“Oh, Officer,” Jake teased, eyeing her lace bra with appreciation. “That’s some concealed weapon you’ve got there.”
“What, this?” It was all new to her, but she was willing to experiment even as heat rose in her cheeks. She ran her finger down her cleavage until it caught at the front clasp of the bra. She toyed with it for a moment, her gaze never leaving his as she raised a teasing eyebrow. “This is everyday issue.”
“Really.” He stepped forward and reached for the waistband of her trousers. “I can’t wait to see what else you’re hiding.”
She slipped out of the pants and stood before him in matching satin-and-lace panties. “Do they meet your specifications, sir?” she asked, turning in a slow circle.
“Ken,” he murmured, catching her around the waist and pulling her close. “If I’d known you had these on under your uniform…”
“You what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I wouldn’t have waited so long to ask you out. You’re beautiful, you know that?”
She was fairly sure she wasn’t, but his words lit something inside her anyway. She felt beautiful, whether she truly was or not.
Jake reached behind her, slid the elastic from the back of her braid and tucked it in his pocket before plunging his hands into the dark strands, teasing them out of the plait until her hair fell in waves to her shoulders. “I love your hair down,” he murmured as he threaded his fingers through it. It felt so good, the way his fingertips massaged her scalp before sliding through her hair to her shoulders. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, enjoying the sensation until she heard a guttural sound from his lips and felt his mouth touch the hollow of her throat.
His left hand slid beneath the waistband of her panties, cupping her bottom and pulling her close against the zipper of his jeans, a promise of what lay ahead.
“You’re getting ahead of me,” she chided, trying desperately not t
o lose herself to his touch so quickly. She wanted to give as well as receive. Wanted to take control as well as be controlled. She unbuttoned his jeans and slipped her hands inside to rub against the soft cotton of his briefs, feeling the hard warmth of him against her hand as his hips pressed forward involuntarily.
She gave a little squeal as he looped an arm beneath her legs and picked her up. It was incredibly cliché, and she adored every second of it as he took her to the bed and laid her atop the spread.
Then he stood back, stripped off his shirt and dropped it on the floor. He slid his jeans the rest of the way down and knelt on the bed beside her.
He slid the hook from the loop of her bra and revealed her breasts as he dropped the bra to the floor on top of his clothes. She lay back, her hair splayed across his pillow as he reached for her panties and slid them down her legs.
She was naked. On Jake Symonds’s bed. And she was so ready for him her whole body throbbed with it.
He raked his eyes over her body, sliding his gaze back up to rest on her face. “Beautiful,” he confirmed.
Jake told himself to take his time. In the few hours since she’d walked up to the bar and ordered a drink, he’d run through more emotions than he cared to recall. They had all brought him here, to this moment, with her.
With Kendra, stretched out naked and willing on his bed. Exactly as he’d imagined her after the day at the beach. Only better. Her hair spread across the white of his pillow like an ocean wave, and her hands rested on either side of her head, making her breasts lift and damn near beg for his touch. Her belly was hollow and hard—God, he loved her physicality—and her legs were long and lean, and if he didn’t take time to think, to slow down, he’d be between them right now and pleasuring them both.
But that would be over too soon, and he wanted tonight to last. He needed it to last. Needed, like she did, to feel full of life and energy and exist in the moment rather than think about the past or worry about the future.
So he forced himself to take his time. To make it last, to make it good for both of them.
He started with her lips, tasting them, running his tongue over the softness of them. He explored her mouth, closing his eyes, loving the feel of her tongue twisting with his as small sounds of pleasure hummed in her throat.
Next he feasted on her breasts, exploring them with the pads of his fingers, replacing the tactile trails with his mouth. So soft, the curved swells sweet and salty on his tongue as he pulled the pebbled tips into his mouth. Then the sensitive indent of her stomach, which hollowed as she gasped at the first sensation of lips to skin.
And finally, when he couldn’t wait any longer, he kissed her intimately, his heart hammering a victorious tattoo as she surrendered, opening her knees to allow him access. Her fingers found his hair and caressed his scalp as he tasted her.
But ultimately it wasn’t enough. He needed her. Needed to be inside her, to feel her surround him completely. He slid off the bed, went to the table beside the bed and took out a condom. He’d bought the box after their day at the beach. What had happened that afternoon had been a surprise. Despite how it had ended, he hadn’t wanted to be surprised again and caught without protection.
They’d been heading this way all along, hadn’t they?
When he came back to the bed she was watching him with eyes that glittered like dark sapphires. He didn’t look away but let himself get lost in her eyes, let himself give in to the connection that ran between them, hot and insistent. Her long lashes fluttered as he slid inside her. She felt so good, so tight and warm and right. He hesitated, savoring the moment of being joined for the first time, watched as her eyes opened. Something inside him shifted, something fragile and not quite identifiable, but something important just the same. The teasing smile slid from his lips as he put his weight on one arm and touched her cheek with his free hand. He felt…tenderness. He cared about her like he hadn’t allowed himself to care about anyone in a long time. And he hadn’t even seen it coming.
She ran her thumb over his lower lip, then slid her hand down to grasp his hip. She shifted, a subtle turning movement that made him forget everything but the delicious sensation of being inside her.
“Jake,” she whispered, her voice a seductive sigh in the low light. “Mmm, Jake.”
The soft way she said his name nearly did him in, and he slid a hand under her bottom for leverage. He hadn’t guessed she could be this way. So gorgeous, so free, so perfect. He was nearly to the breaking point when she put her hands on his hips.