How to Fail at Flirting(54)

“Do you miss them? Your family?”

“Yeah. I got this place about six months ago, and Molly and her husband, Chris, came out to help me move. I haven’t seen anyone since then, though.”

He never lived here with Gretchen. Thank God. The idea of being in the middle of their relationship ghosts left me uneasy.

“I told Molly about you.” He spoke into my ear as we paused near a photo of Jake and a tall guy at graduation. I guessed that was Tyson.

“You told your sister about me?”

“Of course. And that probably means my entire family knows. We don’t do secrets well.”

My heart swelled, and an unfamiliar sense of security settled around me. I meant enough to him to tell his family, and I wondered what he’d told them.

“What’s she like? That’s your twin, right?”

He nodded. “She’s tough and doesn’t take shit from anyone, especially me, never has. Super competitive, fiercely protective, and funny. She’s an orthopedic surgeon. I think you’ll like her.”

She sounded a little like Felicia. I bet I would, and I didn’t miss him saying I will versus I would like her.

“Um, can we not talk about my family anymore, though?”

I stretched my neck to the side as he swept my hair away. “What do you want to talk about now?”

“I had help downstairs,” he said, brushing his lips over the skin below my ear. “But the bedroom is all me.”

His lips on my neck warmed me, and I arched into him. “Is that a subtle hint you want me in your bedroom?”

He ground against my backside. “I didn’t think it was that subtle.”

He turned me and curled his fingers to the nape of my neck. Jake’s eyes looked darker, heated with want, and I slid my own hands to his trim waist, trailing along his belt.

I bit my lower lip and locked my eyes with his.

Jake pulled me flush against his growing erection and planted a long, lingering kiss on my lips. We stumbled up the stairs, barely breaking the connection, our mouths and bodies fused. It was a wonder we didn’t end up toppling over. In those moments, Jake owned my kisses, his tongue and lips insistent and demanding, and I gave in freely. When we reached the landing, he pressed me to the wall, hands tangling in my hair and pulling me to his face. “God, you make me lose my mind.”

The wall was cool against my back, in stark contrast to the heat between us as he kissed me again. His thigh pressed between my legs, the friction a preview at how he could ease the ache there, and I ground against him.

“I want you.” He breathed out the words between kisses, his wide palm gripping my ass to pull me closer to him.

I’d never imagined being controlled in this way would make me feel so wanted, but it did. With Jake, it did because I knew he’d hand back control, that he didn’t need to own my body to know my body. “Take me, then.”

A low groan escaped his lips, and he lifted me, effortlessly, so that my legs could wrap around his waist and my arms around his neck. I scraped my nails along the back of his head and kissed his throat as he carried me into his bedroom, setting me on the edge of the dresser.

I helped his hands through the swirling fabric of my dress, guiding him where I wanted, over my knees and up my thighs to my pulsing center. I reveled at the way his breath quickened when he slid his fingers under the lace of my panties.

“Nay, it’s so damn sexy that you know what you want.”

Every nerve ending in my body was on edge as he slipped a long, thick finger inside me. His deft movements made me quake, my thighs tense, and my breath hitched.

“More,” I moaned, as his lips trailed from my mouth to my neck, planting sweet kisses and playful swipes of his tongue along the column of my throat.

I reached for his belt, but he stopped me, holding my wrist gently.

“I want to get you there first. I love watching you.” His thumb moved in tight circles over my compact bundle of nerves, the pressure sending waves of sensation up and over my body, the inevitable peak surging forward.

I repeated yes in a harried whimper and he slid a second finger in alongside the first. In that moment, my entire life boiled down to wanting more. More of his body, more of his time, more of his voice, and more moments like this where I felt so good that I couldn’t make room for anxiety or fear.

“So perfect,” he murmured, thrusting his fingers faster and finding that perfect spot inside me. “I can tell you’re so close.”

My voice was breathless and desperate as I bucked my hips against his hand. It felt so good, the pressure building, that I was afraid to exhale until his lips met my neck.

“Jake! Jake!” I crashed through the building tension, my body pulsing around his slowing movements, his tongue lapping at my neck. I slumped against him, and his chest heaved even as he pressed his lips to mine.

“I need to be inside you,” he groaned, pushing his pants and boxers down. His erection sprung free, thick and rigid, bobbing against his stomach.

I stretched to grip it, wrapping my fingers around him, and his head fell back.

“Fuck,” he said before dragging my soaked panties down, the feel of his hands sliding over my legs sending tingles back up to my center.

“Exactly,” I said, reaching for him again.

He fumbled with a condom he’d pulled from his pocket, and I smiled in anticipation as he ripped it open.