Rock Me All Night (11 page)

He slipped his hand under her elbow, leading her
out of his office and into the hallway. “Who said you had to sneak?”

“You want to meet them?” she asked while he locked his door and left a sheaf of papers on his secretary's desk.

“Sure. Why wouldn't I?”

Her family was lovable and nice. Most people liked them—but Lauren's boyfriends often didn't. She was the baby of her family and really couldn't explain it to anyone who wasn't also the youngest, but they treated her as if she needed protecting. They treated any man she brought home to the third degree. They'd treat him like someone they wanted their daughter to marry, and Jack had said he wasn't ready for that.

And she wasn't ready to let him go. Not this soon. She was still trying to figure out how to keep him forever without spooking him.

“Lauren?”

Too much time had passed. He was going to think something was wrong.

She hit the call button for the elevator and tried to sound nonchalant. “If you do meet the entire family and they like you, I'm going to start having those uncontrollable fantasies that you're my Mr. Right again.”

The elevator car arrived and he motioned for her to enter. Maybe they could drop the subject. She'd find a nice B and B somewhere in a neighboring city.
Maybe someplace secluded in the Upper Peninsula for the weekend. That would be a lot easier on both of them.

He shrugged and pulled her closer by the lapels of her coat.

She leaned into his body. She liked the way he felt against her. Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers in a way that she was beginning to get addicted to. “Open for me. It's been too long since I tasted you.”

She opened her mouth and he slid his tongue inside with a long, languid stroke. The embrace was slow and easy and felt intimate and familiar. She hugged him closer. Tipped her head back farther, inviting him deeper.

His hands slid up and he held her head, his fingers massaging the back of her neck. She loved the way he enfolded her in intimacy. Made her feel as if the rest of the world didn't exist.

The elevator door
bing
ed and opened on the ground floor. Jack stepped back slowly, dropping a few nibbling kisses on her lips before stepping out of the elevator.

The snow fell steadily while they were inside. It coated the ground and the car, which sat out front where she'd parked it in the spot with his name on it.

She shook her head as he seated her in the car. But there was a warm feeling growing between them, and for the first time in a relationship Lauren felt as if this might really be the real thing.

L
auren said little more about visiting Chicago over the weekend. Jack let it go. It had been a long day at work, so he suggested stopping to eat dinner at his favorite sushi bar.

Oslo was located in the downtown area, just off Woodward. The hostess recognized Jack and they were seated immediately. “This isn't like any sushi bar I've ever been in.”

“I know. The owner prides himself on being different.”

Jack told himself he'd stopped here because Lauren would like it and it was a nice place to eat, but he knew he was avoiding taking her to his home,
where he wanted to keep her. Avoiding continuing down the emotional path that he was still busy denying existed between them. Avoiding anything that resembled what he wanted so much.

Because that picture in his office of his family had reminded Jack of things Lauren made him want to forget—family and happily ever after were elusive. Jack was enough of his father's son to believe that once you found that kind of happiness, you weren't allowed to keep it.

Maybe that was why he wanted to go to Chicago with her. To see if that kind of bond really did last or if her parents had turned into some kind of bored-with-each-other married couple.

“You're frowning,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. She leaned across the table and took his hand in both of hers. Her fingers were cold, as always, and he brought his other hand up to cup hers.

She smiled absently as he rubbed her fingers.

“I am?” he asked.

“You were. What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing important.”

“Your dad?” she asked.

It scared him how intuitive she was to his feelings. He'd made a vow long ago to be a loner. Not because he wanted to be alone but because it was safer that way. Safer for him. He'd always craved the kind of intimacy that Lauren wove so effortlessly around the two of them.

“No,” he said.

“Uh-oh, you're frowning again. Have you decided you don't want sushi?” she asked.

He knew she was deliberately changing the subject. And though he was glad to change it, another part of him resented the fact that she was managing him. Doing what she needed to keep him happy. Dammit, he wanted to be the one who took care of her.

“Never. It's my favorite.” He was determined to shake off his mood and make this date one she'd remember. They should have gotten takeout. Then they'd be back at his place and he could make love to her. Truthfully it was the only time he felt in control around her—when they were lying naked with each other and he was deep inside her body.

She made a silly face at him, and he realized that Lauren was completely comfortable with him. She wasn't pretending to be someone she wasn't. Just baring her soul and her vulnerabilities to him. He wanted to warn her that he couldn't do that. Wouldn't be the kind of man who could open his soul up to her.

“Say what you will, but my dad is a country boy and he always calls sushi ‘bait with rice,'” she said in a teasing tone.

“I can see why you'd be reluctant to eat it,” he said. The more he thought about it, he had kind of said “Let's stop for sushi” instead of asking her what she wanted. “Do you want to eat here or did you just agree to make me happy?”

Tipping her head to the side, she looked at him for a long moment. All her emotions were there in her gaze, and he felt so unworthy of that kind of trust and caring.

“I love miso soup. I never would have tried this place if you hadn't suggested it.”

“We can go somewhere else,” he said. He had to get her out of here. This was a big mistake. Letting her get so close. He could never protect her.

Suddenly he realized that was exactly what he wanted to do. He'd been hurt before and he wasn't looking to be hurt again, but that mattered little compared to Lauren's feelings. Hell, he was falling in love with her.

“No. Really, I was just making conversation, not complaining. Sorry.” Her fingers tightened on his and he saw the anxiety in her eyes. The worry that she'd done something wrong.

“No problem.”

She let go of his hands and picked up her menu. He felt her pulling back and knew he was responsible for it. He thought about ignoring the entire thing, pretending he didn't know that he'd hurt her feelings, but in the end he couldn't.

“I told you I'm still mostly a frog,” he said softly.

“No, you're not. It's just more convenient for you to be one.”

“That might be true. We all have walls to hide behind. Even you,” he said. She'd been the one who
didn't want to go visit her family this weekend. And he knew that he'd pushed hard to see her reaction to taking him home.

“Yes, but I'm willing to try. I'm willing to risk it all.”

He realized that she was, and that was what really scared him. Because he didn't want her to risk it all on him and find out that he was really just a frog underneath all the outward trappings of a successful man.

 

It was almost nine o'clock when they finished eating, and Lauren suggested they go back to her place. She had to get up early for work the next day.

“Come stay with me tonight. I want you in my bed,” Jack said.

Who could resist that? They stopped by her place and she got her car and a change of clothes. Lauren pulled into his driveway and turned off her car.

It felt like coming home, especially when Jack opened her door and led her into the house. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to his bedroom.

“The first night we went snowshoeing, this is what I wanted,” he said, setting her in the center of his bed. He toed off his shoes, shed his tie and socks and then started unbuttoning his shirt.

Lauren just enjoyed watching him strip for her. His body was masculine perfection. He dropped his shirt to the floor and unfastened his belt.

“Me, too. But I was trying to make sure you'd respect me,” she said.

“I have nothing but respect for a woman who knows what she wants. Aren't you going to take off your clothes?” he asked. His belt was gone and he unfastened his pants.

“I definitely know what I want,” she said. Sitting, she unzipped her boots and tossed them on the floor. Then pulled off her socks. Her sweater went over her head and landed on the floor at his feet.

“Hmm?” He pushed his underwear down his legs with his pants and stood before her, naked and ready.

“You,” she said, shivering with desire. Her fingers fumbled with the fastening of her pants and finally she had them undone. She shoved them down her legs and kicked them aside as Jack crouched on the end of the bed.

“Don't take off anything else.”

She only had on her matching ice-blue bra-and-panties set. She liked the bra because it was one of those that made her look as if she had real cleavage. The cups were made of satin and a thin layer of lace.

Jack took her ankles in his hands and tugged gently until she was lying on her back. He pushed her legs apart until there was ample room to accommodate him.

“That's better.”

He kissed and nibbled his way up one leg. Slowly he reached her inner thigh. Her nipples tightened and her breasts felt full. She canted her hips toward his mouth and his warm breath. But he put his hands on her waist, holding her still.

“Not yet,” he murmured against her skin.

She shook at the feeling of that warm breath against the joint of her leg. He licked her carefully there and then breathed heavily over her satin-covered mound. She whimpered as he brushed his fingers in a featherlight stroke over her.

“Too much?”

“Yes. Jack, I need you.”

“Just a little longer. Anticipation makes everything better.”

He traced his tongue down the center of her satin panties and she groaned his name. He did that three times before she reached down and tunneled her fingers through his hair, holding him to her.

He used his teeth to peel her underwear down, revealing her to him. But he tugged them only as far as the top of her thighs and left them there. He came back to her, parting her with his thumbs and using his tongue and fingers to arouse her.

She was on the edge and couldn't take much more. He pushed two fingers into her sheath and continued to suckle at her most delicate flesh. Her hips strained up against his mouth. Her hands caught at his head and shoulders as her body climbed frantically toward orgasm. It rippled over her and she called his name.

Jack slid up her body, holding her close until the tremors passed. Then he pushed her underwear down her legs and lowered his mouth to her stomach. He
teased her belly button and traced the line of her ribs with his tongue.

He used his fingers to peel back the lace on her bra. She felt his breath on her nipple before his tongue traced over her. Her hips lifted and she felt his erection so close to her center. She slid her hands down his body to touch him there and felt wetness on the tip.

She stroked that liquid down his length and heard him groan softly as she reached between his legs to cup his sac.

He closed his mouth over her nipple and suckled as she continued to fondle him. He grew longer and harder against her. Lauren felt a moment of female power at her ability to arouse Jack like this.

She wanted to play his game, to draw this out between them until he couldn't think, the way he had to her. But more than anything she just wanted him to slide home. She needed to feel his slim hips between her legs. His hard erection buried inside her. His seed spilling deep in her.

She scraped her nails up his back and pulled his head up. He leaned up until he could kiss her. As his body moved over hers, caressing her everywhere. His hardness nudged between her legs, rubbing over her very sensitive flesh.

His chest brushed over the tips of her breasts, the light dusting of hair teasing her responsive nipples.

His whole body made love to hers and she
couldn't wait another minute. She reached between them, grasping him and directing him toward her center.

“No more waiting. I need you,” she said, her words deep and husky.

His eyes narrowed and he pulled back. He grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed and shoved it under her hips, canting her body for his entry. He held her still and looked into her eyes, and Lauren thought she saw his soul reflected there.

She felt the tip of his body at her entrance. But he stopped again, waiting. “Jack, take me now.”

“Watch me,” he said, his voice more of a grunt. “Watch me take you.”

She nodded and looked down their bodies to the part where they were almost joined. He entered her slowly and she watched as he penetrated her body, making her his.

He kept his thrusts strong and sure, and Lauren felt everything in her body start to tighten with the approach of her climax. She lifted her eyes and met Jack's. “I'm coming.”

“Not yet,” he said, lowering himself on top of her and continuing to thrust. “Together.”

He slid his hands up her body, linked their fingers together, stretching her arms over her head as he increased the tempo of his thrusts. He lowered his head to her breast and suckled. She was so close; she knew she was going to…

“Jack?”

“Now,” he said against her nipple. She felt him spill his seed deep inside her as her body rippled into orgasm, clenching around his penis. She shivered and shook as he continued to thrust until his body was completely empty.

She slipped her arms around him and held him tight, knowing she'd found the man she'd always been searching for. “I love you.”

He rolled them both to their sides and then pulled the end of the comforter over them.

He made love to her again and Lauren fell into an exhausted sleep. Only just before the alarm rang did she realize that Jack had never said he loved her back.

 

Panic unlike anything Jack had ever felt before seized him. He knew that Lauren was going to slip through his fingers. Hadn't she realized anything he'd shown her? Didn't she understand he wasn't a man to reveal something like that?

He felt her watching him as the alarm rang. Felt her eyes on him, and the weight of those words he hadn't said fell heavily on his shoulders. But he wasn't going to say them. Wasn't even sure he felt them. What the hell did a man like him know about love?

Why the hell did she think he could be her white knight? Hadn't he shown her he was really just a frog?

Because he couldn't—wouldn't—say the words
she needed to hear, he showed her in the only way he was really comfortable what she meant to him.

She meant more to him than any other person. They'd slept spooned together, and his morning erection nudged at the heat between her legs. He wanted her again. He'd never be able to get enough of her and yet he knew this was the last time he'd make love to her.

He knew after this morning, once Lauren got out of his bed, things would change. Either she'd bring up the subject of love again or she'd ignore it. God, please let her ignore it.

He didn't want to see hurt in her big, expressive eyes.

He skimmed his hands down her soft body, still warm with sleep. He urged her forward until she was on her stomach. He hadn't had the time last night to finish exploring her body and to find out how she responded everywhere.

It was too soon to be the end. He wasn't ready to give her up. Later he could debate the wisdom of allowing three little words to have such power over him. But right now he needed her. He needed to feel the velvet warmth of her body squeezing around him one last time.

He reached over and switched on the lamp on the nightstand. Lauren turned her head on the pillow and rolled over. He met her gaze. There was a sadness in her eyes that cut him deep.

He couldn't make this right. Maybe he should just get her out of his bed. But he wasn't ready to let go yet. Would he ever be freaking ready to let this woman go?

His heart said no but his weary soul said he had to. He leaned down to kiss her carefully, keeping his eyes closed so he wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes. She made that sound deep in her throat that made him want to come.