“Beyond what you do know? Like that I’m an honest guy who’s crazy about you. I spend my days doing search and rescue wherever I’m needed. Sometimes I’m on a rescue for a few hours, sometimes days. No two are ever alike. And now”—he kissed her again—“I want to spend my nights with you. What else do you want to know?”
“Hm…” She scrunched up her nose and tapped his chest, looking insanely adorable. She was so unguarded, so open and sweet and playful, he felt like he’d peeled back another layer, revealing another secret part of her.
“Gosh, there’s so much, like, I don’t know…what your favorite food is.”
“You.” He stole a kiss and she laughed.
“Seriously. I need to know these things.”
“I doubt you seriously need to know my favorite foods.”
She rolled her eyes. “If I don’t know, then how can I smear it all over my body so you can lick it off?”
“Jesus. How am I supposed to think past that?” He took her in a long sensual kiss, wanting so much more. “In that case,” he said, kissing her softly, “my mother’s cream puffs. They’re amazing, but eating them off of you would make them out-of-this-world delicious.”
As he went in for another kiss, she stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Okay, next must-know item. What do you do when you’re not saving people’s lives or trying to get me in bed?”
“Lately I only have time for the latter, so…”
“Come on,” she complained. “What do you do when you’re not doing search and rescue? Gabby said you were a volunteer search and rescue guy, so what’s your real job? How do you earn a living when you’re flying all over the country at the drop of a hat?”
Jake’s initial reaction was to tell her what he told everyone else, that he helped train search and rescue professionals. Usually that was enough to end the conversation, because most people didn’t know the majority of the trainer positions were also unpaid. He had a feeling Addy was too wise for that off-the-cuff answer. His next thought was that he didn’t want to sleep in a bed of lies with Addy, so he told her the truth.
“A few years ago a buddy and I developed a search and rescue app, and the income from that enabled me to quit my job as a park ranger and dedicate my time to search and rescue.” He was pretty sure Addy knew there was family money that had been passed down for generations, but he didn’t see a need to bring that up, since he never touched his trust fund.
“Wow, really? So, first you were a park ranger? Like, the guys who wear those cute little uniforms and tell people not to litter?”
He laughed. “Something like that.”
“I bet lots of girls got lost in your park on purpose.”
“It’s probably safer if I don’t comment about that.”
She swatted at his arm and he caught her wrist and kissed her, loving the feel of her smile against his lips.
“We aren’t saying things that might strike a chord, remember?” he said, holding her close. “Jesus, baby. Now I have to protect you from your own smart mouth.” He kissed her again.
“Mm. I might have to make that mistake a few more times.”
Slanting his mouth over hers, he took her in another delicious kiss. “My lips are at your disposal. Now hurry up and finish your deposition so I can move on to something way more fun.”
“Okay, I’ll be fast, if you promise to take a very long time with the fun stuff.”
He swept her beneath him, letting her feel just how much fun he had in store for her. “You’re allowed two more questions. After that no more talking.”
That earned a wide, playful grin. “How did you go from park ranger to developing an app and don’t you need technical skills for that? That counts as one question because I didn’t pause between them.”
“I sure do like you.” He lowered his face to hers, and she held him at bay with one hand on his chest.
“Answer fast, because one more second of those lips on mine and my mind won’t work.”
“Good to know.” He stole another quick kiss and spoke as fast as he could. “In addition to my cute little job as a park ranger, I have a degree in engineering. My buddy Chris Boyer, an aeronautical engineer and fellow SAR—search and rescue—guy and I had an idea and followed through with it.”
“Jake, that’s huge! How many people can say they’ve developed an app?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, but I don’t go around telling people, so please keep it on the down low.”
“Why? Aren’t you proud of what you accomplished?”
“That’s way more than two questions, but yes, I’m very proud of it. But I didn’t do it for notoriety. I did it because it was a tool that could help with the thing I’m most passionate about. Search and rescue. It’s actually a cool app. A few of the major SAR teams have recently begun integrating our newest updates, which simultaneously takes feeds from a color camera, thermal camera, and infrared camera and georectifies them over a map, allowing you to flip back and forth between the images on the live map. It’s a live feed from drones and can be fed to phones, iPads, computers…” He realized he was rambling about details she probably didn’t care about. “Sorry. I know it’s boring. I get a little excited when I actually start talking about it.”
“Boring? Not at all. You light up when you talk about it. I never knew you had a hot geeky side. It’s like getting a peek at you in your element, instead of the flirty hotshot.”
He grabbed her ribs, and she squealed with delight.
“Flirty hotshot?” Lacing his fingers with hers, he pinned them beside her head and nipped at her lower lip.
“It’s pretty freaking hot, hearing you rattle off all those techy terms. Maybe even hotter than the flirty hotshot.”
“Yeah?” He liked that a whole lot. “I never took you as a girl who got excited over tech talk.”
“I like when you talk,” she whispered. “And when your mouth is too busy to talk.” She pulled one hand free and stroked his cheek.
“Mm.” He closed his eyes, reveling in her touch. “I love when you touch me.”
“Then you better enjoy it,” she whispered. “Because if your parents end up hating me because they think I’m slutty for sleeping with their baby boy, this might be all the touching you’ll get.”
Did she really believe that? “Is that why you didn’t want to chance someone seeing you leave my room?”
She lifted one shoulder in answer, revealing that vulnerable side again. Why hadn’t he thought of that? She was so brazen about her sexuality, he hadn’t given a thought to what his family might think.
“I’m sorry. I should have thought of that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. It’s just that I think you’re right. The two of us together like this feels different. It feels private.”
“It is private, baby. It’s special. You’re special.” He rubbed his nose along her cheek, breathing her in. “Thank God you’re finally able to admit it.”
She pursed her lips together, her smile threatening to split her faux frown in two.
“Don’t taunt me, Addison, or I swear I—” He realized there was only one way to get her to say what he so desperately wanted to hear. He rolled off of her and onto his back. “I guess we won’t be having fun after all.”
“What?” She leaned over him, her hair curtaining her beautiful face. “You’re seriously going to withhold sex?”
“There was a time when I was easy, but now I’m a guy with stronger morals. I don’t give it up to just anyone.” He closed his eyes and draped an arm over them so he wouldn’t be tempted to peek at her—she had the power to get him to do anything with a single sultry glance.
He felt her moving over him, straddling his hips, her warm, damp center settling over his erection. Uttering a curse, he ground his teeth together as she came down over him, her nipples brushing against his chest.
“I’m not above begging,” she whispered, before gliding her tongue along the outer shell of his ear. She slid over the length of his arousal, applying just enough pressure to make him lose his mind.
He grabbed her thighs and held on tight.
“You know you want me,” she whispered over his lips.
Glide, glide, torture, torture.
She ran her hand up his forearm and laced her fingers with his, settling both his hands beside his head, as he’d done to her moments earlier. He opened his eyes and was immediately swept up in her. Her hair was messy and wild, her eyes dark and alluring. He wasn’t strong enough to deny her a damn thing.
He said, “I want you, baby,” at the same time she said, “We’re a thing.” They both laughed, and as he folded his arms around her and swept her beneath him, she said it again and again.
“Was that so hard?” he teased.
“No, but this is.” She lifted her hips and slid lower, aligning their bodies perfectly. “You promised me you’d take a very long time.”
“Baby, if I have my way, we might never leave this room.”