“Oh,” Jake said faintly.
He’d noticed her significant lack of clothing, which was no surprise since his blood was redder than that of most other men she knew. His gaze skimmed her up and down, noting, she was sure, the way she’d loosely belted her silk robe, allowing it to pull apart as the edges dipped between her braless breasts, her plump thighs and her bare legs.
She stilled, letting him look.
He blinked and caught himself. His gaze, dark and turbulent now, flicked back to hers.
He didn’t speak.
“What’re you doing here?”
A rough swallow made his Adam’s apple bob. “I, uh...after everyone left, I went online and did some research about kids and ears. Maybe a little too much research, because I wound up scaring myself. Did you know some infections can lead to ruptures and hearing loss?”
She opened her mouth. He didn’t give her a chance to answer.
“So, anyway, then I realized I was freaking myself out and decided to do something helpful instead. So I, uh—” his gaze dropped to her cleavage and darted back up again “—I, uh, went to the store and bought you some supplies.”
“Supplies?”
“Yeah.” He peeked inside the bags, reminding himself. “Tylenol, right, but if he’s allergic to Tylenol or something, I got Advil. And then they’ve got all these flavors, like bubblegum and cherry, so I got him one of each, because I didn’t know what flavor he likes.”
“You did all that?”
“Plus, while I was in the pharmacy area, I picked up a thermometer, just in case yours was, you know, broken or something. Then I figured sick kids like Popsicles, so I got him some of those. In, uh, multiple flavors.”
“No way,” she said, grinning now.
“At the checkout line, I started thinking about how bored you might be, cooped up with a sick kid, so I got you some magazines. News and, uh, fashion. Oh, and a couple tabloids, so you’ll be up on all the celebrity gossip.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“And I brought you a bunch of, uh, desserts from the picnic, since I know you like them and I didn’t think you got the chance to eat any.”
“Is that it?”
Jake cocked his head and thought hard. “Yeah. That about covers it.”
“Thank you.”
The heartfelt appreciation seemed to embarrass him. Flushing, he ducked his head. “It’s nothing. I hope it helps a little. You’ve got so much on your plate.”
A little chip of ice embedded itself in her heart because she didn’t like the sound of that. “So that’s why you’re here, then? I’m a helpless charity case?”
Something new―admiration?—began to gleam in his eyes. “You’re many things, Charlotte,” he said, unsmiling, “but a helpless charity case isn’t one of them.”
“I don’t like pity,” she warned.
“Good, because I’m not offering any.”
With that important issue resolved, she nodded and pointed to the kitchen table. “Can you put the bags there, please?”
“Yeah.” He strode inside and set down the groceries. “And then I’ll get out of your way. I was going to call first, but I figured you’d tell me not to come and I― Ah, shit.”
She’d come up behind him, pressing her body along the length of his and reaching under his T-shirt to skim her hands across the taut skin of his belly. All of his muscles tightened beneath his satin flesh, and a shudder rippled through him along with a low groan.
“Stay with me,” she murmured, rubbing her aching breasts against his back and gliding her hands up his torso so she could ease the shirt off over his head. “I want you.”
Things did not go as planned.
Instead of sweeping her up into his arms or down onto the floor, he wrenched free, pulling down his shirt, wheeled around and grabbed her by the upper arms, ignoring her shocked cry. Giving her a little jerk, he stooped just enough to stare her in the eyes and nail her with a hot fury that looked like it had been building for years.
“Is this a game to you?” he demanded.
“What? No!”
“This afternoon you tell me this isn’t going to happen, and now this? Why the turnaround, Charlotte? You like playing with my head? Is that it?”
Setting her arms free, he yanked her robe’s belt loose and pulled the edges apart. This time, there was nothing discreet about his gaze. It was fierce and unabashed, taking in everything from her jutting nipples to the scrap of white lace that passed as her underwear.
“Do you know how much I’ve wanted you―just like this?” Reaching out, he cupped her breasts, filling his gentle hands with her and rubbing his thumbs in rhythmic circles around her aureoles until her breath came in great, heaving strains. “And now you’re taunting me with this body? Do you get a thrill driving me out of my freaking mind? Huh?”
“No.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“I told you already.” Forcing her slumberous eyes all the way open, she held his inflamed gaze so he’d see that she didn’t have any ulterior motives. “I want you.”
His expression shifted, softening into a wild hope that filled her up inside and threatened to overflow. Without warning, he took her face in his hands and angled her head way back. The kiss was hard and deep, so urgent that the sweet pain of his nips only magnified her pleasure a millionfold.
She panted and mewled, uninhibited in a way she’d never thought was possible, and this time he raised his arms to help her get his T-shirt up and off. Dropping it to the floor, she planted her hands where she wanted them, on the unyielding slabs of his chest, and just touched him, smoothing and stroking, scratching and swirling.
He went wild.
Shuddering with restraint and muttering curses interspersed with praise about her breasts and her skin, her eyes and her mouth, he clamped his hands on her butt and hefted her. She helped, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he swung her around and set her on the hard edge of the oak kitchen table. When his hands went to the edges of the robe, she relaxed her shoulders and let the silk slither to the floor.
Gripping the wide span of her hips to hold her in place, he stared at her with eyes so hot she might have been pressed up against the sun. A sudden impulsive euphoria made her smile as she kissed him and went to work on his belt, and his white smile flashed back at her before he bent at the waist to pull his wallet and cell phone out of a pocket and kick off his shorts and underwear.
Then he tossed his cell phone on the counter and straightened and stood there, between her thighs. The sight of him emptied all the air out of her straining lungs.
His skin gleamed, warm and brown, in the dim lighting. A fine streak of hair ran between his flat dark nipples, tapering through the rungs of his abdomen and flaring again as it reached his groin. His erection was thick and insistent, and she reached for him, wrapping his length in a firm grip that made his breath hiss and his eyes roll closed.
He’d been reaching in his wallet to pull out a foil package, but now he caught her wrist, stopping her.
“What?” she whispered, the lust making her impatient. It felt like she’d waited for this moment, with him, for all of her life, and she didn’t want to stop now. Was he deciding she wasn’t worth the effort or risk to his career? Did he have second thoughts already? “What is it?”
His eyes opened, and they were as feverish as Harry’s had been earlier. “This isn’t a game,” he told her again, a clear note of warning in his voice.
“I know.” She watched as he ripped open the package with his teeth and sheathed himself. And then, because he didn’t look convinced, she said it again. “I know, Jake.”
This was a lie. In that supercharged moment, all she cared about was Jake sliding inside her body and filling her up the w
ay she’d always wished he would. She had no idea what he was getting at. All she knew was that he affected her more than any man ever had, and she needed him now.
“I don’t think you do know,” he said grimly. His long fingers slid between her legs and found the place where she was swollen and wet for him, engorged with a sweet ache that made her want to squirm out of her skin. “You don’t have any idea how I feel about you, do you?”
“Jake—”
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Before the shock of that statement could fully register, he’d taken his length in hand and eased inside her, one exquisite inch at a time. The knife’s edge she’d been teetering on shifted, and she dissolved into waves of ecstasy even before he found his rhythm and began to move inside her.
Chapter 10
Jake lay on his side and smoothed Charlotte’s thick black hair away from her face as she drowsed, fully aware that he’d lost his mind and lapsed into flaming insanity. They were stretched out on the bed in her dark bedroom now, their limbs twined and still slick with sweat. Too wired to sleep, he’d propped himself on one elbow and adjusted the wooden blinds behind the headboard to allow the full moon’s light to filter in.
He wanted to see her features better while he traced them with the fingers of his free hand.
Crazy, right?
Who knew he had this sticky core of sappiness running down his spine?
She was amazing, his Charlotte, and everything about her fascinated him. Her arched brows were silky, but her forehead was velvety. Her nose tipped up just a bit at the end, giving it a perky look that he loved, and her mouth...
Man, he loved that mouth.
Her plump lips were dewy and slightly parted, still swollen from his kisses, and just looking at that delicious mouth got him fired up again even though his body continued to vibrate with satisfaction and triumph. Was he supposed to feel as though he’d won the lottery because Charlotte made love with him? Was that normal?
He had no way of knowing since he’d never felt like this—or anything close to this—before.
Hell. A great white shark knew more about flying an airplane than he knew about being in love.
But he was. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, or why it had happened with such dizzying speed, but he was.
He hadn’t meant to tell her, though. It was too much, too soon. They were just getting to know each other, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her away, which seemed like a real possibility given her personal history.
Plus, he’d had no idea he was even capable of spelling the word love, much less confessing it. The closest he’d come in previous relationships was telling a woman that he liked the way her butt looked in some jeans or would like to sleep with her.
Love?
He hadn’t seen that coming.
The question loomed before him: What now, genius?
They’d have to give that a lot of thought and discussion, wouldn’t they?
For now, though, her mouth needed some attention.
Leaning in, he gave her a lingering nuzzle, followed by a kiss and a nip, and she stirred, curling those lips into a sleepy and satisfied smile that made renewed desire pool, low and heavy, in his groin.
Her lids flickered open. “Hi,” she said, her voice husky and unbearably sexy.
Sudden fear tightened his throat, making it hard for him to speak. This was way too soon, he knew, and it mattered way too much to him. Making love with Charlotte this early in their fledgling relationship would, one way or another, come back to bite him in the ass, not that he’d take it back or anything. He wanted Charlotte with an urgency that damn near embarrassed him, and he’d take her any way he could have her, soon or otherwise. In fact, he was surprised he’d played the gentleman for this long and was rather proud of himself for doing so.
God knew he’d never been known for having a noble streak.
But there’d be a price to pay for becoming intimate this quickly, because they hadn’t settled anything about their relationship, and that was just how life worked.
“Hi,” he said.
She stretched a little, arching into him, and his mind was already scrolling ahead, thinking about how freaking perfect it was to be here with her now and wondering how he was supposed to be happy in a bed without her from now on. Because she was the type of mother who’d protect her child from any new boyfriends she had until she knew the man was a keeper, and she hadn’t given him that seal of approval yet. Which, of course, meant that he wouldn’t be rolling around in any beds with Charlotte on the nights Harry was with her—most nights, that was.
Yeah, he thought sourly, missing her already.
He was screwed every way he looked at it.
“What’s wrong?”
Staring into that amazing face with her nude and supple body wrapped around his?
“Not a damn thing,” he assured her.
“How’d we make it to the bed?” she wondered, shifting to her side to face him.
“I have no present recollection of that event,” he told her in his best courtroom voice. “I wasn’t in my right mind.”
They grinned at each other, and he found himself loving her a little bit harder.
“You have a great apartment.”
“Yeah?” she asked, running her thumb over his lips as he spoke.
“Yeah.”
What he didn’t mention was that the reason it was great was because it was as warm and welcoming as his house was cool and sterile. Her leather furniture, he’d seen at a glance, was weathered and looked comfortable, as though it was for using rather than looking at. His leather furniture, meanwhile, was like a work of art to be admired but not employed.
She had pillows, bookshelves and candles burning, not because she’d been planning some big seduction scene, but just because she apparently liked their floral scent. His house smelled like...empty. Lonely. Best of all, her bed was big, fluffy, warm and covered with mountains of soft pillows, which made for interesting possibilities for lovemaking positions. His bed was...big.
“I really like it here. I hope I’ll be hanging around a lot.”
That was her cue to lob some welcoming comment back at him. Something like Oh, Jake, I want you here with me all the time! But she didn’t. Instead, she blinked a couple times, her pleased expression clouding over and then, right out of the blue, she hit him with a toughie.
“Why me, Jake?”
Funny she should ask, he thought, losing himself in her eyes, which were intent and vulnerable.
He’d spent a lot of time asking himself variations of that same question that went a little something like this: why—and how—had this one female captured his attention and interest so completely?
The world was full of women, which was great for him because he enjoyed women and had enjoyed more than his fair share of them. That being the case, why had Charlotte become the sole woman in vivid HD and 3-D brilliance, when all the other women he’d been involved with were like black-and-white magazine photos?
Yeah, the difference between Charlotte and everyone else was that glaring.
“Let’s see.” He chose his words carefully, trying to identify what made her so special and wanting to get this right so she’d never wonder again. “You’re smart and beautiful. You’re funny and sweet. You’re strong, determined, driven and a great mother. You’re crazy sexy. Hang on...am I missing anything?”
“Jake—”
“Shh. You think too much. You worry too much.” He tapped his index finger against her lips so she wouldn’t protest as she clearly wanted to. Dipping his head, he kissed her again, right between the eyes, where her brow was furrowed with thought. “I don’t think the question is Why you? I think the question is Who else?”
Behind his f
inger, her lips curled in the beginnings of a smile. “That’s the problem with being involved with a lawyer. You have an argument for everything, don’t you?”
“It’s not an argument. It’s how I feel.”
Something about his earnestness seemed to unsettle her, because that cloud drifted in again, shadowing her face. “This is insane. I don’t know what we think we’re doing.”
Yeah. Neither did he.
But now wasn’t the time to begin those discussions. Now was the time to learn the feel of her body—which his fingers set out to do—and what she liked and what made her—
“Jake!”
His name was a sharp cry of pleasure, and he loved the way it sounded. So he trailed his fingers lower across her belly, just grazing the place where smooth skin gave way to coarse curls, and smiled at the way she cooed and dissolved against him.
“Right now?” He gave the sheet a tug, pulling it down until she was spread out before him—paradise on a bed, and all his to enjoy. Which made him a lucky bastard. “We’re going to make love again.”
“I don’t know.” She pouted, scraping her nails up his back as he eased on top of her and settled between her thighs. “I’m not really in the mood. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” He ran his tongue down the tender column of her neck, flicked it over each of her nipples and dipped it into her belly button, which made her giggle and writhe. Then he took firm hold of her hips and shifted into position, lowering his head. “I plan to change your mind.”
* * *
Charlotte leaned against the back of her armchair for balance as she struggled into her Capri pants and shirt, tasks that would be easier if her hands weren’t shaking so badly. Plus, in her panic, she hadn’t bothered to turn on any lights, and dawn’s weak sunlight filtering through the blinds wasn’t enough to penetrate the gloom. She’d be lucky if her clothes even matched, not that she cared at the moment. Swiping a brush through her hair, she hurried to the bed.
Jake lay there, sprawled on his belly with the comforter riding low over his perfectly round butt. Looking at him was a pleasure she’d probably never get used to, even now, when she was quite sure she hated him. His skin gleamed, warmly brown, and his face was utterly relaxed in sleep, giving her a glimpse of the angelic boy he must’ve been once.
Case for Seduction (Kimani Romance) Page 14
