Jade smacked him on the shoulder. “You know full well what I mean. Condoms.”
He grinned. “Yes, I do.” Harley pulled away from her, obviously admiring every bare inch of her body as he revealed it. Then he crossed the hallway to the guest room, where he’d left his luggage.
Seconds later he returned with a fistful of gold foil packets. “Feeling ambitious?” she asked, as he tossed them onto the dresser beside the bed.
“I’m feeling like I’ve got a few years of making up to do.” Harley reached for one and dropped it next to her on the mattress. “I also need to make up for the subpar lovemaking I offered you when we were teenagers. My form has improved greatly since then.”
Jade smiled. She expected—even fantasized—that sex with Harley would be hot and frantic, but she was amazed to find that lying here with him was more comfortable than anything else. Laughter and desire blended together in a way she never could’ve expected. That was even better than some frenzied rush to the finish line. Jade was certain the frenzy would come soon enough, but it was nice to enjoy this moment, as well.
“Has it, now?” she teased.
Harley arched a brow. “Was that a challenge?”
She shrugged her shoulders and lay back against the mattress. “Make of it what you will.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, she felt his hand dip between her thighs and spread them apart. His focused gaze never left hers as his fingers sought out her center. She gasped as he gently brushed over her sensitive parts, teasing her by never fully touching her where she desired it the most. Then, when she couldn’t stand it a moment longer, he stroked her hard and her body arched up off the bed.
Jade gasped and writhed, tensed and squirmed beneath his touch. He dipped his fingers inside her, rubbing the heel of his palm against her clit in a motion that made her every nerve ending light up. Within seconds of him strok
ing her that way, she could feel her long-denied release building up inside.
“So close,” she said between short breaths.
“That’s it,” he coaxed. “Let go, baby.”
Jade didn’t have much choice. With another stroke of his palm, her orgasm exploded through her body. She was rocked by the intensity of it, as though the last few years without a lover had built up inside and burst from her all at once.
This was one of Harley’s new moves and she approved.
Even as she lay on the bed, her whole body almost liquid, she reached out for him. Her fingers curled around the firm heat of his desire and slowly stroked him from base to tip. She didn’t have a lot more experience to show off from their time apart, but she remembered how he liked to be touched.
Nothing had changed there. Within seconds of her touching him, Harley pulled away with a curse. That meant she was doing everything right. He grabbed the condom on the bed and sheathed himself.
Jade welcomed him with open arms as he covered her body with his own. They fitted together perfectly, each of her curves molding to his hard angles. When he filled her, that fitted perfectly, too. She drew her legs up, letting him go deeper, and clung to his back with sharp nails that dug into his skin the harder he thrust.
The closer he got to his undoing, the tighter he held Jade against him. His fingertips eventually slipped through the strands of her hair, grasping a fistful at the base of her scalp. The grip was gentle but firm, tugging her head back and exposing her throat to him. She whimpered, teetering on the edge of pleasure and pain, but realizing that the harder he pulled, the closer she came to losing control once again.
His teeth grazed her throat and she could feel the vibration of a growl from deep inside him. “Harder,” she whispered, and it seemed to be exactly what he needed to hear.
His grip on her hair tightened, holding her perfectly still as he thrust into her with everything he had. The combination put Jade over the edge and the spasms of her orgasm brought on Harley’s own release. With a loud groan, he thrust into her one last time, and it was done. He collapsed against her, his face buried in her shoulder for a moment before he rolled onto his back and away from her.
Jade let her body relax into the bed and took a deep breath. Even then, her mind was spinning. That was unexpected. The whole thing. And now that it was over, she wasn’t sure what to do. Cuddle? Nap? Get up and make dinner? Thank him for the orgasms and put her clothes back on? She’d never had a fling before, so she wasn’t quite sure what came next.
Without a better option, she pressed a kiss to Harley’s cheek, rolled out of bed and went to take a shower. Maybe the hot water and breathing room would clear her mind and she could figure out the path forward.
If she was honest, the path would probably lead right back into bed with him.
* * *
Harley was confused.
Sex had rarely been a complicated thing in his mind. It was a physical release, a meeting of desires, nothing more. And that was what it was supposed to be with Jade. That’s what he’d told himself, at least. But things always seemed to be more complex when Jade was involved. At least it was this time. He didn’t recall it being like this the first time. There had been emotions involved back then. Puppy love, he supposed.
That was a long time ago. Things were different now. They were both mature and there was an unspoken understanding that this tryst had a time limit. He would conclude his investigation and go back to DC. She would find her family and move on with her new life. This temporary connection should be simple and enjoyable, without a bunch of expectations and romantic notions.
But now, it was the decided lack of emotions from Jade that bothered him.
It wasn’t that she was disengaged or not attracted to him. The opposite was true. She had blossomed into an enthusiastic and skilled lover over the years. He tried not to think too hard about where she’d learned some of the things she’d done to him the night before. It made him want to drive to the prison just so he could punch Lance in the face.