Working It (12 page)

He gritted his teeth. Now that she was forcing him to think about it, he wasn't sure he could, either.

She swallowed, and he could see in her eyes she wanted the same thing.

“I'm sorry,” she said instead.

“Don't be sorry,” he said. “You're right. We shouldn't.”

He turned, groin aching, his pulse still dancing a hectic beat in his rib cage. She walked to the door, awkwardly waiting for him.

He paused before reaching for the doorknob. “I'm not mad at you. I understand what you're saying,” he emphasized. “But I still have to say this. I'd do anything right now if you'd let me slide inside of you and make love to you until dawn.”

She closed her eyes, and leaned forward, just a breath. She could picture it. He knew it.

She opened her eyes. “Are you willing to sacrifice Robson Steel for it?”

Her words hit him like a fist. He involuntarily shook his head.

“I didn't think so. And you shouldn't. We've both got too much to lose.” She took a few deep breaths, her hands forming loose fists. Then she looked at him, her tone forced and bright. “Well. I guess this means good night.”

She opened the door, her eyes never leaving his.

He nodded. “I'll, uh, see you tomorrow,” he said. Then he walked out, took the two steps to his hotel room, and opened the door just as she was shutting hers.

He closed the door behind him, then stupidly smacked it with his hand. The dull ache was just an echo of the throbbing pain of the rest of his body.

I'd sell my soul to get a taste of that woman.

He closed his eyes, rubbing his hand absently.

His soul, yeah. He might lose his head and forget his priorities just to get involved with her. His rational thought might go right out the window. He'd never been this way around any woman.

He wouldn't lose Robson Steel because he couldn't keep his body under control.

He headed straight for the shower, intent on making it a cold one.

He hired Jade Morrow to save Robson Steel. Apparently, she was better than he thought—since she was saving it from even his own stupidity.

Thank God one of us can keep control.
He shook his head, turning the shower on full blast. Then, taking a breath, he forced himself to step into the spray.

Too bad the one in control obviously isn't me.

 

A
T TWO O'CLOCK
in the morning, Jade had been tossing and turning in the dark for hours. She'd slept lightly. Dreams of Drew, his muscular body sliding into her just as he'd promised, had woken her up with a start. She moaned, finding her hand creeping to soothe the dull ache between her legs. But all she could think about was him, just feet away, on the other side of the wall. Also in the dark.

Also thinking of having sex with me?

She groaned, putting her head into the pillow.

She'd made the right decision. Her head knew that. It was just a matter of time before her body picked up the clue. At least she
hoped
it would.

She'd never wanted any man the way she wanted Drew Robson. Just with kisses, he made her hotter than any man she'd ever been with. When they finally made love, they'd probably set the bed aflame. Or the floor. Possibly even the shower.

She stroked her hands against the flat of her stomach, closing her eyes, thinking of those lightly calloused hands on her, just like they'd been a few hours ago. Before she'd stopped him.

She growled, rolling against the bed. But they weren't his hands. Her body ached at just the memory of his touch. She wasn't going to die if she didn't experience the man.

She just felt like she wanted to.

She squirmed against the sheets, searching desperately for a cool spot. She had gone to bed naked, and she'd managed to kick off most of the covers, but the sheet still made her feel as if she was wrapped in an electric blanket. Even with the air-conditioning blasting, she felt feverish.

She was right. She knew she was right.

She got out of bed, stumbling over one of her shoes. She was tired, grumpy. A glass of water—that's what she needed. Maybe a cold shower. Men always seemed to do that sort of thing, and it was supposed to help. Or maybe she'd just take a nice, long, productive bath.

Her eyes were still closed tight when she felt for the light switch, grumbling when she didn't find it. She heard the door click behind her, and opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the brightness of the light.

She wasn't in the bathroom, she noticed immediately.

She was in the hallway.

All at once, she was wide awake. It was the
last
hotel they had stayed in that the bathroom was on the right. It had been that way for the past three cities, now that she thought about it.

Not this time. This time, she had turned right, gone out the door, and let it lock behind her.

She felt panic grip her. There wasn't even a throw rug she could snatch up to cover herself. How was she going to get to the front desk this way?

She stared dumbly at the numbers of her door…then the numbers of Drew's door.

Before she could stop herself, she knocked, softly. Then a little more insistently.

He opened the door, wearing only a pair of boxers and a surly expression. “What the…”

He got one look at her, and his eyes flew open. She ignored that as she ran past him into his room.

He shut the door as she darted to his bed, yanking the top sheet off and wrapping herself in it. His eyes bugged out slightly. “Um. Hello.”

“You won't believe this, but I was trying to walk to my bathroom half asleep to get a glass of water, and I went out the room door instead, and it locked behind me and…”

In that instant, in the dim light of one of the bedside lamps, she got a good look at his boxers. More important, she got a good look at what the boxers couldn't hide…a fair-size erection. Just like the one she'd felt pressing insistently between her thighs, stopped by their interfering clothing. His body was tanned, looking like burnished copper in the low light. He was just as deliciously muscular as she remembered, and his hair was tousled from the bed. His eyes burned with desire.

“I believe you,” he said.

She swallowed.

He walked over to her, slowly, almost tentatively. His eyes were fixed on her face. She felt as though her voice was trapped in her throat, as her nipples abruptly hardened and she felt her thighs go faintly damp. She swallowed again, hard, as if she could free the protest
she knew she should be making from her throat. He stopped a foot away from her, and she could feel the heat of him, the sheer carnal desire. But he still paused, waiting. For her.

You want this. You want him.

She wasn't going to stop him this time. It was fate. She wouldn't stop what was going to happen. She couldn't.

He reached for the corner of the sheet, and she felt her grip on it loosen, until the long length of cloth slid slowly down her body, pooling at her feet. She was naked in front of him, and she straightened, challenging him.

“You said you wanted me,” she said, her chin angling up.

“That hasn't changed.” He took in the sight of her body, studying her slowly before locking gazes with her again.

She took a deep breath. Then she put her hands forward, slipping her fingers into the waistband of his boxers. Then, slowly, gently, she tugged them down until they were at his feet. He stepped out of them easily.

They were both naked, surveying each other. She wanted him so badly, so intensely, she was frozen with indecision. There was so much of him that she wanted to touch, taste. She didn't know where to start.

Fortunately, he took the decision out of her hands by stepping forward and tilting her head up, kissing her neck. She sighed, collapsing against him, and the feel of his hot skin against her own was enough to make her heart start hammering. She reached up, clutching at his back as his kisses got more insistent. He turned, and she let him lower her onto the bed.

He didn't stop kissing her. Instead his mouth moved, from her neck, lowering to her breasts. She could every now and then feel the hot brush of his cock against her hip, her thigh, and she moaned as he increased the pressure…and his fingers started to join the act. He was licking her nipples, swirling around each with long, loving strokes. She arched her back, pulling his head against hers. His fingers stroked down her stomach, his mouth following as he moved lower, holding her as he kissed the flare of her hip. Then he moved lower, his fingers tickling the sensitive opening of her, and she threw her head back and moaned, spreading her legs farther.

“Jade,” he breathed against her thigh, as his fingers pressed farther inside her, stroking the sensitive folds of her clitoris even as he delved deeper. The sharp insistence against her thigh as he stroked inside her made her gasp with pleasure. Her hips bucked and her fingers fisted in the sheet beneath her.

“More,” she gasped.

The suction and the fingers withdrew, disappointing her…until she felt his breath, hot between the junction of her thighs. Then his mouth was pressing against her and his tongue was circling her clit with insistent pressure. She almost screamed as pleasure shot through her like lightning. Her thighs tightened and she moaned loudly as her hips rose to meet the force of his lips and tongue as it moved deeper. She was gasping, twisting beneath his ministrations.

She was close, very close, when he withdrew. “Not yet,” he whispered, his eyes a stormy midnight-blue. “I want this to last.”

She was on the brink of sanity, covered in a very fine mist of sweat. She could feel fire coalescing in the
pit of her stomach, moving up through her chest. The flesh between her thighs ached with unfulfilled desire.

She was a woman who got what she wanted. She sat up, seeing his erection, dark and heavy, jutting at her.

“Condom,” she breathed. “I need you inside me.
Now.
”

He smiled, reaching into one drawer of the nightstand table and producing a foil packet. She took it from him, tearing it open with her teeth. She produced the condom, then sat up, pressing him back on the bed. He smiled…until she put the condom on his erection, smoothing it slowly down his hardness. Her fingers circled him, with gentle pressure. He closed his eyes and groaned, his hips rising slightly. She cupped his balls, smiling herself when he made inarticulate sounds of pleasure at her careful actions.

She wanted to do to him what he'd done to her, but she was too hungry, need driving her with a frenzy. She stroked him, lowering her body over his, feeling the scratch of his chest hair against her now insanely sensitive breasts. She gasped, feeling him poised at her now slick opening.

“Jade,” he moaned, his hands clutching at her hips, urging her down onto him.

“I want this,” she repeated out loud, feeling him press between the folds of her vagina and stroke against her clit. “I want
you.
”

Then she took him in, inch by inch, sliding the length of him inside her. She stretched to accommodate him, letting out a low cry of pleasure when he pressed in all the way. She involuntarily arched up, feeling him against her G-spot, and he pulled her down on to him, making her take him even deeper inside of herself.

“That feels good,” she growled, swiveling her hips slightly, experimentally. “That feels so
amazing.
”

“I knew it would feel like this,” he answered, his voice strained as she started to move slowly, rhythmically, retreating only to press further onto him, taking him by inches, torturing them both.

He sat up, surprising her. He kissed her deeply as she moved her legs to circle his waist, so she was sitting on his lap. His arms circled her bottom, and he helped her raise and lower herself onto his erection. The friction of her breasts against his chest and his cock against her clit drove her wild, and she couldn't help it…she started to pick up speed, feeling him press against her, causing waves of heat to course through her.

“Oh,” she said, tilting her head back as he bit her neck with gentle roughness. “Yes. Please, yes,” she said as her hips increased their tempo.

He was raising to meet her, pushing her harder against him. Her legs tightened their grip, and they were moving faster, sliding against each other, as if to become one being. She gasped every time he pushed against her. They were moving quicker, harder, his hands pressing her hips to him, her hands clutching at his back. He kissed her hard, her tongue twining with his as she tightened the grip of her thighs.

She felt the first tremors of orgasm deep and slow, and trembled as they rocked through her. She held him like a life preserver as he bucked against her, his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her to him as desperately as she herself clung to him.

She didn't want to let go of him, even when he lowered himself back onto the bed, letting her sprawl out
over him. Still, she let him withdraw, and she rolled onto her back, feeling dizzy…feeling disoriented.

It was good. No. It was
great.
It was everything she thought it would be and then some.

She closed her eyes, smiling at the quivery feeling of afterglow. He said he knew it would be like this.

If she had known it would be like this, she thought, then she never would have said no in the first place.

“I take it from the look on your face that it wasn't that bad,” she heard his deep voice rumble, smug.

She opened one eye, and a quick glance at his amused expression confirmed it. “I hate men who gloat,” she said with a quick grin. “Even if they have reason to.”

He smiled…then reached into the nightstand drawer and produced a full box of condoms. She now opened both eyes, wide.

He reached for her and started kissing her, purposefully. Even though she ought to be exhausted, her body immediately started to perk up…and started getting turned on. Soon, she was breathless, clamoring for him. She reached for a condom.