Wild Irish (Book 1 of the Weldon Series) (28 page)

Instead of being angry, as he thought she was, she sounded sad when she spoke. “I agree. Your response was a rational response given the time we’ve been together.” She turned from him and put something in the open suitcase on his dresser.

She’s packing
. The realization sucker punched him. He ran his hands through his hair, trying to fathom why her packing stabbed at him. "If my response was reasonable, then why are you pissed off at me? How did I suddenly become the bad guy?”

She folded a shirt, put it in the suitcase and snapped it closed. Only after she set the case by the bedroom door did she turn and look at him. “It’s an issue of attitude. I don’t think yours will be any different three months from now than today.”

“
What?” He was so incredulous that he almost fell over. He wanted to yell, but forced his voice to stay even and low. “You can’t possibly believe that I’d deny and abandon a woman I was involved with if she became pregnant. You can’t possibly believe that I wouldn’t take responsibility for my own child.”

“
No. You’re misunderstanding the point. I have no doubt that you’d always live up to any responsibility. You probably take on more than your share of them. Take me, for instance. You’ve already written it in stone that you have to protect me. What I am saying is that you’re afraid of relationships, of emotion. My father hides behind his grief because he’s afraid to reach out to the people around him, and you hide behind things, too. Things like responsibility and sex and years ago you wouldn’t let yourself become involved either. Back then you hid behind that wrong side of the tracks chip on your shoulder.”

“
That’s bullshit.” He couldn’t even believe he was having this conversation with a woman he’d only slept with for just a few days. Stuff like this didn’t happen until way on down the road and by then he’d already moved on. Afraid? Fear had nothing to do with reality. She had him all wrong. “You haven’t known me long enough to be able to say something like that. ”

“
I haven’t? What’s knowing? Two people can know each other for years and never see inside each other. Or people can be together for just a few hours and know each other’s heart, body, and soul. I think we fall closer to the latter. We connected twelve years ago on some deep level and that connection is still there, only more consuming now because we’re adults and we are indulging our desires.”

“
That’s it. We’re indulging ourselves and having a good time. Why are you complicating it by blowing a rational reaction out of proportion?”

“
Is that all it really is?” She sighed and shook her head. “Do the words, ‘I suck at meeting needs beyond the bedroom so I do what I do best and then move on,’ sound familiar?”

Jesse cupped the back of his neck and leaned his head back to ease the sudden tension wracking his muscles. Those words sounded suspiciously like what he had said to James. A world of hurt showed in her green eyes. “Shit. You were listening?”

He wasn’t ready to lose what they had going here, so that told him there was a little more than sex on the table, but hell, three days didn’t constitute a relationship, right? “Listen, I’m sorry if I said anything that—”

She turned away from him, but not before he saw a hint of tears in her eyes. He clenched his fists. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It’s nice to know I’m good in bed.”

He winced. Hell. He came up behind her, gently touched her shoulders and eased her back against his chest. “Listen, whatever I said to James, I in no way meant to hurt you. If I did I’m sorry. But you have to be realistic here. We’ve had a few days of great sex between us. And more, if we want it. We can ride this thing out and see where it goes. We’re both adults and I didn’t--”

“
Lie to me?” Moving from his embrace, she turned to face him, standing only inches from him. “A woman knows where you stand before she comes through the bedroom door, right?”

She fed his own words back to him, but somehow he didn’t like the taste of them now. If he’d thought he’d seen tears in her eyes, then he’d been mistaken. Her green eyes were steady and cool. So why did he want to kiss the fire back into them? Hell, he wanted that same fire that had licked him into a lather and ran him hell for leather more than a dozen times. He didn’t like this cool distance. He leaned over and kissed her, easing his lips against hers, pulling her body close enough to feel her heat. She responded immediately and a sense of relief kicked through him. She wanted him. She wouldn’t leave yet. Whatever else was going on inside her head, she didn’t deny him. He eased back and slid his hands to the lapels of her robe. “You don’t have to make me sound so cold-blooded. We both crave this fire between us. Isn’t that enough?”

Alexi felt her heart tear even as she kissed him back. Enough? No, she wanted more. She wanted all of those warm feelings of mutual love and acceptance that filled the spaces between great sex. And she’d been a fool to think that she could have sex with a man and not want the other things, too. She deepened the kiss and amended her last thought. It was Jesse she couldn’t have sex with without wanting all of those other things. She needed him. She needed to love him and touch him one more time. To feel the thrill of his seduction, to let him lead her deeper into the sexual play that he made so wonderfully exciting. And she kissed him ruthlessly, desperately, as her body craved him and her heart reached out to embrace him one last time.

“Jesse. Make me burn,” she whispered to him.

Jesse met Alexi’s gaze, confused by the sadness in her voice. “Don’t worry, sunshine. We’ll burn all night long.”

She kissed him hard then, an aggressive back-him-to-the-wall kiss. But instead of backing him to the wall, it was to the side of the bed. She pushed him down and followed. Her passion was instantaneous and hot—like a sudden storm. Before he could think twice, he found himself just as hot and needy. It was as if she’d set them both ablaze, as if it had been years since they’d made love instead of only hours. They rolled. First him on top, then her. His hands were everywhere on her, feeling her through the silk, and her hands sought him, desperate in her need to get beneath his clothes. She tugged anxiously on his shirt, his pants, and he stood, wrenching them off. She stood too, her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright.

He grabbed for the robe, ready to have her naked, so ready to bury himself inside of her.

“
Not yet,” she said, evading him, motioning for him to sit on the edge of the bed. The music he’d put on earlier still played, its sensuous rhythm filled the room. She swayed her hips to the song and untied the belt to her robe as she danced away from him. He sat on the bed and watched, seeing her from both sides as she danced in front of the mirror on his dresser.

His heart rate kicked faster. She wasn’t a practiced stripper, but her eager desire to please him and the allure of her own sensuality was more erotic than any professional dancer could be. His erection swelled. Any hotter and he was sure he’d self-destruct like a Roman Candle gone awry. Leaving the robe to hang open just enough to give him teasing glimpses of the peach satin panties, heels, and her naked breasts, she took the silk tie and looped it over his head. Then she dropped one end and pulled on the other, letting the cool silk ease across his neck and over his shoulder before she pulled it free.

“
Let me see you,” he asked softly. “Let me see your breasts move as you dance.”

She smiled as she let the robe fall to the floor. He didn’t think he could get any more turned on than he already was, but he did as she turned around, swaying seductively, arching her back just enough to make her bottom and breasts seem as if they begged for him. With the mirror behind her, he could see all of her as she moved. She wore a thong and the heels. He thought he’d go crazy when she slid the silky tie of her robe along the length of his erection and rubbed it back and forth as she shimmied her breasts at him.

He grabbed the tie from her and stood, deciding two could play this teasing game. He urged her to face the mirror and moved in behind her. Taking the silk tie, he looped it over her. Beginning at her shoulders and inching down to her breasts, he slid the tie back and forth until her nipples puckered and she arched into his touch, deliberately pressing her bottom against his erection. She watched his face in the mirror and he watched hers as he eased the tie downward and between her legs. There he used the same technique, soft quick strokes over her satin thong until he heard her breath catch. She hadn’t come yet but she was getting closer to the edge. Moving with her over to the dresser, he placed her hands on its polished surface and set a condom next to her.

“
Brace yourself and spread your legs, Lex.” He kneeled behind her, taking hold of her hips and kissing the soft globes of her bottom, squeezing and kneading her, relishing in the silkiness of her perfumed skin.

“
You are so beautiful, so hot and female, everywhere.” He ran his finger back and forth over the satin covered grove of her bottom before nudging her legs wider and kissing the insides of her thighs and her legs all the way down to her come on shoes. She shivered and groaned in response.

She was hot and ready. Now he wanted her wet and begging. “Step out of this and lean over more.” He slid the thong down. “Now spread your legs even wider.” She did as he asked, but he needed more. “Bend more so I can reach your sweet sex.” She rested her elbows on the dresser and bent until her breasts brushed the polished wood. “Now watch your face in the mirror. Watch yourself come.”

He spread the lips of her sex and dipped his tongue into her vagina. The nectar of her arousal was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted. Sliding a finger around to rub her clitoris, he kept darting his tongue in and out of her vagina. Just a soft feather-like penetration as he kept her hot spot captive to his caress. Her muscles tensed, her breathing hitched, and just as he sensed she was on the verge, he ran another finger along the sensitive nerves of the cleft of her bottom. Her hips jerked and she screamed out his name.

When she’d stilled, her release complete, he stood, saw her flushed face in the mirror and the hard points of her nipples jutting upward, and couldn’t wait to get inside of her. He tore open the condom, slid it on, and then moving in behind her, he drove into her hot wet heat. “Give me more, Lexi. I want to feel you come again.”

“
Yes,” she said, rising up to press herself against him. “Yes.” He wound one hand around to her breasts and slid his other hand down to her clitoris. She gasped, shivered, and he set a driving rhythm, pumping himself into her. She matched his every stroke of her hot spot with a backward thrust. She was the hottest, sweetest, most responsive woman he’d ever been with and he couldn’t get deep enough into her. He went wild, shouting her name as an orgasm ripped through him. Hardly able to stand, he stumbled back to the bed dragging her with him. They fell onto the covers and he wrapped her in his arms.

Jesse. Jesse. Jesse.
Alexi whispered to herself. She couldn’t say his name enough. Couldn’t get close enough to him. Aftershocks of pleasure continued to wash over her and tears rushed to her eyes.
I love him
. She ran her fingertips over the warm chiseled contours of his face and body, memorizing every line. She kissed his lips, drew deep breaths of his scent, and watched him drift off into sleep, committing every nuance to memory. Then quietly, she dressed and left.

* * *

Jesse awoke to the dimness of evening shadows around him and the distant sound of waves crashing in from the Atlantic. He sat up with a jerk. He was naked, and alone on the bed. Alexi’s peach robe, thong, and come on black shoes lay on the floor. He smiled, remembering their recent romp and got up to find her, everything was going to be fine. This sex thing was still going great. Walking naked from the bedroom, he wandered into the living room. "Hey, Lexi. How about we hit the hot tub and then order pizza.”

He met with silence. “Alexi?” He checked both decks and then hurried into the kitchen. When he saw the note on the fridge, he cursed. It didn’t do any damn good for him to look out for her safety if she ran around without him. He yanked the note down, read it, froze, his stomach plummeting.

Sorry, I can’t stay any longer with you. Don’t worry. I’ll be safe. Thanks for the best sex ever. Alexi.

Rushing to the bedroom, he saw that the suitcase she’d set by the bedroom door was gone. Within minutes he’d dressed and had begun searching. A check of the last number dialed on his house phone showed that she had dialed Nan’s number. Jesse called Nan’s apartment and got no answer. Then he called the hospital only to learn Nan had left work just minutes before, which told him that Alexi couldn’t be with Nan.

He grabbed the yellow pages and called taxis, making zero progress with the first five companies. No pickups had been made from his address. Before he dialed again, the doorbell rang.