12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Clara

This had to be a dream.

A really good one where I was coming without any effort on my part. I was asleep, after all. In Jake's bed, where I'd spent the night after we'd wrung each other dry in the game room and then again in his shower.

This mattress must have held special powers. I'd had the best sleep of my life, and now, I was on the verge of orgasm—

The rough chuckle against my pussy startled me awake. This wasn't a dream, and the head between my thighs was unmistakably Jake's.

That was all it took. Knowing this was real, and it was Jake, sent me into oblivion. Spine arching, I came quietly in the space between sleep and fully awake, but no less powerfully. Goose bumps blossomed across my skin, and my limbs vibrated as Jake kissed up my belly, pausing to lick my C-section scar and rub his beard against the soft swell below my navel.

Rolling me to my side, he fit his much longer body behind mine, and I raised my leg, allowing his cock to slide between my folds.

"What time is it?" I rasped, starting to remember there was a world outside this man.

"Early." He kissed my earlobe then beneath it, making me shiver. "I set my alarm. We have time before you need to get home."

"Smart man." I tipped my head back to nuzzle his beard.

"I'm a man who needs to fuck his woman as many times as he can in the time he's allotted."

Rearing back until we were aligned, he pushed into me. Our groans matched, and his mouth came down hard on mine.

"I need a condom," he murmured against my lips. "Last thing I want to do is pull out of you, but I—"

Maybe it was because I was only half-awake or because this man made me stupid, but I tightened around him to keep him inside.

"I haven't been with anyone but you, and I have an IUD."

He sighed, his head falling on mine. I knew what regret sounded like.

"Like that more than you can know, sweetness, but I gotta have a condom to keep us both safe. Shouldn't have gone in without one. You're too damn tempting, I couldn't help myself."

He rolled away to grab a condom from his bedside table, and a niggling of disappointment filled my gut, but he made quick work of putting it on, not allowing my doubts to overtake my desire for him. He pushed back into me, forcing the rest of those nagging thoughts away, and wrapped himself around me, one leg between mine as he held me from behind.

Cupping my breasts, he kissed my neck and shoulders. We moved together at a slow, languid pace, so different from all our other times. Maybe if I'd stuck around for him to wake up in my hotel room, this was what it would have been like. Or maybe now that we knew each other a little better, it was safer to express something other than desire.

What that was, I couldn't name, I just knew I'd never experienced anything like it.

"Need to wake up with you more often," he gritted out. "Best way to wake up."

He hooked his arm under my knee and raised it high, driving in deeper. My mouth fell open, and I gave myself over to his thorough fucking. Skin slapping each time his hips hit my ass, he groaned in my ear and mumbled how sweet I was. I threaded my fingers through his on my chest and bit his jaw when I began to tremble.

"Wait for me, Clara. Wanna come with you."

"Hurry."

"Chasing you over the edge, baby."

He gripped my hip and pulled me back into him, making our collision a cacophony of pleasure. It was almost impossible to hold back, but I bit down on my lip, waiting, waiting…

"Mmm…there." He plunged in as deep as he could and held. "There, Clara. Let go."

And I did.

His pulsing length and strong hold on my body sent me into a bone-shaking orgasm. My jaw quivered, making my teeth clack together. Jake's warm, rough hand closed around my jaw, holding it still while his lips dragged along my shoulder.

We eased together, relaxing into each other, muscle by muscle. He had to pull out to get rid of the condom, but stayed wrapped around me. I was drifting back into my sleepy space when he gave my shoulder a smacking kiss.

"My alarm is going to go off soon. I'd keep you here all day, but I know you want to get back to your girl."

"Mmm. You're right."

I scooted away from him, stretching out on my back. Without him draped over me and out of the moment, I suddenly felt very, very naked and grabbed the sheet but only managed to yank a corner of it over my middle. Raising my head, I looked down at myself, almost glowing in the bright morning light streaming through his blinds. Worse than my pale skin, though, was the stubble glistening along my legs.

I purposely hadn't shaved last night, so I wouldn't end up…well, here. But Jake had a way of making everything fade away when he put his mouth on me. Even my hairy Italian genes.

"I hear a lot of thinking happening over there." He propped himself on his elbow and tapped my forehead. "Are you coming up with reasons why this can't happen again? Before you even leave my bed?"

"No, that's definitely not what I'm thinking about." Even though I should be. "I'm sorry I didn't shave. If I had known we were going to do that, I would have, but—"

"You didn't shave?" He ran his hand over my exposed thighs, his forehead crinkling. "Yeah, you didn't. You're all fuzzy."

I covered my face with my hands. "I'm mortified. I never do this. I—"

"Clara, come on. It's hair. We both have it. Besides, did it seem like I was turned off by any part of you?"

Slowly lowering my hands, I peered at him warily. "No. You seem to be into me."

He chuckled. "Yeah. Glad you didn't miss that. I'm not a little boy. A little hair isn't going to deter me from getting to the treasure underneath it. Get that shit out of your head. Whoever programmed you with the need to be perfect all the time deserves a lesson or two."

My chest tightened from memories of Miller turning me down if my legs were the slightest bit prickly. Him refusing to go down on me unless I'd waxed everything off. Even then, it was hit or miss. Over the years, I'd preempted his criticisms by making certain I was nothing less than perfect when around him.

My mouth opened to tell him it was my ex's doing, but before I could get a word out, a loud sound came from the front of the house. A door slamming into a wall perhaps.

Jake shot out of bed, and I sat up, pulling the sheet to my chest. He started toward the bedroom door, yanking on a pair of sweats.

"Honey, we're home!"

A woman's voice echoed off the walls from the direction of the foyer, followed by a shushing sound and two murmuring voices.

Jake whirled around, none of the panic displayed in his frantic actions reaching his stony expression. He pointed at me. "Stay here. Keep the door closed. I'll take care of this."

He stalked out of his bedroom, firmly shutting the door behind him.

I didn't know what was going on. The one thing I did know was I wasn't going to sit in his bed naked, waiting for him to deal with the woman in his foyer with a key to his home who was close enough to him to call him honey.

As quickly as I could, I shoved my clothes on. Shame settled in as the seconds ticked by. I knew next to nothing about Jake, and the truth was, I hadn't asked anything aside from whether he was married. For all I knew, he could have been in a serious relationship.

If he was, I wouldn't be a party to keeping his secret, and there was no way in hell I'd follow his orders.

Jake's low, unhappy voice was the first thing I heard when I quietly swung the door open. "...need to call first," he gritted out.

"I did, Jacob. It isn't my fault you didn't answer." The woman's voice wasn't as low, and there was a teasing lilt to it. "Why are you getting so hot and bothered about—ohhh, you have company, don't you?"

I peered around the corner to find Jake standing in the foyer with a pretty, leggy blonde in leggings and a crop top, his arms crossed over his bare chest, which she poked the center of.

Jake grunted. "It's nothing."

"She must be something if you have her here. You're seeing someone and didn't—"

He swiped a hand through the air. "I said it's nothing, Carly. Jesus. It's just satisfying a bodily need."

She laughed. "Oh my god, are you embarrassed right now? How young is she?"

He shoved his fingers through his hair and chuffed like a raging bull. "Opposite. She's older and knows the score. I give her attention, she lets me in. Nothing more than getting off and getting gone."

My heart stopped, twisted, and plummeted to my feet. Wow , that stung. Worse, he wasn't wrong. Despite the front I'd tried to put on, I'd let him in awfully easily.

I had to get out of there, even if that meant passing them. Had my purse and shoes not been by the front door, I might have jumped out a window to avoid the awkwardness.

Then I remembered I'd done nothing wrong. Jake was the asshole ordering me around and bad-mouthing me to the gorgeous woman with a key to his house. He'd have to deal with me walking by him. I would not sit still and be quiet.

Sucking in a deep breath, I strode toward them. He noticed me immediately, turning his hardened gaze my way. The blonde twisted to see what he was looking at, and I was struck by how stunning and young she was.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll grab my shoes and purse so I can get gone."

Jake made a choking sound, and the blonde offered a sympathetic smile while stepping aside to make way for me. I slipped between them, my eyes trained directly in front of me. With my back to them, I stuffed my feet in my shoes and grabbed my purse.

"Clara," Jake gruffed.

I waved over my shoulder. "I can see myself out." Of course I fumbled with the lock, slowing down my escape, which had been going oh so smoothly until now. With my insides a trembling mess, I'd actually been impressed with how cool I'd played it. Why wasn't this lock coming undone?

In those few seconds—which felt like an eternity—it took to yank open the door, another layer of Jake's secrecy revealed itself.

"Dad! I forgot my field hockey stick!"

Jake Hayes was a father.

And he never thought to mention it.