First Time For Everything

The disappointment in her face was almost his undoing. Apparently, she thought he was about to push her away again.

“Impressive list,” she said. “Which just about describes everything I’m not. So why are you telling me all this?”

“Because I want to be clear where I’m coming from before I spend tonight making you the single exception to all of those rules.”

Gaze locked on his, Jax blinked, her fingers frozen on his shirt. “When did you come to this decision?”

“Fifteen minutes ago.”

“That long, huh?” She lifted an amused brow. “Logical thinking doesn’t come as naturally to me as it apparently does to you,” she said, and then she popped the second button of his shirt open, sending a crippling surge of pleasure through his body.

Blake gripped her hips, his fingers splayed along her backside, his tone rough. “I’ll take that as consent.”

“It’d be pretty dense of you if you didn’t.”

Hands clutching her gentle curves, he walked her backward and trapped her against the cottage door. With one more step, he brought them flush, his erection pressed just above the V at her thighs, and he bit back the groan of pleasure.

Soon.

Need coursed through him, but he’d be damned if he’d come unglued now. Never mind that it had been months since he’d last touched a woman. And it didn’t matter that this was Jax, the woman who had him so twisted in knots he feared he’d never untangle his emotions.

He was going to do this right.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to do to you since that day in the limo,” Jax said.

Blake went still, ready to patiently enjoy any and all activities the beautiful lady had planned. “Feel free to do whatever you’d like, Ms. Lee,” Blake murmured, fingers biting into her hips.

She arched an eyebrow coyly. “Whatever?”

The thrill almost brought him to his knees. “Whatever.”

A sly grin stretched across her face as she lifted her hands to his head, threading her fingers through his hair, gently mussing the strands.

A look of satisfaction settled on her face. “It was a long time in coming, but it’s been well worth the wait.”

“Messing up my hair?” he asked incredulously.

“The rumpled look goes well with your midnight shadow,” she said, rubbing her soft palms against the stubble on his chin.

When she dropped her hands down to his arms, he said, “Is that all?”

A quick flash of hurt and confusion flitted through her eyes, and Blake suddenly felt like a bastard.

But she hiked that stubborn chin. “I don’t want to be responsible for making you lose all that careful control of yours,” she said with a lofty air. Sliding her hands to his chest, her secretive grin returned as she began to release more buttons on his shirt. “You might end up hurting yourself.”

“You don’t frighten me.”

Jax cocked her head, her fingers working her way lower. “Should I be offended?”

“Absolutely not.”

Her hands reached the buttons at his abdomen, her knuckles brushing his skin, and his gut clenched in fierce anticipation.

Hoping his fingers weren’t digging too deep into the soft flesh of her hips, Blake breathed in her scent, wishing she’d go faster. And needing to remind her about his cuffs. “Jax—”

“Don’t interrupt my concentration,” she said.

Her fingers fumbled a little as she struggled to pop the bottom buttons, her hands near the erection that was clearly outlined beneath his pants. A small line formed between her eyebrows as she focused on her task.

Blake’s heart twisted at the adorable look on her face. This was no artful seduction. There was no sophistication in her movements. Beneath the teasing humor, he could pick up on her tension.

Sassy, spunky Jacqueline Lee was nervous.

And knowing she felt out of her league seducing him was a surprise.

Pulling out the tail of his shirt, she clamped her teeth on her lower lip and tugged his shirt down behind his back. When the shirtsleeves got stuck on his wrists, buttons firmly in place, a short gasp of disbelief escaped her lips.

The small sound, combined with the look of total frustration on her face, was endearing, and a low chuckle escaped his lips. “I tried to warn you to unbutton the cuffs.”