He paused, that last word limping out of his mouth, and then slowly rotated his head to hook directly into Bree’s stare. Her heart tripped a little in her chest. “Or, something,” he added.
What do you mean by that?
Then, she watched as he nodded to Jake and left. A strong click sounded from behind the door. Was it bolted from the outside? Could they leave? Slowly, she pivoted her gaze back to Jake.
Jake’s heart pounded with wild anticipation looking at Bree lying on the bed. Draped in tinsel, her wrists bound by both silver and leather rested on the pillows beside her head. Either Carson had nestled her there between the oversized, red silk pillows or she’d maneuvered herself to where she leaned against the antique headboard, pretty as a picture.
Her waist-length hair fell over one shoulder. Her Santa hat was tilted precariously off to one side. With her knees bent, she sat almost as if posed. Her long, silky legs, still clad with those decadent black boots, beckoned. Perusing from toe to forehead, he paused slightly at her chest, watching it lift and fall in quick bursts. Finally, he settled on her questioning face.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Come here,” she said back.
He didn’t know what to do. They were in here for the long haul, he knew that. Carson wouldn’t joke about it. Twenty four hours. He’d slid the old board lock into place on the antique doors from the outside.
“So what are you going to do?” she prompted.
“What?”
“With me.”
Do? What was he going to do? He wasn’t a monster. He didn’t take on a sex partner who was unwilling, and he was mightily against coercion of any sort. Rushing to her side, he sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the hand closest to him. “First, I’m untying you. Then, we talk.”
“Talk?” He glanced down at the scowl on Bree’s face.
“Yes. Talk.”
Touching her was almost his undoing. Static crackled between them as he reached for her far hand. Making short work of his mission, he loosened the nooses around her wrists, leaving the straps firmly tied to the eyebolts. Releasing her now, he leaned back, his fists resting on the bed on either side of her hips. The magnetism between them was more powerful than he wanted to admit.
She smelled heavenly, almost like a Christmas sugar cookie, but the heady scent of promised sex won out. She oozed nothing close to sweet and innocence. His pulse pounded and his mouth grew dry. Slowly, he pulled his gaze to her face and stayed fixed there for way too long.
With each slow and deliberate breath she took, he was drawn in. Unable to separate himself from what should, or should not be, he lifted a hand to palm her cheek. Her eyes closed and she sighed at his touch. His heartbeat picked up its cadence and he felt lightheaded.
“Bree…” he whispered.
She opened her round, brown eyes and he fell in. Deep.
“Don’t think,” she breathed back. “Not yet. Perhaps…” he felt himself leaning involuntarily into her, “…later.”
If only he could. “I need to say a couple of things. I don’t do this. That time in your office…I’d not done that in years. I am…was…totally devoted to Carson. I don’t play around and yet, I fucked you in your office restroom like a wolf in heat. I want to apologize…”
“I was there, too,” she told him. “Don’t blame yourself, Jake. I stepped over that threshold; you didn’t haul me in and have your way with me.”
“No, but it was a mistake. I should have had more self-control. And ever since that day, I can’t get you out of my head…”
“Nor can I, you,” she breathed.
If there was one fraction of resolve left inside him, it was gone with that statement.
Lunging forward, he captured her lips with his. Fully on the bed now, he gathered her into his arms as they both scooted away from the pillows. Body to body, pressed together length to length, he took her face in both hands while his lips and tongue tasted and kissed.
And she kissed back.
With each thrust of her tongue, or gentle caress of her dewy lips against his, his body trilled with her nearness and their connectedness.
He could not stop himself. Nothing could make him…
She wiggled in his arms. “Jake, stop.”
Except maybe that.
Groaning, he pulled back. “Bree, I’m in such utter contradiction here. I don’t know whether to devour you or put you out in the snow.”
“I just want to say one more thing.”
“What is it?” He traced the outline of her face with his forefinger, waiting out his frustration. What a beautiful woman. And he wanted her so damned bad.
“I won’t hold you to anything. I… I am as conflicted as you. I don’t want to come between you and Carson. I just need…” Her voice trailed off and she looked to his chest, “Shit, I just need you for right now, okay?” she said with a soft voice. “I don’t want to think about anything else.”
Huffing out a breath of relief, he rolled fully on top of her. “Okay.”
“Last time was too quick,” she added.
Closing his eyes, and his mind, against anything but the woman in his arms, he replied, “It appears we have twenty-four hours.”
She nodded. “And for those twenty-four hours, I belong to you.”
Chapter Five
Never had Bree felt so totally free, and at the same time, consumed by another. She didn’t care. She wanted to be totally possessed by Jake. And she had an entire night and day, it seemed, to enjoy.
Pushing back any guilt about Carson, and the relationship she could be infringing upon, she studied Jake’s face and the puzzle of emotion painted across it. Her own face likely echoed that sentiment.
But Carson had agreed. Or rather, insisted. He wanted closure, one way or another. She did not want to come between them. Would not. If she and Jake had tonight, with Carson’s blessing, then so be it. She, too, would get Jake out of her system.
After that, she couldn’t say.
His long fingers threaded through the fine hairs at her temples, holding her against the bed. He peered down into her face, the low flicker of candles reflecting both passion and desire in his eyes. God, she wanted him.
“Please, Jake,” she whimpered.
He lowered and thrust his tongue deep into her mouth. The act of penetration into that orifice made her curl toward him in want. His tongue grappled with hers, and he tugged at it with his teeth, slowly drawing it deep inside his mouth with a thorough suck.
Their mouths fused, Jake sucked harder, continuing an erotic and sensuous intake of her tongue into the cavern of his mouth. Her arms went around his broad shoulders and her legs around his hips. She clung to him, and he rocked into her pelvis.
Her pussy longed to have him between her thighs. Now, she only needed him naked, with the hot friction of skin against skin.
Whimpering, she clasped at his head, weaving her fingers through his inky locks. She broke away with a gasp; he jerked back, fire licking in his eyes, as he raked his gaze over her face and down her chest.
He grasped the bodice of her dress and ripped. It fell away like so much crepe paper. Tearing the fabric from her body, Jake unwrapped Bree like a Christmas package. Lingering bits of tinsel scattered about the bedcover, and she was left with nothing but her black thong, strapless bra, and boots.
On his knees now, Jake’s hungry stare scraped down her body, his breathing labored. His large hands started at her shoulders and worked their way down either side. He palmed her breasts, lifting them out of the bra cups, pinching her nipples between thumb and forefinger. Passion zinged through her at the squeeze. She ached for more.
Reaching behind her, he grasped the clasps at her back and pulled hard. The bra sailed off as he tossed it over the side of the bed. Continuing downward, he smoothed his hands over the indent of her waist and the flare of her hips. He thumbed over her hipbones and twisted the string of the thong on both sides. With a snap, he jerked his hands in opposite directions and broke the string, the thong falling away, as well.