To Win Her Love (21 page)

He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, watching her intently. “Your eyes are incredible, princess. Damn. I could drown in them.”

Flustered, she wasn’t sure how to respond. The unusual eye color she inherited from her mother had always drawn its share of attention, from the taunts of the kids in school, to the time she was harassed outside a west side gallery by a pushy photographer insisting she model for him. That wasn’t to say the soft violet hue hadn’t received its share of praises, especially from men, but never in a lazy Texas drawl capable of stroking her soul.

Hot excitement flashed through her as he slid his muscled thigh between hers, and
whoa
! He wasn’t kidding about hard. A large, rigid length pressed against her hip. Her girl parts immediately puddled with anticipation, and she thrilled when he bent to kiss her long and hard.

As his mouth performed an exhilarating, carnal mating of hers, employing lips, teeth and tongue, his hands roamed in a sensory exploration, rubbing, plucking, caressing, and squeezing. Layers of clothing were magically swept aside. Off came her jacket. He flicked an arm over his head, and her black and white check wool blazer flew through the air to land on the floor in the corner. Several long moments later, he released her mouth long enough to tug the sweater over her head. It joined the blazer on a high-arching toss.

Rising on one elbow, he hung over her. Hot passion glazed his eyes and his chest rose and fell on ragged breaths. Elation skittered up her spine as her ego twirled in a mental happy dance.
She’d
done that to him. How lovely knowing she wasn’t the only one about to go up in flames.

She blinked when he continued to watch her in silence. Suddenly jittery at the interruption, doubt crept in. Why had he stopped? She frowned. “What?”

He brushed a curl back from her temple. “I was just thinking.”

“About?”

Dimples made an appearance in his slow smile. “This is the first time I’ve kissed you and didn’t end up with a bruise.”

A helpless laugh gurgled in her throat. And he called
her
a smart ass? Relief made her giddy. A man who could make a woman laugh was impossible to resist, but how the hell could he make jokes when she was about to
combust
? She grinned. “The morning’s still early, funny guy.” She shoved at his shoulders.

Laughing, he let her push him until he lay sprawled on his back. She happily crawled on top and swung her leg over to cradle his hips with her knees. He gripped her waist with both hands. Lowering herself to sit, she met his laughing gaze with a smirk—a difficult task considering her eyes wanted to cross.

His groan nearly drowned out hers. Instant bolts of electric heat shot out from the point of delicious contact, sizzling in her lower torso and turning the muscles in all four of her limbs to lead. Warm and rough, his wide palms caressed as they travelled her sides and up over her ribcage to cup her breasts.

At a healthy C cup, she filled his hands. Goose bumps popped with a running shiver as he brushed the pads of his thumbs over her stiffened nipples and they beaded further beneath the silk of her bra.

“You like that? It feels good?” His harshly spoken question was another form of caress.

She nodded.

“I can tell. Your nipples are incredibly sensitive, baby. I can’t wait to taste them.”

He plucked at one beaded tip with index finger and thumb, and she helplessly swiveled her hips, rubbing herself against the hard ridge of his erection. Relief and frustration battled. Between her jeans and his, they were wearing far too many clothes.

“Do they like to be sucked?”

She whimpered.

“The idea makes me so hard I could explode.”

The paradox of his languid attentions and suggestive comments left her teetering on the edge of a precipice with nothing to hold onto.

Oh, God. He’s a sex whisperer.

She’d heard of men like him before but had never slept with one. The concept pierced the core of her femininity. Her inner muscles clenched on the verge of climax. She gasped in dismay. If he didn’t get on with it, she wouldn’t be sleeping with one now. She’d be reaching paradise, half-dressed and on her own. She dove for his belt buckle.

He laughed. “I guess they do.”

His rippling stomach muscles frustrated her attempt to slip his belt from the loops. She sat up straight. “If you’re going to be all talk and no action, I’m outta here.”

He had her on her back before she could blink. Wicked laughter shone in his eyes. “How did I know you’d be greedy in bed?”

She blasted him with a disappointed glare. “I’m not a greedy lover. I know how to give back. It’s just that—”

“Good to know.”

Oh, for heaven’s sake. This was a huge mistake. She tried to sit up then froze in midair when his mouth latched onto a nipple. Heat scorched her, shooting arrows of white, hot pleasure straight to her groin. He tongued her through the silk of her bra and guided her back down until she lay prone beneath him.

Her back arched at the scrape of his teeth, scoring the sensitive bud. A low purr gurgled in her throat, and her eyes slid shut. He tore the damp material of her bra away to capture her flesh in his open mouth as if he meant to swallow her whole. Bright shards of excitement flashed like a kaleidoscope of color on the backs of her eyelids.

She slid dangerously close to orgasm. Clenching her thighs together, she tried desperately to hold on. Not yet. Not yet.

The button on her jeans popped free and the zipper rasped open under his experienced fingers. Burrowing his hand under both denim and the lace panties beneath, he peeled the garments down over one hip. She shifted, lifting her hips to aid him in their removal. He shoved the materials to her knees and she scissor kicked them free.

Leaving languid behind, he wasted no time. His open mouth left a hot trail behind as he found her other breast. Pleasure shards sliced at her as he gently bit her turgid nipple at the exact moment the rough pads of his talented fingers unerringly found that for which they searched. He cupped her damp heat in his large palm and with a tweak of her tightly budded clit, she erupted on a scream.

Need, as hot as lava, rolled through her and seared every molecule of her being. Wave after wave tossed her higher. Her legs fell open and her hips arched, grinding against his kneading palm and chasing a pleasure so keen she was left panting until she didn’t think she could stand any more. When his mouth replaced his hand, she learned the folly in her thinking.

With tongue and teeth, he drove her to a place she didn’t know existed, where pleasure danced with joy and fire burned hotter than the sun. She rocked against his murmurs of encouragement, whimpering and clenching her fingers in his hair until the harsh sucking of his mouth sent her tumbling over the edge once more in a shower of heat and light.

Boneless and replete, she struggled to open her eyes several long moments later. Head resting in one palm on a bent elbow, Jake lay on his side next to her. He wore a satisfied smile, but the elevated color on his cheekbones and his burning eyes told a different story. To say nothing of the rigid length pressing at her hip beneath the jeans he still wore.

Her lips twisted in a guilty grimace. “What was it you said about me being greedy?”

He grinned. “And I was right, but I wasn’t complaining.”

She groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes. He chuckled, and the soft cotton of his sweatshirt brushed her side and breast when he leaned forward and kissed her briefly. Musk and spice teased her nostrils. She slid her hand to the side of her face. He continued to lean over her. Humor sparkled in his watchful eyes.

“That was a compliment. To both of us.”

“How do you figure? So far, all I’ve done is take.”

He stroked a hand over her hip. One winged brow arched. “Are you saying we’re done here?”

“God, I hope not!” The greedy admission slipped out before she could stop herself.

He grinned and used his wide palm to yank her up against him. He dipped a knee between hers thighs once again and lowered his mouth. “Then I’ll soon get my turn, won’t I? Watching your beautiful body take flight on an orgasm
I’ve
given you is more than an incredible turn-on. It’s a gift. There’s nothing sexier to a man than a passionate woman who wants him so badly she can’t wait.”

Delivered in a seductive croon, his whispered words reignited the delicious heat in the folds still swollen from his earlier ministrations. God, the man had a magical tongue. In more ways than one. Who knew a little dirty talk could make her this frigging hot? If he kept that up, she’d be leaving him behind again.

Well, as the old saying went. Two could play that game. Ripping a page out of his sex whisperer book, she lowered her voice to a purr. “Nothing sexier, huh? Then, I must be the sexiest woman alive.”

His deep laugh vibrated through his chest to hers, and he dipped his head to kiss her. She twisted away out of his arms and scooted to the far side of the bed. “I mean it. I’m this close.” She held finger and thumb a fraction of an inch apart and made her expression as stern as possible, which wasn’t very, considering how badly her body throbbed. “Unless you want me
taking off
without you again, I suggest you get naked. Like, right now.”

He immediately rolled off the bed to his feet. Giggling, she scrambled to sit. Shoving the pillow behind her back, she made herself comfortable propped against the brass headboard to watch the show. She’d forgotten how quickly he could move, or how effectively. Arms and legs flailing, the famous dexterity he displayed on the field was nothing compared to the moves he employed as he shed himself of sweatshirt, boots, jeans, and briefs.

When he was down to bare skin, he tossed several foil packets on the table beside the bed and turned to face her. Seemingly at ease, he stood still under her inspection with his hands fisted on his lean hips.

In casual street clothes he was the picture of a
superbly
healthy, modern male. Dressed in uniform and pads he was larger than life, a fantasy hero of the gridiron. Naked? Oh, Lord. Naked he was an X-rated
superhero
.

A six-foot-five impossibly
healthy
, muscular man of steel.

Incredibly wide shoulders narrowed over impressive pecs down to a trim waist. She didn’t know if there was a technical name for the sharply cut lines of muscle where his washboard stomach met his lean hips, but the well-cut ridge made her mouth water. As for the imposing evidence of his desire…his cock stood strong and proud between thick thighs. She gulped. Forget eye candy, the man was a freaking candy factory.

“Wow.” She breathed the word like a benediction.

His wicked smile should’ve warned her. As if released from invisible chains, he dropped a bent knee to the bed, wrapped long fingers around one of her ankles…and yanked.

She squealed with laughter as he dragged her forward and didn’t complain when he lowered himself until he lay cradled between her thighs. Propped on his elbows, he locked his gaze with hers.

“Better?”

She nodded. “Much.”

“Then come fly with me, princess.”

Considering how he’d ruthlessly pushed her toward a quick and explosive release earlier, and how aroused he appeared during her inspection, she was surprised by the pace he set, an easy lover completely content to take his time. For her, sex had always been a pleasant passage of time. Not so with Jake. To her joy, she discovered laughing with a lover was more than pleasant. It was
fun
.

By nature or design, she wasn’t sure which and didn’t care, he kept her pleasantly off balance with his playful brand of foreplay. The tools in his seduction bag were varied and irresistible. Teasing smiles and murmured praises accompanied trailing touches and penetrating gazes that reached down to tempt the soul. He seemed to sense whenever she ventured close to the abyss, courtesy of a hot, bone-melting kiss or spine-tingling caress, then he’d yank her back from the precipice with nipping teeth and naughty whispers, or a frisky tickle of the ribs.

He wasn’t the only one with a sensual bag of tricks. He’d teased her about being greedy. He was right. She greedily savored the opportunity to touch him at her leisure. A laughing and naked Jake in her bed was a dream come true. She took full advantage.

Tucked partially beneath his big body, she turned her head to break his mind-stealing kiss. Sliding her hand down over his stomach, she curled her fingers around the hot length of him and whispered in his ear. “Your turn.”

He rolled to his back, giving her complete access. She rose on one elbow and shimmied closer to his side. Loosening her grip on his engorged cock, she dragged her fingers up the swollen length to trace circles around the sensitive tip with a fingernail. He shifted his legs, restlessly.

“Ah, you like that.” She leaned closer, causing her breasts to plump against his chest, and held his gaze. “You’re so hard, baby.”

His eyes flared with emerald heat and his erection jerked slightly within the cage of her fingers. She laughed, low and quiet. He narrowed his eyes, but a smile tugged at his lips.

“Witch.”

Teeth bared in a pleased smile, she rose to her knees. With her free hand resting on the clenched ridges of his stomach muscles, she held his gaze as she bent at the waist. His breath hissed in sharply when her curls floated over his sensitive flesh. She paused there, suspended over him, her lips a scant inch from the swollen tip. Heated promises glittered in his eyes. Excitement shimmered in wet waves between her legs.

“Tell me. Do
you
like to be sucked?”

She didn’t give him the opportunity to answer, surrounding him with her mouth. His low moan thrilled. Hot and hard, the salty taste of him registered on her tongue as she explored his varying textures, silk and steel. Too soon, his fingers slid into her hair and when he tugged slightly, she released him to look up.

Tension stretched the skin on his cheekbones tight as he reached for her shoulders and dragged her up his body. His arm swung out in search of a condom as he rolled her to her back at his side. White teeth flashed, foil tore, and he fisted the latex over himself before she could offer her help.