by Joanne Rock
“Great.” Jennifer stood, her long, cherry-colored skirt catching on the armrest until she yanked it off. “Would you like to come up front with me to watch the clip?”
“Sure.” Chelsea rose carefully, watchful of the overhead compartment that was low next to the window seat. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Take your time,” the director urged, bracelet clanking as she walked away.
“You don’t have to do this,” Vincent assured Chelsea once the filmmaker was several rows away from them.
“I know.” She tried to slip past him into the aisle, but he stood up so she would have more room.
He was prepared to take his time with her, but he didn’t think his long-suffering libido would handle those kinds of tight quarters.
“I think you can just refuse, don’t you?” He kept his voice low, even though the other guys were still revved up from the game, the noise level high. “Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked, she would have just used the footage.”
“I agree.” She flipped a dark brown wave out of one eye. “But last night. That dinner we had together. It was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I wouldn’t mind reliving it.”
Before he could yank his jaw off the floor, she sauntered her way up the aisle, her gorgeous figure hidden in loose-fitting jeans that didn’t attract any particular attention, thank God. Though his teammates knew better than to hit on her.
But he, in the meantime, was apparently one of the best things to ever happen to her. Hunger for Chelsea surging to an all-time high, Vinny decided he was going to up his game.
Tonight.
10
“I HATE PLAYING GAMES for the cameras,” Axel growled in Jennifer’s ear, the clear cell phone connection making it feel as if he was there in the car with her instead of driving his own vehicle ahead of her. “I wanted to catch hold of that long skirt you were wearing on the plane and use it to pull you closer to me when you were marching through the cabin like you owned the place.”
Tucking the earpiece tighter to her ear, Jennifer smiled as she followed the taillights on Ax’s big black Escalade through the Philadelphia suburbs toward his house. Heat warmed her chest, sending pleasant sensations all over her body. How on earth was she going to go back to New York as if none of this ever happened? She knew a relationship with a hockey star would not be the right life for her. She had her own goals and dreams, and they didn’t involve following around a world-famous athlete. Still, she couldn’t imagine walking away.
“You couldn’t have done that even if there were no cameras,” she chided, thinking how much she would have liked falling into his lap. “Unless you’ve got exhibitionist tendencies.”
“You’d be surprised what I could do to you very discreetly in a seat on a plane.”
Jennifer nearly missed the turn he’d taken, distracted by the idea.
“How perfectly shocking.” She tried to sound scandalized, but wound up sounding breathless and sex-starved.
“They give out blankets if you ask for them, you know.” He put on his signal light well in advance of the next turn.
The houses kept getting bigger in this part of town, the streets lined with honest-to-goodness mansions, the manicured lawns illuminated by extensive landscape lighting.
“And why would you need a blanket? Does the idea of being with me make you sleepy?” she teased, hoping his house was close.
She’d wanted him since the moment she’d rolled out of bed with him this morning. Watching him play via close-up shots, seeing his passion and intensity channeled into the game, had only made her want him more.
“I’d need a blanket to hide the fact that I would have had my hand under your skirt.”
“Shameless,” she chastised, practically drooling. She shifted in her seat to ward off the ache for him, but that only intensified the heat.
“For the sake of touching you? Absolutely.”
Her heart pounded so hard she felt light-headed.
“Can I ask you a question?” She slowed for a speed bump beside a Tudor mansion that looked as though an English king ought to be living there.
“Does it involve specific sexual requests? Because I can already say yes.”
She licked her lips, distracted by the possibilities. A perfectly honed athlete to fulfill her every sensual fantasy.
“Um. Actually, no. But I’d like to get back to that offer.”
Ax’s Escalade turned into a driveway and she realized the long, looping horseshoe drive was for the Tudor mansion.
Holy crap. He lived here?
“I’m ready.” His voice was a masculine rumble in her ear, prompting her out of her goggle-eyed appraisal of the multimillion-dollar property.
She followed him toward a converted carriage house in the back where an overhead door opened and light flooded onto the lawn. Two pristine sports cars sat inside the glorified garage, the floor so neat it could have been a showroom. Jennifer shoved her rental into Park and turned off the engine.
“I just wondered. What do you think causes sexual chemistry to come barreling out of the blue?” She pocketed the car keys while he got out of his vehicle.
“Just a sec,” he answered, disconnecting the phone call as he jogged back to open her door. Then, offering his hand to help her out, he continued, “That sounded like a question that needed a personal answer.”
Gazing up at him, she visualized him in a slow-motion shot that would capture him the way she saw him now. All hard angles and intensity, a brooding heat in his eyes even as he dusted off the chivalrous manners to draw her to her feet. He closed the door behind her and folded her hand onto his forearm as he guided her across the driveway to the sidewalk.
“I don’t know why I asked.” Nervousness tingled over her and she felt out of her depth with him suddenly. It was one thing to tease and flirt with a Neanderthal hockey player trying to intimidate her with the scent of sweat. It was another to sleep with a wealthy athlete who traveled the world acquiring exotic cars. “I guess I just wondered why this hit us so hard when we don’t really have much in common.”
Winding around some wrought-iron patio furniture, he took her to a back door entrance where he keyed in a code to disarm the security system. More exterior lights clicked on, revealing an outdoor living area under a covered pergola, complete with easy chairs and a huge television screen against one wall, protected by a clear plastic casing. Outside the man cave, a multilevel pool beckoned despite the cooler spring temperatures.
“I have a great answer to this.” Opening the door, he flipped on lights in an expansive kitchen and dining area with lots of white tile and windows overlooking the backyard.
“Really?” She still half expected him to give her some outrageously flirtatious response to distract her completely. But she was curious about the immediate connection she’d felt to him, a draw she knew he’d felt, too.
“I think sexual chemistry is nature’s wake-up call.” He set his keys on a long kitchen table that looked like a reclaimed door from a turn-of-the-century home. He must have left his travel bag in the car because he hadn’t brought it inside.
“How so?” She ditched her purse beside his keys and toed off a pair of worn ballet flats. There was no need to pretend she wasn’t spending the night when she’d been daydreaming about him for hours.
“It’s a cosmic alarm system that tells you to pay attention to someone you might miss out on otherwise.” He reached up to twine a finger through one of her curls, winding it loosely around his knuckle before he let it slide free again. “Think about it. If we were only attracted to the people who made for the most logical partners—ones who shared all our interests and thought like we do—life would be pretty boring.”
“So sexual chemistry leads us into crazy relationships that could never work in the real world.” She shivered in the wake of his touch and tried not to be disappointed that his answer had brought him to the same conclusion as her.
“That’s not it at a
ll.” He tipped her chin up, meeting her gaze. His sea-blue eyes seemed to peer deep inside her. “All that hot attraction helps us find people who challenge us. People who have the potential to make us better. I learned a long time ago that taking the easy path isn’t always a smart idea. Sometimes you need to try the unexpected.”
“Like a gangster biker turning into a hockey star?” She could see where he’d taken a huge risk to break out of his old life.
“More like a nice, normal hockey player getting the hots for a social crusader with a fiery temper and killer bod.” His thumb traced a trail down her cheek, tantalizing her.
Warm pleasure curled inside her and she wanted to hug the feeling to her chest, savor it close and not let it go. Because this wasn’t just physical pleasure. His words made her feel…special.
“My temper is overrated,” she argued softly, her cheek tipping toward his hand to increase the pressure of that light, glancing touch.
“But you have a fiery side,” he pressed, stepping closer until he stood a mere inch away from her. “And I’m going to prove it to you all over again in just a few minutes.”
Longing swept through her, a sweet layer of sensual awareness over the tenderness she felt for him.
She was falling for him.
The realization made her want to catch herself, like a child who changes his mind about going down the slide at the last minute. But then his lips found hers in a gentle caress, moving over her mouth with infinite care and thoroughness. That sexual chemistry flamed hot and carnal, a flash fire that burned away her hesitation and reminded her how much she wanted him.
Until all she could think about was him.
She could only hope that he felt the same.
* * *
SELFISH. BASTARD.
Axel could think of no better words to describe himself as he allowed himself to touch Jennifer all over again. He’d wanted one more night with her, one more time to savor everything about her before he backed off to keep her safe while he dealt with the Destroyers.
Yet the more he got to know her, the more selfish that seemed. And the tougher it would be to let her go.
Now, lifting her up, he held her at the perfect height to taste her. Her toes dangled against his shins, her body soft and yielding. She kissed with abandon, her tongue stroking his in a way that turned him inside out.
“Can we take this upstairs?” He broke away long enough to see her nod, then set her on her feet. “Follow me.”
“Your house is beautiful,” she murmured, smoothing a hand over a long buffet table in a hallway.
“I was lucky to snag it from the guy I was traded for. It’s big enough to have company.” He knew the place was probably ostentatious in her eyes. She had a vaguely bohemian-hippie vibe with her passion for art with a cause. But damn it, he’d worked hard for what he had. “I like having people over.”
“Teammates? Or is that a nosy question?”
“Not at all. And yeah, it’s good to get the team together. There aren’t many of us who drink during the season, so why go to a bar? It’s more fun to hang out at someone’s house. Watch games. Play billiards. Stuff like that.” He’d appreciated that about life in the Murphy house. Always some brothers around to shoot hoops or throw darts.
“Like a gang without the violence.” She lifted the hem of her long skirt as she went up the stairs.
He couldn’t remember ever finding a glimpse of ankle so freaking sexy before. But the sight of her bare feet and pink toenails on his wool carpet runner turned him on something fierce.
“Kind of.” He hadn’t really looked at his team that way, but maybe he had traded one brotherhood for another. “Hockey players can brawl with the best of them.”
“Kyle, for instance.” She paused at the top of the steps, peering around the long hallway full of doors.
“You give him too much credit,” he grumbled, waving her toward the master suite, dying to touch more of her as he flicked on the lights. “One good punch and you’re making him out to be Muhammad Ali. You really should meet my whole family one of these days—”
He broke off, realizing that she wouldn’t be meeting the Murphys. Not if the Destroyers were serious about coming after him since he would need to make it look as though she was out of his life for good.
If she detected his abrupt departure from the topic, she didn’t show it. In fact, she seemed to shy away from the idea, too.
“Maybe I will,” she murmured vaguely, stepping into his room where a king-size bed rested beside a wall of windows and French doors led out to a balcony overlooking the pool. “For now, I’m mostly interested in seeing more of you.”
“I like how you think, Jen.” He reached for her, bunching a handful of the fabric from her long skirt in his hand and pulling her closer. “I’ve been waiting for the chance to touch you all day.”
The thin cotton tightened around her legs as he reeled her in, making him realize she had another layer beneath it. Some kind of satiny slip.
“That’s good because I’ve been on edge ever since that conversation in the car on the way over here.”
He remembered telling her he wished he could have touched her on the plane. Hidden the contact under a blanket.
“Remind me to whisper suggestive scenarios to you more often.” Letting go of her skirt, he let the fabric flow over his hand as he palmed the tight curve of her butt through the slip.
Massaging her through the silky material, he felt the outline of her panties. A thong with a barely there T-back. Possibly a little bow or a rosette that perched high between her cheeks at the small of her back.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she cautioned, her eyelids falling to half mast as he touched her. “I’m highly suggestible.”
“Meaning I can talk you into naughty things?”
“Meaning you shouldn’t try.” She lifted her fingers to the buttons on her blouse and began to work on them.
Eyes glued to the creamy skin she revealed, the scrap of yellow lace that cupped her breasts the way he wanted to, Axel dragged in a steadying breath. He wanted to make this last for her and he couldn’t do that if he kept fantasizing about her. He needed her to be the one fantasizing about him.
“I can get the buttons,” he assured her, releasing her delectable rump to handle the blouse.
“No.” She kept a tight grip on the buttons. “I love what you were doing.”
He hid a smile at that bossy side that had no problem telling him what to do. Instead, he skimmed a touch up the backs of her thighs, liking the little sigh she made when he hit the curve of her bottom.
An erogenous zone.
How fortunate for both of them that he’d located a sweet spot. He made plans to revisit it again and again, but for now, he watched her breasts strain at the skimpy lace bra she wore, her nipples tightening into dark shadows he could see beneath the material.
“Ax.” She had her blouse twisted around her hands behind her, her wrists stuck in the narrow sleeves. “I don’t think I can go slow tonight.”
“That’s why your hands are caught,” he chastised, smiling as he reached to help her. “Too much of a hurry.”
His chest grazed her breasts as he leaned against her, the beaded flesh the sweetest abrasion through the lace.
“That’s not my fault when the foreplay started in the car.” She wriggled enticingly, no doubt trying to break his concentration.
And doing a damn thorough job of it.
“I thought women liked foreplay.” He unfastened the cuffs of her sleeves, which she’d forgotten to undo, freeing her.
“We also like delivery of the goods.” She wrestled out of her bra straps and popped the front clasp before she rubbed her breasts against his chest.
Heat flared all over his skin, wreaking havoc with his control.
“I wanted to be so good to you,” he growled in her ear, knowing she was going to win this battle.
“You can be so good to me while you’re inside me,” s
he urged, her hips nudging against his, cradling his erection. “Can’t you?”
The scent of lilies of the valley and potent, sexy female—made him hungry for her. He wanted to feel her, lick her, hear her moans as she came for him over and over again.
“Yes.” He lifted her off her feet and carried her to his bed, dropping her in the middle of the white comforter. “Just as soon as I get a taste of you.”
He left her skirt and the slip on, shoving the fabric up and away until only her panties stood between him and what he wanted. The thong was so insubstantial he didn’t bother taking it off, merely peeled the damp lace aside to take her in his mouth.
Her gasp turned into breathy sighs and soft pleas until her hips twisted against him. He spread her thighs wider, licking deeper, savoring every last drop of her slick heat. When her back arched, he wasn’t ready for it to end. Could have feasted on her all day. But she came apart for him so sweetly that he couldn’t make her wait any longer.
He leaned away from her as the aftershocks subsided, shedding his clothes and finding a condom. Her eyes followed him, dark and smoldering, all that female sensuality just waiting for him.
The thought made his cock twitch, the need to be inside her so strong that sweat broke out along his brow. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he lifted her so that she straddled him, her knees hugging his hips as she looped her arms around his neck. Kissed him.
Before he could position himself where he wanted, she reached between them to stroke his hard length. Traced a circle around the tip with her thumb. While he was still seeing stars behind his eyelids, she lifted up on her toes to hover over him, then lowered herself on him. Taking him inside that soft, wet heat.
He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t slow things down. He could only squeeze her hips tight, dragging her closer. When he was able to wrench his eyes open again, her small breasts swayed close enough for him to take one in his mouth. Roll one tight nipple between his teeth.
She pumped her hips faster, harder. Her hands clutched his shoulders, his arms, his chest. She whispered his name in his ear, going still for a long moment before another release claimed her, ravishing her body, teasing wave after wave of fulfillment from her.