Explosive (The Black Opals)

by St. Claire, Tori

  God, he knew just how to play her, how to fine-tune her body to the point she wasn’t certain it belonged to her at all, but rather an extension of his will. Her back arched off the bed, and with a muffled cry, she shattered around him.

  The pressure and demand of his mouth eased as he gently closed his lips around the soft outer folds of her pussy. But dear Lord, she was so sensitive, she couldn’t lie still. Her legs jerked at the light fall of his breath, her breath came in short, sharp gasps. She’d climaxed, but just as she knew he intended, he left her primed and needy for more.

  She whimpered, caught between ecstasy and the awareness that when he touched her again, it would shock through her system like live current applied to her nerves. A fleeting sense of fear whispered around her, and she shut her eyes, falling into the habit of conjuring whatever safety she could find by summoning Brice’s face. But as his laughing eyes began to emerge in her mind, she pushed him aside. No. She didn’t want Brice intruding on this tonight. Jayce would never bring her harm. She breathed deeply and centered herself by sliding her fingers through Jayce’s thick hair.

  Jayce smoothed a delightfully roughened hand over her thigh, feathered light kisses over the base of her abdomen, just above the rise of her pelvis. He inched forward, scraping his chest over her sensitized skin, pressing her into the mattress.

  “Perfect,” he whispered against the base of her ribs. “I think you might be right. I am pretty fond of that.”

  “Fond?” She let out a tremulous chuckle. The niggling of amusement faded as he took one nipple between thumb and forefinger and gave it a tweak. Heat raced through her veins, leaving her so wet that had he been anyone else, her body’s reaction would have embarrassed her.

  His gaze flicked up to hers. An unnatural shadow fell over his expression. For a moment, the fire of desire in his gaze dimmed, and his jaw tensed. He drew the back of his knuckles down the centerline of her body, his eyes following the path of his hand. When his fingers casually dipped between her legs, he asked in a tight voice, “Does McTavish get you off like that?”

  “No,” she answered quietly. The honesty, however, inflamed her cheeks. She turned her head aside, unable to confront the truth of her less than fulfilling relationship with Brice.

  Jayce’s hand slipped between her cheek and the pillow. With gentle pressure, he turned her focus back to him. Gone were the dark lines that had haunted his expression only moments earlier. The burning light in his eyes had returned, only now it was brighter, hotter.

  “Kiss me, Alyssa.”

  She didn’t have to—his lips were already on hers, coaxing her into the thoughtless place of sensation and emotion that somehow managed to make all the time and distance between them disappear. Alyssa slid her arms around his neck and reveled in the warmth of his chest grazing hers. The weight of his body compressing her into the bed.

  He braced his hands on either side of her shoulders and eased the kiss to a close. His own breathing had become labored, and in the stillness of her room that rasp sent goose bumps sliding over her skin. Tenderly, he pushed her tangled hair away from her face and cupped her cheek in his large palm.

  “You have no idea how much I want to make this last all night. But I’m pretty damn close to worthless right now.”

  She smiled softly. “You’re never worthless.”

  Easing his hips forward, he stroked the length of his cock between her moist folds. Pleasure crept over her, the promise of feeling him deep inside her body turning the hum of arousal into keen anticipation. She arched her back, lifting into him, parting her thighs to accommodate his.

  He bent his head, pressed a kiss to her hairline. “I’m not going to go easy on you,” he rasped. “I can’t.”

  A hint of apology lingered in his rough voice, but Alyssa didn’t need to sentiment. One thing she could say with absolute certainty—he was never a selfish lover. More than that knowledge, however, was the understanding he had reached the point where need replaced desire, and he was rapidly losing his control.

  She ran her hands down his spine, gripped his tight buttocks in her fingers, and held him in place as she rubbed her throbbing center against the hard ridge of his cock. “Take me, Jayce. However you want me.”

  A low, throaty groan rumbled from his chest, and his mouth crashed into hers. Against her shoulders, she felt the twitching of his muscles that evidenced the fight between his will and his body. He pushed his hips forward, easing the tip of his cock inside her, stretching her wider. Her eyes closed. Her pussy clenched and released, guiding him deeper. Inch by inch, Jayce possessed her.

  “Ah, fuck, Alyssa,” he croaked. His body jerked, his hips slammed forward, driving the last few inches of his cock inside her hard. “Christ, you feel so fucking good.”

  So did he, but she was beyond words now. Like an expensive designer drug, ecstasy slid through her veins. She drew her feet flat against the mattress and gripped his shoulders. Dimly, she realized her nails bit into the hard muscle there, but it was all she could do not to claw into his shoulder blades as Jayce began to move inside her.

  Slow, easy strokes sparked an unrelenting burn. She twisted beneath him, as pleasure blistered through her veins. Broken cries tumbled off her lips.

  Jayce lifted her legs so he could possess her more deeply, and took her with hard, heavy strokes. In a blissful haze, she stared at his handsome face. His expression tightened, twisting into harsh lines of needy hunger. His dark eyes glittered in the faint light of a distant streetlamp, sparking with the intensity of his desire. A tiny bead of sweat trickled down his temple.

  “Jayce,” she murmured. “Oh, God, Jayce.”

  “Need you, Alyssa,” he managed between ragged gasps. “Need you, so…fucking…bad…”

  He began to move within her harder. Faster. Pumping into her with abandon and impaling her with sensation that went beyond pleasure. Beyond ecstasy. Fulfillment that had only ever come at his hands. It built inside her, expanding and contracting as her orgasm rose. She twisted her head side to side, fighting the intensity that held the power to destroy her, and yet needing it all the same. “Jayce, please. Please.”

  “I’ve got you,” he groaned.

  He wrapped his arms around her trembling body, and her legs encircled his waist. Her thighs gripped tight as Jayce pounded forcefully into her, flesh slapping against flesh, each thrust driving her body into the soft mattress.

  Climax exploded through her. Alyssa bucked into his powerful thrusts, his name tearing from her throat in a high-pitched keen. Heat saturated her awareness, buoying her on a riptide of pleasure. She felt his body convulse, felt the swell and pulse of his cock as release stormed through him and he filled her with his seed.

  As her senses gradually returned, she held Jayce to her. His lips moved against the side of her throat, feather-light presses that accompanied the whisper of his voice. Again and again. So quietly she had to strain to make out the solitary word he softly repeated. Alyssa.

  He shuddered in her arms one last time and turned his cheek against her shoulder. Warmth cocooned her. Not just the heat of his body, but a deeper intangible warmth, and for the first time in more years than she could remember, she felt safe.

  That was the terrifying part. Like this, she felt safe with Jayce. Removed from the possibility of shame and sheltered from the past.

  She turned her head aside to escape the sudden tightening of her lungs. If only it were so easy to erase the memories. And if Jayce knew she had deliberately gone against his wishes and attended that long-ago party after promising she wouldn’t, he would shun her as her parents had. He too would turn his back and send her away.

  Jayce stroked her cheek. Ran his thumb over her swollen lower lip. “Sweet Alyssa,” he whispered. Another twitch possessed his body as he eased himself out of her and rolled onto his back, his head resting on the pillow she faced. He lay quiet for a long moment, his gaze tracking across her bedroom ceiling. Then, with a heavy sigh, he shook his head and let out a hu
morless chuckle. “I don’t know what to say anymore.”

  Neither did she. In these quiet moments, they had planned their future. He was to go to Chicago and get things settled. He’d apprentice in the carpenter’s union, secure an apartment for them, and she’d join him after graduation. These quiet, intimate conversations were always positive. Always included forever.

  His dark gaze slid sideways and locked with hers. The same shadows she’d witnessed earlier haunted his eyes. “You are protected, aren’t you?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded. Reaching out hesitantly, she smoothed her hand down his perspiration-slicked chest.

  He eased onto his elbow, looking at her thoughtfully. “Alyssa, I—”

  This was what she’d feared—that he’d corner her into a conversation she couldn’t engage in. Unable to bear the idea of arguing with him yet again, she pressed her index finger to his lips. “Sometimes, words aren’t necessary.”

  Jayce answered with a slow, reluctant nod as she lowered her arm. “Yeah. Probably best,” he murmured.

  As if an invisible shutter lowered over his face, his expression cleared. The shadows disappeared, the uninterpretable light in his eyes faded. She could no more guess what he might be thinking than she could predict the lottery numbers. Just like that, he locked himself away. Where he’d developed that talent, bewildered her.

  Jayce turned onto his belly, his preferred way to sleep, and tucked one arm beneath his pillow, bunching it up to support his head. He slid the arm closest to her down the mattress and captured her fingers. Lifting them, he brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss against the fleshy part of her palm. Then, as he had every time they’d had opportunity to sleep beside each other, he twined his fingers through hers and tucked their joined hands beneath his cheek.

  Alyssa’s heart melted. Stripped bare emotionally, she let instinct and habit have free reign and curled up as close to his side as she could get. She slipped her leg over his, tucked her foot between his calves, and shut her eyes.

  T w e n t y – t w o

  Jayce’s eyes snapped open at the sound of a robin beyond the window. His body turned as stiff as iron as one thought yanked him from dreams. Jordan.

  “Shit,” he muttered.

  Once again, he’d let Alyssa sidetrack him from a commitment to his sister. Once again, he’d let Jordan down. It was bad enough that Alyssa’s mysterious phone message and disappearing act ten years ago had been all Jayce could think about when Jordan needed him most. But now he couldn’t even manage to follow through when he was in the same damned city. Fine example he was of a big brother—the anniversary of his sister’s rape was tonight, and he was doing his damndest to leave her home alone at every opportunity.

  Still mumbling curses beneath his breath, he eased out of the bed, careful not to wake Alyssa. He needed to be focusing on Jordan, making sure this time of year didn’t mire her in memories, not chasing a woman who was adamant about keeping him in her bed but out of her life. Alyssa might have a threat lurking around her house, but Kane could—

  Fuck. Kane.

  Jayce glanced at Alyssa’s clock and sighed in relief. Just six in the morning. He sincerely doubted Kane would be on an earlier flight. Jordan, however, would already be at the studio, more than likely, which would give Jayce time to drive back to her townhouse with her favorite sausage biscuit from McDonald’s. She might dance obsessively, but thankfully, she wasn’t afraid to eat like a lot of professional ballerinas.

  He dressed quietly and glanced around Alyssa’s room for something to leave a note on. When his cursory search yielded only a pen and nothing to write on, Jayce frowned. He could try her office.

  Aw, hell—why bother? She might have agreed to fuck only him, but she’d made herself clear. She didn’t want any entanglements beyond pleasure. Lovers that passed in the night didn’t leave notes in the morning. And the gesture would only make her think he’d read more into the invitation to share her bed solo. Holding her hand last night, the way he always had, already pushed a fine line. That gesture, however, he couldn’t have stopped if he’d wanted to. He needed that illusion of intimacy after she shut him out again. Damn it, he was falling hard, fast, and she was only going to tear his heart out all over again. He needed to get the hell away and stay there.

  Carefully, Jayce tucked his gun back into his waistband and took a moment to watch her sleep. The dim light of dawn peeking through her blinds cast a faint lavender hue to the room that enhanced the softness of Alyssa’s expression. She looked so at peace with the world around her. Untroubled by everything, despite her obvious upset the night before. She mumbled something he couldn’t decipher, and for a moment, he moved backward in time, seeing the young girl she’d been, who had somehow seen something of worth in a long-haired troublemaker from the wrong side of town.

  He gritted his teeth as the memories stirred. Whatever she’d seen obviously hadn’t been enough.

  As Jayce’s heart twisted, he bent over her, smoothed a thick lock of her chocolate hair away from her face, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Sweet dreams, baby doll,” he whispered, then turned away. His cell was still downstairs, along with his shirt and shoes, and he wanted to escape the house before McTavish started asking questions. It was daylight; whoever had been skulking about the property last night likely wouldn’t still be around. Chances were too high they’d get caught.

  He made his way to the living room, finished dressing, and activated his phone. The message icon blinked anxiously, the time-stamp announcing it had arrived thirty minutes earlier. Jayce tapped the voicemail option as he hurried out the door, taking care to lock the bottom knob behind him.

  Kane’s voice rumbled in his ear. “Caught the earliest flight I could. Arriving 7:30am. Counting on a lift to the hotel.”

  Damn. So much for breakfast with Jordan. He had only time enough for a quick shower, before he had to head to the airport.

  He let himself inside his truck and tapped in a quick text message to his sister. So sorry about yesterday. Got tied up with some unexpected things. Make it up tonight with a movie. Cross my heart.

  When she didn’t immediately respond, Jayce keyed the engine and backed out of Alyssa’s drive. At the corner stop sign, his phone chimed with an incoming text.

  No worries. ‘Alyssa’ said everything I need to know. Movie sounds good. Later.

  He didn’t know whether or not to be offended by that remark. Had she expected him to forget his offer to take her house shopping? Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he turned the corner. Sometimes, he really hated how well his youngest sister knew him. But she had one thing wrong—he wasn’t going to let Alyssa render him incapable of being there for Jordan. Not this time.

  * * *

  Beneath the lightweight covers, Alyssa stretched languorously, a faint smile playing on her mouth. If her body ever been so thoroughly, so delightfully used by a man, she couldn’t remember when. Her limbs felt weighty, but beneath the dull satisfying ache, contentment hummed. In a strange combination of mixed emotions, she was exhausted, and yet more alive than she’d been in years.

  She rolled over, seeking the warmth of Jayce’s body to ward off the early morning Colorado mountain chill. But when she opened her eyes, she found only an empty pillow. Confused, she edged onto her elbow and looked around her room. Jayce’s clothes no longer scattered across the floor. His gun wasn’t resting on her nightstand.

  Cocking her head, she listed to the sounds drifting up from the stairs. Pans clattered. The blender whirred to life. The scent of bacon lingered in the air. But Jayce’s voice didn’t accompany Brice’s usual Sunday morning foray into the kitchen.

  So he’d left. Without even a word of goodbye.

  The realization shouldn’t have bothered her. After all, she’d told him point blank she didn’t want anything deeper than sex. Yet not once had he ever wanted to leave the bed when they had opportunity to wake up together. That he could do so now, seemingly indifferent to the night they�
�d shared, created a strange hollow feeling in her belly.

  Frowning, she forced herself to get up and get dressed. She’d let things go too far last night, and exactly what she’d feared would happen had—making love to Jayce opened her to truths she wasn’t ready to confront. Truths she didn’t know how to handle. And clearly, given his abrupt departure, he’d decided he didn’t particularly want those truths either.

  Don’t you dare hate me after. I can do cold and meaningless better than you can possibly imagine.

  She flinched as his angry proclamation surfaced in her memory. In a handful of minutes she’d gone from achingly content, to aching with yearning. But she refused to let resentment rise. She’d asked for this. Now she had to suck it up and cope.

  And the best way of coping was to immerse herself in work for a little while, to dive in with the things she could control. Numbers didn’t object, they didn’t argue, and they certainly didn’t make her want to scream in pleasure.

  She pulled on jeans and a T-shirt then fished her sneakers out of her closet. She had a few accounts at the office she could work on. A few hours there would help clear her head.

  Determined not to dwell on Jayce’s silent departure, she ventured down the stairs to steal a strip of bacon before she headed out. Brice hovered over the stove as he sipped on some green concoction he’d crafted in the blender. It hit her again, how devoted he was to their friendship, how unselfishly he gave. Guilt gnawed at her stomach all over again. Had she betrayed him somehow last night? She couldn’t deal with that possibility right now. Not on top of everything else.

  As he lifted his green-goo to his mouth, she wrinkled her nose at the offensive drink and snatched a piece of bacon off the paper towel in front of him.

  “Someone was sneaking around the house last night, Brice.”

  He raised an eyebrow, a grin tugging at his mouth. “Yeah, I heard. And I heard him leave less than an hour ago.”

  As a blush threatened, Alyssa frowned. “Not what I meant. Jayce heard them, I heard them. I came down to tell you both, and Jayce was up, with a gun, looking like he was waiting for them.”