“Do you?”

“Holding me off, making me pay for all the times I’ve denied you.” He pinched her breast, tossing the words from her mouth and brain.

“Holding you off, but not for payment…for pleasure.” His hand snaked down her taut stomach and teased the edge of her panties.

She held her breath, waiting.

When he hesitated, Jessie opened her eyes and found him staring at her. The smoky flecks in his eyes glistened in the dim light of the room. He moved his fingers between the lace and her skin and slowly sought her wet, throbbing core. There was no way to keep her eyes open when he opened her to pleasure. It had been so long since anyone had touched her, and if she was honest with herself, no one had ever taken such care of her needs.

His hand moved with her hips. Her breath grew shallow as her body started to tighten and strain. Slowly, Jack backed her down from the growing tidal wave of ecstasy, leaving frustration. “You are a brat, Jack Moore.”

“Good things come to those who wait,” he quoted.

Wait? Hadn’t they waited long enough?

I’ll show you wait.

Smiling, Jessie ran a hand up Jack’s thigh. Her fingers grazed the inside of his waistband until she felt the button snap free.

“Oh no,” Jack moaned when she grazed the outline of his arousal through his jeans. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

Jessie pushed him off her and leaned over him for a change. “Big, heaping mounds of trouble, cowboy.”

Those sexy dimples of his poked through his smile as his hand lifted to her face and stroked her cheek. “I can take it,” he said.

We’ll see about that.

Jessie took her time undoing the series of buttons holding his pants together. She purposely stayed away from the hottest part of his body when she inched his jeans down his hips.

Jack lifted and helped in taking off his jeans. Once they were kicked free of his body, Jack settled back with a grin and wide-open eyes.

He wears boxers, Jessie thought as she stroked his hip and butt before coming around and purposely avoiding his impressive length. Leaning in, she set her lips to his and opened for his questing tongue instantly.

Jack’s hand returned to her waist and pulled her closer. Her leg settled between his, and now it was Jack’s turn to ride her thigh. Moving quicker, Jessie smiled under his kiss and reached between their bodies to cup him through the cotton of his boxer shorts.

Tearing his lips away, he hissed out, “Damn, darlin’, this is going to be over too fast if you continue that.”

Jessie eased her hand into the fly of his shorts and took him in her firm grip. “Good things come to those who wait,” she mimicked, teasing him.

Something inside Jack snapped, and Jessie was pinned beneath him in the space of one breath. Jack had her wrists in his hands as he held her away. He kissed her hard, and Jessie had never felt more aware of a man before in her life.

Shaking with desire, Jack lifted his hands from hers, leaned down her body, and removed the scrap of material between her legs.

Lifting from the bed, he tossed his shorts with her panties and reached for his jeans. From his wallet, he produced a condom and quickly covered himself with it. Even that was sexy as hell.

When he returned, Jessie opened for him, cradling him amid her thighs. He leaned in and kissed her softly, the tip of his erection sliding against her, intimately, teasing.

Neither of them could stand the wait any longer.

Jessie ran her hand down his torso, his hip, and rounded in front to position him.

They stared into each other’s wide-open eyes as he took her in slow, satisfying degrees.

Her body fluttered awake; dormant for so long, she knew her body gripped him tight.

“Lord,” he gasped once he was fully seated.

Full and still hungry, Jessie waited for Jack to catch his breath before she rocked up against him.

Jack found her lips and kissed her as they began to move and her body tightened around him. Both of them fought to breathe, an effort in their goal of pleasure. Jessie gloried in the feel of him sliding against her, bringing her higher with every pass.

She lifted her legs around his waist, and he stroked her perfectly over and over.

“Yes,” she said in a rough whisper. So close to exploding, so close, and then she was there, stifling her moan into Jack’s shoulder and feeling her body spasm around him, draining every nerve ending that had held back for so long.

Jack rode her, prolonging her orgasm, until his breath caught and he moved faster.

“Jessie,” he cried as he found his release and his strokes became slower, longer, until he collapsed on top of her.

Glorious. There was no other way to describe what the two of them were together. She hugged him close and pushed away rational thought.

There was only now. The afterglow of their loving.

Jack shifted to her side and pulled her back up against him, holding her close.

Jessie weaved her fingers with his and closed her eyes. She wanted to say something, but words escaped her, so she settled on silence and Jack’s warmth as they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Chapter Twelve

The smell of coffee woke her. Jessie’s eyes fluttered open to find the space next to her in bed empty. Surprisingly, the clock on the dresser told her it was after eight in the morning. Danny usually bounded from bed by seven, but either the lil’ guy was still sleeping or he was doing a superior job of keeping quiet.

The previous night brought an immediate smile to her face. She stretched and felt a slight ache in the muscles she’d used. Oh, but the pain was a very good thing.