Designer Genes - The Boyfriend Cut (44 page)

F
rom my bedroom window, I marveled at the dreamy full moon hanging lazily on the horizon, its radiant reflection rippling on the water. Jordan would be in Miami now and have found my first clue. By the time that big moon disappeared with the brightness of the morning sun, Jordan would be here and I hoped, in my arms.

After indulging in a sumptuous bubble bath, I slipped between the silky sheets wondering if the buzz of excitement would ever settle. The scent of lavender lingered on my dewy skin—skin satiny smooth and ready for Jordan's touch. My racy thoughts battled the weariness caused from zipping through different time zones the last couple of days. A cool breeze whispered over my bare legs and tendrils of hair tickled my cheek as sleep finally won out.

…Jordan crawls onto my bed, his fingers lightly stroking my arms, his lips kissing a path from just below my ear, down my neck, and across my chest. Even in my slumber, I delight in the fullness of his lips resting against mine. I giggle when he kisses my toes, his touch tracing slowly up my legs. Fingers tease, counting my ribs under my shirt…

When I felt a purposeful touch in a place I
wasn't
imagining, I woke to find lips pressing my stomach and
my
hands braided into locks of hair, colored copper in the pink morning light.

"Jordan!" I yelped, only to have my startled cry squelched by the crush of his lips. He lowered me into the pillows and his body molded intimately to my every curve.

"You're here," I whispered only loud enough for his ears.

"I'm here and want to strangle you!" he hissed in my ear. "Knowing you'd already arrived made the trip the longest ever!"

Jordan slithered down my body, lifting my shirt and letting his tongue circle my navel. His hot breath on my stomach—ironically caused chills to scurry over me. I whimpered, halfway protesting when his lips nipped away fabric to reveal more skin to sample. He eased back over me and his mouth grazed my jaw line.

"Kiss me," I begged.

"Uh-uh. Not yet. I think you deserve some payback." He kissed my eyelids, the apples of my cheeks, moving to my chin after a gentle nip of my bottom lip, fueling my frustration.

My fingers outlined the defined muscles on his naked back, feeling the flesh pebble under my touch. I walked my fingers from his neck to the base of his spine, sliding my finger around the waistband of his boxers. He moaned softly in my ear, shifting his body.

I'd missed the way Jordan's body felt against mine; the soft hair on his legs tickling when our legs slid side-by-side; the weight of his torso pressed to my stomach; his chest brushing mine with his deep breaths, making my breasts tingle and sending a wave of heat to seat between my thighs.

Folding my legs over his hips, I held him tight to me—the fervor building with each hot, moist kiss to my neck, my jaw; his lips pecking the edges of mine without landing on my mouth in a sensuous tease, all while slowly rocking his pelvis against mine in the familiar rhythm my body had craved for weeks. No other boy fit so perfectly to my body. Only Jordan. It was as if our bodies came off the same assembly line and then split apart.

I slid my legs slowly down his, my heels digging into his calves as my body arched to meet his. Something felt different…a need for more; my body urging his to comply—his obeying the command. Maybe it was being away from him, the fear I'd never hold him in my arms again, or the comfort of knowing he wanted me in his life as much as I did him that made the moment so intense, but I definitely had never reached this pinnacle before.

Jordan lifted slightly, studying me with eyes darkened to eclipsed moons. "Look at me, babe." His body stilled, but mine couldn't. He pressed a light kiss to my mouth, parted and gasping. When his mouth moved to the sensitive spot below my ear, his stubble chafing the skin where my nerves splayed open, and thumbs lightly rubbing over the knit fabric covering my breasts, I lost it.
It.

Literal waves of sensations I'd never experienced rolled through me, ripping me apart. My toes curled, my legs trembled, and the blood in my veins sang with the molten heat flooding my senses and rippling under my skin.

Jordan's mouth crashed against mine, his tongue plunging deep with each mew straining from the back of my throat. My fingers clenched his hard as he held my hands pressed to the mattress at the side of my head. I gasped with each agonizing, delightful, wave of raw passion, barely getting air between our lips; tasting, biting, and searching.

My reckless breaths mixed with his, suddenly fast and equally urgent. I stroked my tongue slowly across the top of his mouth, encouraging his deep moans to rumble against my chest. He released my hands, leaving a wet trail down my arms as he wrapped his arms beneath me, clamping my body to his. He fell limp, his head heavy to the side of mine. I tangled my fingers in his silken curls feeling the dampness at the roots.

We lay silent, no longer moving and the only sound in the room being our laden breaths slowing. I closed my eyes, squeezing lingering tears I was totally unaware had dampened my cheeks. I burrowed my nose into Jordan's hair, inhaling the musky scent mixed with the coconut essence of his shampoo.

I was mortally embarrassed. He couldn't know I'd totally lost control. I wished he'd roll off me so I could close my legs and hide any evidence, not to mention every time he moved, another tiny bubble of ecstasy slithered up my spine.

Jordan's head eased onto my chest, nestling under my chin. I traced the planes of his face, stroking the long lashes brushing his cheeks. He took my hand and kissed my palm, pecking his mouth to the inside of my wrist and slowly working the length of my arm. Every nerve ending in my body was frayed so when his mouth kissed the inside of my elbow, a shiver washed over my skin.

"You should leave," I whispered.

"I can't," he replied, never raising his head and still pinned against me. "I need a sec."

When he finally rolled, he pulled me on top of him. My hair brushed his bare chest, which rose and fell as fast as my own. I laid my head there, unable make eye contact, relishing the delightful caresses on my back under my top.

"Babe, you okay?"

"I'm fine."
More than fine.

A few long silent minutes passed

"Do you still want me to go?"

I circled his body with my arms and hugged him. "No. Never."

He hugged me back. "Good because you feel perfect on me." I didn't say anything for fear he'd stop playing with my hair and rubbing my back, which felt amazing now that my sensory overload had fizzled. "Marli, I've been so lost without you. I'm sorry I hurt you."

I pillowed my chin on my arm, daring to face him again. "I was so afraid I'd destroyed us. I shouldn't have overreacted."

He brushed the hair away from my face and held it.
Could he tell?
My cheeks burned with the humiliating notion and his dreamy eyes sweeping my face didn't help. A wide grin spread over lips still wet and swollen.

He knows.

Jordan smoothed his knuckles down the side of my face. "I think this time,
overreacting
was justified. I pushed all the wrong buttons."

Apparently he'd learned to push all the right buttons because although my body still ached in private places, my want for him returned the second his kisses turned greedy and the touching...well...hell.

Outside in the hall, the door to the next bedroom—Jordan's
mother's
bedroom door, squeaked.

Jordan moved away, much to my dismay. "This time I better go. I'll see you downstairs for breakfast." He picked up his red T-shirt top off the floor and yanked it over his head, grinning wickedly. "You're lucky this is all I took off." He leaned down and took another quick taste off my mouth. "Especially when I witnessed the hottest damn thing
ever
happen. Girl, just so you know, you were
my
complete undoing." He tossed my black swimsuit top onto the bed before slipping out the door. "We're going for a private swim later."

I flopped back into the pillows. Did Jordan experience the same thing? If so, we were in serious trouble. I picked up the swimsuit top. Only two hours had passed in my eight week stay and we were already over our heads in deep water.

"Yum, ham and cheese omelets," I noted, joining Jordan at the stove.

He gathered me into the crook of his arm and kissed the side of my hair. "I've got a raging appetite for what I nibbled on earlier.
Eggs
aren't going to satisfy my hunger." He moved the pan off the heat and his lips possessively covered mine.

"Great. I just lost my appetite," Jesse snarled. He grabbed his cup of coffee and stormed out the back door, slamming the screen door against the house.

Jordan's mother walked in, witnessing Jesse's exit and Jordan sampling my mouth. "Son, try and curb your enthusiasm for Marli a bit, please? At least in front of your brother."

Jordan held me close despite her presence. "Mom, Jesse and I talked on the way here. It's going to take some adjustment, but everything will work out."

"Easy for you to say. You're standing in the winner's circle," she clarified.

Meg slid the omelets onto plates. "I'd throw you two into the freezer, but the steam pouring off you would melt everything." I stepped out of Jordan's arms, taking the plate she purposely held between us.

"I think your mom's right. We should be a little less—"

"No way!" Jordan punctuated. He held the chair for me, giving his mother a stern look. "I'm not letting anyone, including Jesse, make us feel uncomfortable. I messed up twice trying to be
correct
and damn near lost Marli. Jesse will have to find a way to come to terms with our relationship
.
"

Breakfast conversation turned to less emotionally charged subjects like the weather and the possibility of war somewhere besides on this island.

I rocked lazily on the porch watching Jordan and Jesse unload the last of the supplies from the boat. Jesse remained cold toward me and Jordan's constant touching didn't help matters.

The screen door squeaked and Eva Mason appeared, holding a cup of tea. "Care for some company?" she asked, easing into the rocker next to me. She took a long sip, her gaze fixed somewhere in the distance. "Marli, I saw Jordan slip out of your room this morning. I hope you two are being responsible. I know how fast the passion of young love can take over common sense."

A burning heat crawled out of my yellow T-shirt up to my forehead. "He surprised me this morning. I hope you don't think—"

"Please! I trust you both. I do worry about Jesse, though. He fell so hard for you I think it caught him off guard. He's never cared about anyone enough to give his heart away. I saw trouble that first day when I walked in on him teasing you. Something about the way he looked at you. Well, I don't need to tell you."

Feelings of guilt and an overwhelming need to confess took over. "I never meant to hurt Jesse. With everything happening so fast, I think I encouraged him. My feelings for Jordan surprised me because I've never felt this way before and it scared me. Jesse became an easy distraction and it broke my heart when I ended things."

She sipped her tea, processing. "The heart chooses who it will love and no matter how wonderful someone may be, if you don't feel that burning passion you'll never be able to love them completely. Sometimes we're on the receiving end of that pain and sometimes we're the one inflicting it on someone else. Either way constitutes heartbreak—an unfortunate casualty of love."

She stood, leaving the rocker in a ghostly movement. "As for you and Jordan, trust your heart. A mother knows not only when her child is hurting, but also when he's happy, and Marli, Jordan's never been happier."

"Hey, there are my two favorite girls!"Jordan yelled as he carried a box up the stone path. Jesse mumbled something behind him, keeping his eyes trained on me.

Meg appeared behind the screen and called back. "So what am I? Chopped liver? Do you ever want to taste my triple chocolate cake again?"

"Okay, my bad. My
three
favorite girls." Jordan jumped onto the porch and bent to kiss me before walking inside. "Dad swears Meg's triple chocolate cake is almost better than sex."