Gold Fire (26 page)

Oh, my. Her gaze dropped to his jeans. Better lighting would have helped her appreciate that more. She gave him a heavy-lidded smile as she reached for the buttons on her blouse and undid two.

Jase exhaled a long, appreciative breath.

If he loved seeing the evidence of restraint in her come undone, he wasn’t the only one affected. Each move seemed to free something in herself. It uncoiled in sinuous slow motion, her tightly wound control letting go. It was a new feeling. In her wild days she might have acted uninhibited, but it was just that, an act. It had required effort to overcome good sense, along with copious amounts of alcohol. The only effort involved here was in not rushing the process.

With deliberate slowness, she toed off each shoe. He watched, then lifted his eyes. There was nothing cool about that look.

Her heart pounded, a ridiculous level of excitement for merely baring her arms and feet. Licking her lips felt downright dangerous. She did it, just to watch his eyes blaze with interest.

She paused long enough for him to wonder what she’d do next. She hadn’t planned this, and thinking was becoming difficult, but the next move seemed obvious. Miss Larkin needed to shed every bit of her stuffy image.

Placing a foot on the lower rung of a bar stool, she slid her skirt up just far enough to expose the top of her thigh-high nylon. Then pushed the stocking down, slowly. She didn’t have to look to know he followed every motion. With deliberate care she draped the nylon over the stool, then repeated the process with her other leg. Skirt inched up, nylon inched down. Languid movements, while her heart took off at high speed and blood rushed in her ears.

The freshly mopped wood floor was smooth and cool against her feet as she turned to face him.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Better?”

She smiled slyly. “Almost.”

How could he look so relaxed? The room was charged with so much electricity it prickled against her skin. Yet he stood there expressionless, feet slightly spread and bottle dangling from his fingers. Watching her. She’d be tempted to check for a pulse if not for the fire in that unwavering stare.

God, that look—it stole her breath and sent heat pulsing downward to throb between her thighs. If he didn’t make a move soon, she might just throw herself on him.

Lifting her fingers to her blouse again, she opened the third button. Beneath her hand, her heart banged like a drum against her ribs. The center of her bra and a fair amount of skin had to be showing. She opened one more, watching for a reaction.

He didn’t move. She thought it was possible he had gone even more still.

Holding her breath, she reached up and behind her head to unclip her hair.

He set his beer down on a table. “Jesus, Zoe.” The breath he took was deep, a man coming up for air. “That’s enough.”

She stopped, not daring to move as he took three strides forward and covered her hand with his own. He held her gaze as he lowered her hand, eyes hot and steady on hers. “Let me,” he said in a low voice that sent electricity skittering down her back and arms.

He reached up slowly, found the clip, and let her hair tumble down. She gave her head a slight shake, knowing the lights behind her sent gold fire shooting through every strand. A satisfied smile touched his
mouth before he turned his hot gaze back to her, both of his hands buried in her hair.

She inhaled deeply, eyes locked with his as he took over. She felt his hand move between them and the bottom of her blouse pull from her skirt. Still watching her, he undid the last buttons, letting her blouse fall open. He didn’t look.

She searched his face, finding both desire and a control she hadn’t expected. She didn’t know where he’d found it, because she had lost hers. Was losing more with every second. His fingers had skimmed between her breasts without touching, an oversight that immediately became an obsession in her mind.
Touch me
. Her breasts swelled with it. She bit her lip, wondering if the silent plea showed in her eyes the way it ached in her breasts.

He raised a hand to cup her cheek—not the touch she’d been hoping for, but a good prelude because he turned it into a caress as he leaned in and kissed her. She made an appreciative sound and opened to him, letting the light-headedness sweep over her as he took what she offered. Hands on his shoulders, she clutched fistfuls of his T-shirt and held on. For a moment she swayed between pleasure and desperation as she sank into his kiss, at the same time yearning to feel his hands on her. To touch her, right there where a puff of air slipped inside her open blouse.

And then, oh God, he was doing it. His palm slipped around to cup her breast, exploring the curve of it, fingering the hard bud of her nipple. She whimpered against his mouth and pressed into his hand, out of her mind with wanting him. His touch was bold and sure, and her response to it wiped away any
comparison she might have made of him with Matt. With Jase, she couldn’t get enough.

He seemed to feel the same way. In one deft move he flicked the bra strap off her shoulder, making room for his hand. His palm was warm, and the callused pads below his fingers mildly abrasive as he rubbed them over her. She trembled, weak-kneed from pleasure. She needed more.

To her annoyance, his hand stopped moving. He smiled and studied her lazily. “You’re pretty direct about going after what you want, aren’t you?”

“That can’t be news to you.”

He chuckled low in his throat. “No, and I’m beginning to appreciate it.” In one smooth motion he pushed her blouse off her shoulders, letting it drop to the floor. “I’ve been known to take a single-minded approach to what I want, too.” He opened the clasp on her bra and pulled it away. “Right now, I want you.”

She closed her eyes blissfully as he kissed each breast. “Finally,” she choked out. “We agree on something.”

He smiled, then pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Trapping her against the bar, he placed small kisses along her neck. “There’s only one problem.”

She didn’t see a problem. Physically, he looked as fit as the photos she’d seen of him in
Time
magazine. She ran her hands over the hard lines of his chest, pleased to see that he hadn’t let everything go during the past nine years. “What’s the problem?”

“If you were hoping I had a couch in my office, I don’t. At the moment, I don’t even have an office.”

She’d realized that, she just hadn’t let it stop her.
“You own the place,” she said, absorbed in tracing the outline of muscles beneath his thin dusting of chest hair. “What’s worked in the past?”

“A house.” He licked her bottom lip.

He’d never made love to a woman here—that gave her a whole new thrill. She’d make the first time something neither one of them would forget.

“The bar?” she asked, eager for any solution and stuck on that first fevered thought.

He rubbed against her, the warm skin of his chest against her breasts raising her temperature more than the kisses he placed along her jaw. “No good. Not unless you’re into lying on sticky beer.”

Not really. She had a hard time thinking while he dropped tender kisses along her shoulders. “Those pool tables in the back room looked pretty sturdy.”

He raised his head, pausing to give her a horrified look. “Since we’re getting along so well, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

“Oh.” She bit back a smile. “Sorry. I don’t know pool table sex etiquette.”

“Now you do. Keep thinking.”

But his head dipped back to her breasts and thinking became impossible. She moaned at the pull of his mouth on sensitive flesh. Raw heat streaked downward, and she buried her fingers in his hair and held on. When that still wasn’t enough, she reached for the button on his jeans.

He moved her hands aside. “Slow down. We’ll get there.”

“I’m already there. You need to catch up.”

“Trust me, I don’t.”

She squirmed at the need taking hold inside her, but let him set the pace. He was doing a good job.

His hands had found the zipper at the back of her skirt and pulled. The skirt fell to the floor, followed by her half-slip. His questing mouth moved lower.

She drew in a shaky breath and grabbed the back of the bar stool next to her for support. Seconds later she reached for the stool on her other side, too. Leaning against something would have been better, but the bar was basically a ledge poking uncomfortably against her shoulder blades. She could find a wall, but it was hard to see once her vision blurred and her eyes closed. Hard to do anything but hang on once his fingers slipped inside her. She wouldn’t ask him to move, not even if the place caught on fire again. All she could do was ride the waves of pressure as they built and built, until finally she gasped, “Jase!” and the world dissolved into a fall of glittery stars.

She opened her eyes to his lazy smile. “You okay?” he asked as he nibbled at her ear.

“Mmm.” She took a few deep breaths and waited for strength to return to her legs before moving. The climax had left her only partially replete and more desperate than ever for what she really wanted—to feel him inside her. To feel him rock into her hard and fast while she watched his eyes glaze over with need. To fill that need the way he filled her.

This time she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

She reached for his waistband, unfastening his jeans. He didn’t try to stop her, and it took only seconds to unzip, then shove his jeans and underwear down far enough to free his erection. She gripped and stroked.

“Jesus, Zoe,” he groaned. “I hope you thought of a place to do this, or we’re going down to the floor right
now.” Without waiting for an answer, he pulled his boots off, then stripped out of the jeans.

She pulled a chair off the closest table. “Sit,” she ordered. He did, holding on to her as she straddled his legs and sat on his thighs. She grinned in anticipation. “I always wanted to try this.”

“Wait.” He nodded at the floor. “Back pocket of my jeans.”

Condom. Jeez, good thing one of them had some brain cells left. She retrieved it quickly, getting back in place as he opened it, thinking it was nice he’d had one handy. Thinking, too, that anyone who kept a condom that handy had reason to think he’d need one. Since he’d had no idea she’d show up in his parking lot, she couldn’t help feeling a pang of jealousy.

She had no right to feel it. “Lucky you had it,” she said, smiling to make herself believe it.

“I keep them behind the bar. Stuck it in my pocket when I got the beers.”

She shouldn’t feel that rush of relief, either, and covered it by raising her eyebrows. “You stock condoms at the bar?”

“I hand out two or three a week. Sometimes you can see where a spontaneous hookup is headed.” He watched her scoot closer, heat blazing in his eyes. “But sometimes they come as a surprise.”

“You weren’t surprised,” she murmured in his ear as she settled over him, holding still while something inside her soared. “You knew I’d end up here.”

He kissed her deeply, then gently pulled strands of hair away from her face, tucking them behind her shoulder. “I knew I
wanted
you here,” he said, his throaty rumble telling her how much he still wanted.
“I wanted to see you bend a few of your rules, see how well we worked together.”

“I didn’t bend them. I broke them to pieces.”

“Am I that bad?” he asked, smiling.

“No.” She wasn’t sure what he was, but he was a lot more complex than she’d given him credit for. She sighed. “I think I was that wrong.” Closing her eyes, she rocked against him, enjoying the part she finally got right.

She wanted to love the position, to abandon herself to the pleasure, but movement was awkward. He held her waist while she hooked her feet behind the chair but the inability to take him fully and still move was maddening.

She paused, about to suggest they resort to the floor, when he growled with frustration, gripped her tightly, and stood. She clung to his neck with a startled “Eep” as he elbowed chairs aside left and right. They crashed to the floor on each side of her and he laid her back on the cleared tabletop, still joined with her. His eyes flashed with intensity as he gave a satisfied thrust.

Oh, God, yes! Astonishment mixed with a thrilling jolt of lust.
That
was what she’d waited for.

He watched her, gripping her hips and pushing into her again. Jaw set with determination. Arm muscles tight. Holding back, she knew, until he took her over the edge one more time.

Her insides went liquid with need. She arched her head back, lost in the rhythm as it pulsed through her, primitive and strong. Abandoning herself to the pleasure, she wrapped him with her legs as he stroked into her. She would have feared the loss of control with another man, but gave it eagerly to Jase, knowing she
could trust him. Knowing he would give as well as take. She let him take her higher and higher until the ecstasy spasmed through her again, hard waves that grabbed him, too. She heard a hissed breath as he went rigid, then finally collapsed on top of her.

She circled him loosely with her arms, feeling the cool sweat on his back, enjoying the weight of him as her breathing returned to normal.

The numbing haze faded from her brain, bringing her back to reality—lying naked on a saloon table beneath Jase Garrett.

She smiled. No regrets. Not for rejecting Matt, and not for having sex with Jase. Her world had flipped radically in the past couple of days, the guidelines she’d set for herself shattered to pieces. She’d rejected a man with every quality she’d ever wanted, and had sex with a man who had none of them. Amazingly, it felt right.

She had a lot to think about.

Later.

•  •  •

Jase propped himself on his forearms, enjoying the sight of Zoe flushed and satisfied beneath him. Knowing exactly how it felt. He’d possibly just had the best sex of his life, and he wasn’t ready for it to be over. He’d tried to make it last longer, but seeing prim, proper Zoe turn into a wanton seductress right in front of him had seriously frayed his willpower.

He’d been ready to take her since she showed up in the parking lot wearing that prim and proper Alpine Sky suit that didn’t fool him for a second; beneath that suit was a repressed woman waiting to shake off years of self-imposed restrictions. He was more than willing to offer his services.