Big Girls Don't Cry (29 page)

Lexie looked away, not ready to meet his penetrating stare. Even with the coffee table between them, she felt his looming presence. She took a deep breath to stiffen her resolve. In that moment, she knew what she would do. What she had to do.

“Are you telling me, Lexie, that after I threw you down on the kitchen counter last night and ravished you that you aren’t going to throw me out on my ass if I hit on you tonight?”

His eyes narrowed and a wicked grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. He said in mock seriousness and jerked his head at the impressive bulge in his pants. “I think I still have a couple of days left where I can get my pants on without breaking this damn thing off.”

She smiled at his mock dismay.

“I…No, Jake. I don’t want to wait.”

~~~

Jake’s heart tripped a beat. Caution tugged at him, reminding him he had to go slow. Yeah, she was hot. Christ, the look in her eyes, the flush on her cheeks and chest practically screamed, ‘take me’. Damn, there wasn’t a thing he would rather do. But this was Lexie. He knew in his gut that last night was the first time she’d let a man near her. He grimaced. ‘Let’ a man near her? Hell, he’d all but laid her out on the counter and took her. Ravished wasn’t too strong a word. No, he had to be responsible. But tell that to his dick. Iron hard didn’t begin to describe the bulge in his trousers. Nope, he’d teased his irresponsible member about up to the limit. With a sigh, he knew there was no turning back.

His concerns melted in a puddle of good intentions shot to hell when he saw the look on her face. The glint in her eyes said it all.

She stood up and put her hands on her hips. Her voice was sultry.

“You teased me last night, Jake. Drove me crazy. Then you stopped, left me at a fever pitch mumbling something about being honorable.”

He flinched at the rush of sensation that swamped him. No need to wonder where it came to rest. His throbbing member threatened to weep if it didn’t get relief soon.

Jake sat up straight, encouraged by the saucy look in her eyes and drawled, “Well, I hadn’t thought of that, Lexie. But now that you mention it, I think that’s exactly what I need, among other things.”

She tossed her head and flounced over to the stereo. Rifling through a stack of CDs, she called over her shoulder, “How about you get up and sit in that chair. And, Jake? Relax. This isn’t going to hurt a bit.”

“What do you know? Who would have thought a big tough guy like you, Jake, would have Donna Summers
Love to love you. Baby?
I thought only deprived women got off to this.”

Jake wasn’t surprised that his voice had dropped an octave. “No, sugar, I think that track qualifies as an equal opportunity jerk off--all sixteen minutes of it.”

Chapter 30

Lexie moved slowly, letting the music inch its way through her body. Catching the throb of the beat, she gave in to the heat and focused on Jake. He’d leaned back in his chair, as though following her admonition to relax. His tight jaw and flashing eyes belied his casual pose. His gorgeous face and body sent shivers of excitement through her core. She sighed, relieved. So this is what it felt like to dance for a man who just happened to be the most beautiful, sexy man she’d ever known. She gave herself over to the joy of pleasing him.

She raised her arms above her head and began to switch her hips from side to side in a sultry circle. She moved closer to him, smiling broadly at his soft groan. His lips pressed in a firm line. She ran her hands over her flat stomach, then made a production of sliding her fingers slowly over her camisole, until she reached the swell of her breasts. Holding the overflowing mounds in her hands, she pushed them toward him. Her nipples contracted, pressing against the flimsy material of her lacy bra under her camisole. At his sharp intake of a breath, she whirled away from him, flipping up the back of her short flirty skirt.

His muttered, “Damn” confirmed that he had seen the red and black garter high on her firm thigh. She wore garters the way other women wore jewelry. There was something about a fancy strip of lace encircling her thighs that had always intrigued her, especially when they matched her lacy panties or more often her thong. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Jake’s eyes widen and a lascivious grin spread across his face. Now she knew why she loved fancy lingerie. She did it to claim her sexuality, to make it her own. But seeing the open lust on Jake’s face, she had another reason. To make him want her way she wanted him.

She pranced away from him and kicked her leg high in the air, revealing her provocative black panties cut high on her butt. Smiling at his rumbled expletive, she hopped up on the coffee table, putting the top of her thighs at his eye level. She reached her hands over her head and swayed in a tantalizing circle, ratcheting up her writhing movements as the tempo swelled. Sauntering toward the edge of the table, her hands perched on her hips, she focused on the growing bulge in his trousers. She ran her tongue over her lips in a provocative swipe, then gave him a saucy wink.

He choked on his laugh and his face reddened. She laughed a soft tinkling peal when he adjusted his trouser with a corresponding wink. As the music drew to a close, she spun in a slow circle, then dropped to her hands and knees and crawled toward him switching her butt from side to side like a sinuous cat. With a sigh, she lowered herself flat on her stomach and kicked her legs up behind her butt. As the music stopped, she propped her chin in her hands and gave him a demure smile.

~~~

Jake groaned as he moved toward her. She laid there on the table her chin propped in her hands, nonchalantly kicking her legs. She was the perfect picture of innocence. If it wasn’t for her dancing eyes, mischievous smile--and her skirt tossed up over her butt.

He wanted nothing more than to roll her over on her back and take her. He didn’t know how he’d made it through her provocative dance. Every twisting turn of her round ass and curvy hips drove his lust to a fever pitch. Hell, when she licked her lips and practically dared him, it was all he could do not to yank off his jeans, drag out his prick, and tell her to have at it.

But under that outrageous display of wanton sexuality, he knew that there was an untried woman with hideous memories buried deep. And there was a bigger problem than her past. That was him. He was a rough lover, a demanding lover. Let’s face it, he was an adrenalin junkie. Sex and battling the bad guys were his outlets. In an odd way, he sensed that even with her past, Lexie was a lot like him. The way she’d surrendered to the handcuffs, let him hover over her in the dojo, made him think she might be the perfect partner for him. A strong woman so beautiful that she took his breath away, and one who would let him love her in the ways his body craved.

Jake decided he may as well find out now, while he still had enough control to stop if he scared her. Or if she was horrified by his needs. He studied her for a moment letting his gaze wander over her outstretched form. A faint twinge of unease clouded her lovely face and his dick jerked appreciatively at her nervousness. Without speaking, he strode over to the stereo cabinet and dug through his collection of CDs. He grinned when he saw one that caught his mood and inserted it in the disc player. His collection was rife with sexually suggestive music, but none topped that golden oldie,
You Can Leave Your Hat On.
Picking up the remote, he ambled back to his chair and sunk down. Leaning back, he crossed one leg over the other and gave her a casual grin.

Lexie perched on the low table in a cross legged position speaking to years of mediation practice. An uncertain frown pinched her brows.

“That was beautiful, Lexie. You took my fucking breath away. I’ve never been so turned on in my life.”

Her tentative smile egged him on.

“Stand up darlin’.” He motioned to a place in front of him. “Come over here. Right there,” he said pointing at the spot he’d indicated.

She hesitated for a moment, then smiled shyly and walked toward him. When she got closer, he shook his head.

“Uh uh. Stand there, sugar, where I can see you. I’m thinking I need a little more entertainment.”

She walked to where he pointed and stood still. For a moment, he thought that she might resist. But then she shrugged and said with a teasing smirk, “Getting into the lap dance mode, Jake?’

Lexie stared at him, then closed her eyes and whimpered when Joel Cocker’s sexy voice rumbled “Baby, take off your coat, real slow.”

Jake chuckled at her reaction. He crooned, “That’s right, baby. But you can leave your shoes on,” mimicking the instructions of
You Can Leave Your Hat On
.”

If he’d had any concerns about her reaction to his outrageous command, it was lost when she threw him a daring smile as she twisted away from him. She stood with her back to him then with slow sinuous movements, she eased her camisole over her head. With a saucy grin over her shoulder, she tossed it to him. He caught it and held it in his lap. When she turned in a slow circle to face him, he gasped at the sight of her black lace bra. A miracle of engineering, it dangerously pushed up her lush pale globes, but miraculously kept them from spilling over the top. Through the lacy fabric, he could see her pointed pink nipples hardening before his eyes. Her soft moan echoed his. Struggling to quash the rush of sensations threatening to render him speechless, he motioned to her skirt. His voice was a husky rasp. “Now, take off your skirt.”

She sauntered closer and slowly unbuttoned her skirt, then slid her hands under the clingy fabric. In exaggerated movements matching the silky tones of Joel Cocker’s husky croon, she slid her skirt over her curvy hips, then stopped when it reached the top of her panties.

Jake swallowed hard then motioned wordlessly to her to remove it. She closed her eyes, her dark lashes fanned against her cheeks. Inch by inch, she eased it down over the silk of her panties letting it slide to the floor.

Jake’s chest tightened, choking off his breath. The skimpy “meant to entice” black bra and panties looked even more risqué in concert with the wicked garter cinching her glorious thigh.

He murmured, “Not sure my heart can take it, darlin’, but that bra needs to go.”

She flushed a rosy pink and gnawed on her lower lip. Her smile was tenuous, but she tossed her head and slowly flicked the clasp on the front of the lacy structure. Just as it opened, she turned her back to him and let the bra slide to the floor.

He growled. “Look at me.”

In what seemed like a lifetime, she turned to face him. Without instruction, she lifted her beautiful breasts toward him, a luscious offering. Her soft pink nipples hardened to firm buds.

His command was more a rasp than a request.

“Touch them, Lexie. The way I did last night. Make your nipples hard for me.”

She started and her eyes widened. Her flush deepened. She closed her eyes for a spilt second as she grasped the sensitive nubs between her fingers and thumb.

Jake didn’t know whose groan was more intense, his or hers.

Not relying on his voice, he pointed soundlessly to her panties. Once again, she turned away from him, but this time she bent over at her waist, a challenging move that had him gripping the arms of the chair struggling to control his breath.