Tell Me You Want Me (11 page)

His tongue played with hers, and he continued to her neck, tasting her flesh with tiny bites. His mouth moved down, kissing every inch of bare skin he found. Her shirt offered quite a lot of it, but he didn't stop there. He lifted her shirt up a little and kissed her stomach, tickling her ribs with his tongue.

This didn't feel awkward or clumsy. This felt exciting and scary, hot and shivering. She hoped he would pull her shirt off, both relieved and disappointed when he didn't.

Slow...
mmm
... gentle...
mmm
.... Yes, that was the way to go... for now. She ran her hands under his shirt, tracing the lines of his muscles with her fingertips, smiling when he moaned.

"Trying to tickle
me
now?"

"Maybe just a little."

"Troublemaker." He laughed when her fingers floated over his ribs. "I gotta punish you for that."

"Oh!" she gasped, and her heart skipped at the flicker of pure mischief in his eyes. "Is that a good thing?"

He kissed her deeply. "No, It's a bad thing." He whispered on her lips, "So. Very. Bad." He pushed her shirt up over her bra and stroked her lace-covered nipples with his thumbs.

She squirmed beneath him. The lace did nothing to shield her from his touch. It actually added friction to the heat from his hands, and her body responded in a fevered rush. His hands caressed her breasts, but to her surprise and delight, she felt a hot wet throbbing pulse between her thighs.
Please please please touch there too.
She couldn't say the words, so she arched into his hands, her body begging for what her lips couldn't.

"Tell me what you want, Janie." He looked straight at her, as if he needed permission to continue.

How could she tell him what she wanted? She wanted to be naked under his hands. She wanted to feel his mouth on her bare skin, but she couldn't say the words. Not yet. "More," she whispered.

"More what?"

"More." She couldn't explain. "Bad things."

Austin laughed and unhooked her bra with one hand, pushing it out of his way. His mouth teased one nipple while his fingers stroked the other one. "So pretty, so soft, so much better than I imagined. So. Very. Good."

She forgot about feeling nervous. She forgot about feeling awkward. She forgot about everything except feeling his touch, his kiss, his flickering tongue. Her body ached all over, wanting more, needing more, especially the hot wet place between her legs. Could she tell him that? She didn't need to. His hand left her breast to stroke her thighs, sliding between them and up until he rubbed the place she needed him the most.

But her nipple needed him too. "I wish you had more hands," she groaned.

He grunted, as if his over-stimulated brain couldn't handle a clever reply. He kissed, and licked, and touched, and kissed her all over again. "Oh, Janie, you turn me on so much." He kissed her mouth, his tongue teasing hers.

She closed her eyes so he couldn't see her wondering how many other girls he'd said those same words to. It didn't matter. He was saying those words to her, and he was saying her name. He wanted
her
.

He lifted his head and stared down at her, catching his breath. "You're the most erotic thing I've ever seen. So damn sexy." He kept watching her face as he unbuttoned her jeans.

She held her breath as he eased the zipper down, and she opened her eyes.

"More?" His fingers tempted her vulnerable flesh.

"Yes."

He leaned over and kissed her, his hand sliding into her open jeans, caressing her hot skin. He sat back and peeked at the deep purple lace that matched her bra. "I approve."

She laughed and caught her breath as he caressed the long length of bare skin between her pushed-up bra and her open zipper. It was a lingering, deliciously thorough stroke—up, down, circling her nipples, reaching under her panties. He bent down and sucked her nipple into his mouth while his fingers searched under the lace between her legs.

"Ooohh." She let out a long, loud moan when he found what he was looking for.

"Like that?"

"Oh yes."

"No. It's, 'Oh hell yes'."

She giggled.

He pulled his fingers away. "Say it."

"Oh hell yes!"

"That's my girl." He kissed her and stroked her soft wet flesh. "I want you," he whispered into her mouth, then kissed her soft lips, her hard nipples, her quivering stomach. "You taste so good. I could spend all night nibbling on your yummy little body."

His mouth on her skin consumed her mind, and she barely heard a word he said. The things he was doing to her felt so.... She couldn't find the words, but it went way beyond good, way beyond wonderful. Could she do the same to him? She had to try. She reached for his belt buckle and fumbled with it. He tried to help her out, but he couldn't do much better.

"What's wrong with us?" Jane sat up to get a better angle on it.

Their fingers tangled as they struggled with it. "Got it." Austin kissed her.

Then they heard the doorknob turn.

In one swift move, Austin pulled Jane's shirt down and threw a blanket over her as Sara opened the front door.

Her eyes narrowed when she looked at Austin. "What are
you
doing here?"

"What are you doing home?" Jane countered, zipping up her jeans.

"My sister and her husband had a fight so they came home early. I didn't feel like staying there while they were arguing, so I said goodnight to the kids and left." She looked at Austin and snarled. "If I'd known
you'd
be here, I would've stayed far away."

Austin took a step back, pulling Jane close as if he needed protection. Or was he trying to protect her?

"Austin, this is my roommate, Sara." Jane did her best to maintain some civility, but the other girl wasn't cooperating. "Sara, this is.... Apparently, you know who Austin is."

"Unfortunately."

"What did I do to deserve this?" Austin frowned. "Have we met?"

"Seriously?" Sara gasped, then turned on Jane. "I told you going out with him again was a bad idea."

"But I like bad ideas."

Jane sighed, and Austin laughed.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," Sara shot at him. "I'll be the one picking up the pieces when you're gone."

"Who says I'm gonna leave her?"

"Back off, Sara." Jane stepped between them. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you Austin was coming over tonight, but he's here now, so let's just try to be nice to each other."

"He doesn't deserve it."

"Wow." Austin took a step toward the door. "I know when I'm not welcome." He reached for Jane and took her hands. "I'd better say goodnight."

"No." Her body still throbbed. He had to be feeling it too.

"I'll see you tomorrow. We'll make other plans." He held her face in his hands and kissed her. "Thank you for dinner. It was delicious." He pulled her close and pressed his lips to her ear. "And so was dessert."

She answered him with a smile.

"Sara, I'd like to say it was nice meeting you, but...." Austin winced.

Jane followed him to the door, whispered "Sweet dreams," and closed it behind him.

"Good night and good riddance," Sara growled. "I hope you're not planning on—"

"Don't you ever treat one of my friends that way again!" Jane advanced on Sara, her voice low. "Do you understand me?"

"So he's a friend now?"

"He's a better one than you are tonight."

"I'm trying to protect you."

"From what? From having a good time? From laughing, from kissing, from possibly having the best sex of my life?"

"From getting your heart broken."

"Okay. I get that. If I'm making a mistake, if I end up getting hurt, so be it. I can take care of myself."

"But you're not thinking straight. You're not thinking about the future. There
is
no future with him."

"I don't care about the future. All I care about is right now, and right now, I'm having a good time with Austin. I'll go out with him whenever I want, as often as I want. I don't need your protection."

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when he runs off with the next pretty thing." Sara stomped off to her room and slammed the door.

Jane dropped her head in her hands. Would she see Austin again? She wouldn't blame him if Sara had scared him off. She didn't know Sara could be that mean.

She sighed and sank down on the couch. Still warm from their body heat, it brought back not just memories of his touch, but all the sensations that went along with it. Her body started to throb again.

Maybe doing the dishes would help distract her. She went to the kitchen, smiling as she set the dishes on the counter where he'd kissed her and touched her thighs. Oh, she was distracted all right, but not the way she'd intended. Without thinking, she slipped her hand inside her shirt and brushed her fingers across her nipple.
Ooohhhh.
It felt much better when he touched her, but....

Oh, screw the dishes!
She needed a stronger distraction.

She went to her room, locked the door, took off her clothes, and finished what Austin had started. She would welcome sleep with a smile.

***

"You look like you could use a beer."

Austin said, "I could use something a lot stronger than that."
Like a certain hot-blooded soccer goddess.

Jack opened a bottle and handed it to him. Austin sat on the couch and downed half of it in one swallow.

"What happened?"

"Her roommate happened."

"That sucks. Roommates can be a real pain in the ass."

"Ya think?" Austin polished off his beer. "Sorry, man, I wasn't talking about you."

Jack got him another beer, but opened a bottle of water for himself. "I know."

"The woman hates me."

"Jane?"

"No, Sara."

"Why?"

"Beats the
hell
out of me." He shuddered. "And she looked like she
wanted
to."

"Gonna go out with her again?"

"Sara?"

"No, Jane."

"Oh. Yeah, definitely." Austin took a drink. "Sorry, my brain is shot."

"I can tell."

Why the hell am I thinking about Sara?
He closed his eyes and called up the image of Jane at her door. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. Her tousled hair spilled over her shoulders in all directions; her shirt and jeans fit nice and snug. And barefoot too. Very sexy. Very....

Damn it!
Something else bothered him. Sara had said she'd be the one picking up the pieces when he left Jane, but right now, he couldn't imagine doing that to her. Most of his relationships didn't last through next Tuesday, but he couldn't see an end to this one yet.
Hm... do I like that or not?

"So other than the psycho roommate, how was your night?"

"Great. She's an amazing cook, even better than my mother."

"Wow."

"Don't tell my mom I said that."

"Hey, if I lie to her, she won't feed me anymore."

"I got no problem with that. More for me."

"So how far did you get with her?"

"You're talking about Janie, right?"

"Yeah, dumbass."

Austin held up three fingers. "And then psycho roommate walked in on us."

"Oh, man, that had to hurt."

"Uh-huh."

"But anticipation can be a lot of fun."

"Anticipation makes you insane."

"That explains a lot."

"Yeah."

He'd never dealt with anticipation before. He couldn't wait to see her again, but not just because he wanted to finish what they'd started. No, he couldn't wait to talk with her and laugh with her. He wanted to argue with her some more. He'd fought with women before, but when Jane fought back, she challenged him and made him think. Fighting with her excited him... almost as much as foreplay.

Austin frowned and wondered if he should enjoy that as much as he had.

"You okay, man?"

He jumped. How did Jack know? The guy had a gift for reading people. "Yeah, I'm fine." He got up and headed to his bedroom. "I just gotta figure out how to get some sleep tonight."

"No running around the football field?"

"Nope. That's not gonna cut it."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Austin looked back at his friend and laughed. "Jack, you're way too sensitive. Are you sure you're a guy?"

"Angie says so. You didn't answer my question."

"I don't even know what to talk about." Austin shut his bedroom door then opened it again. "That means no."

"I got it."

But before the latch clicked, he popped the door open again and spun back to the living room, pacing and snarling at Jack. "Why am I so...? Why can't I find the words?"

"Confused?"

"Yeah, that's one word." He plopped down on the couch and ripped his hands through his hair. "I promised Janie a good time—nothing more."

"But you want more."

"Yeah."

"And that scares the shit out of you."

He growled at Jack, but his friend wouldn't retreat. "I promised Natalie I'd wait for her to graduate."

"I remember."

"One year. I'd wait for her to join me here, and I swore I wouldn't see anyone else."

Jack nodded. "Shocked the hell out of me, but I knew you'd do your best."

"But she didn't care. My leaving for college wasn't the problem. She said my future was too uncertain. I had no plan. 'What if you get hurt and don't make it in the NFL? What will you do then?' I couldn't answer her."

"You can now."

"Yes, I can."

"So why is that keeping you from being with Jane?"

"It isn't. It's something else."

"You don't want to get hurt again."

"Stop reading my mind, Jack."

"I can read you like a freaking book. Want to know what I think?"

"You're gonna tell me, whether I want to or not."

"True. I think you might get hurt again."

"That's comforting."

"But I think you've gotta take the chance. Jane's worth it."

"I know
she
is." Austin looked straight into his best friend's eyes and saw his uncertain face mirrored back at him. "Am
I
?"