“So I’m stuck with the smart friend who thinks he’s always right and usually is.”
“And that makes me stuck with the beautiful, talented friend who better get packed so she can get to the airport.” He reached over and opened the side table drawer, pulling out a piece of paper. “This says your flight leaves in two hours. If we hurry you should just make it.”
“I love you, Frank.”
“Of course you do,” Frank called after her as raced out of the room. “What’s not to love?”
Frank had been lucky enough to find the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He wanted the same for Rose. But to get it she had to open herself up. She needed to let someone into her life. Maybe Jack was that person. Maybe it was finally Rose’s turn.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JACK WAS TIRED. Tired of looking at the clock, tired of worry about when Rose would come home. And when she did would she come to him. She hadn’t answered his text. Should he be worried about that?
Going for a run had been a good idea. Work off some excess energy, clear his mind. His favorite music was blasting. No earphones necessary. He was on his property. There was no one to complain about the noise. As he and Edgar started up a particularly steep hill, he felt himself begin to relax. He couldn’t will Rose to return any sooner so he might as well give into the joy of nature and a ridiculously happy dog.
Jack didn’t like letting the puppy go out into the woods alone; there would be plenty of time for that later when he was full grown and no longer afraid of his own shadow. So every morning when the two of them set out for their five mile run, Edgar was in canine heaven. He slowed down as he approached his house, stopping to look at his panting companion.
“You go get yourself a drink and something to eat.” Jack let them in and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to take a shower and then work for a few hours. You know where to find me if you need me.”
“Has he started talking back or is his answer implied?”
Jack had imagined Rose right there, in his bed, so many times that he blinked a few times, afraid he was seeing things.
“You’re naked.” At least he hoped she was. Rose was sitting up in his bed; the sheet tucked underneath her bare arms.
“I hope that’s okay.” Rose was enjoying Jack’s slightly stunned reaction her unexpected appearance. It helped dispel the nerves she’d been battling ever since her plane had touched down. “Drew let me in and he told me to make myself at home so…”
Fascinated, Jack watched as Rose traced the edge of the sheet with her index finger. He suddenly became aware of everything. How the dark blue of the material made her skin look like fresh cream, all warm and smooth. He wanted to lap up every inch until they were both so crazy with need that they forgot there was a world outside this bedroom.
“I’ve missed you.” His voice sounded deeper, raspy. Almost desperate. Yes, desperate. He hadn’t known if she would come back to him and now that she was here there were so many emotions running through him. He was a jumble of lust and relief. But there was also something new. Something he wasn’t ready to name. It was too soon. Too soon for both of them. Jack felt a shift inside of himself. This moment was important, it was a beginning that was about so much more that sex.
“I’ve missed you too.”
Rose couldn’t take her eyes off him. Big, strong, beautiful Jack. He was sweaty from his run and outrageously sexy. Was it weird to want him to skip the shower so he could cover her with his hot, glistening body? She knew how he would taste. Salty, masculine. Like Jack.
“Rose…”
“Are you nervous, Jack?”
Was it possible? Smooth, funny, oh so confident, Jack. Could he be feeling as jittery as she was?
“A little bit,” he admitted.
They smiled at each other. It felt good to know they that they were both a little unsure, that this meant something.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Jack said, pulling his sweaty shirt over his head. “When I get back? Well, I hope you haven’t anywhere to be for next forty-eight hours because I have weeks of fantasies built up and we are going to do them all.” He paused before going into the bathroom and looked over his shoulder. He met her gaze his blue eyes full of promise. “On second thought, make that seventy-two hours. You never know what new fantasies might occur to me.”
As the door shut, Rose fell back against the pillows. Now that was the Jack she remembered. Hearing the shower start she settled down under the covers, her hand smoothing a wrinkle from the ultra-soft cotton sheets. She felt her body begin to relax, maybe for the first time since she’d gotten on the plane for New York.
The flight home had been uneventful giving her plenty of time to run scenario after scenario through her mind. Should she call Jack and let him know she was coming? Should she just show up at his door? What if he wasn’t home? What if he was with another woman? Okay, forget the last one. She wasn’t worried that Jack would give into his pent up lust and sleep with someone else. He knew she was coming home. Eventually.
And that was what made her nervous. She hadn’t responded to his text. She hadn’t been in touch all week. Jack had told her he understood. But she wondered if the situation had been reversed would she have been okay with Jack going off and not talking to her? Maybe Jack was just a better person than she was. Or maybe he was pissed and was one of those people who kept their anger inside until it built up to one huge explosion.
Rose groaned. She knew what she was doing. She was making problems where there weren't any. She’d promised Frank and herself that she would be open to the possibilities, and that’s what she was going to do. For once she was going to live in the moment and see what it would bring.
She heard the shower stop. Rose shivered with an anticipatory tingle. Jack didn’t seem like the kind of guy who spent a lot of time on his post-shower activities so she knew there were just moments until he would come through the door. Other than that all too quick preview of him without his shirt this would be the first time Rose would see him naked. Good, God. She was salivating. And why not? Jack was amazingly drool worthy with his clothes on. The thought of him clean and slightly damp from the shower was causing her entire body to heat. She shifted again but suddenly couldn’t find any comfort. She needed Jack. Knowing he was near and that soon he would be with her was almost too much for to take. Open the door, her mind screamed. Now, open it now. She gasped when the door swung open as though she had willed it to happen. She grinned. Maybe she had.
Then Jack emerged, and she couldn’t think at all.
She drank in the sight of him, sure that anything so perfect had to be a dream. He seemed bigger with just a towel wrapped around his waist. It was amazing what wonders clothing could hide. Over six feet of long muscled male. Bronzed skin, lightly dusted with hair seemed to glow as he walked towards her. He moved like an athlete. Strong, confident strides that ate up the distance between them in no time.
Her hands wanted to touch him, anywhere, everywhere. His impossibly flat, firm stomach seemed to call out for her mouth to trace the ridges; her tongue eagerly memorizing every smooth, muscled inch.
“Lose the towel.” She wasn’t asking, she was pleading.
Jack let the cloth fall to the floor. Eyes wide Rose gasped. Mother Nature had been very kind to Jack Winston, and she was about to be a very grateful beneficiary.
“Rose, sweetheart,” Jack stepped back when she would have touched him.
“Oh, come on, Jack,” she groaned in frustration. “I’ve been a very good girl. Now it’s time for my reward.”
“It’s just…” Jack grabbed her hand before it could touch his erection. “You know it’s been a while. I need to warn you that this first time might be fast.” He met her gaze with obvious embarrassment. “Really fast.”
“You don’t think I’m ready to go off like a roman candle on the fourth of July?”
“It’s just that I pride myself on my ability to last a lot longer than a minute.
But the way I feel right now, I’m not sure I’ll make it that long.”
She was touched that even now, hard and needing release, he was thinking of her pleasure. Deliberately, Rose pulled her hand from his and ran it lightly up his arm. She shifted to her knees letting the sheet fall away, leaving her as bare as he was. She brought her hands to his face and cupped it. Feeling the smooth skin beneath her thumbs Rose realized he had taken time to shave away his morning stubble. Hard and soft, strong and gentle, he was a delight of different textures. Leaning in, careful not to bring their bodies into contact, she traced the line of his firm jaw with her lips. She took his earlobe between her teeth and bit just hard enough to elicit a growl of pleasure from him. The bite hadn't been hard enough cause any real pain but just to be sure she bathed his entire ear with her tongue, ending right where she'd begun, at the lobe. She pulled it into her mouth, sucking like it was a different part of his body, one that she was dying to get her mouth on.
“Christ, Rose,” Jack hissed. “I love what you’re doing but I’m about to embarrass myself and come all over your stomach. You have to stop, now.”
Rose made a protesting sound in the back of her throat but let Jack pull away. Who knew an ear could be so sweet?
“I love the way you taste,” she breathed running her hands across his chest. She knew he was in a state of high arousal and she was trying to be good, really she was. But she kept finding these wonderful places to play with. Ah, his nipples. It had felt so amazing when he had bitten hers, would he like it if she did the same?
“Don’t you dare.” Jack tugged on her hair until her head was tipped away from his chest and towards his face.
“Sorry,” she said, not at all contrite. “I keep getting distracted.” Rose finally gave in to the one thing she’d wanted since he dropped his towel. Smiling innocently, she let her hand travel the short distance down his chest to grab hold of his straining erection. She felt a small twinge of guilt when she saw how hard Jack was gritting his teeth.
“Relax.” She soothed the rigid line of his jaw with her other hand. “I wouldn’t want you to ruin that beautiful smile by breaking some teeth.”
“Then let go of my dick.”
Sighing with obvious disappointment, Rose did as he asked. “Do you remember what you said to me the night you, you know,” now was not the time to blush, “went down on me?”
“Sweetheart, right now I’m having trouble remembering my name.”
“Fair enough,” Rose chuckled. “You told me it was all about me. At that moment you were there to give me pleasure, not to receive it.” She kissed his shoulder, then his cheek and finally his lips. “Right now is about you, don’t think about anything but what you need and how you want to get there.”
“I have a choice?” Jack closed his eyes, enjoying how the sound of her voice was washing over his skin like a cooling caress only to have her lips heat him up again. It was the sweetest form of torture.
“Always,” she breathed against his mouth. “The choices are infinite but right now I’m going to help you out and narrow it down to three. And remember, it’s all about you. What you want.”
She scooted back so he could see all of her. When she was sure that she had his slightly glassy-eyed attention, she began.
“Would you like my hand?” Rose held it up and made a slow motion to mimic what she would do to him. “My mouth?” Raising a finger she slowly slipped it into her mouth, in and out, in and out.
“I'm about at my breaking point, Rose,” Jack warned, his eyes transfixed on the glossy digit as she ran it over her lips. He felt dizzy. He moved his feet further apart, locking his knees. Knowing what was next, he held his breath.
“Or,” Rose slid her hand down her body with an excruciating deliberation. “My pussy.” She moved that same finger that had moments before been in her mouth down through the slick, sensitive folds. She kept her hand to the side so he could watch as she penetrated herself for just a moment. Showing him the proof of her arousal, Rose left a wet trail up her body then circled one tight nipple until it glistened with her juices.
Jack couldn’t stand it any longer. He swooped down pulling her nipple into his mouth, savoring the taste of her. Oh, yes, he remembered that sweet, heady taste. And there it was, that little moan she made in the back of her throat. The sound that had been teasing his restless dreams ever since the first time he heard it.
For a moment Rose let herself give into the pleasure of his mouth on her breast. But gathering her resolve she pulled away, her skin cooling quickly and longing for the return of his touch.
“I told you; this is about you.”
Jack ran his tongue over his lips, seeking every little drop.
“Believe me,” he said, “it was my pleasure.”
“And me helping you,” she glanced down at his weeping penis, “will be mine. Now, what shall it be? Keeping in mind that just because you chose one doesn't mean the others will then be off the table. This is just to take the edge off.”
Jack wasn’t sure he was in any condition to make a conscious thought. All he knew was that his dick was screaming for him just to do something. But when his eyes roamed to her mouth, that lush, warm mouth, his decision was made.
“Good choice.” Rose took his hand and pulled him down so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Giving him one last kiss on his shoulder she slid to the ground and positioned herself between his legs.
Jack sucked in a deep breath. Now here was every heterosexual male's dream come true. A gorgeous, eager woman kneeling in front of him, her mouth poised to do wicked things to his cock. He raised his eyes to the calming picture that hung on the wall across the room. Concentrate, make this last. Green hills, contented cows, gently swaying trees—Rose’s hands running along his legs. To hell with that stupid painting, his attention needed to be completely on the woman whose only goal was to give him pleasure. He was going to savor every moment of this no matter how long it lasted.
Truth be told, Rose was pretty much running on instinct. She’d done this exactly twice before, and though the guys seemed to enjoy it, she hadn’t. Everything had seemed mechanical and slightly embarrassing. They had been by the numbers blowjobs, over and done as quickly as possible. But it felt different with Jack. She had offered this because the thought of taking him into her mouth was appealing, exciting. His penis wasn’t this alien object waiting to do its business and the hell with her needs. He was beautifully made. Long, thick and hard. But she didn't find him the least bit intimidating.
Bracing her hands on his thighs, Rose raised her gaze to his. What she saw there gave her all the courage she needed. Jack’s blue eyes blazed with need and tenderness. He ran his hand through her hair, not with aggression, not to pull her closer, but to sooth and to encourage.
Holding his eyes, she swiped the pooling moisture from the top of his erection. He tasted clean and masculine. She could see how he was trying to control himself, how desperate he was not to give in too soon. But that’s not what she wanted. Rose wanted Jack wild with need, coming apart in her mouth. She wasn’t going to let him hold anything back from her. She gave him a final lick and then took his length into her mouth.
Jack almost lost it. Between the incredible suction of her mouth and the visual of Rose, his Rose, taking him with such enthusiasm was better than he could have anticipated. He was so close. She pulled away just long enough to lightly scrape her teeth across the head of his penis and then she pulled him back into her mouth. Jack knew he’d reached his limit. He tried to tell her, give her time to pull away but his orgasm hit with a force so strong all he could do was grip the bed and let out an exultant shout.
After taking all he had to give Rose sat back. She wiped the side of her mouth, unable to hold back the laugh that bubbled up inside of her.
Jack had collapsed onto the bed, unable to stay upright a second longer. Hearing Rose’s laugh, he cracked open one eyelid.
“That’s a joyous sound.” He held out his hand for h
er to join him. Jack sighed with contentment and wrapped his arms around her and pulling her close. “Are you alright? I was afraid I might have…”
“Drowned me?” she finished for him. She laughed again when Jack winced.
“I may have had a bit of a reserve stored up. I meant to warn you but, there at the end my mind melted down into a pool of pure bliss. I couldn’t have spoken if my life depended on it.
Rose kissed his cheek then snuggled closer. “I’m not complaining,” she assured him. “I liked it, all of it.”
“So you weren’t doing it just because you thought I wanted you to.
“I found out a long time ago that if you do things only to please other people you’re never going to be happy.” Feeling her shiver, Jack pulled the comforter over them. “If I get on my knees for you, Jack, it’s because I want to. But I will say that was the first time that I've enjoyed it. And I’ve never finished and wondered right away when I would be able to do it again.”
“I’m always at your disposal. And now that my heart has recovered, and the rest of me is well on the way, let me have the pleasure of taking care of you.”
“Can we wait just a bit?” Rose asked. “It feels so good just to lie here in your arms.”
“And it feels good to have you here. I got this gigantic bed because I’m tall and I like to spread out when I sleep, but lately it’s seemed lonely.”
“I’m sure Edgar would keep you company,” she teased.
“Edgar does not sleep with me.” Jack ran his hand down her back; the movement easy and affectionate. “He has insinuated his way into every other corner of this house but my bed is off limits.”
“Are you sure he knows that?”
Jack looked over to the foot of the bed to see Edgar watching them; head cocked to one side and tail wagging furiously.
“You don’t think he saw us, do you?” Strangely, Rose found the thought more embarrassing than if a human had seen them.
“Don’t worry, he won’t tell anyone.” Jack got up and shooed the reluctant dog out of the room. “I’m playing with Rose right now but if you’re a good boy I might convince her to join us later for some outdoor fun.” He gave Edgar a quick scratch behind the ear, then firmly shut the door.
If I Loved You (Harper Falls Book 1) Page 13
