Flickering light from the fireplace cast a golden glow over her features, and Jesse grinned when he spotted the starter remote still clutched in her hand. Claire slept on her side with her head on a throw pillow, her long hair slipped over her shoulder, making Jesse long to run his fingers through it to see if the deep red tresses were as silky as they appeared. Her lips were slightly parted and she appeared so peaceful that he decided to start dinner preparations while allowing her to sleep.
But as he turned to leave, he must have made a sound because she shifted and somehow tugged open the first button of his big shirt. A generous amount of a black lacy bra appeared along with some mouthwatering cleavage. Jesse knew that it was impolite to stare and that he should turn away, but he simply could not. Instead, he took a step closer, telling himself he needed to cover her with the throw on the back of the easy chair when in reality he knew the heat from the fire was more than enough.What he needed was to touch her....
Jesse was about to drape the cover over Claire, but his foot hit the edge of the sofa, making just enough noise to jar her awake. She blinked, and when the remote slipped from her grasp, she leaned over to grab it, rolling off the sofa to land face-first with a thump and a yelp.
Jesse dropped to his knees. “Oh damn, Claire, are you okay?”
“Define okay,” she said, and then rolled over to her back.
“Okay as in nothing is smashed or bleeding?”
“Luckily the floor broke my fall,” she replied, but then reached up and gingerly touched her nose.
“That had to hurt like hell,” Jesse commented, and then gently brushed her hair out of the way. “Are you really okay?”
“Yeah.” She nodded but then sat up and flexed her left wrist.
“Let me see.” Frowning, Jesse took her hand in his and gently examined it.
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I just hope I didn’t break your television remote.”
“The remote is for the gas fireplace.”
“Okay, that explains a lot,” she said with a low rumble of laughter. “I was getting frustrated and pushed a lot of buttons on that thing. Wait, with all of the trees in your backyard, you use fake logs?”
“It’s better for the environment, puts out plenty of warmth. I think it’s just as aesthetically pleasing, not to mention convenient. Saves some trees.”
She nodded. “Makes sense, but yet you use trees to make your carvings?”
“Much of what I use comes from recycled Christmas tree trunks.”
“Really?” She raised her eyebrows, and it pleased him that she seemed interested.
“I’ll tell you about that later. Now, be honest, are you really all right?” He rubbed the pad of his thumb over the top of her wrist and looked into her eyes.
“I’ve always been big and clumsy, so I’m used to bumps and bruises,” she admitted with a small smile, but then glanced away.
“You’re not big and clumsy,” he told her firmly.
She turned her head to look at him. “Oh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” she warned him with the arch of an eyebrow. “I tend to talk with my hands, and with these long arms I knock things over. You have no idea how many times I have fallen victim to ‘You break it, you buy it.’ There’s just way too much of me. . . .”
Her comment brought his attention to her exposed cleavage. “Um, I have to disagree.”
“What?” She followed the direction of his gaze and gasped. “Were you ever going to tell me that my . . . that I was hanging out all over?” She buttoned up and then looked at him accusingly.
“Of course!”
“Your nose is growing.”
Jesse inclined his head. “Guilty.”
“I’d tell you if your zipper was down.” Claire gave his chest a shove but laughed.
“What can I say? I’m a guy.”
“Point taken.”
“But, Claire?”
“Yeah?”
“I have to tell you that you’re absolutely dead wrong.”
Her smile faded and she looked at him with those expressive eyes that got to him somewhere around his solar plexus. “About what?”
Jesse leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “There is definitely
not
way too much of you.” God, how he wanted to kiss her, but he stuck to his plan and somehow refrained. “Let me help you to your feet.”
“Thanks.” Claire nodded absently after Jesse stood up and offered his hands. But when he tugged her to her feet, she lost her balance and fell forward into his arms.
“Whoa there.” Jesse grabbed her around her waist to steady her but then left his grasp there way longer than needed.
“See, I told you I was clumsy.” Claire splayed her hands on his chest but then turned her gaze toward the floor.
“Hey, that was my fault.” Jesse tilted her chin up and gazed at her mouth. He really wanted to kiss her. All he needed was for her to make that first move....
Chapter Five
T
he heat in Jesse’s eyes made Claire’s heart beat wildly. “Wow, I was right,” she said softly.
“Really? Because you haven’t been right yet,” he reminded her as he rubbed his thumb across her chin.
Claire reached up and traced one fingertip over Jesse’s cheekbone and then down his jawline. “I knew that beneath that beard was amazing bone structure.”
“Oh, so you are right for once.” When Jesse cocked his head slightly and smiled, the sudden movement made one of Claire’s fingers fall against his mouth.
Claire’s breath caught at the feel of his moist, warm lips, and perhaps it was the bourbon that made her bold, but instead of pulling away, she ran her fingertip over the bottom fullness. “You have a mouth made for kissing.”
“Right again.”
Claire lifted one shoulder and rubbed her finger back and forth. “I’m just sayin’. . . .”
“You might want to put that observation to the test.”When he spoke, her finger touched his tongue, and he inhaled sharply.
Claire eased her fingertip in just a bit, and when he licked lightly, Claire felt a sharp sizzle of desire curl all the way to her toes. “Excellent idea.”With a little moan she leaned in and replaced her fingertip with her mouth.
Oh my.
His lips were firm but silky soft, pliant, and oh so warm. The kiss began gently, sweetly, but when her tongue met his, she opened her mouth, eager for more . . . and he gave it. Claire leaned against him, savoring the hard feel of his chest against her breasts.And when she threaded her fingers through his thick hair, he wrapped his arms around her, pressing closely, kissing deeply.
Firelight flickered and danced all around them while the kiss went on and on, making her wild with wanting him. Needing to feel his skin, Claire tugged his T-shirt from his jeans and slid her hands up his bare back. When she lightly raked her fingernails over his shoulder blades, he moaned and lowered his hands to cup her ass and press her even closer. She could feel the steely hardness of his arousal and responded by flattening her palms against his back so that her breasts rubbed against him.
“You are driving me crazy.” When he pulled back and began kissing her neck, a slow tingle blossomed and traveled south.
“You are so soft and smell so damned good,” he whispered hotly into her ear. “I want you to come with me.”
Nodding, Claire took his hand and would have followed him anywhere . . . into the storm, up the mountain . . . but luckily he drew her over to a soft fuzzy rug in front of the fire. When he knelt down, she followed his lead, but then, instead of touching her, he seemed to be waiting for her to make the next move. She found this role reversal incredibly hot, and while watching him intently, she unbuttoned the first three buttons of her shirt.
Jesse looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes and swallowed. “Seeing that black bra beneath my flannel shirt is just nuts.”
“Touch me,” she whispered.
“Gladly.” His low, sexy tone felt like a physical caress.When he trailed the pad of his thumb over her exposed skin, Claire’s breath caught and her eyes fluttered shut. “Like this?”
“Yes . . .”
Encouraged, Jesse slid her shirt off one shoulder, and then, after brushing her hair to the side, he started a trail of hot kisses over her collarbone to her neck. Claire tilted her head, giving him better access, and when he gently tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, she had to reach out and cling to his shoulders for support. While nuzzling her neck, he made quick work of her belt and kissed her exposed skin as he slowly unbuttoned the rest of the shirt.
“I want to see you.All of you.” But when he leaned back to gaze at her, Claire hesitated.While she knew she was toned and fit, she was a big girl and had never really felt . . . ultrafeminine or very sexy. But the desire in Jesse’s eyes told a different story, so she shrugged slightly, allowing the shirt to slip from her shoulders to the rug. She had rolled the big long johns down to her hips and while watching him, she tugged them down a few inches, showing him that she hadn’t been teasing about the thong. “I wear them to avoid panty lines,” she felt compelled to tell him.
“Well, don’t wear them if you want to avoid me,” he whispered, and reached out to trail one finger from her navel to the top edge of the black lace and satin.When he rubbed his finger back and forth, heat pooled between her thighs and with a breathy sigh she sank down onto the rug. Her hair fanned out all around her and she let him look his fill.The heat in his gaze made her feel gorgeous instead of self-conscious. “Let me take off your clothes.”
Claire arched her hips so he could peel off the long johns. He tossed them to the side and then looked at her lying on the rug in nothing but her scanty underwear. The fact that Jesse was little more than a stranger skittered across Claire’s brain, but she shoved it away. For whatever reason, she felt safe with him and this seemed so surreal . . . magical, and she was way beyond being able to stop.
“Take off your shirt,” she said, and then watched him tug the T-shirt over his head. He was thickly muscled with defined pecs and washboard abs. A mat of dark chest hair narrowed to an enticing happy line leading to the top of his jeans. “No wonder you carried me with ease,” she murmured, and then put a hand over her mouth. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
With a low rumble of laughter he shook his head.
“I know—I talk too much.”
“I marvel that you can make me laugh, especially this time of year.”
Her smile faded.“You said that out loud, too,” she told him softly.
Jesse gave her a long and steady look. “Claire, you’re making me say and feel things I haven’t for a long time.”
“I’m not making you, Jesse.” She sat up and touched his bare chest. “I am allowing you.” She swallowed the sudden emotion clogging her throat.
“Hey . . .” He cupped her chin and searched her face for answers. “You don’t have to do any of this.”
“So it’s not your house, your rules?”
Jesse chuckled softly but then continued to look at her closely as if to make sure. “You’re my guest.You rule.”
“Look,” she assured him, “I don’t know why fate brought us together, but here we are.”
“Claire, I’ll be honest. We live hundreds of miles apart and live very different lifestyles. And I’m a loner. I can’t promise you anything beyond the next few days.”
“I’m not asking for anything more than right here and now,” Claire answered, and then reached behind her back. She shed her bra, allowing her breasts to tumble free, but then suddenly felt self-conscious and covered herself with her palms. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and shyly looked at him through half-lidded eyes.
“Dear God . . . how can you think you are anything less than perfection?” When she raised those incredible green eyes to gaze at him, Jesse felt a bead of sweat roll down his chest, and it had nothing to do with the heat from the fireplace. Her dainty French-tipped fingers barely covered her full breasts, making her pose more provocative than if she were completely nude. The flickering flames seemed to lick at her skin and highlight her hair, and he could see just a hint of the black thong between her thighs. He wanted to bury his face there and taste her sweet body before having her endless legs wrapped around him.
“I think you’re a tad overdressed,” she told him in a throaty voice that aroused him even more.When she reached over and unzipped his jeans, the brush of her fingers against his skin sent a hot shiver down his spine.
“Right again.” He hadn’t bothered with boxers and sighed when his erection was free of constriction.After kicking his jeans out of the way, he came back to his knees and then started a trail of kisses up her calf.When he got to the inside of her thigh, he heard her sharp intake of breath. She stiffened slightly when he kissed the black silk triangle and, even though he was dying to taste her, he knew she wasn’t ready, so he moved upward to her navel while using his finger to toy with her thong.
Claire gasped and braced her palms on the rug when he slid his finger beneath the silk to find her slick heat. Her head fell to the side and she arched her back, leaving her breasts exposed for his eager gaze.The glorious sight made him steely hard, but he wanted her crazy for him, so he caressed her with his finger, watching her in the firelight. She bit her bottom lip, and when he plunged back inside, she gasped and fisted her fingers in the rug. Jesse leaned in and took one rosy nipple into his mouth, first circling it with his tongue and then sucking. When she moaned, mindless with need, Jesse fingered her swollen clit while he lightly nipped her nipple. He rose up and kissed her . . . loving the feel of her heat, the taste of her mouth. She had a natural sensuality that didn’t seem practiced or forced but simply real.
“Oh . . .”When she arched her hips, Jesse leaned back so he could watch her climax and then slid his finger in one more time, finding her sweet spot. Her lips parted, her back arched, and she moaned in that throaty voice of hers that drove him crazy.A moment later she cried out with pleasure before falling back to the rug.