An Unexpected Attraction (Love Unexpected Book 3) (16 page)

His pink tongue flicked over the dark tips of her breasts and she bit down on her lip, heat flaring in her belly as he moved from one to the other. He savored them, using vigorous sucking and thorough strokes that left moisture on the areolas and each swollen nipple.

In a rush, he cast aside his jacket and undid his pants. While outside, thunder crashed. A reminder that a storm powerful like the one in the kitchen raged outdoors.

She started to remove her thong, heart racing at the unveiled desire in his eyes as he watched her wiggle free.

“Let me,” he said, his voice strained, his face taut.

Blunt fingertips dragged against her heated skin as he hurried her thong down her legs and tossed it aside. When he’d removed the piece of silk, he lifted one leg and kissed behind her knee, down to her calf, and around her ankle. His tender kisses made her ache even more. She wanted him so much. She wanted him on top of her. She wanted him
inside
of her. Gathering the full skirt of her dress, she hauled the material up past her hips and exposed her nakedness to his full view.

Breathing labored, his eyes remained riveted between her legs, as if he couldn’t decide what to do next. Then his jaw tightened, and with nostrils flaring, he dropped his pants. He had barely lifted both her legs before he fed his body into hers with utmost urgency. Knees pushed back into her chest, she cried out, full and stretched. His hands gripped her hips, bruising the tender skin as he plunged into the wet sheath of her body. His face transformed into a heated mask of lust, and his lips parted on each ragged, exhalation of breath. The rawness of uncensored emotion in his face sent her heart tripping against her breastbone and heightened the arousal that dominated every molecule of her body.

Even with her limited mobility, they moved together, perfectly in tune, pumping faster. The table protested and the wooden feet squeaked across the surface of the tile with each significant movement.

The kitchen lights flickered from the raging storm, but that didn’t stop them. It didn’t slow them down. If anything, it made their actions even more frenzied. Covering her throat and shoulders in kisses, he was careful not to overlook a single inch of skin.

The pouring rain swathed the room in dull light and noise from its heavy drops. Lightning flashed as the teacup fell to the floor and shattered. Brenda didn’t even acknowledge the crash. She didn’t dare, refused to even slow down lest Jay stopped. Instead, her fingers climbed into the loose curls of his hair.

He pumped his hips with such concentrated intensity, all she could do was yield to the power of each thrust and raise her hips with the same level of urgency.

Sharp cries of pleasure ripped from her throat. She arched her body into the strength of his. The flat surface gave no comfort to her back, but she couldn’t care less. All she wanted was more and more of Jay.

He thrust faster and faster, fucking her like his life depended on it, fucking her like he wanted to climb inside her body. They didn’t stop until the explosion of stars behind their eyes signaled the climactic end to their wild, out of control tryst.

****

Brenda sat on the table, holding her bodice up under her arms as best she could because she couldn’t reach the back to zip her dress. Jay zipped his pants but left the wrinkled shirt tails out. His hair was sticking up in several spots from the work of her busy fingers.

He appeared totally unkempt, yet sexy and masculine at the same time. It almost pained her to look at him because she wanted him again with such an acute level of need.

Her eyes darted to, and then quickly away from, her thong crumpled against the baseboard in the corner. The spilled tea had sprayed the bottom of two of the cabinets, and shards of glass lay scattered across the tile.

Jay cleared his throat. “I—”

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” she said quickly. “Because I’m not.”

His eyes remained on her, contemplating, assessing. “How do you feel?”

She ducked her head and rearranged the skirt of her dress. “I’m not sure, but it was almost inevitable, don’t you think?” They no longer had the wherewithal to resist the potent attraction between them.

“Yes.”

She lifted her eyes. She wanted to see his expression when she said the next words. “You’re Jenna’s ex-husband.”

A muscle in his jaw flexed. “That should have been enough to stop me, but it didn’t.”

“It didn’t stop me, either.” She made a failed attempt at a smile. Instead, her upper lip trembled. “Obviously what we did was spur-of-the-moment.”

“Obviously.”

Brenda smoothed the wrinkles in her skirt, her eyes pinned to the plush fabric. “Staying away from each other hasn’t worked very well,” she said in a low voice. The rain was still coming down and the sounds created a solemn backdrop to her words.

He didn’t respond, and she looked up at him again. The determination in his eyes was a response even before he spoke. “I can’t stay away from you anymore.” His jaw tightened. “I can’t do another twelve years.” His voice lowered as he came nearer. His eyes transfixed her, and they were so close she felt his breath on her face when he spoke. “I can’t do another year. I can’t do another month, I can’t do another
day
without you.”

He kissed her again. Moist, soft kisses, and she kissed him back.

“
Ho bisogno di te
,” he said against her mouth, looking down at her through heavy-lidded eyes. “
Ti desidero
.”

Her top fell away and he lifted one hand to cup her naked breast. He dropped a kiss on the soft skin. Then he picked her up from the table with great care. She tightened her arms around his neck and stared into his grey eyes. The pupils were dilated and the irises dark and stormy with desire.

“Bedroom,” he said.

Brenda nodded. “Yes. Yes,” she said in a shaky, breathless whisper. She needed more of him, all of him, knowing that she’d never be satisfied with anything less.

He covered her mouth again and strode with her in his arms to the bedroom.

Chapter
Sixteen

The kind of loving they’d shared made Jay not want to move, not want to do anything but stay wrapped around her, their naked bodies spooning. To just lay here and smell her and bask in the fact that she was finally his at last.

Dawn hadn’t broken yet, but it was coming soon enough, and he wondered how Brenda would react when she had to face what they’d done in the daylight.

In the room’s ambient light, he examined her in detail—what he’d wanted to do for years. He pulled gently at the curls at the back of her neck. Soft, like her skin.

His blunt fingertips traced the line of her spinal cord. The terrain of her back was a mixture of browns—deep amaretto at the top that faded to a patch of medium brown above her bottom.

Two flat moles on the right below her shoulder blade drew his lips. He pressed kisses there and let his tongue savor the salty goodness of her skin.

Brenda came awake with languid stretches. As she moved, his hand slid over her hip and down to her thigh. He felt himself getting hard at the prospect of early morning sex.

“Do you regret it?” he murmured into her neck.

She didn’t answer right away, and he thought she wouldn’t answer at all.

Then, quietly, “No.”

He breathed easier and contented himself with nibbling the shell of her ear.

“We have to tell Jenna, and we have to tell Nick.”

At the mention of Nick, Jay bristled, recalling how Nick had rubbed their night together in his face.

“Nick will be devastated,” she said.

Not that Jay gave a shit. “You’re exaggerating,” he said against her shoulder. He rubbed his hand over her soft belly. Now that he had permission to touch her at will, he might never stop.

Brenda looked back at him. “I’m not.”

She rolled over onto her back, offering him a nice view with the colorful sheet twisted around her waist. Her breasts weren’t particularly large, but they were lovely to look at. Brown and smooth, with large, almost black nipples jutting up at him because she was partially aroused. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her more appealing than in that moment. It was probably his male ego, but with the tousled hair and the passion mark on her neck, she looked like a woman who had been ravished all night. Mentally he patted himself on the back. He’d been the lucky bastard who’d had the good fortune to do the ravishing.

He kissed the tip of each breast.

“Jay.” A finger under his chin lifted his gaze to hers. Her voice had been firm, but she was smiling. “He’s always been a little jealous of you.”

She pulled the sheet up over her breasts and he dragged it back down.

He frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Some comments he’s made a few times make me think so. I thought it was in the past, but I don’t think so anymore.”

“We’ve had friendly male competition, yes, but…it’s not what you’re suggesting. It’s a man thing.”

“No, it’s not.” He could see her wrestling with the decision to share more. She gnawed the corner of her mouth. “He thinks you’ve lived an easy, maybe even a charmed life, because of your family’s wealth and…you know, all the women you’ve slept with.”

He reared back on an elbow to get a good look at her. “Are you saying you don’t want to tell him? I want to continue seeing you, Brenda. You and
only
you.” He had to make that clear.

“In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve only been in one serious relationship, and that was with Jenna. I don’t have any expectations.” She swallowed, a clear indication that she said what she thought he wanted to hear.

“I
do
have expectations. You’re different. You’re the one I want,” he said. The Italian Stallion comments had gone unchecked for years, but none of those women held a candle to Brenda. For her, he was ready to burn his player card.

Doubt surfaced in her eyes, but she offered a timid smile. “Okay, we can see where this goes—for now. But let’s keep it between us first, okay? Everyone doesn’t have to know, and Nick doesn’t even live here. He’s in Chicago.”

“We have mutual friends,” Jay pointed out. “I’m not sneaking around like a criminal. We’re not doing anything wrong.”

“I’m asking for a little time so I can tell him in my own way.”

“
We’ll
tell him.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t look convinced, and he didn’t see the point in pushing. Their togetherness was too new.

He took her hand and kissed the knuckles. “This was unexpected for me, too. Us, everything. But we have nothing to feel guilty about. Okay?” He stroked her soft cheek.

“Okay.”

They would continue to see each other. Any other course of action didn’t make sense. Not when there was so much passion between them, and not when they knew each other so well.

They agreed Jenna would have to be told first, so even Sophie couldn’t know yet. Jay suggested they wait until after the boys’ birthday party in October. He wanted to tell his ex-wife in person, and he’d do it when he traveled to Bradenton.

“Now how about some morning sex,” he murmured.

She giggled and opened her legs to welcome him.

****

They spent the next couple of weeks before the trip getting the property in Grant Park ready for sale. Jay donated most of the furniture to charity but saved a few pieces for the house in Alpharetta. It was his year to have the boys for the holidays, and he planned to have the house decorated in time for Christmas. With the help of Brenda and an interior designer, he selected homey, comfortable furniture for the dining room and great room.

The designer found a bedroom set at a high-end store in Midtown that they both loved. With the three rooms he’d use most often ready, Jay moved into the new house.

The night before he went to Bradenton, he and Brenda were both at the house. Jay reclined on the sofa and Brenda prepped dinner in the kitchen. His house already felt like a home with her spending so much time there.

He watched her come into the room. She wore tight-fitting jeans and a green cashmere sweater. She’d been quiet ever since she arrived, and Jay knew she worried about the weekend’s outcome after he told Jenna about their relationship.

He opened his arms. “Come here.”

She came to him and settled against his chest. She fit perfectly against his ribs, like she’d belonged there all along. He brushed her bangs from her face and kissed her forehead. Gently, he rubbed her back. “It’ll be fine,” he said.

“I’m glad you think so. After everything Jenna’s done for me…”

“You don’t owe her for the rest of your life,” he chided.

“She spoke to her father on my behalf, and he opened doors for me. I wouldn’t have this job today if it weren’t for the doors he opened. No one would have hired me as an assistant editor straight out of college. I had no experience.”

“Her father may have arranged an interview at the magazine in Chicago, but you impressed them in the interview. That’s why they hired you. And now you’re the entertainment editor for the
ER
. That’s all you—earned on your own merits.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t sound convinced.

He knew she had other concerns. Mostly that somehow her behavior would be seen as improper, similar to the way her mother often behaved.

“What’s the alternative?” he asked gently, stroking her hair. “That we sneak around? Or would you prefer that we stay away from each other for another twelve years? I don’t know about you, but I can’t live in that kind of torture again. Certainly not now. Not when I know what true happiness is.”

She lifted her head, and her expression softened. “You’re right, of course. Now that I know real happiness, I don’t want anything less, either.” She touched his cheek. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come, too?”

“I think having you there would make the situation worst. She’d think you were coming there to spend time with her, and then we’d blindside her with our relationship. It’s better this way.”

She nodded and looked thoughtful for a while. “Have you heard from Nick?”

“No, have you?”

“Once. He admitted he told you about the night in Italy and apologized. We only talked for a few minutes, and I haven’t heard from him since then.”