Take Me (3 page)

A moment later, Jaxon appeared. He gripped the bottom of the windowsill, his muscular forearms flexing as he slid his body into her bedroom.

“Wow,” he said, shaking his head. “This place looks exactly the same. You’d think your parents would have turned it into a gym or something.”

His close proximity was stirring up all kinds of different emotions in Anna.

Sadness, regret, lust, and anger pulsed through her body, swirling together into a formidable tornado that couldn’t be controlled.

“Where’s the brunette you picked up at the party?” she asked, her tone biting.

She sat down on the bed. “Turned you down, did she?”

Jaxon shook his head, like he found her sarcasm amusing. “Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Princess.”

“I’m not jealous. And don’t call me Princess.”

He sat down next to her, the springs of the mattress groaning a little under his weight.

“Okay,” she said, moving a few inches away from him. “You need to –”

“Shhh.” He reached out and put a finger to her lips. “Quiet. You don’t want to wake anyone up.”

His touch was shocking and intense. Electricity zapped through her body, moving from her lips down into her belly and then zinging all the way to her toes. Her senses were on high alert. She could smell the cologne Jaxon was wearing, the musky scent of his deodorant, the slight hint of sweat and man that permeated the room.

His finger moved down over her mouth, his thumb stopping for a moment to rub against her bottom lip. His index finger traced a flaming trail down over her chin, across her neck, and down over her collarbone.

Anna bit her lip, willing herself not to cry out. This man, this moment, had been what she’d been thinking and dreaming about for years, and now that it was finally here, the reality of it was almost too much for her to bear.

“You look sexy when you bite your lip like that, Princess,” Jaxon growled. He’d inched closer to her, his mouth so close to hers that she could feel his breath against her cheek. “If you don’t stop, I might do something I’ll regret.”

Anna licked her lip, then bit it again, daring him to follow through.

“I’m serious, Princess,” he drawled. The side of his mouth tugged up into that sensuous grin. “Don’t tease me like that. If you start something, you best be prepared to finish it.”

“Oh, I’m prepared,” Anna said.

“You sure about that?”

Anna wasn’t. But she nodded anyway, unable to take the idea that he might stop touching her, might take away the feeling of ecstasy that was rushing through her body.

He moved his face closer to hers, and she felt his breath brush against her cheek again. A hot shiver slid up her spine.

His eyes locked on hers, his gaze penetrating. The urge to kiss him flooded her body, but she was frozen, unable to move, unable to feel anything but his eyes on hers.

Just looking at him was setting her body on fire.

His finger was still on her collarbone, drawing lazy circles. The slow burn of his touch was so contradictory to how much she wanted him it made her almost dizzy.

He inched closer to her mouth, and Anna closed her eyes. She couldn’t take the way he was looking at her, the way it was making her feel. Raw emotion welled up inside of her, emotion that she’d kept buried for years.

When his mouth finally found hers, it was everything she’d imagined. His lips brushed against hers softly, a contrast to the rough stubble on his cheeks. He kissed her again, this time more insistent, and he parted her lips with his tongue. She surrendered to him, letting him take her,
wanting
him to take her.

The kiss deepened, their tongues darting softly against each other. He tasted like mint and something else, something that was dark and dangerous and daring. They fell down onto the bed, and then he was on top of her, their legs intertwined.

He moved his mouth down over her neck, kissing down her throat, back over her collarbone, ending at the swell of her breast.

“Damn, Princess,” he said, and grinned up at her wickedly. “You taste just as good as I remember.”

He slid his hands over the top of the tank top she was wearing, letting his fingers dip below the thin material. The whole time his eyes were on hers, the lust and want on his face as much of a turn on as his touch. Heat passed between them as he slid his fingers over her breasts, stopping right before he got to her nipples.

Then his mouth was back on hers, his tongue moving in and out, the stubble of his chin rough against her cheeks as they kissed. He kept one hand on the top of her breast, and moved his other hand to her face, stroking her cheek softly.

The weight of his body pressed her into the sheets, and she wrapped her legs around him, wanting him as close as she could possibly get him.

“Well, well, well,” he said, pulling back. “Getting a little aggressive, are you, Princess?” Then he frowned. “What the hell is that?”

“What the hell is what?” Anna asked. She was breathless, and frustrated that he’d taken his mouth off hers.

“That vibrating.”

Anna tried to listen over the beating of her own heart. She didn’t hear anything, but she
felt
something. Something was vibrating in the bed.

She reached her hand toward the direction of the sound, and pulled her cell phone out from under the sheets.

“Oh,” Jaxon said. “I thought maybe you were trying to get kinky.” He raised his eyebrows up and down, and then rolled his eyes, like the thought of Jaxon Hale having to bring a vibrator into the bedroom was preposterous.

“It’s Katie,” Emma said, setting the phone down on her nightstand.

“Are you going to answer it?” Jaxon asked, knowing full well she wasn’t.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

The phone stopped ringing, then immediately started ringing again. And then, a few seconds later, a text message popped onto the screen.

Anna reached for it.

“Holy shit,” she said, her eyes widening. “Katie’s in labor.”

***

Of all the times to go into labor. His sister just had to pick the exact moment when he was about to make love to Anna. Talk about bad timing.

Jaxon didn’t know how or why he’d ended up at Anna’s house. After she’d left Katie’s baby shower, he’d felt a weird pang of emptiness. It was an uncomfortable feeling, one he wasn’t used to, and so he’d ignored it for as long as he could, flirting with the brunette, mingling with the guests, helping Katie and Adam clean up once everyone had left.

When Katie and Adam had gone to bed, Jaxon had pulled out his laptop and started researching some new properties online. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Anna. Her smile. Those long legs. That tiny little scarlet bikini.

He felt like he was going stir crazy, so he’d left Katie’s house in search of something to eat. All Katie and Adam had in the house was organic, free-range bullshit, and Jaxon wanted McDonald’s.

But he hadn’t ended up at McDonald’s.

Instead, he drove to Anna’s neighborhood, remembering the countless times he’d climbed up that ladder and into her bedroom. Back in those days, he’d park his car around the corner in case her parents happened to look outside. This time, he parked right in front of the house.

But old habits die hard, and a second later he’d found himself throwing rocks at Anna’s window. He’d climbed up the ladder, hoping it would still hold him – he’d probably put on twenty or so pounds of muscle since he was a teenager – and then slipped into her room.

He’d loved teasing her, loved the way her body had begun to respond to his. And then, suddenly, his sister had called.

And now he was on his way to the hospital. The last place he wanted to go was the hospital. But the last thing he wanted to do was leave Anna. And so he’d offered to drive her.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Anna asked from the passenger seat.

“Of course I know where I’m going,” Jaxon said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know.” She cleared her throat and looked out the window. “I just didn’t know if you remembered how to get there.”

“How could I forget?” He reached over and hit the button for the sunroof. Warm air filled the car and moonlight shone down on them, making it feel like a lazy summer night. “Don’t you remember that time I had to drive you there?”

Anna nodded. “I remember it because you almost fainted.”

Jaxon frowned. “I didn’t almost faint.” It was a lie, of course. He had almost fainted.

He remembered it like it was yesterday. He’d been at Anna’s house, and she’d been cutting a tomato for a salad. Her hand had slipped, the knife slicing against her skin. Jaxon had grabbed a dishtowel and wrapped it around her hand. There’d been so much blood that it had soaked right through. Jaxon grimaced now, remembering. But it hadn’t been just the blood that had made him woozy.

It was only a cut on the hand, a couple of stitches and she was fine. But in that instant, Jaxon realized that not only did he not want to be apart from Anna, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. Ever. He didn’t want her to experience one moment of pain or anger or sadness. It was such a heart wrench that it had made his head light.

“The look on your face when you saw all that blood…” Anna said now. An amused smile played on her lips as she gazed out the window, remembering.

“Anyway,”
Jaxon said.

“Oh, you don’t have to be embarrassed, Jaxon,” Anna said. “A lot of people get anxious when it comes to things like that.”

“I wasn’t
anxious,”
Jaxon said. “I don’t get anxious.”

From the cell phone holder between them, his phone began to vibrate.

“Is it Katie?” Anna asked, her voice nervous.

Jaxon looked down at the caller ID. The screen flashed the name Donovan Cuban. Donovan Cuban was another developer, a big time real estate tycoon back in Los Angeles who was known as the Donald Trump of the west coast.

Jaxon’s finger hovered over the answer button. Why would Cuban be calling him at midnight on a Saturday night? Of course, it was only nine o’clock in Los Angeles, but still – definitely not normal business hours. And even though the two men moved in the same professional circles, they’d never done business together. Not even close.

Jaxon hesitated for another moment, then sent the call to voicemail.

“Don’t not answer on account of me,” Anna said. The streetlights were shining through the window, illuminating her face and making her hair look like a soft golden halo.

“Don’t worry,” Jaxon said. “It wasn’t on account of you.” He reached into the compartment between the seats and pulled out a piece of gum, then held one out to Anna.

She shook her head. “No thanks.”

Jaxon didn’t particularly want any gum either, but he felt like he needed to keep himself busy. Otherwise he was going to end up sliding his hand onto Anna’s leg, pushing up that cute little skirt she’d changed into, and doing God knows what to her.

“So who was calling you?” she asked. Her voice was nonchalant, but Jaxon detected a curiosity lurking beneath the surface.

Jaxon grinned. “Princess, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.”

“Oh, my God,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And of what, pray tell, would I be jealous of?”

“You think that was another woman.”

“No, I don’t.” She shook her head. “And even if it were another woman, I wouldn’t care.”

“Even though you were just about to have sex with me a few minutes ago?”

“I was not about to have sex with you!” She turned to him on the seat, her face flushed with indignation, her eyes flashing. She was jealous, and it was sexy as hell.

“If you say so.”

Anna took in a sharp breath and then opened her mouth like she was about to say something else. But then she changed her mind and turned her back to him.

When they pulled into the hospital parking lot a couple of minutes later, Jaxon guided his car into a space by the door.

“Do you know where to go?” he asked as they got out of the car.

“Labor and Delivery,” Anna said, rolling her eyes at him again. She began walking to the elevator briskly, her strides long, her head held high. She was so self-assured, so confident, so in control.

Jaxon loved that she was acting like this after the way she’d been in her bedroom a short time ago, vulnerable, breathless, letting him have his way with her.

He felt himself harden, wanting desperately to finish what he’d started. But that would be impossible now, at least for the short term.

They slid into the elevator. The hospital was quiet at this time of night, and they had the elevator car to themselves.

Anna pushed the button for the main floor, and the elevator jerked upward as it started to climb. Jaxon leaned back against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest, and let his eyes move up and down Anna’s body.

He took in her long legs, the curve of her hips under the flippy little skirt she was wearing, how cute her feet looked in her baby blue flip flops.

Ah, fuck it
. He reached out and hit the stop button.

“What are you doing?” Anna asked, confused. “Why are you –?”

He grabbed her hands and pushed her up against the side of the elevator.

“Are you crazy?” Anna protested. She tried to push him away, but he held her close. “We have to get to Katie!”

“Do you know how long it takes to have a baby?” Jaxon asked gruffly. “It could be hours, days even.” He moved his mouth to her ear, inhaling the floral scent of her perfume, his tongue nipping gently at her earlobe.

“We’re in an elevator,” Anna said weakly. But she was leaning her head back, giving him access to her neck, her collarbone, her shoulders. Jaxon brushed her hair back and then kissed down her throat, not stopping until he reached the soft V of her cleavage.

As much as he’d loved teasing her in the bedroom, he decided not to waste time.

He slipped the thin strap of her tank top down over her shoulder, then slid his tongue across her skin, tracing a searing trail to the swell of her breast.

Anna moaned softly, and Jaxon looked at her, enjoying the fact that he was the source of her pleasure. He pulled the other strap of her tank top down slowly, revealing her an inch at a time, letting the fabric whisper against her skin as he slowly exposed her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra.