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Still, she imagined what she and Jamie might do together, her autopilot keeping her compact on the highway. When she looked up again, they were cruising into Lewisville. Along the town’s main drag, on the corner, she saw her shop and pulled into the parking lot behind the building as the sun dipped toward the horizon. Lewisville looked its best this time of day. Even then, it still appeared older, sometimes a bit neglected. Most children raised here left the moment they could. Bristol wondered why she’d stayed. Concern for her mother and sister? Memories of Daddy? Or being too afraid to leave everything she’d ever known?
Shaking off the thought, she stepped out of her car, purse on her shoulder, as Jamie climbed off his bike.
“Cute little town,” he said.
“Small.”
“Quaint,” he corrected.
“That’s a nice way of putting it.” She gestured to her place. “Want the tour?”
“Sure.”
She let them both in the back door. She mostly kept supplies here, along with a small office in the corner. Flipping on lights, she led him into her kitchen, which sparkled—just as it did every day after the close of business. Her industrial oven and mixer gleamed. Pristine stainless countertops covered the length of two walls, waiting for her to create the next yummy treat. She’d had to get a loan from a bank in Texarkana since the town’s one financial institution had refused to loan funds to a “kid,” but she’d done it on her own. And she was proud.
“So this is where the dough happens?” He winked.
“Yeah. And up front here…” Bristol directed him through the next door and into the front of the shop with its display cases and bistro tables. “This is the customer area. I can only seat twenty since the building is a converted brownstone and this room is the former parlor. But I’m proud of it.”
Jamie looked around, seeming to take in every nuance. His eyes gleamed with appreciation. “It’s got a lot of charm. Most places I go have none.”
She frowned. “What has you traveling so much?”
“Gotta make a buck.” He shrugged. “So do you live somewhere near your shop?”
She wondered what he did for a living but got the feeling he didn’t want to talk about it. And did she really need to know if they were simply going to have a fling? “Upstairs.”
Maybe it didn’t seem smart to take a stranger home, but instinct told her Jamie wasn’t dangerous. Besides, her family and friends knew who she’d gone home with. Jayla would no doubt check on her.
Bristol took Jamie’s hand and guided him back to her stock room and to the staircase along one wall she and Jayla had restored to its original gleaming wood, just like the floors.
Together, she and Jamie charged up to her apartment, and she unlocked the door. As it creaked open, the last golden rays of the day illuminated her rustic chic space—the cozy white sofa, the glass table built on whiskey barrels, the braided rug under her grandmother’s dining room table.
He glanced around, then cocked his head in thought. “It’s you.”
She smiled and shut the door behind them, flipping on the overhead lights. “Yeah?”
“Comfortable, happy, unvarnished. I like it.”
“Thanks.” He seemed to get her, and that did Bristol’s heart a world of good. Hayden had hated this place. He liked things grander and more formal, not an eclectic grouping of her favorite things. He called antiques “recycled junk.” “But you didn’t come all the way to Lewisville to comment on my decor, right?”
“No.” He turned to her, his hands suddenly engulfing her hips, his stare drilling down into her eyes. “I did not.”
“So what did you come to do?” she challenged.
He gave her a panty-melting grin as he pulled her closer, fitting her flush against his body where she could feel every inch of him. “Make you glad you let me follow you home.”
Bristol swallowed and lifted her face to him. “Are you finally going to kiss me?”
“Eager?”
She gave him a coy shrug. “A little.”
“Let’s see if we can make that a lot.” He took her face in his hands.
She flashed back to the bar, in the instant before their lips had nearly met. Heart pounding, blood racing, need reeling… Yeah, she’d cursed her mother’s interruption. But since then, her anticipation had grown. She wanted him more now. Maybe Mama had done her a favor in the long run. They wouldn’t be interrupted here.
“You’re welcome to try.” She gave him a wicked grin.
He didn’t say a word, just dipped his head toward her. Bristol held her breath. Her heart felt suspended in the moment and too filled with anticipation to beat. No man had ever excited her so much with a mere word or smile. She wondered how she’d handle his kiss.
“Look at me,” he insisted, his voice gruff and low.
Her lashes fluttered open, and she peered up at the deepest, darkest eyes she’d ever lost herself in.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “I wanted to see you, get closer to you. This may be temporary but it isn’t impersonal.”
“It’s not,” she whispered.
He caressed her face, shifted a hand behind her neck, fingers sifting through her hair. Bristol hadn’t thought it possible, but he looked even more serious. “Good.”
Finally, he brushed his lips over hers, the touch full of gentle command and electric thrill. A sizzle flashed over her skin. Her heart started thumping again, now beating a rapid tattoo against her chest.
Jamie pulled back enough to stare down at her again, searching her face for something. He caressed her other cheek with his warm palm. “God, I’ve got to taste your mouth, your skin. All of you.”
Before she could say a word, he captured her lips once more, this time crashing into her, hungry, demanding, as if he couldn’t get to her fast enough. He took her mouth as if he owned her, and Bristol wasn’t prepared for his onslaught. His touch made her dizzy. No, he did. His musky scent surrounded her, dangerous, sexy, as he pressed his chest to her beating heart and consumed her.
He was above her, around her, all over her. Reaching up on her tiptoes, she threw her arms around his neck, every bit as desperate to get to him, and gasped into his kiss.
Bristol wrapped the hem of his tank in her fists and tugged up. He grabbed her wrists and swept them over her head, forcing them against the wall as he stared at her, panting, searching, naked hunger tightening his face. “Bedroom?”
The dark snap of his voice made her tremble. “End of the hall.”
“Let’s go.” He bent and lifted her, wrapping her legs around his hips and covering her mouth with his again.
But instead of heading in that direction, Jamie shoved her to the wall and pressed himself against her. She swore she could feel his heart beating wildly. Then she forgot everything when he tightened his grip on her thighs and fitted his hips between them, rocking against her sex, right where he’d made her ache for him most.
Bristol gave a soft moan and writhed against him. It had been a while since she’d had a lover, but she had never felt anything so explosive, so connected. So right.
She pulled at his shirt again, perfectly happy with the idea that they might not make it to the bedroom. Here against this wall would be every bit as amazing, she’d bet.
He tore his mouth from hers. “How the fuck are you undoing me so fast?”
“It’s…” Chemistry. “Something’s happening between us. I…” Need you.
“Yeah. Me, too.” He plowed her mouth again, his tongue surging deep, his kiss thorough, as if he meant to stake his claim. “I’m glad we’re alone. I want to please every part of you. I want your body to know who owns it tonight. I want you to equate me with pleasure until all you have to do is hear my voice to get wet. I don’t want you to have the slightest urge to ever say no.”
“I can’t imagine ever refusing you anything, Jamie…” She couldn’t catch her breath, and it didn’t matter now. Not as long as he was touching her.
He mumbled
a curse before smoothing out his expression. Then he started down the hall finally, every step providing friction between them in the most delicious places. Fresh tingles erupted. Desire settled between her legs—an ache so sharp it stunned. They were still fully dressed. He hadn’t done anything more than kiss her. But Bristol already suspected he would be the man by which she measured all others.
Jamie kicked the slightly ajar bedroom door open wide. Shakespurr scrambled off his perch on the windowsill with a startled meow, then scampered out of the room. Bristol barely noticed because Jamie carried her to the bed and tossed her to the mattress, following her down and covering her body with his own. He broke their kiss only long enough to tear her lacy shell from her torso and toss it across the room. Then he took her mouth again, nipping at her bottom lip and stealing inside, shredding her sanity.
Bristol tugged at his tank, frantically sliding her hands under the cotton to reach the supple skin over hard muscle. She longed to feel him, drink him in, make him a part of her for however long she could.
Finally, he tore his shirt off, sitting up enough so she could get a good look at him. Bristol nearly swallowed her tongue. Oh. Dear. God. The longer she looked at him, the more the dizzying fever of desire spun inside her. She raked her palms up the ridges of his abdomen, over the bronzed bulges of his torso. She traced the tribal tattoo on his shoulder, sucking in a breath at his iron flesh beneath her touch. Unable to resist, she skated her fingertips down his chest again, taking the time to circle one of his nipples. She delighted in watching them both go hard. Goosebumps broke out all over his body.
“Don’t push me too hard, Bristol. I want to do this right.” He panted, his breath coming fast as he gripped the button of his fly and tore it open. “Let me give us both a good time.”
He didn’t wear anything beneath his jeans. Bristol saw a shadowy hint of hair-dusted male flesh and shivered. Pressed against her earlier, he’d felt big.
“Hurry.” She reached for the snap on her own jeans and tore it open, then tugged the zipper down and shoved the pants over her hips, at least until his body impeded her striptease. Quickly, he stood, shucking his own denim.
Bristol got instant confirmation about his size. Well-endowed was putting it mildly. Or maybe she’d been handling nothing but small pricks like Hayden. Literally.
“That’s it, honey. Take it all off so I can get to you. I want to see that pretty skin and silky pussy before I devour them both.”
No man had ever talked to her that way. His words were gritty and raw, but there was nothing dirty about them. He made her feel sexy, like a woman should.
For the first time in her life, she wanted to give a man every part of her.
She doffed her pants. Her panties followed before she reached for her bra and unhooked it. When Jamie began prowling toward her like he meant to take her in every way that would give her pleasure, her nipples peaked tight. Her sex clenched.
Heart pumping, feeling eager, she spread her legs for him, planting her heels wide on the bed. “You’re too slow. Come here so I can touch you.”
A hint of a smile lurked at the corners of his lips. “You’re awfully bossy. Or is that impatience?”
“Would you rather debate what I’m feeling or…” She ran her fingers up the insides of her thighs, nearly brushing her own wet flesh. “Get to the good stuff?”
Jamie paused, as if debating for a moment. Then he dropped all pretense and focused his potent gaze on her. “Good stuff. In fact, let’s see how good we can make it.”
Before she could say a word, he covered her body, flattening her against the mattress again. Their naked chests pressed together as his face hovered over hers. The heat of his body enveloped her, warming her seemingly from the inside out. He thrust his fingers into her hair as he stared into her eyes. This might be a temporary fling—the first of her life—but somehow he managed to make her feel special with a single, searing glance.
“Kiss me,” she whispered, unable to look at him without wanting more.
He dipped his head and seized her lips with his own. When he closed his eyes, he might have broken their visual connection, but his kiss gripped her heart and squeezed. He came at her as if desperate to possess her. The intensity jarred Bristol. She’d never felt like the focus of any man’s desire—until now.
Then she stopped thinking altogether because he urged her lips apart with his own and plowed inside, his tongue curling against hers. Their lips mingled. Their breaths entwined. Bristol arched against him. Jamie wrapped his arms around her more tightly.
“You’re so fucking sweet. And small. I don’t want to break you.”
She lifted her hips, rubbing against his unflagging erection. “You’re big.” When he laughed, she had to join him. “I meant that you’re tall and all buff. It’s just…when you’re near I can’t—”
“Not touch you?”
“Yeah,” she breathed against his lips.
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“This is intense.”
He paused. “Very.”
Relief slid through her. So he felt it, too. “I’ve never experienced anything like this.”
Was that too honest?
Jamie glided a palm down her side, thumbing the edge of her breast, hugging the curve of her waist, before taking her hip in hand. “Truthfully, neither have I.”
And he looked as if that puzzled him. Warmth oozed through her bloodstream, tugged at her heart. Shouldn’t she have felt this and more with the guy she’d once hoped to marry before he’d chosen her sister? Probably, but if she wanted to keep this connection to Jamie fleeting, then she needed to stop dwelling on her feelings and start focusing on the pleasure.
She closed her eyes and kissed her way up the strong column of his neck. When he groaned, she nipped at his ear and traced her fingertips down his spine. He braced both hands on her hips and started moving, rocking his erection against her.
“Yes.” She urged him on, digging her fingers into his steely shoulders.
He captured her lips again, focused and intent, as if nothing was more important than lavishing attention on her mouth with one frenzied kiss after another. Bristol drowned in his taste, let her head get dizzy with his scent. The ache between her thighs turned sharp and sweet. She had no doubt that only he could sate it.
Then he worked his way down her body, leading with his mouth, worshipping her skin as he kissed a path down her throat and over her collarbones before he zeroed in on her breasts. He paused, his hot breath exhaling over her nipples. They tightened even more. Desperation crept through her. Her ache turned urgent.
“Touch me,” Bristol pleaded.
He skimmed his knuckles across one turgid peak. Sensation pinged through her body, reverberating down to her toes. She gasped.
“So perfect. So beautiful,” he murmured.
Then Jamie took one hard bead in his mouth, sucking her deep. She hissed at the pull of sensation and tore off his skullcap. She’d hoped to sink her fingers into his hair and bring him closer. Instead, the dark buzz hugged his scalp and made the angular hollows of his face even more pronounced. He was all male. Another shiver of anticipation rolled through her.
He stared down at her as if he waited for something. A reaction maybe? When the moment passed in silence, he bent his head and took her other nipple in his mouth, giving this one a sweet tug, too. Then he shifted his weight onto the bed, angling himself against the side of her body so he could smooth a palm down her stomach. Bristol held her breath, her heart tripping in the seconds before he cupped her mound in his hand. He slid his fingers over her slick skin, teased at nerve endings already screaming for more. Jamie could have no doubt that she wanted him bad.
“You’re wet.” His voice had gone deeper, huskier.
“I’m ready,” she choked out, spreading her legs for him.
Maybe she should be more modest or wait for him to make the next move, but that was the old her. The her who let herself be misled and jilt
ed. The woman who’d emerged from those ashes demanded what she wanted without apology.
He thumbed her clit a few times, then dragged the digit through her moisture. She moaned, her mouth gaping open at the need that one mere touch sent through her body. Another few seconds and she’d probably go over the edge. Please, yes…
“Next time, I’m going to take you slowly and savor every bit of you. Right now, you feel so damn good. I can’t wait.” He bounced off the bed, then prowled to his jeans, pulling a condom free. He rolled it on virtually one-handed and frighteningly fast.
Clearly, he’d done this a lot.
Bristol felt a moment’s trepidation, then stopped herself.
