by Vivian Arend
But it was her expression that threatened to bring him to his knees. She’d been in Joel’s arms, Jesse’s hand on her body, but she stared at Blake as if he was the one who had just rocked her world.
The difference in their ages, her having been Travis’s girlfriend, being a big-brother figure when he wanted much more—all the issues haunting him faded to insignificance in light of how much he needed her.
Why in the hell had he kept them apart?
He took a step toward her. Her hair lay tousled around her face, wisps of curls stuck in the air in spots. A trickle of sweat ran down her neck, past her collarbone. She breathed hard, her eyes glittering grey stars shining straight into his soul.
“Blake?”
Her voice trembled.
She bit her lower lip again and Blake drew in a harsh breath. He didn’t step toward her, frozen by the sight of Jesse’s fingers trailing along her arm, by Joel leaning in close to her other side and nuzzling her neck.
“So, you decided?” Jesse whispered. “Are we taking Jaxi home or are you? Or all of us? Because it’s high time this headed somewhere a little more private.”
Blake damned himself for waiting, for giving the twins a chance to touch her and make her want them. Now he couldn’t rip her from their arms.
She had to choose.
He flicked his head to the side. The twins stepped back a pace, leaving Jaxi standing in the middle of their circle. She swayed as her legs supported her full weight alone for the first time since the start of the game.
“Jaxi, who…” He hesitated. He wasn’t going to beg, but he wanted her to know what he was asking. This wasn’t just about right here and right now. He caressed her cheek with his hand. “You offered me something pretty special the other night and I turned you down.”
Jesse and Joel exchanged quick looks.
“I wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was, I’ll admit it. But I’m not uncertain anymore. If you still want me.”
He was going to drown in her eyes. The tip of her tongue slipped out and wet her lips. Jaxi narrowed her eyes, and her voice dropped to a whisper. Soft and intimate, just for his ears.
“You still think you’re too old for me, Blake Coleman? Because I don’t want someone who’s going to be all careful and delicate with me when what you want is a woman to make love with—”
He crushed her to him, slanting his mouth over hers to taste her lips for the first time. Sweet honey and hops lingered on her tongue, but the overwhelming flavor was Jaxi and nothing else. Blake ate at her mouth hungrily, lifting her body to his to mold her close, his fingers cradling the cheeks of her ass as he tried to wrap her around him more intimately. Jaxi had her fingers in his hair, keeping them so tight together that if he needed to breathe it was going to have to be through her. He barely stopped from ripping her clothes off. But as much as he wanted to touch her everywhere, a small part of his mind remembered they were in a public place.
A very small part.
He wrenched his mouth from hers and dropped his head to her shoulder. Somehow they’d crossed the room until they were against the pool table. Jaxi’s hips rested on the edge of the green felt, legs spread wide to allow Blake to fit between, snug against her crotch. The heat of her sex burned through the thin fabric of her dress and his denim jeans, and Blake took a deep breath and fought for control.
“You two want us to create a road block at the door or you going to make it home okay?” Joel’s quiet question hung in the air.
Jaxi squirmed.
“What?” Blake asked.
She pulled him close to whisper in his ear. “You don’t know how tempted I am to say ‘road block’ right now.”
He swallowed hard. “I’m not taking you for the first time on a pool table, Slick.”
“How about the sixth? Or tenth? Promise me sometime we can do it on a pool table—”
Blake dragged her off the table and into his arms. “You keep talking like that, and we won’t make it anywhere but the parking lot.”
Chapter Ten
Blake carried her out the door of the hall. A couple of wolf whistles echoed in their direction, and Jaxi tucked her face farther into the crook of his neck. She was finally in his arms, where she’d longed to be, but his touch was new enough she wanted their relationship to remain private.
By morning the whole town would know. Was Blake ready?
“You sure about this? You take me back inside, and we can pretend this was a joke. We can keep it a secret for a bit. Otherwise everyone will talk.”
She couldn’t believe she’d actually said that. Thank God, listening to her suggestions seemed to be the farthest thing from his mind. He kissed her again, his hands possessive on her body as he lowered her then drew their hips together intimately, pressing his rigid cock against the softness of her belly. His tongue swept over her teeth, tasting and teasing, as he leaned her back against the side of his truck, trapping her between the unyielding metal and the solid length of his body.
Jaxi’s head was spinning before he drew back, his eyes dark with arousal. “This is no joke, and I don’t give a damn who knows I’m taking you home with me tonight. Unless you tell me right now you don’t want me, I plan on being buried as deep as possible in you, as soon as I can, and they could sell tickets for all I care.”
“I want you. I’ve always wanted you,” Jaxi gasped.
Blake closed his eyes for a second before he cupped her face in his hands. “Then you need to stop fussing. You didn’t seem worried about people watching you when it was the twins who were doing the touching. I guess maybe I need to ask you the same thing you asked me. Am I too old for you? Are you able to offer me everything I need? ’Cause I don’t want a shy little thing in my bed, or someone who’s worried about what other people will say. In fact, I want a woman who’s not afraid to seduce me right under other people’s noses, like I saw the other day in the shower. Someone who’ll wear a sexy dress and maybe even leave her panties behind so I can touch her anytime and anywhere I want. Someone who can handle me as hard and as often as I need. So you look at me with those big eyes of yours and you tell me. Are you able to give me everything I need?”
Blake breathed hard, his chest rising and falling fast, his hands on her strong and firm. She’d watched him for many years, seen him in many different moods. She’d never seen him like he was tonight.
Raw. Needy.
All male.
Everything she’d longed for.
She reached to grab one of his hands and pulled it to her lips, staring into his eyes as she kissed his palm. Without a word she tugged until his strong hand rested between her legs, cupping her mound. Slowly, inch-by-inch, she wiggled up the filmy layers of her skirt until they slipped from under his hand.
And his fingers touched the soft curls of her body.
Their eyes were still connected the moment he realized she was naked under her dress. The heat that flashed was enough to send a wave of desire through her body, causing a flood of liquid to slip over his fingers.
“Damn it, Slick, I’m not going to last thirty seconds with you, am I?”
Her head fell back against the window as he touched her, his thick, work-toughened fingers gently caressing her labia. He separated her and pressed in a circle over the tight nub at the apex of her mound. Blake touched his lips to the side of her neck, nipped at the tendon there, then soothed it with a sweep of his tongue. He leaned in close, speaking just above a whisper.
“I was going to drive you straight home, but before we leave I think you owe me something. You owe me for letting Jesse and Joel touch you and bring you pleasure in front of my eyes. So we’re going to stay right here until you drop some more sweet honey on my fingers and you make more of those sweet sounds from your lips. You’re going to let me watch you come apart, and it will be my hand that takes you there.”
His mouth descended again—hot and needy, demanding and incessant. He kissed her as his fingers stroked, circled, teased. Pressure bui
lt through her core, an uneasy balance of pleasurable tension and tingling ache. Blake rubbed her clit while his tongue delved into her mouth, twisting her emotions even as his hand twisted her senses into overload.
He pressed one long finger deep, swallowing the gasp of pleasure that escaped from her lips.
They stood in the shadows on the side of the parking lot, lights flicking past from the occasional vehicle. The glare of headlights faded to nothing as Blake continued, slow and even, to press into her sheath. She opened her legs wider, instinctively trying to ease his passage, attempting to let him farther into her aching core. The warm August air gusted around them, and heat flowed over her skin as his fingers continued to caress, the heel of his hand unwavering against her throbbing clit.
He matched the motion of his tongue and finger, his other hand supporting her neck to let him angle her exactly how he wanted. He rubbed their bodies together, friction adding to the heat between them.
Her core tightened, her breasts grew hot and aching as they pressed against his hard chest. Moisture fell from her body to slide along her thighs. Still he continued, his erection against her leg proof of how much it affected him to touch her, to feel her response.
Blake bit her lips, dragging her body closer as he sped the pace of his hand and hips. Jaxi cried out as the increase in stimulation possessed her, swept around her, swept over her, and propelled her over the edge. His kisses grew more desperate as he rocked against her a few more times, then clutched her hard. Their harsh breathing echoed off the parked cars around them.
Blake cradled her until she stopped shaking.
“Damn it, I haven’t come in my jeans since I was in tenth grade.” His lips brushed her temple, light and gentle, and Jaxi took a deep breath and tried to stop the world from spinning.
Sweet sounds of the night, the faint throb of the music from the bar, voices in the distance—all echoed loudly in her ears until the blood pounding through her slowed.
“You got your car keys?” Blake asked quietly.
“In my purse. You want me to meet you at home?”
“No way you’re getting away that easy. You’re coming with me. I’ve got your car covered. Keys.”
Jaxi slipped her purse from her shoulder and dug into it. She passed her keychain to him, wondering what he planned to do with her vehicle. Blake turned, searching the shadows. He threw her keys with a sudden snap, and Jaxi bit her lip as Jesse stepped forward and caught them in mid-air.
Joel appeared next to him and the four stared at each other for a moment. Jaxi swallowed hard. The twins must have been watching the whole time, but she couldn’t find anywhere in her that was distressed.
Turned on more than she imagined possible, but not upset.
Joel nodded once and moved away, fading like a ghost into the darkness. Jesse hesitated a moment longer. His blue eyes flicked between her and Blake before he lifted his fingers and blew her a kiss. Then he too disappeared.
She shivered even as a shot of desire raced through her. The night was growing hotter and hotter, and she had a good idea where the next step would lead.
Blake turned her to face him, cupping her chin in his hand. “You mad at me for letting them see you’re mine?”
Jaxi linked her arms around his neck and lifted her mouth. She swept one leg up the back of his thigh as far as she could lift, pressing hard against him. When they separated, she went for broke. There was no way she wanted to keep this a secret any longer than she already had. “You mad they helped set you up? To force you to acknowledge how much you wanted me?”
Blake froze. For a moment, he didn’t respond.
“You planned it? The game, the flirting?”
Jaxi looked away for a second before she drew in her courage and stared him down. “Yeah, I set it up, but it didn’t work as planned. Leo was supposed to get called away, and I was going to end up your partner for the game of Challenge. But Leo was still there and Jesse pulled a fast one calling Triple Play. I thought to hell with it, hoping it would shake you enough you’d come to your senses and realize you wanted me.”
Blake shook his head slowly. “Wanting you has never been the problem.” He yanked open the truck door and helped her in the driver side, pulling her hip back against his when she would have scooted to the passenger side.
He looked at her hard for a minute. “You’re one dangerous woman, Jaxi.”
She waited, nearly unable to breathe.
He chuckled.
All her tension released in one fell swoop. He could have been angry, getting set up like that. Heck, he could have been annoyed with Jesse and Joel for being more than willing to play along and pushing it too far.
“You planned any more games for tonight? Anything I need to know about before we go home?”
Jaxi shook her head.
“Good, I’m in charge of the evening from here on. No twins popping in and out, no games of chance.” Blake reversed out of the lot and was on the street faster than she thought possible. “No worrying about what the ladies at the salon will say tomorrow. No worrying about who’s too old and who’s too young.”
The streets of town sped past. The heat of his thigh next to hers, the gentle bumping of her body against his side, even the scent of his skin in the cab of the truck—all of it exactly what she’d been longing for. Then they were on the gravel, headed down the side roads that would bring them to the Coleman spread. Blake’s hand lay on her thigh, his thumb tracing small circles as he inched her skirt farther up.
“You always traipse round with no panties, Slick? Or was that just luck back there?”
Jaxi sucked in air as Blake exposed her bare crotch. “I don’t usually, but since I’d planned…”
“Right, the plan.” He brushed his knuckles over her curls. “Slide down a little. I want to see better.”
Jaxi flicked a glance at his face. He watched the road, a smile curving the corner of his mouth. She wiggled her hips lower and let the fabric of her dress ride up until her lower body was completely visible.
Blake hummed in approval. “Now that’s a nice sight. But you don’t look too comfy, all scrunched up like that. Maybe you’d better shuck the dress altogether.” His gaze had returned to the road while his hand stroked the tops of her thighs like a soft wind caressing over the wheat field.
She slipped off her seat belt and tugged the light fabric over her head in one motion. She flushed red-hot, determined to follow Blake’s instructions.
He took the corner onto the long driveway that led to the dark and quiet ranch house before slowing the truck to a stop. He turned to look at Jaxi, his gaze gliding over her body as intimate as the touch of a hand. Her nipples tightened. She knew what he saw. The folds of her body still wet from earlier, her naked breasts swollen with need. Blake didn’t speak. He just looked for a good long time before he put the truck back in gear and drove the final distance to the house.
“You’re a pretty little thing, you know that, Jaxi? Soft everywhere.” Blake’s hand covered her mound possessively, cradling her. “Tell me what you like. How you want to be touched so you feel real good. You enjoy kisses down here? Such a pretty little bit of candy for a man to lick and suck.”
She drew in a breath. “No one’s ever…”
He swore and heat flushed her body, starting from where his hand held her like a prize. He pulled in beside the cabin and took away his hand to slam the shift into park. He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly.
“Jaxi, I’m wondering what you’re doing because I’m getting a tad confused by the signals you’re sending. I’m going to carry you inside, and you think about what you need to tell me when we get there. Just so there are no more surprises.”
Blake jerked open his door but he was careful as he tugged Jaxi after him. Her naked body was cradled in his arms as he strode to the cabin, his expression like thunderclouds ready to roll.
She was in a pile of trouble from the looks of things.
Chapter
Eleven
He kicked open the door and deposited her on the bed. Stepping back, he took a seat in one of the chairs set by the small table in the corner. His things were neatly tucked away, except for the pile of clean laundry she’d brought in after supper.
He watched, unblinking.
Jaxi forced herself to sit straight as Blake stared. His gaze ate her up, one inch of skin at a time, from top to the bottom before he spoke.
“We’re taking this all the way, so you’d better tell me what you know and what you’ve been holding back.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, a smoky smile building on his face that made her shiver with anticipation. “Or maybe we’ll turn it into a little puzzle for me to solve, since you enjoy games.”
He yanked off his boots and tossed them to the side. He stood and unbuckled his belt. She licked her suddenly dry lips, and Blake chuckled. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. I think you’re a whole lot more innocent than you’ve been trying to let on. Then you go and do something like that, all sex kitten and wanton, and you tie my brain in knots. Now I’m going to get naked ’cause you made me lose all control back there in the parking lot, and I’m not sitting around in wet jeans anymore.”
Jaxi wiggled up to a kneeling position, her face burning with heat.
He laughed. “Look at you. Flushed and eager. I know damn well you’ve already seen me naked, so don’t you turn away or try to get shy.”
He popped open the button on his jeans, and her heart beat faster.
“Can I help?” She couldn’t take her gaze off his hands as they peeled back the zipper and opened his jeans.
“Not this time. You touch me, and we’ll be rushing places you’re not ready for. So, no man’s ever kissed your pussy?”
He dropped his jeans. His boxer briefs were wet, a dark patch showing against the front.
“Hey, Slick.”
Jaxi dragged her gaze back to his face with effort.
“Damn, you’ve got the biggest eyes. You going to tell me what I need to know?” He unbuttoned his shirt slowly, the rustle of fabric loud in the quiet room. He pulled it off and grasped the bottom of his T-shirt, his hard abs appearing bit by bit as he lifted the material over his head.
