Sing Me Back Home (7 page)

Jack took her
to his house. It was closer by a couple of minutes. At the moment, that seemed like too much longer to wait. He kissed her in his SUV. They made it into the house before they started ripping off each other’s clothes. At the door, he kissed her again. Once inside, he backed her up against the wall and kissed her like he’d wanted to since the night before. Only this time was better, because he knew they weren’t going to stop.

He slid his tongue in her mouth, explored it, tangled tongues with her. With their mouths still fused together, he cupped her breasts in his hands, sighed, breathed in her scent. Light. A little spicy. A lot sexy. Her breasts were lushly perfect and he wanted her naked, now.

Maya put her arms around his neck and pressed up against him. He put his arms around her and cupped her rear, slowly raising the dress. Maya raised her leg, wrapping it around his hips to pull him closer. Hands under her dress, he slid one hand up her leg and over her bare skin. He kept going until he reached the smooth skin of her butt, caressing it with both hands. Bare skin. Oh, God, she was wearing a thong.

Maya untied the belt at her waist, letting it fall to the ground. “Take off your shirt,” she said huskily, attacking the buttons. When she finished, he slipped it off his shoulders and let it drop to the floor. He wanted to take her up against the wall, on the table, on the floor. But even more, he wanted her in his bed.

“You can’t carry me,” she said when he scooped her up in his arms. “I’m too heavy.”

Jack laughed. “Not in this lifetime, honey.”

In his bedroom, he set her down and pulled her dress up over her head and off. Jack gazed at her and nearly swallowed his tongue. She wore a low-cut peach bra, peach thong panties, and high heeled black boots that came up just over her knees. He felt his brain short circuit, barely aware of her soft laugh.

Maya put a foot on his bed and began to unzip the boot. “Oh, no you don’t,” he said. “That’s my job.” Slowly, carefully, he drew the zipper down, kissing the skin as it was revealed, drawing the boot off and tossing it aside. He repeated the process with the other boot.

She helped him unzip his pants, push them down and off, his boxers following. He helped her take off her bra and panties and then they were on his bed and he was holding her in his arms, skin to skin, mouth to mouth, sex to sex. He kissed her mouth, her neck, her breasts, her belly. Kissed those long gorgeous legs he’d dreamed of wrapped around him. He pulled a condom out of his bedside table drawer, one of the boxes his brother Dylan had given him months ago, telling him to go get laid again before he drove everyone crazy.

Maya took it from him, opened it and rolled it down, her hands making him crazy as she did it. Jack knew he should take his time. Should seduce her slowly. But it had been far too long for him to slow down.

But Maya didn’t want slow either. She urged him on, with her hands, her lips, her tongue tasting his skin and her heart beating as fast as his. She opened her legs, and he drove inside her, seating himself deep. He pulled out, thrust in again, and again. She cried out, her body clamping down on his, and he exploded inside her.

Jack rolled off her, not wanting to smother her, but he wasn’t ready to let her go, either. He put his arm around her and snuggled her up against him, angled her head upward and leaned down to kiss her mouth.

“Hmm,” Maya sighed deeply.

“Hmm,” he echoed. That was about all he could manage too.

‡

M
aya lay with
her head against Jack’s chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. They hadn’t spoken for some time beyond a word or two here and there.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“I’m better than okay.” She rose on her elbow to look down at him. His dark hair fell over his forehead. Those gorgeous green eyes were at half-mast, his mouth was curved in a sexy smile. She wanted to eat him up. “I’m wonderful,” she said.

“Yeah, you are.” He pulled her head down and kissed her lips. “Wonderful is a good word.”

Maya laughed. “Flatterer.”

“Hey, you said it first.”

“I meant I
feel
wonderful.” Wonderful, marvelous, contented, happy. Pick any one of them, she thought.

He smoothed his hand over the bare skin of her butt. “Yes, you do feel wonderful.”

She laughed again. He kissed her again. They dozed. They woke and made love, more slowly this time and every bit as deliciously good as the first time. If she’d known it would be like this between them in high school, she wouldn’t have been a virgin when she left Marietta. In fact, she might not have left town at all.

*

“I don’t want
you to go,” Jack said very early Sunday morning. Making love to Maya again was probably a physical impossibility, but he was willing to give it a try. He had a lot of libido stored up.

She sat on the edge of the bed with her back to him, still naked. “I know. I don’t want to go either. But I have to get home to shower and change before I pick up Carmen. And you need to pick up Gina. Plus, you have to drive me home.”

Jack sat up and moved her hair aside to kiss the nape of her neck. “I have a better idea.” He slid his hands around to cup her breasts and play with her nipples.

She relaxed against him, sighing as he caressed her. “I’m sure you do.” She turned her head and kissed him. “But we don’t have time.”

He slipped his hand down to the juncture of her thighs. “We could shower together. Here. We can be quick,” he said, his fingers exploring her wet heat.

“You are a wicked, wicked man,” she murmured.

He rummaged in the bedside drawer for a condom, then got out of bed and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him and kissed him as he walked toward the bathroom with her. He reached into the shower and turned the water on, kissing her with his hands beneath her butt, supporting her against the cool shower door while the water heated, steaming up the room as his own blood heated to a boil.

He wanted to explore her slowly, to take his time and kiss and caress every womanly curve and every secret place. Wanted to learn her, steep himself in her.
Next time
, he thought, stepping beneath the warm spray, lifting her up and plunging inside her warmth, her wetness, as hard as he’d ever been. Maya kissed his neck, scraping her nails against his skin, as she held on tight and rocked with him on a wild ride. Once, twice, he thrust inside of her and came, as she shattered around him and called his name.

He let her down slowly, spread shower gel on his hands and started to soap her. She took the gel from him and massaged it over his chest, and lower. He felt a little dazed, a lot consumed. He’d never spent a night like the one before, not even, he was guiltily aware, with Brianna.

It’s just sex
, he thought. Great sex, but still, it couldn’t be anything more. Regardless of their past, they were almost strangers. Two people who hadn’t spoken in twenty years. Two people who, once they reconnected, couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Which wasn’t a surprise. Not really.

It’s just sex
, he told himself again.
Amazing sex. Mind blowing sex. But sex. You know, sex that you’ve only had twice in the five years since Brianna died.
The sex that in no way came close to what he’d just experienced with Maya.

It wasn’t as if he’d fallen in love with Maya again.

Was it?

*

Maya ended her
video chat with her assistant, uneasily aware she hadn’t been giving Cindy her full attention.
This is ridiculous
, she thought.
Three days later and you’re still all gooey inside.
You’ve had sex before. It was good, sure. Great even. But there’s no need to be all starry-eyed over the experience.

Except that she was. Not only starry-eyed but gobsmacked. But damn, surely she was allowed to be a little stunned after a night like that one. Who wouldn’t be after sex that had completely blown her mind?

You can’t possibly have fallen for him so fast. You don’t even know him, not really.

Her cell rang and she answered, her heart beating a little faster when she saw Jack’s name on the readout. “Hi.”

“Hi. I don’t have long, but I wanted to ask you and Carmen over for dinner tomorrow night. I have the afternoon off and I thought I could grill some steaks.”

Talk about gooey. Her heart melted like chocolate in the sun. It pitter-pattered for all it was worth. Jack was asking her and her daughter over for dinner. That meant something. It meant acknowledging they were a couple to the two most important people in their lives, their daughters. She should think about it before plunging in.

“Maya?”

Oh, hell, it wasn’t as if he was asking her to marry him. Thinking was overrated. “Yes, we’d love to. What can I bring and what time do you want us?”

“Around six, since it’s a school night, we’ll want to finish early. And if you don’t mind, bring a salad. I like to eat them, but hate to make them.”

Maya laughed. “I can do that. See you then.”

*

Naturally, Maya couldn’t
decide what to wear to Jack’s house. Something casual. Not too sexy. The girls would be there, after all. But then, she didn’t want to look like a bag lady either, as her sister had accused her of the other night. Finally, she settled on tight black leggings and black suede spike-heeled ankle boots. A deceptively simple white long sleeve, fitted scoop neck T-shirt came next, to which she added a slim black leather waist length jacket with faux quilting on the shoulders and arms and left it unzipped.

Carmen came in as she was finishing up. Looking over her mother critically she said, “You sure are taking a lot of trouble over what to wear to a backyard cookout.”

“No, I’m not,” Maya said automatically.

Carmen sniffed the air. “You’re wearing that super expensive perfume, aren’t you? The one you bought in Paris and save for special occasions.”

Good Lord, the child had a nose like a bloodhound. “It happened to be the first one I picked up,” Maya said blandly, knowing that Carmen didn’t for a moment believe her.