Authors: Kelly Jamieson
Off Limits (16 page)
“Lundqvist.” Andrew named the Rangers’ goalie, shaking his head. “He was on fire tonight.”
We all went back to Andrew’s place, and when Mom and Dad said good night and entered their bedroom, they didn’t even bat an eyelash at the fact that I was staying there
with Andrew, sleeping in his bed. I guess that told us how comfortable they really were with us being together.
I curled my fingers around Andrew’s silk tie and tugged him closer. “You look hot in a suit.”
Andrew set his hands on my hips and pulled me up against him. “Today was a good day.”
“It was.” We smiled into each other’s eyes. “I love you. I’m so happy, Andrew.”
“Me too, baby.” He brushed
his mouth over mine. “Me too.” Then with a low groan, he wrapped his arms around me and claimed my mouth with his in a deep kiss.
I went on my toes, curled my arms around his neck, and held on tight. His tongue slid over my bottom lip and inside my mouth, then out in a slow, hot rhythm that set my blood on fire. My stomach flip-flopped and I pressed harder against him, my breasts, my aching pelvis.
“Loved having you there watching,” he murmured, lips on my jaw. “All of you. Feels like my life is complete. Now I have everything.”
“I feel like that too.” Even though I was giving up my apartment and job and friends in New York and starting over in Chicago, I too felt like I had everything that was important.
Andrew led me to his bedroom. We watched each other undress and slid beneath the
covers of his big bed, coming together skin to skin, mouth to mouth…heart to heart.
I touched him everywhere. He winced once when I nudged a tender spot and I kissed the bruise that was blooming there on his hip bone from a hit into the boards. The game was intense and physical, I’d always known that. I loved it and hated it. I admired him for his skill and strength even as I feared for him.
He caressed me too, exploring my body with his hands and mouth almost reverently, and I felt so cherished and loved. My skin burned and tingled, pleasure turning my body liquid. He feathered kisses over my breasts and belly, then lower still. His silky hair brushed the insides of my thighs, then he pushed them up and back to taste me. I rested my feet on his big shoulders, sensation twisting up inside
me in an almost painful spiral of flames as his tongue licked over me. He kissed and sucked, taking me higher, until I was so close I gasped. “Now,” I begged hoarsely. “Please.”
He moved to grab a condom from the table. I stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Do we need that?” I whispered. “I have birth control.” I quite loved the IUD I’d had put in months ago and the freedom it gave. “I don’t
have anything…any…”
“Me either.” He groaned and dropped the condom to press a hard kiss to my mouth. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For trusting me.”
“I do trust you.” Our eyes met and held as he pushed inside me. Pleasure spread from where we joined all through my body in a thick, sweet wave. Heat washed over me. “Only you. I love you.”
“I love you too, Jenna.”
We came together in a connection
of spirit so beautiful and intimate and perfect. My muscles clamped down on him and he drew in a sharp breath.
“Feels so good. Bare inside you. You squeezing me like that.”
Propped up on his arms, he continued to watch my face with intimate intensity as he moved in and out of my body. I met his strokes, taking him deep inside me, my body straining for more, sensation swelling, my heart expanding
with all the love I felt for him and all the love he gave me.
His jaw tensed, his cadence quickened, and my orgasm burst in a powerful explosion of heat and light. I gripped his shoulders as his mouth caught mine in a long kiss and his body pulsed inside me.
We shifted position and lay still, joined for a long time, wrapped in each other’s arms. Finally, Andrew murmured against my hair, “Jenna.”
“Mmm.”
“So glad you came home for the holidays.”
I smiled drowsily and turned my head so my lips pressed to his chest. “Me too.”
“Congratulations!” Lovey greeted me with a hug as we joined them at the table they were already seated at in the restaurant. “How did your first week go?”
We were out with Andrew’s teammate Marc and his girlfriend, Lovey, celebrating my first week at Pinnacle, who’d offered me my dream job a month ago. Lovey’s brother, Duncan Armstrong, and his girlfriend, Melissa, were supposed to be
coming too.
Andrew had been right when he’d said Lovey would look after me. She was so bubbly and fun, and being the girlfriend of the team captain, she seemed to take on the role of “captain” of the Aces Ladies. I liked her a lot, and I liked Andrew’s teammates. It was fun to have “couple friends” to go out with.
“So far so good.” Andrew helped me take off my coat and I smiled at him over my
shoulder, then slid into the big booth. “I think I’m going to love it there.”
We ordered drinks and then Lovey and Marc asked me questions about my job while Andrew listened too, his big hand warm on my thigh.
He leaned in to whisper in my ear, “So glad you’re happy there, Jenna. Proud of you.”
I slanted him another smile, warmth spreading in my chest, and he squeezed my leg briefly.
It was
funny, him telling me he was proud of me, because I was so proud of
him
I could burst with it.
“I thought Duncan and Melissa were coming tonight,” I said. “Where are they?”
“Oh.” Lovey made a face. “Change of plans. They’re not coming after all. Not sure what happened.” Then she sighed, picking up her menu. “Can’t say I’m disappointed.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t really like Melissa much.”
“Oh.” I bit my lip. “But she’s gorgeous.” Melissa was a model and exactly the kind of glamazon I’d been worried about meeting.
“Sure she is. I just have this feeling about her. She’s all into status and clothes and shoes—”
“Babe”—Marc interrupted her with his faint but sexy French accent—“you have a style blog. Not to mention a closet stuffed with clothes. You’re criticizing
her
for being into
fashion?”
The corners of his mouth quirked up, indicating he was totally teasing Lovey. He tugged at a lock of her red-gold hair and she nudged him with her shoulder. “Hey. I’m not like her.”
“No. No you are not.”
I glanced at Andrew. Apparently Marc didn’t like Melissa either.
“She wanted to go shopping last week with Dunc, and ended up with two new Coach purses.
Two.
” Lovey took a sip of
her wine. “And I know she didn’t pay for them herself.”
“It’s his money.” Marc shrugged. “He has enough of it.”
“I know he does.” Lovey tilted her head. “But I hate to think he’s being taken advantage of.”
I’d met Duncan and he was pretty damn gorgeous himself, so I couldn’t see Melissa just being with him for his money. Also, he seemed like such a nice, down-to-earth guy, not someone who’d
let himself be used. Then again, when it came to sexy women like Melissa, sometimes guys’ hormones took over.
“He’s getting laid by a hot chick,” Marc said. “A couple of purses might be worth it.”
“You did not just say that!” Lovey stared at Marc, then started laughing.
Marc grinned, clearly yanking her chain.
“Thinking with the wrong head?” Andrew added. “Blood can’t be in the brain and the
penis at the same time.”
Now I laughed and turned to him. “Seriously?”
He smiled back at me. “Guys do stupid things over women and sex. You may remember a certain president…a few other politicians…actors…I mean, come on, who would cheat on Sandra Bullock?”
“Word, dude.” Marc reached out to fist-bump Andrew.
I met Lovey’s eyes and we both laughed.
“Remember Billy Derwent?” Andrew asked.
I squinted at him. “From high school?”
“Yeah. His girlfriend butt-dialed him while she was telling her friends the only reason she was dating him was because he did her algebra homework for her.”
“Ouch.” I winced.
“Okay, okay, I get your point.” Lovey frowned. “But Duncan’s not that stupid.”
“Aw.” Marc leaned closer to Lovey. “You like to give him crap, but you’re really worried about him,
aren’t you?”
“He’s my brother.” Lovey bit her lip. “I’m just worried that he could be really falling for Melissa and she’s a total skank bitch who’s going to break his heart.”
I choked on a laugh at her description of Melissa.
“He’s a big boy,” Marc said. “He’ll be fine.”
Lovey looked into Marc’s eyes. They were so adorable and perfect together. I edged closer to Andrew and he slipped an arm
around my waist and squeezed.
“Enough about Armdog,” Marc said. “I’m starving. Let’s order dinner.”
“Great idea.” Andrew nodded and opened his menu.
I did the same, pushing aside Lovey’s concern about her brother to enjoy the evening with our new friends and the man I’d loved forever, finally starting our new life together.
To my husband—thank you for your unwavering support.
Y
K
ELLY
J
AMIESON
Aces Hockey
Major Misconduct
Off Limits
PHOTO: LANCE THOMSON PHOTOGRAPHIC
K
ELLY
J
AMIESON
is a bestselling author of more than thirty-five romance novels and novellas. Her writing has been described as “emotionally complex,” “sweet and satisfying,” and “blisteringly sexy.” She likes coffee (black), wine (mostly white), shoes (high), and of course watching hockey!
Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November
…wait, it is November, and Loveswept is releasing some of our best books of the year! Check out these fabulous romances:
New York Times
bestselling author Marquita Valentine releases her second new novel in her Boys of the South spin-off series, Take the Fall, with
When We Fall,
in which a small-town sweetheart takes a chance
on the bad boy who’s always been her hottest fantasy. Another Loveswept
New York Times
bestselling author, Tracy Wolff, introduces her new Hotwired series with
Accelerate,
in which an unassuming passenger is taken for the ride of her life.
New York Times
bestselling author A. Meredith Walters releases a powerful romance akin to
The Fault in Our Stars,
with
Butterfly Dreams.
Then, welcome to Thistle
Bend! A charming series debut from Tracy March,
Should’ve Said No
introduces a small town where old secrets are revealed—and wounded hearts are opened to new love. And in a short novel, Rebecca Rogers Maher’s
Rolling in the Deep,
two kindred spirits share a winning lottery ticket—and discover what it really means to get lucky.
Sports fans were introduced last month to the Aces Hockey series by
Kelly Jamieson with
Major Misconduct,
and this month Jamieson releases a holiday romance,
Off Limits
. Book two in the Recovered Innocence series by Beth Yarnall features a San Diego investigative team with a soft spot for lost causes and a passion for redemption in
Vindicate
. And
Taking It Off,
by
USA Today
bestselling author Claire Kent introduces you to Matt Stokes, the sexy-as-sin male stripper
and club owner who knows what it really means to bare everything. Jessica Lemmon’s irresistible Lost Boys series kicks off with
Fighting for Devlin,
the story of a good girl who plays by the rules—and the bad boy who brings out her wild side
.
And in Cecy Robson’s O’Brien Family series debut, two total opposites find that the flames of desire are still smoldering in
Once Kissed.
For historical
romance fans, Sharon Cullen’s
The Reluctant Duchess
ignites as a shy country girl and a hotheaded duke surrender to dangerous temptations. Then it’s on to Scotland for
USA Today
bestselling author Jennifer Haymore’s Highland Knights and the first book in this new series,
Highland Heat,
an electrifying tale of class warfare, fierce loyalties, and forbidden love.
I don’t want this month to end!
But the good news is December is upon us, with more fabulous Loveswept titles. Until then…
Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
