All Wound Up

by Jaci Burton

“I need my cock inside of you.”

  He tugged on her capris and pulled them off, along with her underwear, then dragged her shirt over her head and made quick work of taking off her bra. Once naked, he swept his hands over her body.

  “I’ve missed you like this. Naked, with my hands on you.”

  She shivered under his touch, those amazing goose bumps she got whenever he touched her. “Yes. Touch me.”

  He cupped the globes of her breasts, then rubbed his thumbs back and forth over her nipples, making her ache. As he snaked his hands down over her ribs, she parted her legs, giving him access to her sex. He cupped her, rubbed her clit and slipped his fingers inside of her, making her gasp at the shattering sensations he could evoke so quickly.

  She hadn’t made herself come since the last time they were together. It had been too long, and she was so ready she could go off right now. But, like Tucker, she wanted to come with him inside her.

  “Now,” she said. “I want you inside me now, making me come.”

  He got a condom and put it on, then pulled her to the edge of the bed and bent one of her legs, wedging it between his arm and body to hold her in place while he entered her. Then he leaned forward, thrusting into her with slow, deliberate strokes.

  “This is where I belong, Aubry,” he said as he moved within her. “This is where you belong.”

  “Yes.” She arched her hips, giving him deeper access.

  He bent and stretched lengthwise across her body, cradling her head between his hands, and kissed her. She was lost in him, drawn into the mix of love and sex, of emotion and powerful physical sensation.

  “I can feel you tightening around me,” Tucker said as he withdrew, then pushed into her. “Can you feel my cock swelling?”

  She swept her hands over his shoulders, raking her nails down his arms. “I feel everything.”

  And when he ground against her, she splintered, unable to hold back her wild cry as she released. Tucker took her mouth, groaning against her lips as he came. She held tight to him as she rode out the waves of her shattering orgasm that left her limp, but oh so satisfied.

  “Mmm,” was all she could say afterward.

  “Yeah.” He pulled away and disappeared to deal with the condom, then came back. He sprawled on his side next to her and played with her hair.

  “Do you work tomorrow?” he asked.

  “No, I’m off.”

  “Good. We can stay up the rest of the night having sex.”

  She laughed. “Are you sure you have the energy for that? You’ve had kind of a busy night.”

  He toyed with her nipple, watching as it perked to a tight point. “Babe. I’ve got stamina to spare.”

  She looked over at him. “You’re running on adrenaline. Eventually you’ll crash.”

  “Maybe.” He bent and licked her nipple, then blew on it, making her laugh. “We’ll see how long I last then. I give it four or five more times.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure I’ll last for four or five more times.”

  “Lightweight.”

  This really was perfect. She wondered, though . . .

  “Tucker.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Can we really make this work? We both have crazy schedules.”

  He smiled and smoothed her hair away from her face. “I think that’s what’ll make our relationship work so well. Not despite our atypical jobs, but because of them. I won’t have to worry about you being lonely while I’m on the road, because you have a career that keeps you busy and satisfied.”

  She rolled over on her side to face him. “And I won’t have to worry about you being pissed off that I’m working so many hours, because you spend so much time on the road. And when we’re together, it’ll be quality time.”

  “Exactly. Face it, Aubry, we’re perfect for each other.”

  “You’re right. We are. Like tonight. Whenever we’re together it’s like we’ve been apart for months. Every time will be like this.”

  “Like the very first time.” He swept his hand over her hip. “Explosive. Romantic. I promise.”

  “I believe you.”

  “I love you, Aubry.”

  Her heart flipped. “I love you, too, Tucker.”

  He pushed her back onto the bed and covered her lips with his, making her sigh with renewed arousal. He had always swept her away, had always wound her up with his words and his body and the way he had captured her attention from that very first night she’d found him in her parents’ wine cellar.

  Would it always be like this? So wild and crazy and filled with excitement. She didn’t know, and even if it wasn’t, she was in this relationship wholeheartedly with him.

  Forever.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading All Wound Up. There will be more Play-by-Play books coming up. Unexpected Rush, book eleven of the Play-by-Play series, will be Barrett’s story, releasing in February 2016. While you’re waiting, I’ve included a first-chapter excerpt of Unexpected Rush for you to enjoy.

  Coming up in December 2015 is Make Me Stay, book five of my Hope series. This is a small-town contemporary romance series with characters who all live in the same town, who all know one another and whose love for one another can get them through any of life’s difficulties. I hope you enjoy the first-chapter excerpt included for Make Me Stay.

  Happy reading,

  Jaci

  TURN THE PAGE FOR A PREVIEW OF THE NEXT SIZZLING-HOT BOOK IN THE PLAY-BY-PLAY SERIES . . .

  COMING SOON FROM

  “MEN SUCK.”

  Harmony Evans tossed her purse on the kitchen table of her grandmother’s house and sat next to her best friend, Alyssa. It was Thursday night—family dinner night at Granny’s house. Everyone was coming over, just like every Thursday at Granny’s. Right now she’d prefer to be sitting in the corner of a dark bar, nursing a dirty martini. She was going to have to settle for sweet tea because, short of death, you did not miss Thursday night dinner at Granny’s.

  She’d already come in and kissed Granny, who was holding court in the living room with Harmony’s brother Drake and some of his friends, giving her time to catch up with Alyssa.

  Alyssa laid her hand over Harmony’s and cast a look of concern. “And why do you hate men? Is it Levon?”

  Harmony wrinkled her nose, preferring never to hear the name of her now ex-boyfriend again. “Yes.”

  “Did you two break up?”

  “I did not break up with him. He gave me the classic, ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech. He’s doing so much international travel with the law firm, and he just can’t devote enough time to the relationship, so it wouldn’t be fair to me to lead me on when he knows he can’t commit. He went on with more excuses but it was all blah blah blah after that.” She waved her hand back and forth.

  Alyssa’s gaze narrowed. “What a prick. Why is it so damn hard to find a man of value, one who will respect a woman and give her honesty?”

  “I have no idea.” Harmony pulled one of the empty glasses forward and poured from the pitcher that sat in the middle of the table, already filled with tea and ice and loaded with so much sugar she’d likely be awake all night. At this point, she didn’t care. She’d work it off in a gym session tomorrow. “All I know is I’m glad to be rid of him. It was bad enough his bathroom counter had more product on it than mine did.”

  Alyssa laughed. “There you go. What does a man need on his counter besides a toothbrush, soap, deodorant and a razor?”

  “According to Levon, there was stuff for his beard, trimming devices, facial scrub, moisturizer—separate ones for his face and his body. An entire manicure set for his nails, for use when he wasn’t off getting mani-pedis of course.”

  “Of course,” Alyssa said, then giggled.

  “Oh, and the scents. Let’s not forget his entire rack of colognes.”

  Alyssa nodded. “The man did reek, honey.”

  “I think he owned more perfume than I do.”

  “
Never a good sign. See? You dodged a bullet.”

  “I did.”

  Alyssa lifted her glass. “Let’s toast to that.”

  They clinked glasses. “To men we’re lucky to have not ended up with,” Harmony said.

  “What are we toasting to?”

  Harmony looked up to find Barrett Cassidy standing at the kitchen table. He was her brother Drake’s best friend and teammate, and since the guys both played for the Tampa Hawks football team and they were in football season, Thursday nights meant Drake would drag his friends over to the house for dinner.

  One of the nicest things about living in Tampa, as a matter of fact. She’d often thought it had been fortuitous that her brother had been drafted by the hometown team. It had kept him close to home all these years, and of course, one couldn’t beat the awesome eye candy her brother brought home now and then.

  Especially Barrett. Most especially Barrett.

  “We’re toasting the end of Harmony’s relationship with a man who was absolutely not right for her,” Alyssa said.

  Barrett arched a brow, then gave Harmony a sympathetic look. “Really. Sorry about that.”

  Harmony shrugged. “Nothing to be sorry about. Alyssa’s right. He wasn’t the man for me.”

  “Then I guess I’m . . . happy for you?”

  She laughed, and she could tell this was uncomfortable for him. “Come on. Sit down and have a glass of iced tea with us.”

  “I’m not sure I want to wade into these waters. Breakups are not my territory.”

  “Oh, come on, Barrett. Surely you’ve dumped a woman before,” Harmony said, pouring him a glass. “Or you’ve been dumped.”

  He pulled out a chair and sat. She’d never realized before how utterly . . . big he was. He’d always kept his distance from her, preferring to hang with Drake, so this was the closest she’d ever been to him. Both he and Drake played defense for the Hawks. Barrett was absolutely pure muscle. Just watching the way his muscles flexed as he moved was like watching liquid art. She could stare at his arms for hours, but she tried not to ogle. Too much, anyway.

  “I’ve been dumped before, sure,” Barrett said. “And maybe I’ve broken up with a woman or two.”

  Alyssa leaned close to Harmony. “He’s downplaying being the one who dumped the woman.”

  “I heard that, Alyssa.”

  “I meant for you to hear me, Barrett. You’re just trying to be the good guy right now because we’re roasting the not-so-good guys.”

  Barrett narrowed his gaze. “See, I told you I shouldn’t be sitting here. If you’re gonna want to bad-mouth my species—which you have a right to, since some asshole broke up with you, Harmony—then I should leave. Also, I’d suggest something stronger than iced tea. It helps.”

  So maybe he had been dumped before. It sounded like he knew how to get through it.

  “It’s okay, Barrett,” Harmony said. “Me getting dumped is definitely not your fault. I’m not as pissed off about it as I probably should be, all things considered. So you’re safe here.”

  Besides, looking at Barrett could definitely make her forget all about Levon and his prissy bathroom counter. She wondered how many items Barrett had on his bathroom counter? She’d just bet not many.

  She turned her chair toward him, determined to find out. “Actually, I have a ridiculous question for you, Barrett.”

  He turned his gorgeous blue eyes on her and smiled. “Shoot.”

  “How many items currently reside on your bathroom counter?”

  Barrett cocked a brow. “Huh?”

  Alyssa laughed. “Very good question.”

  “I don’t get it,” Barrett said.

  “We’re conducting a poll about men and their bathrooms,” Alyssa said. “Indulge us.”

  Barrett finally shrugged. “Okay, fine. Uh . . . soap, of course. Toothpaste and toothbrush. Deodorant. Maybe a comb?”

  Harmony smiled when Barrett struggled to come up with anything else. She knew he was an absolute male of the not-so-fussy-about-his-grooming variety.

  He finally cast her a helpless look. “I don’t know. I’ve got nothin’ else. Did I fail?”

  “Oh, no,” Harmony said. “You most definitely passed.”

  “You should go out with Barrett,” Alyssa suggested. “He’s a nice guy, and he obviously doesn’t keep thirty-seven things on his bathroom counter.”

  Barrett laughed. “Yeah, and Drake would kill us both. Well, he’d definitely kill me.”

  The idea of it appealed, though. She’d had such a crush on Barrett when Drake had first introduced them all those years ago. And now? Hmmm. Yeah, definitely appealing.

  “What my brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him—or you. What do you say, Barrett? Care to take me out?”

  BARRETT WAS AT A LOSS FOR WORDS. HARMONY WAS his best friend’s little sister.

  Only she wasn’t so little anymore. When he’d first been drafted by Tampa, he and Drake had bonded. Both of them played defense, they’d been roommates and they’d become friends. It had been that way for the past five years.

  He’d been coming here to Granny’s house ever since that first year, back when Harmony had been in college. Now she was a woman, with a career of her own, and she’d just been dumped by some guy obviously too stupid to know what a treasure he’d had.

  She was beautiful, with light brown skin, long, dark curly hair and those amazing amber eyes. She had the kind of body any man would want to get his hands on, curves in all the right places . . .

  And he had no business thinking about Harmony at all, because there was a code—no messing with your best friend’s sister.

  Absolutely not. No. Wasn’t going to happen.

  He pushed back his chair and stood, looking down at Harmony as if she was Eve in the Garden and she’d just offered him the forbidden apple. “I know the rule, Harmony, and so do you. I think I’ll go check out what Granny made for dinner tonight.”

  He might be tempted, but there was too much at stake. He was going to step away from the sweet fruit in front of him before he decided to do something really stupid and take a taste.

  Because going down that road would spell nothing but doom.

  KEEP READING FOR A SNEAK PEEK OF THE NEXT SEXY, HEARTWARMING BOOK IN THE HOPE SERIES . . .

  COMING SOON FROM

  REID MCCORMACK STUDIED THE BLUEPRINTS FOR THE old mercantile he’d agreed to renovate in downtown Hope. He still had no idea what he was doing back in his hometown, or why he’d agreed to this job.

  It was a big project, and he had plenty of projects with his company in Boston. Shifting responsibilities over had been a giant pain in the ass, as was taking a leave of absence and putting his company—his baby—in the hands of his associates. He’d sweated blood and risked a hell of a lot of money to get his architectural firm up and running, and with numerous late nights and damn good work, he’d made a success of McCormack Architectural Designs.

  The thought of not being in Boston overseeing the business sent a shot of nervousness straight to his gut. But, he had to admit, when he’d come to town for his brother Logan’s wedding in the spring, and they’d taken a look at this old place, it had been the childhood memories, plus the challenge of restoring the mercantile to its former glory, that had been too hard to resist.

  He had ideas for the mercantile. A lot of them. And now that he and his brothers had bought the old building back from the town, it was their responsibility to do right by it. Though Logan and Luke’s contribution was limited to providing their part of the capital. As the architect in charge of the project, Reid was going to be the one to put the actual work into it.

  He intended to do it justice.

  And when the job was done he’d head back to Boston, where he belonged.

  Because while Hope would always be home to him, it wasn’t his home anymore.

  So now he stood in the middle of a pile of crap covering the main floor of the old mercantile, his boots kicking around years’ worth of dust and debr
is. He might be the youngest McCormack brother, but he had great memories of this old place.

  His lips ticked up as he remembered the old building in its glory days. One particular day, Dad was walking them past, trying to corral three rambunctious boys on their way to the ice cream store. Reid was always the best behaved, so he’d stayed by Dad’s side while Logan and Luke ran off ahead, getting into one thing or another. But he and Dad had stopped to look inside. At the time, there had been offices, with busy people doing their jobs. Even at age five, Reid had been fascinated by the old brick building. Dad had been, too. Reid could still remember the people inside stopping to smile and wave at him. And he’d waved back.

  Mom hadn’t been with them that day. She often wasn’t. Raising kids hadn’t been her favorite thing.

  Had she ever come to town with them? She’d often gone into Tulsa by herself to shop. But she’d never brought him or his brothers along. She’d said they were too rowdy and she needed her space.

  Yeah, she’d needed a lot of space. So much space that as soon as Reid had turned eighteen, she’d taken a hike.

  Forever.

  He heard a knock on the front door, dissipating the cloud of memories.

  Figuring it was the general contractor he’d hired—or maybe his brothers, who were also supposed to meet him here today, he went to the door and pulled it open.

  It wasn’t the contractor or his brothers. It was Samantha Reasor, the owner of the flower shop around the corner. Sam was the one who’d pushed hard for them to take on this project. Or rather, for him to take it on. She was as passionate about the mercantile as anyone in Hope.

  Today she wore skinny dark jeans that showcased her slender frame. Her blond hair was pulled high on top of her head, and she had on a short-sleeved polo shirt that bore the name “Reasor’s Flower Shop.” And she had the prettiest damn smile he’d ever seen, with full lips painted a kissable shade of pink.

  Not that he was thinking about kissing her or anything. He was back in Hope to work.