FOURTEEN
Jesse shuddered at the feel of Katie's softness pressing against his
cock. He strained against his
swim-suit, wanted nothing more than to
slide hard and deep inside her.
Unable to do anything else, he kissed her again, brushing his lips back
and forth, as he tried to rein in
his desire. But when she kissed him
back, clinging to him, innocently mimicking his movements, it was hard
to think of anything but quenching the driving need he felt pulsing
through him.
He understood in that moment, with Katie in his arms, the inevitability
of the path they were on. He
had tried to do the right thing and stay
away from her. But the fight had been futile.
Pulling back, he framed her face with his hands, forcing her to meet
his eyes. Katie, his Katie, had
grown up to be Kate, a sensual woman
who hid beneath serious reporter's questions and respectable business
suits. Katie with plain hazel brown eyes that suddenly smoldered with a
nearly
erotic golden green, fringed by long lashes.
"I've fought it, but I can't any longer," he said to her. "We are going
to make love, Kate."
He watched the heavy-lidded desire in her eyes burn away as
understanding dawned. He could tell that his bold declaration made her
nervous and thrilled her at the same timeâthe wildness fighting, as
always, with the need to be responsible.
"We can't."
She tried to push away, but he held her firmly against him.
"Why?" he asked.
"We have a ruleâ"
"You tossed the rules out the night you asked me to make love to you."
Her eyes flickered and danced as she tried to come up with a response.
"It was a moment of insanity,
just as this is insanity. You were right
earlier when you said I lost my mind. I am losing it, starting the
moment I wore ankle weights on TV, then exploding full blown the other
night when my head was spinning from a really bad date and .. . and . .
. too much sugar."
He watched her lush mouth move, then gave in and leaned forward to
taste her again. "You are sweet, but that has nothing to do with it and
you know it. You can't deny what is happening between us any more than
lean."
She inhaled, her head coming back ever so slightly, her eyes lighting
with fire. "I've reconsidered my request from the other day," she said.
"And I now completely and utterly deny that I want to ... well,
you
know."
"Have sex?"
"Whatever."
He lifted his hands to her hair, running them through the fullness of
her curls, slowly stroking, the very tips of his fingers gliding along
the sensitive flesh behind her ears. She sighed, her mouth parting, her
lips naked of lipstick, wet and pink on their own. Then he took her
hand and pressed it to the evidence of
just how much he wanted her.
Her pulse leaped in her neck, her eyes widening, and after a second, he
could see the primness that reigned inside her losing its battle. "I
disagree," he stated. "I'm hard and hot and I want you. And I'm willing
to bet that if I slipped my fingers inside those high-waist panties I
can see outlined beneath your shortsâ"
She gasped.
"âwhen I touched you, you'd be wet"âhe gently nipped the corner of her
mouthâ"and hot"âhe ran his tongue along to the opposite sideâ"and
slick."
A soft sound escaped her throat as she opened to him, followed by a
shuddering sigh when he slowly slid his tongue between her lips. She
reacted instinctively, sliding her own against his. She tasted sugary
and delicious, like a decadent sin.
The innocence in her touch stirred both a deep need to protect and a
desire to conquer what he felt clear down to his groin. He hadn't lied
when he said he wanted her as he had never wanted a woman before. No
question it was the same sort of lust, but this time it was more
intense, a driving need that, as hard as he had tried, he couldn't
shake.
"That's it," he encouraged as her fingers cupped his erection for one
fleeting moment. The second she did, her breath stuttered.
If there had ever been a moment when he could have pulled back from
this insane path, it fled the second he felt her hand through the wet
swim trunks.
Giving in, their mouths slanted together. He meant to start out gently,
get her used to the sensual pleasure. But instantly their mouths came
together in a way that was primal and all consuming. Her kiss was as
hungry as his, as if neither of them could get enough. Her breath came
in ragged little gasps as he pressed her back against the sturdy
handrail, her thighs lacing with his as she circled his shoulders with
her arms.
Sliding his palms down the curves of her body, he cupped her hips
before skimming lower to her bottom. She moaned into his mouth as he
drew her fully against him.
This time he moaned over her willing eagerness. He gently nipped her
lower lip as she arched closer, his cock hard and pulsing against the
small curve of her abdomen. Lifting her up with ease, he carried her
into the house. He didn't stop until he came to the kitchen. Setting
her down on the countertop, he
moved closer to stand between her thighs.
The smell of honeysuckle and oleander followed them inside, mixing with
the scent of Kate, innocent
and sensual, wrapping around him, making
him hot and tight and aware of what he really wanted to do ... bend her
over the sink and slide into her.
He kissed her with a slow, heated passion, his palms just barely
grazing over her, trailing down, his lips skimming to the pulse that
throbbed in her neck. She gasped when his hands ran along the sides of
her breasts, nothing separating his touch from her except her thin
cotton top.
Desire pulsed through him like lightning, electric in a black sky, not
civilized, not cautious. Her head fell back against a cabinet as his
thumbs swept over her nipples beneath the thin material, bringing them
to taut peaks, then circling before one hand drifted to the long line
of buttons that ran down the center of
her shirt. One by one they gave
way as his fingers worked the tiny fastenings.
He stopped at the button just above her shorts, then peeled back the
material, revealing her breasts.
Jesse silently marveled at the beauty
of her.
"I dream of you," he whispered. "You fill me with a need that wakes me
at night. It's been hard as hell
to stay in the cottage and not cross
the yard and slip into your bed."
He saw an answering boldness rise through her. And when he caught her
hands, pinning them behind
her, then bent his head to taste, he could
tell she forgotâ propriety, responsibility, their past.
Her suppressed hunger surfaced and he sensed her careening flight
toward satisfaction. She arched to
him as he dipped his head again,
capturing first one taut nipple, his teeth gently nipping, then the
other.
It was hard to imagine how they had come to this point. After years of
seeing her as sweet little Katie, a constant in his life, he found it
difficult to reconcile how this would change his world. But he wasn't a
man to deny something once he understood the inevitability of it. There
was no question in his mind that he and Kate were on a heady sensual
ride that wasn't going to stop until they reached some kind of
conclusion. He accepted that now. And he would make sure she accepted
it, too.
A flash of concern raced through him over the thought of where this
would end. But he brushed it aside. They would find the sexual pleasure
and satisfaction they both sought.
Suddenly, he released her. They came face to face, her eyes
heavy-lidded with passion and growing confusion.
"If I don't stop now, I won't be able to," he said, reining his body in
with fierce control.
Her skin was flushed, her lips slighted parted, and a satisfying
disappointment flickered across her features.
"You liked that, didn't you, Kate?" he said with a grin.
Dazed, she could only touch her lips.
"There's so much more that I am going to show you."
Her gaze started to clear over his arrogant announcement. He knew that
was all it would take to set her passion in check. And if he hadn't, he
wasn't sure he wouldn't have given in and picked her up and carried her
to the guest cottage and made love to her then.
She opened her mouth to protest, but he pressed his forefinger to her
lips. "I'm going to kiss you and stroke every inch of your naked body.
I'm going to spread your thighs and taste your hot sweet center until
you understand what being sexy really is. Then make no mistake about
it. I am going to make love
to you. Not tonight, because I know you're
not ready yet. But we will make love, I promise you that."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Memo
Dear Chloe:
I have read your parking memo and am in full agreement that each
of us
should be more
considerate not to park carelessly, taking up more than
one clearly marked spot. Rest assured,
I will do my best to be a part
of the solution to KTEX TV's parking problem.
Yours sincerely,
Katherine C. Bloom
News Anchor, KTEX TV West Texas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Katherine Bloom
From: Chloe Sinclair
Subject: What gives?
Kate,
you've never in your life
responded to one of my parking memos.
While I appreciate your interest, I know you well enough. Something's
up.
Your friend,
Chloe
Chloe Sinclair
Station Manager
Award-winning KTEXTV
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Truth
Okay, the
truth is, I turned on
e-mail in hopes of having a note from
Julia regarding the love products show. Surely she's not too upset
since really, it was her idea to do it in the first place.
Plus, she is
totally into all the sexy stuff. You'd think she'd be over the moon
about it.
K
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Katherine Bloom @
ktextv.com>
From: Chloe
Sinclair
Subject: Hard to say
I haven't
heard from her, either.
But maybe you should give her some
time just in case. I've
never seen her faint like that.
Chloe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: Wow
She really
fainted? I had hoped
that I was just imagining things. And
how can she turn into a
prude so easily. Errrrr! How is it that I keep
having to deal with these crazy things? First the audience reaction,
then Jesse's surprise arrival, and now the thought of having sex?! I
can't
take it anymore!!!
Kate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Katherine Bloom
From: Chloe Sinclair
Subject: Explain please
I hate to
be the one to break it
to you, but being sexy and being over
the top are two different
kettles of fish. And what is this about the
sex? I thought you chickened out with Parker. Tell
me you haven't been
making nocturnal visits to the guest cottage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
Subject: No!
No sex. I
swear. And there will be
no sex! And really, C, don't you
dare breathe a word about
this to Julia. Promise me! I never should have mentioned anything. I
was half venting, half
thinking that
if I spelled it out, it wouldn't seem so bad. But it is bad. The truth
is, I want to
have sex with Jesse.
As to sexy
vs. over the top, I
know you're right. I can understand it
if Julia never forgives me.
Kate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Â
To: Katherine Bloom
From: Julia Boudreaux
@
ktextv.com>
Subject: Hanky panky
What is
this about you having sex?
With Jesse? I must hear every
detail. How far did you go?
Was he as good as the newspapers make him
out to be? And how about his body. Delicious?
I expect a full report
pronto.
xoxo, j
p.s. I
considered never speaking
to you again, but I decided to
reconsider when, drumroll please,
yet again the ratings went crazy.
Bigger than big! Who knew you had it in you to be wild and
crazy?
Brava! We will ignore all the crazed fan mail you're getting from
prisoners who want to
take private lessons.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Julia Boudreaux
    Chloe Sinclair
From: Katherine Bloom
@
ktextv.com>
Subject: Unforgiven
Chloe, I
cannot believe you told
Julia!! Now I won't hear the end of
it. For everyone's information,
I DID NOT HAVE SEX!!!! And what is this
about prison mail?!