Red Rock Rises; Sexy Romantic Suspense; Book 1: The Red Rock Series (The Red Rock Seies) (21 page)

“I’m surprised, Dameon, and relieved, even though I could strangle my lawyer. Dear God, I thought attorneys were supposed to be close-mouthed. Mine is a virtual sieve of information.”

“Ah, honey, he’s just looking out for you. Wanted to be sure I wouldn’t give you any grief. He knows that after siccing Raoul on you, he’s on a short leash with the Albuquerque Police Department. At least that’s what I hear from the Chief.”

Jesse laughed then went back to the issue that was tearing at them both.

“Dameon, Trey will be so disappointed. How can I explain that once again my work is taking me away from him?”

“Now. C’mon. Give yourself a break—and give Trey some credit, too. It’s not the same, tiger. As much as he wants to show off for you, Trey knows you’ll be there in spirit. And, honey, we’ll spend all day Sunday together watching the reruns of the championship game because I’m convinced our team is going to make it into the finals.”

After they rang off, Dameon tried to shake off his disappointment. He’d put on the best face he could with Jesse, knowing how upset she was to miss the tournament. He should be embarrassed. But, as much as he wanted her in the bleachers, he was as frustrated by the fact that the plans he’d had for after the game had been shot to hell. Once he’d known they were going to L.A., he made the decision. He arranged five rooms for the boys, each room chaperoned by one of his assistant coaches. In addition to the room he booked for Jesse, he reserved a special suite for Jesse and himself.

It was beyond time that he make good on his promise to Jesse. They were on his court now. And L.A. would be their first encounter playing by his rules. Or so he’d thought until the news about her Saturday gig. Clamping down his unruly prick, he comforted them both, declaring that the delay was a blip on the screen. In the long term scenario he had planned for the woman he admitted he was falling in love with, a day or two, even a week’s delay, would be nothing. Once he made love to her, as he would very soon, there’d be enough ecstasy to make his frustration a thing of the past. The delay was just one more way to drive him out of his mind in the short term, and heighten his pleasure when he finally made good on his promise to take Jesse to places she—and he—had never been.

~~~

Jesse would later marvel at her ability that day to play the role of an attentive strategic consultant at the Saturday afternoon coming out party for the Stockton campaign. Between chatting with reporters and meeting scores of Stockton supporters, she kept up a running barrage of text messages with Dameon. His flood of one-to-two word texts describing the game from one play to the next were as compelling as if she’d been in the stands. The Warriors lost the first game in a heartbreaker but all the other teams in their division except one lost as well. Going into the championship game the Warriors were the number two seed, second only to the undefeated Scorpions, last year’s tournament champion.

Jesse watched each shot of Trey’s, through the magic of Dameon’s messages. She rode the rise and fall of the game as if she were one of the screaming fans who, according to Dameon, were bringing down the house. There was never more than six points between the teams for the entire game, making it a true battle of champions. When Dameon flashed up a picture of the scoreboard proclaiming the Cinderella victory for the Warriors, Jesse controlled her elation until she got to the ladies room where she burst into tears of joy.

~~~

Jesse thumbed through the photo montage on her phone for the twentieth time. She knew them all by heart. The determined looks on the boys’ faces at half time. Trey’s half-hearted wave midway through the second half. The photo one of the assistant coaches took of Dameon and Trey together. Dameon with his arm around Trey’s shoulder his face inches from the frowning young man’s, clearly stoking Trey’s courage. That photo was followed by an elated Trey pointing to the scoreboard proclaiming their victory. Capping the series of pictures was the formally staged photo of the team standing atop the winner’s tiered riser. It portrayed the team and their coaches standing behind the four-foot-high trophy, their grins bright enough to light Los Angeles for weeks to come.

Dameon’s voice was hoarse from shouting, but his excitement was palpable over the phone.

“Damn, Jesse, what I wouldn’t give for you to have been there. You would’ve been proud of Trey. He really came through. As usual he held back in the beginning but between me and DaShon challenging him to play up, he rose to the occasion. I tell you, in a couple of years Trey will be our superstar. He’s so damned smart. Hell, he sees opportunities for plays that I don’t see.”

“I was there, Dameon. Thanks to you, I feel like I saw the entire game. Do you realize that you sent me 83 texts in 2 1/2 hours?”

Jesse couldn’t believe how emotional she was. She’d been riding high on excitement and now in the flush of their victory, she was close to tears. Hearing Dameon’s voice, she realized with a start that as much as she wanted to see and talk to Trey, she wanted Dameon more. She must have betrayed her longing because Dameon’s next words startled her—and sent a shiver of excitement cascading down her spine.

Chapter 25

“What are you wearing, Jesse?”

Jesse startled and almost dropped the phone. God, could he see through the ether?

“I… I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“Ah, tiger. You know exactly what I mean. I’m crazy without you here and I’m liable to get crazier. I’m so hopped up on adrenaline with equal parts of testosterone it’s probably a good thing for you that you’re
not
here.”

Jesse slammed her eyes shut, afraid that she might somehow convey the image of the heated woman she saw in the mirror. When she managed to find her voice, she was as surprised by the unbidden words that slipped out as Dameon must have been.

“Why? What… would you do if I
was
there?”

Following a silence that ratcheted up her fear and her excitement, Dameon’s words didn’t disappoint. Rather, he shocked her senseless.

“Well, tiger, given the size of my cock, about the only thing I could do is to put you up on your hands and knees and take you from behind, hard.”

Jesse gasped fighting back the urge to groan.

His voice was low, sexy.

“How about it, Jesse? Would you like me to do that? Put you up on your hands and knees? Spread your legs apart slowly, then hike up your naked ass and pound my cock into you?”

He paused, his voice dropping to a husky drawl. “Would that be okay with you, tiger? Do you think you could take all of me?”

She gasped as a shocking blast of electricity ricocheted through her body straight to her core.

Dameon’s low chuckle teased her ear.

“Can I take that as a yes, tiger?”

Jesse struggled to respond but her mouth was too dry. She didn’t have enough spit to swallow much less speak. Any clever or even reasonably coherent response was lost at his next words.

“I asked you a question, baby. Answer me.”

Jesse dropped to the edge of the bed, her legs no longer able to hold her upright. “Which… which question?”

“Hmm, you’re right. I did ask you several. Let’s start at the top. What are you wearing, honey?”

Jesse shut her eyes as if he could see her and by closing her eyes she could shield herself. Her white lacy bra pushed up her full breasts, forcing soft mounds of flesh to overflow the scalloped edges. Her matching panties were a mere scrap of satin, the stretchy lace bands riding low on her hips. Jesse didn’t need a mirror to know what she looked like. Just the thought of him seeing her risqué underwear made her panties wet.

She was glad that her voice was somewhat normal, although it was an effort to speak.

“I was getting undressed when you called. I’m… not wearing… much.”

“Show me.”

“What?” Her shocked question sounded as scandalized as she felt.

“You heard me, Jesse. Show me what you’re wearing. Send me a picture.”

To her amazement, it was as though she was an observer, a voyeur, watching a sexually charged tableau. Stunned, she saw the red-headed woman rise to her feet and assume a casually erotic posture. Before she could pull back she’d snapped the picture. Dameon’s audible gasp confirmed that she’d clicked on ‘send.’

“Holy Christ, Jesse.” His gruff exclamation said it all.

“Jesse?”

When she didn’t answer, he persisted.

“Take off your bra. And honey, after you do that? Cup your breasts and present them to me.”

His silky command shocked her out of her dream state.

“Oh my God, Dameon. I can’t do that. I won’t. That is—”

He broke in.

“That is the sexiest thing you could do for me, tiger. Do it, Jesse. Show me your beautiful breasts. I’m dying for you, baby.”

Jesse heard the need behind his command. Shocked at her own acquiescence, she swallowed hard then unclasped the front release on her bra and slid it over her shoulders, dropping it to the floor. Before her rational self could pull her back, she cupped her overflowing breasts as best she could in one hand. With the other, she snapped a picture. Her audacious act earned her a deep groan from her distant lover.

Dameon was silent for a long moment. His voice was low, thick with wonder.

“Damn, darlin’. Look at you. Your nipples are tight, beaded, poking up. They look like aroused berries aching for my touch.”

Jesse startled. She glanced down at her breasts stunned to see that he was right. Her nipples were hard, tight nubs. And yes, they were aching for his touch.

He crooned softly, sending sparkling waves of sensation from her breasts to her clit. “Jesse, I’m not there so you’ll have to stand in for me. I know you can’t suck on your nipples the way that I would if I was there, but you can pull on them, pinch them.” At her gasp, he upped the ante. “Pinch them, tiger, hard. Drive yourself crazy.”

Jesse couldn’t hold back her moan any more than she could keep from pinching one tight nub and then the other. She put the phone on speaker and set it down, afraid she might drop it. Her hands were slick with sweat.

“Jesse, listen to me. Take a picture of your face. Right now and send it to me.”

Jesse echoed his harsh intake of breath when she saw the picture she’d sent. She’d thrown her head back, baring her throat, her eyes were closed, the tip of her tongue pressed between her full lips. She looked… enraptured.

“Christ, tiger. If you look like that from hearing my voice, imagine what you’ll look like when I have my hands on you.”

Jesse stared at the photo in shock. She didn’t recognize the woman in the picture. She was so beautiful, but also so vulnerable. The picture shook her back to her senses. Oh my god, what was she doing? How could she possibly have revealed herself like this? She was horrified.

“Dameon, no. I can’t do this. Really. Stop.”

“Uh uh, no, no, no. Sure you can. Remember? You’re good at this. You
told me
you were.” She could imagine his teasing smile. “As I recall you even put money on it.”

He continued, “When we’re together I want you to show me what you do. Will you do that, tiger? Show me how you bring yourself to orgasm?”

Jesse’s moan became a soft whimper. She slipped her hand between her legs as if she could stop the moisture collecting there. His next words demonstrated the futility of her gesture.

“But, tonight, Jesse, I’m in charge. I’m the boss. I’ll tell you what I want you to do and just to be
sure
that you do, I want you to send me a picture each step of the way. I want to see what you look like when I’m bringing you to orgasm. I want to see how your face flushes. How you bite down on your bottom lip. How you lick your lips. Your mouth drives me crazy, tiger. I imagine it around my cock. Your tongue licking the head, your lips, your mouth sucking me deep into your throat.” He groaned a hard passionate sound.

Her soft moans echoed his. Waves of passion stormed over her. His words were driving her higher and higher up a passionate peak that she was dying to climb.

His guttural whisper urged her on. “Now, Jesse. I want you to slip off those damp panties of yours. When you do that, hold them to your nose and breathe in deep.”

At the sound of her jagged breath, he crooned, “That’s the way, baby. Now send me a picture so that I can see if your musky fragrance does to you what it does to me.”

Step by step he coached her through an erotic dance, insisting that she touch herself in ways she never had. Following each outrageous demand, he told her to send him a picture to document the passion that had her sobbing wildly with desire. Finally, unable to stifle the tsunami of sensations that were threatening to explode, she cried out, begging him to let her come.

When she could no longer hold back, he said, “Now, Jesse, now. Come for me, baby.”

And she did.

~~~

The next morning, she and Zoey joined the other parents and a surprising crowd of well- wishers at the airport. In addition to Shaunda and all the team mothers, a contingent of police officers showed up along with the Mayor and a host of dignitaries. The eager press captured the scene.

Jesse stood arm in arm with Trey, hugging him close, watching Dameon respond to myriad questions with grace and humor. In the middle of the press conference, he insisted that each of the players come forward to be recognized. Their glowing faces confirmed that for most them this would be a singular moment in their lives. Seeing them, Jesse allowed herself to appreciate fully what Dameon and the others had done. They’d literally saved troubled lives and put these young men on the path to success.

After what seemed like hours, Dameon made his way through the crowd to her. The sensations swamping her flared the closer he got. She could hardly look at him, remembering what she’d done last night. His only nod to their outrageous escapade was a wicked wink.

Shaunda hugged him as he went by.

“How
do
you do it, Wolf? After all of that, you look positively relaxed.”

Dameon grinned at Shaunda and put his arm around Jesse, who tried not to gasp when he slipped his hand along her side and surreptitiously pinched her bottom. Keeping his gaze on Shaunda, he could have been discussing a session with his lieutenant, not standing next to the woman he’d brought to a screaming climax scant hours before.