Understood (Unspoken 1)

bottom lip with her teeth.

“I don’t want to go home.”

“Then look at me, Ellie. Tell me who you see. Tell me who’s going to make love to you in about two minutes.”

“You are, Jake,” she whispered.

He covered her mouth with his, his need to taste her nearly overwhelming. He’d waited years for this moment. He sucked gently at her tongue, grazing it with his teeth.

He stared at her in confusion when she ended the kiss. Earnestness burned in her blue eyes as she pulled away.

“There’s something I want to say too, Jake. About the other night.”

He put a finger over her lips to shush her, but she shook her head.

She took in a deep breath, and he wondered what the hell she could possibly have to say that was worth interrupting the moment.

“Jake, the reason I went to that bar. I didn’t know you’d be there, you have to believe that.”

He frowned. “That makes it better? Hell, Ellie, what if I hadn’t been there? Have you thought about that?”

She colored and seemed to grow more anxious.

“The reason I went…I went because I hoped that if I could go through with it, I mean I did it because I wanted you. I had to be sure I could go through with it.”

He looked incredulously at her. “Am I supposed to be flattered that you thought you had to test drive some other cock in order to work up the nerve to climb into my bed?”

She shook her head vigorously. “That’s not what it was about.”

“Then what was it about?” he demanded.

Her gaze dropped, and he reached out to nudge her chin up. “I wanted it to be perfect,” she said quietly. “I wanted you. I felt pretty positive you wanted me. I didn’t want our first time together to be a disaster because I couldn’t go through with it. I thought…I thought if I went to bed with another man, I could get past my demons.”

Her lips trembled as the last words came tumbling out. He swore softly under his breath even as his chest tightened at her admission.

“I’m so damn tempted to turn you over my knee and spank your ass. Of all the fool-headed, cockamamie things. Do you honestly think I’d sit back and be grateful you went to bed with another man before offering yourself to me on a silver platter?”

Her blue eyes glimmered with a hint of moisture as she stared back at him.

He moved his hand from her chin and stroked it over her cheek. “Ellie,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t expect you to pretend. Not with me. Never with me. You don’t have to put up a brave front and act like no one’s ever hurt you.

“Do you understand how much I want you? Not your idea of perfection. I want you. Just the way you are. I want you so damn much I ache.”

Her eyes widened.

“Do you want me, Ellie? Do you ache like I do?”

She leaned forward, reaching a hand to his face. The sheet fell once more, and this time she didn’t try to retrieve it. Her fingers slid over his jaw, and he turned his face so he could kiss the smooth skin of her palm.

“I do want you, Jake. So very much. And you’re right. I’m not afraid of you. You’re the only person I feel safe with. But I’m afraid of me.”

He looked hungrily at her. “Then trust me to make this perfect for both of us.”

“I do, Jake. I do.”

Chapter Five

Ellie’s breath caught then released with a small hiccup. Jake stared so intently at her, his words wrapping around her and squeezing tight.

His head bobbed close to hers. Their noses dodged, and he tilted his head until he was at the perfect angle to meet her lips.

Heat sizzled and sparked between them. She felt him in every single cell. Her breasts tingled, and her nipples tightened painfully. Currents of desire fanned out, the sheer power making her weak.

His hand snaked around her neck until he palmed the back of her head. He burrowed his fingers into her mane of hair, and he pulled her closer.

“You taste so sweet,” he murmured.

“Are you going to get undressed?” she asked.

He smiled. “In a hurry, sweetheart?”

Yeah, she was in a hurry. She couldn’t wait to see his body. Feel his naked skin on hers.

He rose from the bed and stood just a foot away. With slow, measured movements, he pulled his flannel shirt from his waistband then began unbuttoning.

Her pulse sped up as he parted the lapels and she caught her first glimpse of his muscled chest. He shrugged out of the sleeves and let the shirt fall to the floor.

Holy moly. He had the most gorgeous chest she’d ever seen on a man, bar none. Broad shoulders, bulging arms, an abdomen with a pronounced six-pack. She nearly had to wipe the drool from her mouth. Never. Never had she imagined anything close to the reality staring her in the face.

He lowered his thumbs until they hooked into his waistband. His fingers worked at the snap. Then she heard the bite of the zipper.

She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until it all came rushing out. He lowered his jeans, his underwear coming with them. The thatch of dark hair at his groin came into view and then the thick base of his cock.

The material of the jeans pulled at the straining flesh until finally he sprang free. Her eyes widened in shock. Her gaze shot up to meet Jake’s.

He grinned. A cocky, self-assured grin. “I’ll fit, sweetheart. You’ll take all of me. And you’ll love every minute of it.”

Heat flooded her, rushing to her cheeks. Her clit hummed and strained. She shifted to try and alleviate the discomfort between her legs. She ached. Jake had asked if she ached. But she wasn’t sure if the word did justice to the very real pain she felt.

The bed dipped as Jake crawled up beside her. His big body hovered over hers until finally he collected her in his arms and pulled her up tight against him.

“You’re beautiful. I’ve dreamed of this moment. Longer than you’ll ever know.”

Her lips were temptingly close to the curve of his neck, and she gave in to the urge to sink her teeth into the corded muscles that formed the ridge between his shoulder and the base of his head.

He flinched and emitted a low moan. Emboldened by his response, she nibbled a path to his ear where she swirled her tongue around the lobe before nipping sharply at it.

“Goddamn, Ellie!”

She smiled and continued her assault.

“You’ve got to stop, sweetheart. I won’t last a nanosecond if you keep that up.”

He gently pushed her away until her head rested on the soft pillow. He positioned himself above her, his green eyes blazing with a need she knew mirrored her own.

She reached up a hand to trace the lines of his face, stopping when her fingers reached his lips. He sucked one of the digits into his mouth, nibbling lightly at the tip.

He seemed patient, something that surprised her. Jake wasn’t the patient type. He was demanding, sometimes even surly. He tended to be abrupt, and he had no tolerance for procrastination. Yet, he lay there, regarding her with a lazy air.

“Why are you staring at me?” she asked.

“You’re beautiful, that’s why. I’ve never met a woman who makes me shake like you do.”

She smiled. She couldn’t help it. What woman wouldn’t want to hear that she affected a man like Jake?

“I want you to love me, Jake.”

With a harsh groan, he bent and slid hot, hungry lips over hers. Gone was the patience. He devoured her like a man starved.

She twisted restlessly underneath him. Her skin burned. She wanted. God, she wanted. It consumed her, tore into her like a jagged blade.

His mouth worked fervently down her neck to her chest until his lips closed around one pointed nipple. As he sucked the tip into his mouth, she cried out.

She felt the pinch between her legs as streaks of electricity raced from her abdomen.

“Feel good, sweetheart?”

“Oh God…”

He chuckled before slid

ing his hard body down hers, kicking the covers back as he went. He stopped when his mouth was even with her sensitive belly, and he ran his tongue around the indention of her navel.