Chapter 6 #2
Far from it, but he looked like he believed it. Joey stepped closer, drawn by his warmth, his delicious scent. Stretching along the front of him, she put her hands around his neck. “I’ve wanted you for so long.” She’d let insecurities and uncertainty hold her back. No more.
Cupping the back of her head to keep her with him, he kissed her again, his mouth open, hot and damp, hungry and insistent. Consuming her.
Unwilling to waste a single second, Joey slid her hands under the hem of his shirt to stroke the firm flesh heated by his body. She’d been dreaming of this, of him, and now he was finally hers.
Freeing his mouth, Hendrix put his forehead to hers and labored for breath.
Yes, she liked that reaction. Her palms moved up his flat stomach to muscle-covered ribs, then up and over his hair-dusted chest. She rubbed her nose to his neck and said, “I love the feel of you.”
In an instant, he whipped off his shirt, and seconds later, she felt her bra loosen. Looking up at him, she said, “Tricky.”
“One of my major accomplishments from high school. Like riding a bike, you never forget.”
He’d said she was brave, and she wanted to live up to his expectations, so she shrugged her shoulders and the bra straps slid down her arms. She dropped it onto her shirt.
His scrutiny was so intense, she practically squirmed. She could feel that hot gaze touching on her and it deepened her breathing. If he noticed or cared about the few faint stretchmarks visible from how her breasts had grown during her pregnancy, he didn’t show it.
All she saw was his admiration, his lust. When he touched her left breast, one fingertip circling her nipple, she thought she would melt.
Color slashed his high cheekbones and restraint firmed his jaw. His nostrils flared with a deep breath and his eyes were positively incendiary. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
Oh, now he did it. “Hendrix,” she whispered, her body already on fire.
His gaze bored into hers. “I need you, Joey.”
Relief and desire put a catch in her voice. “I need you, too.”
Scooping her up, he started down the hall in long strides. He went into his bedroom, then took her down to the mattress. She naturally parted her thighs so he could fit between them.
Even as they shifted and settled, he kept his mouth on hers, their tongues dueling, breaths mixing. When he moved to her throat, his teeth teasing, inciting, she arched into him.
She loved his carefully-balanced weight on her, how his scent cocooned her, his hands caressing her breasts, and his thumbs stroking her nipples until she felt so sensitive she could barely take it.
Never had it been this intense for her, but then, never had Ted spent so much time on her.
He’d been quick to get naked, get between her legs, and – no.
She didn’t want to think about him, not now, not ever again.
Definitely not when she was with this amazing man.
“Hendrix,” she moaned, loving his name. Loving him.
He took one nipple into his mouth, softly sucking – then not so softly, and Joey couldn’t stop herself from grinding up against him.
“Jeans,” she complained.
“Soon.” He shifted to the other nipple, drawing her in, while he plied the damp nipple he’d just abandoned with his thumb, circling, inciting, driving her mad with need.
Did he not understand that this precious time was limited? In direct contrast with her thoughts, she tunneled her fingers into his hair, gripping his head so he couldn’t leave her.
With her neck arched and her lungs laboring, she was a little lost when he suddenly stood and stripped her shoes off her feet, then her socks.
Usually, they took their shoes off at the door, but neither of them had even thought about it.
Next he opened the snap on her jeans, then dragged down the zipper.
After three gasping breaths, she demanded, “If my jeans come off, so do yours.”
“No problem,” he said in a voice like pure gravel. He stripped them, along with her panties, over her hips and blindly flung them away. After several beats of time, he stepped closer, a hand on each thigh. “God, you’re beautiful.”
She knew she wasn’t, but she was so far gone, well past modesty, that she appreciated the compliment anyway.
“Your jeans, Hendrix,” she softly reminded him.
Still with his gaze on her body, he eased his zipper over an obvious erection and shucked both jeans and boxes to the floor. He kicked them away.
Everything in her turned molten and her enthralled gaze heated around the edges. Could any man look better? Pretty sure the answer was no. With his dark hair mussed and his brows pulled in concentration, he appeared incredibly turned on.
For her.
It sent a thrill through her system, but with the rest of him bared?
His shoulders were wider than she’d realized, molded into solid mounds that flowed into strong biceps and hair-dusted forearms. The hair on his chest enhanced the hollow between his pecs, then arrowed down in a thin line to his navel.
Hendrix wasn’t musclebound, but his obvious strength was sexy as hell.
“Joey? Does your fixed expression mean you like what you see, or are you worried?”
“Not worried,” she whispered, then she managed to get her attention off his body to meet his probing stare. “I’m in awe.”
His mouth twitched to a crooked smile as he settled over her again. “Then we’re both in awe.”
“Even footing,” she breathed, barely able to form words. “I like that.” It was something she’d never had before.
“Always, babe.” He held her face and tenderly kissed her. “I never want you to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not.” Because Hendrix was different. He would never hurt her and she knew it. “I’m falling in love with you.”
The second the words were out there, she froze. Talk about terrible timing! They were about to have sex for the very first time, and she’d just hit him with an emotional slap.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blurt that. Just....forget I said that.” It was a shocker guaranteed to cool a man’s engine.
Only he didn’t look shocked by the words. If anything, his gaze absolutely burned. He breathed harder now, every muscle defined as if he’d had to brace himself.
Then he broke, kissing her with so much hunger she couldn’t think, and didn’t want to. Overwhelming her, he touched her everywhere, first with his hands, then with his mouth. The man had a magic tongue.
Just another of his amazing talents.
She was about to climax when he said, “Protection,” and left her long enough to grab a condom from the bedside drawer.
When he settled over her again, Joey wrapped her legs around him, holding him tight and knowing she never wanted to let him go.
He entered her carefully, almost too slowly because she needed him now. Right now. She tried to hurry him, lifting against him, shifting, she even bit his shoulder. Finally, finally, he sank deep and she let out a shuddering moan.
“Again,” he whispered, as if he liked hearing that sound from her.
He drew back, and slowly thrust in again, harder this time.
Then again and again until she didn’t know what sounds she made, what she said, all she knew was that the long-denied pleasure was rapidly building, growing tighter, sweeter, hotter, and she wanted it. Bad. She wanted him even more.
“Now and forever,” he whispered.
Surprised by those words, she opened her eyes to find him staring down at her, his expression as carnal and savage with possession as she’d ever seen, and she loved it. Because she loved him.
It was enough. Tipping her head back, she let the mind-numbing climax rush through her in waves. Hendrix held her close, his thrusts steady until her pleasure finally began to ebb, and then he tucked his face to her neck and groaned out his own release.
Nothing had ever been so perfect. He still felt replete in brain and body, with little sparks of pleasure going off in his heart. I love you. With another woman, he might have considered that declaration nothing more than soft words spoken during sex.
Joey wasn’t like that.
From the beginning, she’d been upfront and honest, telling him she needed to stay, explaining why, admitting that she’d been as attracted as him, and for just as long.
She didn’t sugarcoat things, but she did try to be careful of his feelings. Her sensitivity over his struggle with Christmas had helped him to take the first step past it.
“Mm,” she murmured, snuggling a little closer. “Why do you always smell so good?”
“Maybe you just think I do because...” Did he dare say it again?
Curious, she lifted her head. Her beautiful hair was everywhere, wild curls half covering her face and tickling his chest. “Because?”
“You love me.”
Her smile was radiant. “I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that your scent should be bottled. All my money problems would end. I’d be rich overnight.”
As far as he was concerned, her money problems were already over. “Josephine Collins,” he teased, already wanting her again – wanting her always. “Would you exploit me like that?”
“On second thought, no.” She propped her elbows on his chest and smiled down at him. “Women would get one sniff and they’d be all over you. You might not have noticed, but I don’t have your buff bod, and my fighting skills are pathetic.”
Resting his hands over her perfect ass, he promised, “I’ll do all your fighting for you.”
Slowly, her teasing smile eased into seriousness.
“I believe you would, but you shouldn’t have to.
I don’t ever want to bring you more problems.” She leaned down and kissed him before he could reply.
“Sometimes, Hendrix, I want to have your back, too. I want to be what you need, to stand with you when you need someone.”
What she said, knowing how much she meant it... it was the kind of thing that left a man totally undone. “You really don’t know how much you’ve already given me, do you?”