Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series) (22 page)

He was doing the best he possibly could to remain perfectly still while Tessa’s soft hands roamed his chest and torso. There was one part of his anatomy that was not cooperating. His shaft was growing harder by the second and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it.

The sensuous feeling of Tessa’s touch gliding across his skin was too much for Jake to handle. Add to that the visual of her face concentrating as she worked, her pale hands against his olive skin, and the hint of cleavage he could see from her V-neck sweater and he was toast. There was no way his body was going to listen to his mental “down boy” command.

Closing his eyes didn’t help matters. Just like before, all of his other senses became hyper aware. Her scent, her touch, even the nervous way she whispered “okay” were all sensual torment causing unrelenting desire to consume him.

“Done.” She stepped away quickly, and he saw her body tremble as a visible chill ran the length of her body. Turning, she quickly made her way to the small sink to rinse her hands. Jake’s attention was solely focused on her perfect heart-shaped ass as it swayed back and forth while she crossed the room.

A small smile tugged at his lips as he heard her whispering to herself while she wiped her wet hands on her jeans. He watched, mesmerized, as she moved behind the camera. Her slim fingers reached up, turning a few knobs, and then she pivoted and adjusted an umbrella-looking thing behind her.

Tessa was sexy no matter what she was doing. She could be doing absolutely nothing at all and easily be the sexiest woman Jake had ever laid eyes on. But watching her work, in her element, turned him on something fierce. The way her brows furrowed in concentration. The way her eyes narrowed until she found just the right angle to get the exact shot she wanted.

Jake remembered when he used to take her up to Mountain Ridge when she was just learning about photography. Jake could spend hours upon hours just watching her with a camera. He’d thought at the time that he would be doing that for the rest of his life. Things obviously didn’t turn out as planned.

Tessa cleared her throat bringing him back to the present. He looked up at her and she immediately began snapping pictures. Even though the camera was blocking Jake’s view of Tessa’s entire face, he could still see the smooth skin of her cheeks, her full pink lips, and the fine baby hairs that fell on her forehead. She wore her shoulder-length hair back in a ponytail, and wisps of fine tendrils framed her angelic face.

“Okay, chin down. Shoulders back,” she instructed as she continued snapping.

A need unlike any he had ever experienced before was raging through him like an inferno. He was burning up inside with heated desire. He knew that Tessa had a job to do, but if she came back to oil him up again, he couldn’t make any promises. He was holding on by a very thin thread.

“All right, we’ve got that.” Tessa moved from behind the camera and grabbed a chair that had a wooden frame and an open back. She set it down directly in front of him with the seat facing him. “Straddle it,” she said as she scurried quickly back to her camera.

“I like it when you talk dirty,” Jake teased as he watched her move with lightning speed. She obviously didn’t trust herself to be close to him any more than he trusted himself to be close to her.

She let out a puff of breath that sounded like a forced laugh and dismissively waved her hand at his comment. When she turned, he saw that a light pink blush had crept up on her cheeks.

While she adjusting the lighting and her camera, he pulled the chair slightly towards him and did as she asked. Placing his legs on either side, he straddled it and sat down, leaning his forearms on the frame.

“Good,” she said, her voice sounding strained. “That’s perfect.”

She snapped several more shots and moved the tripod to the left. Jake assumed it was to get another angle of the pose. He could hear more mumbling under her breath and she sounded a little frustrated.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

Jake was pretty sure that
he
wasn’t doing anything that would cause her aggravation. He’d been doing these calendar shoots since he’d moved back home from college and they were pretty straightforward. Take your shirt off and look into the camera like you want to have sex with it. Normally, with Mary standing behind the lens, he had to do a bit of acting. But not today. With Tessa as photographer, he would have a harder time looking into the lens and
not
looking like he wanted to have sex with it.

“Yep. Everything is fine,” Tessa said a little too brightly through clenched teeth.

His brow rose in question. “You sure about that?”

Pursing her lips, she nodded her head determinedly. She dipped her head, looking at the base of the camera, and Jake noticed her unscrewing something, then pulling the camera off the tripod with purpose. Jake saw a fire in Tessa’s eyes that made his body stand even higher at attention and salute. Luckily, in his new seated position he didn’t think it would be quite as obvious. Not that he really gave a damn.

Jake watched as Tessa alternated holding the camera in her right hand then her left, simultaneously shaking the hand that was empty. Then, taking a deep breath, she knelt to the ground. His eyes followed the lens. He saw the shutter closing and opening rapidly as she tilted her head and spread her legs farther apart, moving lower towards the ground. Her action caused Jake’s dick to twitch in his pants, begging for attention.

After another torturous half hour or so Tessa pulled the camera from in front of her face and smiled as she looked down at it. Her thin finger swiped the flat screen on the back as she announced proudly, “Got it.”

As she continued looking, her eyes widened. “Wow, Jake. I’ve been tempted to tell every other guy I’ve shot over the past few days not to quit their day jobs. But holy smokes! If you ever wanted to change your profession, you could
definitely
be a model.”

She crossed the room, heading towards the computer he’d seen her standing at when he’d come in, just in time to witness her shooting down Julian the wonder cop. As she passed by him, the sweet scent of fresh flowers drifted through the air. Tessa always smelled good. Sometimes she smelled like vanilla or watermelon. Other times, it was flowers or just pure clean and fresh. And somehow, no matter what the scent, she smelled uniquely like…Tessa. Jake had no idea how she managed to do that.

Standing, he followed her like she was the Pied Piper and her ass was the flute. He mindlessly crossed the room, Tessa only a few steps in front of him. She stopped and pulled out a small card before feeding it into the side of the computer. He continued, only stopping when he was directly behind her. He wasn’t touching her but he was so close to her that he’d be surprised if a piece of paper could fit between their bodies.

Jake noticed her hand shaking as her fingers moved over the mouse and she clicked the right side. She stood a good foot shorter than him at five foot two, but he could still smell the flowery scent of her shampoo. His fingers itched to reach out and stroke her silky hair, the same way he had when they’d spent the night on his couch. He’d stayed up the entire night just watching her as she slept.

It was still so unbelievable to him that she was actually back in Hope Falls. Even if it was just for a short time. He hadn’t wanted to waste a moment he had with her sleeping. Like his dad always said, “You can sleep when you’re dead.” Jake had always considered that a morbid saying, but that night, with Tessa lying in his lap, he’d understood it perfectly.

“See?” She looked up at him and sucked in a breath of awareness when she saw how close he was standing. Her eyes widened and her lips parted. She swallowed audibly and then looked back to the large screen.

Tearing his gaze from the sweet spot in her neck, Jake forced himself to look at the pictures.

He couldn’t believe what he saw. “What the—”

“Don’t worry,” she quickly explained. “I can Photoshop it out.”

“I hope so,” Jake said. He wasn’t sure if he should be embarrassed or proud. Since it was Jake, he went with proud. His pictures looked more like they’d be featured in Playgirl than a community calendar. He was standing at full attention, tenting his turnout pants something fierce. “My mom buys this calendar.”

Tessa giggled a little as she scrolled through the shots. “I know. I’ll take care of it. I promise.”

Jake placed his hands on Tessa’s jean-clad hips and pulled her against him. Leaning down, he whispered suggestively in her ear, “You promise, huh?”

Jake knew that this wasn’t the time or the place, but at this moment, neither of those things really mattered to him. He gripped her hips tighter as her backside pressed against his throbbing manhood.

“Jake.” His name came out as a plea, her voice threaded with need.

His body immediately recognized hers. His responses had always been and still were so much more intense with Tessa than any other woman he’d touched. This was the real thing. Everything else had just been a cheap, not even remotely satisfying imitation.

“God, you feel so good.” They were fully clothed and Jake felt more connected to her than he had with hundreds of women when he’d been naked and inside of them.

Tessa whimpered and she melted back against him. Her fingers reached up and wrapped around his biceps as if to anchor herself to him. Feeling her holding on to him as her nails dug into his skin caused Jake to feel a primal surge of arousal spread through him. So much stronger than merely being turned on.

He needed to touch her. Skin to skin. His palms slid to her stomach as his fingers dipped beneath her jeans.

“Jake…my…next appointment—” Tessa feebly protested through choppy breaths.

“I locked the door when I came in,” he growled.

Her head fell to the side against his shoulder, and he took the opportunity to press his lips to the soft spot on the base of her neck. She moaned as his lips grazed her sensitive skin. Needing to taste her, he gently licked and kissed a trail up the side of her neck.

She gripped him harder as she moaned, “Are you sure…we should… Is this…a good ide—”

“Do you want me to touch you?” Jake interrupted, getting right to the point. That was all that mattered in this moment.

During these past few days that he’d been at the station house, he’d had a lot of time to think. There was nothing Jake or Tessa could do to erase the past. And he knew that he had no control over the future. All he had—all they had—was right here, right now.

“Yes,” Tessa whispered as her body melted against his.

“Tell me,” Jake demanded. He wanted to hear her say it.

“I want you to touch me,” she said breathlessly.

Urgency swept through Jake as he made quick work of her button and zipper. The second it was down, his fingers slid beneath her satin panties. He felt a sprinkling of hair at the top of her femininity, sending a jolt of need to shoot through him.

“Spread your legs,” he commanded roughly as his fingers continued their erotic path to her core. Tessa whimpered as she did as he’d asked. His fingers dipped lower and he groaned as they glided against her soft, moist lips. “You’re so wet.”

“You’re so hard,” she moaned in a soft, anxious sigh. As the candid words left her mouth, she tilted her hips back, pressing her ass into his erection and almost causing him to come in his pants.

The motion also caused her distended nub to brush against the pad of his finger. She cried out at the contact. He moved his finger in a circular motion, spreading her wetness as he slid over her nub again and again until he felt her legs begin to shake.

“Oh God…Jake…I’m gonna—”

“I know.” Jake’s finger moved at a steady rhythm as he felt her growing wetter and wetter. His other hand slid beneath her sweater. His palm grazed over her ribs and continued up until he felt the bottom of her bra. His hand cupped her breast beneath her bra and he felt her hardened nipple rubbing against his palm.

Squeezing her plump flesh in his hand just once, Jake removed his hand from beneath her sweater and bra knowing, exactly what he needed to do to send Tessa up and over the edge.

A small smile of amusement spread across his face at her sigh of disappointment as he pulled his hand back. Didn’t she know him better than that?

Her body pressed against his hand moving faster and faster, seeking release. His fingers were covered in her growing arousal.

Moving his large hand to her collarbone, he trailed his fingers down over her chest, slipping beneath her sweater and pulling it down, taking her bra with it. When he looked over her shoulder at her now exposed breasts, his breath caught in his chest. She was just so damn beautiful. Her rounded mounds, the pale pink areola that surrounded her hardened nipples. His heart beat erratically in his chest as desire spiraled through his body like a hurricane.

Lifting his fingers to her mouth, he traced her lips before slipping his index and middle finger inside. “Suck,” he harshly instructed.

She moaned as her lips covered his fingers and her soft, wet tongue licked along the length of his digits. He moved his fingers in and out of her hot, wet mouth several times and could feel her body shaking at the erotic act. Then, pulling them out slowly, he spread the moisture from her mouth over each tight peak of her breasts.

Jake’s balls tightened at the sight of her glistening nipples. His mouth covered her neck as he alternated rolling first her right nipple then her left between his fingers.

Tessa’s entire body was shaking now as came she apart in his arms. Her fingers clutched him even tighter as she muttered words of encouragement. Saying how good she felt. How good it felt for him to touch her.

His fingers continued their erotic caresses until he felt her body go limp against him. He might still be strung tight with need, but he hadn’t felt this sexually satisfied since…the last time he’d made love to Tessa.

*