Strictly Business Page 15

  She growled, making Mike chuckle again. Finally she blurted out, “He’s being nice.”

  A baffled expression settled on Mike’s face.“Okay, he’s being nice. And this is a bad thing?”

  Jess sighed, her hands settling on her hips, shoulders slumping forward. “Not nice like normal nice. He’s being nice, like weird nice.”

  Mike shook his head, apparently completely nonplussed. “He’s being nice like I am to a client. Like syrupy and all agreeable, even to stupid things. He’s opening doors, pulling out chairs. I even tried to start an argument, and nothing. I don’t understand it.”

  She watched as Mike scratched his head. “Maybe he’s trying to…” Mike trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.

  “See, it makes no sense.” All of a sudden, a cold fear ran through Jess. In addition to being nice, he also hadn’t touched her. At all. He’d held her hand and given her a few quick kisses on the head, but… “Oh, God. He’s trying to break up with me."

  She sort of collapsed down until she was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest.

  “Wait, what? Why do you think that?” Mike knelt down in front of her.

  “He keeps kissing my head, like you do. And a few nights ago he gave me this really long hug.”

  Mike shook his head. “But, that’s all good. It’s affection, Jess. That’s a good thing.”

  “Mike, a hug. Not a kiss, just a hug. Then he went to bed. Alone.”

  “I still don’t think it means what you think it means, Jess. I was there that day when you two heated the room remember?” He sat down on the floor next to her and pulled her head to his shoulder. “Just wait and see, okay? I’m sure everything is fine. You’re worrying over nothing.”

  After a few minutes, Jess forced herself to smile and say, “Maybe you’re right.” She didn’t really believe that, but there was nothing to be done about it one way or the other. She wouldn’t make it easy on him though. If he wanted to end things between them, he was going to have to say it. She would not just slide into the ‘friends’ category. Not with him. She nodded to herself as she got up and got busy. She would make sure he knew she wasn’t going to just fall in line with his plan.

  * * * * *

  After his shower, Jake came down to dinner and saw Jess sitting at the table. She looked like she’d already showered and cleaned up from her day. She was wearing some silky, sexy baby pink shirt. Innocent and seductive at the same time. When she stood up to get a drink he noticed that she was also wearing those really low jeans she had, showing a few inches of her flat, sexy stomach. His hands actually itched with the need to touch her. She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she sat back down. He grabbed a plate and sat down next to her. The guys had started leaving the chair beside her empty for him. Normally he appreciated this, but not right now.

  They ate in silence. Jake was putting all his effort into not touching her. Between that and chewing, he had no brain power left for conversation. After dinner, Jess cleared both her plate and his, then grabbed his hand and pulled him out onto the porch.

  He followed, feeling a little like a man going to the gallows. When she sat on the porch swing, she sat right in the middle, leaving him little choice. Whichever side he sat on, he would be close enough to touch her. He chose her left.

  Jess slid a bit closer, pulling his arm around her shoulder, dropping his hand so it was just skimming her breast. She rested her head against his shoulder, snuggling in to his side.

  Jake was hard as a rock, his erection pulsing against his jeans. He knew there was no way he could resist her, not anymore. He’d been struggling for days to keep his hands off her, knowing that if he started touching her again, he’d never stop.

  She whispered against his neck, “There’s a storm coming.” Jake nodded, his chin rubbing against her silky hair. “I love summer storms. The thunder, the lightning. Stay here and watch it with me?”

  “Yes.” He traced a lazy path down her arm, softly, using just the tips of his fingers.

  They sat together, mostly in silence, watching the sun begin to set. He saw the look of awe on her face as the storm rolled in, blocking the last of the sun. When the rain started it hit fast and hard. There was no drizzle, just a warm, drenching downpour. They watched the last few men run across the lawn, trying to get out of the rain. After a few more minutes, Jess got up. She leaned in to kiss him with a wild light in her eyes then she ran off the porch and into the storm.

  Jake stood and leaned on the rail, watching her dance and spin as the rain soaked through her. She leaned her head back, laughing as the water ran through her hair, down her face. She spun around again, her arms out beside her. Her silky blouse was plastered to her, showing every curve, every dip. He found himself walking out into the rain like a man in a trance. He walked slowly, needing to be with her, yet not wanting to interrupt. He wondered if she knew how sensual, how sexy she looked, dancing in the rain.

  She jumped a little when he stepped behind her, pressing his palm against her abdomen. He leaned in and whispered, “Now, Jess. I need you now.”

  She whirled around looking up into his eyes. Her eyes started to heat with a passion to match his own. When she nodded her agreement his mouth crashed down on hers, tenderness tinged with desperation.

  She twined her arms around his neck, going up on her toes to press her body against his. Their tongues met, tasting, teasing, finally delving deeper. She whimpered as he pulled away.

  He took her hand, pulling her back toward the house. “Let’s go inside.”

  She shook her head, stopping where she was, pulling him back toward the tree at the edge of the yard. “Here, Jake.”

  He looked at her. This wasn’t where he’d planned. There was no soft bed, no silky sheets, only wet grass. He didn’t even have a condom with him. “No. You deserve more.” He still wanted her first time to be special, perfect.

  She peeled her wet shirt off, standing there in those sexy jeans and a soft pink, lacy bra, barefoot and gorgeous. She trailed her hands down her belly, unsnapping her jeans. “Here. Now.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, her need pulsing through the two simple words.

  Jake stripped off his shirt as he walked toward her, stopping her hands before she could pull down her zipper. “Let me.” It was a command, not a question.

  Jake pressed his mouth to hers, softer this time, passion reined in for the moment. He knelt down in front of her, trailing kisses down her chest, across her breasts, down her belly as he went. He dipped his hand into the waistband of her jeans, sliding the zipper slowly down. Gently, he brushed his fingers across her sex, keeping his touch light and teasing. He heard her quick intake of breath, felt her hands curl into his shoulders. He hooked his thumbs into the sides of her jeans and tugged them down. The wet denim stuck to her legs, slowing his progress, but giving him more time to kiss her. Everywhere. Her thighs, her knees, down her calves. When she kicked off the jeans, he ran his hands up the backs of her damp legs, cupping the generous curves of her ass, squeezing and kneading, drawing another moan from her. Jake was determined to take this slowly. He wanted her crazy with need before he took her innocence. He ran a trail of kisses across her belly, just above the line of her panties, kissed her thighs around the edges of lace. When he finally pressed a kiss to her center, he heard her cry out as her knees started to buckle.

  Jake caught her, gently laying her against the damp grass. It was drier here, under the tree. The grass, soft and warm from the day’s sun. He brought his mouth back up to hers, kissing her slowly, languidly while her body silently begged him for release. She reached a hand down, unbuttoning his jeans and yanking down the zipper before he could stop her. She pushed the jeans off his hips, her movements jerky and urgent.

  Jake laughed softly, but stood to remove his clothing. She watched him while he undressed. he could almost feel her eyes raking over his skin making his shaft pulse and grow even larger as he waited, letting her look her fill. When she got to his shaft, h
e saw her eyes widen, a brief look of fear run across her face. As he lay down next to her, he whispered against her ear, “Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle and you’ll be ready. It’ll only hurt for a second.”

  * * * * *

  He was huge. She had no idea how that was ever going to fit inside her. As much as she wanted him, the sheer size of his manhood was enough to make her reconsider. She looked into his eyes and the fear subsided to once again be replaced by need. She felt his mouth sliding across her neck, his tongue licking the rain from her skin. As he slid down to her breasts, easing her bra off, he gently nipped, making her gasp. His tongue swirled around her nipple, teasing without easing the ache. When he finally pulled her nipple into his mouth and sucked, Jess screamed, caught somewhere between pleasure and pain. She felt the heat increase, wetness rushing in between her legs. She lifted her hips, silently begging for more.

  His shaft was throbbing, she could feel it pulse against her leg. That wasn't where she wanted it. When she lifted her hips she felt him groan out his pleasure.

  As his mouth moved to the other breast, his hand trailed down, sliding inside the edge of her panties. As he moved further, closer to her core, she parted her legs, granting him access to that most secret part of her. He pushed her panties to the side, sliding one finger between her folds, gasping as he found her core. “God Jess, you’re so wet, so hot. Oh, honey, you’re making me crazy.”

  She whimpered. She heard the noise, surprised to know it came from her. Why wouldn’t he just ease this ache? Why was he torturing her first?

  He latched onto her breast, sucking hard at her nipple at the same time he thrust his finger inside her. Her body clenched around his hand, tightening immediately, aching for release.

  * * * * *

  Jake growled, pulling away, pulling his hand out of her. He yanked her panties off, fairly sure he heard them tear. He knew he needed to find gentleness, find control, but he had to taste her. His mouth came down hard, pressing his tongue against her nub, nipping and suckling.

  Jess went wild, thrusting her hips to meet his mouth. As he sucked her clitoris he slid one finger back inside. Her orgasm broke over her, her sheath convulsing around his finger. She screamed as the rain poured down around them and thunder roared.

  Jake felt her come, could taste her juices still on his tongue. It wasn’t enough. He wanted more, he wanted her crying out, begging for him to be inside her. He pulled his fingers out, instead delving inside her with his tongue. He thrust in and out, hard and fast as the muscles still clenched and grabbed against his mouth.

  He didn't even give her time to recover before he started driving her up again. When her legs started to squeeze, tightening around his head, he pulled his mouth from her core moving up to kiss her deeply. He put two fingers in her tight sheath, trying to stretch her, make her ready for him. He needed to be inside her, and he was rapidly losing the battle of wills. As he felt her body start to tighten he pulled his fingers out. He didn't want to let her come again. He needed her to be crazy, desperate and ready to take him.

  Jess whimpered, a soft cry that told him she was almost ready. She bucked her hips against him, needing release. Jake shifted, moving over her until his shaft was barely nudging her core. She lifted her hips, pushing against him until his tip was inside. He froze, keeping his hips away. He was just inside her, the warmth surrounding the head of his shaft. He was gritting his teeth to keep from slamming into her and hurting her. She wasn’t helping matters, lifting and twisting. And the sounds she was making. Aaahhh, there was only so much one man could take. When she lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist and pulling, he lost the battle and plunged all the way in. He felt the slight tear and heard her sharply inhale. Somehow, he found the will to hold still.

  Keeping himself buried inside her, he reached between them using his thumb to rub lazy little circles across her clitoris. He felt a rush of warmth as her body opened and accepted him. She threw her head back and moaned just before she tightened her legs, gripping his hips and pulling him even deeper inside her. She was so tight. He could feel her wet heat surrounding him and needed to move, to thrust. He had to give her time to get used to him. As he felt her legs loosen, then tighten again as she pushed against him, he was lost. “Aaahhh, Jess. So good.” Then he was grinding against her, plunging hard and deep inside her. She answered him thrust for thrust.

  Jake was determined to hold out until she reached orgasm. He was thinking about anything he could to make sure she came first. When he felt her body begin to tighten beneath his, her head going back, eyes closed in pleasure he was amazed that she would be there so fast. He’d thought it would take longer, being her first time, for her to find pleasure this way. He felt her legs go taut, knew she was close, and knew he would come with her. He pushed into her, growling against her neck as they both shattered.

  Chapter 24

  Jess was blissfully happy, trying to snuggle into Jake as he rolled off her. He held her for a moment, before he pulled away, sliding on his jeans, gathering up his shirt and her clothes. He laid them beside her. “We need to get in the house before you get cold.”

  The words were sweet, considerate. The tone was odd. She didn't understand why he was in such a rush to run off. She felt the tension and fear from her morning thoughts returning. Had he been trying to break up with her? She had set out to seduce him this evening, which obviously worked, but maybe that wasn't really what he wanted. Physically, he clearly wanted her, but maybe he just didn't want her. She dressed quickly, stuffing her ruined panties into her pocket. Jake waited for her to dress, gently grabbing her hand as they walked into the house.

  Jess pulled her hand free and headed upstairs, tears shimmering in her eyes. She fought to hold them back, determined that he would not see her cry. He was right behind her, followed her all the way to her door. As Jess put her hand on the knob, she was suddenly yanked back, pulled against Jake in another one of those gut wrenching hugs… the kind she was beginning to hate. As soon as he let go, she rushed in and slammed the door behind her.

  Jess woke the next morning, sore and tender in all the right places. She smiled, thinking of Jake. The smile was quickly replaced by a stab of pain. She had no idea what had gone wrong last night, but she knew, the way women just know, that something had. Something had gone terribly wrong.

  As she showered, dressed and carefully applied her makeup, she wished, for the first time in weeks that she still had her contacts. She knew she was trying to hide behind makeup and plastic, but she didn’t care. She spent extra time, making sure her makeup was perfect, and hiding the dark circles under her eyes. As she headed down to the kitchen, she was grateful that everyone should already be gone. She was going to grab coffee and head out to the house site, hopefully without seeing anyone at all.

  Over the next couple of days, Jake was attentive. Sweet even. But he was still acting odd. Jess had thought that finally making love would be the best thing that could happen to her, to them. And yet, he was almost worse now than he had been before. She had expected that once the virginity was off the table he would quit tiptoeing around. Instead, he was even more cautious and 'nice' than before they'd had sex.

  It had been two more days of door opening, hand holding and polite conversation. And two more nights of long silent hugs and sleeping alone. Each night he would walk her to her room, give her one of those hugs, kiss her head and tell her to sleep well. Then he would head to his bedroom. Alone.

  She had expected more. From what her friends had told her, with any new relationship, once the couple finally had sex, generally they were all over each other for the next several months. Like a dam bursting. And her body agreed. She was more than ready to do this again. And again, and again. And he was treating her like a sister or a friend.

  She wanted to talk to him, to just ask him what was going on, but she was afraid she might not like the answer. What if he really had been trying to push her away and their night together was simply a lapse in judg
ment? Was she really ready to hear that after what was the best night of her life?

  Knowing that the answer was 'definitely not', she decided she would just find another way to deal with the adrenaline and desire raging through her. Physical labor. Men seemed to think it was the answer to everything, so she figured she'd give it a try.

  Heading over to the home site, she aimed to ask Mike to let her do the most physically demanding job she was able to.

  * * * * *

  By Saturday afternoon, Jake'd had all he could handle. He had done everything he could think of to keep his hands off Jess for the last couple days. He had thought about dragging her off to his room, the barn, hell anywhere he could get her alone. He'd thought about it every minute of every day. But he'd kept himself in check. He knew she had to be sore considering his size and rough handling of her.

  He had given thought to at least bringing her to his bed at night, just to hold her while she slept. Something he had dreamed of almost as much as sex. But until she had time to recover, until she gave him some sign that she was ready again, he didn't think it was a good idea. Too much temptation.

  Now, it was Saturday afternoon and he could no longer keep his mind on his work. He had to see her. Looking around he made sure that everything was under control. Most of the ranch hands were wrapping up what they were doing and heading in for the day.

  He turned and headed out to the home site. Jess would still be there he was sure.

  When he got there, Mike looked up, nodding to Jake as he finished his conversation with one of the guys. When he got done, he headed over to Jake.

  “Hey Jake. What can I do for you? Just here to take a look around, see how things are going?”

  “No, I'm here to work.” Jake figured it was a good way to keep busy until Jess was done for the day.

  Clearly, that wasn’t what Mike had been expecting. “Work?”