Under the Covers

by Jo Barrett

  She lifted her hand and plunged her fingers into his hair, her nails scraping his scalp as she held him to the task. When they finally came up for air, the view of her gorgeous breasts lifted and rising with heavy breaths, brought his cock back to life with a jolt.

  He cupped her breast, partially hidden beneath her blue lace bra. “This time we get totally naked and take our time.” With a delicate twist, he tweaked the pebbled tip and she groaned. “Unless you’d rather not,” he said, nibbling at her ear lobe.

  Jane panted as he continued to torment her. She’d never known it could be this stimulating, this incredibly good. She’d had climaxes before, but nothing like what had just happened. And she wanted it again. “Yes, let’s take our time.”

  “Then this has to go.” He released the catch of her bra and it fell away. “God, you’re gorgeous.”

  He flipped her around and lowered his head to her breast. His tongue and teeth, his hands, oh what wonderful hands, nearly brought her to her knees. His hands slid down her sides, and as he went lower, he moved his mouth down her body, kissing and nibbling the entire way, until her clothes were gone.

  “I don’t think I can stand here much longer,” she said, her legs quivering beneath her.

  His lips brushed across her thigh. “Just one more minute.”

  When his tongue dipped into her center she let out a whimpering plea. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Looking down at him as he tasted her, her fingers splayed into his dark hair, his strong tan hands gripping her hips and holding her in place, was the most glorious thing she’d ever seen. Within moments she climaxed again.

  “That’s it, baby. God, you taste so good,” he said, his breath hot against her skin as she reached the pinnacle.

  She heard him moan over the sound of her pounding heart and tried to keep her feet, but once the spasms stopped, her legs gave way. He caught around her waist and laid her on the sleeping bag. Moving up the length of her body, licking, nipping, and tasting her skin, brought her back to the here and now.

  A smile stole over her lips as he nuzzled at her neck. “I thought we were taking our time,” she said.

  He kissed her, then said with a grin, “We’ve only just begun.”

  She watched him kick out of his shoes and jeans, and reveled in the view. He was firm and tan, a feast for the senses, and she wanted her turn at tasting every inch of him. But having never ventured to say much in the bedroom before, she couldn’t quite muster the courage to rise up on her knees and take what stood before her.

  His arousal grew before her eyes. “Like what you see?” he asked.

  She jerked her gaze to his, and once again was lost in the dark depths, not sure what he was thinking, what he would do next, and it thrilled her to the core.

  “I—I’m—uh—”

  He lay down beside her and kissed her silent. “Not to worry. We’ll bring out that little spitfire again in a few minutes.”

  “Spitfire?”

  He cast her a crooked grin as his fingers trailed a scorching path across her breasts. “You let all your inhibitions go when you’re excited, demand what you want,” he said, his gaze following his hand as he spoke. “But when you’re calm, like now,” he said, lifting his gaze to hers, “you’re kind of shy.”

  “I’ve never taken much lead in bed,” she said, unable to meet his gaze.

  Slipping his hand to her cheek, he coaxed her to look at him. “You never have to be shy with me, Jane. You can do whatever you want with me.” He kissed her softly then suckled her lower lip. “Or to me, for that matter.”

  She let out a long sigh and grinned. “That might be too long a list for one night.”

  “Then let’s start with some basics.”

  Giggling, she said, “I thought we’d covered that already.”

  “Barely.” He took her hand and lifted it to his chest with a crooked grin. “I think it’s time you did some exploring.”

  Her gaze fell to where her hand touched his chest.

  “Go ahead, learn my body,” he said. “Because, sweetheart, I am going to learn every delicious inch of yours.”

  Excitement wound around her senses, and with a freedom she had never experienced, she took great pains in learning all there was to know about Jacob Hayes’ body, making her way from the tip of his nose, which she kissed, to the tip of his toes, which she suckled. And what she did in between should’ve brought the rafters down upon their heads for the amount of shouts of pleasure bursting from Jacob’s lips.

  Chapter Four

  Jane moved to the back door of the general store, her legs still weak, her lips still tingling from the kisses they’d shared over the last two hours. She paused, her hand on the door knob, not sure how to ask when they could see each other again. If he even wanted to. Although they’d done a great deal of touching and tasting, they’d done some talking too.

  He’d asked about her life before she came to town, and she told him about her father and her dreams. He never said a word about his ex, but told her a lot about growing up here, and his parents and how they left him the store when they moved to Florida.

  But he’d known before they really talked, that she was generally shy. She could feel it slipping in around her like a shroud. She couldn’t make herself ask the daunting question, even after all that had been said, all that they’d done.

  “Um, well…goodnight,” she said, her voice small, even to her own ears. Without lifting her gaze from where her hand clutched the doorknob, she twisted the old brass fixture and opened the door.

  A solid thud echoed in the old building as Jacob slammed his hand against the wood, closing it once again. He gripped her by the upper arms and spun her around, then his lips crashed into hers.

  With a mewling sigh, she clutched at his shirt, holding him against her as he consumed her. One arm wrapped around her, while he palmed her butt, pressing her against the bulge in his jeans. How he could be hard again already, after hours of making love, amazed her.

  He lifted his head, his lips barely brushing hers. “Tomorrow night,” he said.

  She nodded with a smile, then turned and ducked through the door and hurried back to her apartment across the street. He wanted her—still, and she wanted him.

  ****

  The sun came up and cut a shaft of light across Jane’s closed eyes and she was instantly awake. With a languid stretch, she climbed out of bed and headed straight for the shower. She noticed a few sore places as she lathered up her body and grinned. It hadn’t been a dream. She’d had glorious sex with Jacob Hayes and was due for another round after work.

  She sluiced off the soap and reached for a towel, then paused. Would she be too tired after working in the store all day? Would she have to cancel? Or worse, would Jacob change his mind after having the night to sleep on it?

  She shook her head with a muttered curse and dried off. Maybe this arrangement wasn’t the best idea after all. Not if she was going to worry herself over it when they were apart. She had a store to run, a new life to begin, and he was a complication she didn’t need.

  And yet as she dressed, remembering all the places he touched, teased, tasted, making her body flush with instant need, she decided not seeing him would be just as bad.

  Pushing him from her thoughts with as much effort as she could muster, she grabbed a quick bite and made her way downstairs to her store. Within minutes, she had set up her easel sign announcing her grand opening. Wheeling out a cart of fabric samples and a few sewing books, she stole a glance at the general store across the street.

  There he was, casually leaning against the corner of his store watching her. She held in her smile, and made herself look busy so no one would notice. He’d stressed several times that he wanted their arrangement kept secret, and although he’d never actually said why, she knew it was because of the gossip over his ex-fiancée. She had work to do, however, and stalling on the sidewalk just so she could sneak glances his way, wasn’t getting it done.

&
nbsp; With one last look, she became caught in his intense gaze. She could feel his heat, his fingers, his lips on her from clear across the street, and knew her face was flushed. He cast her a wicked grin, then turned and went inside.

  “Rogue,” she muttered beneath her breath, but loved every minute of it. Although she’d been waiting to open her very own store for years, she couldn’t wait until the day was done, and she could once again experience the ecstasy she felt last night.

  ****

  Jacob knew what she was thinking, remembering, and had to go inside or let the world see the bulge in his pants. He’d tried not to smile at her, but couldn’t control his grin when her cheeks filled with color, knowing from last night’s experience, she was blushing all over. Her glorious body couldn’t hide how he made her feel, no matter how shy she was.

  He absently straightened some stock on the front shelves, realizing that her shy side was almost as titillating as her demanding one. It was like sweet and sour together. A flavor that spoke to him on so many levels. His hand stilled, hovering over the shelf of coffee mugs.

  Levels were bad. Levels meant more than just sex. Levels meant relationships.

  Joey banged through the door, jolting him from his worrisome thoughts.

  “Hey, Jacob.”

  He cleared his throat and cast the kid a half smile. “Hey.”

  Thankfully, he went right to work without any instruction, leaving Jacob to dwell on the problem he’d created. But he needed to think on things in a quiet place, so he returned to his ongoing chore of cataloging the new inventory.

  And yet the moment he crossed the threshold into the stockroom, she surrounded him. His mind flicked through images of her beneath him, above him, beside him, every erotic moment they’d spent together, playing over and over. He sucked in a lung full of air, trying to calm his racing pulse, but her scent filled his lungs.

  He swiped the bead of sweat from his upper lip and opened the back door, needing air. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied the sleeping bag they’d laid on, rolled up and tucked away beside the old desk in the corner where he sometimes did paperwork. Hidden from view, but within easy reach for later that night. He wondered if it was wise to see her again, and yet he wondered if he could stop himself.

  ****

  Jane locked up the register, and flicked her handcrafted sign on the door to closed. With a grin, she finished tidying up, thoroughly pleased with her first day. Some of the ladies who’d come in couldn’t stop chattering about how glad they were to have the new store in town. They liked Hayes General Store, but Jacob had to order their fabric, and that took half the fun out of it. Not to mention, ordering fabric you hadn’t actually touched was tricky. Many times, the ladies had said, they’d been forced to return it.

  With a final glance around the shop, she sighed with pleasure. She wished she could have afforded a larger place, one where she could have classes and maybe even a little comfy corner for small gatherings and fun things like fabric swaps with tea and cookies. But this was her first store, her first step toward her ultimate dream, and it couldn’t have started out any better.

  She snatched up her bag and closed the door behind her. Slipping the key into the lock, she hadn’t noticed Riley coming up behind her.

  “So how did your first day go?” he asked.

  “Oh! You startled me.” She cast him a smile and turned toward her apartment stairs. It hadn’t been her original direction, but with Riley on her heels, she couldn’t cross the street to meet Jacob. “It went really well, but I’m bushed,” she said, as he appeared beside her in stride.

  “That’s great. I know it was tough getting things ready to open. So, how about we go out and celebrate your success?”

  She put her foot on the first step, gripped the railing and looked back at him. He really was a nice guy. Just not what she wanted. “Thank you, but I really am tired, Riley.” She smiled at him, and said, “After all, I have to get up and do it all over again tomorrow.”

  He grinned with a nod, not seeming to be hurt in any way by her repeated refusals.

  “I understand,” he said, then placed one hand over hers on the railing. “But I’m not giving up yet.” His voice lowered. “I think you and I could be really good together.”

  Jane eased up another step, slipping her hand from beneath his. “Um, well, uh goodnight.”

  “Goodnight and pleasant dreams,” he said with a wink and disappeared around the corner.

  Jane sucked in a lung full of air as she hurried up the stairs, afraid he might change his mind and come back.

  ****

  Jacob watched from the alley where the shadows were deep alongside the general store. When he’d seen Jane flip the sign to closed on her door, he did the same and cut Joey loose. He needed to be careful with that, maybe change the kid’s schedule or he’d get wise. But Jacob had been wanting her all day, and found himself in front of the window looking across the street every other hour or so wondering when she would come to him.

  By the time he’d made it outside to wait for her, Riley had shown up. He considered the possibility that she wouldn’t come to him after all, that she’d finally cave and go out with the town hotshot. And that thought had him wanting to run across the street and plant his fist in ole’ Riley’s grinning face.

  But an episode like that would set the whole town on its ear. He couldn’t stand another round of gossip at his expense, the stares, the whispers, the odd comments and unsolicited suggestions about how to handle his love life.

  He huffed softly beneath his breath. Love life, hell. Jane wasn’t his. They were just sharing a little pleasure in a makeshift bed. They were not involved. They were not a couple. And he most definitely did not have feelings for her.

  But all the internal reasoning didn’t stop his body from going rigid when Riley touched her. The burning in the pit of his stomach flared, and he clenched his fists. If the bastard took one more step closer, he didn’t think he’d be able to keep on his side of the street.

  Then Jane took another step, easing from his touch, and cast Riley an uneasy smile. Jacob didn’t take a steady breath until Riley walked away.

  As she hurried up the rest of the stairs, Jacob rubbed his face hard, trying to get a grip on himself.

  “This is insane. It’s just sex,” he muttered.

  And yet, great sex or no, he had to admit he liked her. She wasn’t just beautiful, in that girl-next-door kind of way, she was a nice, almost too nice person. Her dealings with Riley was proof of that. She honestly didn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings.

  A long hiss of air slipped from his lips, as he realized they would’ve eventually become good friends without the sex.

  She slipped the key into the lock, and he started to turn toward home, figuring their date, for lack of a better term, was off for the night. And strange as it seemed, he wasn’t too disappointed. There would be other nights, he hoped, but knew that whatever happened they’d remain friends.

  With one last glance over his shoulder to make sure she’d made it inside okay, he paused. She’d turned and was tiptoeing back down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she peeked around the corner in the direction Riley had gone. Then after a quick glance both ways down the street, she darted from the side of the building, heading straight for the general store.

  Jacob almost chuckled out loud and moved back to the corner. With a broad grin, he reached out and grabbed her before she made it to the entrance. Pulling her into the shadows, he spun her around, and muffled her tiny shriek with his mouth. She went still in his arms for a brief moment, then began to eagerly return his kiss, as hands roamed, hearts pounded, and breaths mingled.

  “Jacob,” she whispered roughly against his mouth.

  “Tell me what you want, baby.”

  “You know what I want.”

  He grinned as he looked into her bright blue eyes filled with hunger. “I want to hear you say it.”

  She slipped one hand between them, skim
ming the taut expanse of his stomach to the edge of his jeans. Toying with the top button, she smiled up at him. “I want these off, and this…” She flicked open the button and slid her hand inside. He groaned low and long as she wrapped her fingers around his aching cock. “Deep inside me,” she said, with a not-so-gentle squeeze.

  He nipped at her lips, his eyelids growing heavy with her sweet torture. “Then I think we need to take this inside.”

  “In a minute.”

  His eyes shot open, as her voice had changed from soft and raspy, to intense and demanding. The look she had on her face was far from sweet, and it made him hotter than hell. That spitfire he enjoyed so much had come out ready to play, and play hard.

  “Be warned, sweetheart. This can go both ways,” he said. He doubted she’d let him taste her out here in the open, and it wasn’t wise. They could get caught by any number of folks, even land in jail on an indecency charge, a fact that had him thinking things over again.

  “But it might be best—” He sucked in a sharp breath as she quickened her strokes. Losing it outside, right now, hadn’t been on his agenda, but he’d been living with half a hard-on all day because of her.

  “Do you want me to stop?” she asked, her voice softer, her shy side resurfacing, and yet her hand continued to torment him.

  He managed a guttural no, barely audible, but she’d obviously heard, and increased her strokes as she nipped at the side of his neck. It wouldn’t take much more for him to go over the edge. Just another minute, and then he’d get them both inside where he could strip her bare and slide into her moist heat. He groaned at the thought of what was still to come, then struggled to bring what little bit of his senses he could control, back to what she was doing to him.

  Then her tongue slipped inside his ear and he lost it. White hot heat shot through his body, and to muffle his own shouts of pleasure, he cradled the back of her head in his trembling hand and plunged his tongue into her mouth as she stroked him to completion.