Let It Snow(66)

What if being with Jake tonight somehow further damaged their relationship instead of bringing them closer? They were just getting back to being friends. Yes, they’d gotten frisky in the studio, but this was different. And on the flipside of that coin, what if it did bring them closer? What then? It didn’t change anything. Right?

“Okay, okay, okay,” she whispered to herself, shaking her hands to try and release some of her anxiety. She knew that she couldn’t stand in the bathroom all night intellectualizing and overanalyzing her and Jake being together. So, taking a deep breath, she reached her now trembling hand out and turned the doorknob.

As she stepped out of the bathroom door, she saw that Jake was already waiting for her in the bedroom, sitting casually on the edge of the bed. He looked up as she walked towards him and the expression in his gorgeous big brown eyes stopped Tessa in her tracks. They were so full of emotion, but they appeared to be conflicted. She couldn’t quite get a read on what he was feeling, and it made her anxiety skyrocket.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he rasped.

And just like that, Tessa wasn’t thinking about her nerves or anxiety. Jake’s compliment rushed through her like the raging white waters of the rapids. It had always been like that. Whether it was four little words, a touch, a smile, or a look, Jake affected her on a primal subconscious level.

Staring at him as his hungry gaze raked over her, she attempted to reply, but her voice came out as a whisper. “So are you.”

“Come here,” Jake responded, his voice growing thick with lust.

The sound of his voice like that, the sudden fullness of it, the catch in his voice, the rapidness of his breath—it washed over Tessa in a tidal wave. Suddenly, she was on fire from head to toe. She needed Jake. To be close to him. To feel his skin against her skin, his mouth on hers, or she felt like she would explode.

Spontaneous human combustion. Yep. She’d heard of it, and she didn’t think it could be caused by mere lust—but wow. After tonight, if she heard that such a thing were possible, she certainly wouldn’t question it.

She moved across the room in two steps on unsteady legs, her heart feeling like it would beat right through her ribs. She stopped only when she was standing in front of him, and his mouth turned up into a sexy half smile.

“Straddle it,” he directed, repeating the instruction she’d given to him earlier at the studio.

Tessa let out a little laugh, and the last tiny bit of anxiety and nervousness dissipated completely. This was Jake. Her Jake.

She placed her hands on his shoulder as she lifted one knee up on the side of his thigh. Before she could move the other one, Jake’s hands were on her, pulling her up on his lap, his mouth crushing hers in a passionate kiss. She could feel his hands roaming up and down her back, dipping down and cupping the firm globes of her backside.

Her hands moved over his strong shoulders and down his back. There was a thought in the back of her mind that there were too many layers of clothing between them, but Tessa couldn’t bring herself to break their kiss to remedy it. Even through the cotton of his shirt she felt his muscles rippling beneath her touch, but she wanted to touch skin.

So she moved her hands up and cupped his face. The bristly hairs of his panty-melting five-o’clock shadow beneath her palm sent a shock of tingles straight to her femininity. She gently dug her fingers into his skin at the powerful sensation.

Breaking their kiss, Jake’s mouth moved to the base of her wrist. He moved one of his hands and cradled hers as he lavished sensual attention on the sensitive area just beneath her palm. Tessa began feeling dizzy with arousal. The room was spinning so she closed her eyes. Then suddenly everything stopped.

Jake’s hand was no longer roaming up and down her back. His magical mouth was no longer kissing her flesh. He was perfectly still. The only movement she could feel was his chest rising and falling against her.

Opening her eyes, she found his jaw locked and fury in the eyes that had just been filled with lust and desire. His gaze was laser-focused on her hand that rested in his.

“Jake?” she spoke through choppy breaths.

“I’m so sorry,” he rasped.

“For what?” Tessa had no idea what he was talking about. Was he sorry they were about to have sex? Was he so sorry that he was putting a stop to it? Panic began to rise up inside of her.

“I should have got there sooner.” Jake closed his pained eyes and softly kissed her wrist again.

Okay, time out!

Tessa needed to know what the hell Jake was talking about. She pulled her arm away from his soft lips so she could talk to him and that’s when she saw it. There was a discolored, raised outline of fingers from where the a-hole Red Shirt had held her wrist.