In the Line of Duty (First Responders 2)

“Stop,” she said, licking her lips and gasping for breath. “I want…I need…”

Her cheeks were flushed and he couldn’t resist one long, slow stroke. She blinked and dug her fingers into his shoulder. “Please,” she begged. “Roll over, Jake.”

Roll over. Desire coiled low in his belly as he slid his arm beneath her and rolled, taking her with him until she sat astride his hips. She lifted her hips and then repositioned, moving tentatively at first but then faster and stronger, tightening around him. He couldn’t hold on much longer, not with the way she was moving and how she tilted her head back, making her hair fall over her shoulders as the urgency built. A hoarse cry tore from her throat as her muscles convulsed, and he lost his tentative grip on control. His cries blended with hers as she slipped forward, her soft breasts pressed against his chest, the pounding of her heart and her quick breaths imprinted on his skin.

After a few seconds of catching their breath, she put her hands on his chest and pushed herself up, still sitting on his hips, still holding him inside her. Her skin was rosy and her eyes bright… Good God, what a sight she made, all feminine power and prowess that he’d never expected from the uptight little package he thought he knew.

This…this was a woman he could fall for. Goddamn.

“That,” she said with a satisfied smile, “was incredible.”

“You’re telling me,” he answered, uncomfortable with the odd pull on his heart.

“So much better than…” She blushed. “Oh, that’s the wrong thing to say, isn’t it?”

And there it was. The innocence he always seemed to glimpse in her, behind the rule follower and starchy persona. Better than what? Better than who? Right now even the idea of her being in another man’s arms made him feel possessiveness he’d never felt before.

Shit. He was falling for her.

Chapter Seven

Jake had pulled the covers over them at some point through the night. Right now Kendra was on her side, Jake spooned up behind her, his body strong and warm as it held her in a protective cocoon. His hand was on her breast and she took a moment to enjoy the odd but pleasurable sensation of the sheets caressing her naked skin.

Making love with Jake had been so much more than she’d expected. What she’d needed was a hard and fast release from the stress of the day. Something to blast away the tension that had been dogging her for days now. Ever since…well, ever since she’d responded to his break and enter. At first she’d thought it was simple physical attraction.

But now she wasn’t so sure. She’d come to him last night because she’d needed him. She knew that now. She’d needed to talk it out with someone who understood. And sex hadn’t been just a distraction. There’d been that moment, the one where he’d stopped and gazed into her eyes. Her heart was involved. She cared about Jake. She wasn’t in love with him…she wasn’t really capable of being in love with anyone, was she? If she was, wouldn’t it have happened at least once by now?

His hand shifted, gently fondling her breast, and arousal coiled itself through her again. The only other time she’d had sex had been to finally rid herself of the albatross of virginity that had hung around her neck. After a certain age, it was just weird, wasn’t it? To never have been with a man? She’d liked Mark and it had been…pleasant enough, she’d supposed.

But it was gray and pale in comparison to what had exploded between her and Jake here last night. It was glorious and scared her to death at the same time.

Jake nudged closer, his intentions crystal clear, and she closed her eyes. Jake wasn’t the kind of man most women considered a keeper, was he? And the last thing he’d want to do the morning after was a whole post-mortem of the whys and wherefores.

She’d get up, get dressed and move on.

Later, she thought, as his tongue touched the skin of her shoulder blade. Right after she sated this hunger that suddenly burned inside her. Surely once more would satisfy her for good…

Turkey and cheese on whole grain was not exactly what Kendra would call a gourmet dinner, but at least it was decent fuel. She stood in her small kitchen, still in her shorts and sport bra, both damp from her hour-long session with dumbbells and the yoga mat. She’d worked her chest and arms today, alternating pushups with curls and triceps extensions. Right now her criteria for supper were simple. It had to have protein and it couldn’t be anything that required her to lift her arms farther than shoulder height. They were currently like jelly.

She was halfway through her sandwich and on her third glass of water when there was a knock on her door.

She looked through the Judas hole and saw Jake standing there. She hadn’t seen him since that morning…the morning they’d left things friendly but ambiguous. She didn’t think being with Jake had been a mistake, but neither was she looking for a relationship. Apparently Jake wasn’t either, because he hadn’t put up any argument. If anything, they’d parted on relaxed terms.

Only she hadn’t felt all that relaxed. Because she couldn’t escape the memory of how it had felt to be curled up in his lap, to cry on his shoulder and to wake up with him surrounding her the next morning. Those things had nothing to do with sex…and that made her uneasy.

“Kendra, open up.”

She stepped back from the door as if he could see through the peephole on the other side. What a ninny she was. Letting out a breath, she snagged her T-shirt from a chair and pulled it over her head before s

he opened the door.

“Jake. What brings you by?”

It was casual and cool and she gave herself a mental pat on the back. He stepped inside and held out a piece of paper. “I thought you might be interested in this. It could be fun, if you’re not on shift.”

She took the yellow paper from his hands and read the black printing. “A golf tournament?”

“It’s a benefit on the Labor Day weekend for one of my parent’s neighbors. Their kid is really sick and my dad’s a member of the club. A bunch of them got together and organized it as a fundraiser. We’ve got corporate sponsors lined up and it’s forty dollars for the day. That gives you your green fees, a cart and a steak dinner at the end of the day.”