Let It Snow (The Hope Falls Series) (23 page)

Tessa could only hear the loud pants of her breath and a faraway ringing sound in her ears as she came back down from her earth-shattering release. Jake’s arms and body were the only things that kept her from falling to the floor. Her legs felt like wet noodles. She felt like all of her strength and stress had just drained out of her.

Never before in her life had she experienced such a powerful orgasm. It didn’t surprise her at all that it would be at Jake’s hands. As a teen, she’d enjoyed sex with Jake, and he’d always made sure that she’d had at least one orgasm, but it had never felt like the one she’d just had. At the time, she’d been young, and even though she’d always felt completely safe and protected with Jake, she’d had insecurities like any teenage girl and had been inhibited.

But she wasn’t anymore.

A second wind of desire swept over her as she drifted back into the present. Tessa could feel Jake’s rock-hard member pressing firmly against her butt. Not suffering from any of the shyness that she had when she was younger, Tessa turned in Jake’s arms, excitement and anticipation flooding her system. Looking up into his gorgeous, heavy-lidded brown eyes lined with dark, thick lashes, Tessa sweetly smiled. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he repeated as he grinned down at her, his thumbs sensually rubbing up and down her lower back.

Standing in front of him, breasts hanging out, pants unzipped after just coming at his touch, Tessa would have thought that a small bit of embarrassment might have tried to creep in. But the opposite actually occurred.

She felt sexy. Powerful even. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to the strong plane of his chest. He took in a deep breath through his nose, and his palms moved down, cupping her rear and kneading it in his hands.

Peppering kisses across Jake’s muscular chest, she stopped to pay extra attention to each one of his nipples, her tongue passing over them before lightly nipping each bud with her teeth. Then she moved lower, sucking and licking her way down his ripped abdomen. Tessa felt her sexy-slash-powerful energy increasing by the second.

She’d never done what she was about to do with him before. Sure, as an adult, she’d gone down on the few boyfriends she’d had. And she’d enjoyed it. But she’d always regretted that she hadn’t experienced this with Jake.

Time to put that regret to bed, so to speak,
Tessa thought as she bent down on her knees and her fingers grazed the top of his turnout pants.

“Tessa,” Jake gritted out in what she assumed was meant to be a warning, but his deep, gravelly voice came out sounding hotter than a firecracker lit on both ends.

As she ignored his wannabe warning, a thrill raced through Tessa as she unzipped Jake’s pants and saw the outline of his impressive length in his black boxer briefs. Her hand moved over it like metal drawn to a magnet.

Jake moaned and his head dropped back as her fingers molded around his erection, stroking up and down his length. Tessa was almost giddy at the thought that she would finally be able to do
this
with
Jake
.

Somewhere in the back of her consciousness, she was aware that they really didn’t have much time, so as much as she would like to draw this out, to explore every inch of him, she knew that if she wanted to do this she needed to move things along.

So without further ado, she slipped her fingers beneath the elastic waistband of his BVDs and pulled out his shaft. Firmly wrapping her fingers around it, she felt him throbbing in her palm and the sensation sent a burst of bliss exploding in the crux of her thighs. Her mouth watered as she watched her hand move up and down his heavy, rock-hard member. The smooth silkiness of the skin felt like it was covering a steel rod. She loved the feeling of her hand gliding up and down him.

A small white bead of liquid appeared on his engorged tip and Tessa leaned forward and licked it off. A deep groan ripped from his chest, and she felt his fingers thread through her hair. God, she loved it when he ran his hands through her hair.

Just as she was about to open her mouth and take him inside, he fisted his hand and tugged so she was looking up at him. The sensation caused her to cry out as pleasure washed over her, emanating from the sting where his fingers were knotted.

Tessa thought there was a very real possibility that she might come again. Kneeling before Jake while holding his manhood in her hands, her breasts exposed as she looked up at him, his strong chest heaving, his abs tense and showcasing his rippling muscles, the primal look in his eye as he gazed down—all of this was hands-down the most erotic experience she’d ever had.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said with an almost tortured look in his eye.

She knew that he was just trying to protect her because when she was younger she’d never been interested in doing this. But she was all grown up now, and he might not know it but she
absolutely
had to do this.

She felt a wicked smile spread across her lips as she held eye contact with him and opened her mouth over the large head of his hardened groin. A guttural sound filled the air as she pulled him into her mouth with a wet suction. She slid her tongue up and down his length as her lips tightened around him.

With one hand, she held on to his hip for balance as the other stroked the base of his erection, her fingers clasped around it. His fingers spread out as he guided her head up and down. She felt his fingers tense, and his member began growing larger and larger in her mouth.

Picking up the pace, Tessa tightened her lips and fingers around him as she bobbed her head up and down.

“Fuck, that feels good,” he groaned as she continued her sensual assault. She tasted the salty goodness of his arousal just before he warned, “Tessa, I’m gonna come.”

He might have thought that would cause her to pull away. But it had quite the opposite effect. She wanted Jake. All of Jake. Instead of backing off, she doubled her efforts, squeezing him tighter and swirling her tongue in a suctioning pull.

She felt his entire body tense with release as he came. He jerked his head and it fell back as his fingers clenched tightly in her hair. Tessa rode out his orgasm until she had sucked the very last drop of his arousal from him.

Just as he leaned forward and held the desk for support, Tessa heard a knock at the door. Standing, she smiled up at a still-recovering Jake.

“Perfect timing.” She patted his chest and began adjusting her sweater as she moved under his arm to make her way to the bathroom. Calling over her shoulder, she said, “Can you get that? I need to freshen up.”

She didn’t know how he did it, but the next thing she knew, she was turned around, being held in Jake’s arms, and pressed flat against his half-naked body. The corners of his mouth turned up and he had a look in his eye that reminded her of a predatory wolf. “This isn’t over,” he stated.

As much as she wished they could continue this afternoon delight, she had a job to do. “Jake, my next session is here,” she explained as she tried to pull out of his hold.

“When are you done here?” he asked, not letting her go.

“Around six, but then I have to be at JT’s ’til at least midnight.”

“Fine. I’ll see you at JT’s, and I am coming home with you tonight.” His voice sounded like he was trying to lay down the law or convince her of the inevitable.

What she wanted to tell him was, “Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.” But she decided her behavior today had been shocking enough, so instead she just said, “Good.”

His eyes filled with even more fire at her easy acquiescence. Releasing her from his grasp, he swatted her rear playfully as she hurried to the bathroom.

“Hey, Tessa.”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

“I’m gonna kill this. I don’t think anyone should see these until you Photoshop Mr. Happy.”

Tessa burst out laughing at the nickname he’s chosen to give his junk. She nodded as she went into the bathroom and closed the door. Just like the first night she’d been in town, she almost didn’t recognize the image staring back at her.

Her face was flushed, her lips were swollen, her clothes were rumpled in undress, and her hair was a mess. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as the realization of what had just occurred sank into her.

She’d just had a sexual encounter…with Jake…at Say Cheese…in the middle of the day. Tessa waited to see if she would feel regret. Embarrassment. Shame. Nope. Nope. And nope.

All she felt was excitement and happiness. She had about eight more hours until she and Jake could finish what they’d started in the studio and Tessa couldn’t wait.

‡

J
ake walked into JT’s and his eyes immediately landed on Tessa. She was laughing at something Levi had just said as she poured several drinks at once. A small twinge of jealousy crept up in Jake’s chest. He didn’t like it.

Jealousy was a useless emotion in his book. And he’d never had to deal with it with any other girl he’d been with. Only Tessa.

Jake waved and said ‘hi’ to a couple of guys from the station as he made his way between the tables and chairs. He crossed the room and took a seat at the only empty stool at the bar.

Before he even sat down, Levi had a longneck sitting in front of him. “Hey, Jake. Haven’t seen you around.”

“I’ve been working,” Jake said as he brought the bottle to his mouth and took a swig.

He had been working for the last few days but normally Jake would have been at JT’s at least two nights over his days off last week. Instead, he’d been with Tessa or brooding about her return. Which had just been a week ago.

It was only last Wednesday that his world had stopped spinning and he thought he’d seen a ghost. Jake looked over to the exact spot in the room that he’d laid eyes on Tessa a week ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed in that time.

“Hey, Jakey,” he heard a whiny voice say from behind him, “do you want to play some pool?”

He turned and saw Courtney, who had managed to wear an even more revealing outfit tonight than the last time he’d seen her when she was going commando under a short skirt and practically falling out of her shirt. Tonight, she was wearing a netted, form-fitting dress, and although she had the appropriate undergarments on, the peek-a-boo effect of the fabric—if it could be called that—of her dress left little to the imagination.

“Not tonight, sweetheart.” Jake winked at her and swiveled back around on his stool.

He felt hands running over his shoulders and down his chest as he heard Courtney purring in his ear, “Please? Play with me, Jake.”

Jake had to stop himself from turning around and pushing her off of him. Hard. It was just that the feeling of another woman’s hands on him, now that Tessa had touched him again, made him almost sick to his stomach.

Still, he didn’t want to be a
dick
, as he was so often accused of. So instead of jerking away from her, he stood, causing her hands to fall at their sides, and said, “I’m with someone, actually.”

Was it technically true? No. But there was a truth in the statement. He’d always been with Tessa. Even when she’d left. His heart had gone with her, because she owned it.

An irritated-slash-mad look crossed Courtney’s heavily made-up face. “Who are you with?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jake said, not wanting this conversation to continue. It was not headed in a good direction. He nodded as he moved past her. “Have a good night.”

Luckily, he spotted his sister Nikki. She was seated by herself on a two-top and had her laptop open. He pulled out the stool on the opposite side of the table and sat down. Looking up, she smiled and took out earphones that he hadn’t noticed she’d been wearing.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked as he scooted his chair closer to the table and set his beer down.

“Studying,” she said with a sigh.

“In a bar?” He hadn’t been in school in a while—granted, he hadn’t been the best student when he was in school—but he honestly didn’t think that this environment would really be the most conducive to retaining and processing knowledge. “Is the library closed?”

“Ha ha ha, very funny.” His sister shut her laptop and ran her fingers through her hair. “I had to get out of my house and be around people. I was going stir-crazy.”

Jake had wondered about the transition from flight attendant to full-time student. Nikki was social with a capital S. She needed interactions. Things happening. She got bored faster than five-year-olds.

Jake motioned towards the computer. “How’s it going?”

“Good. Really good,” she beamed, and Jake honestly couldn’t be happier for her.

“And how are things with Maxim’s Most Eligible Bachelor?” Jake asked even though it didn’t take a psychic to figure out the answer.

“Good.” Nikki’s smile grew even brighter as she added, “And he won’t be an eligible bachelor for much longer.”

“True. Poor guy,” Jake said, teasing his sister.

“Shut up,” Nikki said as she swatted his arm, reverting to their go-to comeback as kids. “A
lucky
guy is what he is.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?”

Jake turned and saw Tessa standing beside the table, and like always, his heart picked up speed. His eyes dropped to her jeans, the ones his hand had been inside just a few hours earlier.