Jake’s expression was clenched so tightly in a frown his eyebrows met over his eyes. ‘Did he actually say that to you?’
‘He didn’t need to,’ she said on an expelled breath. ‘I’m the one no one wants. It should be tattooed across my forehead—Unwanted.’
Jake’s hands tightened on her arms. ‘That’s not true. I want you. I’ve wanted you for years.’
Jaz moistened her tombstone-dry lips. ‘You do? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?’
He brought her close against his body. ‘Do you think I could fake that?’
She felt the thickened ridge of him swelling against her body. ‘Oh...’
‘I’ve always kept my distance because I don’t want the same things you want,’ he said. ‘I’m not interested in marriage—it’s not my gig at all. But a fling is something else. I don’t even do those normally. My longest relationship was four days when I was nineteen.’
She pulled at her lower lip with her teeth. ‘So you’d agree to a fling with me? Just for a week or two?’
He brushed his thumb over her savaged lip. ‘As long as you’re absolutely clear on the terms. I’m not going to be that guy waiting at the altar of a church aisle for the bride to show up. I’m the guy working his way through the bridesmaids.’
‘I happen to be one of the bridesmaids,’ Jaz said. ‘At two weddings.’
He gave her a sinful smile as his mouth came down to hers. ‘Perfect.’
It was a smouldering kiss with an erotic promise that made Jaz’s body quake and shudder with want. Every time his tongue touched hers a dart of lust speared her between the legs. Her body wanted him with a desperation she had never felt with such intensity before. It moved through her flesh in tingling waves, making her aware of her erogenous zones as if it was the first time they had been activated. Her breasts were pressed up against his chest, her nipples already puckered from the friction of his hard body. Her hands fisted in his sweater, holding him in case he changed his mind and pulled back.
His mouth continued its passionate exploration of hers, his tongue making love with hers until she was making whimpering sounds of encouragement and delight.
His light stubble grazed her face as he changed position, his hands splaying through her hair as he held her in an achingly tender embrace. He lifted his mouth off hers, resting his forehead against hers. ‘Let’s not rush this,’ he said.
‘I thought you lived in the fast lane?’ Jaz said, tracing his top lip with her fingertip.
His expression was gravely serious as he caught her hand and held it in the warmth of his against his chest. ‘You deserve more than a quick tumble, Jaz. Way more.’
She looked into the sapphire density of his gaze and felt a fracture form in the carapace around her heart like a fissure running through a glacier. ‘Are you worried about what happened in the past? Then don’t be. I’m fine with sex. I’ve had it heaps of times.’
‘But do you enjoy it?’
‘Of course I do,’ she said then added when he gave her a probing look, ‘Well, mostly.’
He threaded his fingers through her hair like a parent finger-combing a child’s hair. ‘Are you sure you want to go through with this? It’s fine if you’ve changed your mind. No man’s ever died from having an erection, you know.’
Jaz couldn’t help smiling. ‘Perhaps not, but I think I might if you don’t finish what you started.’
He brought his mouth back down to hers, giving her a lingering kiss that was hot, sexy, sweet and tender at the same time. His hands gently moved over her, skimming her breasts at first before coming back to explore them in exquisite detail. He peeled away her top but left her bra in place, allowing her time to get used to being naked with him. He kissed his way down the slope of her breast, drawing on her nipple through the lace of her bra, which added a whole new dimension of feeling. Then, when he had removed his sweater and shirt, he unhooked her bra and gently cradled her breasts in his hands.
Jaz wasn’t generously endowed but the way he held her made her feel as if she could be on a high street billboard advertising lingerie. His thumbs brushed over each of her nipples and the sensitive area surrounding them. He lowered his mouth to her puckered flesh and subjected her to the most delicious assault on her senses. The nerves beneath her skin went into a frenzy of excitement, her blood thrumming with the escalation of her desire.
She ran her hands over his muscled chest, delighting in the lean, hard contours of his body. He hadn’t followed the trend of being completely hairless. The masculine roughness of his light chest hair tickled her fingers and then her satin-smooth breasts as he drew her closer. It made her feel more feminine than she had ever felt before.