Sweet Seduction (17 page)

17

J
AMIE
'
S
HAND
WAS
warm in hers as he led her down the hall to his bedroom. He had a nice apartment. Comfortable, modern, stylishly furnished. Gloria would approve of the feng-shui-ness of it all. Yet there was something off, and Daisy could feel it.

A sadness, maybe?

When she'd asked about Sarah, Jamie's whole demeanor changed. If she could see energy—which she couldn't—she'd have seen him shut down, shut off, leaving her feeling cold and lonely.

So Daisy had done the only thing she could think of to do. She'd put her head against his chest and listened to his heart. It beat strong and fierce inside his chest, and when his hands tangled in her curls in the way she loved, she knew it was going to be okay. The unbearable passion they'd both felt at the gym had abated, but in its place was something softer, gentler, more compassionate...something better.

Once inside his bedroom, Jamie turned her around in his arms, sifting his fingers through her curls before leaning down to kiss her. It wasn't the relentless kiss of earlier. It was gentler, his tongue questing softly against her lips, dancing with hers, a lovely, slow waltz in which he led and she followed. The clothes he'd made her put on before they left the gym soon fell away again. Daisy didn't know how it happened. There was no ripping, tearing or grappling—just a simple shedding of outer garments that fell like gentle rain to the ground.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, gazing down at her naked body, his voice rough, catching a little on the word
so
.

For whatever bizarre reason, tears sprang to her eyes and she looked away, but Jamie took hold of her chin and turned her back to face him. Though his expression was perplexed, he didn't ask and she didn't offer an explanation for her tears. If he wanted her to stop crying, however, he shouldn't have blotted her tears with his thumb and then brought his thumb to his lips to kiss, because that action just increased the flow. Shuddering through her breath, Daisy nuzzled closer to him, kissing his throat, moving down to his chest and placing a soft kiss over his heart while sliding a hand lower to where his cock grew between them.

She squeezed. “I love this part of you,” she said, her voice on the ragged side.

“Good. Because that part of me loves you.” He shifted his stance. “Particularly what you're doing right now.”

Chuckling through her tears, Daisy met Jamie's gaze.

Wow.

If she'd doubted his feelings before, the way he was gazing at her now answered any questions she'd had. His dark chocolate eyes shone with tenderness and desire. Never breaking his gaze, she slowly dropped to her knees, sliding her hands down his muscled thighs as she went. It wasn't until she was kneeling right before him and she used the side of her cheek to caress his leg and then the length of his cock that she broke their gaze. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, breathing in his masculine scent, exploring the texture of his shaft with the side of her face.

He groaned.

She rubbed his head across her mouth, the moisture from his tip glossing her already moist lips.

“You are going to be the death of me.”

“I hope not.” She tilted her head back. Holy, it was a long way up there. His grip in her hair intensified as she leaned forward and took just the head of him in her mouth.

“Daisy.”

She liked hearing her name said that way. It made her feel wanton and powerful. Holding him firmly in her hand, she dipped lower in order to suck him in deeper, hollowing her cheeks around him as she withdrew.

His groan was almost as good as the sound of her name, and when he hauled her to her feet so he could have his way with her mouth, she felt liquid with desire.

“I have never met a woman like you,” Jamie said as he did that other thing she loved so much, picked her up—easily—and placed her on the bed.

Jamie crawled onto the bed with her, moving on top of her. “You're under my skin, you know that?” The muscles of his shoulders appeared more massive than ever as he held himself aloft above her. “I tried to stop thinking about you.” He dipped low to nip her lip. “But you've got this hold on me.”

“It's mutual.” Daisy ran her hands over those shoulders, marveling at his strength, and then down his equally muscular back. She'd never been with a man who had such big muscles. They were lovely.

Slowly he lowered his body to hers. She made room for him by parting her thighs and bending her knees, opening herself to him, rubbing herself against him in a way that she hoped would tell him how ready she was for this. But Jamie was being too careful, moving in slow circles between her thighs, trying not to crush her with his weight.

Didn't he know Daisy wanted his weight? Wanted to be crushed? She wanted him everywhere at once, on her, in her, his body, his mouth, his tongue, his cock. All of it. “Please, Jamie,” she said, grabbing hold of his hips and drawing him close. “Please.”

He kissed the “please” right out of her mouth, holding her tongue captive until she forgot how to speak. He paused in his assault on her mouth to reach for something beside the bed, a small plastic square. When had he put the condom there? She didn't know and quite frankly didn't care. “May I?” she said, holding her hand out for the plastic wrapper.

“Since you asked so nicely.” His lips twisted up on the left as he handed it to her.

She tore it open with her teeth and pulled the slick rubber out of the sleeve while Jamie straightened his arms to hold himself above her. Those arms of his were to die for. She nearly became distracted by them—they might just be her favorite part of him—but when the heavy head of his cock twitched against her mound, as if in anticipation of what she was about to do, her focus was on that wonderfully male part of him and that part alone. He was so big. So hard... Mmm, this was a favorite part of him, too.

She rolled the lubed rubber over him, holding the base of his shaft firmly in her fist, and then guided him to her parted legs.

“Seriously, Daisy,” he said gruffly, glancing down at his erection. “That felt so good, I think you're going to have to do it every time.”

“Every time?” Why did those words thrill Daisy to her core? Maybe because even though she was in the middle of this, she knew it would end and she didn't want it to. She wanted it never to end. She wanted to be here like this with Jamie as often as she could.

Holding on to him, she lifted her pelvis and guided him along her damp slit, rubbing his wide head against her swollen nub, back and forth, in and out. Yes. So good. So very, very good. “I love how you feel.”

“Me, too.” Jamie caressed the side of her face. “And while I enjoy being your personal sex toy—” he removed her hand from his cock, replacing it with his “—I need to be inside you.”

While holding her gaze, he thrust, seating himself inside of her fully. Daisy arched and cried out. How was it possible that his body filled hers so perfectly? How could something so strange—fitting two bodies together—feel so wonderful? She wrapped her legs around his waist, needing him as close and deep as physically possible.

“Oh, Daisy.” Jamie pulled out only to slam back inside again. “I've missed you.”

“Mmm.” She held on to him, holding him flush, wanting him to stay exactly where he was, filling her completely, making her feel whole. “I've missed you, too.”

He pulled back again and she gasped from the loss, only to pound home, and she cried out in welcome. What a wonder. What a thing to have his body so close, so deep, so excruciatingly good.

Jamie pulled out of her and grasped hold of her hips and lifted. “Turn over. I need you on your hands and knees.”

Oh, yes. That was exactly what she needed, too. Only thing was, her arms were not exactly in favor of supporting her at the moment, and Daisy had to make do by resting on her elbows.

Jamie didn't seem to mind.

“Woman, you have a gorgeous ass.” He caressed her bottom roughly, grabbing the globes of her ass and then palming the warmth of her exposed pussy. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” He groaned, and before Daisy could reply, his mouth was feasting on her.

“Jamie!” she cried, her body alight with tingles and sparkles. Though his mouth was marvelous, she missed the fullness of his heavy flesh inside her. “Jamie, please,” she begged.

With one last lap of his tongue, he surfaced, digging his fingers into the flesh at her hips. “You taste so good. So, so good.”

She wagged her ass at him, desperate to be filled. “Please,” she whispered to the pillow in front of her.

Whether Jamie heard her or not, it didn't matter, because he found her and impaled her and sent her to that place between heaven and hell, pleasure and pain, where everything was wonderful and confusing and Daisy didn't know if she was up or down, coming or going. His body moved inside hers as his fingers strummed her most sensitive flesh, creating a symphony of sensation, clashing cymbals, trumpeting horns, screeching violins...

Crying out in ecstasy as she came, hard and thorough, convulsing within Jamie's embrace. The last thing she heard before collapsing was Jamie's moan of ultimate pleasure in her ear.

* * *

T
HEY
SAT
AT
his breakfast counter drinking coffee...together. This morning she'd heated up the cinnamon buns from the box—not commenting on the fact that the box hadn't been opened unless a raised eyebrow counted as a comment—and made a fruit salad from the contents in his fridge. He read the newspaper, as was his morning routine, and Daisy did a crossword from a magazine.

“What's a six-letter word for ornery?”

“Crabby,”
Jamie replied absently.

“Needs to start with
G
.”

“Grouchy.”

“That's seven.”

“Grumpy.”

“Ooh! That works.”

Jamie raised his head and smiled. Then he frowned because having Daisy there, doing a crossword puzzle all familiar-like while he drank his coffee, was all wrong.

Except that it felt so right.

So had her warm, naked body this morning. So had her warm, naked body last night.

She looked up, probably having felt him staring at her. Her delicate brows drew together. “Everything okay?”

“Yep.”

“Great.” She chewed on the end of the pencil. “Can I ask a favor?”

“Sure.”

“It's just...the new place still smells like paint and the other is all packed up and it's hard to bake over there...” Her brow crinkled, a wave of sadness washing over her. She shook her head and the sadness was gone. “Can I use your kitchen today?”

“Sure. I'll leave you a key.” The words were out before he could take them back. Was he insane? He'd already broken the rule of having a woman stay over and now he was giving her his key?

“Thanks.” Her smile lit the room. “I was planning chocolate-fudge brownies. Do you think the guys would prefer them with nuts or without?” She played with a curl, thinking. “I'll probably make both—”

“No.” The word burst out of him, hot and possessive.

“No nuts?”

Jamie folded the paper, slowly, carefully, needing control, because the idea of Daisy going back over to the gym after her sexy, seminaked boxing display last night drove him to the brink of sanity. “You're not taking any more baking over to
the guys
.”

She sat back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Aah, you're not the boss of me. You know that, right?”

“My place, my gym, my rules.” He ground his teeth to refrain from saying more.

She cocked her head to one side, her wonderfully messy curls bouncing playfully in juxtaposition to her angry expression. “That's stupid.”

“It's not stupid, Daisy. It's safe.”

She stood, walked up to him and gave him a little shove on the shoulder. “Just because we've slept together doesn't mean you own me. If you don't want me baking here, I'll just go to Gloria's.”

“That's probably a good idea.”

Her eyes grew cloudy. “So...you don't want me to use your kitchen?”

“I didn't say that.”

“What did you say?”

“I said to stay away from the gym.”

“Why? I thought the guys at the gym were your friends.”

“They are.”

“So how is it not safe for me to go there?” This time she jabbed him on the shoulder.

Jamie stared her down, daring her to push him further. “They may be my friends, but they are still men. Big, aggressive, occasionally violent men with way too much testosterone coursing through their veins.”

“Exactly. Those guys eat a lot.”

He curled his fingers around the paper. “And you, Daisy, are a beautiful, funny, charming woman who has this innocent—”

Her gasp cut him off. “You think I'm beautiful and funny?” Her smile reached all the way up into her sparkling eyes.

“Of course I do, but that's not—”

Her eyes grew even wider. “You get jealous when the guys pay attention to me.” She sucked in a breath, just realizing something. “That's why you were so weird yesterday.”

“It wasn't jealousy. It was...” Jamie paused. If not jealousy, then what? Protectiveness? Possessiveness? How could he explain to Daisy that he couldn't stand the idea of her getting into trouble? That it was simply instinct to do everything in his power to keep anything bad from happening to her? Even if that bad thing was him?

She smiled coyly. “Jamie Forsythe, are you in love with me?”

Her question took him completely by surprise because of both the cheekiness of her tone and the question itself. He sputtered a nonsensical response.

She rubbed his arm. “Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me.”