“You okay?” he asked, his voice a bit more gruff than usual.
“Mm-hmm.” Instinctively, she pressed closer.
His hands slid down to her waist, anchoring her against him. “Can you walk?”
“Maybe.” But that would mean stepping backward out of his arms, when all she really wanted to do was climb up his body until that bulge in his jeans pressed into her right where she needed it…
“Jess.” His voice rumbled through her, making every inch of her tingle with anticipation.
“Mark.” Her voice was a whisper as she tipped her face up to his, and dammit, why did he have to be so tall? She went up on her right tiptoe (forget her stupid left knee and its inconvenient issues), and then they were kissing again, and this kiss included all the things she’d been missing the first time.
His hands were on her butt, keeping her hips flush against his, andGod, he was so hard, and she wanted him so much that she didn’t even care about what a bad idea it was. She slid her hands beneath his shirt, exploring the taut muscles beneath. Every inch of him was hard. There probably wasn’t an ounce of fat anywhere on his body.
She trailed her fingers over the hard slope of his back and around to the drool-worthy six-pack of his abs. He’d been lean and muscular in high school, but now the guy was seriously built. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt muscles as prominently defined as Mark’s. As she shamelessly explored his abs, her fingers encountered another scar.
His body tensed against hers. She skimmed his scar with her fingers, and Jesus, it ran all the way from his navel to his hip, smooth and straight like a surgical scar. But there were others, raised and puckered in his flesh, tangible souvenirs of his time at war. Tears burned at the back of her eyes for whatever he’d been through. And since this was definitely not the time or place to ask, she slid her hands up, rewarded by a harsh groan from Mark as she pinched his nipples, causing them to constrict into tight buds.
Yeah, he’d always liked that.
He rocked his hips into her, deepening their kiss. His tongue thrust against hers, and her whole brain just wentpoof, leaving nothing behind but lust and want and need. Next thing she knew, he’d popped the clasp of her bra. His hands slid around to cup her breasts, and her nipples tightened into aching peaks, sending a bolt of fire straight to her core, where she already throbbed for him.
They kissed like that for what might have been minutes, hours, days…she’d lost all track of things like time and place. At some point, his hands slid down to cup her ass, lifting her off the ground so that his cock pressed between her legs. Their hips rocked together as they touched, kissing each other like their lives depended on it. And she was so turned on she might—
“Woof!”
Dammit. Jessica had almost forgotten the mutt was there, but when she looked down, she saw the dog sitting at Mark’s feet, staring up at them with a comical expression on her face.
Mark put Jessica down, and she stepped backward out of his arms, relieved to find that her knee felt much better. And wow, somehow things between them had gotten totally out of hand. She just stood there for a moment, gasping for breath, staring at Mark.
He was breathing pretty hard himself, and the heat in his gaze almost knocked her knees right out from under her all over again. Okay, she really, really liked this new and improved, more mature version of Mark. Maybe she’d been wrong to think he couldn’t change. And the chemistry between them?Holy shit.It had bugged the hell out of her throughout her adult life that sex had never been quite as good as she remembered it being with Mark. She’d been pretty sure she was just overexaggerating in her mind, but now? Maybe not.
“Wow,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “That was, um…”
Mark said nothing, his expression as frustratingly hard to read as ever.
She refastened her bra and then bent to pet the dog, for lack of anything better to do. What should she say? What did she even want? She had no idea anymore. Was it so terrible if they had sex? Maybe. Probably. If it got rid of all this sexual tension between them, then it might be a good thing. But if it was as good as it promised to be? It was better for her not to go there. No need to remind herself what she was missing because this was a man who’d never trust her with his heart, and she’d be smart to remember that fact.
She straightened to face him. “So, this kiss…maybe we should—”
“It’s forgotten,” he said, and turned away.
She blinked.What?Had she misread him? Had the attraction been one-sided? No. No way. He’d wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him. And yet it still cost him nothing to walk away.
Same old Mark.
Hurt and anger warred inside her. “Right. Forgotten.”
She spun and took off in the direction of the spa, walking as fast as her sore knee would allow. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking back so she kept her gaze straight ahead until she’d reached the back lot of the spa, chest heaving and knee throbbing.
Only then did she glance back into the woods behind her. But he wasn’t there.
***
Mark stood there for a long time, just staring in the direction Jess had gone. His pulse raced, and his heart…his heart felt full and empty at the same time. Jess had the power to light him up like no one else. She turned him on, sure. His need for her was greater than it had ever been for a woman. But he could control his sexual needs.
The problem was that Jess made himfeel.
And he hadn’t felt anything like this in a long time. Feelings were raw and messy and scary as fuck, and they usually ended with someone getting hurt. So when he’d seen the uncertainty in her eyes after they kissed, he’d seized the chance to put an end to this thing before it got any more out of hand than it already was.
