Debbi Rawlins - He's All That

Yeah, he still wanted her, all right.

“Forget it. You’re here now,” he said, and pulled off his shirt.

Her eyes widened, excitement mixed with fear sparkling from their depths, and she drew a hand up her opposite arm.

The lady wanted a walk on the wild side. Jake smiled. He wouldn’t disappoint her.

TORI DREW AN UNSTEADY breath. He didn’t look as if he was about to waste any time on small talk or foreplay. She watched him unsnap his jeans, and wished she’d had that brandy her mother had ordered her after dinner. But by the time dessert had arrived, Tori had her purse in hand and excuse to leave the table on her lips.

After she’d fought the downtown traffic, she’d half expected not to find Jake waiting. But here he was, with the best-looking chest in the southern hemisphere.

He shoved the jeans down his thighs and then pulled them off, leaving him in navy-blue boxers. “If you don’t want me to mess up that pretty dress of yours, I’d suggest you take it off.”

At the deep, suggestive timbre of his voice, a shiver slithered down her spine and she automatically reached behind to find the zipper. His gaze went to her breasts where the linen fabric strained against them and revealed her protruding nipples.

“Need help?”

She looked up when she realized she’d been staring at his fly. Already he was semiaroused which sent her pulse into the danger zone. She fumbled with the zipper, her fingers going numb, so she slowly turned around to accept his help, briefly closing her eyes, anticipating that he might rip the tab off the track.

He didn’t, but simply pulled gently until the zipper parted and then he unhooked her bra before she could turn around and do it herself. He slipped the dress off her right shoulder along with the bra strap. She started to turn to face him, but he held her by the shoulders and ran his tongue down the side of her spine.

Her breath caught and she closed her eyes while he slid the dress off her other shoulder. The fabric dropped to her waist where she held it to her tingling skin. The creamy silk bra easily followed so that she was bare to the waist.

Gripping her by the shoulders, he turned her around until their eyes met, briefly, before his gaze lowered to her breasts. She swallowed when he took her wrists and pulled her hands away from the dress. She let go and the pale linen fell to her feet.

He still didn’t let go, but lifted his gaze to her face. “How do you like it, Victoria?” he whispered, and then kissed the side of her neck.

“What do you mean?” She barely recognized her own voice. Deep. Husky. Sexy.

He drew back and gave her a lazy smile. “You like it a little rough?” He gripped her wrist tighter and forced her backward until she was against the wall, and then he kissed her hard, pushing his tongue between her lips.

Just as quickly he withdrew, lightly nibbling the side of her mouth, sucking at her lower lip, releasing her wrist to cup her face in his hands and giving her a gentle but very satisfying kiss.

He pulled back, his darkly intense eyes even with hers. “Or slow and tender?”

It took her a moment to catch her breath. “I don’t know. I’ve never—” A glint of triumph in his eyes stopped her. Was he trying to intimidate her? “If you want to spend the night analyzing the situation…” She put a hand on his hip and dipped a couple of fingers into the elastic of his boxers. “Then we might as well put our clothes back on.”

His mouth curved in a crooked smile, and before she knew what he was doing, he’d hooked his thumbs in her bikini panties and drew them down her legs, lowering himself so that she felt his warm breath at the juncture of her thighs.

She clutched his shoulder to keep her balance, unsure what he’d do next, nervous that he might be jumping the gun a bit. But after he got her to step out of the panties, he cast them aside, and then raised himself to a standing position, casually, as if he hadn’t been tonguing distance from her heat.

The bastard knew what he’d done, what he’d made her wrongly believe he’d had planned, judging by the amusement in his eyes. Robbing him of time to gloat, she yanked his boxers down and then stood back, staring, as she waited for him to get rid of them.

He seemed in no hurry, and totally unselfconscious of his hard thick arousal aimed heavenward, and her heart pounded so loudly she thought he surely could hear it. When he lowered his gaze, he took his time there, too, leisurely surveying her breasts, her hips, her thighs.

“I’ve gotta admit, Ms. Whitford…” His gaze came up to rest briefly on her lips and then on her eyes. “You turned out mighty fine.”

His approval sent a thrill through her that took her by surprise. Made her chest tighten with odd and unexpected emotion. Threw her off balance.

She swallowed. “Well, Mr. Conners, I’d have to say the same about you.” She’d hoped for something wittier but it was the best she could do.

A hint of a smile danced at the corners of his mouth as he reached for her hand and drew her close. She tilted her head back to meet his kiss. It was gentle yet coaxing and she slid her arms around his waist, enjoying the feel of his erection pressed to her belly. Encouragingly, she wanted to believe that his heart pounded at least as hard as hers and she slid her hands down to mold the firm swell of his buttocks.

He groaned and moved his hips. She pressed harder against him as if he were a magnet and she was a piece of metal helplessly drawn to him.

“Come,” he said, his voice hoarse and raspy as he led her to the bed. He yanked the burgundy cover back, and then the matching blanket to expose the white sheets.

He hooked an arm around her waist and took her down with him. Sprawling out in the middle of the bed, he kept hold of her as she lay half on top of him, half off. Laughing, she tried to scramble into a more dignified position, but he flipped her onto her back and pressed her into the mattress with his body.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, using the tip of his tongue to trace her jaw.

She arched her neck and he continued his trek down her throat to her breasts. She sighed. “I’m staying right where I am.”

“You’re right,” he murmured, his warm breath coating her nipple right before he took it into his mouth.

Reflexively she squirmed and he suckled harder as his hand found her other breast. Lightly he pinched the tip between his thumb and forefinger. She moaned with pleasure, and he suckled harder still.

She kneaded the muscles across his back, ran her palms down his taut skin toward his backside but her reach was unsatisfactory. She struggled to gain better access but he wouldn’t let her move.

“Jake?”

“Hmm?”

“I have condoms in my purse.”

He looked up. “In a hurry, are we?”

“No, I just didn’t want to get carried away before we protected ourselves.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not that carried away.” He put his mouth back on her breast, but she couldn’t relax.

The remark stung. Of course he probably didn’t mean it the way she took it, but he must have sensed her mood change because he lifted his head again and smiled. Without a word, he got up and went to get his jeans. He withdrew a couple of foil packets from the pocket.

Watching the sleek, easy way he moved eased her tension. No question, he not only had the best chest but the best butt she’d ever seen. With or without clothes.

“I’ll leave these right here on the nightstand for later,” he said, holding up the packets, and then dropping them near the lamp. “Unless you’re in a hurry.”

She shook her head, unabashedly staring at the tautness and definition of his belly. Even with the interruption, his erection hadn’t subsided and it was difficult not to stare there, too. “Did you play sports in high school?”