He extricated himself and scooted his chair back. “Now, now, we haven’t had dessert.”
Her teasing smile flattened when he returned from the kitchen with an old-fashioned canning jar and slices of sponge cake from Sweet Dreams Bakery.
“Oh, you meant actual dessert.” She swiped a hand down her glowing face. “Sorry, Jesse. Who’s the creeper now?”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m looking forward to tasting you, but I want you to taste this first.” He popped the hinged lid and spooned fruit and amber liquid over each slice. “Mirabelle plums in plum wine with rosemary. These are hard to get in this country. My grandfather smuggled some pits back from France after the war. He planted a stand of trees behind the old barn.”
He lifted a spoonful to her mouth. Holding his gaze, she sipped the golden treasure, closed her eyes, and released a moan that nearly undid him.
“Here, you’ve got a dribble.” With a fingertip, he wiped the corner of her lips.
She gripped his wrist. Her pink tongue licked the sweetness from his skin, and then—God save me—she sucked his finger into the slick warmth of her mouth.
Chapter Nine
Damnit,Jesse,howlong are you going to keep me waiting?
If Gemma had to take matters into her own hands, she would. The way his eyes darkened as she laved his finger with her tongue left no doubt that he wanted her. Frustrated with his teasing slowness, she released him and gripped the hem of her sweater. But before she could pull it over her head, he tugged her to her feet.
“I love this song. Dance with me.” Drawing her into his arms, he swayed her backward into the living room, where flames crackled in the fireplace. She’d have preferred the bedroom, but at least he was pressed against her, the length of his muscly body heating her front while the fire warmed her back. Stepping onto something soft, she glanced down.
A fluffy fleece rug.Thank you, Goddess.
“Just a moment.” Jesse stepped to a bar cabinet in the corner.
She gnashed her jaws in horny anguish. Would she have to tackle him and peel his clothes off with her teeth?
He filled two brandy snifters with liquid the color of his eyes. “Homemade apple brandy.”
She was about to gulp hers down, but his gentle hand stayed the motion. “Sip it slowly. Like this.”
He took a sip, licked his lips, then kissed her deeply, his tongue spiced with cinnamon and the delicious burn of brandy. She chased the sweetness into his mouth, drunk on his heat and strength.
With a rumbling moan, he clutched her hair, tipped her head backward, and drizzled liquor down her throat to pool in the hollow between her collarbones. His velvet tongue lapped it up. The soft wet slide and the rough scrape of his beard electrified her skin.
“Please, Jesse.” Her whole body and mind melted into pulsing desire.
“Brandy’s even better warmed by the fire.” He set their glasses on the hearth, pulled her back into his arms, and resumed their swaying rhythm. With a groan of impatience, she reached for his cock. But as soon as her fingertips brushed the rigid shaft, he seized her hand and lifted it behind his neck. “First, we dance.”
Surrendering to his slow seduction was the only way to get what she craved, so she relaxed into his unhurried tempo. He rewarded her by pressing his erection against her in slow, delicious thrusts, one hand splayed on her lower back, the other cradling her head as he seared her mouth with languid kisses.
With agonizing slowness, his fingers slid beneath her sweater, raising trails of goosebumps despite the fire’s toasty heat. Round and round his fingertips swirled, teasing her nerves to crackling awareness, skating right to the edge of her bra, then away.
Her head lolled back on a groan.
With a wicked smile, he gripped the hem of her top and whisked it over her head. His gaze heated her skin more than flames ever could. “So beautiful, all golden in the firelight.”
At last, he released his hold and let her unbutton his shirt. It fell open to reveal his sculpted torso, his chest and stomach dusted with dark hair that tickled deliciously against her breasts, his back satin smooth and hot beneath her hands.
Holding her gaze, he lifted her thigh, fingers digging into her flesh as he bent her backward in a dramatic dip. His eyes burned into hers—then his lips twitched, his ribs shook, and he snorted a laugh.
“You goof.” Giggling, she punched his shoulder.
“Damn it, woman, I’m trying to be romantic.” Still chuckling, he lowered her onto the fleece and covered her body with his, pressing their foreheads together. “I meant what I said, Gemma. This is more than play to me. This means something. We don’t have to define it now, but we’re more than just friends.” He drew so close, only a whisper of charged air separated his lips from hers. “Do you feel the same, or should I stop?”
She remembered the words he growled into her ear that afternoon. “I’ll fuck you so good you won’t ever want to leave me.”
Flutters shook her belly.This is crazy. I’ve known him less than a month.A small, craven part of her wanted to flee, but deep in her gut, she knew that would be a mistake. She and Jesse were meant to meet. He had something to teach her, and she was going to enjoy every second of the learning process. Starting now.
