Razors Ice 04 - Hot Ice (13 page)

“Jace,” she breathed.

“Violet.”

Breathing became
even more difficult as his eyes bore into hers. “I’ve never been…unprofessional with a client before,” she admitted hoarsely.

“It’s okay.”

“Is it?”

“
Uh-huh,” he breathed onto her neck again. Dipping his head, he kissed her neck again and dragged his mouth over her collarbone.

“Because w
hen it comes to you,” she croaked. “I want to throw all the rules out the window.”
And throw you down on the table and have my way with you
.

“You picked the right guy then,” he said with a smirk. “I never play by the rules.”

She sucked in a breath to clear her head. That was a mistake. It only made matters worse, for all she did was inhale more of his masculine scent. The fresh scent of the soap on his skin, the spicy fragrance of the massage oil, the woodsy smoke from the fire.

“I shouldn’t be doing this,” she murmured.
Her brain couldn’t think of any of the specific reasons while his thumbs were rubbing circles on her hips, but she knew they were in there somewhere.

“Why
not?” he asked, tearing his lips from the delectable skin of her neck. “Now seems like a good time to chuck your rules out the window.”

“Just this once?” she whispered and licked her lips.

His eyes watched her tongue glide across her plump lower lip and a look of anguish crossed his face. “It’ll be our little secret,” he promised huskily.

Violet stared into his ice blue eyes. The thought of sharing a secret with Jace McQuaid both excited her and frightened her. She was excited to find out how perfectly his mouth molded to her own
and frightened for the exact same reason.

A twinge of guilt vied for her attention. She wasn’t supposed to be doing this.
She shouldn’t even be here, alone with him. But Phillip was keeping secrets from her.

Well, she could keep a secret, too.

She closed her eyes and her lips parted. Then, when Jace kissed her on the mouth, the guilt was gone, dissolving like Jell-O gelatin in a dish of boiling water. It was like she had never been kissed before. When Jace explored the depths of her mouth with his tongue, she forgot about everything outside the cabin. Phillip
who
?

She kissed the corner of
Jace’s mouth at the base of the scar and ran her tongue up the length of it. He made a sound against her lips that made her shudder.

Neither of them was aware of the blizzard outside. The falling snow piled up on the driveway and the main road
and the trees sagged with the weight of it. Violet could only feel the flurry of desire swirling through her bloodstream.

Suddenly, Jace stiffened and pulled away. “You should know I’m not looking for a relationship
,” he told her, looking deep into her eyes.

“Me neither,” she
replied, sounding relieved.

Jace
relaxed again. With those two words, Violet became the perfect woman. Well, those two words along with the fact that she was a fan of his profession, had hands that knew just how to rub him the right way and she had a slammin’ body. All great attributes in a woman.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked as he peppered kisses down her throat.

“One hundred percent,” she murmured. “It’s just sex, right?” she clarified.

“Just sex,” he breathed into her ear and her reservations scampered away into the forest.

Jace inhaled the smell of her skin. She smelled amazing. Like something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Something fresh and floral. Like flowers in springtime. His hand crept from her waist and up to cup the sides of her breasts. “You have no idea how hard it’s been to not touch you,” he admitted.

“Me too,” she sighed.

When he raised an eyebrow to silently question the massages she’d given him, she hurried to explain. “I mean you have no idea how much I’ve wanted to
really
touch you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”
he asked.

“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
Like she could have said anything anyway.

The twinkle in his eyes returned.
“That’s funny. Every time you walk into the room I feel uncomfortable.”

“Why
’s that?”

“It always seems like you have too many clothes on.”

“Oh.”

She rested her forehead against his and waited until their breathing synchronized.
She wanted to savor the moment because in her world moments like this didn’t come around very often.

Jace
tilted his head and nestled into her neck. She whimpered and relished the feeling of such unbridled intimacy. When was the last time she’d been touched like this? When had a man ever savored her so completely while her clothes were still on?

He raised his head and looked
into her eyes. “I don’t want you to make a decision here tonight that you’re going to regret.”

Jace didn’t live his life apologetically. He didn’t believe in being sorry for his actions on or off the ice
. And he didn’t want Violet to think she was making a mistake with him. He took what he wanted in life and didn’t look back. He bought whatever he wanted, when he wanted. No questions asked. If he wanted a new car, he bought a new car. If he wanted to fly to Dallas to see a football game and the smokin’ hot cheerleaders, he did. And if he had the uncontrollable urge to fling Violet over his shoulder and take her to his bed to have his way with her, then there wasn’t much that could stand in his way, now was there? Well, except maybe a bum knee or an injured shoulder. Damn, he wasn’t used to playing the invalid. Oh well, he’d have to find a way to work around it. He always found a way to play through the pain. Sex wouldn’t be any different.

“Jace, this is the easiest decision I’ve ever made
,” Violet said honestly. She put her hands on either side of his face. “Now, shut up and kiss me.”

He couldn’t wait another millisecond to taste those plump lips of hers
again. Before she could blink, he was pressing his lips to hers, teasing her with his tongue.

Their mouths were hungry for each other for different reasons.
He needed to prove that his divorce hadn’t sapped his masculinity. And she needed to prove something to herself. That she was capable of bringing a man to his knees with desire for her.

He slid his hands under her shirt and when he touched bare skin
, her nerve endings ignited with small fires. Soft curves crushed against his hard chest as she arched her body against his. He hadn’t even touched any erogenous zones yet and she was already losing her mind.

Jace was
pleasantly surprised at how responsive she was. Every time he touched her, he could feel her body reacting and see the emotions written on her face. The little noises she made were enough to undo him and they’d barely even begun.

He smiled to himself. This was going to be one hell of a night to remember.

Annoyed with the fabric, he tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor.

There that went
, she thought to herself. There was no turning back now, not that she wanted to.

The warm air from the fireplace caressed her bare shoulders and arms.

Jace admired the sight of her perfectly rounded breasts peeking over her bra. Her baggy polo shirt and khakis didn’t do justice to her body. Underneath the shapeless uniform, she had beautiful curves and plump breasts that fit perfectly into the palm of his hand. He slid the bra strap down before bending down for a taste of her puckered nipple through the lace of her bra. The heady sensation spiked her arousal, sending tremors between her thighs.

He flicked his tongue over one breast and then the other, teasing her mercilessly until she cried out for more.

Bless him for wanting to take his time, but Violet didn’t think she could wait much longer. As if he could read her mind, Jace stood up and secured the towel dangerously low on his waist. He nudged her down the hall, bumping the wall along the way. In a frenzy of nipping mouths and swirling kisses, he walked her backwards toward the bedroom. Anxious fingers fumbled with buttons and zippers. Feet kicked off shoes and kicked away pant legs.

By the time they reached
the bedroom, they were both naked and breathing heavily.

The bedroom décor was rustic like the rest of the house
, but Violet didn’t notice the knotty pine bed and matching black bear table lamps on the rustic walnut and hickory nightstands. She didn’t notice the golden glow or the warmth of the bedroom fireplace. She was too busy getting acquainted with Jace’s tongue.

Violet curled her fingers around the towel at his waist, loosened it and let it fall to the floor.
His body was hard for her and his erection pressed eagerly against her tummy.

He spun her around so that her knees pressed against the mattress and stood behind her.
His length nudged between her buttocks, throbbing with heat. He kissed a trail down the back of her neck. At the top of her spine, he licked his way back up to her hairline and then blew on her neck with hot breath. She sighed and thought she’d never felt anything so divine. He filled her senses. The feel of him, the scent of him, the taste of him.

He kissed between her shoulder blades and she
shivered. “I can’t think straight when you do that,” she moaned.

“Mmm.
That’s the idea.”

Gently, he pushed her onto the bed and lay down next to her.
She rolled over to face him. With her breasts right in front of him, he reached out to caress them. He plucked each nipple and she arched into him. When she thought she’d shatter with need, he licked around her areola until the delicate skin glistened in the firelight.

Thankfully he had enough control over his senses to remember a condom. After sheathing himself,
he worked his way down her body and suckled every inch of her skin with open-mouthed kisses while she writhed beneath his hands. He slid down and ran his tongue around her belly button and continued downward. He flicked his tongue into her moist folds. She reached down and grabbed a handful of his thick hair. With her eyes closed, her black lashes fanned out below her lids.

He delved into her with his tongue
while she convulsed around him. When she was close, he slid up and nudged his cock at her center. She grabbed his hips and pulled him closer unable to wait any longer for him to fill her.

“Wait,”
he said, thinking twice about the position.

He rolled over, putting her on top for two reasons. One, he knew he couldn’t give his best thrusting performance on his
injured knee if he was on top. And secondly, Jace wanted a front row view of her beautiful breasts bouncing up and down while she rode him. He could definitely use his injuries to his advantage.

He smiled when she took the bait and lowered herself onto him. He had her right where he wanted her.
She enveloped him with a downward thrust and Jace groaned as her heat surrounded him.

She started out slow, sliding him in and out and eventually
she planted her hands on either side of his head and bucked wildly. When she sat up and threw her head back, her hair tickled his thighs. Letting her control the pace, he dug his fingers into her hips as she thrust deeper. She bent down and kissed him. A twirl of her tongue against his own quickened his pulse. He held off as long as he could, but it was difficult with her delicious tits in his face. He took one puckered nipple in his mouth and sucked hard as they both climaxed.

The intense pleasure caused her to cry out. She didn’t stifle the sound because she knew the cabin was out in the middle of the woods and no one was around to hear her.
Except a few chipmunks or Sasquatch maybe.

They rode the wave of
bliss together and then fell back onto his bed in a tangle of arms and legs.

Chapter
Seven

Tonsil Hockey

When Violet woke up t
he next morning, she was instantly aware of Jace’s body as he spooned her. The air inside the cabin was cool as the fire died out hours ago, but she was warm where Jace’s body curved around hers. Her breathing fell into rhythm with the rising and falling of his hard chest snug against her back. Completely forgetting that it was a weekday, she snuggled under the covers and imagined a world where she could pull the sheet up over her head and stay in bed with Jace until they ran out of food or at least until the sun came back up again.

“How’d you sleep?” he
asked, his voice gritty from sleep.

She startled, not realizing he was awake yet.
“Fantastic. I really like your bed.”

Jace’s mattress must have been custom
-made because Violet felt great. No aches, no pains, just pure comfort. Or maybe it wasn’t the mattress. It could have just been the simple fact that Jace was on it that was doing the trick. Either way, Violet woke up feeling refreshed. And satisfied. Then again, his mattress probably had nothing to do with how she felt. Last night had been chocked full of the best sex she’d ever had.

Flashbacks of the night before
played like a movie in her mind. Jace’s hands caressing, lips kissing, tongue tasting…everywhere. Down her neck, stopping for a while at her breasts and then down past her belly to settle between her thighs.

The perks of hooking up with an athlete were endless.
Jace had amazing endurance, strength, skill…

Whatever ethical codes she’d broken the night before were totally worth it.

Jace liked his bed, too. “It’s better when you’re in it,” he felt himself wanting to answer, but he caught himself just in time from saying the words out loud. Man, it was going to be tough sticking to the rules of this “just sex” business. Was anything really that simple?

“Me, too,” he said simply.

She looked over and he grinned at her in a half-sleepy half-sexy sort of way. “Good morning,” she whispered with a smirk.

“Hi,” he answered.

“I hadn’t planned on spending the night. Time sort of got away from us, I guess.”

Last night Jace had no intention of keeping Violet around until the morning after, but the situation was up to Mother Nature now. The damn snow had gone and fouled everything up. He wasn’t even supposed to let her spend the night in the first place. He didn’t want her to get the
wrong idea about him, right?

Wrong.

Jace secretly wanted the snow drifts to rise and close in on them so that she could never leave. But he had to get a hold of himself. There was no way he was going to let another woman saunter into his life just to turn around and thrash it all to ruins. He’d stick to the rules of “just sex” and then be the one to walk away when it was over.

Gathering the sheet around her, Violet sat up. God, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept in the nude. It felt incredible. The soft sheets caressing her naked body, Jace’s hand sliding up her thigh…

She turned to look out the window and was surprised to see a thick blanket of snow covering the ground. No, she decided upon further inspection, not just
a
blanket, it was more like
several
blankets. She went to the window and pressed her nose against the cold glass. “It looks like the North Pole out there. It must have snowed non-stop last night.” She couldn’t believe it. They were actually snowed in.

She groaned and flopped back down on the pillow.

Jace made a contented noise and snuggled into her neck. “You probably won’t be able to dig your car out until at least tomorrow.” Although he hated to admit it, Jace was glad they were snowed in. It felt good to have a warm and willing woman in bed next to him. And not just any woman. Violet felt right. Downright cozy. Going back to sleeping alone after she left was definitely going to be difficult. Difficult, but necessary. For now, he’d take what he could get.

“Shit.” Violet’s
panicked voice interrupted Jace’s warm and fuzzy thoughts. “I’ve got a client at ten. What am I going to do?” She tried to get up, but he held her firmly against him.

“Stay right here.” He pushed his morning erection into her backside.
Jace had been fighting a losing battle against the clock for years, but with Violet’s sexy body next to him, he felt younger than ever.

She laughed and squirmed against him.
“As much as I’d love to take a snow day, I have an appointment.” Violet cringed at her own words. Jeez, she was starting to sound more and more like Patricia every day.

“Vi, it’ll take hours for a snowplow to even get to us way out here
,” Jace pointed out.

“Shit,” she said again. “What time is it?”

Jace lifted his head to look at the clock on the nightstand and plopped it back down on the pillow. “Eight.”

“I’ll have to call and reschedule.”
No matter how dissatisfied she was with her life, she had responsibilities. People were counting on her.

She got out of b
ed and this time Jace let her go. But he wouldn’t let her take the sheet with her.

While his eyes perused her naked body,
Violet attempted to smooth her wild, tangled hair. “Gosh, it’s cold in here,” she said.

His eyes traveled down her body and rested on her puckered nipples. “I
can see that.”

When Violet realized what his eyes were fixated on, she
picked a sock up from the floor and threw it at him. “Jace!”

“I guess you could take my car,” he offered reluctantly. “But we’d still have to shovel out the driveway. And with my bad shoulder…” He winced appropriately. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’d really let me drive your hundred-thousand-dollar car?”

He shrugged with his good shoulder. “I’ve got insurance.”

“How do you know I wouldn’t just take off with it and never come back?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

She playfully punched him in the ribs and he rolled away to the other side of the bed.

“I’m not going to steal your car,” she reassured him.

“Good,” he joked, “’cause the car’s not replaceable, but you are.”

“Hey, I resent that!” She grabbed his shirt off the floor, wadded it up and hurled it at him. He dodged it and stuck out his tongue.

“Thank you for your generous offer, Mr. McQuaid, but I’m going to see if I can move some appointments around.”

This was just sex, he reminded himself. That meant it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to stick around and play house with him for the rest of the day.

“Hey, don’t rearrange your schedule because of me.” A bitter tone laced his words that wasn’t there a second ago.

“But I
want
to stay.” She paused and gave it some thought. “That is, unless you don’t want me to.”

“I want you to do whatever you want to do.”

She blew out a breath. “You’re impossible, you know that? I’ve got to call Pats.”

“
Then
will you come back to bed?” he asked, his eyes closed.

She leaned over and ran her hand
over the sheet and up his leg. “Yes, I will. It seems you have a muscle I need to do some more work on.”

His eyes flew open and his lips curved into a smile. But she didn’t see it. She was already looking around frantically for her cell phone.

“Do you know where my phone is?” she asked.

“Just follow the trail of clothes,” he suggested and rolled over.

Violet finally found her phone under her shirt in the doorway and slid into the guest bathroom to call Patricia. She slipped her shirt on over her head and stood in front of the mirror half naked. Not because she wanted to be, but because she couldn’t find her pants. Her hair was a mess and her face and neck were red from where Jace’s stubble had scratched her.

She ran her hand over her cheek and searched her own eyes in the mirror.

No regrets
, she thought to herself. She had given in to her carnal appetite and it had been amazing.

No regrets
.

Patricia
answered on the second ring.

“Mornin’, Pats.” Violet
gripped the phone and tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. “How are ya?”

“Morning,” Patricia said around a yawn.
“You’re sure up early.”

“Yeah.
Hey, um, I’m not going to be able to make it to my ten o’clock this morning.”

“Right,” Patricia joked. “That’ll cost you another Molinari.”

“Actually,” Violet sighed, “Molinari
is
my ten o’clock.”

“Typical,”
Patricia groaned. “You just don’t want to hold up your end of the bargain.”

“I swear I’ll take him next week
and the week after.”

“Ha ha, Violet.
Very funny. Our deal was for an entire month, remember?”

“I’m serious. I need you to cover for me.”

Patricia’s tone turned somber. “Is everything all right?” Violet was a free spirit, but she had never brushed off a client and pawned them off onto her before. “Are you in some kind of trouble or something? I haven’t talked to you since right before you went to August La…”

Patricia trailed off
and Violet kept talking before she had a chance to put the pieces together. “Pats, I’m fine,” she urged. “Everything is fine and I’ll talk to you later and tell you everything, okay?”

Patricia hesitated and finally
relented. “Okay. I’ll take your ten o’clock. Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need me to come get you or anything?”

“No!” Violet blurted and then snickered at the thought of Patricia’s
aging Geo Metro navigating the snow-packed roads of August Lake. A tin can on a bunny slope would have better odds of making it down in one piece.

“No,”
Violet said again, a little calmer this time. “I’ll explain later. I promise,” she rushed. There was a naked man in the other room who she wasn’t quite finished with yet.

“Okay, Violet
, if you insist.”

Violet thanked her, hung up and looked around the bathroom and swallowed. She could still taste Jace on her lips.
As wonderful as that was, she needed to freshen up. She found mouthwash under the sink and swished some around to fend off her morning breath. Once again, flashbacks of the night before filled her senses. His lips had been everywhere, his fingers tangled in her hair, her palms pressed against the headboard for leverage…

Jace had given her everything she needed and some things she had no idea how she was ever going to live without. Like that
one thing he did with his tongue…

At first, she felt a twinge of guilt for being unfaithful to Phillip
. But if anything, the experience had been refreshingly freeing. What she’d mistaken for security with Phillip was, in all actuality, a state of limbo.

No regrets.

When Violet came out of the bathroom, she found Jace standing in the living room next to the fireplace in all of his lavishly endowed, naked glory. He was so beautiful that she stopped mid-step and stared. He added more wood to the fire and she watched as his muscles bunched beneath his tan skin. His jet-black hair was mussed from his pillow and dark hair sprinkled across his chest. A tan line, from spending summers on the lake, ran beneath his belly button and turned into pale white skin below.              

When she looked him over, there was
definitely a recurring theme to Jace McQuaid. He was proportionate. Last night things had progressed so quickly that she didn’t get a chance to give him a good once over with her eyes and take him all in. Well, technically she
had
taken him in. Every splendid inch of him.

Phew!
He was proportionate all right. Big body, the right amount of hair in all the right places, broad shoulders, muscular arms, chest and…
ahem
. His proportionate penis flinched and when her eyes darted up to his face he was grinning.

“See anything you like?”
he asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

She cleared her throat. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

He grinned and scratched his bare chest. “Did you find your phone?”

“Ye
ah.”

“Is everything okay?” he asked, waving a fireplace poker in her direction.

She held back a giggle. “Yep. I have the entire morning to play snow bunny.”

“Are you sure?” he asked cautiously. On second thought, maybe her spending the
morning wasn’t such a good idea after all. He gestured again with the poker. “I can call someone to come over and help dig out the driveway.”

“Thank you, but I took care of my appointments. Pats
is covering for me.”

On second, er,
third
thought, spending the entire day with Violet didn’t sound so bad. With the way she was looking at him, maybe—as long as they stuck to their “just sex” policy—just
maybe
it would be okay. And she did look awfully sexy wearing just a shirt, the hem skirting dangerously high on her thighs.