Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

JAKE

I'm riding the high of Peter's professional demise, because there's no way whispers about this aren't going to pulse through Asheville, Buncombe County, and hopefully the rest of the state. The only marriage he'll be trying to save is his own, and I hope Mary refuses to take him back.

Sharing this crazy, adrenaline-soaked moment with Lainey made me feel like I was on top of the world, and I'm still up there, elevated and full of untapped energy. Adrenaline zipping through my bloodstream and making my skin extra sensitive, my heart tapping along faster than usual.

So it takes my brain a second to catch up with the gleam in her eyes and the intent lining her voice.

But only a second, and now it's hard to focus on the road, because she's next to me, wrapped up in a red sundress like a festive piece of candy. God help me, I want to sink my teeth into her. I want to lick my way to her center. I want to make her moan and scream my name until even Mr. Tim across the hall can hear it.

"You're going to give it to me, Elaine?" I ask slowly, the words grinding out of me. "You're going to come for me?"

"If you're good enough to earn it," she says with a sidelong glance.

"Oh, I'm good enough. I'll blow Peanut Butter Cup out of the water."

"You'd better." She laughs, her eyes shining, then runs her hand up my thigh and rubs it directly over my dick through my jeans.

I glance at her, feral need pounding into me, and then press on the gas pedal, prompting her to laugh, especially since I almost immediately need to brake. "Adrenaline gets you hot too," I comment, grinning. I'm on a high that can't just be explained by Peter, or by this beautiful woman's hand on my dick. It's more than that. It feels like I'm soaring over the city, hand in hand with her, and I know I'm going to find myself sketching that later—the Love Bandit and the Love Fixer taking to the skies.

" You get me hot," she says pointedly, her hand still on me. "I wanted you to bend me over the conference table. Especially when you gave them the business cards. When did you have those made?"

"I ordered them yesterday, overnight. They came this morning."

Something flickers in her eyes, and her hand rubs me, up and down. "That was really sweet of you."

"I didn't do it to be sweet," I say between my teeth.

"You didn't do it to get laid," she rebuts. "You already know I want you. You could have knocked on my door last night, and I would have gladly fucked you against it."

A swear tears out of me, because I'd spent half of the night restless, thinking about exactly that. The reason I didn't go to her was because I still wanted to prove myself and didn't feel that I'd done it. And because part of me worried it would change things, and I liked the way she looked at me, like she'd fooled herself into thinking I'm some kind of prize. Swallowing, I say, "I did it to please you."

"That doesn't mean it wasn't sweet."

I barely make it a few feet before I need to brake again. We're downtown, and the traffic is thick, the foot traffic thicker, and even though we've blown past Peter and his married gang, we still have a while to go. Too far.

Her hand reaches for the button of my jeans, unfastening it, and desperate need floods my veins, threatening to drown the last of my ability to think logically. I've never wanted to sink into a woman this much, to claim her. To drive in deep and stay. I've wanted her since the first night she came into my apartment, before I knew the real Lainey.

And she wanted me before she knew the real Jake.

Because there's something connecting us—some thread of understanding, of like recognizing like, and it scares the shit out of me even as it drives me insane. I've never been with a woman who understands me before.

I can feel her eyes on me as she slowly lowers the zipper of my jeans, my aching dick jutting out now.

I stop at a crosswalk, nodding to an old lady with a walker as she makes her way across—all while Lainey slides her hand over me, curling her fingers around to capture more of me. There's nothing soft or gentle about her. She's acting like she's greedy for me, and there's no way I could be more desperate for everything she's offering.

"You like to drive me crazy, don't you?" I ask, glancing at her.

Her eyes are bright with enjoyment and shiny with lust, and I'm definitely not going to make it to the apartment building. Maybe I'll just pull over on the side of the street. I'll take her in the car in the middle of downtown Asheville, and we'll probably get arrested, and it will be worth it because I'll have finally felt her clench around me. Because I'll know she decided I was worthy of bringing her over the edge.

"Yes," she says, her voice breathy, her hand working me as I glide down the road. " Yes ."

And then my heart nearly beats right the fuck out of my chest because as I get the car moving again— just a few minutes, only a few minutes —she tugs my dick up out of my underwear and leans down and—

"Shit, Lainey, I can't—"

But she can't answer because her lips are wrapped around the tip of my dick, her tongue swirling over it like it's a lollipop.

She's going to kill me. She's going to kill both of us, actually, because it's hard to pay attention to anything but the gorgeous woman with my dick in her mouth. She bobs up and down, and I swear prodigiously, my hand finding her soft hair.

" Lainey ," I hiss through my teeth. Her response is to run her teeth lightly over my dick on her next pass, and I white-knuckle the wheel, trying to think taming thoughts as I hit another red light. A car edges up next to me, and I move the Fiesta forward by several inches, crossing the line slightly so they won't get a view of her, bent over in that red dress, her head buried in my lap, and I'm really not going to make it. I'm not going to be able to fuck her, because she's going to make me lose myself in her mouth.

At the same time, I'm not going to tell her to stop sucking my dick, because this is the hottest thing that's ever happened to me.

So I think of the necklace and Roark. I think of locked doors and Ryan's hand. I think of the pocket watch and all the many ways I've failed, and I find the strength inside of myself to turn off on the correct roads. To pull into the small underground parking garage beneath the old-fashioned white apartment building. To find a corner under a non-functional lightbulb, dark and therefore abandoned by the other residents, and park the car in it.

It's about three o'clock, and the garage is empty, and I can't wait. I can't wait.

I've never unfastened my seatbelt quicker. I pull her up off my cock, and she smiles at me, her lips glistening, her eyes bright in this dark corner of the garage. Leaning in, I kiss her hard, thinking about what she said about wanting me to bend her over that conference table.

Pulling back, I say, "I can't wait. Take your panties off."

"But we don't have a condom," she objects, her eyes dilating more as she unfastens her seatbelt. I run a hand up her dress, slipping it between her thighs, which open for me, giving me the slick heat of her.

"Are you kidding me?" I ask into her ear. "You don't think I've been carrying one around for days in the hopes you'll ask me to use it?"

"You have?" She sounds pleased by my confession, not weirded out, thankfully.

I lean in and kiss her ear, the side of her face, her mouth, my hand still moving between her thighs, pressing into her. Worshipping her. "I want you here," I breathe into her neck. "I want to fuck you on the hood of the car."

I can tell from the look on her face that the thought of doing something slightly dangerous turns her on.

"Someone could see," she says, lifting into my touch, giving me room to slip past the thin fabric of her underwear and run my fingertips over her. She's so wet, my fingers sopping with her, and my dick gives another pulse of now, you idiot.

"They could," I agree. "It's not a busy time of day, and there's no one down here now, but someone could come. They could see me pushing into you, holding you down while I fuck you against the car we destroyed together. They could see that."

She swears under her breath.

"We'll keep our clothes on," I say, kissing below her ear again before softly biting the lobe. "And if they catch us, I'll tell them we're having engine trouble and we're trying to get the hood open."

"What if they offer to help?" she asks, lifting up, a little moan escaping her as I slide my fingers into her, curling them to find that spot that nearly sent her over the edge the other day, my palm pressing into her clit.

"I'll tell them that I don't fucking share," I say into her ear, a grumble that lights something in her eyes.

"Move your hand," she says, her voice a command. I do as she ordered, lifting my fingers to my lips again to suck off the familiar taste of her. I watch as she slides her damp panties down her legs—black lace, pretty but even prettier in the footwell—and then she's opening her door, peering coyly over her shoulder at me as she steps out of the car. I watch her slide around to the front, planting her hands on the hood near the windshield as she leans forward, giving me a perfect view of her tits as they press against the top of her bra, wanting to tumble out. I'm in agreement with them, because I'd like them to break free too.

Any words in my brain dry up and crumble to dust, and all that's left is my throbbing dick, still exposed, and the need to please her. It may be the only thing I have to give her, but I'm absolutely going to give it to her. Again and again, as many chances as I get. I get the condom out of my pocket, open it, and roll it on—all while she watches me through the windshield, her gaze so heated I'm surprised the glass doesn't crack. She makes a show of slowly licking her lips.

My pulse pounding, and all the blood in my body thrumming to a common location, I get out of the car and stalk around the hood. Lainey makes a little hum of pleasure as I flip up the bottom of her dress to palm the perfect curve of her ass. The garage is dark in this corner, but not that dark. There are cars on the other side, the stairwell is in front of us and to the right, and the single elevator hulks beside it. We'd have only a few seconds of warning if someone entered the garage that way, and a few seconds more if a car drove in.

"Are you having car trouble, ma'am?"

She steps back, attacking my foot with her heel. The move surprises a laugh out of me, even as I move my fingers over her, stroking, appreciating, in no hurry, even though there is a very real chance a stranger could come along. Part of me almost wants someone to, so they'll see this perplexing, maddening, deeply tempting woman is mine. Mine to kiss, mine to touch, mine to fuck.

You're losing it , a voice in my head whispers, but I'm too far gone to care. I lean in and kiss her neck, her ear, the side of her face, my hand gliding over her bare ass, her slick center. Her . There's a sense of wonder unfurling inside of me, because she's decided to fully give herself to me.

She trusts me. She has no reason to, and it's probably not the soundest decision she's ever made, but she does.

Her voice quavers when she looks over her shoulder and says, "You should know better than to call a woman ‘ma'am.'"

"My mistake," I say, sliding one finger into her and then two, delighting in how she feels and the knowledge that I'm finally going to get to slide into her and feel her clench around me. She pushes up, rocking her hips a little so she gets my fingers where she wants them.

"It turns out I don't know shit about cars," I say through a hoarse throat. "Maybe I can fuck you against the hood as a consolation prize."

"That's very thoughtful of you," she says. "I like it deep and thorough. Maybe a little bit rough."

"You're going to kill me," I say into her ear, rubbing her with my hand. She's ready—she's beyond ready—but I want her to come hard. I want her to see stars. I want to give her everything he didn't. When I'm gone, I want her to remember me fondly, and touch herself while she's doing it.

"No, I won't do that," she says, kissing the side of my mouth. "I need you to be very much alive for this. And I need your cock now. You're not supposed to keep a lady waiting."

I can't wait anymore. It's not in me to keep denying myself when she's been so clear about what she wants. So I grab her hip beneath her dress, lining myself up, hearing her gusty little inhale as she feels me behind her. And then I press in slowly—both because I need to get her used to me and if I don't pace myself I'll be in serious danger of plunging over the edge without taking her with me.

The sensation of her engulfing me is so exquisite I'm not sure I can keep my feet, and I bracket one hand next to hers on the hood of the ruined car.

"Oh. My. God," she murmurs, pushing back and taking more of me. She whispers it again as I reach around to touch her, rubbing the place where she needs me as I finally bottom out. My lips find her neck as I pull out and then press into heaven again. I find a jagged part of the hood with my hand and grip it tightly, needing the nip of pain, because I already feel the tingling at the base of my spine. I know, I damn well know, I won't last long this first time.

I slide out again, then dip only partway in. Then do it again. Again.

"What are you doing?" she hisses, trying to buck her hips and take in more of me. "I need you deeper. It felt so—"

This time, I slide my hand from between her legs to her hip and thrust in hard, pulling her hip to me to make it even deeper, and a surprised, pleased sound bursts from her. " Yes ."

Sliding my hand around her neck, I tuck my thumb under her chin to tilt her back toward me so I can kiss her. I'm nearly frantic. Not because she's making noise and someone might hear, but because she's close. I can feel the first waves of her pleasure lapping at me. Squeezing me.

But I won't get to see the look on her face, not fully.

I need to see her.

I need to experience this with her, all the way.

I need to feel her clutch around me, to see her face twist with pleasure and know that I was the lucky asshole who got to give it to her.

So I pull out and whirl her around so she's facing me. My jeans are down around my thighs, uncomfortable as hell, but I could give a shit about anything but being inside her. Her legs instantly splay open for me, and I stalk in between them, guiding her onto the hood, her back against the still-hot metal. She cinches her legs around my waist as I stroke in again, fast because I need to get back inside of her, then lean in to capture her mouth. Her arms wrap around me, her hands burying into my hair as she sucks on my lips. I press in again and again, barely aware of where we are—of anything but the feeling of her around me. It's blissful. It's…

"Jake," she whispers raggedly in my ear. "I'm going to come."

And I pull back a little as I stroke into her again, feeling the first pulses around me—the feeling almost painful because I need to come too, but I can't until she's all the way there. Her eyes close, her head tips back against the hood, and she's so beautiful, so beyond anything I've ever experienced before or will probably experience again that it almost brings me to my knees.

"That's it, hellcat. That's it," I murmur, continuing with the same rhythm that got her here, hard and deep. So deep inside of her.

Her eyes flutter open, and her hands grab my back, pulling me farther down onto the hood, her fingers clawing me like she's become her nickname. " Jake ."

I can't hold back anymore. As she clutches around me, pleasure rips through me, and I lean into her neck, biting her lightly as I fall over the edge into a kind of molten bliss I've never felt before in my whole life. A bliss that burns and scars, because I already know that after this I'm going to want only her.

Well, fuck.