Crashing Into Love (27 page)

“Is that a yes to skipping our run?” He spread her thighs with his knees as he positioned his hips over hers.

Her hands pressed firmly on his lower back. “I think this is a much better way to get our exercise.”

He lowered his lips to hers as their bodies came together. Her luscious curves, her wet, warm center, her delicious mouth, everything felt familiar. Their bodies moved together in perfect harmony, and as he gazed into her eyes, he sensed that she felt as if she’d come home, too. He reached down, and before he could angle her hips, she made the adjustment, taking him deeper. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she lifted her hips higher.

He nuzzled against her neck. “You feel amazing.”

“So do…you.” She bit her lower lip, and he couldn’t help but drag his tongue along it in a way that he knew would arouse her even more. “Harder,” she whispered.

Her hips rose off the bed to meet his efforts. He reached down and grabbed her ass. He needed to intensify her pleasure as he took her harder. Her eyes closed and her head fell back.

“Jake.” She panted.

“Come on, baby.” He slid his hand beneath her knee and brought her leg up by his ribs. “Come on, Fi. Show me how much you want me.”

Her eyelashes fluttered and her lips moved, but no words came. He knew she was on the cusp of coming apart, felt her body stiffen, her nails dig into him. With two hard thrusts, her body quaked and quivered around him.

“Again,” he urged, as he lifted her other leg, widening them, allowing him better penetration. Jake was throbbing, ready to burst, but watching Fiona come apart was one of his greatest pleasures. Her eyes opened wide, then slammed shut as she cried out an indiscernible cry that sent a tingling down his spine and sent him over the edge. He pumped and thrust through the very last pulse of his release, taking her in another mouthwatering kiss before rolling onto his back, slick and sated, beside her.

He reached for her hand and had no idea how long they lay there, but by the time they showered and dressed, the sun was up, and he wished they could start the weekend all over again.

Fiona cooked egg-white omelets and toast for breakfast, and they ate out on the deck. She crumbled a piece of toast on the deck railing.

“For the birds.” She smiled as she sat beside him at the table. “Hear them chirping? That’s so nice. I never hear that where I live.”

“I can’t tell you when the last time was that I listened for the birds, or even slowed down enough to hear them.” He hadn’t remembered her penchant for feeding wildlife until right then. “When we were kids, it seemed like I heard them all the time. But that might have had something to do with you always leaving out birdseed on my mom’s deck and at your mom’s house.”

Fiona finished eating and smiled. “Do you remember that first summer we were together, when you tried to convince me that if I left food out for the birds you’d have to fight off a bear?”

“I had to do something so you’d believe I was the toughest guy out there.” He patted his chest and flexed his muscles.

“There is no woman on earth who could look at you and think you were anything but a big, strong guy.” She climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Even when you’re sensitive and loving, you’re powerful. Your eyes burn right through me. Your touch sends me running for the bedroom.” She pressed her lips to his and ground her bottom into his groin. “And that mammoth between your legs? We won’t even go there. No wild animal has anything on you.”

He gathered her hair in his hand and gave it a light tug, earning him a seductive gaze that nearly made him carry her back into the bedroom again. But he had other plans for today.

“See why I love you? You’re very good for my ego.”

“Why don’t you carry me upstairs and prove to me just how manly you are.”

So much for his plans…

BY THE TIME they left the cabin it was nearly noon. They’d spent only two nights there, but it felt like a lifetime. Driving around in Jake’s truck had felt like old times, and Fiona had noticed how much happier Jake seemed at the cabin than he was in the city. After he’d told her that he loved her—she was still reveling in that particular admission—he seemed to fall back into some kind of comfort zone. He smiled more often, touched her every time he walked by, and when he loved her...Oh, the way he loved her! In his arms, she felt as though she were transported into another world and like she could finally be herself again. She hadn’t slept with many men, but the few she had been with hadn’t been the kind of guys to evoke the emotions and insatiable heat that she felt with Jake.

As they drove back toward what Jake had begun to call
the real world
, Fiona’s mind drifted to her job and the life waiting for her back in Fresno. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about the promotion or that her
real
world
was so far away from Jake’s. She’d decided before reconnecting with Jake that if they got together, she’d leave the promotion behind, and she knew she had to deal with that sooner rather than later. But not this very second.

She glanced at Jake’s serious gaze and noticed how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah.” His answer was curt, and even though he reached over and held her hand, he didn’t make eye contact.

“You sure?” She wondered if he was thinking about work or worried about having missed something important. Their cell phones hadn’t worked at the cabin, and he’d had to return a number of texts after they’d driven down the mountain. They’d become so close that she no longer worried about who the texts were from.

He glanced at her, then drew his eyes back to the road. “It’s…nothing.”

Uh-oh
. “Jake, your
nothing
sounds like a whole lot of something.”

“It is, but it’s not a good something. It makes me an ass for thinking about it, much less wanting to ask you about it.” His hand clenched the wheel again.

“Now you’re worrying me.”
What could make you an ass?

Jake remained silent.

“Jake, if you want to be with me, then we need to be able to communicate. It seems to me that we’ve handled some pretty touchy situations, so I can’t imagine what’s got your briefs in a bunch. Just spit it out.”

He looked at her again out of the corner of his eyes, holding her hand tighter than he normally did. “Okay, but you have to promise not to hate me for it.”

“Wait. I’m not sure I want to hear this. I feel like you just stabbed me in the stomach.” She looked out the window, weighing the possibilities. He must have done something
really
awful to preface his admission with
that
.

“It’s me who feels stabbed.” His voice was husky and rough.

Fiona turned back toward him. “Just tell me, because now I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

“It’s just…Fi, I adore you. I mean, when I think of you, it’s not just the sex that I think about, although you’re like my fantasies come true. It’s everything. But of course sex is a part of that, and when I think of you coming on to other guys in your past like you do to me…I can’t take it.” His fingers curled tighter over the steering wheel, and his knuckles turned white.

A laugh burst from Fiona’s lips before she could stop it. She smacked her hand over her lips.

“Wait.” She tried to swallow her laughter, which was driven by relief and nerves, not because his jealousy was humorous. “Let me get this straight. My boyfriend, who has admitted to taking part in several threesomes and sleeping with just about any woman with legs, is jealous of me and my meager sexual history?”

“I told you it made me an asshole,” he grumbled.

She laughed again, this time because his disgruntled voice was humorous.

“Jake, really? I told you I could count my sexual partners on one hand.”

“It’s not the number; it’s the idea of you seducing them. Of you doing what you do to me, to someone else.”

Now she couldn’t help but tease him. “Aw, so you don’t want to think about me doing this to someone else?” She unhooked her seat belt, leaned over the console, and rubbed him through his jeans, moaning in the most sensual way she could muster. His body instantly responded.

“Fi,” he growled.

“Or this?” She unzipped his pants, setting his erection free, and lowered her mouth to him.

“Jesus, Fiona. I’m going to crash.”

That only made her feel more empowered. She swallowed him from tip to base and loved feeling his entire body tense. She’d never been brave enough or had the desire to blow a guy in a car before, but with Jake she had a feeling there wasn’t much she wouldn’t want to do.

“Fi…o…na.”

She felt his thighs flex and swirled her tongue over the tip while stroking him harder, knowing exactly how to take him over the edge.

“Fi, you’re gonna…make me come.”

“Then perhaps you should pull over.” He did just that and threw the car into park. With one quick flick of a button, he reclined his seat.

“Jesus.” He gripped her head as his hips bucked, and he filled her throat with his seed.

He breathed heavily as she tucked him back into his jeans and climbed over the console and up his body, taking him in the hottest kiss they’d ever shared. He devoured her mouth, despite the taste of himself on her tongue, and when they finally broke apart, his eyes bored right through her.

“You’re the only man I’ve done that with,” she admitted. “You’re the only man I’ve ever felt comfortable showing initiative with the way I do with you.”

Tension eased from his grip.

“But you’re still an ass for having the guts to tell me that after all the things you’ve done with your little man down there.” She pushed away, and he pulled her back and kissed her—hard.

“I never claimed to be anything but an ass, Fiona. I’ve never been possessive or jealous with another goddamn woman, but I am with you. So, yeah, I am an ass, but I’m
your
ass, and you love me.”

“You’ll get no arguments from me.” She kissed him again, and as she moved back into the passenger seat, she said, “You owe me one. And it better be damn good.”

He grinned and shook his head as he buttoned his jeans and righted his seat. “If it’s a payback, then I have to make it mind-blowing good, because you blew my fucking mind, Fiona.”

“That’s what you get.” She was about to smirk; then she realized that she wasn’t really one-upping him.

His smirk was far more appropriate.

She pointed at him. “I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you very much.”

“I do have a surprise for you.” Jake squeezed her leg. “It’s not a sexual surprise, but I promise you that I’ll make that up to you three times over if you’d like.”

“I’d like.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek as he pulled back onto the road. “You’ve been surprising me in so many ways lately. I can’t imagine what you have up your sleeve next.”

“I could say the same for you.” He let that hang between them, and Fiona was surprised she didn’t feel herself blush.

Instead of driving back toward his house, he drove to the National History Museum. She’d been dying to visit the museum, but since she’d avoided LA, it was never an option.

“I’m sure you’ve been here, but I thought we could go together.”

She was so touched that she decided to be honest with him about why she’d never gone. “I actually haven’t been. I kind of avoided Los Angeles like the plague before getting up the guts to come out with Trish. I was afraid of seeing you, which I know is crazy given how big LA is, but I didn’t want to chance seeing you with another woman.”

He arched a brow. “See? I don’t look like such a bad guy for being jealous anymore, do I?”

She rolled her eyes. “Anyway…The museum is closed for renovations.”

“True.” He parked the car and opened her door, pulling her against him. He did that a lot, and she loved it every single time.

“It is closed, unless you happen to know people in high places.” Jake draped an arm over her shoulder as they walked across the empty parking lot toward a door marked
DELIVERIES
.

“You know someone who runs it? We’re really going inside?” Her pulse sped up at the prospect. The fact that Jake had arranged it made it that much more special.

He knocked on the door. “We’re really going inside. And the Blue Moon Diamond exhibit is still here.”

Fiona felt her eyes widen. “Are you kidding me? Oh my God, Jake.” She threw her arms around his neck and squealed with delight, kissing him several times.

“Wow, I’d have taken you sooner if I’d known it would make you that happy.”

“The Blue Moon Diamond is twelve carats, one of the newest and rarest gems in the world because of its color. It’s internally flawless, and, oh my God. Jake. This is so crazy!”

The door opened, and a short, dark-haired gentleman stepped outside and opened his arms to Jake.

“Jake, buddy.” He embraced Jake and patted him on the back, then turned his attention to Fiona. “So this is Fiona.” He held out a hand and Fiona shook it. “Nice to meet you. I’m Theo.”

“Hi, Theo. Thank you so much for letting us visit the museum.” She knew she was grinning like a fool, and she had no hope of stopping as he led them inside. She held tightly to Jake’s hand as Theo brought them into the rotunda.

“Take your time and look around. I have to close up in about three hours.” He talked with Jake for a few minutes about the exhibits and the areas they should avoid because of the renovations, then excused himself, leaving them to roam the museum by themselves.

There was so much to take in that Fiona felt like a kid in a candy store. She was overwhelmed at Jake’s thoughtful surprise and couldn’t stop smiling.

“Where do you want to start? Gems and minerals?” he asked.

“Let’s see the diamond so we don’t miss it; then…you choose. I want to see as much as we can, but you know I’ll love all the exhibits.” She’d wanted to see the Blue Moon Diamond and had wrestled with venturing into LA for that reason alone, but the thought of seeing Jake with another woman had kept her from doing so. Now she could hardly believe that two of her dreams were coming true. Jake loved her. Loved her! And she was going to see the Blue Moon Diamond. It would be even more special seeing it with Jake.