Cupping her face with both hands, he tilted his head to the side to get a better angle. Tracing her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, he said a silent prayer of thanks when Olivia opened her mouth and invited him in.
Jake grunted shamelessly when he got his first real taste.Yearshe’d denied himself this. For the life of him, right now, he couldn’t even remember why.
Their soft, tentative touches disappeared as they began to devour each other. Her tongue thrust against his. She tasted better than he’d ever imagined. All sweet and minty, and so very—
“Olivia.”
Jake hadn’t meant to say her name out loud, but she must have liked hearing it, because Olivia took more control then. Her fingernails dug into the back of his neck, the pleasurable pain sending what little blood he had left in his body straight to his cock.
Almost frantically, Jake moved his hands down lower, not stopping until they rested against her narrow hips. Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was getting closer to her. Taking more of her.I need all of her.
His fingers caressed the bit of silky, exposed skin at her waist as they continued to suck and lick and nibble. Slowly, Jake moved his hands up and under her shirt. When he brushed against the bottom swells of her breasts, she let out a sexy-as-fuck sound of approval.
Jesus. He’d never been so hard in his life. He couldn’t get enough of her. But when his hold on her tightened, and Olivia cried out, Jake instinctively knew it wasn’t from pleasure.
Dropping his hands, he immediately pulled back. They both stilled, their ragged breaths cutting through the jungle’s cool air. Jake didn’t think he’d held her that tightly, but he’d been so wrapped up in that heart-stopping kiss, he must have squeezed harder than he’d meant to.
Ah, hell. Guilt swiftly assaulted him. Jake realized Olivia was probably bruised from when he’d knocked her to the ground earlier to take cover. Three fucking times.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted.
Olivia’s face filled with disappointment, the moment clearly over. Damn, he could relate.
“It’s okay,” she offered quickly. “It’s not your fault.”
Jake’s gaze fell over her. Even in the dark, he could tell that Olivia’s lips were red and swollen from their kiss. He gently caressed her plump bottom lip. “I shouldn’t have knocked you down so hard earlier when we were taking cover.”
Olivia’s brow creased and shook her head. He lowered his hand when she began speaking.
“No, it wasn’t you. I was already bruised. From before.” She broke eye contact as her voice trailed off.
It took Jake a moment to process her words before understanding hit with an unforgivable force. “Scarface?” he asked gruffly.
Olivia nodded.
Jake murmured a curse, but then clamped his jaw shut. He looked away, needing to get a grip on his emotions. Reaching to his side, he grabbed his pocket-sized LED flashlight from his bag.
When he felt as though he could speak without scaring the hell out of her, Jake said, “Show me.” He grimaced. Ok, so maybe he wasn’t as calm as he thought.
“It’s nothing, Jake.”
Olivia started to move away, but he held her still by pressing the palm of his other hand against her lower back. Jake was used to their battle of wills. He also knew how to win them.
“Show. Me.” The look he gave, coupled with his serious tone, allowed no room for argument.
Resigned, she raised the left side of the shirt. Jake thumbed the light on and moved his head around to get a better look.
He hissed a breath of air through his teeth when he saw the nasty bruise covering Olivia’s ribs. Jake had been given plenty just like it over the years, and knew exactly how she’d gotten hers.
He gently probed the tender flesh. She flinched, but his experience told him they were most likely just badly bruised and not broken. Still painful as hell, though. When he spoke again, Jake couldn’t hide his disgust.
“Hekickedyou?” Olivia closed her eyes and nodded. Jake felt sick. “Jesus, baby. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay.” She cut him off as she scooted free of his embrace. This time, he let her go.
Not making eye contact, she spoke too quickly. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have kissed you. Not even sure why I did. Adrenaline, probably. Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.”
Jake was surprised at how much the idea of never kissing her again hurt. He also hated the embarrassment she was clearly trying to hide. None of that mattered, though, because despite what Olivia just said, itwouldhappen again. Just not right now.
