Burning Up

by Anne Marsh

  She couldn’t say those words. Not to him. She hadn’t been able to say them in high school—and she couldn’t say them now. Frustrated, she banged the screen door shut and followed it up with the outside door for good measure. Her fingers hesitated over the lock. In or out. Once again, it was time to choose.

  “You’re sure this is where you want to be, Jack?” She had to ask.

  “I came over here, Lily. No one forced my feet through those doors. Why the hell wouldn’t this be where I want to be?” That sexy growl of his had her wanting to believe him.

  “Word gets around.” Her back hit the door, and she realized she didn’t really want to get away from Jack. Hell. More like she was locking him away for her very own. Pure fantasy, she knew, but sometimes dreams were a really good thing. “I know all about your high school girlfriends. Hell, I heard more than enough about the women you met in the service. This town isn’t good at keeping secrets.”

  His growl of irritation did things to her, made her body sit up and take notice. Irritated, Jack Donovan was magnificent. “Those women are my past, Lily. Only people here right now are you and me. I haven’t asked you about your old boyfriends.”

  Her sudden snort of laughter broke the tension. “You wouldn’t have to. Five dollars says someone in Strong already filled you in.”

  His reluctant smile told her she was right before he gave her the words. “Twice. First day I was here.”

  He eyed the closed door, and she wondered for a moment if he’d turn around and leave.

  Part of her knew that would be the wise thing, but that ache in her belly had her figuring out a way to hang on to him. “You don’t like being shut up inside.” She took a step toward him. Nonna had made it plenty clear that he couldn’t stand the sensation of walls closing in on him.

  “Bad memories,” he growled, “and, yeah, I know I should get the hell past them.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, meaning every word. So she took a deep breath. “We can go out onto the sunporch.” Could make love on the daybed there.

  He stilled, not missing the promise in her voice. “You real sure, baby?” He was big and tough and more than a little rough around the edges—but she wanted him. Wanted him to stay as long as he would. If she was lucky, she’d have a summer with him. One long, lazy, heat-filled summer. Those memories would have to be enough.

  “Stay with me, Jack.” She held out a hand, her feet already moving toward the sunporch.

  “I’ll stay,” he agreed. “But I’m thinking we need to have us a conversation about what you might—or might not—have heard about my past.”

  “Not tonight.” Tonight she just wanted his hands on her. She wanted to explore all that sun-kissed skin of his. If they tried to figure out what Jack could commit to, they wouldn’t make it to his bed or hers. She didn’t want to pick that fight tonight. She didn’t think he really did, either, but he hadn’t budged. Just kept on watching her with those dark, knowing eyes of his. “You going to come over here and kiss me, Jack?”

  Jack never backed down, not from a challenge like that. He and those brothers of his, they lived for a challenge, and, sure enough, he leaned forward.

  “Just remember, you’re not in charge here,” she said, purposely baiting him, knowing his hot button.

  His slow, sensual smile should have warned her. “You think not, baby?” He was all alpha male as he came out of his chair and stalked across the floor toward her until he had one powerful arm braced over her head. “Because I’m pretty damn sure I am.”

  Memories of that high school night all came flooding back, the young man and his truck. She hadn’t been ready for him or his potent brand of sensuality then, and they’d both known it. He’d backed off because, she realized, Jack Donovan was honorable to the bone, even if he didn’t advertise it.

  “I won’t push you,” he said quietly, “if you don’t want me to. But I think you do, baby. I think you’re not sure just what you want, other than pleasure.”

  “And you are?” Obviously, he hadn’t missed the feminine challenge in her voice. He leaned right into her, trapping her between the wall and that hard, lean body she’d explored last night. God. The memories. Part of her wanted to melt right into him, while the rest of her wanted to make him work for what he wanted. Work for her. Making love with Jack Donovan was impossibly good.

  Making love. Was that what she was doing? A flash of panic had her stiffening in his arms.

  “Just a little game,” he whispered, mistaking her apprehension. “Just a little fun between you and me, baby. If you don’t want to play, we’ll stop right now.”

  This wasn’t love. It couldn’t be. No, this was fire and heat, setting sensitive nerve endings aflame until she shifted restlessly. Wanting more.

  Wanting Jack.

  He didn’t move, just reached out and drew the back of his hand down her cheek. Those hands made her shiver. Callused and strong, Jack’s hands were impossibly gentle. Firm.

  “You want to play this game, baby, you know what you need to do for me.” His head lowered. “You tell me what you want from me, let me know just how I’m going to be touching you tonight.”

  Silently she shook her head.

  “You will, baby,” he promised. Heat burned through her in a sensual reaction, and her skin was on fire, flushed and damp like the sensitive folds of her sex. She was wet for him, and she needed more. So much more. “I made you a promise last night, a promise I’m keeping now. I’m going to make you hungrier than you’ve ever been.”

  “You can try,” she breathed.

  “Is that another dare?” His mouth moved closer to hers, just a whisper away. God, she wanted him to shut up and kiss her.

  “If you want it to be.” She loved his demands, loved that he wasn’t going to let her hide from the sensations building between them. That he wouldn’t hide, either. With Jack, what you saw was what you got.

  And his harsh groan told her a lot.

  This man holding her, her Jack, wanted her.

  He lowered his mouth to hers, and that first meeting of their lips was almost innocent. His lips rested gently against her mouth, his eyes holding her gaze. Watching her. She closed her eyes, and sensation exploded through her. One of his hands slid around the back of her neck, cupping her, urging her closer. Those strong fingers coaxed the tense muscles of her neck to relax, while his other hand drifted down to her hips. Despite the gentle pressure bringing her closer to him, there was no missing the thick press of his erection.

  Almost innocent.

  Definitely wicked.

  The next teasing brush of his lips was too gentle. Too light. With a little moan of frustration, she rose up on tiptoe to chase that teasing mouth of his.

  Instead of giving her what she wanted, he pulled back, putting a whisper of space between them as he stripped off her tank top. “You want more, you have to tell me, baby.”

  She arched up against him, desperate for more contact, the fiery brush of his skin against hers. “Don’t you tease me, Jack.”

  “What kind of a kiss do you want?” he asked relentlessly. “Harder? Softer? You want to open that sweet little mouth of yours so I can come right on in?”

  “God, yes.” She couldn’t contain the little shiver of pleasure. Even that small ripple of sensation was almost too much. “I want it all.”

  “You don’t want everything, Lilybell. You don’t know the fantasies I’ve had.” The dark promise in his voice made her want to demand more. Demand everything from him. “You know what men think about up at base camp during fire season, baby?”

  Mutely she shook her head as he rested his mouth next to her ear. She was going to come, just from his words and his kisses, and that wasn’t the way she wanted this to end. She wanted all of Jack, not just the tease and the promise of him. So she tightened her arms around him, pulling his body against her in silent demand.

  “We work hard, we play hard, Lily,” he whispered harshly. “We’re out there, keeping your
sweet little ass safe, so when we get ourselves back to base and we’re hot and sweaty and bone-tired from it all, we fantasize about a little appreciation.” A finger stroked down the curve of her breast, pushed down her bra, circled the cherry-red tip. She felt the sweet, sharp tug all the way to her sex. “Like, maybe, when I came home, you’d take me deep into that luscious mouth of yours. You know what just the thought of all that wet heat surrounding me, sucking me in, does to me?”

  He sucked her nipple into his mouth, giving her a taste of his fantasy. She threaded her fingers through his hair, melting, desperate. His tongue ruthlessly flayed the sensitive nerve endings, drawing an erotic path around the little tip. God, she was going to come.

  “Jack,” she whimpered.

  “Not yet, Lily,” he warned, hearing her unspoken message. He led her to the porch daybed, then spread her out on it. “You don’t come yet. Not until you’ve heard every one of the fantasies I’ve been tormented with, up at camp. Maybe,” he whispered, his husky growl sending goose bumps shivering across her skin, “I’ll tell you just how lonely those camps get sometimes. Just us boys, baby, and no women to kiss or to cuddle. Any women there are off-limits, co-workers. Just one of the boys. It gets real lonely up there. Sets a man to thinking . . .”

  He stared down at her, then pressed a hard kiss against her mouth. Those hands of his didn’t stop their sensual exploration, sliding, stroking knowingly. Learning the soft curve of her waist, the gentle mound of her tummy. That soft brush of skin on skin could have been an innocent caress. That wicked touch wasn’t. He was teasing her, and she was fighting a losing battle. Shifting restlessly against him, her legs slid apart, her hips moving against his. Welcoming him.

  “You ever have a naughty dream, Lilybell? Ever wonder what it would be like to have a man kiss every inch of you?”

  His thumb traced a little pattern over her hip bones. “Every inch, baby,” he growled.

  She’d been waiting, wondering, for years. Those were midnight fantasies, dark and sexy and tantalizing. Now this man was claiming her.

  “You tell me, baby,” he groaned, resting his mouth against hers, “and I’ll give you what you want.”

  She was on fire, her mind pleasure-hazed. Thinking past the heated pleasure weakening her, leaving her wet and aching and wanting, wasn’t going to happen. She’d lost control of these sensations, and all she could do was hang on, let the pleasure and the man take her. Knowing she was driving him every bit as wild as he was driving her.

  “Kiss me,” she begged, and he did. His kiss was hard and deep, demanding the response she couldn’t hide from him as his mouth took hers. And yet she felt safer than she ever had. Wrapped in Jack’s arms, surrounded by the primal heat of him, she felt safe. Cherished.

  “I’m going to taste you. Every inch of you, Lily. Take these off.” That sexy growl and the tug of his fingers in the little bows decorating the sides of her panties had her dampening.

  He drew her shorts and panties down her legs. The erotic tug of the damp cotton against her sensitized skin sent bright sparks of pleasure shooting through her. She was so close to something, some bright, hot pleasure she hadn’t known was possible. His dark eyes watched her, dipping down to where she was wet and slick for him. She felt powerful, feminine, as his breath caught hoarsely. He watched her as if she was the center of his universe.

  His hands caught her shoulders, anchoring her. “You know how beautiful you are, Lily? I’ve wanted to see you, touch you, for as long as I can remember. Standing there on your porch, all I could think about was kissing you. Here.” His mouth trailed a heated path along her breasts. When he drew a nipple into his mouth and suckled, sensation rocketed straight to her clit. Lost in the pleasure, she knew he was still whispering praise. His pleasure. She didn’t know what he was saying anymore, but the way he said it made her feel cherished. Beautiful.

  Her panties fell to the floor, the tiny scrap of cotton and lace a white flag of surrender on top of his clothes. She was just as hungry for him as she’d been when they first made love. She’d waited years for this. For this man. Now she was going to claim every inch of him as hers.

  Her hands slid down the hard muscles of his back, reaching underneath his tee. So much bare skin. So much Jack. Strong and sure, his shoulders filled her vision as he came over her. Her breath caught as his hand moved lower while he cradled her head, angling her mouth for his kiss.

  His fingers slid into the sensitive folds of her pussy, and he stilled for an endless second. A male sound of satisfaction tore from his throat, and then he was kissing her harder, deeper. Those fingers stroked. Parted her and traced an electric path straight up to her clit. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Her world was only this man, this bed. One finger pressed into her. Slowly. A delicious tease that promised fullness. Tearing her mouth from his, she buried her face against his throat and just drank in the pleasure as she tasted the salt of him against her tongue.

  “Come for me, baby,” he urged throatily. “Let me give you more.” A second finger joined the first, stretching her. Those fingers curled deeper inside her and sent a shock of pleasure searing through her as he pressed. Stroked. She had to come now, had to find that release.

  Wordlessly, she arched up against him, taking him, riding him. Her flesh milked him, tightening. The tension built as the little pulses of pleasure gathered and grew, and then she was flying, coming apart in his arms as she cried his name.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jack slid his fingers reluctantly away from Lily.

  Lily didn’t hide what she felt for him, all that heat and lust in her eyes just for him. Did she understand the electrifying effect that honesty had on him? He was hard, had been since he took the steps to her porch and stood in her doorway. Every inch of him had known he shouldn’t be there, shouldn’t have picked up the challenge she’d thrown down. She hadn’t understood just how hot a tease those words were, and yet there was no stopping his breath from catching at the sight of her waiting for him, all pink and gold, on the daybed.

  “Undress for me,” she whispered throatily. He hadn’t thought he could get harder, but damned if he didn’t, the pleasure slamming through him.

  “I thought I’d be able to change your mind.” The words spilled from him in a harsh groan. Pulling his shirt over his head, he tossed it behind him. Her eyes drifted downward from his face, a feline smile of satisfaction curling her lips.

  “You look good for an old man, Jack. Real good.” She reached out, and her fingertips traced a line of fire down his chest. Sensation slammed into him. “Take the rest of it off.”

  His fingers tugged buttons free, pushing the worn denim down his thighs. The sexy little catch of her breath as he stood there before her had him hardening still further.

  Her hands tugged him closer, and he went. He wasn’t about to refuse her anything, not when she got that sexy little crease between her eyes as she stared hungrily at his dick. She wanted him, and that interest made him feel like the biggest man of them all. King of the world.

  “Careful, baby,” he groaned. “I’m not made of stone here.”

  “Parts of you clearly are,” she teased.

  Her hands closed over his hips, pulling him nearer. As her head lowered, her hair spilled around him, and the erotic tease of those silky strands sliding over his erection had him fighting for control. Slowly, so very slowly, she moved downward, and all he could do was hang on, threading his hands through her beautiful hair, lost in the fiery sensations lashing him.

  “All mine,” she whispered, pressing a light kiss against the very tip of him, a tiny butterfly caress of a kiss that sent sensation scorching through his veins.

  “Lily,” he groaned. “You’re killing me.”

  “Good,” she whispered, pulling back. He wanted to drag her closer, fought the primal urge to guide his dick deep into her mouth and fuck her until there was no telling where one of them ended and the other began.

  Her tongue licked a naught
y path around the head of his dick. Tasting. Exploring. When she finally sucked him deep inside that hot, wet heaven, he wanted to beg for more. His own groan shocked him, hoarse and guttural. Her touch was too good, too much.

  Her lips parted around him, and, God help him, he thought he was dying as her mouth slid down his shaft. He’d never been so hard, so desperate, as she took him.

  “God, just like that.”

  She wrapped a hand around his thick flesh, and there was nothing hesitant about her. She was all woman. Knowing. Sure. Her other hand cupped his balls, her mouth moving over him. The delicious tug of her hand up and down his erection almost sent him over the edge right then and there.

  When she pulled back, blowing on the damp head, bright pleasure exploded through him. “Christ. That feels so good.”

  His hands tangled in her hair. Guiding her. Holding on to her because the world had narrowed to her and him and this bed.

  And still her mouth worked on him. Tasting him. Learning him with each naughty stroke. He fought not to drive himself into her mouth. Fought the need to come, to fill her with himself.

  “You have to stop, baby,” he groaned finally. Reluctantly pulling himself away, he briefly reached over to snag a condom from the pocket of his jeans before he lowered her down onto the bed and covered her with himself.

  “Tell me you’re ready, Lily.” He slid between her legs, and she opened for him willingly, pulling him deeper into the cradle of her hips, up against the sweet, wet heat of her. He couldn’t wait, couldn’t hold back another minute because he knew—just knew—nothing would be better than this connection between them, and he wanted all that feeling now.

  “I want you, Jack.” Her arms came up to hold him closer, and then he was sliding in, sliding home. Moving to take his place between her thighs. She took him. Cradled him inch by heated inch as he pressed inside, stretching that tight, silken sheath until she was wrapped around him like a sweet, hidden glove.