by Lori Foster
Jordan paused beside the steps leading to his front door.
“What is it?” Georgia asked, a little breathless from the idea of what they were about to do.
“I thought I heard something.” Jordan frowned, looked around the yard, then shook his head. “Nevermind. It doesn’t matter.” He put his arm around her shoulders and together they practically ran up the steps. No sooner did Jordan have the door closed than Georgia found herself in his arms.
“God, I need you,” he whispered and his rough velvet voice stroked over her as surely as his hands were doing. “Let me love you all night.”
She would have said yes, but his mouth covered hers and his tongue thrust inside, hot and wet and hungry and all she could do was moan. Jordan must have understood; one of his large hands settled on her breast, softly kneading, and the other curved around the front of her thigh. He pressed into her, all hard, tensed muscles and trembling need. She felt his erection against her belly and rubbed herself against him.
In that instant, he lost it.
* * *
CASEY CHUCKLED as he saw the light go out in the rooms overhead. Jordan was a goner—and Casey had never seen him happier.
He was behind the garage in the darkest shadows, Emma clinging to his side. Very gently, he eased her away. “We should join the others.”
“No.” Her hand, so small and soft, stroked down his bare chest, but Casey caught it before she reached the fly to his jeans.
It took more control than he knew he had to turn her away. “Emma,” he chided, and hopefully he was the only one who heard the shaking of his voice. He’d started out befriending her, but Emma wanted more. She was so blatant about it, so brazen, it was all he could do not to give in. But more than anything Emma needed a friend, not another conquest. And beyond that, Casey didn’t share.
“Are you a virgin?” she taunted, and Casey laughed outright at her ploy.
“That,” he said, flicking a finger over her soft cheek, “is none of your business.”
She shook her head in wonder. “You’re the only guy I know who wouldn’t have denied it right away!”
“I’m not denying or confirming.”
“I know, but most guys’d lie if they had to, rather than let a girl think—”
“What?” Casey cupped her face and despite his resolve, he kissed her. “I don’t care what anyone thinks, Emma. You should know that by now. Besides, what I’ve done or with who isn’t the point.”
“No,” she agreed, her tone sad. “It’s what I’ve done, isn’t it?”
He repeated his own thoughts out loud. “I don’t share.”
“What if I promised not to—”
“Shhh. Summer break is almost over and I’ll be leaving for school. I won’t be around, so there’s no point in us even discussing this.”
Big tears welled in her eyes, reflecting the moonlight, making his guts cramp. “I’m leaving too, Casey.”
“And where do you think to go?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He could see her soft mouth trembling, could smell her sweet scent carried on the cool evening breeze. Boldly, she took his hand and pressed it to her breast. She was so damn soft.
With a muttered curse, Casey pulled her closer and kissed her again. It didn’t matter, he promised himself, filling his hand with her firm breast, finding her nipple and stroking with his thumb. He was damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t. And sometimes Emma was just too much temptation.
But it wouldn’t change anything. He told her so in a muted whisper, and her only reply was a groan.
* * *
“I WANTED to go slow,” Jordan ground out as he jerked Georgia’s T-shirt high, pushed her bra aside and bared one breast. He had very large hands, but even for him she was lush and full. “I wanted to make this last.”
“Don’t you dare go slow,” she gasped, and gripped his head as he closed his mouth over one taut straining nipple. “Jordan.”
He pulsed with incredible need, his heartbeat wild and uncontrolled. She tasted even better than he remembered, ripe and hot. With a low groan, she parted her thighs and she pushed against him, using her body to stroke his erection, her movements sinuous and graceful, making him think of all the fantasies he’d had when watching her dance.
He sucked her nipple deep, drawing on her while with his other hand he teased the crease of her behind. “Do you know what I want?” he growled, and switched to her other breast. The nipple he’d just abandoned was wet and so tight he ached just seeing it. He pinned her against the wall, knowing if he didn’t slow her down he’d be gone in under three seconds.
Georgia gave a breathy, barely-there laugh. “It’s obvious what you want.” Her small hand pressed between them and curled around his hard-on. “This is a dead giveaway.”
Jordan squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on holding back his orgasm. “Don’t do that.” He stepped away, putting an arm’s length of distance between them, staring at her through a haze of lust. “I’m not sure how you manage it, but you set me off and I don’t want to end this too quick. Not for me and not for you.”
Georgia looked at him while using the wall for support. Her chest, bared from his petting, rose and fell with deep breaths and quick pants. Her legs were still parted, her hands flat on the wall beside her hips. She looked enticing and tempting and Jordan wanted to drag her down to the carpet and bury himself inside her until they both screamed with the pleasure of it.
Slowly she gathered her wits and a small, seductive smile curled that sexier-than-sin mouth. Her eyes were dark and inviting. “Tell me what you want, Jordan.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I want you to ride me. Hard. I want to lie on my back and watch you while you take your pleasure. I want to see all those sensual movements you make when you dance, only I want them for me and me alone.” Her lips parted, her breath came faster. He added in a whisper, “And I want it all while I’m deep inside you.”
She came away from the wall in a rush, grabbing him and kissing him—his mouth, his throat, his chest. Jordan palmed her backside, lifted her and started for his bedroom. When her legs wound around him he had to stop for just a moment and kiss her deeply, but he could feel his passions on the boiling point, ready to erupt.
He tripped over a pair of slacks on his bedroom floor, stumbled to the bed and dropped there with Georgia still in his arms. “Don’t move,” he rasped.
She ignored him, grabbing his shirt and trying to yank it off him. He did that for her, then wrestled her own shirt over her head, leaving it and her bra twisted around her arms to try to hinder her movements just a bit.
“You’re pushing me, sweetheart and I can’t take it.”
“Damn it, Jordan…” She struggled with the shirt and bra and by the time she had her arms free he’d already yanked her shorts and panties off.
Sitting back on his heels between her wide-spread legs, he whispered, “I could come just looking at you.”
She moaned.
“Don’t move now. I mean it.” And before she could ignore that edict, he caught her hips in his hands, lifted her, and stroked with his tongue. She was already wet and hot and he grew voracious in his need to take as much of her as he could. “You taste so sweet.”
Like a wild woman, she writhed and squirmed and cried out. Jordan loved it all, just as he loved her. His fingers bit deeply into her cheeks and he used his thumbs to open her further, stroking with his tongue and teasing with his teeth and breathing in her heady, musky scent.
His erection throbbed and strained against his fly, but he wanted her pleasure first because he wasn’t at all certain how long he’d last once he got inside her. He’d meant to seduce her, but he forgot everything he knew about women and what they enjoyed. He acted solely on instinct, but it must have been enough. After several minutes of reacting to her moans and her small movements and her breathless encouragement, Jordan felt her climax start.
Her hips jerked, her thighs trembled and she groaned, long and
low and real, pressing herself against his mouth to take everything he could give her. He held her closer, used his tongue to stroke her deeper, faster, and she came with all the energy she gave to her dance.
When she quieted, her harsh breathing the only sound in the room, Jordan rested his face against her thigh. Her completion, as if it had been his own, had helped to calm him. Idly, he traced his fingers over her slick flesh, her soft brown curls, making her twitch and moan.
He grinned. “This,” he whispered, softly stroking her swollen folds before slowly, carefully pushing one finger deep, “was worth the wait.”
She moved to his touch, lazy, sated movements. He loved seeing her spread out naked on his bed. When he pulled his fingers away, she heaved a long, shuddering sigh, and he decided he’d better not stall any longer or she was liable to fall asleep on him. And he knew firsthand how difficult it was to get her awake again.
Jordan stood beside the bed and stripped off his jeans. Georgia watched him through heavy, slumberous eyes—until he was naked. Then her cheekbones colored with renewed heat and her lips parted.
She took him completely off guard when she whispered, “I love you, Jordan.”
An invisible fist squeezed his heart. Every bit of calm he’d just achieved shot out the ceiling.
He barely had the sense or patience to find a condom and put it on, especially when the second he sat on the mattress she pushed him to his back. Jordan dropped flat, more than willing to give her control. Without hesitation she straddled his hips. For a brief moment she cradled his testicles, testing his long-lost control, her small soft hand making him crazed. Holding back became torture, and he told her so.
She clasped his penis in her hand and thankfully guided him into her body.
Jordan watched as she slowly slid down to envelop him, and he groaned deeply. With only that initial stroke he felt his body drawing tight in prerelease. “Georgia.”
She seated herself completely. He held her hips and pressed her down farther; he was so deep inside her, her inner muscles gripped him and she caught her breath on a gasp. When Jordan started to lift her away, unwilling to hurt her, she shook her head and braced her hands on his chest. Her gaze was cloudy with a mix of discomfort and incredible pleasure. “I want all of you.”
Jordan locked his jaw and concentrated on not coming. Georgia didn’t make it easy on him. At first, she held perfectly still and Jordan, teeth clenched and thighs tensed, did all he could to keep from rushing her.
Her thumbs found his nipples beneath his chest hair. “You are, without a doubt,” she murmured, “the most gorgeous, sexy man I’ve ever seen.”
His heels pressed into the mattress and his hands fisted in the sheets.
Her small palms, cool against his burning flesh, coasted over his shoulders, down his biceps then to his abdomen. “You’re all hard muscles and lean strength and I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you in the audience.”
Jordan felt himself jerking, knew the end was near for him. “Move, damn it. Move.”
With a feminine laugh of sheer power, she did as he asked, lifting with torturous slowness, then dropping hard. It took a mere three strokes, three times of watching her beautiful body slide up and then down again on his rigid shaft for Jordan to go mindless.
He cupped her breasts, arched his back, and exploded like a savage. To his immense surprise and pleasure, just as he began to regain sanity he heard Georgia sob and opened his eyes to watch her take her own pleasure. He was still hard, still buried deep inside her. She rocked her hips, her breasts bouncing, until she threw her head back and groaned out her second orgasm.
When she collapsed on his chest, Jordan put his arms around her and held her tight. He loved her so much it hurt, but when he decided to tell her, he heard her breathing even into the deep rhythm of sleep.
Pushing her hair from her face he studied her features. Her temples were damp from her exertions, her lips swollen and rosy, her cheeks still flushed. He kissed her forehead and the bridge of her nose. “I love you,” he whispered, and though she didn’t reply she did snuggle closer.
Smiling, Jordan eased her to his side so he could remove the used condom and find the blankets. It took him scant minutes and then he was back, pulling her onto his chest again, determined to keep her as close as possible. Forever.
Her heartbeat echoed in his chest, and with his mind at peace, Jordan dozed off.
* * *
GEORGIA WOKE the next morning to an empty bed. She automatically reached for Jordan, but he was gone. Then she heard him singing in his low, sexy voice, and with a smile, she climbed out of bed and wrapped the sheet around her.
His apartment was fabulous. Located over the three-car garage for the main house, it was open and spacious. The bedroom and private bath were the only doorways. The kitchen, breakfast nook and wide living room all flowed into each other. Since the bedroom door was open she could see Jordan at the kitchen sink, measuring out coffee. His broad naked back made her body feel liquid and warm. He wore only a pair of faded jeans riding low on his narrow hips, and even his bare feet looked sexy. Of course he was making coffee, and she smiled.
She’d told him she loved him.
Georgia remembered her declaration with a touch of embarrassment, but decided it didn’t matter. So what that he hadn’t responded in kind? She knew he cared for her, and he and his family were so wonderful….
The phone rang and as Jordan turned to answer it he caught sight of her. Immediately, he forgot about the phone and started toward her with a male determination that had her blushing. “Morning,” he murmured in a suggestive way.
Oh, that sexy just-up voice! Her heart picked up speed and a wave of warmth shook her. “Good morning.”
His smile was so gentle. Combined with a mostly naked superior male body, Jordan Sommerville was very potent! Georgia cleared her throat. “Aren’t you going to get the phone?”
“The answering machine will pick up.”
No sooner did he say it than it happened. Georgia missed the beginning of the message because Jordan kissed her while slowly unwinding the sheet from her body. He held it out to her sides and looked at her in the bright morning sunlight cascading through the kitchen windows.
“You’re so beautiful.”
She thought to tease him about needing glasses, since she knew her hair was tangled and her makeup smudged, but then the person on the phone said, “So as of a few hours ago, the bar is officially shut down. Who knows how long it’ll last, but I knew you’d be happy to hear it. Serving minors is a serious offense, and about the quickest way around to lose your licence. I think we can probably keep him shut down. Anyway, give me a call when you can and I’ll fill you in on the rest of the details.”
They were both frozen, Jordan in what appeared to be satisfaction, Georgia with dawning horror.
She was unemployed.
She yanked the sheet away from Jordan and held it to her chin to cover her nudity. She felt lost and vulnerable and scared. What would she do now? Good God, she couldn’t make the bills without that job! In a daze, Georgia swallowed hard and turned away from Jordan.
He caught her shoulder, and his voice sounded a bit harsh. “Where are you going?”
Blankly, her mind in a muddle, she stared at him. “I have to go find a job. I have to…I don’t know. I have to do something.” Then, before she could stop herself, she whispered, “Jordan, what am I going to do?”
His expression softened, and she wondered if what she saw in his eyes was pity. Details whipped through her mind with the speed of light. Scheduled dental checkups for the kids. The premium on her mother’s health insurance. The gas and electric, the mortgage…. She hadn’t had a chance to save up much money yet. She’d been too busy making repairs. And now…
The sheet fell to the floor, forgotten as she covered her face with her hands, knowing she’d failed yet again. “I have to find a job.” She said it once more, hoping to make herself understand. But she’d alr
eady looked everywhere before accepting the work at the bar. Nowhere else had paid enough. For a high school dropout who could only work certain hours because of being a mother, she wasn’t exactly prime employment material.
Jordan’s hands curved around her shoulders, caressing, comforting. “It’s too early to do anything right now. I’ll call the sheriff back in a bit and get all the details, okay?”
The sheriff? Not his brother, so it must have been the one who’d wanted them arrested. She’d known he was watching the bar, that he was fed up with the nightly problems that seemed to erupt….
Jordan interrupted her thoughts. “I have a few solutions, sweetheart. Will you listen to me?”
Georgia realized she’d put her worries onto him; she’d come to depend on him whether she wanted to admit it or not. How had she let that happen?
He’d once offered to let her work for him, but that would be no more than charity and she didn’t think she could stand it. She shook her head as she tried to pull away.
“You will listen,” Jordan stated, and urged her toward his sofa.
“What is there to say? I won’t work for you—”
“You don’t have to.” Jordan gently pushed her into the seat, then plucked up the sheet and handed it to her. Georgia wrapped it around herself; she had all but forgotten she was nude.
“Now just listen.” He caught both her hands and held tight. “You said you wanted options, well here’re two.” He drew a deep breath. “You can marry me.” He waited, watching her closely, and when she only stared at him in shock, his expression hardened. “Or you can teach dance at your own studio.”
That was every bit as confusing as his proposal. Only…he hadn’t really proposed. Not once had he ever said he loved her, only that he wanted her. And last night he’d admitted to respecting her, admiring her…
“Georgia, are you listening to me?”
She blinked. “Yes, but…I don’t have a studio.”