Seducing the Girl Next Door
by Inara Scott
Copyright © 2014 by Inara Scott. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Chapter One
“Jenna Kellington? Is that really you?”
Confused, Jenna looked up from the stack of papers she’d been reviewing in preparation for her afternoon meeting. One didn’t expect to hear the old, don’t I know you from somewhere? line while six thousand miles from home in a conference room in Beijing, China.
“I’m sorry, do I…” She lost her breath for a moment as she gazed up at the unholy vision of masculinity that walked through the door. He was tall and lean, and his tailored suit looked like it had been made for his broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped frame. Thick, sandy-colored hair framed a strong jaw and piercing hazel eyes. She swallowed hard and tried to pretend her body hadn’t revved into overdrive. “Know you?”
Nice. Did you actually just drool, Jenna?
The man’s tiger eyes held her fast, even as a mouth made for sin quirked in a half-smile. “Really?” He grinned. “I guess it has been a while.”
She squinted harder, fighting to squash the rush of lust that was making it difficult to think clearly. There was something familiar about him, something about his eyes. The color maybe, or the shape? Or was it the tawny brows she’d seen somewhere before?
“Add glasses and braces, leave the height, but take away about fifty pounds,” he said.
The memories flooded back all at once, and her mouth dropped open. In an instant, she forgot she was surrounded by the strangers and businesspeople she was supposed to be impressing. She forgot that she was divorced, hadn’t dated in years, and was currently sporting a pair of granny panties, and slipped back into the body of her fifteen-year-old self.
“Simon Hastings?” she squealed. Ignoring how much her clients valued decorum and manners, she thrust back her chair and dashed across the room, hurtling herself into his arms. Arms closed around her, and she buried her face into the smooth wool of his suit. For the first minute, the flood of memories blackened out any hint of the world around her. Simon Hastings, the boy next door.
Her first kiss.
Her first love.
Her first heartbreak.
And then, very slowly, it occurred to her that the teenage boy in her memory was different from the man she was currently pressed against.
She forced herself to pull away, realizing all at once the breadth of his chest, the smell of spice and masculinity, and the hardness of the muscles beneath the expensive jacket. “I’m, I’m…so sorry for attacking you,” she stuttered. “I didn’t mean to…”
His hands slipped down to her waist, and he didn’t let go for a moment. Then, slowly, he backed away. “Little Jenna,” he mused. Eyes flecked green and gold examined her from boring black pumps to poorly fitting, below-the-knee skirt. “All grown up. You look fantastic.”
Her heart thumped at his nearness. Then reality flooded back in an unpleasant rush. Simon had turned into a Greek god, and she looked like she’d just stepped out of a minivan.
“So do you,” she said. A hot flush coursed from her cheeks down her neck at the unthinkingly fervent sound of her voice. Damn it, he did look fantastic. Her old boyfriend had developed a magnetic gaze and had finally grown into the long arms and legs that had once earned him the nickname Stretch.
She, on the other hand, looked like hell. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that her loose bun looked chic and sophisticated, it really just served to hide the fact that she hadn’t had a haircut for months. And her outfit… She forced a smile to cover her inner desire to run screaming from the room.
How cruel could Fate possibly be? To send the guy she hadn’t seen for more than fifteen years into her life looking like he’d just stepped off a movie set, while she resembled a before picture from What Not to Wear?
“Jenna, you and Simon know each other?” Chao Yin, the manager of Beijing Next, the company she’d been sent to China to work with, leaned forward with polite interest.
“We were next door neighbors when we were kids,” Simon said.
“But he moved,” Jenna said, unable to look away from him. “When we were fifteen.”
“My dad liked to travel,” Simon said, almost apologetically. “I moved around quite a bit when I was younger.”
Every three or four years, Jenna recalled Simon saying bitterly. Every three or four years his father would grow tired of his job and look for a new opportunity. He always promised they’d stay put, but the promises were meaningless. As soon as Simon would get settled into a new school, make new friends, and finally start to feel a part of something, he’d be uprooted again.
“What do you do now?” she asked him, forcing a mask of pleasantness over her features.
Chao’s eyes widened briefly in shock. “Simon’s company Exista purchased Beijing Next a few months ago.”
Jenna blinked. Her mouth formed a small O of surprise as she processed her own idiocy. She turned to Simon. “Exista is your company?”
He inclined his head modestly, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Along with a couple of partners.”
Exista was a hugely successful venture capital fund that specialized in turning around lagging companies like Beijing Next. She remembered that from the background information her boss had given her before she’d left for China. She’d been sent on an emergency basis to help Beijing Next fix their poor implementation of her company’s accounting software. It hadn’t occurred to her that the need to do it quickly came from the company’s demanding new owner.
“Simon is here to check up on some of our modernization efforts,” Chao said. “Including our software updates.”
“I know Chao has things under control,” Simon said, waving off the other man’s words. “I’m simply here to observe.”
Observe? She doubted that. Exista made its millions—or was it billions?—by demanding big changes and extreme performance in the companies it took over. The firm was known for being innovative and inspiring its employees to take their work to the next level, and its results were remarkable.
And she’d had no idea it was owned by the boy who used to live next door.
“I saw your name on the meeting notice,” Simon said, “but I figured it couldn’t possibly be my Jenna Kellington.”
She couldn’t stop the shiver that went straight down her spine.
His Jenna? If only.
“It’s an incredible coincidence. But as much as I’d love to catch up…” She fought to ignore the sudden rush of heat between her legs. “We don’t want to keep our hosts waiting.”
Simon nodded, but didn’t drop the gaze that stretched between them like a silken thread. “Of course. We’ll pick up where we left off after the meeting. Perhaps over dinner?”
Jenna inclined her head slightly as her palms began to sweat. Dinner? Just the two of them? “That sounds great.”
Let the panic commence.
…
Simon checked his watch for the third time as he waited in the hotel lobby by the elevator bank. Eight fifteen. She was late. He smiled ruefully. That was something that hadn’t changed. The Jenna he remembered was perpetually racing through the halls of their school, sliding into her seat just as class started, or smiling triumphantly at him when she convinced the teacher to give her a late pass even though she’d been late three times already that week. A tiny slip of a girl with big brown eyes, cascading waves of chestnut hair, and perfect breasts that he would have given his left nut to touch.
That was the Jenna he remembered.
But this Jenna? The one with the body that kept him staring and distracted throughout their entire meeting? The Jenna that he almost couldn’t let go of when she put her arms around him and pressed those breasts against his chest?
Yeah, that Jenna was totally new.
He hadn’t seen a ring on her left hand and she used her maiden name. Was it possible she was still single? He was single, after all, and they were the same age. But then again, he wasn’t a fit long-term companion for anyone, and he knew it. Jenna, on the other hand, had “settle down” written all over her. That was why he should have laughed at the coincidence of seeing her again and then walked away.
But he hadn’t, and couldn’t, and he was cursing himself for the way he reacted to her. For the way his cock seemed to have a life of its own when she walked into the room. For the way he’d been unable to think about anything else since seeing her.
The elevator doors opened and Jenna rushed forward, babbling a multitiered apology. “…so sorry…I was answering emails…and then the phone rang and Chao needed…”
He held up a hand. “Jenna, it’s fine. Really. I wouldn’t have recognized you if you’d been on time.”
Her ivory cheeks pinked. “I guess that’s about right.” She plucked at the waist of her dress and he thought he saw a nervous quiver in her fingers. “Is this dress okay? I didn’t bring a lot of choices with me.”
He took her hand and held her at a distance while he surveyed her, enjoying her deepening color at his slow examination. “You look perfect.”
He let his eyes trace her body like he’d been wanting to ever since he’d seen her in that sterile conference room. Her dress was simple, a sleeveless little black number that covered her from high neckline to just above her knees. But nothing could hide the breasts pushing against the silky material…the narrow waist or the rounded backside that would fit perfectly in his hands.
He cleared his throat and tried to subtly adjust the waistline of his pants. How many times had he fantasized about Jenna back in high school? How many furtive sessions in the bathroom, jacking off to visions of her naked body in his arms? The closest he’d gotten had been some make-out sessions and a few tentative—but blissful—episodes of over-the-shirt groping. He remembered a little noise she’d made in the back of her throat once, a noise he’d cherished for weeks afterward. It had been something between a sigh and a moan, and he’d convinced himself that someday he’d have the chance to hear it again when they had sex for the first time.
“So where are we headed?” she asked, voice breathy.
“I made a reservation at a restaurant by my place,” he said, watching her breasts move up and down as she breathed. Her hair was still tied up in a loose knot on top of her head, and he imagined pulling out whatever pins held it up there and letting the silky strands tumble around them.
A tremor passed through his lower body.
This could be a long night.
“That sounds great.” She started walking toward the exit doors of the lobby. She was nervous, shooting little glances back at him, her gaze darting from his face to his hands. Then he caught her eyes move from his face down the length of his body, lingering for just a second at his waist. Or a little lower than that.
Her transparency sent a rush of desire through his body.
Fuck it.
“Or,” he said, staying where he stood and throwing caution to the wind, “we could stay here and order in.”
She froze and turned to look at him. “Wait, what? You mean…um…” Thick lashes swept low, hiding her doe-like eyes. She couldn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t blame her. He was being crazy. He hadn’t seen her for years. He had no idea what her life was like now, and she didn’t know anything about his.
But he wanted her. And he had the feeling she wanted him.
“We could order a bottle of wine,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“We could do that in a restaurant,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
He took a step forward, close enough to put a hand to her waist, and turned her so they were facing each other. She kept dropping her gaze, so he finally took her chin and tipped her face up to meet his. “Jenna,” he said, “it’s been sixteen years since I saw you last, and in that time I’ve learned to go after the things I want.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Sixteen years is a long time,” she said softly. “A lot has changed since then.”
“That’s not what it feels like from here,” he said. “As far as I can tell, it was yesterday.” A quick intake of air caused her chest to rise and then fall. His body reacted like a teenage boy as memories of the girl he’d lost merged perfectly with the woman in his arms. “Tell me,” he said, moving his face inches closer to hers, “is there any reason I shouldn’t kiss you right now?”
Her lips parted in shock. He thought for a moment that she was going to shake her head or push him away, but then she blinked slowly, keeping her eyes closed for one long breath. When she opened them again, he saw a mix of desire and determination.
“No. No reason. None at all.”
Chapter Two
Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.
Jenna’s heart skipped in her chest. He was really doing it. He was really leaning forward and pressing those firm lips against hers. Her knees wobbled, and she grabbed at his shoulders for stability. There was skin on skin, the trace of his tongue against the seam of her lips, the heat of his hand on the back of her waist. She was helpless, reduced to the sensation of warmth and wet, passion and heat and things she hadn’t felt for years. Her arms locked around his neck as the kiss deepened. He sought entry to her mouth and she yielded. No, she melted.
Wasn’t there supposed to be some precursor to this level of desire? Shouldn’t there be a slow build? Not this instant need.
He pulled away, and she had to lock her knees to keep from falling over.
“We should take this upstairs,” he said, meeting her gaze for an intense moment.
Upstairs? Dear God, did they just kiss in the lobby of a hotel? And now he wanted to have sex with her? Just like that?
She tried to remember the last time she’d had sex. There had been a guy not long after her divorce. Her friends back in Brooklyn had set them up. He was a nice guy, a young dentist with a thriving practice and a three-bedroom apartment. She’d been too embarrassed to have him look at her naked body, so she’d insisted on turning out the lights and getting under the covers. He’d called her the next day, but she never called him back.
Could she go through with it? She licked her lips. “I need a drink.”
Simon nodded. “I’ll get us a bottle of wine.” He tucked her hand into his and led her gently in the direction of the hotel bar. They stopped, and he said something in Mandarin to the man behind the counter. Jenna wished she knew what he’d said, but her Chinese was limited to “hello,” “goodbye,” and “thank you.”
Without blinking or sending a look in her direction, the bartender withdrew a bottle from under the counter. He offered it to Simon, who examined the label, nodded, and handed it back. The bartender opened the bottle and then handed Simon two glasses.
Simon dropped a handful of bills on the counter. Jenna couldn’t look at them. Her face was burning.
She felt so…naughty.
As they waited for the elevator, Jenna shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “So,” she finally forced herself to say, desperate for a moment of conversation. “Do you come to Beijing often?”
Simon nodded. “A few times a year. Exista is based in L.A., but I spend more time on the road than I do there. I think I was traveling two hundred days last year. Following in my father’s footsteps, I suppose.”
She remembered his father as a tired, humorless man who, when he wasn’t traveling, spent most of his time holed up in his office or barking commands into the phone. Always chasing the next promotion. Always a few steps behind. Simon’s antagonism toward him had simmered below the surface. She couldn’t remember a time when they’d been in the same room and there hadn’t been some tension between them.
“You don’t have a family back in L.A., do you?” she asked, half kidding, half terrified. “A wife? Girlfriend?”
“You know me better than that, don’t you?”
She glanced at the wineglasses in his hands. “No, not really. I knew you a long time ago.”
“You know me,” he said.
You don’t know me. You don’t know how badly I screwed up my life after you left.
How much I want this.
How scared I am that you’ll change your mind.
“You stopped writing to me.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It was too hard. I missed you too much. To be honest, I went a little crazy after my family moved.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, remembering her teenage self checking the mailbox for a letter that never came. Remembering how she’d sobbed when she’d realized it never would. He’d been her best friend for three years. They’d walked to school together, taken the subway together, held hands in the movies. And then he was gone, and she was alone, trying to figure out what to do with her life when the most important person she’d ever known had left.
He sighed. “I couldn’t handle your letters. Thinking about you. Never seeing you again. I started going to more parties. Drinking a lot.”
She blinked. “Really?”
He shot her a wry smile. “Really.”
She couldn’t imagine Simon partying. They’d gone to a few parties in high school, but he’d never particularly liked the crowds or the noise. They usually ended up hanging out in her basement, watching Monty Python movies and eating pizza.
And making out.
Come to think of it, maybe he’d been trying to get her alone all that time. She’d never really considered that before.
She punched him lightly on the arm. “You should have called me.”
He chuckled. “A guy can only allow himself to be so pathetic. Talking to you would have sent me right over the edge. Besides, teenage boys aren’t well known for their conversational skills. I probably would’ve grunted into the phone a few times and then dissolved into uncomfortable silence.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “I’m more than capable of holding up both ends of a conversation, you know. It’s one of my greatest skills.”
“I seem to remember that,” he said. “We could walk all the way home from school without you taking a breath.”
“Hey, let’s not overdo it.” She sniffed. “I didn’t talk that much.”
“Of course not,” he replied, straight-faced. The elevator arrived, and they waited for a well-dressed couple to leave before they entered.
“But things got better for you?” she said, after the doors closed behind them. She found herself inching away from Simon’s absurdly sexy form in an attempt to remain lighthearted and calm.
“It took a while, but I finally realized that I was punishing myself by doing all that partying, when the one I wanted to get back at was my dad. And given what a penny-pincher he was, I figured the best way to punish him would be to get into the most expensive college I could and watch him pay for it.”
A snort of laughter escaped her. “Now that sounds like the Simon I remember. Too clever to go the juvenile delinquent route. So what college did you go to?”
The elevator raced up the thirty floors toward her room. Jenna’s heart rate approached the pace of a hummingbird as they approached her floor. She tried not to think about what would happen when they stopped.
“Stanford. Tuition was crazy expensive, but my father couldn’t resist having the chance to brag to the other guys in the office that he had a son there. Even if the price tag was killing him.”
He gave her a wry smile, and her heart skipped at the way his mouth moved. Why did the elevator seem to get smaller, the higher they rose?
“What did you do after that?” She tried not to breathe too deeply of the spicy, masculine air that surrounded him. The smell was making her head spin.
“Got my MBA. Tried working in an office, but I was too restless to stay in one place and never really liked taking orders from anyone. I got together with a couple of friends from business school and we pooled our resources to start our own firm. It’s been pretty successful.”
She laughed. “Pretty successful? I suppose that’s one way to put it. The New Masters of the Universe would be another way.” When she’d gone back to her hotel room she’d Googled Simon’s company. It had been written about dozens of times over the past year, including one article in the Economist that said Simon and his partners were financial geniuses who were poised to take over Wall Street.
He rolled his eyes. “Wild exaggerations. What about you? Where did you go to college?”
Jenna looked away, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. “I, um, went to Brooklyn College.”
He furrowed his brow. “I thought you had your heart set on getting away from home?”
“Changed my mind,” she said, keeping her voice light. “Decided to stay put.”
“Oh.” He half turned, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. She didn’t acknowledge his interest. She couldn’t imagine telling him the truth, that she’d gotten pregnant her senior year of high school. That she’d lost the baby but stayed married because it seemed like the right thing to do. That three years ago she’d handed her husband back his ring because she was selfish enough to believe that there was more out there for her than a marriage of friendship and convenience.
She’d stayed friends with her ex, Ross. He was a great dad, and had even agreed to move to Denver when she got her new job so their kids would have both parents nearby. He was taking care of them now, the only reason she could leave at a moment’s notice for an extended trip overseas. Of course, Ross being nice had only made her desire to get a divorce that much worse. If he’d been an asshole, everything would have been easier.
The elevator reached her floor, and she led Simon down the hall to her room. Because she was on an extended stay, the company had put her up in a studio, with a kitchen area and wet bar she used to hold the piles of papers she brought back every night from her temporary office. Luckily, she had so few belongings the room stayed tidy, and the bed was perfectly made.
Is this really happening?
She was definitely not looking at the bed.
Simon set the glasses down on the counter and poured the wine. “So, no husband for you? No jealous fiancé I should know about?”
She paused. This was the moment she should have told him about Ross. And her kids. But she couldn’t make herself say the words. After all, they were in a hotel room. In China. In a week or two, she’d be back to her old life. She’d have to juggle her job, the kids, babysitters, and dentist appointments. Tonight she could be the carefree woman she’d never really had the chance to be. She could do what she wanted, when she wanted. She could be the kind of person she hadn’t been since her senior year of high school.
She grabbed the glass of wine he handed her. Closing her eyes, she savored the first mouthful, the delicate flavor tickling her tongue. She swallowed, paused, then took another drink. When she opened her eyes, Simon was studying her intently.
“No,” she finally said. “And this wine is fantastic.”
“It needs to breathe.”
“I can’t tell.” She dared herself to smile and not think about tomorrow. “I’ve never really gotten past grocery store wines, to be honest.”
Simon took off his suit coat, and her heart skipped. “I like a wine I can savor,” he said. “Slow and easy.”
A sensual tickle stirred in her stomach. She took another drink. His eyes were hooded as he watched her. She hadn’t eaten all day and the alcohol seemed to run straight to her brain. What deep, penetrating questions should she ask him? Were there things people said before they jumped into bed with someone they barely knew?
“What’s your place in L.A. like?”
Not exactly sparkling conversation, but it was the best she could come up with at the moment.
“There’s a bed, and I think some other furniture. That’s about it. It’s got a great view, I just can’t remember exactly what of.”
“I guess you never got that dog?”
He wrinkled his forehead in confusion. “What dog?”
She laughed. “You always talked about getting a husky.”
He paused for a moment, and then his face broke in a wide smile. “I haven’t thought of that in years. I was totally obsessed with those dogs.”
“They are beautiful.” She laughed, remembering how Simon had tried to convince his father to let him get one. “And totally unsuited to life in a city. Your dad kept telling you how crazy you were.”
Simon shook his head with a rueful smile. “And I kept telling him how I’d take it running every day.”
“Even though you didn’t run.”
“Throw that in my face, why don’t you.” He took a healthy drink of wine. “It was a little silly, I suppose.”
“A little?” Without thinking, she leaned forward to touch his arm, like she might have done years ago. But this time, the touch sent her snapping back with awareness, and she had to lift her wine glass to cover her discomfort. “How’s your mom?”
“She’s fine. My folks are living in Omaha now. Dad’s VP of sales, and Mom’s still making him dinner and reheating it when he comes home late.”
Jenna found herself staring at his lips.
Look in his eyes. And for the love of God, pay attention to what he’s saying!
“Did you ever take up running?”
“Not enough to justify having a sled dog,” he said, grinning. “Now, what about you? Still wish on your birthday candles every year that you’ll get a pony?”
“Hey, you can’t say birthday wishes out loud. Now it will never come true!”
He ducked his head in shame. “So sorry.”
She sighed dramatically. “It’s okay. I recently moved to a suburb of Denver. A pony probably isn’t in the cards for me.”
“If you moved to Denver, why are you in China?”
She shrugged. “I suppose I’m the lowest on the totem pole. When the client needed someone to fix a software problem, they sent me.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think it was that. They must trust you to jump into a project like this. I did some work with Mark Absalon a few years back, and he doesn’t suffer fools lightly.”
Mark was the CEO of her company. “Do you know everyone?” she asked.
“Not quite everyone,” he said with a shrug. “But I do know Mark. And Chao. He thinks highly of you. I can tell.”
“We’ve worked well together.”
She was running out of things to say, and something about the way Simon was looking at her made her insides quiver. She threw back the rest of her glass and took a step toward him. “You know what?”
“What?”
He stayed still, and she got the feeling he was forcing her to make the first move.
She took a deep breath. “I always thought you would be my first.”
He sucked in a quick breath, and his eyes glowed with an amber light. “Shit, Jen. You can’t even imagine how much I wanted that.”
Nervous shivers danced along her spine.
This is Simon, she reminded herself. The boy you kissed on your comforter with the pink flowers. He held your hand when you checked the list to see if you made the cheerleading team. You studied for chemistry tests with him.
Silence stretched between them.
Her mouth went dry. She felt the weight of his gaze like a hand on her body. Transfixed, she felt behind her for the tiny hook at the top of the zipper that ran along the back of her dress. She’d owned the dress for three years and she’d never really liked it, but it had felt like the perfect mix of conservative and professional to bring with her to China. Now, she was ready to have it off. On the other hand, she definitely wasn’t ready for him to see her less-than-perfect body naked.
“Jenna, we don’t have to rush.”
“We can catch up later.” She took a deep breath. “We’ve been waiting long enough.”
He gave a low growl of approval. “I couldn’t agree more.”
She backed toward the bed, silently contemplating how quickly she could divest herself of the sheath and dive under the covers. Or should she turn off the lights first? There was one switch by the entrance to the room, which Simon had flipped on his way in. She tried to sound confident. Seductive. “Why don’t you turn off the lights?”
He started toward her, unbuttoning his shirt as he moved, revealing a tan torso and taut abdomen. God, he’s perfect. Long lines of muscles, ridges and planes, and those eyes…hell, he could eat her with those eyes alone and she’d die happy.
“Absolutely not. I’ve been waiting for my chance at your body since I was fourteen. You really think I’m going to turn out the lights now?”
Her mouth went dry. Damn it, in her wildest fantasies she hadn’t expected the night to go this way. And even if she had, she owned a total of zero sets of sexy underthings. Jesus, she was wearing the sort of all-purpose white bra that girls with a D-cup need to actually hold things in place. What would he think of her?
He’s going to realize you aren’t fifteen anymore, that’s for sure…
She backed her way to the bed, pulling back the covers as she started to unzip her dress. She tried to execute her plan. She really did. But then the zipper got stuck a few inches down, and she had to twist her arms in an uncomfortable configuration to reach the zipper. During that time, he managed to rid himself of his clothes and move naked behind her. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder and her entire body quivered at the raw masculinity and sinewy strength of him.
“Can I help?”
He didn’t wait for an answer, just moved her hands away and unzipped the dress. The silky material fell to her feet in a swoosh. His fingers trailed along her spine. His mouth caressed her in place of his fingers and she forgot her doubts and embarrassment as the back of the offending bra was unhooked, and then his hands were at her shoulders, sliding underneath the straps and removing the garment from her body. She shivered, goose bumps running along her arms, stomach, back. He caught her shoulders, spun her around slowly.
She turned her face away, not wanting to meet his eyes.
“Fucking hell, you’re incredible.” His voice was thick and hoarse.
She pulled away, still not looking into his face, and jumped into bed. She covered herself with a sheet and then finally met his gaze. He was watching her with a hint of confusion, his head cocked at a curious angle.
“I’m cold,” she said. “Why don’t you come under the covers and warm me up?” Her attempt to sound sultry was belied by the chattering of her teeth. She was starting to shiver, but it was from nerves, not the chilly air of the room.
Simon continued to stare at her. “I get the feeling this isn’t something you do regularly.”
She busied herself under the covers with the most ungraceful underwear removal process any human being had ever accomplished. “You could say that.”
He pulled back the sheets and lowered himself to the bed, lying down next to her, where he pressed the length of his warm body against her shivering form. One large hand touched the side of her face. “Jenna, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. We can drink some wine. Talk. Get to know each other again.”
Oh hell no. She was naked, in bed with a gorgeous guy who had once been her world, and there was a very large…erection pressed against her leg. She was not backing out now. She tipped her face toward him. “Will you kiss me again?”
He answered by cupping the back of her head and drawing her against him, claiming her lips with a rough, unfamiliar intensity. His fingers tensed, and she was overwhelmed by the sense that he was holding back, restraining himself. The moment made her giddy, as he licked and teased her mouth, nibbled on her lower lip, and then slid a line of fire down her throat to the base of her neck.
More kisses. Long and languorous, moving from her mouth to her neck, teasing her as they drew closer and closer to her breasts. Any remaining tension oozed from her body, along with her inhibitions, fears, and doubts.
Hesitantly at first, she allowed her fingers to trail through his hair, to brush across his back, and then move lower, but before she could reach farther he caught her wrist. He flipped her onto her back even as he caught her other hand and moved both above her head.
She struggled, but halfheartedly. He held her still, his golden eyes hungry. “What are you doing?” she said, breathing hard.
“I’m looking at you.” As soon as he leaned back, exposing her naked body to his gaze, she turned away and closed her eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he said softly.
She shook her head and tried to free her hands. “I’m not.”
“The Jenna I remember couldn’t wait to put on her tiny cheerleader outfit and show off her body.”
“I’m a lot older than that cheerleader,” she said.
“Thank God.” He drew his hand down her side, trailing over her ribs, skimming the side of her breast. Her nipples peaked. “You’re even more beautiful now. Your breasts… Hell…” He traced an exaggerated hourglass path from her breast to her hip. “I could spend hours looking at you.”
He traced around the outside of one breast, then lightly brushed the back of his hand across her nipple. She arched instinctively, and a tiny sigh of pleasure escaped her.
“Tell me what you like,” he whispered, leaning forward to blow a warm breath on the hard, wanting peak. “Talk to me.”
She shook her head. “I don’t really know,” she said. “I’ve never really thought about it.”
He paused and looked up at her, expression solemn. “You have been sorely lacking in your education since I left.”
She gave a soft chuckle. “I’m just not used to paying a lot of attention to this sort of thing.”
It wasn’t her ex-husband’s fault. He’d tried all sorts of techniques to spice up their sex life, but after getting pregnant so young, and feeling so guilty about the way it had changed the course of her life—and his—it had been all but impossible to be carefree in the act. Not to mention how difficult it was to relax and enjoy yourself when you were a young parent, too proud to ask for help from your family, let alone your husband’s. Always exhausted. Never feeling like you deserved pleasure. Wondering why you weren’t more in love with the man whose ring you wore.
She pushed against his hands and tried to sit up. “Maybe you can tell me what you like instead.”
“No way. Not tonight.” He pushed her back down. “Now, can I trust you to lie still, or am I going to have to tie you up?”
She started to laugh, but realized he was serious. Her eyes widened. “I think you can trust me.”
“Fair enough.” He dropped his palm to her breast, casually claiming it as his own. “But I reserve the right to revisit our agreement if you don’t keep up your end of the bargain.”
“Simon, are you sure…” She sucked in a breath as he leaned forward and, slowly and deliberately, licked a path across her nipple. Her back arched and she sucked in a gasp. He repeated the gesture, this time tonguing a circle around one peak while simultaneously brushing the other with his fingers. The sensation shot straight from nipples to groin, and she felt a rush of warmth between her legs.
Without thinking, she reached down to pull him closer and he stopped mid-lick. While continuing the aching path of his fingers, he said, “Jenna, I wasn’t kidding. No touching.”
She froze. Something in the dark promise of his voice sent a new wave of heat rushing through her. She’d never been particularly interested in kinky sex games, but something about Simon’s voice left her wondering. Wondering what it might be like for him to do things to her. The sort of things you read about in books but never expected to actually do.
“Lie still.”
She forced her body to relax. For endless minutes he stroked the length of her body, teasing her nipples until her hips were jerking of their own accord. Then he turned her onto her side and continued his slow torture, now massaging her buttocks and back, pausing occasionally to tweak her nipples with a soft pinch. He positioned himself apart from her, but every now and then his cock brushed against her leg or back, and she strained against it. Then, just as she was losing control of her mind and body, he returned her to her back and gently parted her legs. She moaned, unable to help the kitten-like mew from escaping her lips.
“Do you know you made that sound once, when I touched you?” Simon said, leaning forward to kiss her navel, then trace his mouth lower.
Unable to speak, she moved her head in a rough “no.” He continued the path toward her center. “You did. That sound was all I could think about for months.”
With warm, knowing fingers he teased apart her nether lips, and she jerked hard against his hand and whimpered. When his mouth found the edge of her clitoris, she thrashed against the bed, already starting to spiral into oblivion. But he refused to complete her, and every time she jerked and arched, he pulled back, touched her somewhere else, cupped her buttocks or pinched her nipple.
“So greedy,” he said, slipping a finger inside her. “So wet and greedy.”
The feeling of penetration was exactly what she needed, and she strained against him, opening her legs wider and clenching around his fingers. First one, then another. He pushed harder, filled her more deeply. She felt pressure coming from inside and out, the fullness expanding as he changed the angle of his thrusts.
The sensations were so powerful her mind seemed to separate from her body. His fingers were pressing against her, teasing the space between the cheeks of her buttocks, causing her to tighten and thrust and cry out in desperate need. He shocked her again by taking one of her hands and pulling it lower, to touch her own wetness. “Stay there,” he breathed into her ear. “You can touch, but don’t come. I’ll be right back.”
She was beyond shock, beyond self-consciousness. When he came back he was wearing a condom, and he lay down on his back, rolling her on top of him.
“Now it’s your turn,” he told her. “Ride me. Let yourself go.”
She paused for just a minute, then put aside whatever remaining inhibitions she might have had and grabbed for the head of his cock. Holding him steady, she slowly lowered herself, feeling the length of him fill her completely. He was thick and strong, and she was tight. Out of practice. She leaned forward and her breasts fell toward him. He tugged her gently to meet his mouth, then closed his lips around one nipple.
She arched, used the movement to put pressure from his body on her clit. Damn, it felt good. Underneath her, Simon breathed unsteadily, and she felt his hands tighten and clench around her hips. But true to his words, he did not move or guide her. She moved up and down, grinding against him to stimulate her clit and increase the pressure.
When the desire overwhelmed her, she dropped forward, moving fast and hard against him. His fingers tightened, and he groaned into her ear. “Come for me, Jen.”
The sensation started in her groin, but like an exploding fireball it took over the rest of her body. She was a firework of sensation, a shimmer of stars. She exploded with a scream, feeling him jerking beneath her. They came together, the pumping warmth of him only increasing the pleasure as she slumped into his arms, and let him close around her.
…
He eased his way out of the bed, making sure not to disturb her sleep. They hadn’t closed the blinds all the way and a sliver of artificial light from the street outside fell to the floor. He checked his phone, making sure to keep the glow from shining on the bed. Midnight. In the time he’d been with Jenna, thirty new emails had piled up, awaiting responses.
He reminded himself that this was his life. Work. Email. Hotel rooms, room service, and company jets.
Jenna murmured something in her sleep and rolled over. He watched her long hair settle around her face. God, she was beautiful, all curves and smooth skin, wildly passionate, but wary, hesitant to claim her own pleasure. Her life was still a mystery to him. She was still a mystery. And damn if he didn’t want to explore it.
Just be ready to leave. Don’t fall for her, Hastings.
Don’t make the same mistake you made.
Showing 1 to 17 of 17
