One Breathless Night (Three Wicked Nights Book 1)

by Jo Leigh

  Truthfully, no one gave him any guff about it. Were they surprised? Yes. Teasing? God, yes, and if he had a way to stop it, he would. His text back to her was short: Don’t give up on me yet.

  The energy of the floor changed the second he walked out of the restroom. Of course they were tracking South Dakota. Rick had personally trained two of the storm chasers out there, and there were lots of good people in the office of climatology. They were using their warning signals properly, and their reporting of data was excellent.

  There was no reason he shouldn’t leave. The team in the tornado group had it covered. But...this was what he did. He tracked tornadoes. He could count on one hand plus one other finger how many times he’d missed tracking anything above an F2 on the Fujita damage scale. This storm cluster could bring a lot of hell down on Dewey County. And if it picked up enough debris, it could get to be a giant.

  His heart was already pumping fast, and they just had supercells forming. He couldn’t help it. He remembered those few seconds where he was awake and cogent in that tornado. Every tornado brought excitement and stress, but even if he couldn’t be out there himself tracking the big boys, he felt the memory of that rush. That unbelievable feeling of flying. Of unimaginable fear mixed with dazzling wonder.

  “What’s up with you, man?” Antwan eyed him. “Why aren’t you on your way to the airport? You think we can’t handle things here?”

  “Of course you can. But you know how that adrenaline calls me.”

  “Rick, you idiot. You want adrenaline? How about you walk into your hotel room to find your Jenna waiting for you?”

  Rick grinned as his focus shifted to Jenna, and the dilemma disappeared. “Mi gaan, mi bredda.”

  Antwan laughed, as he always did at Rick’s attempt to speak the patois. “I’m never taking you to visit my family. They’d all die laughing and probably disown me, but I’m glad you’re going, and that the power has been given to me.”

  Rick slapped him on the back and headed off to see Jenna. His pace quickened as he reached the parking lot until he was almost running. Before he opened the door to his Jeep, he texted her one line: Board that plane.

  Now he needed to stop thinking about tearing off her clothes the second he saw her. It wasn’t easy.

  * * *

  THE HILTON GARDEN INN was just three miles from the airport, but because of the snow, Rick took the shuttle. He could have been nicer at the registration desk, but Jenna was just up a floor, and fourteen doors down.

  It took two tries to get the green light, and then he opened the door and there she was. He dropped everything where he stood, including his coat and his laptop case. Despite imagining her every day, and sometimes using Skype, he’d forgotten vital things. How she always stood with her shoulders back, her head squarely on her shoulders. Dance lessons, maybe? He could ask. Not text.

  It took three seconds for her to reach him.

  He put his hands on the side of her neck so he could memorize the shades of brown in her eyes and watch the black of her pupils take over. The dimple on her nose. Damn it. He loved that dimple and he’d forgotten it. Probably because of her lips and the way they stopped him from thinking too much.

  Her lips parted and neither one of them shut their eyes until they had to. He wanted to stay right there. Learn every single way it was possible to kiss Jenna, then start again, only rate the kisses in terms of her answering moans.

  Someone somewhere laughed, but it didn’t concern him. The low voice telling them to get a room got through, though, and he shoved his stuff inside and then kicked the door shut, all without losing a beat.

  * * *

  JENNA FINALLY PULLED BACK, gently, reluctantly. She smiled at Rick and he smiled back as if they shared a secret. Coconspirators meeting in a hotel for a long weekend of nothing but sex and kissing and cuddling and room service and getting to know each other better. “Hi.”

  Rick nodded, which was oddly sweet, and whispered, “Hi.”

  “You came. I wasn’t sure until I saw you.”

  “They’ll call me if something drastic happens at work.”

  “I have no idea what you mean by that. Isn’t a tornado drastic by definition?”

  “Sort of, depending on where it hits. There are hundreds of small tornadoes that cause no damage to property or people.”

  She hadn’t taken her eyes off him as they stood in the little entryway just inside the room. “Okay. I’ll do my best to remember that, although, sorry, don’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but I don’t care. No idea why I brought it up. You’re here, and I get to touch you any way I want.”

  “Yes, you do,” he said, right before he pressed his forehead to hers.

  It certainly wasn’t the touch she’d expected, but after a few seconds it calmed her down, let her come back to the moment. Where had he learned to do that? She’d never have imagined how intimate it would be to connect like this.

  Her stomach growled, and they both laughed.

  “We should order something. Damn it,” he said. “My timing’s off. I wanted to slam the door behind me, rip off every stitch of clothing from your body and then ravish you on the bed. I imagined it the whole flight here. It was total caveman stuff.”

  “I’m not that hungry.” She touched the side of his face with her thumb, the feel of him coming back to her in bursts. “You’re completely welcome to take—not rip—off my clothes, as long as you get naked, too.”

  She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and started to walk backward. She’d practiced this, but he didn’t know that. He wasn’t the only one who’d thought about their first meeting since New Year’s weekend.

  Stopping when the back of her legs hit the side of the bed, she kissed him before letting him go.

  “I don’t think I can last another minute without seeing you naked.”

  Jenna grinned. “You say that as if I’m going to object.”

  “Okay, then,” he said, stripping off her short black sweater in a very smooth move. Then he started on the buttons of her white blouse. She couldn’t wait to see what he’d do with her skinny black jeans. Even she had trouble taking them off.

  But the real kick for her was what he’d find underneath. A black-and-white polka-dot demi bra and matching thong. He liked thongs.

  His breath brushed over her bared shoulder when he removed her blouse. “For me?” he asked.

  “I don’t think it’ll fit, but you can play with it this weekend, if you like.”

  “I was talking about what was under the bra, but thanks for the offer. And don’t think I didn’t notice the leopard print on those heels. What are they, six inches? Seven? How in hell did you walk around the airport wearing them?”

  “Flats in my suitcase.”

  “Ah. Of course.” Rick kissed her again, and then brought her hand to his fly, to the straining erection behind his jeans. “You’ll have to excuse my slow thoughts.”

  “I think we’d better do something about those jeans,” she said.

  “First you.”

  “Go for it. And, um, don’t get discouraged. They’re not kidding when they say these are skintight.”

  It took him a while, but he made good use of the time. Without taking off her bra, he managed to lift her nipples over the top of the demi cups, which was very sexy, especially when he was working so hard elsewhere while still flicking and licking her right nipple.

  When he had to abandon his duty north to get rid of her pants, she didn’t mind. She just wanted him to hurry. Finally, she stepped out of her jeans.

  He moved back to admire his handiwork. Nipples on display, such a tiny thong there was only room for one row of dots and the heels that made her as tall as him.

  “Holy shit, you’re gorgeous,” he said, but the words rode out on a fast breath. He’d worked hard ge
tting her undressed this far. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind doing a slow three-sixty, I’ll be naked before you get back to the start.”

  She felt ridiculous as she did it. Really slowly, too. When he nearly fell on his ass as he caught sight of hers, they both started laughing. In another amazing feat, Rick’s clothes were off, including his boots.

  She thought he was going to go back to teasing her nipples when he walked into her space, but he just gave her a fierce and fast kiss, moved behind her to throw the bedding down, lifted her into his arms and tossed her onto the bed.

  She laughed as she caught her breath. “So this is what you meant by caveman?”

  “Nope,” he said, joining her. “That was just because it was the quickest way I could get you into bed.”

  Without taking anything else off her, he nestled his knees between her thighs. Her smile was swept away, along with her breath, at the lust in his gaze. When his nostrils flared, her body arched and she no longer gave a damn what he did, as long as he did it now.

  “Jenna,” he said.

  That was all. Just her name. But she felt claimed. Seen. “There are condoms,” she said, her voice breathless. “On the bedside table.”

  “You’re brilliant.” Balanced as he was on his knees and hands, he went back to her one of her nipples—the one he hadn’t tasted—and took it between his teeth. As one hand slipped underneath her back, he flicked her hard and fast with the point of his tongue.

  She wasn’t sure what she said or did, but when he stopped flicking, and just sucked, she couldn’t just lie there and writhe. Once again, she took hold of his hair and urged him to look up.

  How desperately she wanted him inside her. Now. “Please,” she said, hoping the single word would be enough to get her point across.

  He lifted his head and met her gaze. As her heartbeat hammered and her blood flowed so fiercely she could hear it, he leaned over and picked up a condom. She arched up to nip and lick the side of his neck, and then let herself fall back, running her hands up his sides and chest.

  His groan was very familiar, and achingly welcome. She watched him tear open the gold packet. “I want to do an awful lot of things,” he said, his voice lower, and growly.

  “Now? Or in general?”

  “Definitely now.” He looked down as he sheathed his cock. She followed his gaze, and took in a very deep breath. She’d forgotten how formidable his erection was. Not that she was complaining. They were a great fit, the two of them.

  After an epic exhale, she looked up at him again. “First, why don’t you remind me what you can do with that.”

  He smiled and slid his hands underneath her knees. Her stomach and chest tightened as he placed them on his shoulders. “Oh, my God.”

  “Okay?” he asked.

  She nodded, wondering how they’d managed to sync their panting breaths.

  He leaned down and forward.

  She braced herself. The more forward he moved, the more of her bottom was lifted off the mattress. His gaze was fixed on her tiny thong. “I can’t wait to taste you,” he said, just before he used one finger to pull the thong down her legs, to the leopard-print heels still on her feet. Carefully he removed the panties, tossing them behind him. Her legs settled down on his shoulders again, and his smile was awfully smug.

  “Think you’re smart, don’t you?”

  “Not particularly, but I know you.” He kissed the inside of her ankle. “And I know what you like.”

  “Yes.” Her voice came out as a thread of a whisper. All her muscles were tight and ready. But instead of just plunging into her, the first thing she felt were fingers. Two. All the way.

  His eyes drifted closed. “My God, Jenna...you’re so...”

  She waited for him to finish the sentence, but when his thumb circled her clit, she squeezed his fingers hard enough that he almost lost his balance. She no longer cared what he’d meant to say.

  “Now—” he was breathing faster “—or later?”

  “What?”

  “Do you want to come now, or when I’m inside you?”

  “Both,” she said, without a hint of hesitation.

  She used one shaky elbow to raise herself up and kiss the grin off his face. It was a quickie, no tongue involved at all, but his rhythm broke. The second she fell back again, his fingers slipped out, only to guide his penis to her entrance.

  Her entire body quivered. And when he finally thrust into her, it wasn’t slow or careful.

  It was perfect.

  He was thicker than she remembered, maybe longer, but oh, yes, thicker. And he made it very clear he was going to give her all he had. She was primed and ready, not the least bit afraid she couldn’t accommodate him. The only fear she had was that she’d rip the sheets.

  He almost bent her double just so he could take her mouth in another searing kiss. He was ruthless with his thrusts, his tongue, the way he stared at her as if he was going to wring them both dry.

  She loved it. Every second unleashed more of the wild inside her. Greedy and insatiable, she shoved her left hand between them, pushing until he made room for her to find her clit, determined to have the orgasm of her life.

  “That’s for me,” he said, in what she could only call a growl.

  “I’m already there.”

  He filled her with a powerful push, stealing her ability to speak, to think, to breathe.

  But when he slowly withdrew, it all came back. “Don’t stop,” she said between urgent gulps of air.

  He obeyed. His lips stretched back, revealing gritted teeth. She was forced to take her hand from the sheets and put it against the headboard so she wouldn’t bang her head with every push.

  Words were too much for her, and she couldn’t control the volume of her cries. Surely the people in the next room must be scandalized, but there again she didn’t give one damn.

  Her finger was squished on her clit, moving up and down more by him than anything she was doing. It was easy to tell he was getting close when his rhythm changed. She could feel her own tide turning in that place below her belly.

  “I’m—”

  His head jerked back, his expression feral. Wild. Each thrust was so hard he forced her orgasm. It crashed through her, ending with unbelievably powerful spasms. Her legs wrenched free and wrapped themselves around his waist, but that only lasted a few seconds. Lifting her hand was like moving a boulder. Her legs? No. They dropped.

  “Can’t take the heat?” he asked.

  Her answer was to squeeze the tiniest bit where he was still inside her, making her pelvis rise just enough that Danger Bond gasped as he slipped out of her and landed with an “umph.” Pity his head missed the pillow.

  She would have laughed, but with that last move she’d used up all her energy.

  “I’ll make a scathing retort later,” he said.

  Jenna nodded, managing half a smile.

  Closing her eyes, she thought of the fireworks in the smart apartment. A fantastic innovation, a marvel of ingenuity and glorious to see, to be sure, and yet they were nothing compared to the real fireworks happening inside her.

  * * *

  IN WHAT FELT like the blink of an eye, Rick found himself packing again. He should have been drained dry from making love a truly impressive number of times, but that wasn’t the only thing they’d done. They also played chess, talked books and movies, ate a lot of room service—the weekend had gone better than expected, which said a lot. But now it was time to start easing back into the real world.

  He didn’t want to miss the shuttle. There’d be plenty of places to eat when they got to the airport, and he was as hungry as if he’d just run a 10K. They’d forgotten to order breakfast, but at least they’d had coffee.

  Finished with getting his stuff in order, he slipped behind Jenna and
put his arms around her. She didn’t startle, but she did stop packing to lean into his embrace. “This was good,” he whispered.

  “Pity about not seeing any of the city, though. I’ve heard it’s a great place to visit.”

  He kissed her just below her ear where her shoulder met her neck. “Chicago’s fine, but visiting all the hot spots on you was more fun.”

  She groaned. “I really do need to finish packing. Although heaven knows I’d have liked at least another day.”

  “Well, maybe the next time we get an itch to scratch each other in person, we should make it a longer stay.”

  Jenna turned around in his arms. “Spring break.”

  His gaze caught on her damp bottom lip. “What about it?” he murmured, taking a little taste.

  Laughing, she drew back. “I get a week off at the end of March.”

  “I doubt I could take off a whole week, but...” Goddamn it. He was starting to get hard. Hell, not now. He had no self-control when it came to her.

  “Maybe I could come to Oklahoma.”

  “Sure.” It seemed she was waiting for him to say something else, but he couldn’t remember what they’d been talking about. He glanced at his watch. Even a quickie would be pushing it.

  “I know you would be busy and I’m not suggesting I’d stay with you. I’m sure there are hotels in the area. I wouldn’t even have brought it up except you mentioned it a few weeks ago—”

  He felt like shit. She was flustered all because he’d been too interested in his dick and not listening to her. “Jenna.”

  “I hear there’s a very interesting place called the National Severe Storms Laboratory. I understand they give tours all the time, so I wouldn’t be bothering you to show me around.”

  She was rambling and looking nervous and it was his fault.

  “I’d have so much great stuff to teach the kids when school started again.”

  “Jenna, stop.” He hated that she was avoiding his eyes. “Look at me,” he said, and waited until she did. “Do you honestly think I’d let you stay anywhere else but with me?”

  “Honestly?”