Her Hometown Hero(18)

       

"You have to take some moments for the pleasures in life, Sage, or you will burn out."

"I can't even remember what pleasure is all about," she told him with a humorless laugh.

"That's what I'm here for . . . to remind you."

She froze at the clear look of desire he was directing her way. "Spence,  I'm so exhausted and cold that I can't analyze every little thing you  say, so can you turn the heat levels down just a little?" She didn't  break eye contact as she made her request.

"You aren't warming up, are you?" This time, it was concern in his eyes.

"No. I can't stop shaking," she admitted.

"All right, time for the hot tub," he told her, and she shook her head. "Doctor's orders," he added as he stood up.

"I can't. I don't have a swimsuit," she said, though the warmth of a hot tub sounded like pure heaven.

"Wear your undies. They cover as much as or more than a swimsuit," he  told her, and Sage tried to figure out which ones she was wearing. Were  they modest enough? "I'll turn around while you get in, and then the  water will cover you."

"Fine," she said before she could chicken out. She really was cold.

Spence led her to the bathroom off the back deck, where his hot tub was  located. The deck was covered, but a shiver still racked her body when  she stepped up to the French doors with only a towel covering her modest  underclothes.

She would have to step into the cold before she could enter the hot tub.  "Come on. The deck is clear. Just walk quickly. I already have it open  and ready," Spence said as he stepped up beside her.

Taking a breath, she rushed through the doors, dropped the towel, and  then quickly climbed down into the hot tub, the warm water stinging her  frozen limbs as she submerged herself.

"Ah, this is exactly what we needed," Spence said as he climbed in  beside her, giving her a glimpse of his impressive chest before the  water covered him to his neck.

Scooting to the far side of the hot tub, Sage eyed Spence warily, but he  didn't make a move toward her, so she leaned back after a minute,  finally beginning to relax as warmth seeped into her skin and the cold  finally evaporated.

The coolness on her face and the heat of the water were a perfect  combination and she soon found herself feeling human once again. When  she began to drift, she felt a wave in the water, and as her eyelids  cracked open, she found herself looking into Spence's eyes.

"Want to play a game?"

"I don't think I could win any game against you, Spence," she said. She couldn't back away-he'd left her nowhere to go.

"Come on, Sage. Don't chicken out on me." He brought his hand up and  rubbed the top of her shoulder, which was peeking out from the water.

"What game can we play in the hot tub, Spence?"

"Hmm, truth or dare, of course," he said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Fine," she said, shocking herself and him.

"Good. I get to go first," he said as he leaned back, giving her a little breathing room. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." She hesitated for only a moment before uttering the word.

"When did you have your first kiss?" he asked.

Sending him a glare, she hesitated only a minute before answering him.  "I was fifteen the first time. It was with Basal, the foreign exchange  student my sophomore year of high school. He could really kiss," she  said, thinking back with a fond smile.

"Oh really?" His eyebrows went up in shock.

"I'm not always the innocent little girl, you know."

"Come on, Sage," he said in disbelief. "Since meeting you again, I've  had a few flashbacks, and I remember your reputation. And from what I've  heard recently, that reputation stayed with you in college."

Bluff called! "You were checking up on me?" she asked, irritated, forgetting all about their little game.

"I've learned everything I can about you, Sage."

The way he said it was a challenge. She just didn't understand what the challenge was.

"Maybe I also know all about you, Spence Whitman."

"Do tell." He wasn't at all fazed by her words.

"Some things should remain secret," she said, not wanting to play games with him anymore.

"You can't start this conversation and then just stop," he said, moving closer once again.

"I wasn't the one who started it," she insisted.

"Yeah, but you don't want to run, do you, Sage? You like exactly what's  going on between us," he said, his arms coming up on either side of her,  boxing her in. The problem wasn't his closeness; the problem was the  fact that she wanted him even closer.                       
       
           



       

Knowing she was falling for him, knowing she was about to cave, she spun  around, kneeling on her seat, facing his spacious yard while leaving  her back to him.

"Are you trying to hide, Sage?" he asked as his chest pressed against her back.

"Yes," she said, not even recognizing her own voice.

"I don't think I'm going to let you," he said, his mouth grazing her ear  and sending shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with the  freezing night air.

"I'm not sure I can resist you," she told him, and his lips, which had been grazing her neck, stopped in their tracks.

"Then don't." He resumed his assault on her neck, wrapped his hands  around her waist, and pulled her back tightly against his chest. "Tell  me to stop if you don't want this to lead where we both know it's going  to."

Sage leaned against the edge of the tub, the jets massaging the front of  her while his hands trailed across the skin of her stomach and his  mouth slid over her neck. Did she tell him to stop, or did she let this  take its natural course?

What did she want?





"Do you want me to stop?"

Stop? Why would he possibly stop when this felt so good? Somewhere,  buried deep in the back of her mind, Sage knew she should indeed call a  halt. She just didn't know why. And if she couldn't figure that out,  wasn't it time to finally see what all the fuss was about? It was now a  bit ridiculous to be a virgin. She could only use school and work as an  excuse for so long.

As a doctor she knew how the body worked, knew it was chemicals and  hormones. But as a woman, she had no clue what she was experiencing.  Whatever it was, though, it was fantastic. And stopping was the last  thing on her mind.

As Spence's hands now brushed the undersides of her breasts, her body  pulsed with need. When he shifted her, lining up her body in the most  perfect way with the pulsing jets, she felt heat building inside, felt  something she'd never felt before.

"More," she groaned, wanting to feel his hands come over the mounds of her breasts, to caress her nipples.

"More," he agreed, and then he cupped her, his fingers squeezing her  aching peaks through her bra, and a guttural cry of need escaped her  throat as she leaned back, her head resting on his chest while he  continued his exquisite ministrations.

His fingers found the front clasp of her bra, and then, thankfully, he  freed her from the sodden material. Finally his hands were on her skin,  his thumbs rubbing across her nipples, making her cry out in pleasure as  he twisted them, making them even harder than before.

Spence's hands began moving all over her body, caressing her sides and  her breasts again, and then lower, tracing the curve of her hips and  proceeding to the inside of her legs. He spread her thighs and centered  her core on one of the jets, making her writhe in front of him.

"Spence," she cried weakly, unsure of what she was feeling.

"Enjoy it," he whispered before his lips traced her ear. With one hand  he encircled an aching breast, while with the other he reached inside  her panties and ran a finger down her folds, spreading them and sliding  easily inside her heat.

She wanted more, needed more. Her body knew what it wanted, and she was  following the commands it was issuing. When he pulled back, she  whimpered until he turned her around and looked into her eyes, his own  green depths burning with desire.

"I want to take you now," Spence said.

"Then have me," she said on a sigh before he bent down and captured her lips, needing both to give and to take.

Sliding his hands slowly over her hips, he drew her panties down her  slim legs, leaving her naked for his pleasure. She was burning up, both  from the water and from the inferno he was building inside of her.

And still it wasn't enough.

He let go of her long enough to discard his shorts, and then she was  being lifted to the side of the hot tub. He spread her legs wide so he  could see all of her secrets. She wanted to hide, but as his head  descended and his hot tongue traced the outer folds of her heat, she  lost any impulse to fight.

The cold air on her wet skin made her nipples tighten painfully, while  the hot water and steam from the tub rose up to fight the chill. He  kissed her core, letting his tongue swirl around her most sensitive  area, and then suddenly she was flying, her body releasing in an  explosion of pleasure so great she almost lost consciousness under the  barrage of fireworks in her body.