Kissed (16 page)

“Beth…”

“I’m
not teasing,” she said in his ear.

He
gently pushed her back.
 
“What?”

“Take
me to bed, Jacob.”

His
eyes widened.
 
“Are you sure?”
 

She
nodded.

He
practically growled in response, kissing her fiercely, his arms tightening
around her.
 
His hands slid under her
shirt up her back as she ground against him.
 
She had the brief thought of
what
am I doing?
before
surrendering to his attentions
and twining her tongue with his.
 
She
wanted
this, even if it was the only time she ever got.

He
picked her up and carried her to his room.
 

The
pace slowed once he set her on the bed.
 
Maybe it was something in her face or body language…she didn’t know, but
once he set her down, his touch became more deliberate, reverent.
 
He bent down on one knee to take her shoes
and socks off.
 
She stared down at his
bowed head.

“Jacob…”
she whispered.

He
looked up and silenced her with his expression.
 
“Do you know how much I’ve wanted you?”
 
She shook her head no.
 
He tilted
his head, speculating.
 
“Well, I could
tell you, but I’d rather show you.”
 
Grinning, he rose up to kiss her and gently
pressed her down on the bed.

She
wrapped her arms around his shoulders and arched her back when she felt him
tugging her tee out of her jeans.
 
He
pushed her shirt up to the band of her bra and slid down to kiss her belly
button.
 
She squirmed.
 
The kisses across her tummy tickled, but when
he started upward, she held her breath, body tingling with anticipation.
 
He nosed the shirt higher and kissed the
underside of her left breast through her bra, his hands caressing her sides.

“If
you change your mind, tell me,” he said.

“I
won’t.”

Her
whole body felt intensely sensitive and he’d barely touched her, yet.
 
He slipped her tee higher with both
hands.
 
She raised her arms so he could
slide it over her head.
 
He tossed it on
the floor, his eyes zeroing in on her cotton-clad breasts.
 
They weren’t special, or anything, barely a
B-cup, and she closed her eyes.
 
It was
easier to feel what he did than see it.

“Bethie…”
 
His breath touched her lips before his mouth
did.

Mmm…
 
Kissing
was good…
kissing she knew how to handle.
 

He
could render her mind silent, distracting her into not noticing his sneaky
hands until they reached places, like under her bra.
 
She gasped into his mouth at the feeling of
his calloused fingertips circling her nipple.
 
Her bra sprung loose, his other hand having found the clasp in back.

He
cupped her breasts with both hands, timing his movements with his kiss.
 
Playing her as deftly as
his guitar.
 
Heat concentrated
between her legs and she pressed her chest into his palms.
 
The world could fall down as long as he
didn’t stop touching her.

And
while her mind went wandering again, he rendered her topless…
 
“Um…oh…”
 
Whatever she’d been about to say flitted away when he suckled her
breast.
 
His teeth grazed her nipple,
which she liked a
lot
.
 
“Oh, God…”

He
chuckled with satisfaction when he made her arch off the bed.
 

Sitting
up to pull his tank off, he undid his belt, then slid the belt out of his
jean-loops, tossed it on the floor, and came back down to her.
 

Oh, wow
…
 
Skin-on-skin felt awesome, especially with how soft his was.
 
The metal button of his jeans was cold on her
tummy, and it clicked to her his belt buckle would have scratched her skin.
 
So thoughtful.

“My
pretty pet… Feel good?”

“Don’t
stop,” she said, and arched into his hands again.
 

She
finally opened her tightly-screwed-shut eyes and looked down, her breath
catching when she saw the sexy gleam in his gaze.
 
There was no mistaking he wanted
her
.
 
He was the predator ready to devour her all
up, and…where was he going?

“You’re
definitely not naked enough, love,” he announced, and undid the fly of her
jeans.

Oh, God.
 
Thankfully, she shaved today.
 
He
slid her jeans down her legs and dropped them on the floor.
 
Ran his gaze down her body.
 
She wished she could dive under the covers
without looking like a complete fool, and covered her breasts with her arms.

“Hey…you’re
beautiful. Come here, kitten.”

He wanted me to stand?
 
She scooted to the end of the bed, blushing
down to her armpits.
 
He took her hands
and pulled her to him, twining her arms around his neck.

“Been
dreamin
’ about this since you first
kissed me.”
 
He looked her over
and shivered.
 
“But are you sure? It’s
only been a week and…I don’t want to lose you because you regret this
tomorrow.”

His
vulnerability touched her.
 
For the first
time, she knew she had power over him, too.

“I
want this.
You.
It’s always been you.”

He
revealed a dazzling smile and dipped his head to kiss her.
 
She met him in the middle, standing on her
toes.
 
He hugged her tight as their
tongues dueled for dominance, his hands splayed on her back.
 
Her desire simmering long enough, she snuck
her hands between them and popped the button on his jeans.
 
Humming his approval, he picked her up and
laid her on the bed, her head on one of his pillows.

“Hold
that thought,” he said, and walked out of the room.

“Hey...”
 
She moved the covers from under her butt and
kicked them toward the foot of the bed.

He
returned a minute later and shut the door, leaving them in darkness except for
the faint glow of the city through his small window.
 
She watched his jeans drop to the floor,
then
he crawled up the bed to hover over her thighs and
started sliding her panties off.

Oh, God…

Okay, so I’d never done this before, and now
Jacob was
—

“OH!”
she shrieked.

That
was good.
 
That was
really
good.
 
Note to self: singers have
dexterous tongues.
 
It felt too good to
get self-conscious over his face being down there.
 
His fingers joined his tongue, gently sliding
inside her, stretching her.

“You
okay?”

“Uh-huh!”
 
Her stomach tightened as her body got ready
to soar off that cliff to bliss…and then— “You’re
stopping?
”

The
bastard chuckled.
 
“Only
for a second, love.”

He
crawled up her body and kissed her.
 
She
melted into the kiss, just like the others, her hands wandering with a mind of
their own.
 
He was built so beautifully,
so strong, and hard…well, something pressing against her hip was hard.

Her
lover was
smooth
, too.
 
She didn’t
even notice he’d moved until he was nudging at her entrance.

“Let
me in, baby,” he whispered hotly in her ear.

This was the moment, the point of no
return.
 
Any further, and I would never
forget this.
 
Did I want to know how well
he could love me?
 
How it felt to be as
close as two humans could possibly get?
 
My eyes opened again to see him gazing down at me, his expression naked,
completely open.
 
I didn’t want to cry,
so I just smiled and moved my legs further apart
.

He
kept eye contact with her the whole time until he was fully seated in her
body.
 
Kissing her, he started slowly
rocking, like he didn’t want to pull away.
 
“God, you feel good.”

“You,
too,” she said.

“Wrap
your legs around me, love.”

She
complied, her eyes rolling back when the new position changed how he stroked
her inside.
 
It was like they were made
to fit perfectly with each other, the tension from her previous near-climax
building again until her ears were buzzing and her skin prickled hot.
 
Then he slowed down again, taking longer
strokes and driving her mad.

All with a look of adoration
.
 
It
was beautiful,
he
was beautiful, and I thought I could
die.
 
If this was my last moment, it
couldn’t be any better
.
 
“I wish I
could stay,” she whispered.

“We’re
here now, you have me. Always
my girl…aren’t
you?”

“Yes…”
 
Always had been, really, so why stop
now?

He
sped up.
 
She felt her inner muscles tightening,
her delayed orgasm near again.
 
“Close?”
 
He must have
felt it, too.

She
nodded, clinging to his shoulders.
 
He
slipped one hand between them and rubbed her clit.
 
“
Oh…
Don’t stop.”

“Not
gonna.”

It
was too much, but she needed more…then her body arched off the bed and
endorphins flooded her blood.
 
She panted
hard enough her throat was instantly dry.

He
thrust a few times and collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily.
 
“Damn…”

She
giggled.
 
Felt drunk.
 
His face was next to hers, so she turned her
head and kissed his nose.
 
It was the
closest part handy.

“Gimme
a minute and we’ll go again,” he said.

Again?
 
She
tried to reply, but all that came out was more giggling.
 
He broke her brain
.

He
grinned.
 
“Can you try a coherent
sentence, sweetheart?”
 
She shook her
head.
 
Her smile probably looked really
goofy.
 
He softly kissed her lips.
 
“I’ll be right back.”
 
He carefully moved away.

She
watched him drop the condom in the trashcan next to his desk.
 
Oh.
 
Good thing he’d thought of one, as it never
crossed her mind.
 
He got back in bed,
pulling the covers over them, and wrapped his arms around her.
 
Her body was like a rag-doll’s, limbs
flopping where he pulled her.

“Take
a nap, Beth. There’s time.”

She
snuggled into him.
 
“Thank you.”

He
felt Beth go lax in his arms after a few minutes, and sighed happily.
 
Brushing wisps of hair off her face, he
whispered, “I love you.”

Chapter Thirteen

Beth
stretched, rubbing her body against him, and opened her eyes.
 
“How long was I out?”

“Less than two hours.”

She
tilted her face up to kiss him.
 
“Mmm.
I’m going to use your bathroom.”

“Hurry
back.”

Slipping
out from under the sheet, she located her shirt and bent to pick it up, giving
him a nice view of her cute little bum.
 
She pulled the tee on and left the bedroom, the shirt just skimming her
thighs.

He
tucked his hands behind his head and waited, his erection returning—though,
it’d been at half mast from the moment she snuggled up to him nude.
 
Normally not the cuddling type, holding her
filled him with sweet warmth.
 
She was
still the only girl he’d ever watched sleep.
 
The only girl he wanted to.

The
bathroom door opened and she came back.
 
Her hair was down from the ponytail and her face scrubbed clean.
 
There was no hesitation in crawling into
bed.
 
She straddled his lap and kissed
him again, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth.
 

She
trailed hot kisses along his jaw, brushing his ear with her nose, and down his
neck, pausing to nibble on his pulse point.
 

“I
love this cologne on you,” she said.

“Yeah?”

She
nodded.
 
“Oh, yeah.
Drove me nuts in high school.
The
night of Prom?”
 
She shuddered.

“You
helped with my tie.”
 
He had a vague
memory of his date, a nice friend he hadn’t clicked with.

“Uh-huh.
You complained it was too tight.”
 
She
bit above his nipple, making him hiss in pleasure-pain.

He
wrapped his hand around her hair and gave it a light tug to get her to look up
at him.
 
“
Want you
.”
  

She
grinned and slid downward under the sheet.
 
He felt her hand grip his prick and moaned, then felt a condom rolled
down his shaft.
 
Didn’t know she had one
in hand—sneaky.

She
sat up, pulled her shirt over her head, tossed it to the floor, and crawled up
his body to fuse her mouth with his.
 
He
knew this time would be even better than the first, with no anxiety in the
mix.
 
She wiggled until he felt the head
slide along her slick opening.
 
Just the
tease of what was to come had them both moaning into the kiss.
 
She slowly took him inside, inch by inch, and
paused, breathing fast.

“Feel
so good, baby,” he said.
 
“You okay?”

“Just needed a minute.
You stretch me.”
 
She started rocking her hips.
 
Her eyes fluttered shut, the expression on
her face one of pure pleasure.

He’d
have to get her back to the house by sunrise, and it wasn’t fair.
 
They were just beginning to touch something
special.
 
He’d imagined making love until
they were too tired to move, sleeping in each other’s arms,
then
having a late breakfast in bed.
 
Saying
goodbye in mere hours wasn’t part of the original equation.

He
didn’t want to let her go—out of his arms or his city.

It would take amnesia or senility for me to
forget this night.
 
I thought I
understood how it was supposed to go, you know?
 
Your mom told you it should be special and to wait for someone you
love.
 
The romance books described the
act in minute passionate detail.
 
The
horror stories of classmates made you fear everything that could go wrong.

None of that prepared me for the actual
experience of spending hours in Jacob’s arms cocooned in the darkness.
 
I didn’t know our breathing would sync.
 
Couldn’t have imagined the
connection of looking into his eyes while he came.
 
The pleasant ache in muscles I’d never used
in this manner before—not that I wanted to be sore, but from the knowledge of
how I got that way.
 
Our shared grins
when our limbs were too noodle-y to go another round again
.

They
showered together, unwilling to part until they absolutely had to.
 
He wanted to help Beth wash parts, though, which
led to naughty soapy touching and her having to tell him she was too sensitive
for a quickie against the shower wall.
 
Guaranteed
way of making your man
pout,
let me tell ya.

The
sun was just starting to illuminate the city when he took her home on the
bike.
 
He parked at the entrance of the
property, not wanting to chance waking someone in the house with the engine
noise.
 

“Call
me when you know the time of your flight,” he said.

“Wait
a few minutes. Your mom probably left the info on my bed.”

He
wrapped his arms around her waist.
 
“Mmm…bed…”

“I
know…I could sleep ‘til noon.”

“Wore
you out, did I?” he asked, wearing a proud smirk.

“Hey,
I’m not the one who had to slam a Red Bull to be able to drive.”

He
laughed.
 
“Fair enough.
Come on.”
 
He took her hand and led her
through the gate.

Luckily,
the front door and its lock were well-oiled.
 
They entered with only the slightest sound.

“Wait
here,” she whispered.

“Don’t
trust me in your boudoir?” he teased.

“Hell no.”
 
Not with them both wanting to strip down and curl up in bed until
tomorrow.

She
took the stairs with gingerly steps, both to be quiet and because of her
protesting thighs.
 
Just as she thought,
Vivian had scribbled the flight number, time, and gate on a notepad in neat
cursive.
 
She copied the info and went
back down to him.

“Flight
leaves at noon if it’s on time.”

“Too soon.”

A
lump developed in her throat.
 
“Don’t
make this harder. I have to go.”

He
sighed, and hugged her.
 
“I know, love.
Sorry for bein’ a selfish git. Your mum is a special lady and you should be
with her to support her.”

“Thank
you. Well…see you in a few hours?”

He
pulled back enough to meet her eyes.
 
“Count on it. I’m escorting you as far as they’ll let me.”
 
She nodded, knowing if she tried to speak
she’d cry.
 
He cupped her face, caressing
her cheeks with his thumbs, and softly kissed her.
 
“Until later, sweetheart.”

“Later.”
 
She appreciated that he didn’t say “goodbye”.

He
slipped out the front door.
 
She watched
him walk down the drive to the street, then went up to her room, the tears she’d
been holding back no longer cooperating.
 
Exhausted, she set the alarm, then changed into pajamas and brushed her
teeth.
 
She’d pack when she got up.
 

Once
she stretched out in bed, though, the saying
too tired to sleep
came to mind.
 
Her fears started taking over—fear Mom wouldn’t be alright, worries
about his feelings fading away once she was gone—and she couldn’t shut off her
brain.

When
the alarm buzzed, she felt like she’d just fallen asleep.
 
It took a few minutes to get her body to
follow the command to get up and shut it off.

Twelve hour flight.
 
She could sleep on the plane
.

Jacob
came back shortly after she went down for food.
 
He looked about the same as she felt—walking zombie.

“Coffee,
dear?” his mother asked him.

“Please.”
 
He walked over and kissed Beth on the
cheek.
 
“Hey.”

She
looked up.
 
“Hey. You have a show
tonight, too, right?”

“Yep.”
 
He dumped a
generous helping of sugar in his mug.
 
“Rumor has it a critic is gonna show up.”

“Pro review?
Sweet.
It was a good
show last night.”
 
Though
she preferred the performance at his apartment.

He
grinned,
winking at her when his mother’s back was
turned.
 
“Thank you.”
 
He looked at her plate—two slices of melon
and a piece of buttered toast—and added a scoop of scrambled eggs.

She
glared at him and mouthed
I’m not hungry
.
 
He shot her a look of disapproval and put two
pieces of bacon on the plate, too.
 
“Stop
that.”

“You
need to eat,” he argued.

“I
don’t like starting with a heavy stomach.”

“Ah, the bickering.
No wonder I thought L.A. was so quiet,” Vivian said.

“Sorry,”
they said in unison.

She
shook her head, smiling.
 
“Elizabeth, are you
packed?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She
nodded.
 
“Very well.
Jacob, help with her things and get her to the airport on time?”

“You’re
not coming?”

“As
much as I’d like to see you off, dear, I feel I would only be in the way.”
 
She patted Beth’s hand.
 
“Don’t worry, I’ll see you soon. The sale of
the house still has to be overseen.”

“Oh.”
 
On the one hand, she was glad to get one more
moment alone with him.
 
On the other, it
didn’t feel right leaving Vivian here.

“Jacob,
could you give us a moment?” she asked.

“Sure.”
 
He got up from the table and went outside.

She
took Beth’s hand.
 
“The truth is
,
I’m not good at goodbyes. You’ll need to be brave, Elizabeth, and my
blubbering won’t help…because this isn’t goodbye.”

“Just
‘see you later’.”

She
smiled.
 
“Exactly.
If you need to talk when you get home—”

“I’ll
pick up the phone. I, um… I can’t thank you enough for your hospitality. This
trip was a big deal for me.”

She
glanced at Jacob pacing outside.
 
“Important for both of you, it seems. Well, give me a hug, and we’ll
part with smiles.”

Gladly.
 
Beth lingered
in the embrace as long as she let her.
 
Logic was usually her course, but intuition told her this trip had
changed her life, that the path before her would be different, and not for the
cliché reason of losing her virginity.
 
If there was another Beth out there facing her mother’s illness without
these memories, experiences, she’d be much more alone.

Mrs.
Lindsey left the kitchen and Beth tried to finish her breakfast.
 
Jacob came in off the patio, sat down, and
watched her eat.
 
“You didn’t finish your
toast,” he said.

“It’s
cold.”

“Microwave
is over there.”

She
stood with her plate and set it next to the sink.
 
“Back off, okay? I’m too anxious to eat much
and pushing food at me doesn’t help.”

“Sorry.
I didn’t mean to upset you.”
 
A chair
slid on the tile.
 
He wrapped his arms
around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

She
leaned back against his chest.
 
“Know
you’re only looking out for me.”

“You’re
my Bethie.”
 
For him, that said it all.

Still
wanted to know what being his really meant, but she wasn’t going to ask.
 
Not after one week.
 
Not when she was going thousands of miles
away.

They
didn’t say much during the ride to the airport.
 
He put a CD in of bouncy punk trying to lift their spirits and give them
something else to focus on.
 
They
parked.
 
He carried her suitcase.
 
She wished he could see her all the way to
the gate.

“Everything
I could say feels like
statin
’ the obvious,” he said
when he could go no further.
 
“Of course
I’ll miss you.”

“Of
course you want me to have a safe flight.”

“Of
course I wish you could stay longer.”
 
They leaned into each other, touching foreheads.

“Me, too.”
 
She sighed.
 
“Well, there’s Christmas…”

“Yeah…”
 
His arms tightened around her.
 
“I’ll send you a copy of the demo soon as we
pick a cover shot.”

“Looking forward to it.”
 
She tilted her face up and kissed him, hoping he would feel what she
couldn’t say.

Hoping it would help him not forget me
.

He
moaned and pressed her closer.
 
The
crowd, the airport, the take-off noise—it all fell away.
 
They made out until someone tapped her on the
shoulder.
 
The security guard stood there
with a raised brow until they parted contact.
 
She blushed.
 
Jacob was
unapologetic, staring right back.