Until Jake Read online

  Peeling away Jake’s briefs provided all the proof she needed that she turned him on.

  Yet another much-needed ego boost…

  For several breathless moments, she simply savored the sight of him. So thick and wide and…magnificent.

  More evidence of her effect on him was only a stroke away. When her fingers glided over the smooth flesh covering the hard steel, Jake’s body jerked and he hissed out a breath.

  “Goddamn,” he said in a rough voice. “You barely touched me.”

  She stared up at him. Lust flashed in his eyes. Kate’s fingers wrapped around him at the base and his jaw tightened, as though he were fighting to keep himself in check.

  She leaned forward and her tongue darted out. Slid up his shaft to his tip.

  “Kate.” He whispered her name, evoking more tremors within her.

  It seemed as though her entire being had just been jolted back to life. Jake was like electric shock therapy for her damaged soul.

  And it made Kate doubly intent on pleasing him.

  Opening her mouth, she drew him in, inch by inch, taking as much of him as she could. She eased his cock almost all the way out, then back in, then out again. Slowly. So very, very slowly. Her tongue swirled around his head, teasing him. His body tensed.

  “Christ,” he growled. “You’re going to make me come, Kate.”

  She wanted to. She wanted to push him, push him, push him and let him fall over the edge. Kate wanted to feel him swell inside her mouth and make him lose all control so that he gave himself over to a powerful orgasm she delivered, while he called out her name.

  But that would detain her from her ultimate goal.

  So she relinquished her hold on him and stood, with help from Jake as his hand cupped her elbow.

  “Tell me what you want,” she said.

  “I want you on the bed,” he answered without an ounce of hesitation. “On your stomach. Leave the shoes on.”

  Kate did as he asked and sprawled across the mattress. Jake grabbed one of the pillows propped against the headboard. His arm slid around her waist and he positioned the cushion under her belly so Kate’s ass lifted. Then his hands were suddenly there, covering both cheeks, spreading them.

  She buried her face in the satiny duvet for just a moment. But then she reminded herself that Jake was bold and daring and she should be, too. Of course, he was going to fuck her in ways most women only read about or saw in sexy movies. Tonight, Kate would experience that ultra-steamy brand of lovemaking.

  And wasn’t that what she’d wished for all along?

  Conjuring a little verve, she peered at Jake over one shoulder as his smoldering gaze swept over her naked body.

  “You’re amazing, Kate.”

  She caught her bottom lip with her teeth. She’d not allowed any insecurities to derail her this evening. Not the agony she’d silently, privately harbored the past two years. Or the fact that she was much older than the Adonis.

  She wouldn’t falter now.

  Releasing her lip, she simply said, “Thank you.”

  Jake leaned in and his tongue whisked over her folds. Kate gasped as lightning struck.

  The tip of his tongue fluttered against her clit. Quickly. Lightly. Teasing and titillating.

  Kate fisted the bedspread. Jake’s mouth on her was more fantastic than she’d imagined.

  His tongue flitted against the tiny pearl between her legs and then his lips tugged on her dewy folds before he got serious with his licking and suckling.

  Kate’s breath hitched. Her soft moans filled the room.

  Jake’s hands on her ass held her steady as he pleasured her. It was sheer ecstasy.

  “That feels incredible,” she murmured.

  And Kate knew she’d be giving into another glorious release any second now. She was that sexually charged. He was that talented.

  He kept up his sinful ministrations and Kate thought she’d go half out of her mind. She’d never experienced this level of determination to get her off. She really didn’t want it to end. But then two fingertips replaced his tongue on her clit, rubbing with more pressure. Faster. And everything inside her started to go haywire.

  Kate’s soft moans turned raspy.

  Christ, she was so close to coming.

  The man was downright lethal to her senses.

  Jake’s fingers plunged into her and stroked heartily. His other hand shifted slightly to splay over her tailbone at an angle. His thumb whisked along the crevice of her ass before the pad pressed against that forbidden spot.

  For a moment, she tensed—it was such a foreign sensation.

  But an insanely arousing one.

  She spread her thighs a bit more. Arched her back further. Lifted her ass higher.

  Her razor-sharp desires ruling her actions, Kate relinquished her hold on the duvet and massaged her clit in time with Jake’s intimate caressing.

  “Does that feel good, Kate?”

  “So unbelievably good.”

  Jake added a third finger, picked up the pace. Dipped his thumb in. And Kate lost it.

  She called his name as the orgasm tore through her.

  Kate’s inner muscles clenched his fingers.

  “Jesus, I need you to be doing that to my cock,” he said.

  He let her ride out the wave before he withdrew from her. Then she heard the ripping of foil. His arm hooked around her waist as he pulled her closer to the edge of the bed. He thrust deep into her, making her cry out. His hips bucked and his arm around her tightened, holding her in place.

  “Oh, God, yes,” she said on a ragged breath. “Fuck me, Jake. Fuck me hard.”

  He filled and stretched her, the fit a snug one. She was slick with arousal and he pumped into her with an insistent tempo.

  “Kate,” he said in a tone raw with need. “You’re sensational.”

  She pushed back against him, wanting—demanding—more. He gave it to her, driving into her, making her soar like never before. He knew what she needed. Pushed deeper until he was stroking that magical spot and Kate was climbing even higher.

  She’d been sex-starved, sure. Depressingly, distressingly so. But Jake was certainly rectifying that this evening.

  Her pussy milked his cock. She squeezed tight and he groaned.

  “Yeah, Kate. Like that. Just like that.”

  She continued while the tension pulled taut within her. She knew she was close to coming. Could probably set some sort of world record with her lack of control. Yet she fought the lure of another fantastic orgasm. Her concentration was centered on how well she and Jake fit together. How assertive he was. How confident he was in his skill at making her come so vibrantly she saw stars.

  “Jake,” she said on a broken breath. “You’re perfect inside me.”

  “Kate, I’m about to lose it.”

  “Oh, God, yes!”

  Okay, so much for fighting the lure.

  Her head whipped back on her shoulders. Her eyes closed. She wanted him to come with her.

  “Now, Jake. Now.”

  “Ah, fuck!”

  He pumped a few more times and then his hips jerked and his body quaked.

  “Kate!”

  His cock surged and pulsed within her. Sparking her own climax. Making Kate scream.

  And then there was nothing but searing sensations and labored breathing.

  Endless moments stretched between them.

  Eventually Jake moved. Only slightly, as though he wasn’t quite ready to withdraw from her.

  “Goddamn,” he mumbled as his palm flattened against the mattress, alongside her hip. His chest pressed to her back. His lips whisked over her shoulder in feathery kisses. “I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard. Christ, you feel better than anything I’ve ever known.”

  Kate’s heart fluttered. Her stud had all the right moves and the right words.

  It took a while for semi-steady breathing to return to both of them. Then Jake eased away from her and ducked into the adjacent bathroom.
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  Kate frowned. She instantly felt an acute emptiness. A dark void. A familiar hollowness straight to the depths of her soul.

  She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling fan, the large, bronze-leaf blades slowly rotating.

  She’d gotten what she’d wanted.

  So why the hell hadn’t the loneliness abated for good?

  She glanced over at the vacant side of her queen-sized bed and got the answer to her question.

  Because tonight was just about sex.

  Remember, Kate?

  Not a date. Not a relationship. Not anything meaningful.

  Just sex.

  Per her request.

  She sighed.

  Sure, tomorrow she wouldn’t be wound nearly as tight as she’d been the past two years. But she’d still be alone.

  And that made Kate’s heart hurt.

  Chapter Three

  Kate wasn’t one for sweeping anything under the rug. But she made a split decision when Jake returned, choosing to ignore the lonesomeness. She’d play Scarlett O’Hara for once in her life—and not think about the repercussions of having a hot and hunky man in her bed tonight when he’d be long gone tomorrow.

  She sat up and her gaze raked over six-foot-some-odd inches of solid muscle and tanned skin. Her stomach flipped. She tried to pass it off as hunger pangs.

  “I bet you’re starving,” Kate said. “Will you let me cook you dinner now?”

  “How about I do it?” He snatched his boxer-briefs and slipped into them. Then he disappeared into the hallway, leaving the vision of broad shoulders, a tapered back and the world’s greatest ass burned on her brain.

  She’d just had sex with a god. The most beautiful man she’d ever seen. The most passionate, most erotically stimulating man she’d ever known.

  No wonder she couldn’t fully catch her breath.

  Kate forced herself from the bed and cleaned up. She wrapped a long, navy-colored silk robe around her naked body before leaving her room. Stepping out onto the back patio, she found Jake tending to the grill. The two potatoes were reheating and the steaks were sizzling.

  “How do you like your ribeye?” he asked.

  Kate stared at him for a few moments, that thought of him being a nice, sweet, romantic guy gnawing at her.

  Or…enticing her?

  Was she…smitten? Completely taken by the Adonis?

  She didn’t even blink. Just continued to stare as the notion whirled in her mind.

  Until Jake chuckled. He held the stainless steel tongs up and snapped them once in front of her face to draw her from her reverie.

  She tried to clear her errant thoughts.

  Focus, Kate!

  Food.

  Right.

  We’re talking about food here.

  She said, “Medium rare.” But she really could give a rip about the steaks. She was drowning in deep lust.

  “Excellent choice.” He grinned.

  “I’ll, uh, set the patio table.” Her brain was still somewhat stalled out.

  Despite her attempt at whisking away the idea that Jake was obviously much more than an I got mine, now I’m out the door sort, Kate continued to reel over the fact that she liked his good-natured, compassionate—not to mention passionate—disposition. She liked having him in her house, his commanding presence filling the space, making it cozy and inviting. Not so cold and quiet.

  In all honesty, Kate liked him.

  Plain and simple.

  Or, quite possibly, all bad and wrong…?

  * * *

  They ate dinner under the sparkling stars, the glittering moonlight and the flickering of flames from the votives on the table. They talked about San Diego and how they’d both gone to the same high school…only there were eleven years between them.

  They talked about the changes the city had undergone, politics and current events. Kate wanted to find some sort of flaw in this sexy god, but he was well-educated, well-versed in all of the topics she broached. His biggest regret, he told her, was that he hadn’t had any time to travel, had only been out of the state on rare occasions.

  Later, as they stood beside each other at the kitchen sink, Kate rinsing off the dishes as Jake loaded them into the dishwasher, he glanced at her and asked, “What’s your last name, Kate?”

  “Hampton.” She didn’t even hesitate, she was that comfortable with him now. “What’s yours?” Because she truly wanted to know.

  “Mosley.”

  The plate slipped from her wet fingers and hit the recessed sink with a loud thud. Miraculously, the heavy ceramic plate didn’t break. Jake reached for it, inspected it, then loaded it up.

  “As in Mosley Construction?” she tentatively ventured. She’d seen the signs around Liberty Station as the area had grown over the past couple of years.

  Jake nodded.

  Holy cow. That was an empire in the making.

  “So you work for you father. I think that’s great. A family bus—”

  “My dad died when I was eighteen,” Jake said.

  Kate gazed up at him, trying to process what that meant. Jake lent her a hand.

  “The business is mine now.”

  She was at a loss for words.

  Jake teased her by saying, “More exciting to think I’m a construction worker rather than the owner of the company?”

  “No! I mean…my God!” She shook her head. “Taking over the family business when you were eighteen—that’s amazing.”

  “My mom was going to sell the company. Even though it was a modest one with a small payroll back then, it seemed too daunting for her to manage by herself. And she was pretty distraught after my dad’s death, so she didn’t think she could concentrate on business. I stepped in. Not only did I respect and appreciate the legacy he’d been trying to build, but I’d spent enough time with him in the office and on construction sites to know what to do. For the most part. I had help from others who’d been with my dad from the very beginning.”

  Kate was shocked by this turn of events. But also impressed by Jake’s dedication to his father’s dream.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” she told him. “And I think it’s admirable that you knew what had to be done…and you did it.”

  “I’m the oldest. My mom had never worked and the twins—my two sisters, Janie and Jacki—still needed Mom at home after school and during breaks. So it was up to me to help make ends meet. And expand the business into something bigger and more stable, so that she eventually wouldn’t have to worry about money. Ever again.”

  Kate’s chest pulled tight. She’d never experienced the hardship of losing a parent or struggling financially. Her parents were New York Times bestselling novelists and travel writers. She’d wanted for nothing as a kid. And though she’d had a successful career in Los Angeles until her split from Ken, it was Maggi’s offer of Vice President of Marketing of her firm that had really elevated Kate’s professional status.

  She shook her head again. Thinking of the way Jake had responded to her earlier—wanting to know her needs and wanting to fulfill them—then the way he’d cooked their dinner and was now helping in the kitchen…

  He was the sensational one.

  This guy was the real deal. And Kate’s adoration was growing by leaps and bounds.

  “You took on a lot of responsibility at a young age,” she said in a quiet voice.

  “You gotta do what you gotta do.” A humble smile tipped his lips. For the first time, Kate could see in his crystal-clear eyes that he was wiser beyond his years. And suddenly, the number seemed so insignificant. So…inconsequential.

  As she deliberated over all of this, he finished cleaning up. Then he reached for her.

  “I haven’t had the time or the luxury of taking a night off in a while, Kate. But when I saw you coming across the courtyard today, I was ready to say to hell with everything else. If you hadn’t invited me over for dinner, I would have asked you out.”

  She gazed up at him, drowning in the beauty o
f his blue eyes. The sincerity reflected in the glimmering irises.

  His fingers worked the sash at her waist as he stepped closer, his head bending to hers. Her robe fell open and their bodies melded together, her breasts nestling below his pectoral ledge.

  “Sometimes you forget how much you need physical contact,” he said as his soft lips grazed her temple.

  “And then you see someone who…reminds you,” she answered in a breathless voice.

  “Excites you.”

  “Stirs your passion.”

  His lips swept over hers. “That happened on Monday,” he told her. “The first time I saw you.”

  Kate melted a little in his arms. “Yeah. Same here.”

  When his mouth sealed with hers, she couldn’t help the moan that rose in her throat. Her fingers twisted in his silky hair as her lips parted. His tongue delved deep, engaging her completely, making her lose all touch with reality.

  All she could think about was how Jake chased away her insecurities. Her past pain. All she could feel was his body against hers, his heat and his distinctly earthy, male scent permeating her senses.

  He dragged his mouth from hers and his lips glided down her neck, over her collarbone to the top of her breast. Lower still, until his tongue curled around her hard nipple before he drew the taut peak into his mouth.

  “Jake,” she whispered his name into his hair as her fingers tangled deeper.

  He cupped the breast he tended to as his tongue flicked across the nipple and then he suckled deep again. So very deep.

  Kate whimpered from the intense yearnings instantly mounting.

  “Jake,” she repeated, this time her voice tinged with need and desire. “I want you. Inside me.”

  He growled. The absolute sexiest sound she’d ever heard.

  Jake straightened and his fingers laced with hers. Guiding her toward a chair at the breakfast table, he slid into the seat and pulled her down so she straddled him. His erection pressed against the juncture of her legs.

  He wanted her, too.

  Jake touched her everywhere as the robe slid off her shoulders. When his mouth closed around her nipple once more, she held him to her, reveling in the pure euphoria he evoked. His tongue teased the puckered tip, his teeth gently scraping, hardening the small bud.