Hearts on Fire (9 page)

“Hey.” His gaze
slid casually down her body then up again. “You look…amazing.”

“Thank you.” She
motioned him inside. As he brushed past her she caught his scent.
Clean, fresh, and masculine, it sent her senses into overdrive. She
closed the door, locked it, and then took a breath to calm her
thundering heart. They hadn’t even had dinner and she was already
yearning for what she hoped would come afterward.

Jessie turned and
sucked in a surprised breath to find Drew standing right behind her.
Before she could speak, he slipped his hand around her waist, pulled
her roughly against his body, and claimed her lips in a searing kiss
that drove all coherent thought from her mind.

As their mouths fused,
he pushed her against the door and trailed his mouth along her jaw
until he reached her throat. “Gotta stop,” he murmured, his warm
breath heating her skin.

“Why?” she asked,
as she skimmed her hands up his shoulders. Her nipples pebbled
against the silky fabric of her dress. Right now, choosing to go
without a bra seemed like the best decision she’d made all day.

“Dinner,” he said,
then pressed his lips to the sensitive curve between her neck and
shoulder. “We’re supposed to have dinner.”

“They have…” She
gasped as he pinned her against the door and his erection pressed
into her lower abdomen. “Twenty-four hour room service,” she
said, acutely aware of the slow burn of desire spiraling through her.
“We can eat later.”

Drew lifted his head.
“So it wasn’t presumptuous of me to buy more condoms?”

“No more so than it
was for me to not wear underwear.”

Surprise flickered in
his eyes. “On second thought, I want to eat now.”

“But...” Her
stomach did a somersault. “Wait. Are you…? Do you mean…?”

A slow, wicked grin
tilted his mouth. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

“I’m not
flustered.” To her mortification, hot blood rushed to her cheeks.
“I’m not,” she insisted as the corner of his mouth kicked up
with amusement. She blew out a frustrated breath. “Oh, just shut up
and kiss me.”

He obliged, and this
time the kiss was hotter. His tongue plunged into her mouth and mated
with hers, arousing her even more as he rocked his hips against hers.

Oblivious to everything
except the all-consuming need clawing at her insides, it barely
registered that he’d slipped his hands around her waist and lifted
her up off of the floor just enough to carry her to the cream color
sofa a few feet away.

“I’ve been thinking
about this all day,” he said, after breaking the kiss and urging
her to sit on the firm cushions. He sank to his knees in front of
her. “I need to see you.” His roughened voice sent a delicious
thrill up her spine and then another as he pushed her dress up to her
hips. “Lie back.”

Jessie’s heart
pounded as she complied with his command. Drew rested his hands on
her knees, his palms searing into her skin like a branding iron. He
moved his thumbs back and forth against the delicate skin of her
inner knees. Her body trembled as he slowly parted her thighs. She’d
never felt more exposed
or
more
turned on.

“You’re so fucking
sweet. I can’t wait to taste you,” he said, as he smoothed his
palms up her inner thighs.

Transfixed, she watched
as he spread her open to reveal the pink, glistening flesh that
throbbed under his scorching gaze. “Beautiful,” he said
reverently, as he lowered his head and took her into his hot, moist
mouth. She gasped with a pleasure so strong, it felt as if she were
being sucked into a vortex. Instinctively, she spread her legs wider,
then moaned as he slid a finger inside her.

Closing her eyes, she
tilted her head back against the sofa and clenched the fabric of her
dress with her fingers. The ache between her legs intensified as he
added another finger. Her muscles clenched around him, and heat swept
over her body as he flicked his tongue over her clit, all the while
maintaining a slow, rhythmic in and out motion with his fingers.

Soon the sweet tension
coiling inside of her became unbearable. She wanted to come so badly,
but each time she was about to tumble over the edge, he eased off and
left her hanging. He was a tease, and she told him so as she bucked
against him and begged him to give her release.

Her pleading finally
worked. With a low growl, he withdrew his fingers from her wet heat,
then gripped her hips and ravished her with his lips and tongue. She
moaned, and within seconds, a powerful orgasm exploded between her
legs and crashed over her entire body in gigantic waves. Drew stayed
with her until the pleasurable tremors subsided, then, he got to his
feet.

Still reeling with the
aftershocks of her orgasm, she watched as he bent over to pull off
one boot, then the other. Then he fished a condom out from the back
pocket of his jeans and handed it to her.

“Open it,” he
commanded as he made quick work of removing his jeans and briefs. He
stood in front of her, his erection jutting out beneath the hem of
his shirt. She felt a tightening deep within her core and ripped open
the foil packet. Drew grabbed the condom, and after unrolling it over
his cock, he sat down beside her and pulled her toward him.

“I want you. So.
Fucking. Much,” he said, voice rough with need as he urged her to
her knees and guided her over his lap. “Ride me. Now.”

She straddled his hips
and then lowered herself slowly, accepting the fullness of him into
her body.

“Fuck.” He drew in
a sharp breath. “You feel so damn good.”

“So do you.” She
stared into his eyes and instinctively started to move. “I love how
you feel inside of me. You’re so hard.”

“I’ve been hard
since I met you.” He skimmed his palms up her arms to her
shoulders, then slid his fingers to the back of her neck where he
undid the clasp of the halter and pulled the bodice down to expose
her breasts. His thumbs lightly grazed her rigid nipples, then he
lowered his hands to her waist and began to thrust his hips in unison
with her quickening movements. “Don’t stop,” he whispered.

As
if.

Lifting both hands, she
gripped his shoulders and increased her tempo. Drew’s low groan and
the naked arousal in his eyes turned her on even more. The suite
filled with the sounds of their labored breathing, and moans of
pleasure, and just when she thought it couldn’t feel any better, he
slipped a hand between her legs and stroked her clit.

“Drew,” she said
with a gasp and closed her eyes to absorb the powerful orgasm he’d
unleashed with just a touch.

While her body
quivered, he slipped his hand from her, grabbed her hips and groaned
as he gave one final thrust and rode out his own release.

“Oh. Wow.” Jessie
drew in a gulp of air and collapsed against his chest. The crisp
fabric of his shirt rasped against her taut nipples and heightened
the pleasure that was still radiating throughout her body. “Oh.
Wow,” she said again and buried her face into the crook of his
neck. She breathed in his clean scent. For as long as she lived she’d
never forget what he smelled like.

“Yeah. What you
said.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him so
tightly she could feel the rapid breathing of his heart against her
chest.

Before Drew, she’d
only had sex a handful of times. None of those times had ever felt
like this. Never had she been more in the moment, or felt more
connected with another human being. This was no random hook-up, or a
guy she was trying unsuccessfully to feel something for. This was
Drew. The inspiration for the majority of the songs she planned to
put on her next album. Boy, would her fans, and the suits at the
label, be surprised. Instead of the feisty break-up and kiss-off
songs she was famous for, her new stuff was about the one thing she
thought she’d never be able to write about.

Falling in love.

The persistent
ringing of her cell phone interrupted what had to be the best dream
Jessie ever remembered having. She groaned and squinted at the clock
radio on the nightstand. “It’s not even eight,” she muttered
through the several strands of hair that were plastered over her
mouth. “Who in their right mind would be calling this early?”

“There’s only one
way to find out.” Drew’s slightly raspy voice startled her.

She brushed the hair
from her face and rolled over to find him stretched out on his side
next to her. Ignoring her phone, she tentatively touched his cheek.
Sweet Jesus
. He was
real. That meant that yesterday afternoon and last night were real
and not a product of her nocturnal subconscious.

“So it wasn’t a
dream.” Oh crap. She hadn’t meant to say that aloud.

“Not unless we both
had the same dream.” His lazy smile held a hint of sin. “You
gonna answer that?”

“No,” she said
firmly. In a few hours the real world would come knocking. Until
then, she wanted to enjoy the fact that Drew was as naked as a
jay-bird in her bed, looking sexy as hell with a day’s growth of
stubble on his jaw.

“It could be Wally.”

“I’m sure it is,”
she said, momentarily distracted by light dusting of dark golden hair
on his chest. An image of them last night in the huge walk-in shower
flashed through her mind; she’d backed him up against the Italian
marble tile, kissed her way down his slick, wet chest, then over
those delicious abs of his, and finally, she made him go insane with
her mouth. Just thinking about it now made her stomach flutter. “He’s
probably calling to make sure I behave at rehearsal today.”

“And will you?”
Drew grabbed her hand and pressed a quick kiss to her palm. The phone
went silent but her erratic heartbeat reverberated in her ears.
“Behave?”

“If you’re asking
me if I’ll look at you when we rehearse the duet, the answer is
yes.”

“I’m glad to hear
that. I think the song could be something special if we sing it like
we’re in—” He stared at her for the space of two heartbeats.
“Like it’s meant to be sung.”

His unspoken words hung
between them. The ballad was about two people deeply in love who were
pledging to share their life together. She’d sung plenty of love
songs—both solo and with duet partners—once she’d left her teen
years behind. But until that night at the MC, when she’d
impulsively called Drew up onto the stage to sing with her, she’d
never had a problem looking into her partners’ eyes. How could she
when the words in those songs never applied to her?

Yesterday morning she’d
deliberately avoided all eye contact with him. It was
self-preservation, pure and simple. The fear of Drew discovering the
depth of her feelings for him was all too real. She’d almost bared
her soul to him once before, and ended up finding him with Hannah.
The thought of facing that kind of pain again had been too much to
bear. Even now when it was obvious that he wanted her, she couldn’t
help but be cautious about revealing too much. She’d learned at
fourteen that love and sex were two totally different things. It was
a lesson she’d never forgotten.

“Do you think “You
and I” is too old-school for us?” She kept her tone light, and
the charged moment passed.

“It’s a classic.
They never go out of style.”

“You know.” Jessie
propped herself up on one elbow and stared down at him. “I can’t
believe I’ve never asked you this. What’s your favorite song of
all time?”

“Hmmm. All time?
Ah…geez, that’s tough.” His brow creased. “It’s hard to
pick just one, but I’ve always been partial to “The Dance”.”

“I love that song.
And I’m so glad Garth’s touring again. He’s an amazing
performer.”

“No argument there.
So what’s
your
favorite
song of all time?”

Jessie smiled. “It’s
one my grandmother loved. She played it all the time when I was
little. She had this ancient phonograph that sat on top of the TV,
and she would put her old records on when she was doing housework or
making supper. She loved country music with a passion. Especially the
girl singers—as she called them—like Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton,
and Loretta Lynn. I knew all the words to their songs before I
started kindergarten. Grammy said I had the best voice in the county,
and that one day I’d be as big of a star as Patsy was.”

“She was right.”

“Oh no,” she said
quickly, and held up her hand. “Patsy’s a legend. I’ll be lucky
if people remember me in fifteen years.”

“They’ll remember
you a lot longer than that. You have a beautiful voice.”

Warmth surged under her
skin. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard that, but hearing Drew
say it meant more to her than she imagined.

“So what’s the
song?” he asked, rubbing her foot with his under the sheet. “If I
have to wait much longer I’ll be a gray-haired old geezer.”

Jessie laughed and gave
his arm a light punch. “I had no idea you were so impatient. My
favorite of all time is “He Stopped Loving Her Today”.”

Drew’s amused
expression morphed into one of surprise. “That’s like the saddest
song in country music history.”

“I know, right?
Grammy always said that when she died, that’s when she’d stop
loving my grandfather. I never knew him. He passed before I was born.
I’ve heard that song hundreds of times and it still makes me cry.
Mostly because when I hear it I think of my grandmother and how much
she still loved my grandfather, even though he’s been dead for a
long time. She said he was a good man. I think both of our lives
would have been so much different if he’d lived.” She gave him a
tremulous smile. “Do you think that’s weird? To so be so affected
by a song?”

“No. Not at all. The
best songs evoke deep emotion.”

“Is that how “The
Dance” affects you?” she asked, curious about his choice of the
Garth Brooks classic.