by Lea Nolan
His grip tightened on her hips. “No. I do. Really.”
“So what’s the problem? I’m sensing hesitancy.” The last thing she wanted was to push him into something he didn’t ready for.
“I promised you a weekend of together-but-separate, and we’ve already violated that with the sandbags and taking care of Brilla.” At the sound of her name, the dog raised her head and gave a hopeful little squeak. “Go back to sleep,” Jack told her sternly, then turned back to Raven. “Not to mention dinner and now this. So while I’ve definitely been thinking about this all day—and I really want to do this—I don’t want you to think I’ve been maneuvering things so that we’d end up like this.”
A warm sensation filled Raven’s chest. Jack was being a gentleman. It was incredibly sweet. She nodded. “I get it.”
His expression turned serious. “And . . . I just want to make it clear from the outset that I’m not looking for a relationship.”
Of all the reasons in the world, this was the last one he had to worry about. Jack Baines clearly had no idea who he was dealing with. Raven tossed her head back and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Do you remember when I told you I had no exes?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“That’s because I’ve had no relationships.”
Jack’s brow raised. “Like ever?”
She nodded. “Like ever.”
He looked at her as if she’d just spoken a foreign language. “Even in high school?”
“I barely went to high school.”
“What about college?”
“I was too young to date for most of college.”
“Post-college?”
She shrugged. “No relationships.”
Jack looked like she’d dropped an anvil on his head. “But why? You’re brilliant. And so beautiful. Any man would want to be with you.”
“I don’t want to be with any man. At least not in a relationship. Sex is a different story.” After a hookup, she could walk away free and clear, and not have to compromise on her life choices.
He shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Why was it so hard for men to understand that women could be happy and single? No one had questioned her father’s decision not to remarry after her mother died. He’d devoted himself to his career and daughters and had tremendous success. Why couldn’t her choices gain the same respect? Raven’s life was plenty full of her job, sisters, and friends. She didn’t need anything more.
She brushed her palm along the side of Jack’s stubbled face. “It makes sense to me. Work is my priority. Relationships get in the way. So you truly don’t have to worry about me falling for you or trying to make you my boyfriend. But sex is a biological need. And right now, I need to have sex with you. So if you’ve changed your mind, I’m going upstairs to take care of myself.”
Jack’s hands gently cupped Raven’s face. “Let me take care of you. Please.”
A thrill shot up her spine. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Jack kissed her long and hard, working his way from her mouth to her neck, and then to her breasts. He removed her bra with deft hands, then kissed one bare breast as he played with the nipple of the other. Raven arched her back under Jack’s expert touch. He’d noticed what she liked and was putting that knowledge to good use.
Normally, she’d have yanked off her clothes, tossed him a condom, and they’d be halfway done by now. Not tonight. She didn’t want to rush things. Something told her that sex with Jack would be worth the slow build. The long, playful kisses, his gentle fingers stroking her skin, raising goosebumps over her flesh, and the exquisite taunting of her nipples that kept her on the edge of climax. She could kiss this man all night.
A few minutes later, just when she was sure she might die if she couldn’t have Jack inside her, his rough whisper came into her ear. “Stand up. I need to get these jeans off of you.”
Sweet relief.
But first, she wasn’t going to be the only one who was naked. Her fingers reached for the hem of his long-sleeved T-shirt. The few glimpses she’d caught of his torso when they were bagging sand earlier had been tantalizing. Now she wanted not just to see what lay beneath his shirt, but to touch it too, and maybe even to lick it. Taking her hint, he pulled his shirt up and over his head.
Raven wetted her lips as she gazed at the specimen before her. “This is nice.” Her fingertips stroked his hard pecs and skimmed the centerline of his abs.
“I’m glad you approve,” he said with a wry smile.
“I do. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
“Speaking of which.” He tapped her backside. “Lose the pants.”
She laughed. “Right.”
She hopped off of his lap, then stood before him as she unfastened the button, slid down the zipper, then shimmied out of her jeans.
Jack drew a deep inhale and ran his fingers over her black lace thong. “You have no idea how much I love lace.”
She grinned. “You’re in luck. It’s all I wear.”
A dark groan rolled in the back of his throat. He leaned closer, then dragged a finger beneath the front of her thong and ran it along the inside crease of her thigh. Dipping lower, the tip of his finger grazed her tender, excited flesh and sent an electric shock over her body.
Her hungry eyes watched him as her fingertips played over his broad shoulders.
“Do you like that?” he asked, almost in a whisper.
“Very much. But I want more.”
He entered her then, and she responded by digging her nails into his flesh. “Yes. More.”
He slid a second finger in, filling her. She moaned and her left hand coiled around the hair at the back of his neck.
Raven closed her eyes and surrendered to the pleasure Jack was giving her. His hands did magical things to her hot and swollen flesh that nearly brought her to the brink of ecstasy. Yet just when she was about to fall, somehow, he knew when to pull back and keep teetering on the brink.
“Jack, I . . . ” She clenched her fists.
“Not yet.” His hot breath was at her most private area now. “You smell so incredible. I have to taste you.”
And then she felt his tongue, wet and warm, stroking her needy flesh. Every inch of her skin raged with fire, and she loved the burn. They could have been there for an hour, a minute, or an entire lifetime. Raven had lost all sense of time under Jack’s touch.
All she knew was desire, sensation, and a primal yearning she hadn’t felt in years. Or maybe ever.
Finally, when she was sure she might split in two like an atom, Jack did something spectacular that coordinated all of his moving parts and sent her cascading over the edge. Literal lights burst behind her closed eyelids, and a surge of energy blazed over her body.
A fierce sound roared from her throat as her legs buckled, giving out from under her. Jack wrapped his strong arms around her, holding her up, and in one piece.
“I’ve got you, babe. Go with it,” he said, an unmistakable ring of male pride in his voice.
So she did.
Chapter 11
“Holy amazing orgasm,” Raven said when she’d finally regained the ability to speak. When her legs went full Jell-O, Jack laid her down on the sofa.
The rain was also coming hard now, splattering the deck and windows. She always loved the sound it made pinging off of their roof. It was so different from the Baltimore, Maryland row house she and her sisters had grown up in. There in the city, water pounded off slate roofs, concrete, and asphalt, and flowed like rivers down the streets into gutters and back out to the Chesapeake Bay.
“I aim to please.” Jack interrupted her reverie as his fingers lazily stroked her legs. He was beside her again with her calves crossed over his lap.
“Do you please every woman like this?” Because, damn, that really would make him Superman.
He gazed down at her. “I wish I could say yes, but the truth is, I don’t think I’v
e ever seen a woman enjoy an orgasm more than you.”
Raven felt her cheeks heat, but screw it. Having a great “O” was nothing to feel embarrassed about. After all the shitty one-off experiences she’d had with other fumbling losers, she had a right to scream from the rooftops. “I wish I could say I’ve enjoyed all my orgasms as much.”
“So you’re saying that was all me?” Jack beamed as if he’d just been proclaimed the winner of the Best Man award.
“Well, I was here too, so I had something to do with it.”
“Sure. But you have to admit, I’ve got some mad technique.”
Oh, man. Whatever he’d done there at the end—the combo flicking, thrusting, licking, sucking—he should find some way to bottle that shit. He’d make a billion dollars. But she’d keep that thought to herself because she’d fed his ego enough already.
Raven smirked. “You were pretty good.”
Jack’s brows slid up. “Just pretty good?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Eh, eight out of ten.”
“I guess I’ll have to improve on that technique.”
“Only one way to do that.”
“How’s that?”
She arched her brow. “Practice, practice, practice.”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m ready when you are.”
That was music to her ears. “I’m an equal opportunity kind of gal. It wouldn’t be fair of me to leave you hanging after what you did for me.”
“It’s not a quid pro quo.”
“Consider it a kindness. There’s a condom in the inside zipper pocket of my tote bag.”
Before Raven had a moment to shift her weight, Jack was off the sofa, removing his jeans. Even before he slid off his briefs, she could see how ready he was. And he was . . . super ready. He slid the briefs down, kicking them aside, then retrieved the condom from her tote bag. Before he ripped open the packet, she propped herself up on her elbow.
“Wait.”
His face froze. “If you’ve changed your mind, it’s okay. We don’t have to do this.”
“No. I want to look at you.” Her eyes scanned over him as he stood erect, shoulders back, letting her take him in.
Good God, he was gorgeous. Six feet, four inches of thick muscle and bone, beautiful golden skin, a faint shimmering of hair in all her favorite places. One lone yellow rose tattoo graced his upper left thigh.
“You like?” he asked, an odd note of vulnerability to his question.
How could someone so gorgeous, so evidently successful, ask such a thing? Jack Baines literally looked like Superman, for God’s sake. Didn’t he realize that?
Without thinking, her tongue darted over her upper lip. “I do. Come here.”
As Jack tore open the condom packet and rolled it on, Raven pulled off her thong. Jack crawled onto the deep couch, positioning himself between her legs, being careful not to press his full weight onto her.
“Hi, stranger,” she said with a smile.
“Hi.”
“I’m having a lot of fun.”
He grinned. “Me, too.”
“Good. Let’s have some more.” Leaning up to meet his mouth, she led the kiss. Their meeting was playful and hungry, teasing, and probing. He read her every move, effortlessly flowing from tiny nips to deep, passionate strokes.
“Are you ready?” he asked, nearly breathless as he positioned himself at her opening.
“Yes.” She’d wanted him for hours, maybe even since last night.
He pressed forward, and Raven let out a long, happy sigh. This was the kind of fullness women longed for, yet rarely found. Her fingers dug into Jack’s back. Oh, this was . . . amazing.
Jack was moving in her now, a slow glide that hit every right part. She focused on his breath in her ear and the filthy sentence fragments he whispered. Then he dropped a hand between them and touched her most sensitive spot.
She drew in a breath. “Oh, you’re doing that thing again.”
“Should I stop?”
“If you do, I’ll kill you.”
He laughed and doubled down, flicking the switch until . . .
Fireworks exploded everywhere. Behind Raven’s eyelids, inside her skull, on her skin. She was a combustible electric light show made of flesh. Crying out, she wrapped her legs around Jack’s thighs and pressed against him.
He moved faster, and she felt his heart pound against her rib cage. She’d never been with such a large, muscular man before. There was something positively thrilling about how dangerous it was. She was literally surrounded by a virtual stranger, encased by his body. He could crush her so easily if he wanted. But he hadn’t given her any reason to fear. Just the opposite—he’d given her every chance to opt-out of having sex.
“How are you doing?” he asked in her ear.
“I’m good. Don’t hold back.”
“You sure?” His voice was strained.
“I’m sure.” Sensing what was about to happen, she held on for dear life.
Like a rodeo bull released from the pen, Jack let loose. Raven had never been ridden so hard or fast in all her life. It was glorious.
His body stiffened, and he dug his head in the pillow just above her head. A moment later, his howl erupted. She wrapped her arms and legs around him tight as he jerked inside her, then he twisted them both onto their sides before collapsing, so he didn’t crush her with his weight.
When he returned to the land of the living, he gazed at her. “You were right.”
“About what?”
“That was fun.” He disentangled from their embrace and slid out of her.
She couldn’t resist a smile. “It was.” She reached for the teal afghan that had fallen onto the floor and draped it over her.
“So . . . what happens next?”
Truthfully, she didn’t have a clue. She’d never spent more than one night with anyone. More of this wouldn’t be bad—it’d be pretty freaking fantastic, in fact—but she had no idea how to do that with the same person. Though it couldn’t be that hard. Sex was sex. This would just be more of it.
They’d both been crystal clear what they wanted. Jack wasn’t looking for a relationship, and she didn’t do relationships. They shouldn’t have to talk about what came next. Because nothing—besides the sex—would come next.
She rose off the couch and wrapped the blanket around her, then picked up her thong and jeans from the floor. “Well, it’s late, so I’m going to bed.” She leaned toward him and snagged her bra and sweater from the couch. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
After a shower, Raven was in her bedroom when her phone rang with a FaceTime call from Lark.
“So how’d it work out with Jack?”
She schooled her expression so as not to tip off her sister. “Fine.” Actually, it’d been pretty freaking spectacular. If he were any other man, she’d be gushing to Lark, but she wanted to keep this moment between her and Jack.
“Did you agree to stay together in the house?”
Hell yeah and thank goodness they had. Otherwise, it would’ve been a very dry weekend. “Yeah. We're calling it ‘separate-but-together.’”
Lark’s forehead creased. “Uh, okay.” Her expression brightened. “He’s a nice guy, right?”
The day’s events flashed through Raven’s mind, the kind things Jack had done for Heron Harbor and Brilla. She nodded. “Very nice.”
“And hot. Though, you know, not my type,” Lark added.
She laughed. “Yes, you’ve pointed that out before.” He was very definitely Raven’s type.
“I’m just saying, if you boink him, it won’t make things weird between me and him.”
What the hell? “Are you trying to hook us up?”
“I just want to make it clear, since, you know, he and I are friends. I’d be okay with it.”
Raven arched a brow. “I didn’t think I needed your permission.”
Lark’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God, you already boinked him!”
Raven dropped her head in
her palm. “Dammit.” She hadn’t planned to admit it, but now that Lark had guessed, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes. Yes, I did.”
Lark chuckled. “So ‘separate-but-together’ is a smashing success.”
“I said we were attempting it. Not that we were succeeding.” If she had her way, they never would.
“Was it good?”
“Better than good.” Raven couldn’t suppress a smile.
Lark sighed. “Aw. It couldn’t have happened to two nicer kids.”
“Hey, I’m still your elder.” By three short years.
“Maybe you two could take this past the weekend.” Lark waggled her eyebrows.
Raven shook her head. “That’s a hard no.”
“I’m serious, Rae. You’re single. He’s single. Your star signs align. Sagittarius and Aries make very passionate and dynamic couples.”
“We’ve been through this. All I need is work. Men get in the way.”
Jack bolted awake to the howling wind and a loud crash against the house. Brilla was hunkered close, nuzzled under his comforter, even though he’d told her to sleep on her bed. He tossed back his covers and went to the window. Brilla gave a mournful whine.
Jack peered out at the world. Jesus, this was some storm. Rain fell sideways, and the shutters swung on their hinges, battering the clapboard siding. Beyond the house, the swollen ocean was angry, its churning waves crashing high against the beach.
He checked his cell phone. Nine-fifteen. He hadn’t slept this late in years. No doubt it had something to do with the mind-blowing sex last night.
Along with the other ways that she was blowing his mind. Ways he hadn’t expected and didn’t know how to handle.
Last night, when he should’ve been drifting off to sleep on the euphoria of a great orgasm, he’d lain in bed trying to figure out if Raven Donovan was some kind of psychic ninja master who’d hacked her way into his head.
Because everything she did knocked him on his ass.
Like when she went to bed and didn’t kiss him goodnight. She didn’t have to. They weren’t a couple, and he’d made it clear he had no interest in pursuing a relationship. But after all that they’d done, and how freely their mouths had explored each other, the fact that she’d walked away without so much as a peck, well, Jack knew it was stupid, but he felt its loss.