Twelve
Nicole opened her eyes and peered at the ceiling of her studio with a completely blank mind. There wasn’t a thought in her head for at least a full minute, and then her brain kicked in and began to ask questions.
Why was she asleep in her studio? What time was it? Where were her pants?
That last question only occurred to her as she started to sit up and noted they were missing. It also brought a wave of memories washing over her, which made the tingling increase.
“Damn,” she breathed, scrambling to get off the daybed and look for her pants. When she didn’t see them anywhere, Nicole dropped back on the bed. Her body was still tingling everywhere. How long had it been since they—
Had she really fainted? She wondered suddenly.
Good God, she’d never ever before in her life experienced anything like that. Nicole had thought her ex was good in bed, but what she’d just experienced was transcendental. Life altering. Mind-blowing. Fricking amazing! And where the hell was Jake? How could he just leave her there like that after what they’d experienced?
Scowling now, Nicole stood up and looked for her pants again. She distinctly recalled Jake tugging them off and tossing them, but her jeans were nowhere to be seen. Neither were the panties he’d torn off of her. After a hesitation, she decided there was nothing else to do and quickly grabbed the throw off the daybed to wrap around herself. Her shirt was still unbuttoned, her bra askew with one breast out and while she quickly tucked her breast back in, she didn’t bother with doing up the shirt, but wrapped the throw around her chest so it covered her from above her breasts to just above her ankles. Then she headed upstairs.
There were sounds coming from the kitchen when Nicole stepped off the stairs at the top. She turned her feet in that direction, her thoughts so focused on Jake and what had happened in her studio that it didn’t even occur to her that it could be Dante or Tomasso making the sounds and she might have to explain her state of undress.
“Oh, shoot. I was hoping to get back before you woke up.”
About six steps into the kitchen, Nicole glanced to the right at that comment to see Jake standing by the counter in just his jogging pants, a knife in hand and a tray of various foods before him. His words made her relax. He hadn’t abandoned her after what they’d done. Well, he’d left, but had planned to come back.
Her gaze slid over his bare chest and she wondered briefly where his T-shirt had gone. Neither of them had removed their tops downstairs. But then Nicole noticed that his hair was wet and she realized that he must have taken a shower before starting on the tray.
“I thought you might be hungry when you woke up, so I was getting us a snack,” Jake said quietly.
Her gaze slid to the tray. There was cheese, crackers, olives, wine . . . and a can of whipped cream and container of chocolate syrup? Her eyebrows rose. There was no ice cream or any other dessert-type food that might need whipped cream and or chocolate sauce. That had to be for something else, and it didn’t take much thought to figure out what that something else was. The answer popped into her head at once, along with images of drizzling the chocolate over his body and licking it off.
Turning abruptly, Nicole hurried out of the room. She was moving so fast she was nearly running as she crossed the living/dining room to her bedroom. She didn’t stop there but continued on to the en suite bathroom, straight to the shower. Cranking it on with one hand, she let the throw drop and then quickly shrugged out of her top. She was struggling to undo her bra when she heard a sound behind her. Nicole glanced over her shoulder. She’d left the door open and Jake now stood in the doorway, staring at her wide-eyed, concern on his face.
“Are you okay?” he asked uncertainly.
“No. I can’t get my bra undone and want to take a shower,” she answered.
He hesitated and then offered, “I can undo it for you if you like.”
“Please,” she murmured, turning her face forward again and simply waiting.
Nicole heard the rustle as he crossed the room and then he set to work, but said quietly, “When you rushed out I was worried that you were upset about what had happened.”
Nicole was silent for a minute, and then said, “I will be. Later.”
“Later?” Jake echoed. “And right now?”
She hesitated, but the tingling that she’d woken with had increased, first with memory, further at the sight of his bare chest, and even more with the realization of what he no doubt planned to do—and she could definitely do—with the whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Now, with his fingers brushing against her back, she was positively shivering with excitement and emboldened to say, “Right now I just want to shower and then spread whipped cream and chocolate sauce all over you and lick it off.”
Jake’s fingers stilled against her and then her bra snapped open and went loose in the front. Even as she realized that, his hands slid around her sides to slip beneath the cups and squeeze.
“The things I want to do with you,” he growled, kneading the round globes and pressing his groin against her from behind.
“Tell me,” Nicole breathed, reaching back to find the hardness pressing up against her.
Bending slightly, Jake pulled her hair to one side and nibbled at her earlobe before saying, “I want to lay you out on the kitchen table and make a meal out of you. I want to cover you with whipped cream and lick and suck my way across every inch of your body.” He paused then to lick, nip and suck at her neck briefly as his hand slid down across her stomach to dip between her legs.
Nicole groaned as he began to caress her there, his fingers firm and knowing as he circled the hard center of her excitement. When he slid a finger inside of her, Nicole gasped with pleasure and grabbed for the shower door to keep her balance.
“I want to take you in the shower, position you with your hands on the wall and legs spread and take you from behind while the warm water pours over us.”
“Oh, yes,” Nicole gasped, pushing against the shower door and hips moving as she rode his hand.
“Then I want to take you in every position, in every room of this house,” Jake slid a second finger inside of her, his thumb still playing with her as he moved his fingers in and out, in and out.
“I want to fuck you until neither of us can stand up,” he growled, his finger thrusts becoming harder and swifter. “I want to be drenched in your pleasure, drown in it. I want . . .” He broke off abruptly and Nicole didn’t need to ask why. Her whole body was convulsing with pleasure as release crashed over her and she knew it had hit him too.
This time Nicole knew the screaming in her ears was herself as well as Jake, but it was just a brief awareness before the darkness began to claim her. She saw the floor coming up to meet her, realized she was falling forward into the shower, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it and didn’t particularly care at that moment. She never felt the blow when she landed.
Nicole woke up in her bed. For one moment she thought Jake must have woken first again and carried her there, but then she shifted her arm and her hand bumped up against something solid and warm in bed next to her. She turned her head swiftly. Jake was beside her, dead to the world. Apparently, he’d woken up long enough to carry her here, but this time hadn’t left.
Nicole stared at him silently. Dawn’s early light was coming through the open blinds and splashing across them both. He was a handsome man. She’d noted that from the first, of course, but now, with him unconscious and unaware, she could look her fill. Until now she’d only taken quick glances here and there, not wanting to get caught gawking at the man. But now she could gawk to her heart’s content and did. Jake had such a nice face . . . and those lips . . . A little shiver went through her as she recalled the various things his lips had done to her. The man hadn’t just been gifted with a pretty face and nice body, he knew how to use the gifts he’d been given.