Heidi Rice - Back in His Bed - Boardroom Rivals, Bedroom Fireworks! / Unfinished Business with the Duke / How to Win the Dating War

He extended his hand and she took it, letting him pull her up. A moment later her feet were swept out from under her, and she found herself pressed against Jack’s chest.

But Jack didn’t turn in the direction of the hallway to her room, or toward the kitchen and the far side of the house where his room was. Instead, he moved toward the French doors.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“The hot tub.”

WAKING up with a warm male body snuggled around her should feel…alien, or wrong somehow. But it didn’t. Neither did the strong hand idly caressing her breast, nor the erection pressing insistently against her backside. It felt almost right.

The idle caress turned purposeful, with Jack’s thumb grazing across her nipple and sending a shiver through her. Correction, she thought, it felt amazing.

“’Bout time you woke up,” Jack murmured against her shoulder. His hand changed course, sliding over her stomach and between her legs.

She hummed in pleasure and parted her thighs to give him better access. Was there a better way to greet a Saturday morning? Weekend mornings had always been her favorite time when they were married. Jack hadn’t had to jump up and rush off to work or class, and the whole morning had been theirs to laze in bed, drink coffee, and make love without any pressure to do anything else. She smiled as the first small shudder moved through her. How many times had he awoken her just like this?

Jack’s fingers were magic, slowly building the pressure until her hands were fisted in the sheets and her breath became labored. She moaned his name as she started to shatter, and she vaguely heard him encouraging her on with hot words in her ear.

She reached for him then, pulling his head down to hers for a blazing kiss as she came apart. Jack’s tongue moved over hers like a wicked promise as he pulled her under him and kneed her thighs apart. The last tremor of her orgasm still vibrated through her as he slid slowly into her, causing the pleasure to continue instead of abate.

She held Jack’s intense blue stare as he moved with agonizing slowness, setting a leisurely pace she knew would drive her insane. She bucked and writhed, trying to meet his thrusts, but Jack gripped her hips and kept her steady. Sensation built until she couldn’t take it anymore, and she grabbed the headboard as she arched against him and practically screamed his name. Only then did Jack speed up, slamming into her as she clung to him and climaxed again. Vaguely she felt Jack stiffen against her, and heard him shout her name in response.

How long she lay there, waiting for her breathing to even out and her brain to restart, she didn’t know. Jack had moved to her side at some point, leaving one heavy thigh draped over hers, and his breath was evening out as well.

Brenna cracked one eye, looked at the clock and groaned. People would be wondering where she was soon if she didn’t get moving. And she certainly didn’t need Di pounding on her door while Jack was still naked in her bed. She flipped back the sheet and tried to sit up, but Jack’s hand on her arm and his leg over hers held her in place.

His eyes were still closed, but he smiled lazily. “Where are you going?”

“To work.”

“It’s Saturday. Wouldn’t you rather stay here? With me?” Jack trailed a hand over her suggestively. Promisingly.

“It’s tempting.” Her body was primed for a long, lazy morning in bed, but she wiggled out of his grasp before she could give in. “But not all of us are lucky enough to be hotel tycoons. Some of us must go labor in the fields.”

One eye opened slightly. “You did that already, remember?”

“And now I must go check the fruits of my labor. Or actually the juice of the fruits.” She found her robe on the back of the bathroom door and pulled it on. “Don’t you have to go back to the city? Get some work done?”

Jack rolled to his side and propped on his elbow. “I don’t have to. One of the many perks of being a tycoon, you know, is having people on staff.” He crooked a finger at her. “Come here.”

Oh, he was tempting. His hair stood up in adorable spikes—either from her hands or sleep. Wrapped in a sheet to his waist, with a dark shadow of stubble across his jaw, this Jack was one she remembered, and the lure to crawl back into bed was strong.

“Tanks,” she muttered.

Jack’s eyebrows went up. “You’re welcome. I think.”

She shook her head at him and went to splash cold water on her face. And her libido. “I said ‘tanks’—as in fermentation. I need to go check the temperatures and the sugar levels. I won’t be gone long. Maybe a couple of hours.”

“Have Ted do it.”

“And what excuse would I give him for adding another task to his to-do list today?” Jeans. Bra. Panties. T-shirt. She pulled clothes out of drawers, tossing them onto the bed as she talked.

“You’re the boss. You don’t have to give reasons.”

“Maybe that works at Garrett Properties, but we’re a smaller operation here.” She bent at the waist to flip her hair over her head as she tackled the mass of tangles. Sex on the floor, sex in the pool, sex in the bed, going to sleep with wet hair—the knots had knots in them.

“I admire your dedication, but seriously, Bren, you have employees for a reason. You don’t have to do it all.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“I’m not the one rushing off to work this morning.”

From her upside down position, she could see Jack sitting cross-legged on her bed, the sheet tented over his knees. She tugged the comb through one last tangle and stood up straight again, the blood-rush from her head making her wobble a bit as she did so. Jack crooked a finger at her and gave her a look that made her knees wobble for real. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to crawl back under the covers and lose herself in him again.

What was she thinking? Less than twelve hours after becoming the majority owner of a winery—not to mention the fact she was the vintner as well—and she was already considering shirking her responsibilities because Jack had a magnetism that was near impossible to resist. And what would happen when Jack went back to the city? She’d be left with nothing but a batch of ruined wine.

Jack was temporary. He wasn’t for her—she’d learned that the hard way. The sharp stab of regret she felt at that thought only confirmed what she’d admitted yesterday. Jack did still have a piece of her heart. And she was setting herself up for another massive heartbreak.

She must have stood there too long, arguing with herself, because Jack tossed back the covers and crossed the room quickly to catch her hand. He gave a small tug, but she resisted. His eyebrows went up in question.

“What are you doing, Jack?”

That grin of his would be her undoing one day. “Isn’t it obvious? Bringing you back to bed.”

The fact he was gloriously naked wasn’t helping either. But she couldn’t let either his grin or his body distract her. “No. I mean what are we doing? You and me. Here. Like this.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Do we have to analyze it?”

“Yeah, I think we do.” She stepped back and sat on her vanity stool. “I have to admit, my head is still spinning.”

“Then why ruin that feeling?”

“Because…Because…” She couldn’t find the right words. “All things considered, I think we should quit while we’re ahead.”

“Meaning?”

Meaning this is a dangerous game I don’t want to play. Because I’ll lose. “Meaning, I’m glad we’ve managed to call a ceasefire of sorts, and that we’re not sniping at each other anymore. It will make things much easier in the future and last night was great…” She was rambling now, not making a lot of sense, and she knew it. The look Jack was giving her wasn’t helping any.