She screwed her eyes shut and growled, a distractingly sexy sound. “I wish I’d never used that stupid phrase. All it means is I enjoy variety.”
“In your lovers?”
She threw up her hands. “No! I’ve only ever been with one guy at a time. My ex-boyfriend lasted three years, and he was the one who ended it, not me.” She thumped her chest. “And yes, I do like to travel. I have friends up and down the West Coast, and I enjoy spending time with them. Friendship is very important to me.”
He flinched at that loaded word.He’d told her he wanted so much more than friendship from her. Had she listened?
Her intense gaze pierced him. “Once I make a friend, that’s it. Loyal for life. Not like your flakey girlfriend.”
“Or your flakey boyfriend? Because you deserve better. You deserve someone who’ll stick by you.” He reached for her hand again. She let him take it but didn’t squeeze back.
“Why are you with me, Gemma?”
Avoiding his gaze, she picked at crumbs on her blanket. “Besides the earthquake sex, you mean?”
Well, at least he had that point in the plus column. “Yeah, it’s pretty spectacular. Best I’ve ever had, to be honest. But you haven’t answered my question.”
She shrugged. “You’re—intriguing. At first glance, you seem like a simple man, hardworking, loyal, a homebody…”
“In other words, boring.”
Her gaze snapped to his. “Damn it, Jesse. Don’t put words in my mouth, okay?”
“Sorry. Guess I’m bracing myself for when the axe falls.”
Her voice sharpened. “There’s no axe. I’m just—” she snarled her frustration. “This is so hard. I’ve never been good at describing my feelings. I mean, that’s why we call them feelings, not explanations. You’ve gotta feel them. Words aren’t big enough.”
He squeezed her hand. “Try. Please.”
Like a boxer about to step into the ring, she closed her eyes, rotated her shoulders, and huffed. “Okay, here goes.”
She shoved the table back, turned so their knees touched, and took both his hands. “You’ve got me hooked good, Jesse, and I’m not sure why. It’s not just the sex, and not just your cooking—which is excellent, by the way. But, except for how breathtakingly gorgeous you are, you’re not the kind of guy I ever pictured myself with. And yet, being with you makes me happy, if sometimes frustrated. It’s going to take me a while to sort it out, okay?”
Not the answer he was hoping for, but at least a step in the right direction. Clearly, emotional honesty was hard for Gemma. He should cut her some slack.
“Okay.” He chuckled. “Take your time. I’ll be over here, you know, being gorgeous.”
“You beautiful jerk.” Laughing, thank God, she socked his shoulder.
“Oho, my beauty likes it rough.” Grasping her waist, he pulled her onto his seat, which sank deeper into the sand but didn’t collapse under their combined weight.
With a graceful movement, she swung her leg over his body, straddling him. “Interesting suggestion. Maybe I should tie you up, give you a taste of your own kinky medicine.” Eyes glittering in the firelight, she rocked her hips against his.
Jesse had never experienced such overpowering beauty. Stars twinkled overhead as the indigo sky gave way to black. Gemma’s eyes shone brighter than stars as she arranged blankets to cover them both, then unfastened his shirt and ran her hands over his skin, each silky caress hotter than the next. His cock hardened painfully, and he canted his hips into her softness.
Humming low in her throat, she slid lower and tugged the blankets over her head.
“Babe, I want to see you.”
“Don’t look,” she said, her voice husky and teasing. “Just feel.” Kneeling in the sand, she unfastened his belt, opened his jeans, and pulled out his cock. “Hello, beauty,” she murmured before drawing it into her mouth.
The firm strokes of her velvet tongue and the scrape of her nails over his balls made his breath shudder and his nerves sing. No one was around to hear, so he gave in to primal instinct, groaning and crying out with each flash of pleasure. Her merciless caresses built layers of sensation, higher and higher until—
The blanket whisked away, revealing Gemma naked from the waist down, her jeans dangling from one ankle, a condom packet between her fingers. She’d picked his pocket, clever girl. Her eyes held a feral gleam as she sheathed him, then straddled him again. Holding his cock firmly by the root, she slid the aching head back and forth between her slick folds. “I need you to make me come. Can you do that, Jesse?”
Gibberish tumbled from his lips as she sheathed him in liquid heat. The sweet, silken grip of her inner flesh filled his mind with stars.
“Give me your hand,” she commanded, and placed his thumb over her clit. “Like this.” She guided him over the swollen nub. Her breath grew ragged as she rocked her hips back and forth in time with the waves, a gentle sway that held him on the edge of ecstasy.
