by Leslie Kelly
Oh, good heavens, yes. Like tracking down this guy. Getting involved with him. Getting him naked and tying him up to a little winged cherub statue. And getting herself naked and handcuffed to his bed…without him in it.
“I seem to have had nothing but bad ideas at bad moments since you and I met,” she admitted.
They both fell silent for a long moment. Jade didn’t look at him. She merely looked at her hands, trembling against her bare thighs. That slight trembling told her more about her emotional state than her own brain had been able to.
Jenny had lied. Or at least exaggerated. She didn’t seem to recognize the difference. Never had, probably never would.
Once again, the drama queen at the center of her own drama.
The next time she saw her spoiled sibling, Jade was going to have to make her work on that. Or else just slap her silly.
Ryan remained standing a few feet away, obviously as lost in thought as she. “So you thought I was involved with your sister,” he finally said.
She corrected him. “I thought you hurt my sister. And I was out to, um…correct the injustice.”
He merely shook his head. “I’d hate to see how you correct the injustice if someone actually harmed you.”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t. I can take care of myself. At least usually.” She glanced at the handcuffs.
He met her eye, understanding her meaning. Jade wasn’t vengeful, not on her own behalf, anyway. But damned if anyone was going to hurt anyone she cared about.
“Point taken,” he finally replied.
Then it was her turn to understand. “You thought I was some sick woman who liked picking up men and humiliating them for no reason, which is why you paid me back tonight. Here.” She looked at the bed and softly added, “Like this.”
“Yeah. We really made a mess of things, didn’t we?” he asked.
“A major mess. I’d say this one would have to go in the record books for strange starts to relationships.”
“Relationships?” His tone was hopeful. Or maybe Jade just read hope in his voice because she wanted it to be there.
Forgetting that her skirt was tangled around her feet, she tried to stand up but immediately stumbled. It certainly wasn’t by design that she landed right against his body, his warm, welcoming body.
His arms instantly reached to steady her, one hand landing below her waist, the other on her arm. Only a tiny scrap of elastic separated his hand from her bare hip and the skin there instantly felt hot and tender.
“What have we done?” he whispered, looking at her for answers she didn’t have either.
“We certainly started out all wrong. But we started something,” she said, not sure where the words had come from but knowing they were the right ones. And she knew, without a doubt, it was something she wanted to continue.
His thumb slid beneath the elastic, caressing her hipbone. The fingers of his other hand scraped delicately up her arm, to her shoulder, then to the nape of her neck.
“So where do we go from here?” He stepped even closer, his warm breath touching her hair as he continued to caress her gently with his fingertips.
“We could go the normal route. You ask me to dinner. I say yes and play hard to get when you walk me to the door.”
He continued to delicately touch her neck, so lightly she wondered if she was feeling his fingertips or a bit of breeze stirred up by the lazily turning ceiling fan.
“Considering we’ve seen each other naked and touched each other as intimately as lovers, I’d say the normal route’s a bit of a step backward,” he murmured.
She already knew that and was glad he concurred. She hesitated for no longer than a heartbeat. Her voice wasn’t the least bit uncertain when she replied. “Okay, then, now I guess we make love.”
8
RYAN HAD PICTURED HAVING sex with Jade from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her. His desire for her, mixed with his anger at what she’d done, had filled his mind constantly. Nearly every waking thought had been full of hot sexual images where lust and hunger merged with anger and revenge until he couldn’t think of anything else.
His nighttime mind hadn’t been much different. Crazy, wicked dreams he hadn’t experienced since he was a kid had left him trembling in his bed the previous night. And had left him wondering if he was really capable of doing the things to and with her that he’d dreamt of.
This, however, this moment which had finally arrived, was nothing like that. He didn’t know who was more surprised—he or Jade—that the crazy anger and palpable heat had somehow evaporated, leaving in their place a kind of sweet, aching need that he’d never felt before.
Tonight was suddenly about nothing other than pure desire. He wasn’t prompted by anger, but rather by a completely unexpected feeling of languorous want.
Even more amazing, he didn’t hate himself for wanting her so much, knowing about her what he did. Instead, he gave himself over to it, glad he had the chance before she slipped out of his life—as quickly as she’d slipped into it. She was like a dark, sleek cat, one you spotted in the moonlight moving through the shadows until it disappeared out of sight. And then you wondered, long after it was gone, if you’d ever really seen it at all.
He didn’t want her to disappear. To her real life, to her crazy family or her strange apartment or her life of crime.
He wanted her here. Now. In his arms. For at least one night.
“Ryan?” she whispered, sounding as confused as he felt. Amazingly, the mindless fury had evaporated, leaving them both wrapped in a kind of warm, sultry comfort that spoke of long slow loving on a hot summer night.
That’s what he wanted. More than anything else. He wanted a sultry, slow, unhurried and completely sensual night of lovemaking with Jade Maguire—a woman he’d been prepared to hate. But one he’d come to understand much better in the twenty-four hours since they’d met. Particularly after his conversation with her unusual great-aunt, who hadn’t helped him as far as the painting went, but had made him realize he didn’t know the whole story.
She’d convinced him that he should give Jade a chance to prove him wrong about her. The old woman had encouraged him to get closer to Jade in order to understand the things she did, the choices she made. He had the feeling Lula Mae had meant more than understanding why Jade might have become a thief.
That issue remained for later. Not now.
“Jade,” he whispered, drawing out her name on a long, exhaled breath. “How can you make me so insane and yet so calmly certain all in a single night?”
Her eyes widened in surprise, then in understanding. So he felt it, too—something had changed for both of them.
Jade seemed to have dropped her guard, looking like the beautiful, charming young woman he’d glimpsed a few times since they’d met. The defenses were down, perhaps because she’d learned he hadn’t hurt her sister.
He didn’t question tomorrow, which would dawn with the same myriad of problems they’d had since the moment they’d met. But tonight wasn’t about those things. It was just about this. This world the two of them had created, and which they now had to explore fully. This was the only thing he felt certain of.
A slow smile widened his lips as he reached one hand out to gently cup her waist. He didn’t pull her toward him. He didn’t drive her back onto the bed and let the subdued passion between them erupt into the final conflagration they’d both probably have predicted an hour ago. Instead he moved toward her mouth, her beautiful, perfect mouth, going slowly enough to give her the chance to turn away, if she wished to do so.
She didn’t move, merely waited, anticipation gleaming in her eyes and a soft sigh the only sound as his lips brushed hers.
“Stay with me tonight,” he whispered, gently licking at her lips until they parted for him. Then their tongues met in a slow, lazy exploration. The kiss told him, more than anything else, that she’d experienced a change in mood which matched his own.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she
confirmed, her voice husky but a little stunned.
He understood how she felt—suddenly unsure of something that had seemed straightforward a few minutes ago. This hadn’t happened to him before. His relationships usually started out frenzied and picked up steam. He’d never wanted to slow down and savor every step of a first exploration. Never. Not like this.
“I don’t want you handcuffed to my bed,” he whispered, moving to kiss the corner of her mouth, then the fine line of her jaw. Then he laughed lightly. “At least not yet.”
She moaned and arched her head back, twining her fingers in his hair and caressing his earlobe. “What do you want?”
Easy one. “I want to touch every inch of you. Feel your skin and wonder again how it can be softer than any flower I’ve ever touched. And how you can smell more intoxicating.”
She moaned, reaching up to slip her arms around his neck and tug him to her for another kiss. Ryan complied, sipping of her mouth, tasting the unique combination of sweet and spicy that so perfectly described the woman in his arms.
Their clothes came off slowly. He was sliding Jade’s black tank up and over her shoulders almost before he realized he was doing it. They parted for a moment so he could pull it over her head. After tossing it to the floor, he moved in for another deep, wet kiss. He couldn’t resist touching that supple skin, and he smoothed his palms up her sides until he could cup both of her breasts. She shivered a little, then pressed against him as he teased her dark, taut nipples with his fingertips.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he looked down at her, clad in nothing but her lacy black panties.
“You’re not going to walk out on me this time?”
He shook his head, knowing he’d sooner put a gun to his head than walk out now, before finishing what they’d started the previous night in the garden. Hell, even earlier. This intensity had been building since their first look.
She seemed to believe him because she immediately reached for his shirt, tugging it free from his jeans. She pushed it up, her hands doing crazy, heavenly things to his chest and shoulders on the way.
“Wait,” he said when she reached for his waistband. He had to feel her, skin to skin, first. So he drew her closer, groaning in pleasure when her nipples scraped his chest. She rubbed back and forth lightly, touching him with nothing but those two sensitive spots. Sucking in a slow breath between her teeth, she heightened the tension for both of them by teasing her own puckered skin with the hair of his chest.
Then she grasped his shoulders, her whole body shaking a little in reaction. The shaking, that hint of unsteadiness—as if she had no more power to resist what was happening between them than a flower could resist the sun—sent a surge of pure male satisfaction through him.
“Why do I feel like I’ve been building up to this all my life instead of just a few minutes?”
He shook his head and tsked. “We’ve been building up to this for more than twenty-four hours.”
She shrugged, conceding his point, then reached for his waistband. She made short work of his jeans, unfastening them and pushing them off his hips. Ryan’s breath caught in his throat when she tugged his briefs away, trailing her hand across the tip of his erection in a move too teasing to be accidental.
“I can’t wait, and yet I don’t even want to start because I don’t want it to be over,” she said, her voice choked with desire and a hint of desperate laughter.
“Ditto. So I should probably tell you,” he said, “I haven’t gone six times in one night in a long time.” Then he gave her a sideways grin. “However, I have to admit, something’s sparking inside me tonight. I’m feeling unstoppable.” His own wolfish chuckle startled him. Wondering where this incredible surge of both sexual energy and sexual patience had come from, he added, “And very potent.”
She laughed until their mouths met in another deep kiss full of shared breaths and tongue-tangling passion. Their kisses grew deeper and wetter. Then all clothes were gone, disappearing beneath frantic hands.
They gently fell onto the bed, still wrapped around one another, exchanging kiss after kiss. Each touch sucked Ryan deeper into a well of physical pleasure until he was sure he’d drown in it. Drown in her.
Unable to resist anymore, he slid his fingers into that hot, wet flesh between her legs, teasing those soft, pretty curls, feeling her shudder in response.
“So wet,” he groaned as he played with her slick opening. He toyed with her, gauging her responses, filling her tight heat with one finger, then another, until she began to gasp and writhe. And finally he flicked at her pert little clit until her whole body shook and she began to beg in tiny whimpers and pleas.
“Ryan, do you have any protection?” she managed to bite out between gasps.
“Yeah,” he said, needing every bit of control he had to pull away and reach toward the bedside table. “This wasn’t planned, but I sure wasn’t going to take any chances.”
“Just in case?” she asked, amusement blending with the stark hunger in her eyes.
“Just in case.”
Then he sheathed himself and slid into her warm, welcoming body. Jade rocked up to meet him, lifting her legs, taking him deeper.
He should have known she’d be as passionate in bed as she was about everything else. She wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders, already starting to gasp and breathe hard. He ground against her, seeing the unmistakable signs that she was, incredibly, already close to the edge.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured, “I’ve been thinking about this since last night. Please…a little more…oooh.”
Then she stretched, arched her back, and shook slightly. Ryan waited, watching, seeing the flush of color rise in her beautiful cheeks and her lips part as she sucked in shallow breaths. Her wildly tangled black hair provided exactly the contrast to his white sheets that he’d pictured when he’d first seen her. But having her here, in his arms, with their bodies together, exceeded anything he could have imagined.
She was tight and wet and hot and in the throes of pleasure. No way could he stop himself from moving.
Her eyes flew open. “Yes. Yes. You need to catch up.”
He chuckled at her demanding tone and sunk into her again, deeper, until she gasped and twisted her hips to accommodate him. “I didn’t mean to get ahead of you,” she said between choppy breaths. “I’m not usually so, um…quick….”
“I don’t feel left behind.” He pulled out of her slowly, feeling the exquisite sensation not only in his groin but everywhere else in his body. “As long as you’re not really finished when you reach that finish line, I don’t consider this a race at all.”
Smiling, she pulled his face down for another kiss. “I feel so sorry for men,” she said, sounding anything but as she squeezed him deep inside her body, eliciting a guttural groan from his throat. “You only get to cross the finish line once.”
He gave her an evil look. “We’ll see about that.” He felt completely up to the challenge of a long, erotic night.
She surprised him by suddenly pushing at his chest, rolling him over and climbing on top. He stared up at her, loving this sight most of all. Jade, her hair wild and loose around her face, her lips swollen from his kisses, looking down at him with pure feminine pleasure.
She rocked on him, taking and giving, and he rose up to meet her every downward stroke.
“This is good,” she said hoarsely. She reached up to cup her own breasts. Ryan moaned at the sight, then tugged her close to capture one dark nipple between his lips. He sucked deeply, feeling her jerk against him in response.
He suckled harder as she set the pace she needed. When her breathing grew frantic, he held her hips, taking over from below while she came again in a blaze of glorious, satisfied cries. Then she collapsed on his chest, trying to regain her breath but still joined with him.
“You know, I believe this Southern air—or Southern tea,” he said, remembering the brew Lula Mae gave him, “is doing me some goo
d.” He stroked her hair and her smooth back. “Because I think I’m going to have to watch you do that at least a half-dozen more times tonight.”
“Deal,” she whispered as she licked at his chest.
Rolling over, she dug her fingers into his hips, her whole body straining up toward him as he entered her again.
Nothing felt this good. Had ever felt this good.
“Maybe we’d better make that an even dozen,” he said as he gave himself over to the pleasure they created once again.
And by the early predawn hours, he realized he hadn’t missed by much.
JADE WOKE UP FIRST the next morning, unused to the long, hard body curled up against her back. When her cat, Jinx, curled up against her, he was usually right beside her face where, Aunt Lula Mae often said, he could steal her breath.
This definitely wasn’t Jinx. No, this warmth wasn’t soft in any way. It was all hard. Solid. Strong.
After a moment and a rapid blink of her eyes, she remembered where she was. And with whom.
It was true. She’d spent the night in Ryan Stoddard’s bed, in a room at Uncle Henry’s inn. All those lovely dreams of someone worshipping her, cherishing her, kissing every inch of her and making love to her until she couldn’t remember her own name hadn’t been dreams.
He’d made them real.
She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath as she remembered their long, erotic night. She’d never experienced anything like it. She didn’t imagine many women did.
“Perfect,” she whispered, then she smiled.
Seeing the pinkish-gray light of a new morning sky slanting in through the center of the heavy drapes, she held out hope that she could get out of here without being seen. She didn’t want to have to explain this. Not yet. Maybe because she didn’t completely understand what had happened herself.
