Today was almost over.
All she had to do was drive home, pull into her driveway, and get out of her car and into the house without glancing toward Leo’s house to see if Clancy’s silver S-class Benz was still in Leo’s driveway.
Jasmine had avoided going home all day. She’d skipped going back to the house after brunch with Nan. Instead they’d headed straight over to Riverwalk Ranch so Jasmine could see Nan’s condo, which had a breathtaking view of the river. And then they’d spent the afternoon in the rec room hanging out with other residents, some of whom took her ballroom class, and playing cards. From there she’d gone directly to the community center to teach her yoga class.
All day she’d tried to stop thinking about what Leo was doing with the woman she’d seen on his porch, and that was before she’d known that it was Clancy Grant. And all day she’d failed. Thinking about Leo and the mystery woman had consumed her. She hadn’t been able to eat, or think. Her body actually ached from seeing what she’d seen. She’d been in physical pain, as if even her muscles and tendons were grieving.
This was what she’d imagined heartbreak to be. This felt like a loss. This felt like a betrayal.
It was absolutely insane that she felt more betrayed by Leo than she had by Corbin. It made no sense, because they’d never talked about exclusivity. She wasn’t even sure that what they were doing was considered dating.
They’d had sex twice. Well, they’d had sex a lot more than that, but it had been in the context of those two singular timeframes.
When she pulled onto her street, she began repeating a different mantra.
Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.
Her self-control was tested, but she was passing with flying colors. She hadn’t so much as glanced in the direction of his house. She was just about to cross the Don’t Look finish line when her race was sabotaged. As she pulled into her driveway, her headlights shone like a spotlight on Leo, who was sitting on the steps of her porch wearing a gray hoodie and sweats.
When she saw him she was instantly struck with a sense of déjà vu. It took her a moment to realize that it reminded her of a scene from Sons of Anarchy when Jax was waiting on Tara’s porch to ask if she’d come back to town because she knew he would protect her from her FBI agent ex-boyfriend who was now stalking her. Spoiler alert: that’s exactly what Tara had done, and her psycho ex had been waiting for her in the house.
Jasmine had always thought Jax look ridiculously sexy with his hood up and his arms resting on his knees in that scene. But Leo looked ten, no a hundred times sexier than Jax did. Somehow, he’d managed to dethrone Charlie Hunnam from the sexy pedestal that Jasmine had put him on once again.
Part of her just wanted to back out of her driveway and go straight to Nan’s condo. She didn’t want to face Leo, but she knew that she couldn’t avoid him forever. So, after putting on her big girl panties, she got out and strode up the walkway.
With each step she took toward him, her anxiety grew. Was he here to tell her that he was back together with his ex? Or was he not going to mention it at all? Was he going to keep her in the dark completely? She wasn’t sure which one was worse and she had no desire to find out.
A half-hearted wave was all she was able to manage in way of a greeting.
“Can I borrow some sugar?” he smiled.
That question had become a running joke over the past weeks because he came over so much. One time, he said that he forgot what he was there for but asked if he could borrow some sugar since that’s what neighbors did on sitcoms. Since then, he’d said the same thing every time he came over.
Seeing him sitting there looking like a sexy package from Amazon, hearing him refer to an inside joke, was giving her heart a titty twister.
Her lips curled in a forced smile. “Sorry, I’m all out of sugar.”
He stood, worry clouding his expression as he took a step toward her. “What’s wrong?”
He was so tall, so imposing, so sexy. She hated herself for it, but her heart pitter-pattered wildly, the way it always did any time he was within a few feet of her. Apparently her traitorous heart didn’t get the memo that they didn’t like Leo anymore.
Hoping to sound casual and unaffected she replied, “Nothing, I’m just tired.”
He stared down at her, concern brimming in the milk chocolate windows to his soul. “Have you eaten today?”
No. I couldn’t eat because I’ve been sick to my stomach thinking about you and your visitor all day.
“Yes,” she lied.
“Can I come in? Just for a minute? I can make you some dinner and there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I can’t talk tonight. I just want to take a bath and go to bed.” She hoped that adding the bed and bath took a little bit of the edge off of the I don’t want to talk part. Sure, the mature thing to do would be to sit down and have an adult conversation with him. But she was done adulting for the day.
“Okay.” He nodded.
She hadn’t expected him to agree so quickly. Even though she hated to admit it, it stung a little that he gave up so easily. But, wasn’t that the rub? She wanted someone to respect her and take her at her word, but she also wanted someone that would fight for her and not give up.
Talk about mixed messages, even if it was just in her own head.
She managed a weak grin as she walked around him up the porch steps and unlocked her door. When she turned back to say goodnight she saw him standing behind her.
“What are you doing?”
“You said you wanted to take a bath. I’m going to run you a bath.”
“What?”
“Since I saw all that girly stuff you have in your bathroom, I’ve been wanting to do it.”
He’d been wanting to run a bath for her? She had a lot of sample bath bombs and candles on her linen shelf from Naughty Nights, she’d just never actually gotten around to using any of them.
“Anyway. It looks like tonight is the night.”
She was so stunned that she didn’t even protest as he opened her front door. She remained silent as she followed him inside.
“Give me a few minutes,” he instructed before kissing her on her forehead and disappearing into her bathroom.
She stood staring at the space he’d just occupied. No man had ever run a bath for her. She didn’t even think that happened outside of movies, TV shows, and books.
You should tell him to leave, the angel sitting on her right shoulder said.
No, girl, you should let the man run you a bath, fuck the shit out of him, use him for few more mind-blowing orgasms that you can add to your DJ Diddle greatest hits collection, and then kick his ass to the curb tomorrow morning, the devil on her left shoulder piped up.
Her devil had a filthy mouth.
Maybe it was because she was emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted, and the idea of a bath being drawn for her by the hottest man on the planet sounded like a luxury she couldn’t pass up. Or maybe it was because she was tired of being the one that always did the right thing. But either way, she was leaning toward taking the advice of the horned one seated on her left shoulder. She might just need to see how this played out.
Chapter 24
With the final candle lit, Leo double-checked the water to make sure it was the exact right temperature. He dipped his wrist below the surface and the bubbles parted. He didn’t want it to be too hot, but it couldn’t be too cold either. It’s just right, he thought to himself when he heard a light knock on the door.
He opened it and what he saw caused his heart to lodge in his throat.
Jasmine stood in the doorway, her hair piled on top of her head and wearing a fluffy white robe that fell all the way to mid-calf. She looked like a Christmas present he wanted to unwrap.
“Oh my gosh.” Her hand covered her mouth when she walked into the bathroom, and she did a slow three-sixty turn, looking at the candles he’d lit and placed on the counter and the linen shelf. “This i
s amazing.”
Leo grinned, thrilled that his efforts seemed to make her happy. He reached out and untied the belt that was holding her robe together. She looked up at him as he pulled it from her waist and let it fall to the floor. When he did her robe parted, revealing her breasts, torso, and the tiny patch of dark hair above her sex. With tender care he slid the material off of her shoulders and it pooled onto the floor, leaving her standing naked in front of him.
As much as he wanted to kiss every inch of her body, he knew that wasn’t what this was about. This was about taking care of her needs, not giving in to his.
His breaths grew shallow as he resisted the temptation to worship her exposed skin with his tongue and lips. Instead, he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her knuckles before holding it as she stepped into the water.
“Hmm,” she hummed as she slid into the water. When she was fully immersed, she tilted her head back, resting it on the bath pillow he’d inflated. “This is perfect.”
You’re perfect. He kept his comment to himself, knowing that she wouldn’t appreciate it. Not tonight, anyway. One day she would, but not tonight.
Reaching out, he trailed his fingers ever so gently down the side of her face, loving the way her eyes closed in pleasure at his touch. As he stared down at her gorgeous face, the urge to tell her the realization he’d come to today welled up in him. But he pushed it down.
She’d said that she didn’t want to talk tonight, and he knew he had to respect that. But he was busting with the need to talk to her. He had so much he wanted to say. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. That he wanted to be with her. Permanently. He wanted to ask her to be his wife. Maybe it was too soon, but he’d always been the sort of person that went after whatever he wanted. And he wanted Jasmine and her baby. Forever.
But telling her would have to wait.
Trying to keep himself occupied, he soaped up the washcloth he’d set aside and ran it over her shoulders and arms which were both resting above the water line. Then he moved down to the far side of the bathtub, dipped his hand beneath the bubbles and lifted one of her ankles. He ran the cloth up her calf and thigh before gently setting her leg back in the water and doing the same with the other.
Candlelight flickered over her wet, golden skin, giving her an ethereal quality. She truly was his angel.
After rinsing and repeating—literally—he felt the temperature start to drop. Setting down the washcloth, he once again trailed his knuckles along her jawline. When her eyes fluttered open he asked, “Are you ready to get out?”
She nodded and started to push off the sides but not able to resist his urges any longer, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss began gently at first but quickly ramped up with barely-repressed passion. Moving his hand under the surface of the water, he caressed up and down her body, running his bare hand over her soft and supple skin, making sure to pay particular attention to her gorgeous breasts.
He knew that he needed to move this party to a location that would be more conducive to pleasure. Baths were great, but the water kind of got in the way. He needed space to do his thing. He may not be able to tell her how he felt, but he could show her.
Dipping both arms into the bathwater, he scooped her up and set her down just outside the tub. After taking great care to dry her off he picked her up once again and carried her to the bed, kissing her the entire time, never stopping even when he laid her down on top of the comforter.
Finally, reluctantly, he tore his lips away from hers. As much as he hated to break the kiss, he had a more pleasurable target in mind.
Moving his mouth slowly down her chest, taking time to give her playful little nips along the way, he made his way to her soft, round breasts. Before he took them in his mouth, though, he had to pause and admire how beautiful they were. It wasn’t a choice. He was stopped in his tracks, awestruck at their loveliness, and he couldn’t move forward until he’d processed it.
They were soft and rounded, and getting fuller each time he saw them. Her skin was tinged pink from the warm water, and tipped with rock-hard nipples that stood fully at attention. He’d seen a lot of amazing natural beauty in his life, but they topped the list. Hell, he thought they should qualify as the eighth wonder.
He leaned down, teasing her hard nipples by rubbing his lips lightly against them. She moaned and arched her back up, letting him know that the teasing was working. He had to control a self-satisfied smile. He loved bringing her pleasure. It was one of his great pleasures in life, in fact—making her feel good.
Finally, he was ready to take those sweet pleasure buttons into his mouth. He cupped both of her breasts in his hands, making the erect tips stand out from those fleshy mounds even more temptingly than they had before. He sucked them in one by one, swirling and flicking them with his tongue until her entire body was writhing beneath him.
When he knew he had her just on the edge of madness, he decided to take it up even one more notch. Since he couldn’t tell her he loved her, after all—this was his way to show her.
Using his body to push the limits of her ability to experience pleasure far past what she had ever dreamed her threshold could be…yeah, that was how he could express his feelings.
Gently, making sure he didn’t hurt her in any way, he bit down on each nipple in turn, drawing a sharp cry from her each time, followed by a guttural cry of, “Yes!”
Flattening his tongue he licked each hardened nub before kissing them gently. She moaned as her back arched and her hips pushed into the mattress.
“I need you,” she whispered then, her voice raw. “Here.”
With that, she grabbed his wrist and moved his hand between her legs, angling her hips up to meet him as she did. She ground her hot center against his palm.
“Please,” she begged, and her voice had grown even more raw. He wouldn’t have thought that was possible.
Drawing back from her breasts, he let his eyes wander over her entire body. Her skin was flushed, much deeper than could be explained by the hot bath water. His dick twitched at the knowledge that he’d caused that body-wide blushing of her skin. It was evidence of her arousal. Arousal he’d caused.
Rubbing his palm back and forth gently between her legs as he did so, he kissed his way down her body, stopping every once in a while to deliver a lick or nip. He couldn’t help it, he just loved the way her muscles jumped and skin trembled under his mouth.
He loved planting kisses on her bare belly, and hips. The shivers he felt when he dragged his lips along that tender skin were worth any price.
Eventually, though, he did leave that part of her incredible body, no matter how much he didn’t want to. For the same reason that he’d broken their kiss earlier, and just as reluctantly—because he knew that where he was going was even better.
Moving his head further down her body, he gently nudged her legs open and kissed the tender, trembling insides of her thighs.
As he planted that trail of kisses, a trail that lead him closer and closer to her ultimate center of pleasure with every press of his lips against her warm skin, he lightly ran his fingertips over her hips and belly. He wanted her to feel like he was touching her everywhere at once, like she was enveloped by him.
When he was ready, he pushed her legs wider, and more forcefully than he’d done before, drawing a gasp of pleasure from her as she pressed her head back into the pillow.
Leo breathed in deeply, the sweet, intoxicating smell of her making his head swim. He knew he couldn’t wait even one minute longer. He had to taste her, to cover her with his mouth and ravage her with his tongue.
He pulled her hips closer to him and lowered his head at the same time, so that his mouth was so close to her quivering flesh that he could feel the heat rising from her as it washed over his lips – and he was sure that she could feel his hot breath, too. In fact, he guessed that it was a large part of the reason why she was trembling, and he loved that.
He dug his finge
rs into the soft flesh of her thighs, holding onto her tightly as he covered her with his mouth. No matter how violently her muscles jumped, he kept his grip strong, held her down as he moved his tongue up and down her slit at a dizzying pace.
Her juices coated his lips and his mouth, and especially his tongue. He loved having the taste of her all over him. She was the most delicious thing he’d ever experienced. With each stroke of his tongue, and with every moment that the sweet flavor of her became more entrenched in his mouth, his need for her—her incredible body, her amazing mind, her breathtaking soul – was spiking higher and higher.
He had to take her to the next level. He had begun this encounter with one goal and one goal only, and that hadn’t changed—to make her feel levels of pleasure she had never felt before, had never even been able to imagine before. And at that moment, he knew exactly how to do it.
Moving his mouth up just slightly, he abandoned the trips up and down her slit that his tongue had been taking and sucked her clit into his mouth, flicking it with the hard edge of his tongue, then swirling his tongue around it, going back and forth between the two techniques to drive her absolutely as crazy as possible.
She pressed her hips up to meet him, tangling her fingers in his hair and crying out, small exclamations of begging escaping from her between gasps and moans.
Damn. He had lived a wide-open life, full of experiences that the average person could never even dream of. But nothing—nothing—compared to the feeling of driving Jasmine to the brink of both insanity and orgasm with the pure power of his tongue.
He was addicted to it, and if he had his way he’d be getting his fix for the rest of his life.
* * *
“Oh, right there! Yes! I’m so close!”
Jasmine had never been the type to lose control during sex. Sure, it felt good. But lose control? Nope. Never.
That had most definitely changed, though, because she was so far out of control at this point that she couldn’t even see “control” in her rear view mirror.
Leo’s tongue moved over her with practiced skill, like he had a special ability to read her body and know exactly what she wanted and needed in any given instant—a skill even she didn’t possess. Then, pushing her even closer to the cliff, his hand moved up her body and started playing with her nipples as he continued to work his tongue between her legs.
Just One Touch - Leo & Jasmine (Crossroads Book 16) Page 22
