by Miranda Lee
The thought made him even more determined to do this right.
The zipper on her dress was long, opening up the back right down to the swell of her buttocks. The sight of nothing but a thin white satin bra strap and the beginning of what looked like a matching thong did little for his resolve to take this as slowly as possible.
‘Roll over,’ he ordered a bit abruptly.
She did so, and those eyes were on him again. Wide now, and dilated. Her lips fell apart as her breathing quickened appreciably.
He tore his eyes away from hers and bent to ease the dress off her shoulders and draw it down her arms and over her hips, down her legs and off her feet. He tried to remain cool and in command, but the sight of her soft, curvy body—encased in sexy satin underwear—was unbearably exciting.
Hell, how was he going to control himself in the face of such temptation?
His hands were unsteady as he reached to unhook the front bra clip, hesitating for a moment before exposing her breasts to his increasingly lustful gaze.
They were as perfect as he’d known they’d be. Full and lush, with dusky-tipped aureoles and large, hard nipples seemingly begging to be sucked.
But he knew that would have to wait. If he started sucking her nipples now, he would become hopelessly lost in his own desires. Hers were the ones he wanted to satisfy this first time. His male ego demanded it. And something else, some part of him which he couldn’t quite grasp yet.
‘I have to sit you up for a sec,’ he said, and did so with a gentle tug of her hands. The action had her breasts falling deliciously forward, twin orbs of erotic promise that he steadfastly ignored as he eased the bra off her body.
‘You can lie back down,’ he suggested as he moved over to put the bra on the chair with the dress and stockings.
She did, her face now flushed, her eyes still wide.
The decision to leave her with her G-string on was more for his composure than her comfort.
Her eyelashes flickered wildly when his hands went to the buttons of his shirt. Her lips fell further apart.
He undressed slowly, seemingly casual and confident in his actions, but inside he was going through hell. Never had a woman watched him so intently as he removed his clothes. There again, never had he done such a deliberate strip for a woman.
Jake knew he had a good body. Mostly God-given, but also because he looked after himself, having always worked out regularly. There was a gym and a swimming pool in the apartment complex which allowed him to keep fit nowadays with the minimum of effort. So he had no reason to be embarrassed once he was in the buff.
He had to confess that he could not recall being this turned on before. Yet he hadn’t even kissed her.
Drawing on protection at that point was premature on Jake’s usual standards, but it seemed a good idea to be prepared. Jake had an awful feeling that once he started any form of foreplay with Angelina, he would enter the danger zone. It proved strangely awkward, with her watching him with those almost awestruck eyes of hers.
He was relieved to join her on the bed, stretching out beside her and propping himself on one elbow so that he had one hand free. His right hand.
‘Wait,’ she whispered, and before he could stop her she wriggled out of her panties and tossed them away, her face flushed by the time she glanced back up at him.
He didn’t dare look down there. Or to think about how much he wanted to slide over between her legs and just do it. Now. Without preliminaries. He ached to be inside her, to feel her hot wet flesh tight around him.
At least he could touch her there. And his free hand stroked down the centre of her body and slid between her legs.
Her moan echoed his own feelings. Already she was panting, her legs growing restless, her hips writhing as a woman’s did when release was near. The selfish part of Jake wanted to stop so that he could be inside her. But experience warned him that things didn’t always work out that way for a woman. Better he give her a climax this way first.
‘Jake,’ she cried out, her eyes dilated and desperate.
His mouth crashed down onto hers, smothering her cries as she came apart under his hand. He kissed her with a desperation of his own, his tongue echoing what he would rather be doing to her with his body. Its job done, his hand moved to play with her breasts, his still wet fingertips encircling her taut nipples. Jake kept kissing her, and playing with her nipples, elated when in no time her back began to arch away from the bed in that tell-tale way. Moaning, she clung to him, her left leg lifting up onto his hip, inviting him in.
Jake needed no further invitation, groaning as his flesh slid home to the hilt. The sensations as he pumped into her were a mixture of agony and ecstasy, for he could not possibly last very long. Yet he wanted to, wanted to feel her come again with him inside her.
Her muffled moans were encouraging, as were the movements of her body. She followed his rhythm, her hips rising with his forward surge and sinking back when he withdrew. He stopping kissing her and cupped her face instead, looking deep into her glazed eyes.
He didn’t say a word, just concentrated on her, slowing his rhythm appreciably but going deeper with each stroke.
She gasped, then groaned.
‘Good?’ he asked.
She nodded, then grimaced.
He was in his stride now, no longer balancing on that dangerous edge, determined to make her come again. She drew in more sharply with each successive stroke, her mouth falling even wider apart. Her hands tightened around his back, her nails digging into his flesh.
He felt no pain, only pleasure. The pleasure of pleasing her.
Her climax was imminent. He could feel it, deep inside. The tightening. The quivering. The rush of heat that always preceded the first spasm.
‘Jake. Oh, Jake,’ she cried out, and then she was there. But so, astonishingly, was he. Instantly. Brilliantly.
Poets often spoke of stars exploding when two people in love made love. Jake always thought that was just so much crap.
But this time, it was not unlike stars exploding. His body trembled and his head did cartwheels. His mouth found hers again and he knew that this was where he wanted to be for the rest of his life. With her. No one else. Just Angelina. And he didn’t mean living together, either. He wanted her as his life partner. His wife.
Angelina Winters. Till death them did part.
It didn’t occur to Jake till much later, when he was lying quietly with her sleeping form in his arms, that Angelina might not be altogether cooperative in his achieving that goal.
‘I might not want what you want, Jake,’ she’d said to him earlier that day.
Jake thought about all she’d told him about herself so far. Her insistence that she was independent-minded career woman. Her claim to not want marriage and children.
And then he thought of her eyes today as he’d carried her into this bedroom.
Bulldust, he decided. All of that other stuff. Dorothy was right. Angelina had marriage and motherhood written all over her. She’d been burnt, that was all, by the wrong kind of man. Some sleazebag, probably. All it needed was the right kind of guy to come along, someone who really loved her.
‘Me!’ he pronounced out loud.
Jake still wasn’t sure about becoming a father, but heck, he hadn’t thought till now that he’d ever fall in love, or want to get married himself. But he did. And when Jake wanted something, he made it happen.
Angelina Mastroianni was going to be his wife, no matter what she thought she wanted. Because Jake knew what she really wanted. He’d seen it just now. And felt it. What he needed to do was make her feel it again. And again. And again. He had one weekend to cement his position in her life, and in her heart. Given that was a pretty short time span, Jake decided that the best way he could achieve that was through her body; her warm, luscious, possibly neglected body.
That pathetic boyfriend of hers hadn’t been doing the right thing by Angelina. Jake was sure of it. Which was fine by him. It gave him an advan
tage.
Just thinking about making love to her again turned him on. Retrieving a condom from where he’d shoved a few under the pillows, he slipped it on, amazed but pleased to see that he was as hard as he’d been earlier, confirming his belief that this was a once-in-a-lifetime relationship.
Scooping her naked body back against him in the spoon position, he gently stroked her breasts till she stirred in his arms, then his hand slid slowly further down her body.
‘Oh,’ she gasped when his fingers started softly teasing the centre of her pleasure.
But there was nothing soft, or gentle, in Jake’s mind. It was full of hard resolve, as hard as his desire-filled flesh.
As soon as she moaned, and began wriggling her bottom against him, he eased himself inside her from behind.
Angelina stiffened for a second, only to melt as soon as he started rocking back and forth inside her. She would never have conceived of making love like this, on their sides, with him pressed up against her back and his hands on her front, playing with her.
It was nothing like last time; that tender and romantic position where Jake had kissed her all the while and held her like a true lover. This was entirely different. This felt…decadent. Yet oh, so exciting.
Her head whirled as a wanton wildness overtook her.
‘Harder, Jake,’ she bit out in a voice she didn’t recognise. ‘Harder.’
He groaned, then increased his tempo.
‘Yes,’ she groaned, her body immediately rushing towards the abyss. ‘Oh, yes. Yeesss!’
CHAPTER TEN
ANGELINA knew she was in trouble the next morning. Deep, deep trouble.
It was not long after sunrise, Jake was still fast asleep in the bedroom and she was curled up on the red leather sofa, her naked body wrapped in Jake’s bathrobe, her hands cradling a not-too-hot mug of coffee, her eyes taking in the sun-drenched terrace, and the bridge beyond. The traffic on it was only light at this early hour, she noted.
But not for long. The day promised to be as bright and warm as yesterday.
Yesterday…
She took the mug away from her lips and sighed. Dear heaven, what had she done?
A small, dry laugh escaped her lips. What hadn’t she done? more like it. Her behaviour in bed was bad enough, but it hadn’t been confined to Jake’s bed, had it? She’d been bad in the spa bath as well, and in the kitchen whilst he’d been microwaving them a meal. And here in this very room, on the rug, in front of the television.
It was as though Jake’s making love to her that second time had released something in her, and suddenly she was hungry for it all. Every experience possible with Jake.
He hadn’t minded, of course. Though she’d had the impression he was a bit surprised at one stage. Not with what she did. Perhaps he was just surprised that she would what she did, and with such avidness.
But as much as Angelina was worried sick by where this would all end, she could find no real regrets in her heart for the actual events of last night. How could you regret something that made you feel the way she felt this morning? Like a real woman for a change. A desired and desirable woman who had been made love to very, very well.
At least now she knew what Wilomena meant by having fun. It had been fun. At least, it had been with Jake. The man was the very devil with women all right. If she’d shocked him once, he’d shocked her a dozen times. Thrillingly, though.
The memories made her quiver with remembered pleasure.
‘What are you doing up this early?’
Angelina almost spilt her coffee again, her whole body jumping at Jake’s sudden appearance behind her.
As she glanced up over the back of the sofa at him, he bent to kiss her, one of his hands sliding down the front opening of the robe at the same time.
Angelina didn’t know how she didn’t spill the coffee this time.
‘Mmm,’ he murmured by the time he’d straightened. ‘I know what I’m going to have for breakfast. Fancy a shower together?’
‘Not till I’ve finished my coffee,’ she replied with creditable control, considering. Angelina had already decided that, whilst yesterday had been marvellous, today was another day entirely. Today, she had to start getting some control back over herself.
Watching Jake walk over to the nearby open-plan kitchen didn’t exactly help that resolve, given that he was stark naked. She told herself not to look, but look she did. By the time he’d made his coffee and returned to sprawl in an adjacent chair, sipping his coffee with apparent nonchalance, her control was definitely at risk.
Gulping down the rest of her coffee, she uncurled her legs and made some excuse about seeing to her clothes, which Jake had actually popped into the washer and dryer at some stage last night. She was just hanging her fortunately crush-free dress on a coat hanger in the beautifully appointed laundry when Jake’s arms went round her waist from behind.
‘Methinks the lady is suffering morning-after syndrome,’ he whispered as he started unsashing her robe.
‘Not at all,’ she lied coolly. ‘I’m just a bit concerned about today, that’s all. I really need to go over to the hotel this morning, change into some casual clothes and check out. Then I have to drop in at the expo and see how we’re doing.’ She really couldn’t go home without knowing if this venture had been a success. Arnold would ask, and so would Alex.
‘When’s check-out time?’ Jake asked, those busy hands of his not missing a beat as they drew erotic circles around her stiffening nipples.
Angelina swallowed. She really couldn’t allow him to seduce her again so easily. But of course that was his talent, wasn’t it? Seduction. And sex. Tender sex. Rough sex. Imaginative sex. Whatever was required. But still just sex. She had to remember she wasn’t anything so special. Just more of a challenge than his usual chicky babe.
Or she had been.
‘Ten-thirty,’ she told him, swallowing again. Why didn’t he stop that? On the other hand, why didn’t she stop him? She was just so weak where he was concerned.
Was it love making her weak? Or could she take some comfort in hoping this was just sex for her as well? In a way, this made some sense. She’d lived a celibate life for so long that surely it was only natural that she’d go mad for sex, now that she’d discovered it. Maybe she wasn’t madly in love with him, after all.
‘We have plenty of time yet,’ Jake said throatily, cupping her breasts and pulling her back hard against him.
She could feel his hardness through his bathrobe.
‘I’ll drive you over to the hotel around ten,’ he murmured as he pulled the robe further open and nuzzled at her neck. ‘And take you personally to the expo. Then we can go have lunch and do some shopping.’
‘Shopping?’ she echoed somewhat blankly, having reached that point when intelligent thought was nigh-on impossible.
‘Didn’t you say you wanted to go shopping?’
‘Did I?’ The robe slipped off one shoulder, then the other, before dropping to the floor. Suddenly, she felt more naked than she ever had been with him. And more vulnerable.
He was smiling when he turned her round in his arms.
‘I dare say you’ve changed your mind, like a typical woman. But I have a fancy to buy you something really sexy to wear. Something…naughty.”
She stared up into his eyes, which were gleaming hotly down at her.
‘You’re still a very bad boy, aren’t you, Jake?’ she choked out.
‘I haven’t noticed you objecting,’ he replied with a devilishly charming grin. ‘Now, come have that shower with me, gorgeous.’
She went.
‘Sydney really is a beautiful city,’ Angelina said as they walked, hand in hand, through Hyde Park.
Jake glanced across at her, thinking how beautiful she looked today. Beautiful and sexy. Those jeans hugged her curvy body like a second skin. Too bad about that loose white shirt she was wearing over them. Though perhaps it was as well she wasn’t wearing anything too revealing on top. Jake’s p
ossessiveness of her had increased overnight, along with his desire. He only had to touch her and he wanted to make love to her again.
Jake thought of what was in the plastic shopping bag he was holding. The sexiest black corset he’d ever seen. Angelina had refused to try it on in the shop, but he knew there would be no such objections once he got her home.
‘Sydney always looks great in the summer,’ he agreed, very pleased with the way things were going.
‘I guess the good weather is one of the reasons the expo has gone so well,’ she remarked.
‘Perhaps. But it always pays to have a good product. Your wines are going to be a big hit down here in Sydney, by the sound of things. Wayne was over the moon with the orders they’d already taken and the interest shown.’
‘Men like Wayne are exaggerators,’ Angelina said drily. ‘But it does look promising.’
Jake had to admire the way Angelina’s feet were firmly on the ground when it came to her business. She was no pushover, in lots of ways.
Sexually, however, she was putty in his hands. Jake couldn’t wait to get her alone again.
‘I work not far from here,’ he pointed out. ‘My office is in that tall bluish building over there. If the sun’s out, I come over to the park and eat my lunch here. Right here, in fact.’ And he pulled her down onto a seat under a huge tree that provided almost an acre of shade.
His arm wound round her shoulders and his lips pressed into her hair. ‘Want to make out?’ he whispered.
‘Jake Winters, behave yourself. I don’t think we need to make out in public, do you? We’ve been at it like rabbits. A breather is definitely called for.’
‘Not rabbits,’ he said. ‘Lovers. Once is never enough for lovers.’
‘Once! How about one times twenty? I didn’t know it was possible to have so much sex in one weekend.’