Blazing Hearts: Books 1-3 (7 page)

T
eresa initialed
by each section of the rather long contract Jake had presented her first thing in the morning. He’d gone off to work with the horses and left her to read it all over. Some of the things listed she had to actually look up on the internet just to see what they were. When she did, she cringed and quickly checked no next to the corresponding box. She had a lot of hard limits and a few soft ones. She wondered if that would upset Jake or turn him off from wanting to pursue something more between them.

Teresa just couldn’t bring herself to accept some of what was in the contract. The harder she focused on it all, the more she wondered just how many different women Jake had contracted with—how many he’d done the unspeakable acts with.

You lost the right to ask
, she reminded herself.

She’d run out on him. On them. Of course he’d moved on the best he could, and of course he’d found ways to get his needs met. She could hardly fault him. She finished signing her name and pushed the contract forward only to stare at it for what seemed like forever before Jake entered through the front door. His dog, Charger, was with him. The sheepdog made a B-line straight for her and Jake whistled, stopping him in his tracks.

Teresa smiled. He’d brought Charger in to meet her before he’d given her the contracts. She and the dog had hit it off instantly. From her understanding, Charger had been instrumental in saving her life when he’d alerted Jake that something was wrong near the river. For that alone, the dog would always have a special place in her heart.

Jake approached and picked up the contract. He thumbed through it with a strange shit-eating grin on his handsome face. “Not into piercings, huh?”

Her eyes widened.

He laughed. “Neither am I?”

“So why is it in the contract?” she demanded.

He winked. “Because I was too lazy to delete all the stuff I don’t like out. Figured it was a good way to see what kind of perv I might be hooking up with.”

Her jaw dropped and she tossed the napkin holder at him. He laughed more and she found herself doing the same, realizing he’d been joking with her. “I’m hardly a pervert.”

He rubbed his stubble-covered jawline. “Damn shame that is.”

She looked around for something else to throw at him while she laughed at his antics. “I was worried you’d want to stick needles in me and inject me with stuff.”

Jake’s eyes widened. “Hell no.”

She grinned. “Upset I don’t want my air cut off either?”

“Sweetie, I’d kill anyone who ever tried to cut your air off, or are you forgetting I gave you mouth-to-mouth? Edge play really isn’t my thing. I tried it a few times and it didn’t work for me.”

“Edge play?” she questioned, trying to remember what the internet had told her that was.

“The hardcore stuff, sweetie. All your hard-limit things you marked no to.”

Warmth spread throughout her chest. “Then you’re not mad I said no to so much?”

“Honestly, had you said yes to it all I’d have demanded you to get fingerprinted to be sure you’re my Teresa and not someone pretending to be her.”

Her smile widened. “I was worried you’d want pony play. That is a fetish, right? I think I read an article about it once.”

He lifted a brow. “You tryin’ to start some horrible rumors about me and my horses? I love ’em, but I’m not about to mount one in
that
kind of way.”

She burst into a fit of the giggles.

Jake moved closer to her and bent, his lips finding hers. “I’m happy you’re home.”

“Me too.” She paused. “Do you want to talk about why I left or where I was?”

“No,” he returned softly. He kissed her again. “I just want to thank the good Lord you’re here with me now.”

She turned her face as much as he’d allow and looked at the contract. “Blood test and birth control?”

“Sounds smart to me.” He kissed her again. “You still in?”

“I am.” She kept her hand on his shoulder. “What do we do in the meantime?”

He licked her lower lip seductively, making a fire stir between her legs. “I vote for condoms and a safe word.”

“I second that vote,” she said with a smile. “I think we should use apricots as our safe word.”

He paused. “Dare I ask?”

“I like apricots.”

He shrugged. “First, I make us dinner, and then we play.”

Teresa shook her head. “I’ll cook. You worked all day. I sat around doing nothing.”

“Just as you should be doing—restin’ and conservin’ your strength.” He stood slowly. “And I like to cook. Sit there and I’ll whip us up somethin’.”

“Jake.”

He pointed at her. “And that, sweetie, is an order.”

With a huff, she remained in place as he set about making them pasta. It smelled delicious and tasted even better. Jake had grown so much into a man. Glimpses of the Jake she’d known were still there, but he certainly had matured.

She twisted her pasta onto her fork using her spoon to assist.

Jake grinned. “I’ve never been able to do that.”

She took a bite and then waited as more silence greeted her. Finally, she gave in and decided she’d initiate conversation with the man or die trying. “You still train horses for Garnes?”

“Yep,” he replied, his answer short and to the point.

“Jake, I’m trying here.”

He set his fork down on the edge of his plate, his dark gaze seeming to look right through her. “I know. I’m sorry. Yes, I still train horses for Garnes. Pay is good, plus I get a home to live in without having to pay anything for it, just upkeep, and I feel like I’m surrounded by family, if that makes sense.”

She couldn’t stop staring at him. There was a certain vulnerability behind his brown eyes. “Makes perfect sense. Family is important and what you make it, not what you’re born with.”

He nodded and glanced away.

She knew his past was a touchy subject.

“This is delicious,” she said, nudging her pasta. “When did you learn to cook?”

He blushed slightly. “Kaleb got it in his head we should take some cookin’ courses over in Creek Bend. He roped some of us into it and we ended up going twice a week for a few months. Then we realized Kaleb just wanted to nail the chef, so we gave up on it, but some stuff stuck all right.”

She laughed. “So Kaleb is still the same skirt chaser he used to be?”

“And then some.” Jake wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Can’t wait for the day he finds himself caught.”

“Or worse yet, unable to the catch the one he wants,” Teresa offered with a snort.

A wide smile spread over Jake’s face. “That would be so fittin’.”

“It would.”

J
ake shifted
in his seat at the dining-room table, watching Teresa suck in a long strand of pasta. Fuck. Did she not realize how hard his dick was? Did she not know she was killing him slowly by simply eating her dinner? He grabbed hold of his glass, brought it to his lips and gulped his water down. He was surprised he didn’t choke or wear most of it. Heat rushed throughout him as Teresa drew in yet another noodle.

Fuck. She is tryin’ to kill me. I’m sure of it.

He groaned and covered it with a cough. No sense tipping his hand to her just yet. She already knew he had feelings for her, deep ones, and that she turned him on. She didn’t need to know the simple act of her eating nearly made him lose control.

From the innocent look on her face, she was blissfully unaware of what she was doing to him. Of how hard his cock was. It dug painfully at his zipper, and he actually considering freeing it since it was out of her line of sight because of the table top. He didn’t. He was a perv, but even he had limits. Jacking off at the dinner table was one of them.

Jake watched her more as she continued to eat. It was easy to imagine them doing this very same thing for a long time to come—him returning from a hard day’s work and her at home, dinner ready, waiting for him.

He was surprised at just how much he wanted the scene to play out again and again. How much he wanted normal.

She set her fork down and stared back at him. “Are you all right? You look pale.”

He cleared his throat. “I’m fine.”

She sighed. “This is how it’s going to be between us, isn’t it? Quiet. Reserved. You lying when I ask you something.”

He thought harder on it and then licked his lower lip. “Fine. I’m so hard I can barely think let alone eat. Each time you draw that pasta past your lips I think about them on my cock. Happy now?”

She stood and he assumed it was so she could storm out of the room. He’d offended her. How could he have not?

Teresa moved to him and then kneeled before him. She tugged on his legs until he turned them to face her, and then she did the unthinkable. She went for his button. He grabbed her wrists. “Teresa.”

“Let me ease your discomfort, Jake. Let me suck you.”

Holy hell.

He found himself nodding like a new-to-sex fool as she undid his button and then unzipped his jeans. He wasn’t one for underwear so his cock sprang forth. She took it in her hands and began stroking it like an expert. A tiny pang of jealousy tried to rear its ugly head but he kept it down, letting her toy with his cock.

She put her face near the base and held his shaft as she licked up the length of it. He nearly came where he sat. Her pink tongue darted out and over the head of his cock just as pre-come began to seep from it. She swiped it away with her tongue, her gaze meeting his.

He put his hands in her long, dark hair and guided her mouth over the top of his cock. “Take it, sweetie. Take it and suck it.”

She sank her lips over him and kept going and going. Teresa managed to do what no woman had done in the past—she got nearly all his cock in her mouth. He knew he was hitting the back of her throat, but she didn’t show any signs of gagging. She began to move her head up and down while she sucked on him.

The sensation nearly made him blow his load. He had to look up at the ceiling and focus on something, anything other than just how good her mouth felt.

As Teresa added her teeth, he tightened his grip on her hair, taking point on the situation. He looked down at her as he controlled her movement. She scraped her teeth lightly over his shaft, and he began thrusting upwards into her mouth more. She relaxed fully, accepting him, her hands finding his sac as she did.

She was such a sight there on her knees in his dining room, his cock deep in her throat. Spit slid down his cock and he moved her head up and down faster as he thrust up. She moaned on his cock and he lost it then, his balls drawing up as his cock twitched with release.

Teresa never moved. She stayed there on her knees before him, swallowing all he offered. When he was done, he let out a shaky breath, and she pulled off his cock slowly, kissing the tip as she did.

“There,” she said. “All better?”

He caught her chin. “Aren’t you full of surprises now?”

She licked her lower lip. “I’m not as fragile and naïve as you think.”

Oh, he suspected she was far from naïve anymore.

He dragged her to him and bent his head, his lips finding hers. He kissed her hard and long before releasing her. “Finish eating.”

She grinned and nodded. “Yes, sir.”

T
eresa returned
to her seat feeling elated with the fact she’d just made Jake come hard. His cock had shaken in her mouth, and when she’d swallowed his come, he’d made the cutest noise. She liked knowing she could please him and that she could bring on his orgasm.

He snapped his fingers and pointed to her plate. “Eat. I need you healthy.”

Her cowboy cared. She loved that about him.

She ate more until she was too full to go on.

Jake stood and took her plate to the kitchen along with his. She trailed behind him. He paused and shot her a look that dared her to keep going. She did. “I’m helping. Period.”

He snorted. “Stubborn woman. You think because you’re a good dick sucker you can call the shots?”

She nudged him. “Yes.”

“You’re probably right.” He laughed.

She eased alongside him and filled the sink with soapy hot water as he scraped the plates. They began working together to clean up the dinner mess as if they’d done it a hundred times before. She began to hum as she washed the glasses.

Jake’s powerful arms slinked around her waist and he pressed his front to her back. Her breath caught as he nibbled on her neck. “I like this. Seein’ you here in our kitchen doin’ dishes.”

“Our kitchen?”

He hugged her tighter and moved to kissing her ear. The act made her sex moisten. She lost track of how many times she’d washed the glass in her hand. Jake eased his hands over hers and removed the glass from her grasp. He ran his now suds-covered hands up her arms and kept going, sliding them down her body. He slinked them up and under her shirt.

His deft fingers managed to unhook her bra in seconds. He cupped her breasts with his wet hands and tugged on her nipples. She ground against him and he breathed a heavy sigh in her ear, turning her on more. She turned her head slightly and their lips met. The kiss was hot and heavy and full of so much tongue it was damn near obscene on its own.

Jake pinched her nipples and Teresa moaned in his mouth. He moved a hand down the length of her and over her backside. He inched her skirt up, and when he got to her panties, he swatted her backside gently. He tugged at them, pulling them down and exposing her ass to him.

He stepped back long enough to dig in his pocket. He pulled out a foil package and then unzipped his jeans. Teresa tried to turn and help. He shook his head.

“Hands on the counter. Now.”

She obeyed, watching as he freed his long, thick cock from his jeans. He rolled the condom on and grabbed her hips. He yanked her skirt up and lifted her off the ground as well. Her front pressed against the counter as Jake lined up with her pussy. Her hands went to the counter for additional support.

“Jake,” she whispered.

His fingers found her wet cunt and he opened her before thrusting in, filling her fully with his cock. She nearly came from the feel of him in her. He was so big, so skilled with his movements that she was panting and moaning in no time flat. He held her with one arm as he pounded into her from behind.