Breaking His Rules (Feeling the Heat #4) (9 page)

“You’ve come a long way since the first day you walked into my gym.”

“I almost didn’t come back after those jerks made fun of me.” She straightened her shoulders and remembered how hurt and intimidated she’d been that day. “But I was tired of people like them, and like Shauna, making me feel like less of a human being.”

“That was your first step to finding your inner strength and it had nothing to do with me.”

“We’ll still have to agree to disagree on that one. I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said, then shivered as another gust of wind blew in from the ocean.

“You’re cold.” Jake quickly removed his sport jacket and placed it around her shoulders, then moved to stand in front of her while he adjusted it to cover her.

“Nine months ago your jacket probably wouldn’t have fit around me. A lot’s changed, hasn’t it?”

“One thing hasn’t changed.” Jake lifted his hand to brush back the wisps of windblown hair from around her face. “You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Stunned into silence, Melissa could only stare at him. Surely he couldn’t have thought her attractive fifty pounds ago. Not with all the fat covering her body.

“You must have that selective remembrance thing going on.” She finally spoke and managed a light laugh. “Maybe you need to see my before picture to jog your memory.”

“I don’t need a picture.” His fingers trailed to her cheek. “Yes, you were overweight, but that’s not the first thing I noticed about you.”

“It wasn’t?” she whispered, acutely aware of the feel of his fingers gently caressing her cheek. Her body prickled with goose bumps but it wasn’t because she was cold.

“No. It was your eyes, and your smile. I’ve never seen eyes like yours before. One minute they’re brown, then the next they’re amber. I’ve tried to figure out what makes them change color like they do, but I can’t. And your smile. Do you know how much I look forward to seeing it? I can’t even tell you how many times you’ve made a bad day better by just smiling at me.”

“It’s the braces,” she joked, because she wasn’t sure she could deal with the emotions he was stirring in her. “I wore them for two years in high school.”

“It’s not the braces. It’s you.” He searched her face. “You have a way about you, a glow. It was there even before you lost weight. I was so drawn to you that I invented ways to spend time with you outside the confines of our training sessions. I told myself it was just about firming up our schedule, or discussing your progress, but it was more than that. I wanted to see you. No, I
needed
to see you even though I knew it couldn’t go any further.”

“Because of your rule.”

“Yes.”

“That’s understandable. Questionable behavior has caused many successful businesses to fold. Your ethics is one of the many things I admire about you.”

“I haven’t been so ethical this weekend.” His gaze lowered and she could almost feel the heat in his eyes scorching her lips. “I want you, Melissa. I want you so much it’s killing me.”

“I want you too,” she said softly, and tried to ignore the thrill that raced up her spine. He lowered his head and as the seconds ticked by with excruciating slowness, Melissa found herself completely immersed in his fresh clean scent, the husky sound of his voice and the memory of their hotter-than-hell kiss not more than twenty-four hours ago.

Just as his lips touched hers, a dog barked excitedly as it bounded past them and raced down the beach, followed quickly by its owner. Melissa jerked back and put a hand to her chest to calm its sudden acceleration. “Oh my God. That scared me.”

Jake stepped back and sighed. “I love dogs, but that one has rotten timing.”

“Or maybe not.” She clutched the lapels of Jake’s jacket to her body and gave him a shaky smile. “We were about to forget the reasons we have for not getting involved with each other.”

“You’re right.” He nodded, then let out a long, controlled breath. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

* * *

Jake didn’t look at the digital clock on the nightstand. Why bother? All it would tell him was thirty minutes or more had elapsed since the last time he looked at it and he still wasn’t any closer to getting some shut-eye.

The irony of the situation was actually somewhat amusing. Here he was. Lying in bed next to a woman who wanted him as much as he wanted her and all they were doing was sleeping. Correction, Melissa was sleeping. Or at least he thought she was. When he’d come out of the bathroom after taking a cold shower, she was already in bed with her back to him. Maybe she was as wide awake as he was, or maybe she found it easier to ignore potent attraction between them and had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Of all the dumb-ass ideas he’d ever had in his life (and he’d had a few), thinking he could spend the weekend with Melissa in the same hotel room and not touch her was by far the dumbest.

With a muffled curse, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, flung the sheet and blanket from his body and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. Shifting on the bed, he could make out the shadowy outline of Melissa’s curvy body and immediately felt the familiar ache in his groin. For Christ’s sake, by the way his body was reacting one would think he was some horny teenager whose dick got hard whenever the wind blew.

Fresh air. Yes. That’s exactly what he needed. Some ocean air to clear his head and calm the heat in his body. He rose from the bed and moved silently around the foot of the bed until he reached the sliding glass door. After opening it, he stepped out onto the balcony and crossed to the railing in two steps.

The chilly air washed over his bare chest, but it didn’t do much to cool him off. All he could think about was Melissa and how much he wanted her...how much he ached for her. Sharing the hotel room with her had been a cross between heaven and hell. The heaven—being so close to her, and the hell—not acting on his feelings.

It was his father’s fault. Seriously. If Joe Sawyer hadn’t instilled in him that a man’s word was his bond, then he would have already broken his own damn rule without giving a second thought to the consequences.

Closing his eyes, he imagined Melissa beckoning him into the room where she would then proceed to do a slow, sexy striptease until the luscious curves of her body were finally revealed to him. He would be hard, just like he was now. She would notice, and a seductive smile would curve her lips as she moved toward him. He would watch her as she approached, appreciating the bounce of her full breasts and the sway of her womanly hips. His heart would thunder in his chest and he would gasp when she wrapped her fingers around his cock and gently massage him. And it would feel so damn—

“Jake?”

Startled, Jake opened his eyes and then realized that somewhere in the middle of the fantasy he’d started to jack off. He stilled his hand and hoped to hell Melissa hadn’t noticed and thought he was a first-class pervert for sticking his hand down his sweatpants on the fucking balcony where anyone walking by could see him. Well, if they were out taking a 2:00 a.m. stroll around the golf course, they’d see him.

“Go back inside,” he said through clenched teeth.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Her voice was closer now. She’d stepped onto the balcony with him.
Great.
Just fucking great. If he pulled his hand out of his sweats now, she’d notice for sure. This was almost as bad as the time his mom almost walked in on him in the bathroom when he was thirteen. Never had he been more grateful for a lock on a bathroom door.

“Melissa, please don’t come out here.” He didn’t turn around, didn’t look at her.

“Why?” She halted behind him. Her soft fragrance filled his senses and it took everything he had not to continue what he’d just been interrupted doing. Or ask her to touch him like he’d been dreaming about for months. “Since we both can’t sleep, maybe we can talk until we get tired.”

“I don’t want to talk.” He shifted and discreetly slipped his hand from his sweats. “Go back to bed.”

“Are you mad about what happened on the beach?”

“No.” He gripped the rail tightly with his hands.

“You’re upset about something. What is it?”

“Trust me. You don’t want to know.”

“I asked. So I must want to know. Just tell me, Jake. We’ve always been honest with each other.”

Letting out a long breath, he turned to look at her. “Fine. I’ll be honest. I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about you lying next to me in that stupid bed. In fact, I think about you all the damn time.” Without another word, he brushed past her and strode into the bedroom.

Halting at the end of the bed, he stared at the door and tried to collect himself. How he’d just spoken to her was so not cool. It wasn’t Melissa’s fault he couldn’t control his sexual urges. He took several deep breaths as he considered getting dressed and going down to the lobby. Putting some distance between him and Melissa seemed like the best for all involved.

With a frustrated growl, he turned on the small table lamp on the dresser and yanked open the top drawer. He reached for his jeans, but froze when Melissa’s husky voice filled the room.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going out,” he said, not looking at her as she moved into the room and stood on the far side of the bed.

“At two in the morning?”

“Yes.”

“Being around me is that difficult?”

He turned from the dresser and faced her. “Being near you right now is fucking torture. Do you know what I was doing out there?” He pointed toward the balcony. “I was thinking about you and jacking off.” Melissa’s eyes widened. “I’m so hot for you that I resorted to masturbating on the damn balcony. That’s why I need to leave for a while. To cool off.”

“A cold shower wouldn’t work?” she asked, and for a second he thought he glimpsed a flicker of amusement in her eyes.

“It didn’t work earlier. I doubt it’ll work now,” he said dryly, then sucked in a breath at the sight of her taut nipples pressing against the fabric of her short clingy nightgown.

“It didn’t work for me either.”

He lifted his gaze. Their eyes locked and held. The air between them became taut with electricity. Jake held his breath as she moved forward and he didn’t let it out until she halted in front of him. Every single nerve ending in his body sizzled as he recognized the raw hunger in her eyes.

“We’re playing with fire.” He barely recognized his rough voice.

“I know.” She licked her lips; it took every bit of his willpower not to drag her against his body and kiss her with all the pent-up desire he’d been suppressing for months.

“We may regret it in the morning,” he said, as she took a step closer. Her breasts grazed his chest and every feeling he had went straight to his dick.

“Or we might not,” Melissa said softly, and lifted her mouth to his. The touch of her lips against his was his undoing. With a low groan, he kissed her. And the moment her mouth parted for him and she melted against him, he felt the invisible threads already binding him to her tighten.

Chapter Nine

Any vestiges of common sense Melissa had in reserve quickly evaporated as Jake’s demanding kiss ignited a bone-melting inferno deep in her core. This heat between them was why she couldn’t sleep—why when he’d left the bed and gone outside to the balcony, she followed him. God help her, but at this moment she wanted him more than she wanted to keep things platonic between them.

Platonic?
Yeah
,
right.
Jake’s urgent kiss was so potent she opened her mouth, eager for the taste and the feel of his tongue stroking hers. Her mind clouded and her perception of time grew fuzzy as he slid his hands around her waist and pulled her against him, molding their bodies together so tightly all she could feel were the muscles of his thighs against hers and his rock-hard erection straining into her abdomen. A sweet ache blossomed deep in her belly as their kiss deepened. She’d never been kissed like this—so thoroughly and possessively. It was as if Jake was branding her with his lips and tongue.

Seconds later, he pulled back. Dazed from his passionate kiss, Melissa could barely catch her breath. The unadulterated lust burning in Jake’s eyes had sucked the air right out of her lungs.

“Turn around,” he said in a low voice, then slipped his hands from her waist and lifted them to her shoulders. Before she could fathom his intentions, he gently turned her around so her back was to him and she was facing the mirror attached to the dresser.

Their reflection in the mirror fascinated her; she couldn’t look away. She’d never considered herself particularly sexy before, but now, with her lips moist and swollen from Jake’s devastating kiss, and her nipples straining against the confines of her nightgown she had to wonder if maybe she’d underestimated herself.

There was still time to stop what their scorching kiss had started, but that kiss had whetted her appetite and she wanted more. Even if for only one night, she wanted to know if making love with Jake would be as hot as it was in her fantasies.

Her pulse spiked as he hooked his fingers under the thin straps of her nightgown and deliberately slid them from her shoulders. The echoes of her thundering heart seemed to fill the room as he inched the straps over her arms with maddening slowness until her breasts were revealed. She heard his swift intake of breath. As if in response to his bold stare, a delicious lick of heat speared through her.

“You’re beautiful.” He gave her nightgown a final tug and it fell to the floor to pool around her ankles. Then he moved closer and the hard ridge of his erection pressed into the crevice of her ass as he slipped his arms around her and cupped her breasts. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to touch you like this?” he asked, as he gently kneaded her breasts and teased each nipple with casual brushes of his thumbs.

“How long?” she whispered, and leaned back until she felt the warm, supple skin of his chest against her back. She tilted her head and closed her eyes as he pressed his lips to the side of her neck. Delicious anticipation whipped through her veins as he teased her nipples into tight, small points with his fingers and left a trail of kisses over her collarbone.

“It seems like forever,” he murmured against her skin. “Open your eyes.” Despite the sensuous trance she’d been lulled into she managed to comply. “Look in the mirror.”

Obeying his husky command, she focused on the mirror and her excitement ratcheted up several degrees. It was as if she were looking at an erotic photograph. Jake’s hands cupping her breasts and lazily brushing his thumbs over her nipples fanned the flames inside her. But what was even more arousing was the effect Jake had on her. The wanton look on her face and the passion glittering in her eyes was there because of him. She’d never felt like this. Until this moment, she hadn’t a clue how all-consuming sexual hunger could be.

As their eyes met in the mirror, Jake lowered a hand from her breast and grazed his fingertips lightly over her stomach. Unable to resist, Melissa watched his fingers feather over her skin and move lower. Desire, hot and piercing, tore through her as he delved a finger into her moist, swollen folds.

With a soft sigh, she closed her eyes and concentrated on his clever fingers as he gently stroked her slick, sensitive flesh. But then he stopped, and with a disappointed whimper she opened her eyes.

“Don’t close your eyes.” The sexy authoritative edge in his voice thrilled her. “I want you to watch.”

Her heart tripped and started to pound. In the past, she’d only had sex in the safety of darkness. But in spite of the fact that she was naked with a man for the first time in a lit room, the warmth of his embrace made her feel safe and surprisingly not at all embarrassed. With every nerve ending in her body humming taut, she looked down to where his hand rested between her legs and couldn’t contain her soft gasp as he stroked her again. Leaning her head against his chest, she gave herself over to the pleasure as he played her as skillfully as a musician. Pleasure pooled, hot and wet, between her thighs as he brought her to the brink, only to stop and then start all over again until she was at the point of almost begging him to give her what she wanted.

“Does that feel good?” His warm breath tickled her ear; she looked up from the arousing sight of his hand between her legs.

“Better than good,” she whispered. His eyes flared with desire.

“You’re almost there, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” she murmured, then let out a soft sound of pleasure as he circled her clit with his finger and drew out the sweet tension that coiled between her legs. “Jake, please,” she begged on a ragged breath. His erection pulsed between her buttocks. She rocked her hips and felt a brief moment of satisfaction when he drew a sharp breath.

“Tell me what you want,” he said as he stilled his movements and left her bereft.

Damn him.
He enjoyed toying with her like this. She could tell by the devilish gleam in his eyes.

“You know what I want,” she said, and without any shame whatsoever rubbed against his hand, seeking the exquisite relief currently being denied to her.

“Tell me.” The corner of his sensual mouth lifted in a wicked half-smile. “It’s just three little words.”

His mesmerizing gaze held hers for several long seconds. “Make me come.”

“Now was that so hard?” he asked with a cocky grin and then picked up where he left off.

It didn’t take long for him to take her back to the precipice—especially after he used both his finger and thumb to stimulate her into a state of full arousal. Then he zeroed in on her sensitive clit, and that coupled with the sight of their erotic image in the mirror sent her completely over the edge. A low moan came from somewhere deep inside of her as she convulsed in waves of pleasure that started deep in her core and radiated throughout her body.

As the sensations slowly subsided, she let out a breath and flushed as she looked up and sought his eyes in the mirror. “Don’t be embarrassed,” he said with a gentle smile as he moved his hand up to her waist and anchored her against him. “You’re sexier than hell.”

“That was...” She frowned as she tried to find the right word. Amazing and stupendous seemed so cliché. “I’ve never watched...”

“When you first started training with me you wouldn’t look at yourself in the mirror.” He pressed a quick kiss to her temple. “That bothered me. I hated that you couldn’t see the beautiful woman I saw. All you saw was your size.”

“Speaking of size,” she said with a smile. “Something sizeable is pressing into my backside.” She slipped out of his arms, turned around and looked down at his erection. “We should take care of that.”

“Any ideas come to mind?” He gave her a wolfish grin and put his hands on her waist. “And if so, do they involve the bed? Or maybe the shower.” He grinned and cast a sidelong glance to the sliding glass door. “Or the balcony?”

“The balcony? That’s a little too public,” she said, and let out a squeal of laughter when he picked her up as if she weighed less than a feather. “Jake. Put me down, you’ll hurt yourself.” She flung an arm around his neck as he shifted her body so he could cradle her in his arms.

“Calm down, woman.” A huge grin split his face. “I dead lift more than you weigh. I think I can handle it.”

“Put me down.”

“If you insist,” he said, then set her on the rumpled bed. She landed with a light bounce and watched as he moved to the dresser and opened his wallet.

“Is that...are those...” She peered at him as he turned around. “Condoms?”

“Yep. I always carry one or two. My dad scared the shit out of me and my brothers when we hit puberty. He went into excruciating detail about the horrible things that would happen to our genitals if we had unprotected sex and caught an STD.” He turned, moved to the side of the bed and set the condoms on the nightstand. “Let’s not talk about it. It could kill the mood.”

“We definitely don’t want that.” Melissa scooted to the edge of the bed and admired the toned muscles of his upper body. “Wait.” She brushed his fingers away from the waistband of his sweats and smiled up at him. “I’d like to do the honors. If I may?”

A wicked grin tipped the corners of his lips as lifted his hands. “Be my guest.”

She hooked her fingers under the elastic and tugged his sweatpants down his hips, then his legs until they dropped to the floor. As he kicked his feet free of the garment, she stared at his erection with unabashed eagerness. It rose thick and hard from the silky, light brown hair at his groin. The desire to touch him was strong and she didn’t deny herself the opportunity. She curled her hand around his shaft and gently squeezed. He sucked in a swift breath. She smiled and looked up at him. “Were you thinking of me doing this to you when you were on the balcony?”

“Yes.”

“What else did I do to you?”

A wry smile quirked his lips. “I didn’t get much further than that. You interrupted me.”

“So you didn’t get to the part where I did this?” She leaned forward and gave him a long, slow lick with her tongue. His rough groan only encouraged her. She took him in her mouth, swirling her tongue around him as she drew him deeper.

“Melissa.” His voice came out in an uneven rasp as he lifted his hands and sifted his fingers through her hair. “Jesus. That feels good.” She laved him with her tongue again and there was no mistaking the hungry, sensual growl low in his throat. She did it again and this time, he made a strangled sound and urged her head back. “Not yet,” he said, watching her with eyes darkened by raw sexual desire. “I need to be inside you. And it needs to be right now.”

“Then give me one of those condoms.” She glanced at the nightstand. He reached for one of the foil-wrapped packages but before he could open it she snatched it from his hand. “Oh, no you don’t. I’ll handle this.”

“You can handle it all night.” He looked down at her with amusement.

She laughed. “And we have a comedian in the room,” she said as she tore open the packet, tossed the wrapper in the general direction of the nightstand, and leaned forward to slide the condom over his erection. This was one thing she did have a bit of experience with. She and Brad had always practiced safe, albeit boring sex.

After she’d finished with her handiwork, she scooted back on the mattress and let out a blissful sigh as Jake slid onto the bed and stretched out beside her. He urged her to her side, then brushed several unruly locks of hair from her face before he leaned forward to kiss her. She savored the taste of him as their mouths fused together hotly. By instinct, she slid her leg over his and felt his hard shaft slide between her thighs. She moved her hips and Jake let out a muffled groan as his cock slipped along her wet folds, grazing her still-sensitive nerve endings and causing a pleasurable tingle that felt like some sort of orgasmic aftershock.

“Can you come again?” he whispered against her mouth.

“I don’t know.” She opened her eyes. “Usually once is all I’ve ever managed in one night.”

Jake slid his hand around her waist and lazily feathered his fingers up and down her spine. Her skin prickled with goose bumps. “Let’s see if we can change that.” He slipped his hand to her thigh and pulled it up and toward him. The movement caused her hips to tilt and she let out a surprised sound as his cock slowly penetrated her. “You okay?” he asked.

“I’ve never done it like this,” she said as he moved his hand to the curve of her ass, anchoring her, and began to slowly thrust into her. With each smooth stroke he brushed against her clit; the contact was unbelievable. “It feels good.”

“
You
feel good,” he murmured huskily, and kissed her again. His tongue drove deep, tangling with hers until they had to come up for air.

Breathless, Melissa slipped her arm over his and skimmed her fingertips along his shoulder blade. “This is so much better than my fantasies.”

“I agree,” he said in a rough voice and began to thrust harder, using his hand to pull her against him with every stroke. As the sweet tension wound tight within her, Melissa dug her nails into his shoulder, unable to stop the soft pants that escaped her lips. She wanted to come again badly and it was there, just within reach. So close she could almost taste it. She bucked against him, longing for the ultimate release and when it finally came, it slammed through her. Hot pulsing tremors crashed over her like some sort of tidal wave and ripped a low, pleasure-filled moan from deep inside of her. But it wasn’t over. With each measured thrust, Jake’s cock stimulated her sensitive flesh and extended the pleasure.

Jake’s eyes never left hers as he thrust into her, harder, deeper. Wanting to give him the same pleasure he’d given her, Melissa slid her hand to his firm ass and urged him on. Seconds later, his body went rigid and a low groan of masculine pleasure filled the room as he came hard and fast. Their bodies were still joined intimately as he pressed his mouth briefly to hers. When he pulled back, the warm imprint of his lips lingered on hers and she could feel his heartbeat and every breath he took. She’d never felt this close to anyone. Ever.

Although she was wrapped in the safe cocoon of Jake’s arms, it didn’t take long for reality to set in. So caught up in the moment and in her overwhelming attraction to him, Melissa hadn’t given a thought to what would happen afterward. This—what had just happened—changed everything, yet the circumstances of why they shouldn’t pursue a relationship hadn’t changed.