Unzipped (Harlequin Romance)

by Lori Foster

  Excitement pumped through him, and he grinned like a fool. “Ahh, so, are you offering to fulfill a teenage boy’s fantasy?”

  “Absolutely.” She crooked her finger at him, a come-hither dare etching her features. “Care to join me?”

  Unable to resist such a tempting overture, he slid into the back seat and shut the door behind him, enveloping him in the warmth inside the car, the heady scent of Leah, and the promise of seduction glimmering in her bright-blue eyes.

  Chapter Four

  LEAH HAD Jace right where she wanted him. Okay, so maybe the small, cramped back seat of his classic Camaro wasn’t as comfortable as a bed but, for the moment, it was absolutely perfect for what she had in mind.

  Pressing her hand in the center of his chest, she pushed him back, so that he was reclining against the side of the car. Then she boldly straddled his waist and sat her bottom on his muscular thighs.

  “I’ve never made out in the back of a car before,” she said huskily, and scooted closer so that the hard bulge behind the fly of his jeans pressed firmly against the crux of her thighs. “Care to broaden my lessons a little bit?”

  He settled his hands at her waist, and ever so slowly tugged the hem of her top out of the waistband of her jeans, his irises turning dark and hot. “Honestly, this is a first for me, too, but I’m sure I can still offer some guidance.”

  Leah shivered as his fingers strummed across her ribs, and decided if this was his first time making out in the back seat of a car, too—and his newly restored Camaro at that—then she wanted the encounter to be exciting and memorable for him. A treasured recollection that would bring a smile to his face whenever he happened to glance in his rearview mirror.

  “Actually, would you mind if I took the lead this time, and you just followed along?” she asked.

  He grinned indulgently, causing that disarming dimple of his to make an appearance. “God, Leah, that’s a request few men could resist.”

  She pushed his shirt up his torso, and he helped her pull it over his head. “You included?” A hint of insecurity crept into her voice—not many men, if any, had found her sexually irresistible.

  He suddenly grew as serious as the question she’d just asked, and it amazed her just how in tune to her feelings he was.

  “Especially me, sweetheart,” he murmured, and trailed a finger down the low-cut V of her blouse, leaving a tingling sensation in the wake of his heated touch. “Resisting you is becoming damn near impossible.”

  And for her final day and night with him, that’s all she cared about. “Good.”

  Splaying her hands on his bare chest, she leaned forward and kissed him. Their lips met and meshed damply, and she slipped her tongue inside his mouth to lazily tease and explore and chase his tongue with her own.

  His warm palms tunneled beneath her top again, this time to move restlessly up and down her back, then around to her breasts. With her bra still on, he fondled the small, taut mounds of flesh with his hands and lightly pinched her nipples through the material—pleasuring her, yet still allowing her to be the one to dictate the direction of the unfolding seduction.

  The rigid length of his erection pressed hard against her sex, and she rocked her hips, creating a pleasurable friction that made him growl deep in his throat and deepen the kiss even more.

  Knowing what he wanted, what he craved, she moved her mouth to his jaw, nuzzled his neck, and let her lips and tongue traverse their way lower. She laved his nipples, and his fingers threaded through her hair as her teeth grazed his belly and her tongue dipped into his navel. With his body angled across the back seat, she found a relatively comfortable position between his legs and fumbled with the button on his jeans until she managed to unfasten them. Then, with utmost care, she slowly lowered his zipper, relishing the anticipation of touching him so intimately, of learning his shape and texture and taste without any barriers of clothing between her hands and his flesh.

  He caught her wrist before she could go any further, and when she looked up into his face, his expression was taut with restraint, dark with desire and need. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”

  “Absolutely, positively.” She nipped at him though his cotton briefs, and watched in fascination as his impressive erection twitched. “I want to apply what you taught me last night about a blow job. Not the drink, but the real thing.”

  His answer was a full-body shudder, and he released her, allowing her to proceed. She grasped the waistband of his jeans and briefs, and he lifted his hips so she could pull them down to his thighs, freeing his shaft. Dampening her lips with her tongue, she touched her fingers to the engorged head of his penis and marveled at how smooth and velvety soft the tip was—a contrast to the hot, hard length of the thick stem.

  The sight of him—all virile, aroused male—made her equally hot, and wet too, but this afternoon tryst was solely for him, and she’d get hers later, tonight. Wrapping her fingers tightly around him, she gently fondled the swollen sacs between his legs with her other hand. His breathing quickened and the muscles in his thighs tensed as she parted her lips and enveloped him in the wet heat of her mouth, deeply, eagerly, all the way down to the base of his shaft.

  There was something powerfully invigorating about holding the most masculine part of Jace in her mouth and being in complete control of his pleasure. And something wonderfully provocative about him trusting her so unconditionally with the most vulnerable part of his anatomy.

  She felt incredibly sexual, so wicked and uninhibited, and her own pulse raced in growing excitement. She wanted desperately to make him come, just like this.

  Remembering the techniques he’d taught her the night before, her lips and tongue joined in on the foray, licking and swirling, stroking rhythmically, then finally she added a slick, steady suction that made his hips buck upward and a raw expletive escape his throat.

  His fingers tangled in the strands of her hair, alternately pulling her close, then trying to push her away as his climax neared. “Leah,” he whispered gruffly, her name a husky warning.

  She ignored him and continued resolutely, drawing him deeper and sliding her mouth and tongue wetly down the length of him, then sucking strongly. With a primal groan that rumbled up from his chest, he came, his body taut, his hips arching, as he gave himself over to his release. She stayed with him all the way, until the last tremors ebbed and he slumped back, his head resting against the back of his seat. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing hard, as if he’d just completed a two-mile sprint.

  He looked totally, deliciously wasted, and that satisfied Leah more than an orgasm of her own, because she’d been the one to put that dazed look on his face. She moved up beside him and noticed that the windows were steamed from the heat they’d generated. She experienced the girlish impulse to write an intimate note in that fog, an I Love Jace message that would claim him as her own.

  Her stomach took a deep free-fall, then her heart followed with erratic pounding as the truth shook her to the core. As a teenager, she’d been infatuated with Jace and had cloaked her attraction to him in friendship. As a woman who was learning about intimacy and passion and experiencing an emotional connection with a man for the very first time, she knew she was falling deeply, irrevocably in love with Jace.

  She swallowed hard, knowing she’d never reveal her feelings to him—the last thing she ever wanted was for him to feel forced or obligated to return the sentiment. Their time together was about sex, not love, and she wasn’t about to throw him such an unexpected, and likely unwanted, curve halfway through their weekend.

  “Well?” she prompted, and nestled against his neck, determined to keep things light and playful and fun. “Did I pass?”

  He laughed, the sound low and rough, as if expressing his amusement took effort. “You’re a quick learner.” He pried open his eyes to look at her. “You definitely earned an A-plus.”

  She couldn’t stop the silly grin that lifted her lips. “You’re a great teacher,” she said,
returning the compliment. “You do realize, don’t you, that we’re going to have to make sure that stellar grade-point average doesn’t falter.”

  “Then let’s go for some extra credit by letting me return the favor.” He fingered the leather ties securing the front placket of her jeans.

  Before he could tug open the fly of her pants and make her melt with his deft, skillful touch, she reluctantly moved back, just out of his reach. “As tempting as that sounds, I’ve got to go.”

  A frown marred his brow and added to his perplexed expression. “Go where?”

  “Shopping.”

  He pulled his pants back up and fastened them. “Shopping?” he repeated, sounding dumbfounded.

  “Yes, shopping.” Finding his T-shirt on the seat beside her, she handed it back to him to put on. “I still need to buy a few things for tonight, especially something to wear.”

  His gaze drifted lazily, hotly, down the length of her as he undressed her with his eyes. “What if I don’t want you wearing anything at all?”

  Heat sizzled along her nerve endings, rousing her libido all over again, enticing her to stay and take him up on his offer to return the favor. “Now what fun would that be?” she said with effort. “I want to buy something that teases and tantalizes, and drives you crazy with lust.”

  He groaned like a dying man. “Ahh, we’re back to that again, are we?”

  She planted a quick kiss on his lips. “Yep.” She was looking forward to finding an outfit that would turn him inside out with burning desire. “If it makes you feel any better, I promise you can have your wicked way with me tonight.”

  A slow, sinful grin eased up the corner of his mouth, and his green eyes gleamed with anticipation. “You can count on that, sweetheart, because tonight, I’m calling the shots.”

  LATER THAT EVENING, Jace reclined against the sofa in Leah’s apartment, watching as she slipped a CD into the stereo player. Within moments, the soft strains of Enya filled the living room and added to the romantic, provocative atmosphere Leah had created for the two of them.

  True to her word, Leah had found herself an outfit that had made him instantly hard the moment she’d opened the door and greeted him. The vivid purple silk, lace-edged camisole molded to her breasts, and the matching drawstring pants shimmered along her hips and slender thighs whenever she moved and walked. She’d called the two-piece set a casual lounging outfit, and he countered that the sexy lingerie was downright illegal for any viewing purposes outside of the house.

  Not that they were going anywhere tonight, thank God, because he wasn’t in the mood to share Leah with anyone.

  She lit the half-dozen pillar candles scattered on the nearby tables, wall unit, and shelves, then switched off the lights except for a lamp in the corner. She turned toward him, and the luminescent glow of the candlelight made all her bare skin shimmer with warmth. She’d worn her hair down, and the chestnut strands fell in soft waves to her shoulders. Her eyes held the self-assurance of a woman who knew how the night was going to end.

  It was a heady thought to know that the confidence in this exciting woman in front of him was partly a result of their weekend together. Jace suspected she’d always harbored those sensual tendencies; they were just waiting to break free under the right circumstances. With the right man. One who’d take the time and care and allow her to embrace her uninhibited side and indulge in erotic whims and fantasies.

  She’d chosen him to be the lucky man to take her on this journey of discovery, and while he accepted that their agreement had included no entanglements or expectations beyond their brief weekend affair, he never would have guessed that he’d become so addicted to everything about her. Like her sweet smiles and infectious laughter. The soft, feminine way she smelled, and how she so effortlessly seduced him in spite of her mistaken impression that she needed lessons to tempt a man. Then there was the way she understood him as had no other woman he’d ever known, and most especially the way she accepted him.

  She sat on the cushion next to his, facing him, and curled her legs beneath her. “So, what’s on tonight’s agenda?” she asked eagerly.

  You. Me. Together. Finally, he thought. “Foreplay,” he drawled.

  A naughty smile canted the corners of her full, glossy lips. “It seems like this weekend has been one long session of foreplay. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

  “Then consider tonight an overview, an enticing and final seduction leading up to the main event.” Stretching his arm along the top of the sofa, he rubbed soft strands of her hair between his fingers, which brought back memories of their afternoon together, and how he’d wrapped his hand in those silken tresses while she’d pleasured him with her mouth.

  “You have my full attention,” she said, prompting him to go on.

  He inhaled a slow breath, and focused on the lesson at hand. “Foreplay is the most important part of making love. It’s all about taking the time to learn what excites your partner, what makes them hot and bothered, what turns them on. It’s all the touching, fondling and kissing that gets your juices flowing and leads up to the actual act of sex.”

  Placing his free hand on her silk-clad knee, he feathered his thumb along the inside of her leg, demonstrating the arousing effect of an illicit caress. Her breath caught, desire darkened her eyes, and the tips of her breasts tightened against the thin silk of her camisole.

  Satisfied with that reaction, he continued. “Foreplay is all about that tickle you feel in your belly when you’re excited, and the way your nipples pull tight and ache for the wet heat of my mouth, the soft stroke of my tongue,” he murmured, aching to do just that. “It’s about you getting wet, and me getting hard.”

  His blatant description caused her to shiver, but he wasn’t done stimulating her mind and body with his monologue just yet.

  “Foreplay is about pushing each other to the absolute limit and sharing mutual pleasure before letting your partner come,” he said, and slowly glided his hand higher up her thigh, watching as her lashes fell to half mast and the pulse in her throat quickened. “And there are dozens of different ways to do that.”

  A lazy smile tipped her lips. “Which begs the question burning in my mind. What excites you, Jace?” she asked brazenly.

  “Anything that excites you,” he returned, refusing to let her turn the tables on him. After her generosity with him that afternoon, tonight was all about her sensual gratification, first and foremost, and he meant what he’d said about him being in charge this time.

  Deciding it was time to move on to the next phase of their lesson, he slid off the couch and knelt on the plush carpet in front of her. “There’s nothing sexier to me than a woman who enjoys the pleasure her own body has to offer, and doesn’t hold back in what she wants or needs.”

  “Right now, I need you to touch me,” she whispered. “All over.”

  “I will,” he promised, and pushed her knees wide apart so he could fit in between her spread thighs. “But first, I want you to scoot your bottom to the edge of the couch.”

  She obeyed, the intimate position forcing her to straddle his waist until the most feminine part of her pressed against his belly and he was eye level with her luscious breasts. Their clothing separated them, but not for long.

  He stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside, but left his jeans on for now. She placed her cool palms on his shoulders and let her fingers drift down to his nipples to tease the erect disks. Knowing he’d never last with her touching him so enthusiastically, he gently removed her hands and flattened them on either side of her legs on the couch.

  She looked confused, and he sought to reassure her. “Keep your hands to yourself for a little while, and just feel.”

  An adorable pout puffed out her lower lip. “But I want you to enjoy this, too.”

  “Trust me, I will.” Smiling, he leaned forward and gently, softly, kissed her mouth. “Just watching and feeling the way your body responds to me makes me hard, so don’t hold back. And don’t hesi
tate to let me know that what I’m doing to you feels good, or to tell me what you want.”

  He skimmed his damp, open mouth along the side of her neck, and she moaned in encouragement and tipped her chin back to give him better access to her throat.

  “Yeah, just like that,” he praised and marked her with a love bite right at the sensitive curve of her shoulder, making her gasp in delight. Slipping his fingers beneath the thin straps of her camisole, he pushed them down her arms, causing the silky fabric to pool around her waist. Aching to see her naked, he lifted his head, awed by the beauty of the small but firm rose-tipped breasts that strained toward him, so lush and ripe.

  His mouth watered for a taste, and this time when she delved her fingers through his hair and pulled him forward, he didn’t have it in him to chastise her for not keeping her hands to herself. She brushed a peaked nipple against his parted lips, and he teased her with a leisurely lick of his tongue over the swollen crest, and the warmth of his breath along her damp skin.

  She moved restlessly against him and her thighs clenched at his hips. “Take me in your mouth, all the way,” she begged.

  He kneaded her breasts, closed his lips over the engorged flesh and all but devoured her with his hot, hungry mouth. And still, it wasn’t enough for either of them. He sucked her deeply, strongly, using his teeth and tongue to heighten the sensations rippling through her and increasing the heat burning him up inside.

  She arched into him, breathless and impatient, and tried to pull him on top of her.

  Instead, he pressed her back against the sofa, let his mouth move down to her stomach, and rasped, “I’m not done with you yet.”

  He dipped his tongue into her navel for a leisurely taste, and she squirmed and groaned restlessly. He pulled at the ties of her silky pants, loosening the waistband. Then he tugged the bottoms down her long legs and off. He removed her camisole as well, leaving her scantily clad in a pair of insubstantial lace panties. The deep shade of purple was an erotic contrast to her pale skin.