Ruthless

by Lisa Jackson

  “You’re positive?” Deep creases lined his brow.

  “Yeah,” she whispered huskily. He never quit tormenting her. Kimberly was swimming in that timeless sea of passion. Lightly touching his shoulders and forearms, sleek back and buttocks, she tingled at each sensual curve of his body. She tasted him, the salt of his skin welcome on her lips.

  He kissed her hard and Kimberly eagerly accepted his tongue and lips, weaving her fingers through the hair on the back of his head, pulling him closer. She could feel his desire throbbing against her. He pulled away from her mouth and as she took a deep breath, she felt his tongue make circles against her neck, his lips caressing the sensitive skin above her collarbone. She let out a gasp, completely at the mercy of the pleasure she felt. His hands were working in complement to his mouth, massaging her breasts, teasing her nipples. Moaning, she pressed against him, begging for more.

  Jake’s mouth did not disappoint, moving slowly from her throat to her breast, making smaller and smaller circles around her nipple until he finally took it in his mouth. The warmth of his tongue was euphoric.

  “Please . . . don’t . . . stop,” was all she could think to say, her mind lost to the feeling of his every touch.

  At that, he took his hand and brushed the soft curls at the apex of her legs before stroking a finger softly against her inner thigh. She parted her legs for him, exposing herself, feeling completely safe, excited for Jake to have all of her. Jake slid his hand against her opening, feeling her wetness.

  “Oh, Jake . . .” she managed to say, lost in the intoxication of his touch, positioning him between her legs. She could see his erection, knew that for as much as she was turned on, the feeling was reciprocated. He rubbed his manhood against her, teasing her before entering slowly, his hardness setting off a burst of ecstasy as it filled her. She knew there was no turning back, his eyes holding her gaze as he started to rhythmically thrust, pulling out only to delve again, deeper and faster.

  She moved with him, finding his tempo and feeling the earth shake beneath them. Every sense aware, she kissed his chest, flicking his small nipples with her tongue and running her fingers through the hair of his firm chest. His body was fluid, his muscles rippling beneath his skin as he moved faster and faster. Kimberly closed her eyes, wanting to feel every inch of him against her, engulfed in the bliss of their lovemaking.

  She felt as if she were spinning, faster and faster, higher and higher, entrapped in the mounting pressure inside her as he moved skillfully. Every nerve ending was tingling as her pleasure built, she could feel Jake trying to control himself and knew he was close. She dug her fingers into his back, her hips bucking, and let out a cry of joy as primal as any winter wind as all her tension released, waves of pleasure overtaking her body.

  As she climaxed, she felt Jake complete himself inside her, his essence touching her deepest parts, filling her with warmth. “Kim!” he choked out, collapsing on top of her, placing his head just above her shoulder. His warm breath was soothing, his hard body reassuring. He breathed deep, taking in her scent, and kissed the downy skin of her shoulder, tasting her sweetness.

  They laid there in silence for a few moments, still fused as one.

  She breathed a long sigh, feeling a sea of emotions churn within her.

  He looked up then softly touched her cheek, stroking the soft skin.

  “Regrets?” he asked gently.

  “No—”

  “Then, what?”

  She sniffed, blinking rapidly. Self-conscious, she laughed nervously. “It’s—been a long time,” she said, and silently added, and it’s never been like this. I’ve never felt so turned inside out—so completely at someone else’s mercy.

  “You know you can trust me.”

  “I do,” she admitted, smiling. “That’s the problem.”

  Jake’s eyes were filled with compassion, and he pushed a burnished curl off her forehead before placing his lips against her brow. “How did Robert hurt you so badly?”

  “I let him,” she admitted. “But it’s over.” She didn’t want to think of Robert. Not tonight. Tonight she had only room for Jake, and he filled her very essence, her thoughts, her mind, her body.

  “You’re sure?” His gaze sought conviction in hers. A log in the fire split, falling into pieces.

  “Positive.”

  “Good—because I intend to make you forget him.” Hard lines of conviction surrounding his mouth, Jake twisted his fingers in her hair.

  She sighed. “If only you could.”

  “Let me try,” he suggested, his voice low as he kissed her again with the same breathtaking passion of just a few minutes before. Then he lifted her off the couch and carried her into the bedroom.

  “What’re you doing?”

  He cocked a jaunty dark brow and grinned devilishly. “Having my way with you.”

  “Wrong,” Kimberly clipped, winding her arms around his neck. “I’m having my way with you.”

  He tossed his head back and laughed. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  “Good.” Caught up in the wonder of this man, Kimberly decided that come what may, she would have this one night to flirt with danger without a thought to the future.

  He crossed the threshold to her room, kicked the door shut and dropped her onto the cool coverlet of her bed. He was on top of her in an instant, the mattress sagging with his weight. “So have your way,” he growled against her ear. Delicious shivers raced up her spine and he took her hand in his and guided it to touch him, to stroke his growing member until he was at his full length again. It was thrilling, to have him harden at her touch, to feel his body react to her, his muscles contracting and relaxing with her every movement.

  “You’re wicked,” she chuckled.

  “Only with you, love,” he whispered.

  * * *

  Stretching lazily, Kimberly rolled over in bed. She opened her eyes slowly and felt a strong arm pin her to the sheets.

  Jake grinned devilishly, his jaw shadowed. Propped on one elbow, his bare chest covered with a fine mat of dark hair, he stared down at her with silvery, erotic eyes. “Good morning, lazybones,” he drawled.

  Passionate images flashed through her mind. Their lovemaking had been glorious, crazy and perfect. “Lazybones?” she whispered, her cheeks coloring as she shoved a tangled handful of hair from her eyes and glanced at the clock. It was nearly ten. Groaning, she flopped back on the pillow. “I’ve got to pick up Lindsay.”

  “I already took care of it.”

  “You did what?” she cried, sitting bolt upright in the bed. Then, as his gaze drifted lower to her uncovered breasts, she clasped the sheets to her bosom.

  His grin stretched. “I called Arlene—she’s very nice, by the way, very understanding.”

  “I’ll bet.” Kimberly moaned. Arlene would be doing handsprings if she thought Kimberly was involved with a man, especially a man like Jake.

  “Anyway, I told her I was going to buy you brunch and we would pick up Lindsay around noon.”

  “You had no right—”

  “I know.” Leaning forward, he pulled the sheet to expose one dark nipple. To his delight, it puckered instantly beneath his stare.

  “Jake, really . . .”

  Taking the dark bud in his lips, he slowly tugged.

  Kimberly melted inside, and all her concentration centered on that one aching breast. “Don’t you think ... ?”

  But he obviously didn’t. With a groan he rolled over her, his lips finding hers, his tongue tracing the edges of her mouth as he moved familiarly on top of her and spread her legs apart. “Just one more time,” he whispered against her hair.

  Already her heart was pounding, the blood rushing wantonly through her veins. “We—we really should be getting up,” she murmured, but his fingers caressed her, found that spot that was so vulnerable, and then his mouth lowered hungrily to suckle at her breast.

  She couldn’t stop him. Her fingers coiled in the sheets of her old four-poster as he
wet each delicate nipple and breathed across their dampened tautness.

  He left a trail of kisses as his mouth went lower, tasting the soft skin below her waist, tracing the contours of her hipbone before brushing his lips across her tuft of hair. He parted her legs and his tongue swirled against her, making her gasp every time it brushed her peak of sensitivity. As she grew comfortable with his intimate touch, he grew bolder, fluttering his tongue against her, and softly suckling until she couldn’t stand the build up any longer.

  She pulled his head up to her, and staring into his eyes, kissed him as she found his manhood and positioned it at her entrance. Arching upward, desire raging in her core, she welcomed him, rejoicing in their union.

  Jake moved slowly at first, gaining speed as pressure built inside Kimberly. He brought her time after time to the brink until he could resist no longer.

  Convulsing, she cried low in her throat, and his voice joined hers, resounding in the tiny room, bouncing off the ice-covered windowpanes and echoing in her heart. She felt him spill into her as she clung to him, legs entwined, their bodies dewy with perspiration. Dear Lord, she’d fallen in love with him, fallen so fast her head was spinning. Loving Jake was crazy, ludicrous—the one emotion she shouldn’t allow herself to feel. But there it was. Big as life.

  His breath, ragged and shallow, fanned across her naked breasts, and she sighed in contentment.

  “As I said last night,” Jake finally rasped, “you’re driving me out of my mind.” He thought about the night before and how he’d made love to her over and over again, as if in so doing he could satiate himself with her.

  But the lovemaking had proved true just the opposite. The more he had her, the more he wanted, a deep thirst that couldn’t be quenched.

  “I don’t think we should talk about sanity,” she said, her thoughts turning black as she considered the court battle in front of her. “At least not this morning.”

  “I agree,” he said, a triumphant smile stretching mischievously over his jaw. “Because for the next two days, you’re in my debt.”

  “Don’t remind me,” she groaned, then suddenly smelled the scent of coffee drifting through the rooms. Casting him a suspicious look, she asked, “How long have you been awake?”

  “Hours,” he drawled.

  “I don’t believe it.”

  “How about long enough to make coffee and a phone call?”

  “That’s more likely.” She reached to the foot of her bed, where her robe usually laid. During the night it had slipped to the floor unnoticed. With a wry grin, she scooped it up and slid her arms through the sleeves. “I’ll start my indentured servitude by making you breakfast.”

  “I like my eggs over-easy with waffles and homemade peach jam,” he said.

  “Dreamer,” she tossed back at him as she scrambled off the bed.

  “You know, I could get used to this,” he teased. His grey eyes sparkled, and Kimberly couldn’t help but notice the way his shoulder muscles rippled as he shifted.

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” she said, but she didn’t mean it. Waking up in Jake’s arms, sharing breakfast with him, spending every day with him sounded like heaven. As she walked out the door, she felt the pillow land with a thump against her rear end.

  Laughing, still thinking about what it would be like to be married to him, she made her way down the hall. “You’re fantasizing again, Bennett,” she told herself as she breezed into the kitchen, the linoleum cold beneath her bare feet.

  “What’s that?” Jake asked, walking up behind her.

  “Nothing—maybe you’d like to fetch the paper.”

  “Oh, yeah, that’s just what I’d like.” Grumbling good-naturedly, he slid into his ski pants and sweater, then walked outside.

  Kimberly watched through the frosted window as he broke a path in the six inches of snow.

  The sun was high in a winter-blue sky, and golden rays reflected off December’s thick white mantle.

  If not for the custody hearing and Robert’s threats, Kimberly thought, her life would be perfect. But those were a couple of pretty big ifs.

  She watched as Jake reached into the paper’s box. He glanced back. Catching sight of her in the window, he smiled and gave her a crisp military salute. She laughed, and her stupid heart soared. Just the sight of him caused a thickening in her throat that she couldn’t explain.

  He stopped at his car, took out a huge bag and returned, stomping his boots in the back porch. “Mind if I change?” he asked as he passed through the kitchen and pressed cool lips to the back of her neck.

  She was breaking eggs into a skillet as one strong arm surrounded her waist and he pressed his face into her hair. “As long as I get to watch.”

  She turned back to the stove. So he’d packed a change of clothes. Doubts crowded her thoughts, and she pinched her lip in her teeth.

  And what about you? Her mind nagged. With the soft lights, fire and zero resistance. Just who was seducing whom?

  A few minutes later she heard the water running in the bathroom and the muffled sound of his off-key singing. Kimberly tried to convince herself that being with Jake was a mistake, that spending any time with him other than in his office was dangerous, but she couldn’t believe it. How could anything that felt so right be wrong? she wondered as she scrambled eggs and prodded sizzling strips of bacon with her fork.

  She heard the shower stop. Her heart began to pound all over again, and a few seconds later Jake, wearing only boxer-briefs slung low over his hips, a white towel draped around his neck and a knowing smile, entered the kitchen. “This smells great, and to think I’d suggested eating out,” he said, winking and talking as if to himself. “Not only beautiful, but she can cook, too. You’re a lucky man, McGowan.”

  She had to do a double-take when she turned to look at him. The hard lines of his abdomen and sparse clothing took her breath away. Regaining her stature, she said, “We may never make it to Arlene’s if you don’t put some clothes on.”

  “I think Arlene could handle another day—”

  Kimberly’s playfully stern look stopped him short.

  With a sheepish grin he grabbed a shirt out of his bag. “If you insist,” Jake murmured, pulling his head through the shirt’s opening.

  “Good. Now sit down and eat,” she ordered, but felt the complement warm her cheeks.

  They ate and talked, read the paper and sipped coffee, even cleared the table together. It was strange, Kimberly thought, as she stacked the dishes in the dishwasher, how easily she could slip into a life with him.

  After she’d showered and changed, they walked to Arlene’s house and found Lindsay already shaping the third in a family of snow people. “Hi, Mommy,” Lindsay called energetically, waving a mittened hand. “Wanna help?”

  “Sure,” Kimberly said, bending on one knee to sculpt the rotund sides of the snowman.

  “That’s Daddy,” Lindsay said proudly, finding two sticks and stuffing them into the snowman’s sides.

  Kimberly’s throat went raw.

  “And that’s you, and this is me.” She indicated the other two snow people. “Now all we have to do is make a puppy!”

  “Then what?” Kimberly asked, glancing up at Jake. His expression was unreadable as he leaned over and rolled another snowball.

  “Then the family’s done,” Lindsay answered.

  “I see.” Kimberly’s heart ached. Lindsay stated everything in a matter-of-fact voice, Kimberly wondered just how much pain the divorce had already caused her child. What would happen to Lindsay if there were a court battle?

  “Here we go,” Jake said, shaping a lumpy snowball.

  “What’s that?” Lindsay asked.

  “The dog.”

  She eyed his four-legged sculpture suspiciously. “What kind?”

  “A mutt.”

  If he felt uncomfortable about working on the perfect family, Jake didn’t show it. Kimberly, despite her worries, almost laughed at his pathetic attempt.
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br />   “I’ve never seen a dog like that before,” Lindsay said, wrinkling her nose and eyeing the creature that looked more like a Saturday-morning cartoon character than anything remotely canine.

  Jake glanced at the statue of the rotund snowwoman. “Well, if it won’t do, we’ll start over. Because that—” he pointed to the icy figure “—is the spitting image of your mother.”

  “Oooh!” Kimberly cried, grinning. “Harsh words, counselor.” She scooped up a handful of snow and hurled it at him. It smashed against his jacket, and he let out a whoop. “Those are fighting words.”

  Jake’s silvery eyes gleamed. “Oh, yeah? Come on, Lindsay, let’s teach your mom a lesson.”

  Before she could duck behind a nearby tree, Jake pelted her with three snowballs and Lindsay tossed another that landed at her feet.

  Giggling, Lindsay grabbed another handful of snow before Jake lifted the child to his shoulders and they chased Kimberly around the yard. Laughing and breathing hard, Kimberly finally had to beg for mercy near the front steps.

  “Give?” Jake asked, his smile a satisfied slash.

  “Yes—I give,” she gasped, her eyes sparkling.

  “More, more!” Lindsay insisted just as the front door opened with a bang.

  “Lindsay—what’s going on out here?” Arlene asked. Still wearing an oversized terry robe and slippers, she chuckled as she saw Lindsay riding on Jake’s broad shoulders.

  “They’re trying to kill me,” Kimberly mocked.

  “Exact our punishment,” Jake corrected.

  “Good point,” he drawled.

  “Details, details,” Kimberly murmured.

  “Well, come in and have a cup of coffee before all three of you catch your death.” Arlene’s eyes were bright behind her glasses. She stood back from the door to let them pass.

  Kimberly stomped the snow from her boots and followed Jake and Lindsay inside. She introduced Jake to Lyle, then hung her coat on the hall tree.

  “We made you a surprise!” Lindsay announced.

  They were sitting around a small maple table in Arlene’s roomy kitchen, warming their frozen fingers around steaming cups of coffee and cocoa.