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  Because if there was one thing she couldn’t do, it was confess to Wes that she loved him.

  Chapter Six

  Wes dropped his duffel bag by the door just inside Jill’s apartment. She walked ahead of him toward her bedroom, turning at the doorway. “You can shower first,” she said. He suspected he’d frightened her with his admission down in the diner and now she was hoping to reestablish the same cursed distance she’d kept between them for months. She was weakening though, and he knew it.

  “Or we could shower together?” He pulled off his T-shirt as he walked down the hall toward her.

  She welcomed him back into her arms and he rejoiced at her quick acquiescence. Used to having to cajole her into accepting him, he was thrilled by her enthusiastic response.

  As he kissed her, he pushed her backward into the bathroom. Their lips connected and their tongues tangled as they fought for control of the kiss.

  “Shower.” She leaned over to turn on the water before resuming their broken kiss. Soon, steam filled the room and they pulled apart to hastily shed their clothing.

  Jill climbed in first, turning to crook her finger in invitation. As he stepped in, she reclaimed his mouth, and he fought to control the demon inside prodding him to take her against the shower wall.

  Wes grabbed the soap and worked up a lather. He washed the remnants of chocolate from her breasts and her stomach as Jill reached down and cupped his balls.

  “Jesus,” he muttered as she firmly rubbed his erection, bringing him far too quickly to the danger zone. “Slow down, pixie, or this will be over before it starts.”

  She gave him a wicked grin as she loosened her grip. “We have all night.” She dropped to her knees and took him to the back of her throat in one hard, fast move.

  Wes’ hands slammed against the tiles. He needed something to hold him upright as she sucked him deeply, strongly.

  “Mother of God,” he growled, wanting to prolong her beautiful torment but knowing he couldn’t. She held him in the palm of her hand—literally—as she gripped his balls, squeezing them with just enough pressure that his eyes rolled back in his head.

  He reached down to grip her head, his fingers tangling in her hair. She groaned as he pulled it. “Fuck,” he muttered. He couldn’t hold back, using his hands to push her faster, harder.

  “Please,” he said through gritted teeth. He should be apologizing as he roughly thrust inside her mouth. Her hands moved to his thighs, her fingernails digging in as she swallowed his head.

  She was sexy as hell, and he was a goner. Two more thrusts and he erupted. Holding her head, he came in her mouth, crying out in pleasurable anguish. She swallowed his come, caressed his softening flesh with light brushes of her tongue.

  He pulled out of her mouth and fell to his knees. “God, pixie. I—”

  She didn’t let him finish, didn’t let him make amends for using her so roughly. She simply leaned forward and kissed him—hard.

  They broke apart, both gasping for air. “Hot,” she whispered.

  He narrowed his eyes, taking in her flushed face, her sparkling blue eyes. He was never letting her go.

  When they finished showering, he dried her and wrapped a towel around her before throwing one around his hips.

  They walked back to her bedroom in silence and he watched as she rummaged through her drawers for a T-shirt and pair of panties. He let her get dressed before speaking. “I’m going to take those off you before you fall asleep.”

  She snorted. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  He grinned and pretended to fumble with his towel, pleased when her eyes followed the movement as if hoping for a small peek.

  “See anything you like?” he asked when her eyes lingered on his reemerging erection.

  She huffed. “Not particularly. Been there, done that.” Her smartass reply surprised a quick bark of laughter out of him.

  “You’re going to be the death of me, Jill Harper.”

  He walked to the living room to grab his duffel bag. When he returned to her bedroom, he pulled out a comfortable pair of lounge pants, eschewing the need for a shirt. As she watched, he sprawled out on her queen-sized bed and started flipping through the channels of the TV.

  “Making yourself at home?” she asked, her arms crossed.

  He grinned. “I hope so.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I can see us doing this every night for the rest of our lives.”

  As always, his words pushed her back behind a defensive wall. Her face went blank as he silently cursed. Every step forward with her was followed by twenty paces back.

  He patted the bed. “Come lie down beside me.”

  She stood stiffly.

  “I won’t bite,” he teased. “Much.”

  She rolled her eyes and crawled into the bed, careful to keep two feet between them. He chuckled at the image of her clinging to the edge of the mattress.

  “We both know you’re going to end up in these arms before the night is over. Why fight it?”

  Jill gave him a dirty look that was ineffectual against the happiness pervading his soul. He was in bed with her, and he’d move heaven and earth to stay there.

  “I’m not interested in anything more than sleeping.”

  “Mmm hmm.” His tone proved he knew her words to be a lie.

  “I mean it, Wes. You’ve had your fun. Now I’m tired and I’m going to sleep.”

  He moved so quickly she couldn’t fend him off as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

  “Are you listening to me?” she asked.

  “Of course I am. I just happen to prefer what your body is saying over what your voice is.”

  “My body?”

  He pulled her T-shirt and panties off just as he’d promised. She didn’t fight him. Didn’t try to shield her naked body from him. God, he loved her confidence, her poise. She was sexy as hell.

  “Your nipples are taut, drawn up so tight and firm, they look like little cherries, just begging to be tasted.” He engulfed one within his mouth and she gasped, her fingers twisting in his hair.

  Once he’d taken his fill, he pulled away and rested his cheek against her chest. “Your heart is racing, pounding hard and fast, begging me with its rhythm to take you the same way.”

  His hands drifted to her pussy and, turning her to her back, he pushed her legs apart, leaving her open to his hands and mouth.

  “You smell so sweet,” he murmured, sitting up and leaning closer. “Your body’s begging me to take one little lick.” He dragged his finger along her slit before slipping it into his mouth. He was assaulted by the flavor of her tangy juices. The single taste left him hungry for more.

  He lifted her legs until they rested on his shoulders, then he bent forward, dragging his tongue along her slick flesh, and left no part of her pussy untried. He teased her clit with the tip of his tongue for several minutes, relishing the sounds escaping from her lips, her quiet cries for more. His fingers drifted down to her opening and he slowly slid two in and out of the tight passage, soaking in the way her body continued to beg for more. Her inner muscles clenched and quivered against his fingers.

  He pulled away when she reached the peak, selfishly wanting to experience her climax against his cock.

  “Tell me what your body wants, Jill. Tell me the truth.”

  “You. It wants you.”

  He smiled at her admission. For once, the stars had aligned and he was following the right path, the path meant only for him.

  Rising, he knelt before her and took off his lounge pants. “Get on your hands and knees. I want to take you from behind.”

  “Yes,” she hissed, quickly assuming the position.

  “I want to push into you hard and strong. I want to be inside you as deep as I can go.”

  “God, yes,” she cried, her body thrusting toward him. “Do it. Do it just like that.”

  He pushed into her wet passage with one powerful thrust. She bega
n to climax immediately, and he bit his lip to keep himself from following her into the void.

  Damn, she tested his will. As she began to come down from her orgasm, he started to move. His solid, rapid motions betrayed his undeniable need for her. As he fucked her, his words, his emotions flowed, filling the silence in the room.

  “Oh baby, you feel good. So good. God. I can’t live without you, Jill. Can’t live without you.”

  She met him, thrust for thrust, as she came twice more. He joined her the last time, filling her with his seed.

  He’d done it again. Taken her without a condom.

  He was tempting fate and it was a stupid thing to do. He never forgot to use protection. Now, he’d failed Jill twice. A slight unease niggled at the back of his mind. Had he subconsciously forgotten in hopes that she would get pregnant? Even as the thought crossed his mind, he dismissed it. What kind of bastard would that make him? He closed his eyes. The biggest kind. Despite his desire to make a baby with Jill, he couldn’t hurt her like that. She was fighting this relationship and he refused to play dirty. When she came to him—God, please let her come to him—it would be of her own free will, not because of a mistake, not because he failed to be careful.

  He fell to the side, taking her with him, not wanting to crush her but reluctant to leave the warmth of her body. They lay silent, both of them breathless and overwhelmed by the intensity of their lovemaking.

  “So my body was asking for all of that?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yep.”

  “Smart body.”

  They laughed as they drifted off to sleep.

  * * * * *

  Jill woke in the middle of the night to soft hands caressing her back. “Mmm,” she said. “Was my body talking in its sleep?”

  Wes chuckled, his hands scorching a path of glorious sensation along her hips and over her ass. “Talking so loud it woke me up out of a sound sleep.”

  “Hate when that happens,” she said, her voice leaving it perfectly apparent she didn’t regret it a bit.

  “I did a little B and E while you were asleep,” he murmured, his lips following the trail of his hands, his tongue darting out to tease the skin along her back.

  “You did?”

  “Yep, I broke into your toy drawer.”

  Jill stiffened at the thought of Wes seeing her sex toys, worried about what he might think of her idea of fun. “Not very upstanding behavior for a cop,” she said sharply, hoping he’d let the subject drop.

  “I want to use your toys with you.”

  Nope, he definitely wasn’t dropping the subject.

  “You do?”

  “Oh yeah, you’ve got some pretty hot stuff in that drawer, pixie.”

  Her mind went wild with the possibilities. Maybe she didn’t mind sharing her bed with a criminal after all.

  “I do, do I?” she purred.

  He crawled on top of her, caging her in with his chest pressed against her back. She was completely trapped yet marvelously free at the same time. He had a way of raising annoyingly contradictory sensations inside her.

  “How often do you use that butt plug?”

  Flames erupted in her face at the idea of him discovering one of her most intimate, most guarded secret desires. “I—” She stumbled for words as Wes’ soft laugh shook the bed.

  “Never thought I’d see the day when I left Jill Harper speechless. Come on, pixie, tell me.”

  “I’ve only tried it a couple of times.”

  “Did you like it?” he asked.

  She sucked in a deep breath and decided, in for a penny, in for a pound. “I loved it.”

  “I want to fuck your ass,” he murmured into her ear.

  “God, yes,” she breathed, trying to decide whether or not to be pissed off when he chuckled. Until his next words.

  “You are a dream come true. Here, lift up your hips.” As she did so, he put a couple pillows underneath her. “Get on your knees,” he directed. “But leave your head down.”

  She followed his command, the first stirrings of an unfamiliar but powerful need growing in her body. She’d never allowed a man to take the lead in the bedroom. She was used to being in control of every aspect of her life—her career and her relationships. Her mother had often referred to her as a force to be reckoned with. She’d always taken that as a compliment, even though she knew there were more than a few times when her mother hadn’t meant it as such. She was a no-nonsense, grab-the-bull-by-the-horns kind of girl and she preferred it that way. She directed her own course and determined her own destiny, whether in life or in the bedroom. She took what she wanted. Always had, always would.

  As Wes ran his hands along her spine, she shivered with the realization that tonight, with this man, she wanted someone else to take the wheel. She wanted him to control their destiny, even if it was only for a little while. She trusted him. Knew he would give her everything she wanted without holding back.

  When his hands reached her ass, she couldn’t conceal her groan of delight.

  She trusted Wes. Implicitly. She knew with every fiber of her being that he would never hurt her, never betray her. Had she ever trusted a man before? Her mind raced over the question and answered with a resounding no.

  He picked something up from the bed, and she realized he’d already helped himself to several items in her fun drawer.

  Cool, slippery gel landed on her ass, surprising her, and she jumped a bit.

  “Shh,” Wes soothed as he slowly worked the slick lubrication into her with one finger. She’d bought the butt plug out of curiosity several years earlier, and she’d been shocked to discover how much she enjoyed the sensations it evoked in her body. Before Wes, she’d never trusted any of her lovers enough to try the dark, sensual act. It was too personal, too private…too special.

  As soon as she thought the words, an uneasy twinge nagged at the edge of her conscience. What the hell was she doing? She’d said she would keep him at a distance. Was this her idea of distance?

  For a moment, she stiffened, determined to pull away, but when Wes added more lubrication and another finger to his delicious torment, she knew she was lost.

  Over and over, Wes worked his fingers in her ass, and she was touched by the care, the time he was taking to make sure she was ready for him. Unfortunately, he was too cautious, too slow, and despite her thrusts against his fingers and her demands that he take her, he refused to be rushed.

  “Not yet,” he murmured as he pushed in a third finger. She gasped at the fullness, the glorious vibrations rippling through her.

  “Now,” she repeated. She wanted him, and damn it, she wasn’t going to be denied. “Now, Wes.”

  He pulled his fingers out and slowly replaced them with his hard cock. She breathed a sigh of relief as he moved into her with delicate care. He was answering her need, fulfilling her body’s desire for something she’d long ago resigned herself to never having. Was there anything he wouldn’t give her, do for her?

  Inch by thick inch, he worked his way inside, his firm grip on her hips proving once again that he was in charge. He would give her what she wanted, but it would be on his terms. When at last he was seated to the hilt, he paused, leaning forward, draping himself over her so he could place his lips at her ear.

  “Do you like this?”

  “Do you have to ask?” she answered, trying unsuccessfully to push back against him, trying to grasp one more millimeter of his beautiful cock.

  “I’m going to fuck you hard, pixie,” he said, the hands on her hips tightening slightly, betraying his own overwhelming need. “Tell me if you don’t want that.”

  “Don’t hold back,” she said. “I’ll know if you do and I’ll make you sorry.”

  He chuckled lightly at her breathless threat before pushing himself upright on his knees. He was true to his word. He took her with all the desire she felt. With all the unrequited needs she had allowed to build up during a lifetime of loveless affairs. In her quest to keep her lovers at arm’s l
ength, she’d failed to understand the true meaning of passion, of craving, of love.

  “I love you,” he said as he came.

  Oh God. The words crashed in on her heart as her orgasm tore through her body. Hot streams of come filled her and she screamed with the overpowering impulse as the brutal truth revealed itself. She’d let things go way too far.

  Fuck. Now what was she supposed to do?

  Chapter Seven

  “You want this last cup of coffee?” Wes yelled down the hallway from the kitchen.

  Jill appeared from the bathroom and pulled her toothbrush out of her mouth. “No, you can have it. I’ll be drinking the stuff all day down in the diner.” She returned to finish her morning toiletries and he emptied the pot into his travel mug with a grin.

  He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. For five mornings in a row, he’d woken up next to the woman he loved. Life didn’t get any better than this. For all their bickering, they actually coexisted rather peacefully. They enjoyed the same television shows and kept the same hours. He was an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of guy and Jill followed suit on days when she had to work. He suspected that was just because she worked herself into exhaustion. She made up for it on her days off, often sleeping until early afternoon without even rolling over. Problem was, her days off were few and far between.

  He planned to talk to her about her hours at the diner soon. She simply couldn’t keep working every shift, every day of the week. She made more than enough money to hire a couple extra people and he hoped to convince her to do so. Several times over the past few days, he’d gotten a sense that he was making progress in his campaign to claim the woman’s heart, only to have her stubbornness kick back in.

  It hadn’t even been a week. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and he knew it would take a hell of a lot longer than a few days to defeat the stubborn will of Jill Harper.

  Despite his impatience in claiming his pixie once and for all, everything else was falling into place. For the first time since he’d graduated from college, he felt complete and utter contentment. His days had fallen into a routine he would never have imagined for himself a year ago. For years, he’d enjoyed a life lived on the road and on the edge. He and Rick had often been assigned dangerous cases with the DEA that required they live undercover and away from home for several months out of the year. Wes had loved that fast-paced, erratic lifestyle for nearly a decade before reality struck.