Forbidden Heat (19 page)

Jake led Suzie to the dance floor. When he drew Suzie close to his body, his arm around her waist, a brotherly protectiveness rose in Trey. He was extremely conscious of Jake’s hand on his little sister’s lower back . . . of the way her body pressed against his . . . of the intimacy when he leaned in and murmured in her ear. Trey gritted his teeth. Maybe he should just—

“I think our role-playing is leaving Jake feeling a little left out.”

“Did you two do something about that on the way over here?” he asked a little too harshly.

She sent him a sharp questioning gaze. “No. Not really.”

But something about her tone made him think something had happened between them.

“You’re not really jealous of Jake and me, are you? Remember, I’m just pretending to be your girlfriend.”

Trey’s chest tightened. She was just
pretending
to be his girlfriend. Although he knew it was true, he now began to question everything. Did she have any real feelings for him? Had it just been about an exciting illicit sexual relationship with two men all along? He’d started having feelings for this woman . . . and more, he’d begun to believe she had feelings for him, too.

And what about her feelings for Jake? Would this whole relationship end up in a competition to win the girl. A competition that would end in the destruction of a friendship—more than a friendship—that had endured for almost sixteen years?

Danielle stepped out of the car in the parking lot by the campus center on Monday morning. The sun was shining but there were a few gray clouds on the horizon. She happily followed Trey and his sisters on a tour of campus, remembering her own time at Carleton Falls University. Tasha would have a great time here. She could spread her wings with confidence, knowing her older brother was close by if she needed support.

After an hour of walking around campus, they went to the campus center and stopped in the little café. After picking up their beverages at the counter, they sat down and relaxed for a few minutes.

“It’s eleven now,” Trey said, looking at his watch. He turned to Tasha. “We have a meeting with Dr. Gemina at noon. You can ask her about the different programs you might like to apply to.”

“It was great she agreed to spend time with Tasha,” Suzie said.

Trey smiled. “One of the perks of working at the university. Making great contacts to help your kid sister sort out her future.”

Tasha smiled, then took the last sip of her strawberry frappuccino. “I’d like to head to the bookstore now.”

Trey stood up, his coffee in hand. Danielle finished her tea as they walked past the other tables, and dropped her empty cup in the garbage near the door as they left the café.

“I’d like to buy another sweatshirt,” Suzie said. “The one I got last time is really comfortable, but it’s wearing out.”

“That’s here in the campus center store,” Danielle told her. “Do you want to stop there first?”

“No, you all go ahead to the bookstore. I’ll meet you over there later. I’d like to browse for a bit.”

“Do you want me to show you where it is?” Danielle asked.

“No, I remember. I’ve been here a bunch of times. Really, I just want to poke around at my own speed.”

“Okay, Suzie. See you later,” Trey said.

A knock sounded at Jake’s office door. He didn’t have any appointments this morning. It was probably a student wanting to ask about marks or maybe help understanding the latest essay assignment.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Suzie, Trey’s sister, popped her head in the door.

“Hi, there,” she said.

“Hi. Come on in. What are you doing here?”

Suzie stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. She carried a couple of blue plastic bags he recognized from the campus stores.

“Trey thought it would be a good idea to show Tasha around campus today. Tasha is meeting with a Dr. Gemina at noon.”

She sat down in the guest chair facing his desk and placed the bags at her feet.

Jake nodded. “Good idea. She’ll be able to help Tasha figure out the best program for her and advise her on what courses to take. She can also suggest scholarships she might be eligible for.”

“So . . .” She smiled, looking slightly nervous. “I wanted to stop by and tell you I had a good time last night.”

Uh-oh.
“Yes, it was fun. The four of us get along well together.”

“Sure . . . but I mean specifically . . . I enjoyed being with you.” She perched on the edge of the chair. “I felt that there was . . . a bit of a spark between us.” She glanced down at her hands, which were clasped in her lap, then back to him. “I don’t mean to be forward but . . . I wondered if you might like to get together for dinner one day this week . . . without Trey and Danielle, or Tasha. Just to see if there might be something worth pursuing.”

He sighed and stepped out from behind his desk, then perched on the edge, facing her.

“Suzie, I really like you. . . .”

She smiled. “Good.”

“But . . . Well, I’m seeing someone.”

She stood up and stepped toward him. “And this someone . . . is it serious?”

“Well, uh . . .”

Damn, if she only knew the truth. It would send her running at lightning speed.

She stepped a little too close and her hand brushed across his cheek. “It sounds like the jury’s still out on that. So maybe there is a chance for me.” She stared at him with her dark brown eyes. “You know, ever since I first met you, I’ve had kind of a crush on you. I’ve always wanted to explore the possibilities, but . . . there’s never been a chance. I just thought that . . .”

As she stared at him with wide eyes, his gut clenched at having to turn her down. Here she was putting her feelings on the line and . . . he hated having to do this.

“Suzie, you’re a very attractive woman and—”

Before he could finish his sentence, she leaned in and kissed him. Her soft lips caught him by surprise, and he tried to jerk back only to realize that her arms were encircled around his neck, holding him immobile.

He stood up, which only served to bring their bodies tighter together.
Nooo!
This couldn’t be happening. This was Trey’s sister.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Suzie pulled back and stared around at a very angry-looking Trey standing at the door, Danielle peering in from behind him.

Sixteen

Shock pummeled Danielle at the sight of Jake kissing Suzie. “Oh, Jake, how could you? She’s Trey’s sister.”

Suzie stepped back from Jake and turned toward Trey and Danielle. “If Jake and I want to—”

Trey’s fists clenched at his sides. “Suzie, don’t. You don’t know what you’re getting in the middle of here.”

She straightened her back. “So maybe you should tell me.”

“It’s not up to me.” He glared at Jake. “And it’s not the time. Tasha has an appointment in ten minutes and I thought you wanted to be a part of that.”

Suzie sighed. “Yes, of course.” She turned to Jake. “We can talk later?”

Jake nodded, knowing he’d have to set her straight.

She walked to the door.

“Tasha’s going to meet us there, but we’d better hurry.” Trey glanced around at Danielle, who still stood at the door. “Danielle, are you coming?”

“No, you go ahead. You don’t need me in the meeting. I was just going to shop around the bookstore a little more anyway.”

Trey glanced at her, then at Jake, and nodded his head.

Once they’d disappeared down the hall, she stepped into Jake’s office and closed the door.

“Danielle, it wasn’t what it looked like.”

“That’s a little clichéd, isn’t it?” She kept her voice light, despite the sick feeling in the depths of her stomach.

“Okay, sure, Suzie was kissing me . . . but I wasn’t kissing her back. She came here to tell me she thought there might be something between us. I told her there was someone else.”

“And so she decided to jump your bones?”

“No, she’s not like that. She asked if my relationship was serious and . . . I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation. Do you honestly think that with everything going on with you and Trey and me, I’d be sleazy enough to pull Trey’s kid sister into the mix? What do you take me for?”

“You’re right,” Danielle said. “I’m sorry. I saw you two together and . . . it freaked me out that you were ruining your chances with Trey.”

“Who are we kidding, Danielle? Wanting to get Trey and me back together again is more your idea than mine.”

“But . . . I thought . . .”

He stepped toward her and gently grasped her shoulders. “It’s driving me crazy seeing you and Trey as a couple . . . feeling totally outside the relationship.” He captured her lips in an intense kiss, then gazed at her with blazing navy blue eyes. “Damn it. What are we doing here, Danielle? You and I . . . and Trey? Where can it lead?” He drew her closer. “I want
you
.”

Her heart quivered, both with delight and fear at how this whole thing was flying out of control . . . and might leave all three of them an emotional mess.

“What about Trey?” she asked for a second time.

“Of course I have feelings for Trey, but . . . don’t you think if it was going to work out it would have by now? I think I’d be kidding myself to believe that we can pick it up again, and even if we did . . . there was always something missing between us.”

Staring into his intense blue eyes, she saw the vulnerability there. He stroked her hair behind her ear with a gentle brush of his fingers.

“But with you . . .” His hesitation left words unsaid. Words she wanted to hear him say.

Finally, he pulled her tight to his chest, his strong arms firm around her.

“God, I want you so much.”

Jake wanted to tell her he was falling in love with her . . . but he couldn’t do that. Not now. Not with things so messed up. But he did show her. He leaned in and kissed her, his mouth moving on hers with all the pent-up passion and desire pulsing through him.

She melted against him, her soft breasts crushed against his chest.

“I want you so badly,” he said as he held her tight against him, stroking her hair. And he didn’t mean physically, though his body was thrumming with painful need, his erection pushing tight against his confining jeans.

“Jake, I . . .” She gazed up at him with her wide emerald eyes. “I want you, too.”

He cupped her cheeks and kissed her. He could feel her hands moving along her blouse, and when he released her lips, he saw that she’d unfastened the buttons.

Opening to him. Inviting him.

Her sexy pink lace bra accentuated her lovely round breasts. He stroked over one and she smiled, then lifted her lips to his. He lifted her onto the desk and she drew her full skirt upward, revealing her pink lace panties.

He stroked up her silken thighs, then stepped between them. She ran her hand over his pulsing erection, then released his zipper and reached inside. He almost groaned at the feel of her delicate hand wrapping around his twitching near-to-bursting cock.

He wanted to ravage her breasts, to lean down and kiss her pussy until she reached the ultimate orgasm . . . but right now, he needed to be inside her.

Maintaining riveting eye contact, he pressed closer to her. She drew out his cock and pressed it against her pussy, pushing the crotch of her panties aside. He eased forward, slowly pressing himself into her. Her moist heat swallowed his cockhead. He pushed deeper, her hot depths swallowing him slowly, bit by bit.

It was like coming home. Warm. Welcoming.

Loving.

Her body embraced him as he eased inside her.

Once he was fully immersed, he continued to stare into her eyes. He saw a need there . . . as great as his own.

He kissed her, their lips bonding in intense passion. His tongue dipped inside her, diving deep. She answered with a swirl of her tongue.

His cock twitched and she murmured in pleasure. He pressed his hand to her lower back and pulled her tighter to him, pushing deeper still.

“Ohhh . . .” Her eyes darkened and she actually looked close. . . . Sure he was inside her, but he’d hardly done anything. Except kiss her.

She opened her legs wider and wrapped them around him, then arched against him.

His cock pushed impossibly deep into her wonderful heat. He groaned at the intensely erotic sensation.

She clung to his shoulders tightly, as though hovering on the edge, her gaze still locked on his.

He drew back, then glided forward. She tightened around him and arched forward again. Her breathing grew labored. He drew back again, and thrust forward.

“Ohh . . .” She gasped.

As he moved inside her, she moaned. Her eyelids dropped closed briefly—then, as he pulled back again, and dove deep . . . she lost it. Her eyelids fell closed and she moaned with abandon. He thrust and thrust again, watching her lovely face contort in sheer pleasure. His own pleasure built and his body tightened. He captured her lips and kissed her with intense passion. Then . . . he erupted into her in a mind-shattering orgasm.

By two o’clock, Danielle had finished her shopping and sat on a bench outside the bookstore waiting for Trey and his sisters.