He got rid of her bra, then spread his hands over her breasts, cupped them, tasted them. Pleasure shimmered through her, dissolving into a moan. “So good.” With one hand roaming his back and the other holding his head at her chest, she rocked against his erection.
He cursed and stood and she laughed against his lips as he tumbled them to the mattress. And then she wasn’t laughing anymore. He loved her thoroughly, exploring every inch of her. Some minutes later pants were discarded, panties and boxers disappeared. She sighed at the exquisiteness of Jake, skin to skin, nothing between them.
His hands were everywhere, followed by his mouth. His touch was familiar now and so much better because of it. Jake knew exactly where and how to touch her, how long and how fast. He owned her, every inch of her belonged to him, and she still wanted to give more. Like the entire world came down to the two of them touching.
They were both wild, a bit reckless, and when they were both desperate and on edge, he filled her. One long stroke that stole her breath.
“Don’t move.” His voice was commanding and thick with need.
She couldn’t move, she was drowning in his eyes, rocked to her very core by their joining. But it was the tender stroke of his hand over her hair while he whispered her name that brought the tears. She loved him. The words were in her heart but stuck in her throat.
“Shh,” he whispered against her lips. “Just be with me.”
She lost herself with him and in him, and as scary as it was, it was also the most wonderful feeling she’d ever known. She gave herself over to him and let Jake take her wherever he wanted, and it was beautiful.
Chapter 30
“It’s done,” JT said later that week, referring to the finger plate. “We’ll wait to hear back from the patent office, but the trials are over.”
Simon glanced up from where he was kicked back at one of JT’s workstations, fiddling with a bionic arm mock-up. “Sweet. That was a good job, man. Lynn and her money minions will be pleased. So how’d your weekend go?”
“Good.” He turned back to his monitor and rubbed a hand over his face. Better than good. It had only been a couple of days, but he missed the time when he had Paige and Casey all to himself. That wasn’t happening now.
“Hey, Jenny wants the four of us to go out to dinner tonight. I’m sure I can get my sister to babysit.”
Jenny and Simon. He was still wrapping his head around that. “Sounds good, but she’s working.”
“Sounds like someone’s feeling lonely.”
He didn’t blame her, he admired her. Didn’t mean he liked it.
“So it’s getting serious?”
He loved her. It was that serious. So much he was stupid with it. It was killing him, watching her struggle when he knew he could make things so much easier.
Simon looked up from his phone. “Okay, so it’s obvious how you feel. Does she feel the same?”
“I don’t know. She’s…cautious.” He laughed softly, thinking that was putting it mildly. He needed to go slow, but they were his and he was theirs. He knew that without a doubt. Felt it in the way Paige kissed him or turned into him in the night. And the way Casey held on to his hand, blue eyes gazing up at him.
He’d go slow, but not too slow.
“We can still go out after,” Simon said. “Jenny really wants to.”
“And what Jenny wants, Jenny gets?” He smiled at Simon’s smitten expression.
“Something like that. Do you think Paige would be okay with my sister babysitting?”
“Sure. They talked about it at the wedding.”
JT’s own phone buzzed. Stephen. But when he answered, it wasn’t Stephen.
“Hey, JT.”
“Hey, Hannah, what’s up?”
Before he could answer he heard his brother yelling in the background. “She stole my phone, bro. I have nothing to do with this.”
“Nothing to do with what?”
“Okay, this may sound crazy, and tell me if it is, but my assistant just found out she got into a graduate program and she’s leaving in two days.”
“And?”
“And…I thought of Paige to fill in. She’s so great with the kids and we’ve talked a couple of times since. I know how much she loved it.”
Yeah. So did he, and a small knot began to form in his stomach.
“But I didn’t know what you would think about it. I mean she’s there and you’re there and…”
And California was a long-ass way from Virginia. “How long were you thinking?”
“Well, I know Casey is starting school soon so maybe she could just help me out for a week or so. It would give her a better idea of if this was something she really wanted to pursue, and it’d be great for Casey.”
“Yes. It would be great for both of them.”
“But really, I wasn’t even going to mention it at all unless you thought it was a good idea. I know you two are…close. It’s just…she’s the first person I thought of. She’d be working closely with me and I really like her. I know things are hard for her, so I thought this might give her a chance at something she really wanted. If she wanted it.”