What was she thinking?Liz knew she looked like a train wreck, was conscious of how black and blue her eyes were, how puffy her face was. So very, very unsexy. She glanced away to break the moment, her other hand going to touch her nose again.
His index finger crooked out and tilted her chin, forcing her to look up.
“Liz,” he said, his voice husky and low. “Don’t. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”
She blinked at that, biting her lip to keep a sigh at bay, and he let out a very rough groan, pulling her into him. He held her there, hands slowly moving around her waist, grip tightening slightly when their bodies met. Her hands slid to his chest, the heat through the thin T-shirt material loosening her doubts, the muscles strong and smooth under her palm. She sank her fingers in slightly, relishing in the sensation as they flexed underneath her grip. Another masculine noise rumbled out of him.Oh, damn, that was nice.
“Jake, what are we doing?” she whispered. “I—”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve tried . . . fuck, Liz, I—”
She dug her fingers into his chest again, quirking an eyebrow, and at that he lowered his lips to hers, her implied permission all he needed, apparently. She responded to him with a sigh, and he groaned again, both hands moving to gently hold her face as he opened his mouth and asked for her to give in to him, let him plunder.
And plunder it was. She had never been kissed like this before. Darren had either been chaste, sweet kisses, or all thrusting tongue, and only like that when he wanted it to lead to bed. This kiss was exploring her slowly, possessive but gentle, asking her to open instead of invading her without thought.
In other words, smoking fucking hot, and her knees turned to jelly as his tongue tasted hers with a languid intensity that forced her to give in and meld herself to him. Her hands slid up his body and threaded into his hair, pulling, which drew a rough moan from him.God, that was fucking nuclear hot. She shifted against him, hip to hip. He was as hard as a rock against her lower stomach, a clear indication he was as turned on as she was.
She wanted to strip him down and climb him like a ladder right here, right now, not caring who might walk in.Stepping back toward her desk, she pulled him with her, and sat on the edge, no longer trusting her legs to hold her up. He broke the kiss, looking into her eyes with hungry need.
“Fuck.” He swore again, and nestled himself between her thighs, his obvious erection against her core. He put his forehead to hers, breathing heavily as he attempted some control, his hands roaming over her body.
“Yes, please,” she murmured back, eliciting a laugh from him as she arched her back, bringing their bodies flush to one another. His eyes popped open at that, and he let out a sound that she couldn’t quite decipher, his grip on her tightening again, this time on her hips, and he tilted back to look down at her, a questioning look across his face.
It was all she needed to know he was as worked up as she was, but also not sure what to do. He could be dominant, but right now he needed her to tell him it was okay. She could do that. She licked her lips and tugged him down by the collar of his T-shirt, initiating another kiss.
This is more than an olive branch, she thought as his hands moved again, traveling over her back and curving against her ass as he held her to him.
It was the whole damned tree.
Chapter Sixteen
Jake left Liz’s office dazed, not quite sure what had just happened. One second they had been talking, the next he had been kissing her like his life depended on it.
She’d exploded as soon as their lips met. Soft and sensual, like he’d imagined, but with this incredible sexy confidence. The idea of what she might be like in bed was playing on a reel in his head. He shook the thoughts away as his dick nudged at the zipper on his jeans, reminding him that he’d just walked away from a done deal.
He needed a cold shower, right now.
Last night he’d fought the urge to kiss her, but just now, when their hands had met and she had given him that saucy look, he’d lost what little control he’d put in place. All his inner caution about following his attraction to her evaporated. Mind you, all the blood had drained from his head to his . . . well, yeah. And she knew it.
“Shit,” he muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve opened the damned Pandora’s box.”
He turned left and exited into the sunshine, squinting and putting his ball cap back on his head, not really paying attention to his surroundings. He was entirely focused on controlling the urge to stride right back into her office, strip her, and fuck her senseless across her desk.
Was he ready for this?Ashley entered his head the moment he thought it, dousing some of the heat coursing through his body. Liz was the first woman he’d kissed since Ashley.
He’d never had an immediate physical response to his ex-wife like what had just happened with Liz. Ashley and he had been more of a slow burn. Friends first, they’d fallen into a mutually comforting relationship and satisfying, albeit vanilla, sex. He’d assumed it was love, and so had she—they were both looking for that next logical step to secure their lives and spend less on rent, anyway. So they’d gotten married.
Nothing he shared with Ashley had been anything as spontaneously passionate as what had just happened. He’d had heady flings with sexually uninhibited women before his marriage, which had been about the adventure and the release. But that, in there, with Liz? He had no idea what he was getting into, except that it had fried his brain like an egg in a hot skillet.
“Hey, New York. Heads up, man.”
Jake looked up quickly as Brady walked around the corner of the barn on a horse and stopped short of bumping into him. He was obviously just back from a ride, the horse sweaty, Brady smiling ear to ear. Jake blinked. That was a side of his brother he hadn’t accounted for.
“You ride?”
“We all do. Part of the deal, growing up here. Sometimes I like to work on things that don’t have bolts and pipes.” Brady chuckled and stepped down from the saddle, pulling the reins over the horse’s head. He swiped his dusty straw cowboy hat off to wipe his forehead. He was in full chaps and boots, and his T-shirt was emblazoned with a faded redstampede ’07,several frayed holes along the hem.
Jake suddenly felt overdressed in his Rag & Bone jeans and Burberry T-shirt.
