Until Jake

She crossed to the refrigerator and yanked on the handle. Kate retrieved the marinating meat from the fridge and the tongs from the container next to the stove. She then passed through the opened patio door and placed each ribeye on the rack below the already baking potatoes.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Jake prop a broad shoulder against the doorframe and cross his arms over his chest.

“There’s not going to be a ‘next time’… Is there, Kate?”

She didn’t know what to say.

Jake pushed away from the doorframe and took a few steps forward, closing the gap between them with his long stride. He pried the tongs from her hand and removed the steaks from the grill, putting them back on the plate. Then he shut the grill off and returned to the kitchen.

She trailed after him, perplexed.

“What are you doing?”

“No sense in wasting food.” He set the plate in the fridge. Then he faced Kate and removed his jacket, draping it over the back of a chair in the breakfast nook.

She stared, wide-eyed, mouth gaping, as he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the insanely tempting torso she’d fantasized about all week.

He jerked the material from the waist of his pants and the shirt fell open. “This is what you want, right?”

Kate was stunned into silence. But her head, somehow of its own accord, bobbed up and down. Uncouth though it was.

“I can handle that,” he said. “I wanted you the first time I saw you.” And then he reached for her and pulled her into his strong arms. His tight embrace crushed her to him and suddenly, before she could even breathe or process what was happening, his mouth was on hers.

And Kate was lost…

Acting on primal instinct alone, her lips parted at the exact moment his did. And when his tongue delved deep, she clung to him, giving herself over to all the sparks he instantly ignited.

Jake kissed her with the kind of reckless abandon that conveyed his own lust and need. All of which seemed to be channeled toward her.

One of his hands wedged between their pressed bodies and his palm covered her rib cage, then glided upward to her breast. Heat rolled through her. She yearned for absolutely no barriers between them, not a stitch of clothing. Again…all she wanted to feel was his hot skin and his hard muscles.

Kate broke the kiss. Without even thinking about it, she said, “Fuck me,” in a sultry, breathy voice.

He let out a low groan, his gaze turning downright sinful. He backed her up against the wall and his mouth and hands were on her once more. Their kiss sizzled. His fingers curled around the hem of her dress and he shoved the material up so that it bunched at her waist. Kate’s excitement skyrocketed as Jake’s large hands seized her hips but for a moment and then one hand shifted, slipping between her legs. He whisked aside the lace covering her. His fingertips swept along her slick skin.

Kate tore her mouth from his to suck in a slice of air. Jake’s head remained dipped, his lips close to hers, their ragged breaths mingling as he stroked her sensitive folds.

Her nails dug into his rock-hard biceps as the anticipation swelled within her. More than anything, she wanted him to ease his fingers into her pussy, which was wet and so ready for him. But he took his time, getting her even more worked up.

She released one of his upper arms and threaded her fingers through his lush blond hair. He was still only teasing her, stroking her slowly. Until she was ridiculously hot and bothered.

Finally—finally—the pad of one finger moved over her throbbing clit, circling it slowly with just the right amount of pressure…

Kate’s lids fluttered closed. Her head fell back. A soft moan tumbled from her lips.

She tingled from head to toe and a tremor rippled down her legs.

Jake hastened the pace. Added a bit more pressure.

“Like that,” she whispered, the sensations expanding, cresting, until they erupted and she cried out, “Oh, God!”

She came hard and fast. The vibrant release making her pulse pound in her ears and her body vibrate.

Kate hadn’t even caught her breath or regained coherent thought when two of his long, tapered fingers pumped into her.

“Yes,” she pleaded. “I need to come again.”

The guilt she’d suffered earlier vanished. The shame of inviting a man over strictly for no-strings-attached sex didn’t even register. For the first time in two years, Kate wasn’t recoiling from the sting of rejection or the emotional pain of deception.