Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love 1)

He held her right on the edge of orgasm, until the only way he could still the writhing of her hips was to hold her down, until she was feverish and desperate. He waited until her entire focus was one thing and one thing only. Him. Only then did he shift her underneath him, trapping her with his weight. Now there was no time for breathless anticipation. No time to ask herself if she was going to be able to handle him. There was no slow, gentle option, no time for her to worry that she might not be able to accommodate the thickness of him. Instead he thrust deeply, timing it perfectly.

He filled her, driving into her in a perfect rhythm until he brought pleasure crashing down on both of them in brutal waves. She cried out, her orgasm so intense and so prolonged that for a moment the world around her disappeared. She was aware of him and him alone, of the hard heat of his body, the uneven rasp of his breathing and the shudders of his own release.

Afterward she lay still and shocked, unable to comprehend that she was capable of a response like that.

Jake pulled her against him in a possessive gesture, wrapping her in warmth. “Sleep.”

“I’m too awake to sleep. And how can anyone sleep with a view like this in front of them?”

“Sleepless in Manhattan.” There was a smile in his voice. “There’s plenty about this city that tempts you to stay awake.”

Him.

He was the reason she wanted to stay awake. She didn’t want to miss a single moment of being with him. She didn’t want morning to come, but soon it would and she knew she had to leave before that happened.

Jake didn’t invite women back here, let alone invite them to stay over.

She didn’t want him to regret what they’d done.

Forcing herself to move, she eased out of his arms and slid out of bed.

Jake shifted onto his elbow, the muscles of his arms bunching as he watched her with that dark, sleepy gaze. “Where are you going?”

It was no wonder he didn’t bring women back here, she thought, because what woman in her right mind would want to leave when there was a man like him in the bed?

“Home.” Providing she could walk in a straight line on her jelly legs. She felt like a tightrope walker, conscious of every step as she walked through the open doors of the bedroom into the living room and swiftly gathered up her clothes. They were spread across his wooden floor like stepping stones, a treasure trail marking the adventure that had led from the front door to the bed. “Thanks for a great evening, Jake.”

“Wait—shit—stop! You’re leaving? It’s virtually the middle of the night.” He slid out of bed and followed her, padding through the apartment with the lithe grace of a jungle cat. “You can’t leave now. Come back to bed. That’s an order.”

He had the body of a Greek god, all honed muscle and virile, tensile strength. How was she supposed to concentrate when he walked around naked?

She pulled on her skirt and then her shirt before she could change her mind. “Put some clothes on, Jake. Over there in Brooklyn some woman is probably watching you through her telescope.”

“Telescope?” His eyes gleamed with wicked humor. “You think it needs magnifying?”

“I—” She remembered how careful he’d been with her, how he’d given her time to adjust and heat infused her cheeks. “Go back to bed.”

He grinned and stayed right where he was. “You’re cute when you blush.”

“You’re not cute.” The way he was looking at her made her stumble over her shoes and her words. She’d known him for years, but this was a different Jake. A sleepy, sexy, dangerous Jake. “You’re infuriating.”

“Admit it, the sex was incredible.”

She jammed her feet into her shoes and stumbled. “It was slightly above average.”

“Honey, I turn you on so badly you can hardly walk.”

“That’s bullshit. I can walk just fine.”

He rubbed his hand across his jaw, not bothering to hide the smile. “You’d find it easier if you put your feet in the right shoes.”

She glared at him and kicked her shoes off. “No one is going to need a telescope to see your ego, that’s for sure.”

“Tell me why you’re leaving, Cinderella.”

Her heart bumped hard against her chest. “Because those are the rules.”

“There are no rules for what you and I just did. It was one night—we both know that.” And Paige needed to leave now, before she started to question that decision. And before he had second thoughts about what they’d done.