Suck it up, Bradshaw. He deserves the truth.
Olivia took a deep breath and quickly said, “I’m not very experienced, Jake. I’m not a virgin, but I’m sure the women you’ve been with have had a lot more sex than I have. I mean, the two men I’ve slept with didn’t complain or anything, but I’m afraid I might disap—”
Jake was on her in an instant, her words devoured by his scorching, possessive kiss. It was hot and consuming, all lips and teeth and tongue. When he finally pulled away, they were both panting as though they’d just run a five-mile race.
“First of all, I don’t want to hear about any other men you’ve been with. As far as I’m concerned, after tonight, there’s only been me. Second, you’re the only woman I’m thinking of, Liv. The only woman I want to be with. I won’t lie, there have been others, but none of them were serious. It was always casual, and when it was over, they left satisfied, and I walked away guilt-free. But there was something those women all had in common. One problem, one vital thing that kept me from taking things further with any of them. Do you know what that was?”
She hated hearing him talk about the others before her, but Olivia was also relieved to hear him say it was nothing more than sex. In answer to his question, she slowly shook her head.
He leaned down and kissed her again, slowly this time. When his lips moved up to her ear, he whispered, “They weren’t you.”
Olivia’s breath hitched, and her heart swelled to the point she feared it would explode from his powerful words.
Jake kissed her neck. “You, Liv”—his lips continued to move against her skin—“it’s always been you.”
“Please, Jake,” Olivia whispered his name. She brought her hands up and cradled the back of his neck. “I need you.”
He pulled back. “I want to make sure you’re ready for me first.”
She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “I am ready.”
One corner of his mouth raised, and there was a glint in his eyes. “Almost, but not quite.”
Before she could ask what he meant, Jake stood back up. Taking her by surprise, he grabbed her ankles and pulled gently her toward the edge of the bed. He then dropped to his knees and pushed up on her legs, lifting and spreading them apart. She’d never felt so exposed.
“Jake—” she started to object.
“Shh,” he whispered, the heat from his breath hitting her most intimate spot. “Do you trust me?”
Propped up on her elbows, Olivia looked down at him. The sight of his head between her legs was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen.
“With my life.”
“Then, let me look at you.”
He’d no more spoken he words when she felt his fingers slide up and down her sex. Her lungs quickly filled with air.
“You’re so beautiful, Liv.” Jake’s fingers continued their gentle caress. “Even here.”
Oh. My. God.
Olivia laid back down, fisting her hands in the sheets at her sides. She was on the edge, torn between needing to release the pressure and wanting it to last forever. Unable to fight it any longer, she closed her eyes and gave herself over to him, body and soul.
Jake continued to touch her. Tease her. Before tonight, she’d always kept herself trimmed, but had never shaved herself completely bare. Now, she was so glad she had.
Without the barrier her coarse hair usually provided, Jake’s touch was gloriously magnified. Each sensation was heightened, as if every nerve between her thighs had been exposed. It was absolute torture, and Olivia loved every second of it.
His fingers circled her tight entrance. On reflex, she arched toward him, desperate for more.
“Jake, please.”
“Tell me, baby,” his voice rumbled. “Tell me what you need.”
She’d never heard him sound like that before. So low and sensual. Her control was nearly shattered, and he wanted her to talk?
“I need…”
“What, Liv? What do you need?”
His fingers teased some more. They moved up and down her slit slowly, sometimes pausing to circle her clit.
Holy crap. In her very limited experience, talking had never been a part of sex, but right now, she’d do anything he wanted, if it meant getting what she so desperately craved.
“I need…” she panted out, her entire body quivering. “I need…more.”
Jake slid two fingers in, making Olivia cry out. He continued thrusting them in and out. She could hear how wet she was for him, the sound surprisingly erotic, but it still wasn’t enough.
“Oh, God,” she panted, “I’m so close. Please, Jake.”
“Please what, baby?”
“Please…make me come.”
Her words must have resonated, because Jake’s fingers began to move faster, then. And when he leaned down and began sucking on her swollen bundle of nerves, Olivia erupted in an explosion of pleasure.
“Jake!”
Her climax hit with the force of a freight train. She screamed his name, her entire body arching off the bed. Her sex clenched around his fingers as an electrifying jolt shot through her veins. White dots began flashing behind her closed eyes, and it wasn’t until he spoke again that Olivia even realized Jake had moved her up the bed, toward the headboard.
“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
She lazily opened her eyes to find Jake lying beside her, smiling. His erection nudged her thigh.
“Well, that was the most amazing orgasm I’ve ever had, so I guess it’s a win-win,” she smiled back.
Jake laughed. Talk about beautiful. He leaned down and kissed her slowly, as a lover would. When it ended, he lifted his head and brushed some hair from her forehead.
His expression became serious, his blue eyes filled with emotion. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she whispered. And she was.
“You need to be sure, sweetheart. We can stop, right now. End this and go back to just being friends, if that’s what you want.” His Adam’s apple bobbed.
Olivia blinked, her euphoria quickly beginning to fade. “Is that what you want? Could you really go back to the way things were before? Pretend this never happened?”
The look he gave her was fierce. “Hell, no. I’ve waited a long damn time to be inside you, but…this a game changer, Liv. You need to be sure. You mean more to me than anyone else on the planet, and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship.”
She raised an eyebrow. “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”
Jake opened his mouth to say something, but Olivia kissed whatever he was about to say away. “You need to hear the words again? Fine. I want you.” She kissed him again. “I need you.” Another short, hard kiss. Then, she framed his face with her hands. “And I swear to God, if you don’t get inside me in the next two seconds, I will not be held responsible for my actions.”
Grinning, Jake reached over and grabbed a square, foil packet off the mattress. He must have gotten it when she was still lost in her glorious state of post-orgasmic bliss. She made a mental note to thank Derek later.
Olivia watched as Jake rolled the condom over his swollen cock, then he was up and over her in seconds. Propped up on one elbow, he reached between their bodies and positioned himself against her entrance. The feeling of his hot, blunt tip against her flesh was exhilarating.
His eyes locked on hers, and Jake slowly eased himself forward. He was big, and she was tight, so it took a few tries before he was completely seated inside. Once there, they moaned in unison.
He filled her so completely, their fitting perfect.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Jake asked, his face full of concern.
“I will be once you start moving.” Prodding him, she reaching down and digging her nails into his taught ass.
He smiled and tipped his head. “Yes, ma’am.”
Olivia would have smiled back, but then, he actually did start to move. Once that happened, her mind was filled with nothing
but pleasure. He went slowly at first, moving in easy, steady thrusts.
God, he felt incredible. Better than her fantasies. Still, she wanted more.
“Faster,” she ordered breathlessly. God love him, he obeyed.
He pushed his hips forward, thrusting faster. Harder. Soon, Jake was slamming into her with such force, her head would have hit the headboard had it not been for his hand serving as a protective barrier.
That same, exquisite pressure began to build, again. She’d barely made it through the first orgasm. Wasn’t sure she’d survive another.
As Jake continued pushing himself in and out of her body with magnificent power, Olivia knew she was about to find out.
Her legs shook as her pleasure grew more intense. Jake slid his hand beneath her hips and lifted her slightly, the new angle allowing his cock to press against her clit. It was all she needed.
Olivia soared, as wave after wave of sweet pleasure engulfed her. She nearly missed Jake’s release, which would have been an absolute travesty.
Throwing his head back, Jake closed his eyes. His body stiffened, the muscles in his neck and shoulders becoming tense and corded. He growled out her name as he gave one, final thrust. It was the most breathtaking scene she’d ever witnessed.
Watching him climax…seeing him achieve the ultimate physical pleasure with her—because of her—filled Olivia with such elation, it was almost too much to bear.
She quickly blinked back tears for fear he’d misunderstand them. She was a second too late.
Still inside her, Jake dropped himself onto his elbows to keep from crushing her. “Hey.” He spoke quickly between heaving breaths. “You okay? Did I hurt you?”
It took Olivia a second to find her voice. Lifting her hand, she ran her fingertips across his jaw. “No…exact opposite. That was…you made me feel…wow.”
She hoped he could decipher her babbling because, honest to God, she was physically incapable of speaking in complete sentences.
Olivia felt the tension in Jake’s shoulders ease just before an ear-to-ear grin spread across his face. “Yeah. That was definitely wow.”
He kissed her again before easing off her, separating them. Olivia immediately felt the loss to her bones, but knew he couldn’t stay in there forever. She smiled, imagining the possibility.
“Happy?” he asked, still grinning.
“Very.”
“Good,” he kissed her temple. “I’ll be right back.”
Jake rose from the bed and walked unabashedly to the bathroom, presumably to clean himself up. When he came back, he was carrying a wet washcloth with him.
Before she could tell him it wasn’t necessary, since he’d used the condom, he placed it between her legs, the warmth and his gentleness soothing.
When he was done, he tossed the cloth back through the bathroom doorway and lay down beside her. Pulling the covers up over them both, Jake positioned himself behind her, his arm encircling her waste. He then pulled her toward him until her back was flush with his front.
Kissing her temple again, he asked, “Any regrets?”
Is he serious? “Not one.” Olivia had never experience anything like what she’d just shared with Jake. “What about you?”
He turned her just enough to tip her chin up and press his lips to hers. She expected a short, chaste kiss, but he took it deeper. Longer. When he pulled back, she was surprised to see his eyes darkened with arousal again.
“That was the most incredible experience of my life.”
Damn, if she wasn’t fighting back tears, again. Despite her efforts, one escaped the corner of her eye. Jake kissed it away before finding her lips again. God, how she loved this man.
The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t say them. Not yet. Everything was too raw. Too new.
She would tell him eventually. Olivia just wanted things to be a little more settled between them first.
When the kiss ended, Jake smiled and said, “We need to stop doing that or neither of us are going to get any sleep tonight. You’ll need your strength for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day, between the transport back to the States and our debriefing with Ryker.”
A smidge of Olivia’s bliss rescinded as she thought of what her near future held. She imagined it wouldn’t be easy to officially arise from the dead.
She shoved those thoughts aside for now. Tonight was all about them. Everything else could wait.
With the most serious face she could muster, Olivia said, “Fine. We’ll stop, on one condition.”
His eyes narrowed in on hers. “Depends. What’s the condition?”
She ran her fingernails down his bare arm. “You promise to give me a repeat performance after we’re home.”
Jake leaned his forehead against hers. “Sweetheart, I plan on giving you as many encores as you can handle. Now, get to sleep before I decide not to wait until we’re back home.”
“Promises, promises.”
Unable to keep the smile from crossing her face, Olivia settled back onto her pillow. Within minutes, she was in the deepest, most relaxing sleep she’d had in ages. And she stayed that way…until the nightmares came.
Chapter 18
The early stirrings of dawn’s light seeped in through the hotel’s cheap curtains. Sitting at the little wooden table by the door, Jake did his best to ignore it.
If he acknowledged the new day, he’d have to think about what was to come. His mind would run through all the questions Olivia would face once they were back home, and in Ryker’s domain. It tore Jake apart when he thought about what she’d be forced to endure.
In addition to questions they’d all have to answer, there was the fact that the entire world still thought she was dead. The paperwork for that alone would be a nightmare, not to mention the toll it would take on Olivia, emotionally.
Jake wasn’t sure if she’d want to go back to the same hospital where she’d worked before she left. After everything that had happened, she may choose to take some time off from nursing altogether.
He didn’t know what she would end up deciding. The one thing he was certain of was that he planned to be there to support her through it all.
His gut twisted, knowing once all this shit was behind them, he’d have to confess his biggest secret of all. Not wanting to go there, Jake focused on Olivia’s sleeping form, thankful she’d finally found some peace.
She’d fallen asleep quickly that first time. He hadn’t. Instead, he’d held her close, breathing in her intoxicating scent while he thanked God over and over for bringing her back to him.
Even now, it was still so hard to believe. Despite all of the danger, not only was Olivia alive and well, she was sleeping peacefully in a bed not more than ten feet away from him. The same bed they’d made love in for the first time just a few, short hours before.
His touch had started out innocently enough. Then, she’d looked up at him with a need that mirrored his own, and it had been game over.
Sure, he’d tried to put on the breaks—at least that’s what he told himself—but Jake knew he could have tried harder.
He could have gone back to his own bed and left her alone. Probably what he should have done. Regardless, he couldn’t bring himself to regret being with her.
Jake’s tongue darted out and ran along his lips. He could still taste her, his body stirring as it remembered being inside her. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Being with her was like…coming home.
He should feel bad for how rough he’d been with her at the end that first time, but, God. She’d actually asked for it. Practically begged him to move faster. Knowing he would forever give Olivia anything she wanted, Jake had done exactly that.
Twice during the night, she’d woken from nightmares. Not unexpected, given what she’d been through, but it still broke his heart to see.
After the first one, he’d simply held her and whispered soothing words into her ear. She’d fallen back to sleep almost immediately.
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br /> The second time she woke—a little over three hours ago—had been much more intense.
Jake had just fallen asleep when Olivia’s limbs began flailing about, and she’d cried out in fear. He had to be more forceful that time, wrapping his arms completely around her and saying her name repeatedly, until he was sure she was fully awake.
She’d cried, then. Horrible, gut-wrenching sobs that made Jake wish the sons of bitches who’d taken her were standing in front of him, just so he could rip their fucking hearts out of their chests. When she’d finally calmed down, Jake had made love to her again.
A man on a mission, he’d gone slower that time, determined to erase whatever evils she’d seen in her dreams. Apparently, it worked, at least for the time being, because she was still sound asleep.
He glanced at his watch. It was almost time to wake her, but Jake wanted to give her a few more minutes of peace before he did. As if on cue, a knock rattled the room’s cheap door.
Watching her closely, Jake drew his weapon and went to the door. Through the tiny peephole, he saw Derek waiting on the other side with two Styrofoam cups in his hands.
Jake pushed his gun’s safety on and slid it back into his waistband. He undid the door’s chain and deadbolt, before opening it just enough to give a Derek a silent greeting.
“Mornin’, boss. You look like hell. No sleep?”
“Not much.” Jake spoke low, not wanting to wake Olivia.
Derek raised one corner of his mouth. “Guess you got some good use out of those supplies I bought for ya, huh?” His eyebrows waggled up and down. “I mean, from what I heard, it’s no wonder you’re whooped. You know, these old rooms have really thin walls, and your girl in there was pretty lou—”
Smacking a hand against Derek’s chest, Jake pushed the other man back and stepped outside. Without completely shutting the door behind him, Jake got right into the other man’s face.
“What the fuck, D?” Jake had to work hard to keep his voice down. “Show some goddamn respect. She could have heard you!”
Derek’s brows raised as he tried not to drop the cups. “Whoa. Sorry, man. I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. I was just playin’ around.”
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