This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4)

The sultry gleam in her eyes, nearly made Jake laugh. Little Ms. MacKenzie was attempting to play him. Now it was his turn to see how she reacted. He was about to show her what kind of trouble her games could get her into.

“It was okay,” Jake replied with a shrug. “I’ve been involved in better attempts at seduction. To my mind you could do with a few lessons. Do you want a lesson, MacKenzie?”

“Do I... lesson? I’ll show you, lesson!” Grabbing hold of his hair, MacKenzie pulled Jake’s unresisting head towards her, rubbing her mouth against his before she applied stroke after stroke of her tongue against his lips.

Jake remained unresponsive; his lips closed, an outward show that he was unaffected by her touch. Inside his heart thumped in his chest, and it was all he could do not to give in to her demands.

When she pulled back, he grinned at her. “Better, but the offer still stands; if you need a lesson, all you have to do is ask.”

“I’m not asking you for a lesson in kissing. I’m a great kisser; I’ve always been a great kisser!”

“You need to trust me on this, lovely; whoever told you that monumental lie is obviously satisfied with mediocrity.” On a day that had deteriorated more than he could have ever imagined, Jake was finally enjoying himself.

MacKenzie’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, and Jake waited for the explosion. “Get off me, Jacob Egotistical Kingdom!”

“I’m disappointed in you, MacKenzie. Life is a journey where one should seek to acquire knowledge at every opportunity. Therefore, we should all strive to learn something new, or in your case, better at every given opportunity,” Jake drawled, in an attempt to infuse his words with a sage-like quality. If her expression was anything to go by, he hadn’t pulled it off.

“Just so you know, I’m completely aware that you’re trying to goad me into giving you permission to take control. So, you just go right ahead, but be advised that you can’t teach me a damn thing I don’t already know about kissing!”

Even though he’d been well and truly busted, Jake liked the way she flung out her arms as she granted him permission to take control. Unable to help himself, he took the opportunity to look her over. Contrary to what generally happened after pregnancy, MacKenzie had filled out. He suspected the current shape of her body was her normal size, and he liked it. What he didn’t like was the way she rolled her eyes before she stared up at the sky with a bored expression.

His hands on the grass, Jake broke all bodily contact as he balanced on his palms and toes, hovering over her. Then he waited... and waited. The minx was doing it on purpose, she was completely ignoring him. Jake knew if he allowed it, she would continue to test him, and her control of the situation.

Bending his arms at the elbows, he lowered his body until he made the barest of contact with her body before he pushed up. On his next downward pass, he slid his body along every contour of her frame that she had so cavalierly laid out before him.

While playing her waiting game, Jake’s mind was flooded with thoughts of how it would feel to make love to her. It amazed him that just watching a fully clothed MacKenzie ignore him had the ability to turn him on to the point that his body was fully erect and throbbing.

Not missing a thing, Jake saw that by his second pass up her body, her chest rose and fell more rapidly. Inserting a knee between her legs, he pushed back and slid up taking the hem of her skirt with him.

“Jake!” She gasped, sherry colored eyes flashing to meet his.

“Ahh, for a while there I thought you had forgotten about our lesson.” Jake quipped.

“I thought this was a kissing lesson,” came the breathy reply.

“It is; I just needed to regain your attention. Seems like my tactics worked.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you talk way too much, Jacob?”

“What would you rather I did, MacKenzie?”

“I thought you were the grand master, if I need to tell you, then you’re wasting my time,” she nonchalantly replied.

The grin on his face was so wide his dimples were in full effect. He loved the way MacKenzie kept him guessing. “You’re right; I am wasting time.”

Jake’s lips approached hers. At the last moment, he changed direction and ran his tongue over the shell of her ear. At her shudder, he bathed it with swirls of his tongue before kissing a trail across her cheekbone. Just beside her top lip, he took the time to place the softest of touches on his favorite freckle.

He wanted to linger, but MacKenzie didn’t allow it. Turning suddenly, their lips made contact. Their breaths mingled, and their mouths fused. Neither of them questioned their reaction to each other. It was explosive and it was real. Jake couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t get close enough to her. It had been too long since he had fully felt the imprint of her body against his.

Pulling away, he broke their contact and willed her to look at him. When he had her full attention, he slowly lowered his body until she was left in no doubt as to how much he wanted her, how much she affected him. “Do you feel what you do to me, MacKenzie?”

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