She was lost in the sensation of his mouth, the way his tongue swept along hers. She breathed in the clean male scent of him, smoothed her hands along the muscles of his arms and felt him tense. When he deepened the kiss, she was lost, wanted to dive in and forget everything but the way she felt right now.
And what was so wrong with that, other than she was always in possession of her faculties. She never threw her sensibilities out the window, was always in control.
She hadn’t felt in control of anything since she’d met Jed.
He stood, his arm wrapped tight around her waist until her feet touched the ground. He maneuvered her to the wall of the balcony and moved into her, pressing his body against hers.
And then he pulled back, one hand on the wall, the other on her hip, his eyes locked with hers.
She zeroed in on his mouth. Damn, he had a fine mouth. Her lips tingled as she remembered how good he was at using it to kiss her. She wanted more of that—a lot more of it, which made her mind wander to what else his mouth was good at.
He must have been watching her, because she saw the upward tilt of his lips.
She lifted her gaze to his and was hit by the blast of unshuttered desire in his eyes.
“I want you, Elena.” He moved his hand along the side of her rib cage, inching her tank top up, too.
Her body flushed with a sudden rush of heat. “Right here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t care. I want to fuck you. Here or inside. Up to you.”
She shuddered in a breath and slipped her hand around his neck to pull his head down. She held him an inch from her lips. “Let’s start here and see where it goes.”
His mouth met hers in an explosion of deep, dark passion, his arm sweeping around her back to draw her against him. He lifted her top and slid his hand inside to rest against the skin of her belly.
Her heart pounded, a loud, crashing beat that drowned out the sound of revving motorcycles and honking horns. All she could hear was her own breaths and the moan she let escape as Jed plundered her mouth with deep kisses.
She’d been kissed before—plenty of times. But this was all consuming, and her head spun, her knees felt weak, and she was dizzy from the sensations blasting her body. There was a chill to the night air but she was hot—all over. And so was Jed, his body a furnace as it pressed full on against hers.
This was no gentle make-out session. It was a power assault, as if all this time he’d been holding back and now he’d unleashed everything he had on her.
And what an arsenal it was. His body was all hard muscle, his thigh wedged between her legs more than capable of keeping her upright. As she grasped his upper arms, she felt the bulge of his biceps and swept her hands over his broad shoulders.
He made her feel safe and made her swoon a little bit, because he wasn’t the type of guy she usually went for. He wasn’t a buttoned-up business guy. He was an outdoors-and-carved-in-muscle guy. He looked dangerous; he smelled like leather and something primally male that was unique to him. It wasn’t cologne, either. It was his masculine scent and it drove her crazy. She had no idea how to handle him.
Fortunately, he was doing all the handling at the moment, because her brain cells were melting under the siege of his mouth and hands. And when he slipped his hand down her pants and cupped her sex, she cried out against his mouth.
He drew his lips away from hers to meet her shocked gaze.
“You’re wet and hot in my hand.” He teased her with a light stroke, dragging another moan from her as she clenched his shirt between her fingers and held on.
His cock was hard as he rocked it against her hip.
“I’m going to fuck you tonight, Elena. Hard and fast, then easy and slow. I’m going to make you come so many times you’re going to beg for mercy.”
She rolled her hips toward the magic of his fingers as he dug the heel of his hand against her clit and tucked two fingers inside her. She was so close to coming she could only focus on his movements and the dark, whispered words that spilled from his lips.
“You know, I’ll bet you taste as good as you feel. I want you to come in my mouth, Elena.”
She was balanced on the very edge of insanity, but held on enough that shock slapped her when he bent down and dragged her pants over her hips.
“Jed. Not out here.”
He tilted his head back and grinned at her. “No one’s watching, and you have enough privacy out here. You’re ready to fly, Elena. Let me.”
It was such a wicked idea, and she didn’t have the power to move, let alone think. She could only watch as he pulled her pants and panties down to her ankles. The cool breeze hit her feverish skin, but then Jed was there, cupping her buttocks with his hands and tilting her pussy toward his mouth.
She watched in awe and need as he fit his mouth over her clit and sucked.
Oh, God. So, good. His tongue darted out and licked the length of her pussy, and she threw her head back, forgetting about the brick wall behind her. But even the pain didn’t dissipate the incredible pleasure of his mouth, his tongue and the delicious things he was doing to her as he dragged his tongue across her tortured flesh, parted her folds, put his lips over the tight knot and took her right over the edge.
She reached for his head and held him there while she came, wanting to scream but not wanting to call attention to herself. Instead, she pushed her pussy at his face and rocked against him while he licked and sucked her through the most intense orgasm she’d ever experienced.
When the wild pulses died down, he helped her step out of her pants and panties, then led her inside and laid her on the bed, only to bury his face in her pussy again.
She hadn’t had time even to catch her breath from the last orgasm before he had her primed and ready to go again. Only this time he widened her legs and slid his fingers inside her while he sucked her clit.
“Jed,” she whispered, reaching down to tangle her fingers in his hair. She arched against his mouth, and he met her gaze as she came. The contractions were even more intense than the first orgasm he gave her.
She was panting out breaths, trying to come to grips with what had just happened to her, when Jed loomed over her, the hem of her shirt fisted in his hands. He smiled down at her. “These have to come off. I want you naked.”
She wanted that, too. “I want you naked, too.”
“You, first.” He lifted her tank tops off and tossed them to the floor, then climbed off the bed only long enough to shuck his clothes.
She leaned up on her elbows to watch as he discarded his shirt, revealing sculpted abs and a line of dark hair that disappeared into his pants.
Her mouth watered and she licked her lips. That was a most tantalizing line, and she watched it as he popped the button on his pants, drew the zipper down and let his pants drop to the floor.
It was so unfair that a man could be built like that. Narrow hips, amazingly well-built thighs, and his cock was magnificent. She scrambled onto her knees and waited as he climbed back onto the bed.
“You’re incredibly good-looking,” she said as he came to her.
One side of his mouth quirked. He swept her hair away from her face. “And you’re gorgeous.”
He threw her down on the bed and followed her. She laughed, but all humor died when he put his hands and mouth on her again. Naked, his body pressed to hers, was a bone-numbing experience. He was hot and hard all over, and she wished she had more hands.
She loved his stomach. She’d never really gravitated toward guys who worked out all the time. All that muscle was kind of a turnoff. But with Jed it was different. Maybe because he had a brain to go with the muscles, and a sense of humor and an—
Oh, God, yes, that amazing mouth. He sucked her tongue deeply into his mouth and she could swear she had a
mini-orgasm. Her pussy tightened and her clit tingled, all her nerve endings seemingly connected to what his mouth was doing to hers.
There was something magical about this man. He mesmerized her in every possible way, and his touch had a profound effect on her. Sure, it had been a while since she’d had sex, but she’d never thought of sex as something so amazing it would make time stop.
Jed made everything in her world stop, including her breath.
She pushed on his shoulders and he lifted.
“Something wrong?”
“I can’t breathe.”
He moved off to the side. “I’m sorry. I’m too heavy.”
She rolled over and grabbed him. “No. Not like that. I mean I’m overwhelmed, but in a good way. You’re rocking my world here, Jed.”
He arched a brow. “Is that a bad thing?”
“No. God, no. But isn’t it time we take care of you?”
He let out a short laugh. “Plenty of time for that.”
“Oh, but I take a certain amount of joy in touching you. You wouldn’t want to deny me, would you?”
She traced her finger down his chest. So smooth, but underneath, there were those muscles. She laid her palm flat over his abs and felt them tighten.
She lifted her gaze to his. “Tickle?”
He wasn’t laughing. “No. Your hand feels good. I like you touching me.”
She slid her palm down his lower belly and wrapped her fingers around the heavy heat of his cock. It jumped against her fist and she began to stroke him.
“Then let me touch you.”
Now it was his turn to gasp, and oh, she really liked that. She squeezed his cock harder, loving the rock-hard feel of him.
He released her hand, rolled her onto her back and slid between her legs. “If you spend any more time touching me, I’ll come.”
Heat coiled deep within her. “I’d like to see that.”
“You will. But first I’m going to come inside you when I fuck you.”
She was going up in flames. She’d never been with a man so verbal. She liked the verbal. A lot.
He leaned against her and rubbed his shaft across her pussy, sending spirals of pleasure through her nerve endings. She wrapped her legs around his thighs and rocked with him, increasing the tension to her clit.
Jed propped up on his hands and she held onto him, digging her fingers into the corded muscles of his arms as he suspended himself above her. His strength was a turn-on, as was the way he seemed to know how to pleasure her. This easy tease, the way he took her right to the edge time and time again with no thought of getting himself off, was a heady thrill and made her feel like the only woman in the universe.
Or at least the only woman in his universe.
And if he kept rubbing his cock against her like that, she was going to have an orgasm. For the third time.
“Jed.”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck me.”
“I will. As soon as I watch you come again.”
She wanted to tell him it was ridiculous, when he hadn’t yet had one, but she was so close—so close—and his hot shaft felt so damn delicious, his balls slapping against her pussy as he expertly stroked her clit.
“You’re so wet, Elena. It would be so easy to slam inside you and fuck you hard until I came. But do you know how your skin flushes when you’re turned on, and your nipples get tight? I want to suck on your nipples when I’m fucking you and make you come when I’m inside you.”
She dug her nails into his arm and fell right over the cliff again. He stopped, put his fingers inside her and made it that much more intense as the waves of orgasm intensified. Then he leaned over and kissed her, brought her down easy from the sweet climax he’d given her.
He turned over and grabbed a condom, rolled it on and climbed between her legs.
“I could tease you and make you come all night long,” he said. “But I’m about to explode because I want to be inside you.”
“I want that, too.” She reached for his cock and drew him to the entrance to her pussy. He eased inside her, filling her as he pushed deep, then held, swelling inside her.
She didn’t think she’d be able to feel anything after coming so many times, but her pussy quivered to life again, pulsing as he began to move.
He cupped one breast in his hand, leaned in to take her nipple between his lips, his tongue sliding over the tight peak.
She felt the delicious tug all the way to her core. As he sucked her nipple, he half withdrew, then drove his cock inside her, and the sweetest pleasure spiraled through her.
He lifted his head, thumbed her nipple and took her mouth, kissing her deeply while grinding against her. The myriad of sensations drove her ever upward toward another orgasm. She swept her hands along his back, feeling his body tense as he thrust against her.
She knew he was close, and so was she. She wrapped her legs around his hips and lifted against him. His groan was so enticing. She lifted her gaze to his, saw the need there, and it made her pussy tighten around him.
“Christ,” he muttered, and reached for her knee, brought it forward and held her leg there while he began to thrust in earnest.
As he drove in deep, she shattered.
“Jed,” she said, his name spilling from her lips as her climax thundered through her.
He followed, dropping down on her and shoving deep inside her, then gathering her against him while he shuddered out his own orgasm. He tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her with a depth that left her breathless. She held onto him as if he were her only lifeline in a storm at sea.
He rolled her to the side but didn’t let her go. Instead, they stayed like that for a few amazing moments, with Jed stroking her hair and back and kissing her lips and jaw.
She felt cherished. They might still be strangers and maybe it was because this was just the first time and that’s why it felt special, but she still felt cherished, and that was an unusual feeling.
Finally, he got up and went into the bathroom. She expected him to get dressed and take off, but he came back and climbed into bed with her, pulled the covers over them both and drew her against him.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
NINE
Jed woke with a start. Disoriented, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was.
Elena’s apartment. He felt her body next to his, pressed intimately against him.
But that’s not what woke him.
Something was wrong.
He didn’t want to disturb Elena or make any sound, so he stayed still, listening.
There. Downstairs. Footsteps.
He shook Elena awake. She moaned and he leaned near her ear. “I think someone is downstairs.”
Her eyes shot open.
Jed took a look at the alarm on the wall next to her bed.
Nothing. No blinking, no alert. Dead silent.
Shit. He knew he’d installed a foolproof alarm system, and that he’d set and armed it. That someone was in the house meant that whoever was inside was good enough to bypass his alarm system.
No routine burglary this time.
He pointed to her clothes and a pair of tennis shoes across the room. She nodded and slipped out of bed as silently as he did. He grabbed his clothes and slipped into them, got his gun and moved over to her. “Car keys,” he whispered.
She shifted her gaze to the kitchen. There, on the counter. He nodded and took her hand, and that’s when he heard the creak.
Bottom stair. He’d heard it himself a few times coming up and down her stairs. It was a good alert.
She squeezed his fingers. He turned to her and motioned with his head for her to stay quiet, then
backed up to the terrace. The night was warm so they’d left the door open. He pushed her outside.
“Stay here.”
She grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”
“To see who’s in your shop.”
“We should call the police.”
He nodded. “I will.” He pushed her down. “Stay here and out of sight. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as he figured out if it was someone after what was in her shop, or someone after Elena.
He stepped back into the room and inched over to the doorway leading to the stairs, listening for further sounds of approaching footsteps. He slowed his breathing down, trying to force the adrenaline to calm so he could hear something other than the rush of blood in his veins and his pounding heart.
Once he was calm, he listened. Nothing. Whoever had made the noise on the bottom step must have changed their mind, at least for now.
Until he saw the movement at the top of the stairs.
Shit. Someone had infinite patience, and after he’d made the sound at the bottom of the stairs, had probably stopped and waited to see if someone came after him. When no one had, he’d continued coming up the stairs.
Jed crouched down as the guy reached the top of the stairs and rounded the corner.
After that it happened fast. The intruder moved in a hurry, spotted Elena and pointed his gun.
Jed pushed off and attacked, kicking the gun out of his hand.
The intruder sent off a kick and Jed’s gun went flying, as did Jed. The guy dove for his gun but Jed tackled him, taking an elbow to the face and barely dodging a lethal move meant to kill, not incapacitate.
This guy meant business, and now so did Jed, who hadn’t intended to do anything but disable the gunman. But this guy was determined to take him down, then either kill or capture Elena, and Jed wasn’t going to allow that to happen.
They rolled across the floor together, strength fighting strength. Jed fought a hard blow to the chin and knocked the guy in the throat with his elbow. As the guy fought for breath, Jed knocked a lamp over, grabbed the cord and wrapped it around the guy’s throat.