Man Hungry (2 page)

She riffled the soft cotton of his t-shirt. Found a hard
button to tease as well.

He threw back his head. “J-Jesus, that feels good. Come
on…J. Come home with me.”

“A whole block away?” She dipped her head and sucked on his
nipple, making a wet spot on his shirt. Then she glanced up at him with a
wicked grin. “I don’t think I can wait that long.”

The expression that flashed across his face was nearly
comical. Nearly. It was pained and desperate and determined. Without a word, he
towed her toward the door.

Chapter Two

His place was a loft on the top floor of a ritzy building
with a view of the Dallas skyline. That nearly stole her breath but not as much
as the man behind her. He shut the door and molded himself against her back,
spreading his palms over her abdomen.

He kissed her neck. “Would you like a drink?”

A sudden, unfamiliar unease crawled in her belly. Going home
with a guy she’d just met was hardly her style. It made her the kind of woman
she didn’t want to be. She lived her life with a no-regrets philosophy but for
some reason found herself grappling with this.

She appreciated his finesse, giving her time to adjust, to
ease into this tryst. He could have leaped upon her immediately. She would have
allowed it. Probably.

“I’d love a beer. Lone Star if you have it.”

He chuckled and headed for the fridge. “Of course I have
it.”

While she waited for him to return, she scoped out his
living room. It was lush and richly appointed, with a fat overstuffed leather
couch and a heavy wood-plank coffee table. It was done in a Western motif,
casual but elegant. It spoke of a man who valued his comfort.

She wandered over to the mantel and studied the framed
photographs littering the shelf. Nearly every one was a group shot. Most of
exotic locales, capturing Justin and his friends in some adventurous pursuit.
Deep-sea fishing, rappelling from a cliff, skydiving.

Her gaze landed on a familiar photo. It was, in fact, the
wedding photo Penny had shown her to get her to agree to go out with her
cousin. Certitude—and satisfaction—surged. She was right. He was Justin—

“Here you go.”

She jumped a little as his voice, from right behind her,
startled her. She took the beer he proffered, trying not to wince when his
fingers brushed hers. It had been a short walk from the bar to his apartment. A
shorter elevator ride. Her arousal had banked but the flame had not gone out.
“Your place is gorgeous.”

He grinned. “Thanks. I didn’t decorate it.”

“You didn’t?”

“My cousin is a frustrated designer. I let her do it.” Yeah.
Jessica thought she saw Penny’s touch here. “If it were up to me there’d be a
couple crates and a cardboard box over there.” He waved to the dining table.
“And a beanbag chair in here.”

Jessica took a draw on her beer. “Mmm. Classy with a K.”

“No kidding. Don’t get me started on the bedroom.” She
couldn’t help but quirk a brow and Justin laughed. “Oh, there’s a bed in
there.”

“Not a waterbed, I hope.”

“Hey, baby. Nothing soft and floppy in my bedroom,” he joked
right back. She liked that he could joke right back. He nodded to the sofa.
“Want to sit down?”

Ah. Yes. She rounded the sofa and sank into its lush
embrace. It felt like a hug. “Nice.”

He sat next to her, close to her. “Again, I had nothing to
do with it.”

“But it suits you.” It did. It was big and broad and
comfortable. Like him.

“I’ll have to thank her.” He took her beer and set it on the
table next to his. When he turned back to her, his expression was serious,
intent. “You are so beautiful.” He traced the line of her chin then tipped it
up so he could look at her face. “When I saw you tonight sitting there in that
booth, I just knew.”

“Knew wh—”

He silenced her question with a kiss. It was slow and warm,
a sweet reprisal of what they’d shared in the bar, but tentative, questing. She
yearned for more. She pulled him closer. Opened her mouth.

With a grunt, he shifted for a better angle and deepened his
exploration. His palm, warm and hard, skated up her bare calf to her thigh. He
traced the hem of her skirt with a teasing touch. Their lips mated, breath
mingled. When he sucked her tongue into his mouth, she nearly fainted with
pleasure.

His fingers edged under the hem of her skirt. Slowly. As
though he was giving her the opportunity to stop him.

Not a chance in hell.
She let her legs drift apart.
He didn’t hesitate. At that unspoken assent, he ventured higher and higher and…

Jessica quivered in anticipation. Wriggled with impatience.
Her legs stole farther apart. And he found her. He found her and nudged at her
damp, swollen slit through her cotton panties.

Her clit screamed for attention, throbbing and thudding with
every beat of her heart. It was so engorged it poked out of her labia. So his
soft, brushing caress hit its mark. Jessica almost came on the spot.

“Oh God.” She threw her head back and arched her hips,
urging him on.

He glanced at her and swallowed. “Je—J. Damn. You are
beautiful.”

Madly, restlessly, she tested the muscles of his chest, his
abdomen, his flat belly…and lower. “You already said that.”

“It bears repeating.” He groaned as she discovered his hard
cock. And squeezed. She could feel his pulse in it, even through the thick
material of his jeans. “Oh God.”

Desperate determination flashed across his face. He renewed
his assault on her senses, slipping beneath the band of her panties. Her fist
tightened on his cock as he stroked her—flesh to slick, aching flesh.
Ah,
mercy.

“You’re wet.” His voice was guttural, gruff.

“You make me wet.”

His nostrils flared. A muscle in his cheek bunched. The heat
rose between them, scorched her. He rubbed her slit several times in quick
succession and then slipped lower, toyed with the mouth of her cunt. Three fat
fingers hovered there.

He held her attention.

She swallowed, desperately trying to retain her composure,
regain the upper hand. “You’re hard.” To underscore this point, she stroked him
again through his jeans.

It was hardly fair that she had to stroke him through his
jeans.

His left lid twitched at her light caress. A muscle bunched
in his cheek and then… And then, dear God, he shoved those fingers in deep.

Jessica cried out and trembled in bliss. He wiggled around
inside her with a knowing expertise, searching. And he found it. That spot.
That bundle of nerves that quivered and twitched and transported her at his
touch.

He did not give her respite. He kept at it, teasing,
tormenting her again and again and again, making her come, making her gasp,
making her howl.

And she was not a howler.

No one had ever made her lose control to that extent. Not
during an orgasm, not during anything.

The fact that he had—that he’d separated her from her
natural restraint to the extent that she screeched like a howler monkey in his
arms—discomfited her. But not for long. He did not allow her the luxury of
female embarrassment.

Before she had finished coming, before she had a chance to
reclaim herself, he dropped to his knees and yanked her panties off. He spread
her legs wide and flipped up her skirt and put his mouth on her aching clit.

He consumed her. He licked and laved and nibbled and nipped
and sucked and flicked at her bud. He tweaked her pussy and stuck his tongue in
her cunt and even eased a finger into her ass.

And she came again. She came and came and came. She no
longer cared that she screamed. She no longer cared if she howled. She no
longer wondered what his neighbors would think about the wild animal he was
mating with on his thick leather couch.

She only felt.

And felt and felt.

By the time he leaned up, took hold of her thighs and yanked
her to the edge of the sofa, she was a boneless lump of jelly. She watched,
mindless and replete, as he pulled out his cock—and oh God, he was
beautiful—slipped on a condom and set the tip at her entrance.

He paused then and looked her straight in the eye. “I’ve
wanted this since the moment I saw you,” he growled and, before she could
respond—even if her brain were working sufficiently enough to do so—he thrust
in.

And oh, he filled her. His cock was large and fat and long
and he sank deep into her cunt, stretching and massaging her all the way. When
it kissed her womb, she came again. She couldn’t help it. The sensation of
fullness, of utter bliss, was beyond anything she’d ever known.

“Oh. Yeah,” he groaned as she spasmed around him. “Oh yeah.”
He pulled out and shoved back in. And again. He moved slowly, savoring each
plunge, tormenting her with his leisurely advances.

She wiggled her ass to encourage him to move faster. When he
didn’t, she just said it. “Fuck me. Fuck me hard.”

His nostrils flared, his jaw tightened and he complied.

Oh God. Did he comply. He pulled out and then shoved back
in, hot and hard and frantic, whipping in and out of her again and again at a
maddening pace.

“You’re so tight,” he muttered, but that didn’t stop him.

She was slick too. Drooling for him, in fact. She could hear
the wet sounds of her juice as he sluiced in and out of her quivering channel.

And then she could hear nothing, see nothing, feel
nothing—nothing but the wedge of his cock swelling in her cunt, filling her
even more as he hammered in and out of her with thrusts that were quicker,
harder, deeper. Frenetic.

He whispered, “Yes, yes, yes,” in time to each exquisitely
placed thrust. Then he tensed; his muscles went rigid. The tendons of his neck
stood out as every ort of his being focused in on that minute point, that
elusive pleasure.

With one hard drive straight to her core, he came. His cock
jerked in her cunt, massaging her with wild spasms, setting off a waterfall of
delirious explosions inside her. She grasped at him, clasped at him,
shuddering, quivering, quaking in his arms.

Before she was finished, before she was done, he took her
again, this time with his mouth. Their breath blended, tongues tangled, juices
mingled. He soothed her like that until she recovered.

Until she came back to herself and wondered…what the hell
had just happened? Sex had never been like that for her before. Never.

Afterward he took her to the bathroom and stripped her,
bathed her, worshipped her. He feasted on her mound in the shower until she
came and came again.

And then he took her to his bed. Not a blow-up mattress or a
waterbed, a large indulgent haven with soft sheets and heavy covers and downy
pillows. They nestled in and stroked each other until they were ready to go
again.

This time the passion was slower, less frantic, but
exquisite all the same. It was wonderful. He was wonderful.

Still, once he fell asleep, Jessica collected her clothes
and sneaked out. Until she worked through these strange new feelings, she
couldn’t bear to face him in the morning.

Chapter Three

She was gone when he woke up. Justin blew out a breath and
stared up at the ceiling and contemplated the conflicting emotions swirling in
his gut. First and foremost was disappointment. Oh, not in
her
, not in
what they’d shared. That had been phenomenal.

But she’d left. Slipped away in the night. That made him
wonder if he’d made a mistake.

Maybe he should have just gone up to her and introduced
himself instead of playing games. But formal introductions and expectations led
to small talk and awkwardness. Chitchat about mutual acquaintances. Events
they’d both attended—but at which somehow they’d never met.

He hadn’t wanted that distance with her. Not when he’d seen
her face in the photo Penny shared and certainly not when he saw her in the
flesh, sitting there in the cowboy bar sucking on her beer and looking as sweet
and sexy as hell.

He’d wanted to fuck her. Right then and there. Hadn’t had
the patience for preliminaries.

Maybe he should have been patient. Because she’d left.

He sighed and hefted himself out of bed. It didn’t matter.
Not really. He knew where to find her.

The question was, did she want him to find her?

* * * * *

“So?” Penny leaned over the counter of crayons and shot
Jessica a wicked grin. “How was your date?”

Jessica winced. Dear God. How to answer that one? Her body
was still thrumming from Justin’s touch. Had started aching for him again. Her
mind was awash with memories and regrets—regrets that she hadn’t stayed.

Hell, even her conscience was asking why she hadn’t stayed.

Oh, she should have stayed.

But she couldn’t tell Penny any of this. Better stick to the
truth.

“He never showed.” Okay, a
version
of the truth.

“What!” Penny squawked so loud the cheerful cacophony of
Jessica’s kindergarten classroom fell at once to dead silence. Thirty tiny
heads turned, like a herd of velociraptors scenting their prey.

Jessica blanched. She quickly clapped her hands to avert the
impending disaster. “Back to work, children,” she said very sternly. One needed
to be stern with velociraptors. If one lost control of the room, there could be
carnage.

Today they were exploring the letter Q. How she wished it
was J.

Oh damn. She had to get him out of her mind.

Penny leaned closer and hissed, “What do you mean he never
showed up? He was really excited about this date.”

He was?
Well.
That piqued her interest. She shrugged.
“The bar was pretty crowded. Besides, how would he know what I look like?”

“Duh. I showed him a picture of you.”

Jessica’s heart hitched. “You what?”

It took a second to work through her emotions.
He’d
known.
The bastard had known all along. Heat flushed her face as she
relived their night together, each whisper and every caress. Fury lashed her.

And then, incomprehensibly, a laugh bubbled up inside her.

He’d known.

All along.

She laughed. Out loud.

“Jess?” Penny wrinkled her nose. “Are you having a mental
breakdown?”

“Not today, Penn.”

“What are you laughing about?”

Andrew Dither hopped up to her holding his crotch in a death
grip. Without being asked, Jessica handed him the bathroom pass.

“A guy did show up. He introduced himself as J. He didn’t
look very much like the guy you showed me.”

Penny nibbled her lip. “Well. No. My wedding was awhile ago.
He was right out of the service then. His hair is definitely longer now. You
said he introduced himself as J?”

“Yup.”

“Not Justin?”

“Nope.”

A flush rose on Penny’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I should have
mentioned he loves practical jokes.”

A practical joke? That night of scalding sex?

She’d kill him if that was all it had been.

Or worse, if he’d been testing her to see if she was the
kind of woman who would go home with any old guy. Heat prickled at her nape.

Because apparently she was.

Jessica crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought he was a
lawyer. A decent guy. The kind of guy a girl could have a real future with.
That’s what you said anyway.”

“He is, Jess. He’s a great guy. One of the best.” She nudged
her toe into the carpet. “I’m sorry.”

“No. Penn. Don’t be sorry. I liked him. I really liked him.”

Penny beamed. “Did you?”

Jessica sighed. Yeah. She really did. “I just don’t know if
he liked me.”

Penny pulled out her phone. “Let’s find out.”

Panic flared. “Oh, dear God.” Jessica grabbed the phone.
“Not here.”

“Okay.” Penny winked. “I’ll go to the teacher’s lounge and
call him from there. And if he liked you?”

A little demon provoked her. “Why don’t you set us up
again?”

“Again?”

“Yeah. But this time, we’ll do it differently…”

* * * * *

Justin was about halfway through a boring brief when his
cell rang. He checked the caller, determined to avoid any interruptions, but
when he saw it was Penny he answered.

He had to. “Yo, cuz.”

“Hey, Justin.” Silence buzzed on the line for a minute. He
could envision her trying to form the question. He knew what it would be. What
he didn’t anticipate was the sarcasm in her voice. “So how was your date last
night?”

“My date?”

“With Jessica.”

“Um. Great?” Yeah. It had been great.

Penny snorted. “She said you didn’t show.”

His gut lurched. “She said that?”

“Yeah. She met some other guy instead.”

Ah. His tension released. He fiddled with his pen. “Did
she…like this other guy?”

“She didn’t say. Justin, I am really peeved. I went out of
my way to set you up with a perfect woman and you just blew her off.”

He bit back a snort. No. Someone had blown something off,
deep in the night under the covers, but he could hardly tell Penny that. “Aw,
come on, cuz. Give me another chance.”

“You don’t deserve it.”

“Please. Why don’t you set up another date?”

Penny sniffed. “I doubt she’s interested. Women don’t like
being stood up, you know. Besides, now she’s met this other guy.”

“Please?” He could hear the amusement in his voice, hoped
Penny couldn’t. He’d love to see Jessica again tonight. He’d love to have
another chance to take her home with him.

Maybe make her stay.

“Okay. I’ll ask. Seven p.m. again? At the Rowdy Cowboy?”

“Perfect. I’ll be there.”

“You’d better be. And be on time, buster.”

Penny disconnected and Justin sat there staring at his phone
with a goofy grin on his face. He was going to see her again tonight.

His smile dimmed. That was, if she showed.

God, he hoped she showed.

* * * * *

He got there early and was lounging by the busy bar when he
saw her come in. She made her way through the crowd and slipped into a booth in
the back.

He didn’t completely understand the humming of his body, the
leap of his pulse when he saw her. The instant arousal, well, that he got. She
was a beautiful woman—even all the way across the bar—but beyond that, there
was something about her that spoke to him. Made him feel at home in her arms.
He’d never felt that way before.

He kind of liked it.

He grabbed two Lone Stars and made his way toward her booth.
As he slung into the seat by her side, he said in a dark, desperate voice,
“You’ve got to save me.”

Then he got a look at her and froze. And exploded in
laughter.

He tried to hide his amusement but failed miserably.

“I beg your pardon?” It appeared to be difficult for her to
speak around the fake buckteeth but she lisped her way through it. She blinked
several times in succession, as though he was blurry.

Then again he probably was…through the inch-thick
coke-bottle glasses perched on her nose. Her luscious locks were twined up into
a stiff bun, with random spiky strands and the occasional pencil poking out.
She looked like an unruly porcupine. Her outfit was atrocious. A mix between
teen dork and
Little House on the Prairie
.

Still and all, she was damn cute.

He cleared his throat. “I said, you’ve got to save me.”

She bristled, stiffening her spine. “Thir, I don’t believe
we’ve been introduthed.”

He bit back a grin—not very well—and thrust out a hand. “I’m
Justin Sweetwater.” Boy howdy. It was fine to touch her again. She was warm and
soft. He swallowed the urge to kiss her because, damn, those teeth.

“Mithter Thweetwater. I’m Jethica Evanth. Man-hungry
thchoolmarm. Nith to meet you.”

He laughed out loud. Howled, in fact.

And then he almost swallowed his tongue. Because demure Mith
Evanth, man-hungry thchoolmarm, put her palm on his thigh and scudded it up to
his crotch. It stopped right before it hit home,
thisclose
to something
weeping for her attention. He shifted in an attempt to make contact but she was
a tease and shifted with him.

“Jessica…”

“Yeth?”

Hell. Even in that getup, with the thick glasses and the
protruding teeth and the porcupine hair, he wanted her. “I’d like to kiss you.”

“Okay.”

He chuckled. “But I can’t get past those teeth.”

She took them out.

“And the glasses.”

She pulled them off.

“And that outfit…”

Damn. She didn’t slip out of that. But she did slip him a
snarky grin. It was a beautiful grin.

He kissed it right off her face.

Her lips were warm and sweet. Mobile under his. They set a fire
in his groin. She tasted like hops and sunshine and…Jessica. He leaned closer
and took her mouth more fully, dabbing at her with his tongue, tempting her,
soothing her. Begging forgiveness perhaps.

When the kiss ended, they were both panting. They stared at
each other through an awkward silence.

He broke it with the question that had been at the forefront
of his mind all day. “Why did you leave?”

She took a sip of her beer. “Why didn’t you tell me who you
really were?”

“Why didn’t you?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe I wanted to see how far it
would go.”

“It went pretty far.”

“Pretty fast.”

His heart thudded. Once. Twice. “Is that why you left?”

She hid her beautiful eyes beneath lush lashes. “Aren’t
sluts supposed to slink out in the night?”

Fury rushed through him like a wildfire. “You’re not a
slut.”

“How do you know that?” She glanced at him and her
expression sliced him to the core. “I went home with you. Trotted right along.
Fucked you silly. Doesn’t that make me a slut?”

Oh yeah. She had fucked him silly.

But he couldn’t think about that right now. He had to focus
on her words. Words that befuddled him. Hell. The pain limning her expression
devastated him. His mouth worked for a moment, waiting for his brain to catch
up, searching for the right thing to say to wipe that look away. “You’re a
kindergarten teacher, for Christ’s sake.”

She humphed. “I’ll have you know, kindergarten teachers can
be many things besides kindergarten teachers.”

“You’re Penny’s friend.” He cupped her cheek, thumbed her
delectable lips. “She assured me you’re one of the good ones.”

“Even Penny doesn’t know where I spend my nights.”

Something hardened in his gut. He swallowed around the tight
ball in his throat. “Okay. So tell me. Where do you spend your nights?”

She gave a little grunt, something irreverent and endearing.
“At home, mostly.”

“Not in strange men’s bedrooms?”

“Are you saying you’re strange?”

“Be serious, Jessica. I’m asking. I want to know.”

She sobered. Flicked at the label on her beer. “All right.
No. I’ve never had a one-night stand before…before last night.”

Relief washed through him. He let go a breath he hadn’t
realized he’d been holding. “Me either.”

“Seriously?” Her questing gaze met his. A crackle of energy
passed through his soul.

“Seriously.”

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

He took a long draw on his beer in an attempt to delay the
inevitable. Didn’t work. She stared at him in silence. Patiently waiting for
his response. He shrugged. “I’ve been on blind dates before…”

She snorted. “Penny does have a penchant for setting people
up.”

“Yeah. She does. But they’re all so, I dunno, stodgy.”

“Small talk.” She nodded. “I hate that shit.”

“Me too. And when I saw you sitting there last night in that
short skirt with your hair all wild and sexy, God, I didn’t want small talk. I
wanted hot whispers.”

Her lips parted. Her tongue peeped out then disappeared
again. The tension between them ratcheted up just a notch. A fist clenched in
his gut as the mood abruptly shifted.

“But I’m a schoolteacher,” she said in a little girl voice.
“Schoolteachers aren’t hot.”

Despite the lust snarling through him, he couldn’t resist a
survey of her outfit and the quip, “Not dressed like that, they’re not.”

She skewered him with her whispered response. “What if
they’re not wearing anything?”

He was hard as a rock in a millisecond. He tried to form a
response. But he couldn’t. Her hand, resting on his thigh, twitched.

“Would you like me to show you how hot a schoolteacher can
be? Would you like that, Justin?” Her breath was warm and moist in his ear.

“Oh yes.”

“Ah ah ah.” She waggled a finger. “Say
please
.”

“Oh, please.”

Yeah. He had no shame. She was sitting there seducing him
with her voice alone. Her caress on his thigh—so close, but no cigar—had him
drooling. He would beg. He’d get down on his knees and grovel if she wanted him
to.

She leaned closer. Her breast brushed against his arm. He
could swear he felt her nipple. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”