Oh,” she breathed. Biting down on her lip, she gave him the sexiest damn smile. “That would actually be insanely hot, but, uh, not very neighborly.”
Jesse grinned. “Baby, what’s about to happen isn’t going to be very fucking neighborly either.” He finally got the key in the lock and let them inside.
Tara pushed the door closed behind them as they stumbled into the dark apartment. She dropped her bag, and he dropped his. “That way,” she said. “That way’s the bedroom.”
“Now you’re talking.”
Her laughter lit him up inside. It really fucking did.
He cleared the threshold to her room, and she hit a light switch, illuminating a small lamp next to the queen-sized bed. Her room was all blues and greens, and a little bowl of sea glass sat under the glow of the lamp. Jesse was curious as hell to learn more about the woman by exploring her space, but later.
Mouths locked in a hungry kiss, he finally placed her on her feet. She moaned as their hands began a fumbling, hurried undressing that finally made them both laugh. Jesse tugged off his shirt, then hers, and then they both ditched their jeans, until there was nothing between them but skin and possibility.
“Condoms are in that drawer,” she said, pointing to the nightstand.
“Yes, ma’am.” He dumped a bunch out on the table top.
Tara grinned. “Got big plans, huh?”
He took his cock in hand and stroked, loving the way her eyes flared as she watched him. “Big fucking plans.” He crooked a finger and beckoned her to him. And when she was right in front of him, Jesse went to his knees. “Starting with this.”
He kissed her belly, her hip bone, her thighs, until she was gasping and bracing herself on his shoulders. “Jesse.”
Tapping the inside of her thigh, he peered up at her. “Open up for me, Tara.”
The moment she did, he buried his face against her. Grasping her ass in one hand, he plunged his tongue between her folds, finding her already wet and needy. But he wanted more of her—all of her. So he urged one leg over his shoulder so he could reach every part of her.
Tara’s fingers dug into his shoulders, and the groan that spilled out of her sounded so good his cock jerked. “O-oh my God,” she rasped.
He opened his mouth around her clit and sucked and sucked. Teased her opening with his tongue. Added two fingers and stroked at a sweet spot inside her that made her gasp and moan and go up on her tippy toes. He worked her faster and harder and deeper until her whines became beautifully urgent—and then she was holding her breath and finally squeezing his fingers so fucking tight. She came on a high-pitched cry he would never forget.
When Jesse eased his fingers from her, she collapsed into his lap. He cradled her there, loving how fast her heart beat beneath where he pressed his hand to her chest. “Feel you fly, Tara.”
She grasped his face and kissed him, and though there was without question a sexiness about the way she used her tongue and her lips to tease him, it felt deeper than that, more weighted. When she pulled away, she reached over his shoulder, grab
bed a condom, and opened it.
And then she put it on.
“Fuck, I see you have some big plans, too,” he said. Her sexy blues flashed up from where she handled him, and she nodded. “Yeah. Straddle my lap.”
Arms around his neck, she came down on top of him, impaling herself on his length until she’d taken every inch. “God, you feel good inside me.”
“Ride me however you need, baby.” And she did, slow and deep at first, and then faster, shallower, until she was grinding herself against him. He gripped her hips, helping her get the friction she needed. His orgasm was barreling down his spine, but he gritted his teeth because he wanted her to come again first. “That’s it. Take what you need.”
She was whining and babbling and tightening around him, and he fisted his hand in her hair and nipped at her neck.
“Harder,” she cried.
Jesse would never hear that word again without remembering this moment. But he didn’t know if she meant his teeth on her skin or his hold on her hair or his cock filling her deep, so he gave her more of all three.
“Like this?” He bit down on the tendon sloping from her neck.
He didn’t need her to tell him. Because she screamed and shuddered, her body fisting his cock so fucking tight that he couldn’t hold back. Hammering himself up into her as deep as he could get, Jesse’s orgasm had him shouting her name and clutching her to him as his body jerked against hers. And even after his orgasm had settled, he rocked his hips, moving his cock inside her because he didn’t want this to end.
This moment. This night. This feeling.
Love. He was fucking falling in love with Tara.
Even though he knew she was debating if this should even be happening at all.
Chapter 15
Tara wasn’t sure what the hell she was doing. She only knew that it felt really freaking good. Not just the sex, which had once again been mind-blowing, but the connection, the companionship, affection.
