When I Need You (Need You #4)

“That’s it? You’re a trainer.”

“I’m not your trainer. Big difference. A massage would help.”

“You offering?” he said huskily. “Because if you’re on your knees I can think of another part of me that’s in worse need of a rubdown.”

My heart just . . . caught fire.

Or maybe that was my panties.

“What is it about you that has me all tied up in knots?” Jensen reached down and pulled the tie out of my hair. “You break all three of my rules.” Then he slid his hand down to cup my jaw. “And for as much shit as I gave you about being a rule follower? I am too. I’ve never broken any of them before. Never wanted to. Until I met you.” He let his hand fall to his side. “Sweetheart, get up. I’ve only got so much control.”

I had a front-row seat to seeing how being on my knees affected him. I scrambled to my feet and took a few steps back. “I’ll just go get ready.”

Jensen bestowed a thorough sweep of those molten blue eyes over me. “Get ready for what?”

“Our dinner date.”

“It can wait. Where’s Calder?”

“Staying overnight at a friend’s.”

“Did you plan that?”

“Yes. After our plans fell through Friday night, I decided to make some contingency plans. Not just for one night. For the long term.” I kept my eyes on his. “Spending time alone with you . . . I’m making it a priority. This isn’t a onetime thing for me.”

He tipped his head back to the ceiling and said, “Thank you, Jesus.” Then he pinned me with his laser-sharp gaze. “Now what?”

Despite my worries that my sexual inexperience would frustrate or disappoint him, I seized the moment. “Now . . . you put your bold talk into action.”





Twenty


JENSEN




Rowan conveyed exactly what I needed to hear.

Not just the promise of hot sex, but proof that she’d dealt with her doubts about us.

What a goddamned relief.

She sauntered closer with a sensuous sway of her hips.

Once we were toe to toe, I flattened my palm on the base of her throat and gently curled my fingers around her neck, feeling her pulse jump beneath my stroking thumb.

She glanced down at my hand, and then those mesmerizing hazel eyes met mine with complete trust.

Without a word, I reached behind me and opened the door.

As soon as we were locked in my apartment, I had my mouth on her. My hands on her. Greedy to touch and taste every part of her.

Rowan kissed me, her passion equally all-consuming.

“Bedroom,” I growled after I broke the kiss.

“Couch.”

That gave me pause. “Why?”

“You ever fucked a woman on that enormous puffy couch that you adore so much, Lund?”

I smiled against her neck. “No.”

“Then I want to be the first at something for you too.”

“Too?”

She stood on her tiptoes and placed her mouth on my ear. “You’re the first man I’ve let into my heart and into my life since before Calder was born.”

Might be kinda, sorta halfway in love . . . Nope. Totally in love with this woman.

I forced her to look at me. “The only man,” I corrected fiercely.

“Then I want to be the only woman you fuck on that couch.”

“How about if you’re the only woman I ever fuck . . . period.”

Her eyes gleamed. “Deal.”

Elated, I picked her up and tossed her over the back of the couch.

She squealed.

I planned on hearing that a lot tonight.

“Strip naked. Striptease another time.”

“Anxious?” she said in a sexy coo as she pitched her athletic shoes toward the entryway.

“You have no fucking idea.”

“I do actually.” Her damp workout shirt landed on my head. Immediately the scent of her—a mix of laundry detergent, her perfume and the light musk of her sweat—hit me like a damn drug. I managed to say, “You have lousy aim, Coach.”

“My aim is true. That was a prompt for you to hurry up. I’m already half-naked.”

My shoes flew off. My shirt gone in an instant. I paused before I ditched my workout shorts. “Hang on.” I opened my duffel bag, rooting around until I found the box of unopened condoms. I lobbed the box into the corner of the couch before I vaulted over the edge.

Like me, she still wore her bottoms, but her upper half was bare. I crawled toward her and she waited, resting on her elbows, those gorgeous full breasts on display, her eyes dark with heat, her lips parted. “What’s first on the menu of sexual delights, since we’re skipping dinner?”

“Let’s start with this.” I kissed her as if that were all I wanted from her: one kiss. Then another. And another. While feeding her more fleeting, flirty kisses, I settled next to her, lying on our sides, facing each other. I traced the edge of her jaw with the back of my knuckles. “What?”

“I want to touch you.”

“You can do that as much as you want, beautiful.” Seeing her hesitation, I placed her hand on my chest. “Start here.”

Her tentative touch lasted about fifteen seconds. Then her greed took over. She outlined the thick slabs of muscle that were my pectorals. First with her fingers, then with her tongue. Emboldened by the groans she’d wrought from me, she circled my nipple with the pad of her thumb as her other hand coasted down my arm. She paid particular attention to mapping the tendons, cords and veins on my forearms until every hair on my body prickled with awareness as the electricity between us began to build.

From the moment she’d bared her breasts I’d been biding my time, trying not to act obsessed about getting my hands and mouth all over them. But watching Rowan touch me and witnessing her confident little smirk because she could see how much her explorations affected me was unbelievably sexy.

Her thorough examination of the dips and grooves of my biceps and triceps followed. In fact, Rowan seemed a little infatuated with my arms as she glided her fingertips from the bend in my elbow to the ball of my shoulder. Over and over. She murmured, “Your body is outstanding.”

I’d received a multitude of comments on my physique over the years and never paid much attention to them. My body was a tool. A weapon. Since my injury I’d seen it as a broken piece of equipment. But the admiration and lust in Rowan’s eyes, her words of praise filled me with pride that she saw it as an instrument of pleasure.

She ran the tips of her fingers across my collarbone. Up my neck. Over the curve of my jaw. Sweeping her thumb over my lips. “I like your face, Lund.”

I laughed softly. “My face would like to say hello to your tits.”

“Funny, my tits were just thinking the same thing.” She rolled to her back and stretched her arms above her head.