by Leslie Kelly
His body reacted. The lazy hunger that had been flowing through his veins focused in tighter, right in his crotch. “You can’t tell me you didn’t realize it.”
She swallowed, shaking her head. “I did. But I just assumed you were being…that you were used to making women feel like you wanted them, because, you know, I’d bid so much.” Regaining some confidence, she leaned over and accused him with one hard stare. “You haven’t looked at me that way all day today.”
“Did you not notice that I almost tore a guy’s head off because he looked at you that way.”
“That’s different. He was drunk and stupid and…”
“Porcine?”
“Exactly.”
“I’m not a pig. I’m a gentleman.” Tension snapping between them, he leaned closer, keeping his voice low and intimate. Raking a hot glance over her, he admitted, “And a gentleman doesn’t come right out on a first date and tell a woman he wants to smother her beautiful nipples in sugar and then suck every bit of sweetness right out of her until she’s begging to be taken.”
She gasped, but he was too far gone. Both his mouth…and his body, which was now rock-hard beneath the table.
“And it wouldn’t have been terribly polite of me to tell you I’ve been wondering all day what color panties you have on. Whether it’s a thong, whether the curves of your ass are really as round and sweet as I think they are.”
“Jake…”
“Or that if I fell into your incredible breasts and smothered to death, I’d die with a smile on my face.”
“Oh my.”
“Or that when I touched your leg this afternoon, all I could think of was how slim your thighs are. How easily my hands would wrap around them. How amazing it would be to lift them over my shoulders, getting the best possible angle so I could plunge into you, hard, and fill you so completely you feel like you’re gonna break in half.”
“Holy shit,” someone said.
It wasn’t her.
Sanity returned as he realized their waitress stood beside the table, wide-eyed, pink-cheeked. And all ears. “Wow, hot stuff, if she says no, you can have my number!”
The young woman appeared entirely serious. Which didn’t help things, judging by the way the woman sitting across from him narrowed her eyes and clenched her arms tightly around her chest. Small wonder…he’d verbally molested her in front of witnesses. Some fricking gentleman.
“Jesus, Maddy…”
“We’re finished,” she snapped, almost launching herself to her feet. She threw a fistful of cash down on the table, ignoring the waitress, who still watched them, and not sparing Jake another glance.
She didn’t even wait for him, or look to see if he was following. Instead, without another word, she wove her way through the crowd toward the door, not looking left or right, her dark ponytail bouncing against her stiff shoulders with every step.
Oh, God, had he ever screwed this up.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled to the waitress.
“Don’t apologize. I think I just came a little.”
Jake closed his eyes and shook his head, about as embarrassed as he’d ever been in his life. Heaven help him if his sisters—or worse, his father—ever heard about this. Talk about not treating a lady right. He’d blown it, starting with the sex talk that had been overheard, and ending with her throwing down a small fortune to pay for dinner, when he would never have let her pick up the tab.
Wanting to crawl out of the place, he settled for a fast walk. He hit the front door with both palms and strode outside, half expecting to see Maddy’s taillights as she zipped her tiny sports car out of the parking lot, dumping his butt right here at the bar.
But her car remained on the far side of the lot, where she’d parked it. He hadn’t gotten more than a half-dozen steps toward it in the warm evening air when he was grabbed. Two hands bunched in the front of his T-shirt and pushed him. Jake stumbled over his own feet until he was backed against the dark, shadowy side of the old brick building.
“Maddy…”
“Shut up.” Her eyes sparked and her breathing was choppy as she glared up at him. She looked ready to hit him.
Instead, she did something far more unexpected. She threw her arms around his neck, pressed that hot body against his, and caught his mouth in a deep, hard kiss.
She wasn’t angry. The ice princess was on fire.
For him.
She kissed the taste out of his mouth, thrusting her tongue against his wildly as she tangled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. Jake instinctively dropped his hands, reaching for the round curves of the ass he’d been admiring since they met. Cupping those curves, he savored the softness, squeezing her lightly. He was going to love holding her cheeks tightly when she was naked and on top of him. Plunging down onto him, over and over until he lost his mind and exploded inside her.
Tugging her up for a nicer fit, he rocked into her, letting her feel his throbbing erection, getting off at the pleasure of sex against sex, despite their clothes.
She whimpered, ground back, tilted her hips against him to bring her heat directly against the seam straining to hold back his cock. Groaning, running her hands frantically over his shoulders and chest now, she continued to play wildly in his mouth. Her soft lips molded to every millimeter of his, her tongue ravaged his as if she was hungry enough to devour him whole.
Finally, she drew away, gasping for breath, but not stopping. Oh, no, she merely moved her mouth to his neck, tasting the sweat he knew had gathered there, kissing her way frantically to the hollow of his throat, even biting lightly.
“I want you so much.”
“I noticed.”
“Did you really mean those things you said inside?”
He spun her around, backing her against the building now, taking control. “Hell, yes.”
It was crazy—they were outside, in a public place, it wasn’t even ten o’clock and anyone could walk out of the bar at any minute. But he didn’t care. If he didn’t get more of her, he’d die. Simply blow up and die.
“This really is…personal? Just about attraction, nothing else?” she asked, watching him intently, as if still needing to be sure.
“Maddy, I don’t give a damn where we met, who you are, or that you bid on me for some charity. I have wanted you since the moment I set eyes on you.”
She nodded slowly, letting her eyes drift closed, silently giving her assent.
“Don’t stop me,” he whispered hoarsely as he tugged her ponytail holder off and ran his fingers through that thick, dark hair, spreading it across her shoulders. He tasted her soft earlobe, moving slowly down the long line of her delicate neck, nibbling lightly, savoring the unique flavors of skin and woman.
“Stopping you isn’t even a consideration.”
Soon he was breathing down the front of her shirt, his lips scraping the vulnerable skin just above the seam. Unable to resist, he nudged the fabric down enough to gain access, groaning when he saw a hint of her breasts rising above the edge of a hot pink bra.
He had to go further. Running the tip of his tongue across that deep line of cleavage, he grabbed her hips when she started to sag.
“Jake…”
“More.” He didn’t ask, didn’t think, didn’t hesitate. He merely reached for the bottom of her shirt and began to tug it up. He was dying to touch her, hold her, suck her.
She whimpered when he slid his hand inside the bra, cupping her, tugging the incredibly soft, warm mound free of its containment. Then he could only look at her, wondering if he’d ever seen a more beautiful woman—with her head thrown back, eyes wild, hair a tangled brown mass. Her lips were wet, her mouth open, and her full, gorgeous breast was topped by a puckered pink nipple that begged to be tasted.
“No sugar handy,” he mumbled, “but I know you’re sweet enough.”
Then he confirmed it, covering the taut tip with his mouth and sucking, quick, hard, not sure which of them was more shocked by the pleasure of it.
God knows how far he might have taken it…they were both that far gone. But a car suddenly turned into the parking lot, washing the outside entrance with light. It spilled to within a foot of where they stood as the vehicle turned into a corner parking spot.
“Help me,” she snapped, desperately trying to yank her bra back in place.
He did, pushing her hands out of the way and, with regret, covering those incredible curves. Edging around, he blocked the view of her body with his own. If anybody did spy them, all they’d see was a couple kissing in the shadows.
A trio of laughing young women passed within a few feet of them, exchanging loud, knowing whispers. Once they were gone, he stared down at a still wide-eyed Maddy and offered her a slow, knowing smile. “You ready to get out of here?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip for a split second, nearly giving him a heart attack as he feared she was getting cold feet.
He should have known better. Because, with pure, sexual determination on her face, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to her car. “You drive,” she snapped. “I know you don’t like chick cars, but my legs are shaking too much.”
She tossed him the keys, which he caught in midair. Opening the passenger side door for her, he helped her in, bending low to ask, “Where are we going?”
She muttered an uptown address.
“I don’t think that’s where we left my truck.” He didn’t know why he got such a kick out of teasing her, especially because, honestly, if she walked away from him now, he’d have to go douse himself in liquid hydrogen to cool off.
“It’s my place. It’s close. I have an enormous bed and an incredible bathroom.”
He smiled slowly. “I’m catching the vision.”
“My bathtub could fit three people.”
“Sorry, Ms. Turner, not into anything kinky.” When her eyes widened, he took pity and grinned. “I’m sure we can make full use of it, just the two of us.”
“Good.” She ran the tip of one finger across his bottom lip. “Now get in and drive.”
SHE SHOULD BE having regrets, or at least second thoughts. But as they drove into the night—Jake’s foot riding a little heavier on the gas pedal than hers usually did—she could only anticipate.
He wanted her. Just wanted her. Those dark eyes hadn’t been appraising her worth; he hadn’t been using any tried-and-true lines of seduction that had worked on the many women in his past. Hadn’t for one second made her feel that she was nothing but a client to him. But he had made her feel absolutely dizzy with desire.
Her reservations had begun to dissipate when he’d thrown that line about dipping her nipples in sugar. By the time he’d gotten to the breaking her in half part, she’d been practically stuck to her chair.
Unable to wait, she reached over and dropped her hand onto his leg.
“Uh-uh,” he growled.
She ignored him, sliding her hand higher. But before she could capture the bulging prize she desperately wanted to trace with her fingertips, he dropped his hand over hers and squeezed.
“No.”
“You don’t want me to touch you?” she whispered, knowing the words were untrue. Despite the shadowy interior of the car, she could see just how much he wanted her touch. And, judging by the way he’d felt when pressed against her, he had a lot to be touched.
She shivered in her seat.
“Hell, yes, I want you to touch me.”
She twisted more, her other hand reaching for his hip. He couldn’t stop her…couldn’t drive no-handed.
“But not at the risk of both of us getting killed.” He glanced over, serious, almost pleading with her to back off. “Please, babe, we’ll be there soon, I promise. I’ve seen way too many street wrecks to even consider doing something so unsafe, despite how much I’m dying to feel your hands on me.”
Babe. No one had ever called her that. She suspected she should be insulted by it, as a modern, independent woman. But she wasn’t. Especially not when he’d also admitted his blatant need in that thick, hungry tone.
“I want to spend the night inside your tight little body, not a hospital emergency room.”
“Wow,” she muttered, collapsing into her seat. Blunt he may be, but the man definitely knew how to use words to their best effect.
“You okay?”
Voiceless, she merely nodded.
One of her hands remained on his leg, covered by his. Jake slowly lifted it to his lips. Pressing a soft kiss on her fingers, he said, “I’ll make it up to you. I plan to make you feel incredible all night long.”
All night long. Oh, goodness. His tone had been sultry and full of promise. Her whole body was already on edge, thrumming and alive from that crazy-hot encounter outside the pub. Now, with his sweet whisper washing over her, she went almost gooey with want.
But not so gooey that she didn’t realize she had one remaining coherent brain cell, which hissed a final word of caution in her ear. Unsafe, he’d said. He wouldn’t do something unsafe.
God, she hadn’t even thought about the safe sex aspect of this crazy, impulsive decision. She, who thought her way around every problem at least a dozen times before committing to a response, had skipped right past the inherent dangers of his profession. She’d agreed to let a man who had sex for money pleasure her all night long, without a thought of her own physical well-being until now.
How did one handle this type of situation? It wasn’t as if she’d ever encountered it, or heard of a guidebook describing how someone made sure a hired lover wasn’t carrying around any nasty reminders of previous clients.
Then she thought about it. Oliver had cheated on her, not only with the snow ho, but with many others. Or so she’d heard after they broke up.
She knew guys who’d had sex with dozens of girls in high school and college. Sometimes they even proudly offered different colored bracelets to the girls they scored with, so the easier ones could advertise just how far they were willing to go—and thereby get more dates. More meaningless sexual partners.
Just because she had only ever had a half-dozen or so lovers didn’t mean everyone else in her circle had. Many, she suspected, probably had as much experience as a pro like Jake did. Some even more.
Her sister included.
So she decided to treat him as she would any other potential lover. Openly.
“We have to use protection. I have condoms at my place.”
His eyes widened and he glanced over at her, his handsome face—hard-planed, masculine, magnificent—spotlighted by the headlights of cars in the distance.
“I mean, it’s not that I don’t trust you. But in this day and age…”
“I’m not offended.”
Thank goodness.
He returned his focus to the road. “Just so we’re clear, I’m also not hiding any unpleasant conditions. I have to get routine physicals, it’s part of the job, and I am entirely healthy.”
She didn’t really want to talk about his job, or even think about it. This is personal, she reminded herself. So she simply replied, “Great.” Then, since fair was fair, added, “For the record, I’m absolutely fine, too.”
He grinned and winked, breaking the awkward moment. “Yes, indeed, you are, Ms. Turner. Absolutely fine.”
Then there was nothing left. No barriers. No excuses. No doubts. They’d reached her building and he was pulling into her private parking space in the underground garage. Their next stop would be the elevator, and then her penthouse apartment.
After that, a night in the arms of the kind of lover women competed for. Dreamed about.
And for this one night, he was entirely hers.
6
THOUGH HE RECOGNIZED the exclusive high-rise building, and had been warned by Maddy’s comments about her bed and her bathtub, Jake hadn’t really been prepared for the opulence of her home.
First of all, only in movies had he ever seen keyed elevators that opened directly into private apartments. He didn’t think they actually existed.
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Not that he’d really been paying attention until the doors had quietly swished open with a subdued ding. Because from the moment they’d gotten into the elevator down in the garage, he’d had his hand on Maddy’s soft ass and his mouth on the side of her neck.
The scent of her warm brown hair and her sweet skin had intoxicated him and he’d been unable to resist moving behind her, grinding into her, reaching around to press his hand onto her stomach and pull her hard against him.
They’d both been distracted then. She’d lifted her arm behind her to drape it around his neck, holding him in place. Arching back against his erection, she’d groaned with a kind of raw, primal pleasure that told him she might just like this particular position with her clothes off.
Mmm.
That could definitely be arranged, though not until he’d had her face-to-face, breath-to-breath first. He wanted to watch her eyes as he slowly sank into her, wanted to feel her gasps, hear the little hitch in her throat as she whimpered at how good it felt.
After that…well, he couldn’t even begin to list the ways he wanted this woman.
He’d envisioned most of them on the way up. Then they’d reached her floor, the doors had opened, and he felt as though he’d stepped into a designer furniture store where Oprah shopped up on the Magnificent Mile.
The entryway was tiled with what he’d speculate was Italian marble, not that he’d ever seen it. But he doubted they’d allow the fake stuff in this building.
Tall, graceful vases with a profusion of perfectly placed, enormous white flowers stood on either side of the foyer, providing an almost snowy, winter welcome. Right in the middle of June.
Beyond lay a plushly carpeted, sunken living area. More vases and flowers stood sentry throughout. Big, gold-leaf framed mirrors sent his own reflection back to him a dozen times. Several pieces of expensive-looking, froufrou art were on display, discreetly placed fixtures flooding them with light from just the right angle.
A huge white leather sofa looked too pristine to sit on, and he’d probably have to sell his truck to replace the marble-topped coffee table if he dared leave a drink ring on it.
