Slow Hands (10 page)

It wasn’t her.

Sanity returned as he realized their waitress stood beside the table, wide-eyed, pink-cheeked. And all ears. “Wow, hot stuff, if she says no, you can have my number!”

The young woman appeared entirely serious. Which didn’t help things, judging by the way the woman sitting across from him narrowed her eyes and clenched her arms tightly around her chest. Small wonder…he’d verbally molested her in front of witnesses. Some fricking gentleman.

“Jesus, Maddy…”

“We’re finished,” she snapped, almost launching herself to her feet. She threw a fistful of cash down on the table, ignoring the waitress, who still watched them, and not sparing Jake another glance.

She didn’t even wait for him, or look to see if he was following. Instead, without another word, she wove her way through the crowd toward the door, not looking left or right, her dark ponytail bouncing against her stiff shoulders with every step.

Oh, God, had he ever screwed this up.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled to the waitress.

“Don’t apologize. I think I just came a little.”

Jake closed his eyes and shook his head, about as embarrassed as he’d ever been in his life. Heaven help him if his sisters—or worse, his father—ever heard about this. Talk about not treating a lady right. He’d blown it, starting with the sex talk that had been overheard, and ending with her throwing down a small fortune to pay for dinner, when he would
never
have let her pick up the tab.

Wanting to crawl out of the place, he settled for a fast walk. He hit the front door with both palms and strode outside, half expecting to see Maddy’s taillights as she zipped her tiny sports car out of the parking lot, dumping his butt right here at the bar.

But her car remained on the far side of the lot, where she’d parked it. He hadn’t gotten more than a half-dozen steps toward it in the warm evening air when he was grabbed. Two hands bunched in the front of his T-shirt and pushed him. Jake stumbled over his own feet until he was backed against the dark, shadowy side of the old brick building.

“Maddy…”

“Shut up.” Her eyes sparked and her breathing was choppy as she glared up at him. She looked ready to hit him.

Instead, she did something far more unexpected. She threw her arms around his neck, pressed that hot body against his, and caught his mouth in a deep, hard kiss.

She wasn’t angry. The ice princess was on fire.

For
him
.

She kissed the taste out of his mouth, thrusting her tongue against his wildly as she tangled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. Jake instinctively dropped his hands, reaching for the round curves of the ass he’d been admiring since they met. Cupping those curves, he savored the softness, squeezing her lightly. He was going to love holding her cheeks tightly when she was naked and on top of him. Plunging down onto him, over and over until he lost his mind and exploded inside her.

Tugging her up for a nicer fit, he rocked into her, letting her feel his throbbing erection, getting off at the pleasure of sex against sex, despite their clothes.

She whimpered, ground back, tilted her hips against him to bring her heat directly against the seam straining to hold back his cock. Groaning, running her hands frantically over his shoulders and chest now, she continued to play wildly in his mouth. Her soft lips molded to every millimeter of his, her tongue ravaged his as if she was hungry enough to devour him whole.

Finally, she drew away, gasping for breath, but not stopping. Oh, no, she merely moved her mouth to his neck, tasting the sweat he knew had gathered there, kissing her way frantically to the hollow of his throat, even biting lightly.

“I want you so much.”

“I noticed.”

“Did you really mean those things you said inside?”

He spun her around, backing her against the building now, taking control. “Hell,
yes
.”

It was crazy—they were outside, in a public place, it wasn’t even ten o’clock and anyone could walk out of the bar at any minute. But he didn’t care. If he didn’t get more of her, he’d die. Simply blow up and die.

“This really is…personal? Just about attraction, nothing else?” she asked, watching him intently, as if still needing to be sure.

“Maddy, I don’t give a damn where we met, who you are, or that you bid on me for some charity. I have wanted you since the moment I set eyes on you.”

She nodded slowly, letting her eyes drift closed, silently giving her assent.

“Don’t stop me,” he whispered hoarsely as he tugged her ponytail holder off and ran his fingers through that thick, dark hair, spreading it across her shoulders. He tasted her soft earlobe, moving slowly down the long line of her delicate neck, nibbling lightly, savoring the unique flavors of skin and woman.

“Stopping you isn’t even a consideration.”

Soon he was breathing down the front of her shirt, his lips scraping the vulnerable skin just above the seam. Unable to resist, he nudged the fabric down enough to gain access, groaning when he saw a hint of her breasts rising above the edge of a hot pink bra.

He
had
to go further. Running the tip of his tongue across that deep line of cleavage, he grabbed her hips when she started to sag.

“Jake…”

“More.” He didn’t ask, didn’t think, didn’t hesitate. He merely reached for the bottom of her shirt and began to tug it up. He was dying to touch her, hold her, suck her.

She whimpered when he slid his hand inside the bra, cupping her, tugging the incredibly soft, warm mound free of its containment. Then he could only look at her, wondering if he’d ever seen a more beautiful woman—with her head thrown back, eyes wild, hair a tangled brown mass. Her lips were wet, her mouth open, and her full, gorgeous breast was topped by a puckered pink nipple that begged to be tasted.

“No sugar handy,” he mumbled, “but I know you’re sweet enough.”

Then he confirmed it, covering the taut tip with his mouth and sucking, quick, hard, not sure which of them was more shocked by the pleasure of it.

God knows how far he might have taken it…they were both that far gone. But a car suddenly turned into the parking lot, washing the outside entrance with light. It spilled to within a foot of where they stood as the vehicle turned into a corner parking spot.

“Help me,” she snapped, desperately trying to yank her bra back in place.

He did, pushing her hands out of the way and, with regret, covering those incredible curves. Edging around, he blocked the view of her body with his own. If anybody did spy them, all they’d see was a couple kissing in the shadows.

A trio of laughing young women passed within a few feet of them, exchanging loud, knowing whispers. Once they were gone, he stared down at a still wide-eyed Maddy and offered her a slow, knowing smile. “You ready to get out of here?”

She nibbled on her bottom lip for a split second, nearly giving him a heart attack as he feared she was getting cold feet.

He should have known better. Because, with pure, sexual determination on her face, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to her car. “You drive,” she snapped. “I know you don’t like chick cars, but my legs are shaking too much.”

She tossed him the keys, which he caught in midair. Opening the passenger side door for her, he helped her in, bending low to ask, “Where are we going?”

She muttered an uptown address.

“I don’t think that’s where we left my truck.” He didn’t know why he got such a kick out of teasing her, especially because, honestly, if she walked away from him now, he’d have to go douse himself in liquid hydrogen to cool off.

“It’s my place. It’s close. I have an
enormous
bed and an incredible bathroom.”

He smiled slowly. “I’m catching the vision.”

“My bathtub could fit three people.”

“Sorry, Ms. Turner, not into anything kinky.” When her eyes widened, he took pity and grinned. “I’m sure we can make full use of it, just the two of us.”

“Good.” She ran the tip of one finger across his bottom lip. “Now get in and
drive
.”

S
HE SHOULD BE
having regrets, or at least second thoughts. But as they drove into the night—Jake’s foot riding a little heavier on the gas pedal than hers usually did—she could only anticipate.

He wanted her. Just
wanted
her. Those dark eyes hadn’t been appraising her worth; he hadn’t been using any tried-and-true lines of seduction that had worked on the many women in his past. Hadn’t for one second made her feel that she was nothing but a client to him. But he
had
made her feel absolutely dizzy with desire.

Her reservations had begun to dissipate when he’d thrown that line about dipping her nipples in sugar. By the time he’d gotten to the breaking her in half part, she’d been practically stuck to her chair.

Unable to wait, she reached over and dropped her hand onto his leg.

“Uh-uh,” he growled.

She ignored him, sliding her hand higher. But before she could capture the bulging prize she desperately wanted to trace with her fingertips, he dropped his hand over hers and squeezed.

“No.”

“You don’t want me to touch you?” she whispered, knowing the words were untrue. Despite the shadowy interior of the car, she could
see
just how much he wanted her touch. And, judging by the way he’d felt when pressed against her, he had a lot to be touched.

She shivered in her seat.

“Hell, yes, I want you to touch me.”

She twisted more, her other hand reaching for his hip. He couldn’t stop her…couldn’t drive no-handed.

“But
not
at the risk of both of us getting killed.” He glanced over, serious, almost pleading with her to back off. “Please, babe, we’ll be there soon, I promise. I’ve seen way too many street wrecks to even consider doing something so unsafe, despite how much I’m dying to feel your hands on me.”

Babe. No one had ever called her that. She suspected she should be insulted by it, as a modern, independent woman. But she wasn’t. Especially not when he’d also admitted his blatant need in that thick, hungry tone.

“I want to spend the night inside your tight little body, not a hospital emergency room.”

“Wow,” she muttered, collapsing into her seat. Blunt he may be, but the man
definitely
knew how to use words to their best effect.

“You okay?”

Voiceless, she merely nodded.

One of her hands remained on his leg, covered by his. Jake slowly lifted it to his lips. Pressing a soft kiss on her fingers, he said, “I’ll make it up to you. I plan to make you feel incredible all night long.”

All night long
. Oh, goodness. His tone had been sultry and full of promise. Her whole body was already on edge, thrumming and alive from that crazy-hot encounter outside the pub. Now, with his sweet whisper washing over her, she went almost gooey with want.

But not so gooey that she didn’t realize she had one remaining coherent brain cell, which hissed a final word of caution in her ear.
Unsafe
, he’d said. He wouldn’t do something unsafe.

God, she hadn’t even thought about the safe sex aspect of this crazy, impulsive decision. She, who thought her way around every problem at least a dozen times before committing to a response, had skipped right past the inherent dangers of his profession. She’d agreed to let a man who had sex for money pleasure her all night long, without a thought of her own physical well-being until now.

How did one handle this type of situation? It wasn’t as if she’d ever encountered it, or heard of a guidebook describing how someone made sure a hired lover wasn’t carrying around any nasty reminders of previous
clients
.

Then she thought about it. Oliver had cheated on her, not only with the snow ho, but with many others. Or so she’d heard after they broke up.

She knew guys who’d had sex with dozens of girls in high school and college. Sometimes they even proudly offered different colored bracelets to the girls they scored with, so the easier ones could advertise just how far they were willing to go—and thereby get more dates. More meaningless sexual partners.

Just because
she
had only ever had a half-dozen or so lovers didn’t mean everyone else in her circle had. Many, she suspected, probably had as much experience as a pro like Jake did. Some even more.

Her sister included.

So she decided to treat him as she would any other potential lover.
Openly
.

“We have to use protection. I have condoms at my place.”

His eyes widened and he glanced over at her, his handsome face—hard-planed, masculine, magnificent—spotlighted by the headlights of cars in the distance.

“I mean, it’s not that I don’t trust you. But in this day and age…”

“I’m not offended.”