Dating a Metro Man (13 page)

“This is just sex.
You don’t
have me
,” Jenna denied, having to brace herself for every hard thrust.

“Like hell I don’t,” Seth said, sarcastically, the words pushing past his common sense. “You’re mine, Jenna Ranger—at least for however long it takes to quiet this ache I have for you. Don’t stay away so long the next time and it won’t be this much effort for either of us.”

“I was working! Damn you, Seth, I was working,” she bit out angrily, pushing up against him.

Seth grabbed her wrists and held them at their sides as he continued his movements in and out of her. “If I’m just your damn booty call, you’re mine too. You’re all I want, all I can think about, and I fucking need you. Do you hear me, Jenna?
I. Need. You.
”

“I need you too. Why are you so mad at me?” Jenna asked, the plea torn from her, even as she let Seth hold her down and do what he wanted.

Seth closed his eyes and slowed his movements, but he didn’t stop—couldn’t stop.

“I’m mad because I dragged you to the hard, wooden floor, and you let me. Because I waited as long as I could to call you this week when you didn’t call me, and it bothered me. Because I was damn afraid you might have talked yourself out of this being a good idea,” Seth said, the words becoming more tortured the closer to the edge of panic he got. “I am trying like hell to honor our agreement, but worrying this week about whether or not you were coming back was
not
part of our bargain. I need to know where I stand with you. If you want out of the deal, just tell me. Don’t just stay away and not call.”

“I don’t want out of our deal. Now let go of my hands,” Jenna ordered softly.

When Seth released her, she clasped his head, kissed his neck, kissed the pulse at his throat, ran hands through his hair and over his shoulders. “I was just busy, Seth. I swear I was just busy. I was coming back. I need you, too. Look—this is me under you, me being your stress reliever. I want to be here.”

Seth gathered her into his arms, turned and rolled them, and then rolled them back. He was not going to cry on her. No, he wasn’t going to scare her away yet with confessing how much he loved her and how worried he had been, but damn—he had been more afraid than he’d realized. His profound relief to be connected to her did not bode well for him keeping to their agreement. He wanted her with him every night.

In fact, he wanted her in his life for as long as they both lived.

While need dictated that he couldn’t completely stop moving inside her, Seth didn’t want to abuse her body either. It was going to take awhile. That was just a physical reality for him in his current condition. He’d done nothing to ease his need for her in the days without her except miss her like hell. He didn’t want to risk not giving her everything when she did show up.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked softly, not knowing what he would do if it were true.

“Yes, you’re hurting me,” Jenna laughed. “But it’s okay. My whole body is getting used to being mauled like your personal stress ball. I’m starting to crave the torture, and I hate you for it.”

“Thank God,” Seth told her sincerely, the slide of their bodies together feeling like the only important thing in the world at the moment. “I think I would die if I had to stop now.”

The phone on the night stand started ringing. Without missing a beat, Seth reached over, looked at display, and promptly tossed the still ringing phone into the floor beside the bed. “I’m too fucking busy to talk, and I mean that in every sense of the word.”

Jenna sputtered and laughed at his irritated tone. And then the more she thought about it, the more she laughed. The man was over the edge—and it seemed like he intended to take her with him to the point of madness.

“Hurry and finish. You know they’ll expect a call back shortly,” she taunted, letting her body give beneath his as the man above tried to drive her into his mattress.

“Shut up,” Seth said in her ear, “I’m concentrating. This is hard enough without your snide commentary.”

Jenna laughed and snorted at his choice of words, feeling Seth laughing on top of her now even as he was increasing his momentum. When the laughter died, a climax swept in to replace it. Her eyes rolled up when it went on for so long that Jenna found herself holding her breath as she writhed on the bed.

Seth thought it was like he had needed Jenna’s release as a catalyst for his. His groan of relief echoed loudly in the bedroom as he finally found what he needed inside her at last.

“Kiss me,” Jenna ordered, as she absorbed the last of his pleasure with her own. “I need you to kiss me.”

Her demand surprised both of them.

“Jenna,” Seth said, his tone softer, regretful, and calm at last. His body was practically comatose on top of hers now.

“Don’t
Jenna
me in that regretful tone,” she said, grabbing a handful of his hair and pulling his mouth down to hers. It was not her normal nature to be compliant or do what she was told. Seth Carter was the only exception she ever made, and he better damn well learn to appreciate it.

Jenna kissed Seth fiercely, feeling him let her make the kiss anything she needed it to be. When she finally released him, Jenna held Seth’s head up where she could look him fully in the face. “I’ll be lucky to walk straight tomorrow. And if you apologize, I swear I won’t be the only one limping around.”

Seth put his forehead on hers and laughed humorlessly. “I honestly don’t mean to hurt you or be so rough. I’m supposed to be a metro man with you—sensitive and caring—not a damn cave man dragging you to the floor all the time.”

“I’m coming to think you’re both,” Jenna said, laughing.

“Yes, you are—every time in fact—and I can almost always feel it happening for you,” Seth said, snorting.

Jenna smacked him on the back of his head. “That was not a compliment on your sex skills, nor an innuendo,” she exclaimed.

“Name one time you’ve ever been with me and had just one orgasm,” Seth demanded softly, his hands rubbing her arms.

Jenna sighed beneath him. “You want to hear how great you are in bed? Fine. You’re great in bed, Seth. You’re the best ever.”

Seth promptly bit her shoulder and felt gratified when Jenna yelped.

“What was that for?” Jenna said, smacking his head again. “I was paying you a damn compliment that time.”

“No, you were being sarcastic,” Seth corrected. “Besides it not me that’s great. It’s us. We are great together. It’s always like this and I’m completely addicted.”

“Finally something we can agree about tonight,” Jenna said, yawning.

“Stay,” Seth said. “It’s late, and you’re too tired to drive home.”

“Don’t be silly—I’m fine,” Jenna said sleepily.

When she didn’t speak for a couple of minutes, Seth looked down at her closed eyes and listened to her breathing. Sometimes being with her was like trying to pet a cactus. But when she finally gave in to herself and him, Jenna gave up everything no matter the cost. He loved her so much it hurt him to hold it all inside without saying it.

“You damn hard-hearted she-cat, I’m going to marry you one day and make you happy if it kills me.” Seth whispered the threat and laughed when she hugged him close in her sleep.

He eased reluctantly out of her to remove his weight, and as he did he realized something that he hadn’t before. They’d forgotten to use a condom. Jenna had come through the door smelling like her shower and he’d attacked her before he’d thought rationally. The condom he’d had ready was still in his damn pants pocket on the foyer floor.

Shit. Now what?
Seth closed his eyes and sighed about how crazy they had both gotten tonight. If Jenna got pregnant, it would solve a lot for him, but he suspected Jenna would probably never forgive him for them conceiving their first child in the middle of a sex fight.

He lay on his side and watched her sleeping for a few minutes, wondering how Jenna was going to react to the news in the morning.

When the phone rang again, Seth picked it up from the floor and walked with it out of the bedroom to take the call. A half hour later he crawled back into bed beside Jenna’s still sleeping body. He wanted to hold her, but she was already going to be upset when she woke in his bed. Seth sighed and settled for holding her hand in his as he fell asleep.

When Seth woke the next morning, Jenna was already gone. He sighed and wondered how long she would make him wait this time before he saw her again.

After he had dressed, Seth checked his tie in the mirror and made sure his suit was free of lint. It was his second best choice of clothes, but the only suit available since his best slacks had spent the night on his foyer floor. That brought him back to thinking about the unused condom in the pocket of those slacks and he sighed in resignation.

Seth lectured himself for dwelling on what he couldn’t change and for being too worried to call Jenna to talk with her about it. It wasn’t that he was a coward about admitting his part of taking the risk. It was just that he was afraid to make Jenna mad again. She was the most angry, stubborn woman he’d ever been with in his life, but since he craved her like a drug, he didn’t want to risk losing her completely. He would just do it in person. It wasn’t the kind of thing to be discussed on the phone anyway.

Seth straightened his tie and told himself that he would just make sure he saw her today to talk about it. Making the decision to do so allowed him to move on to the next item on his list.

Pulling his mind reluctantly from Jenna, Seth thought instead about the woman he was heading to meet. It had taken him six months to arrange her visit and to lure her into talking to him. Today it was going to happen, and Seth was not going to let any other concern in his life mess up making a good first impression on her.

Too much of his future was riding on the outcome.

At the hotel where the exotic and talented Talia Martin was staying, there was a message waiting at the front desk for Seth moving their meeting to her suite. Despite the intimacy of the situation, Seth didn’t question the change of venue, just strode to the elevator like it was an everyday occurrence to meet a beautiful, successful woman in her hotel room.

Outside her suite, Seth knocked and waited. When the door finally opened, he smiled widely at the very polished woman in a business suit standing there with a still quietly sobbing baby falling asleep over one shoulder. Talia Martin was an elegant, attractive woman easily five foot ten in her heels with skin the color of a mocha latte and straight black hair to mid-back as shiny as Seth had ever seen. He had known what she looked like from pictures on her company’s website, but she looked even better in person.

Whatever her genealogy, it served her very well, and the image she presented was both lovely and appealing. He could see why her sales were high.

“Mr. Carter, please come in,” Talia said, smiling. “Thanks for coming to my room. Kendra and I are not having a great morning. She’s one of those babies who misses home and her own bed.”

“Not a problem,” Seth said kindly. “We can even reschedule if you like.”

“Not necessary. I think the worst is over,” Talia told him. “Have a seat in the waiting area and let me see if I can put Kendra down now. Mason is already down for his nap. We should have at least an hour to talk.”

Seth watched the efficient woman disappear into the large bedroom off the well-furnished sitting area. He was pleased that the accommodations he’d arranged had been so suitable for her situation.

She returned shortly and smoothed the skirt of her business suit as she sat on the small couch close to him.

“I guess you can see why I was intrigued enough with your offer to come here to meet with you,” Talia said with a knowing smile. “Being a single parent is challenging even with the best support system. Mason needs to go to therapy several times a week, and it’s important for me right now to be with him for his appointments.”

Seth opened the portfolio he’d brought and pulled a sheet of paper out of it to hand it to her.

“What’s this?” she said, surprised, taking the paper and scanning the list of names and phone numbers it contained.

“A list of physical therapists in Falls Church and surrounding areas. I narrowed the list to the top ten, and put asterisks by the ones most highly recommended. They all work with children as young as your son. I checked,” Seth told her.

The paper fell to her lap. “Why would you do all that research for my personal situation?” Talia asked, genuinely perplexed at the trouble he’d taken.

“That’s how much I want you to consider my offer,” Seth said sincerely. “You can only be happy here in Falls Church if you feel supported in what’s important to you.”

“But why go to this trouble for me specifically?” Talia demanded.

Seth Carter’s thoughtfulness made Talia miss the man she’d married who had died and left her with a wounded child and a new baby. It also made her hopeful that there might one day be another man in her life who would be as thoughtful as Seth Carter was being—only for the right reasons.

Seth put the portfolio in his lap and his hands on top of it. “I thought as the potential employer I was supposed to get to ask the questions during our interview?”

Talia laughed softly. “I warned you I was looking for more control,” she teased, smiling and making the soft lines at her eyes crinkle. At thirty-four, she was still mostly happy with the way she looked and never felt the need to hide her age. “I’m looking for an equal partnership—eventually.”

Seth smiled broadly and leaned an arm on the back of the couch. “I’m looking for the same thing—eventually.”

“Be careful, Mr. Carter. If you start flirting with me, I may take you up on
that offer
and not bother with the job,” Talia warned, even though she was mostly teasing. “You have no idea what a challenge my life has been in the last year and a half. I can be mercenary when it suits me. Sometimes I think about marrying again just to get the help.”

“Sorry if I came across that way. I’m extremely flattered because you are an appealing woman, but I’m taken,” Seth said lightly, grinning at his hands. Then he met and held Talia Martin’s teasing gaze, getting a great idea. “But if you do accept my job offer, I could probably help you out in that area as well. How would you feel about dating a weight lifter who’s also a clothing designer? He’s several years younger than you, but you seem just his type. Allen likes older women. He almost dated my girlfriend’s mother, but my cousin got to her first. So he ended up dating my girlfriend instead, but they were never more than friends.”