“No one will see us, will they?” she asked, just to be sure. The last thing she needed was to get arrested for having sex in public, and she’d seen the police boats that patrolled the waterways in and around Atlantic.
“Not here.” His fingers dipped into her sex, teasing her already engorged clit. “I come to this spot all the time. We’re too far from the mainland for anyone to bother us.”
He came to this spot all the time? As in, with other women? She stiffened at the thought. With his looks, it was impossible to believe that he didn’t bed women left and right. “All the time?”
“By myself, Kassie,” he told her, tugging her closer to him. “Not with other women. You’re the only woman I’ve ever brought here.”
His words had an instant effect on her. She reached up to slide his Ray-Bans from his face, wanting to see his eyes. Kassie folded them and carefully placed them on the dash, adding hers as well, before turning back to him. This time around, she wanted to be in control, wanted to be the one who gave him pleasure. His eyes were bright and filled with sensual promise as they met hers.
When he would have kissed her again, she stopped him. “Not so fast.” She sank to her knees on the soft floor of the boat, settling between his long legs.
He looked down at her. “Kassie?”
“I want you in my mouth,” she told him, slipping her fingers inside the placket of his swimming trunks to connect with hot, firm flesh. She pulled him free, loving the feel of him.
“Ah, fuck. You don’t have to.”
She lowered her head and licked a circle around the tip of his cock, teasing him. “I want to.” His hips jerked, the breath leaving his lungs. She glanced back up at him. “Tell me how you like it, Jax.”
“Jesus,” he growled, his fingers sinking into her hair. “Anything. Everything. I’m yours, Kassie. Do whatever you—”
She sucked him into her mouth then, effectively cutting off the rest of his sentence. She cupped his balls, working them as she took as much of his cock as she could. She licked, sucked, savored every moan she won from his lips. She laved the head, relishing the taste of his pre-cum on her tongue. And then she took him again, relaxing until she allowed his dick to reach the back of her throat.
“Damn it.” He grabbed her arms, hauling her up and into his lap. His breathing was harsh, his eyes glazed with desire. “If you had my cock in your pretty mouth for one more second, I was going to come.”
“And?” She gasped when he sank a finger inside her pussy. His thumb rubbed her clit as he curved his finger within her, hitting her most sensitive spot.
“And I want to come when I’m inside your pussy.” His mouth swooped down on hers for a drugging kiss. His tongue swept inside her mouth, dominating.
She was soaked for him, already dangerously close to coming. She ground her hips into his knowing hand, wanting more. Wanting him deeper. A second finger joined the first as he continued to flick her swollen clit. Damn, she hoped he’d brought a condom out onto his boat, because she needed him. Right now.
She tore her lips from his. “Jax. Fuck me.”
“My pleasure.” He reached for the small, waterproof bag where he’d tucked his wallet and their cells at the beginning of their voyage and extracted a foil packet.
Good. He’d planned ahead. Kassie snatched it from him and tore it open, rolling the condom onto his ready cock. And then she lowered herself onto him, taking him deep as he thrust into her. She loved the feeling of him filling her. It would never get old, having this man all to herself.
He rocked into Kassie, their pace becoming frantic in no time. When he began toying with her clit again, she shattered in no time. Their lips fused as she came, the spasm sudden and intense. He drove inside again in one long, solid thrust, climaxing just as quickly.
Kassie collapsed against his chest, trying to catch a breath. She could hear the steady thrum of his heart beating fast. He caressed her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Something shifted inside Kassie in that moment as he was buried inside her with the sun twinkling around them and the bay lapping at the sides of his boat. And she knew that like it or not, fear of commitment or not, there was no going back. She was developing real feelings for Jax. She just hoped that she’d be able to keep her heart intact.
Chapter Four
Jax took a sip of his beer as he watched Kassie bustling over the stove. From his vantage point on one of the stools at her kitchen island, he had an excellent view of her perfectly rounded ass. After boating all afternoon, they’d decided to head back to her place for a casual dinner. He knew he was probably spending way too much time with her, getting in too deep too fast, but he didn’t really give a damn at the moment. He was falling for Kassie in a bad way, and the more he was with her, the better.
Okay, it didn’t hurt that the time he spent with her inevitably ended with him inside her. He’d admit that. He’d never been addicted to anything in his life, but Kassie was something like a drug. He was always waiting for his next fix.
“I hope you like mac and cheese,” she called over her shoulder as she whisked into a kettle of something that smelled heavenly.
At the moment, he would eat a pot of shit if she served it to him and he would still tell her it was delicious. But fortunately for him, like mostly any other red-blooded male, he liked good, old-fashioned macaroni and cheese. “Love it,” he said easily. “It smells like Valhalla in here.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder, and he was positive she caught him mid-ogle. “What, are you a Viking all of a sudden?”
He loved a woman with a brain that she wasn’t afraid to use, and his Kassie was a smart cookie. “Not Viking, no. Sadly, I’m just your standard American mutt. But if it’s a marauder you’re after, I can play the role.” Just thinking about it made him hot. Down, boy.
Kassie laughed. He had to admit, he loved the way she laughed. And the way she smiled. And the way she walked. Oh Jesus. He just loved Kassie. Everything about her. She was special, and that was all.
“What other roles can you play?” she asked, her voice teasing him. She took a spatula and scraped the remnants of her kettle into a pan.
Hmm. Now that was a loaded question indeed. “Any role you want me to play, darlin’.”
“Oh really?” She cast another look in his direction, and then popped the pan into her oven. “You’re tempting me.”
His cock went hard. It was that simple, that quick. All she had to do was turn around to face him. He swallowed, willing his arousal to abate. After all, they’d just fucked on his boat. It was a mere few hours later. He should have been ready to enjoy the evening, but all he could think about was being with her again. In her bed. They’d had amazing sex three times, and yet it had never been in a bed.
It was time. They had graduated beyond the point of random locations, hurried fucking. Not that it had ever been as simple as that for Jax, but he didn’t truly know how Kassie felt. She’d been hot then cold, hot then cold, for as long as he’d known her. Christ, he didn’t even know if they were dating yet or not. He wanted it more than he wanted to breathe. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to be able to call her his girlfriend.
Damn it.
He was getting attached. Jax Taylor didn’t do that, not since Mandy had taken him to the woodshed, anyway. He didn’t form attachments to women when it was likely they’d move on from his life without a see-you-later. But something told him that Kassie wasn’t that kind of woman.
“Maybe you should turn off the oven,” he told her, thinking that if he had his way, they’d be preoccupied for far longer than it would take for her mac and cheese to brown.
She crossed her kitchen, walking up to him on his stool, and though he wanted her to, she didn’t press her curvy body into his. “Now why would I do that when I’m trying to make you dinner?”
He gave her a good, long look. “Because I want to take you upstairs right now, and as good as your cooking smells, I’d hate for it to burn and go to waste
.”
She licked her lips, making his cock even harder if that was even possible. “I thought maybe we could talk.”
She perched herself on the stool next to his, effectively killing his fantasy of carrying her upstairs over his shoulder and having his wicked way with her. But even so, her dialogue didn’t detract one bit from how much he wanted her. And he wasn’t ashamed to admit that it hadn’t always been that easy. He’d experienced the spoiled princesses, the miserables, the women who couldn’t let go. He guessed that as a thirty-three-year-old male, he was just plain tired of the seemingly endless round of women thrown his way.
He was ready for something different. Something real. Something possibly permanent.
Oh fuck it all.
He was ready for Kassie. And if she was ready for permanent, or at least something like it, then they were on the same page. He was willing to take his chances with her. She was refreshing, open, less tied up in how she looked and how she acted and more interested in being a real person. His kind of woman.
She looked at him now with her big, sparkling-blue eyes, seemingly unaware of the bent of his thoughts. “You don’t want to talk?”
Christ. What had she said to him? He didn’t recall. He tried not to stare at her mouth, think about how deliciously responsive it was to his kisses. Something about talking, yes. “Of course I want to talk, darlin’.” And he did. He loved talking to Kassie, more than he’d ever imagined possible.
“Since you all but interrogated me earlier, I thought that it would be a good time to turn the tables,” she said, shaking him with the simple suggestion.
He wasn’t sure he was ready for it. They’d brushed over his past the other night over dinner, but he’d shared about as much as he’d wanted. Bringing up Mandy would only get him into dangerous territory, and he didn’t think he was ready to dig up bones just yet. He took a swig of beer. “Shoot.”
She toyed with the corner of the label on her beer bottle. “What happened with your brothers this week? You never told me.”
The knot in his gut eased. His brothers were a topic he could handle, crazy, sorry-assed lot though they were. “Just the latest in a long series of scrapes. Levi, my youngest brother, was driving his Harley like he stole it, wiped out and broke his arm in a few places.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Yikes. Is he okay?”
“That’s debatable,” he quipped, grinning. Levi was still Levi, after all, and he’d been determined to get back on his bike even while he was half out of it in his hospital bed. “But his arm is back together with the help of a metal plate and a good surgeon.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” She tugged at the label on her beer some more, getting that faraway look on her face again that told him she was thinking.
“What is it?” he asked.
Her startled gaze flew to his. “What do you mean?”
“You’re defacing your beer, and you’re making that cute face you have whenever you’re deep in thought.”
Her mouth dropped open, drawing his attention back to those luscious pink lips of hers. “You’re doing it again.”
Here it was. He had to wonder if she was going to play the card she’d played at the restaurant on their first night out. He hoped like hell she wouldn’t. “Doing what?”
Kassie took a delicate sip of her beer. “Being way too observant.”
He relaxed, glad she hadn’t gone that route. “I can’t help it. You’re easy to read.”
“No one’s ever told me that before you.”
He shrugged. “Maybe you’ve been hanging out with the wrong people, darlin’.”
She smiled, and the full force of her beauty hit him like a punch directly to the gut. “Maybe I have.” She took another sip of beer.
“You never told me what you were thinking about,” he pointed out, not about to let her deflect him so easily.
“I was just feeling guilty for giving you a difficult time about not calling me,” she admitted, sounding slightly embarrassed. “If I’d known your brother was in an accident, I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”
“I’m glad you did,” he told her, being honest.
“You are?”
“Hell yes.” He grinned again. “It gave me an excuse to show up at your door.”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth in that adorable way she had. “You don’t need an excuse to do that, Jax.”
Heat wound through him. A standing invitation. He liked the way that sounded. “No?”
Kassie shook her head, her bright eyes pinned to his. “No. You’re welcome at my door any time.”
“Likewise.” He realized then that he’d been to her place a handful of times, and yet he’d never had her over to his. It was time to change that, and he was just going to rip the Band-Aid right off. “In fact, I’m having two of my brothers over for dinner tomorrow night. Why don’t you come over?”
He waited while the ramifications of the invitation sank in for her. Meeting family was a serious step, and more so for Jax because of how tight-knit the Taylor clan was. He didn’t just introduce anyone to his brothers. Especially with the bullshit they’d give him over a woman. It meant he was serious about this thing between them. He swallowed a long slug of beer.
It looked as if Kassie’s inner urge to run was sneaking back up on her again. She ripped another strip of paper from her bottle, her expression going pensive. “Are you sure? I mean, I’d hate to intrude.”
“It wouldn’t be intruding.” He caught her fingers in his before she did any more damage and gave them a reassuring squeeze. “No pressure, Kassie. I’ll leave my address for you. The boys are coming over around five. Come whenever. Or don’t. It’s totally up to you.”
“Thank you. I’ll have to see how much editing I get done tomorrow morning.” She looked away, and he was sure she probably wouldn’t show up.
Disappointment surged through him. But he was willing to play by her rules. He’d already told her that he’d go as slowly as she wanted. Even if it meant a snail’s pace. Even if it killed him.
“I understand,” he murmured, giving her fingers another squeeze. “If you do swing by, I should warn you that my other brother Connor is sporting a bandage on his finger.”
Her gaze swung back to his. “Accident prone bunch, aren’t you? Maybe I should wear a helmet if I come for dinner.”
He laughed. “I’m pretty sure it isn’t contagious. It was a bad week for the Taylor boys. But two out of four of us are still whole.”
“That’s good news.” She gave him an answering squeeze. “I like you whole.”
“I’m happy you like me,” he teased. “Otherwise, I’d be feeling pretty damn bad for myself right about now.”
“I like you all right.” Her expression turned serious. “Maybe a little too much.”
He begged to differ. “My mama always says that when it comes to matters of the heart, there’s no such thing as too much.”
And bless his mama for having so many catchphrases. They sure did come in handy. He was reasonably certain that his mother had never anticipated her sons using her words to win over the women they wanted in their beds, but that was another story entirely. Besides, Kassie was more than bedroom material. By a long shot.
“I guess I’ll just have to trust your mama, then,” Kassie said.
The timer on her oven beeped, and she hopped down from her stool to check on the divine-smelling mac and cheese. He watched her hips sway, thinking that he hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. He was at ease, as though everything in the world was coming together exactly the way it should. Oh yeah. Slade was right. He did have it bad, but bad had never felt so good.
“I guess you will, darlin’,” he drawled.
* * * * *
Kassie looked at the masculine scrawl Jax had left on the notepad she kept on her desk for what must have been the twentieth time. It was all bold strokes and harsh angles, much like him. His address. She sighed, looking away from it and back to her c
omputer screen. She had a manuscript to finish, a deadline to make. And she owed her author, another solid member of her stable transferred from an overburdened fellow editor, her best work.
If only she weren’t so shaken by Jax. He’d gone home last night after praising her mac and cheese. Like a perfect gentleman. It had been on the tip of her tongue to ask him to spend the night, but something had stopped her. She supposed it was her inner fight or flight at war. She couldn’t decide if she was getting more involved than she had a right to or if she was doing exactly what the cosmos had planned for her all along.
And anyway, it had been nice to enjoy a low-key evening with him at home. It had felt natural, having him in her kitchen watching her cook. She genuinely enjoyed spending time with him, listening to his stories about his brothers, flirting with him. It was all so new to her. All those years of complacency, being in the same relationship, had left her unprepared for the wave of emotions she was experiencing.
But she was also aware that it was entirely possible that it wasn’t simply her lack of recent wading in the dating pool. Jax was a big part of it. There was just something about him that was different, special. Something that called to her on an elemental level. She’d seen it the moment she’d locked her gaze on him in his rearview mirror. And she’d felt it the moment she’d fallen into him in her office.
Oh God. At this rate, she’d never accomplish anything. She was daydreaming. About a man she’d known for about the space of a week. A man who she didn’t know all that much about other than that he worked with his hands, had three brothers bent on mayhem, and when he touched her, she spontaneously combusted.
For the old Kassie, New York Kassie, the girl who had gone to NYU as an eager young coed, determined to make her path in the publishing industry, the girl who had graduated at the top of her class, the girl who had never missed a lecture, the girl who had landed an internship at one of the top publishers in the country, and then a job, and the man who went with it all along the way, it would have never been enough. Yeah, falling headlong into lust with a complete stranger who had nothing more to recommend him than knowing hands and a killer pair of dimples would have been completely off the table for the old Kassie.
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