A Brother's Honor (20 page)

Chapter Twenty

J
ace stopped dead in Shana’s bedroom doorway. If he had any doubt she was into bright colors, it was more evident in here. Splashes of bright yellow covered the walls, and vivid lime-green curtains adorned her windows. Her bedspread seemed to be a rainbow coalition with solid-colored pillows of red, green, blue and orange. He slid his gaze from the pillows to where she stood beside the bed. She’d already removed her blouse and was removing her bra.

“May I join this party?” he asked, moving from the doorway to stand in the middle of the room.

She glanced over at him and her smile had a spark of eroticism. “By all means. You’re the guest of honor.” She then tossed her bra to him.

He couldn’t help but chuckle when he caught it. Black lace. He was seeing another side of Shana, one he liked. It seemed that once she’d made up her mind about moving ahead with their affair, she was jumping in with both feet. She might have regrets tomorrow, but none were showing now. He hadn’t known what to expect when she came to the door, wasn’t sure she would let him in. Now he was in her bedroom, watching her undress.

“You’re slow. Having second thoughts?”

He glanced over at her at the same time she was easing her shorts down her thighs. Seeing her had his body responding, hardening. He was propelled into action and quickly began removing his clothes.

“Beat you.”

She was there, naked, right in front of him before he could remove his pants. He couldn’t help stopping what he was doing to reach out and knead the twin globes, liking how they felt in his hands when he gently squeezed. He thought her breasts were beautiful, and the lusciousness of them taunted him.

He heard the catch of her breath as the tips of his fingers gently caressed her nipples, loving the turgid texture. When she laid her hands flat on his chest and leaned into him, he left her breasts to snake his arms around her back to give her support when it seemed her knees had weakened.

“Let me get you in that bed before I make love to you right here, standing up.”

When she raised her brows inquiringly, he smiled and said, “Yes, it’s possible, trust me.” And then he swept her into his arms and walked the short distance to the bed and placed her on it.

He took a step back to unclip the cell phone from his belt to place it on her nightstand next to the bed before he undid the belt. He tossed it into an empty chair. He glanced over at her, saw her watching when he slid his pants and briefs down his legs.

“I missed this part the last time,” she explained. “I was too busy taking off my own clothes.”

Jace sat on the edge of the bed to remove his socks and could feel her fingertips tracing up and down the swell of his back. It was as if she was intent on discovering the feel of his flesh. He closed his eyes when she scooted up on her knees and began massaging his shoulders. The sensations of her hands on his skin were causing his muscles beneath her fingers to flex in need. And then he moaned deep in his throat when she pressed her chest against his back and deliberately rubbed her breasts against him.

What was she doing to him? And why? As if she read his mind, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him closer and whispered in his ear, “Our affair isn’t meant to last forever, and I want to savor it for as long as I can.” And when her tongue began licking around his ear, leaving damp imprints in its wake, he couldn’t take any more and felt a powerful need to be inside of her.

Shifting his body, he reached behind him, pulled her around to him and lifted her into his lap to face him. Her shapely and curvy legs automatically straddled his waist, then she tilted her hips back at an angle so those same legs could touch the crown of his back.

He would figure out how she’d managed to do that later. The only thing he cared about was that the position presented endless opportunities, and he knew which one he intended to take advantage of first.

Jace held her gaze as he lifted her thighs, aiming his engorged erection straight toward her. He groaned as he slid inside of her heated warmth, burying himself deep, as far as he could possibly go. She moaned, as well, and the look on her face at that moment was priceless. He was able to see the degree of pleasure that flared into her eyes.

He could have made love to her right there in this position, but she deserved a bed this time, and he hadn’t been able to wait a minute longer. Shivers ran through him at the feel of her inner muscles clenching him, holding him tight within her. “Okay, this is how we’re going to do it,” he said, slowly easing to his feet with her legs still wrapped solidly around him.

“I’m going to ease us both down on the bed, all right?”

Instead of answering, she just nodded. He turned slightly, and without disconnecting their bodies, he lowered her to the bed. As soon as her back touched the coverlet, he realized that once again, the thought of a condom hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Still taking the pill, right?” he asked, his breaths forced from his lungs in short, uneven rasps while looking down at her.

She held his gaze as his body straddled hers. “Every day.”

He was glad, because he loved the feel of being skin-to-skin with her, and he was definitely feeling it. The way her muscles contracted around him had him writhing inside. But he wasn’t ready to let go without her being there with him. Jace glanced down at how enticing her breasts looked, and like a magnet, his lips were drawn to her nipples that seemed ripe just for his mouth.

Shana sucked in a deep mouthful of air when the warm tip of Jace’s tongue made circular motions around her nipples before going in for the kill, opening his mouth wide and sucking one in between parted lips. She was filled with a heady rush of pleasure when he began sucking on her nipples with ardent greed. An unadulterated pleasure that spread through every part of her body, especially that part connected to his. She felt him buried deep within her, and although she knew this was nothing more than great sex, an appeasement of testosterones and hormones they’d given in to, she somehow felt more.

She heard herself moan with each suck and lick to her breasts as sensations began to overtake her, and she couldn’t help but reach out and cradle his head to her, holding him there. He was devouring her breasts in a way they’d never been consumed before, and she couldn’t just lie there. She began moving, and when she did, so did he.

She felt the beginning of his hard thrusts as he moved inside of her with sure, firm strokes. She became overwhelmed, engulfed and swept away by passion of the most intense kind. Each thrust went deeper and grew bolder, and when his mouth left her breasts to take control of her mouth, she groaned. This is what made her enter into an affair that she knew wouldn’t go anywhere. Two days ago, she had gotten a taste of Jace, and now she was unashamedly hooked.

He was ravaging her mouth and pounding relentlessly into her simultaneously, nearly driving her over an edge, then jerking her back only to drive her over and over again. Farther and farther, deeper and deeper, he continued thrusting so unerringly between her legs.

“Jace!”

He suddenly broke off the kiss to stare down at her, and the heated gaze in his eyes was filled with intense need, want and desire. In a surprising move, he drew out of her then thrust back in, harder and deeper. It was then that something within her broke. Erupting and tearing into her, sending sensations exploding, her mind reeling and her muscles contracting even more, holding captive the engorged shaft whipping her insides into one delicious orgasm.

Jace increased the rhythm, deepened his thrust, and Shana lifted up her hips when he came pounding down. When she screamed out his name, his body bucked in response. The feel of her insides flooded with his release sent shivers of pleasure through her body, and she tightened her legs around him.

“Shana!”

He groaned out her name, and Shana’s inner muscles contracted, claiming him in a way she thought she would never claim a man. Her flesh continued to pulsate even when he collapsed against her. She wasn’t sure how long they lay there, trying to get their breathing under control. But at some point, she recalled the moment he scooped her body closer to his side with their legs entwined.

Gathering as much energy as she could, she turned her head and stared into the face close to hers. She couldn’t help but smile at him.

“What’s that smile for?” he asked huskily, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

“For giving me something I needed,” she whispered. And she was not ashamed to admit it. Far from it. She was never one not to give credit where credit was due.

“My pleasure, and I will give you just that...pleasure...any time you want it,” he said, brushing a few tendrils back from her face.

Shana felt her heart tighten, and she forced from her mind the idea that this was more than sex, because it wasn’t. This was sex and nothing else. But there was something about his offer, his sensual proposition, that had crazy thoughts running around in her head. “I’ll remember that.”

She was beginning to feel sleepy, although dusk was just settling in outside. It was past her dinnertime. She had planned to go out and grab something at one of the many restaurants located in the strip mall a couple of miles away. But now all she wanted to do was sleep.

As if he knew what she needed, he tucked her head under his chin and curled his arms around her. “Sleep.”

With satisfaction flowing in every part of her body, she drew in a deep breath, inhaled his scent and then closed her eyes to sleep.

* * *

Jace gazed down at the woman who slept in his arms. He no longer questioned the strange phenomenon between them, simply accepted it. There had to be a reason she had this pull on him. He just didn’t know what it was. However, he was certain there was one; otherwise, he wouldn’t be here, in her bed on a Sunday evening when he had a briefcase of papers he still needed to read. But at this moment, those papers were the last thing on his mind. The only thing he wanted to do was think about Shana and remember how much he had enjoyed making love to her just now.

And he had enjoyed it. Probably too damn much.

His ex-wife should have taught him a lesson about letting a pretty face and a hot body rule his mind. But this was the furthest thing from his thoughts. He wanted to believe Shana was different, but all he would be doing was making assumptions since there was a lot about her he didn’t know. Did it matter? Especially when their relationship would only be short and physical. It shouldn’t matter; however, there was a lot about her he wanted to know. Instead of keeping things impersonal, he wanted to get personal. If that wasn’t affecting his frame of mind, he didn’t know what was.

He glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. It was getting late, and neither of them had eaten anything for hours. Not only would they need something to eat, they needed to talk, to set up a plan of action, a strategy. Not about Granger Aeronautics but about them. He figured that during work hours they would be business associates and nothing more. But at other times, they would be lovers.

She shifted in his arms, and he didn’t have to wait long for her eyes to open. She looked up at him. At first, she seemed disoriented, and then her eyes filled with clarity. She pressed her lips together, her mouth lush, and studied his face. He felt the tension leave her body seconds before she spoke in a soft voice. “Hi.”

“Hi. You’re beautiful when you sleep.”

And she had slept naked in his arms. Her breathing had been soft and even, and for some reason he had derived pleasure just lying there and listening to it while inhaling her scent. The air surrounding them was filled with her fragrance mingled with the aroma of sex. He liked the combined smell.

“I don’t know about that,” she said, smiling. “My sister wouldn’t agree. She claims I don’t snore but that I make sounds in my sleep. Do I?”

“None that I heard. She was probably teasing you.”

“Knowing Jules, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

He lifted a brow. “Jules?”

“Short for Juliet. She got tired of the Romeo and Juliet jokes and decided to shorten it in junior high school.”

She pulled herself up in bed and glanced over at the clock. “It’s almost eight. I can’t believe I slept that long.”

He kept his arms around her. “Are you hungry? If so, we can order in.”

She quickly looked up at him. “Aren’t you leaving?”

Was that her way of saying she wanted him gone? “Hadn’t planned on it until we talked.”

Her brows drew together in a questioning frown. “Talk about what?”

“How we’re going to handle our affair.”

Shana’s lips pressed together as she held Jace’s gaze, and then she said, “There’s no need for discussion. It’s not that serious.”

“It is to me.”

She saw the way his jaw had tensed and knew she’d pushed a wrong button. “Look, Jace. I’m the one who made the rules and the one who agreed to break them. If you’re worried that I will not act professional at Granger and corner you somewhere to rip your shirt off or something, you don’t have anything to concern yourself with. No matter how I might have acted in this bed, I know how to control myself.”

A smile touched Jace’s lips as he was thinking she had it all wrong. He was not concerned with her self-control but his own. “And what if I feel the urge to corner you somewhere and rip off your shirt?”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t be too sure of that.”

She studied his features and saw the sensual gleam in his eyes and the lustful look to his lips. Maybe they did need to talk. “I would think the way we conduct ourselves would be self-explanatory.”

“Like it was the other night?”

He did have a point. “Okay. If you need to hear it verbally, then here goes. During office hours, we will conduct ourselves in a professional way and not give any clue that we’re involved.”

“For how long?”

Her eyebrows rose. “What do you mean for how long? For the time we’re in the office.”

“I was asking how long will the affair last?”

Her lips parted in surprise, only because she hadn’t thought of a timetable. “Until this craziness between us wears off.”