Chapter Five
She flashed back to the bar, to 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 his gaze darkened as if what he saw there undid him.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Don’t hide from me. I want 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 once, slow and deliberate, as if memorizing the shape of her mouth.
Then again, firmer this time, coaxing her open.
His touch, full of gentle command and electric thrill, sent a sizzle flashing across her skin.
Her heart started thumping again, 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 like he meant to leave his mark, like he wanted her breath tangled with his.
Like he owned her. Bristol wasn’t prepared for his intensity or 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. She pressed against him, 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, pinning them to the wall. The sudden restraint made her gasp, a sharp rush of heat pooling low in her belly as her heart slammed against her ribs.
His chest rose and fell as he stared at her, panting, 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 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, right where she ached for him most.
Bristol moaned 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. They might not make it to the bedroom, but that was just fine with her. 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 she couldn’t be bothered to care. All that mattered was that 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. 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 sat up and tore off his shirt.
Bristol got a good look at him—and nearly swallowed her tongue.
Oh. Dear. God. The longer she looked at him, the more dizzying desire spun inside her.
She raked her hungry 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 when goosebumps broke out all over his body and he shuddered.
“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. “I want to feel every second of you coming apart for me.”
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 tore open the snap of her jeans, then tugged the zipper down and shoved the pants past her hips—until he stood and shucked his own denim.
Bristol got instant confirmation about his size. Well-endowed was putting it mildly. Or maybe she’d only ever handled small pricks like Hayden. Literally.
“Take it all off so I can get to you, honey. 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 they didn’t feel dirty. Instead, 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 herself.
She sounded crazy; Jamie was a stranger. But some part of her felt as if she recognized him as a kindred spirit.
Bristol doffed her pants. With a wriggle of her hips, her panties followed before she reached for her bra and unhooked it, too. When Jamie prowled toward her, her nipples peaked tight. Her womb clenched. She felt herself getting wet.
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 teasing fingers up the insides of her thighs. “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 just 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—her first, in fact—but somehow he managed to make her feel special with a single, searing glance.
“Kiss me,” she whispered, unable to look at him without aching for more.
He dipped his head and seized her lips with his own.
When he closed his eyes, he broke their visual connection, but his kiss gripped her heart and squeezed.
He consumed her mouth as if he was desperate to possess her.
The intensity stole Bristol’s breath and robbed her of coherent thought.
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 herself against his steely cock. “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. “Incredibly. It’s…”
“Like nothing you’ve ever felt? Because I’ve never experienced anything this strong. It’s crazy.”
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. “Neither have I.”
He looked as if that puzzled him.