But it seemed as though Derrick knew that, too. Though she could feel him grow impossibly harder inside her with every stroke, she could feel his restraint, too. He was holding back, desperate for something neither of them could name.
"More," she breathed, unable to help herself, and he answered her with a kiss and a long, deep thrust.
"Soon," he whispered against her hair, but soon wasn't good enough. The need inside her was taking over, and she raked her nails down his back as she arched into him again, meeting him now thrust for thrust and urging him faster and deeper.
"Jesus," he rasped, and then his fingertips dug against her hips as he pulled back and shoved inside her over and over, pounding harder with every thrust until her breasts bounced from the sheer force of him.
"Yes," she moaned, not caring who heard her. This was what she wanted. What she needed. This was Derrick, full and forceful and not holding back. She only wished that she could feel him spurt inside her, that he could fill her up with his hot need.
"Jade," he called, and with one hand he pinched her nipple, spurring her onto a whole other plane. She pushed herself over the edge, closing her eyes as the need and want and greed devoured her at last and she bucked into him with reckless abandon, gripping and grasping at anything and everything as her walls shuddered around his rock hard shaft.
She wanted to scream, to yell his name so loud that everyone in the place discovered them, but instead she bit down on her bottom lip and rode him fast and hard until the fissions of pleasure coiled around her every extremity and lingered there.
Chapter 7
When Jade woke up the next morning, she had two things on her mind: the irritating, insistent pounding of her head and Derrick Archer.
For a second, she thought it might have been a dream, the way he'd commanded her body and taken control of her. The way he'd made her come in a way no man had ever managed in her life. But she knew it wasn't a dream. It couldn't have been.
The awful truth was that she'd slept with her best friend.
And worst of all? She'd liked it.
Now she just had to go into work and...what? What could she possibly say to him?
She didn't have the option of walking up to his desk and making a joke of it. Nor could she imagine bringing it up at all, not when they were supposed to be pretending to be deeply and passionately in love.
Or were they?
Would Derrick still want to go through with her plan now that things had gotten so serious between them? Or was it even a serious thing? Did people ever just do it and then get on with their regularly scheduled relationship?
She had certainly never operated that way, but that didn't mean it wasn't possible. She could walk into work this morning and Derrick could knock on her desk and make fun of her like nothing had ever happened.
Like he hadn't completely rocked her world.
"Shit," she rolled over in her bed and stuffed a pillow over her face.
Lisa pounced on top of her and landed on her stomach with a soft thump, but Jade didn't have the energy to swat her away. Instead, she snuggled the cat close to her and said, "What am I going to do?"
Okay, first things first.
How was she feeling about all of this?
She took a deep breath, trying to put words to the swarm of feelings raising in her chest and swirling in her stomach. It felt like an excited glow, in a way, though there was a nervous energy there too. Like she wanted to run a mile and also lay in her bed for the rest of the day.
"I've got nothing," she mumbled, then, like a flash, she remembered Zac.
Zac with his perfect muscles and his history of making her knees buckle. What was she going to do about Zac? What was Derrick going to do about Zac?
After all, she was still trying to win him over, right? Wasn't that still the plan?
Before she had the chance to torment herself with any further questions, there was a pounding on her front door and Lisa slipped through her arms and slinked from the room.
Following suit, Jade tugged an oversized T-shirt over her head and wriggled into a pair of yoga pants before rubbing her eyes and making for the door. She swung it open easily before checking the peephole, and then her breath caught.
There he was. Derrick Archer. Tall, dark, and sexy. Except not sexy. He wasn't supposed to be sexy, not to her.
"Great minds think alike," she mumbled, then ushered him into the tiny living room off of her foyer. As she led him, she swallowed hard, suddenly all too aware of the heat rising in her cheeks and the uncomfortable swirling in her stomach. She felt like a little kid waiting for her crush to notice her on the playground. Somehow, that made it that much worse, too.
"So, I came by to apologize," Derrick said, then sank back onto her bright red sofa.
"Oh, um, you don't need to apologize. It takes two to tango, you know, and-"
"I'm not apologizing for that." He looked up at her and suddenly there was a hunger in his eyes, a fire she hadn't noticed before. "I'm apologizing for blowing the case. I shouldn't have let my feelings get in the way of an investigation. No matter how good you looked."
Her mouth went dry and suddenly she couldn't look anywhere but him and the way his legs spread wide and casual as he surveyed her. She knew what lay underneath his jeans now. She knew exactly how impressive he was. How big and strong. How powerful.
An ache rose between her thighs and she sank into a chair opposite him, if only to have something to do.
"You..." She started, but even that was a strain. She had no idea what to do, what to say. Had he just said she looked good? And why did that make her heart do jumping jacks?
"I fucked up and I shouldn't have." He sighed. "I called Crystal this morning to see if we could schedule another officer to go undercover with her help."
Jade perked up, her brows furrowing. "Another officer? But I-"
"I never want to see you dressed like that again unless it's a private viewing. Those men don't deserve to look at you that way. You're too good for them."
"And you think you're just good enough?" She wasn't sure what made her say it, or why every word sounded so coated with lust. Maybe she just needed an answer. Or maybe she was fishing for the answer she wanted.
Even now, looking at him, he wasn't the same old Derrick. Not anymore. He was memories of laughter and joy and adventure...and ecstasy. His mouth was full and sweet and tender and his arms looked warm and strong. She longed to feel them around her again, to have him press her up against the wall and-
"I never said I was good enough either," he said.
Her heart fluttered inside her chest. "So you're saying..."
"Nobody is good enough for you, Jade. But I want you. I think you want me, too." His dark eyes took her in and she licked her top lip almost unconsciously.
"I don't know what I want," she admitted.
"No?" He didn't sound bothered or surprised. Just vaguely curious. Like he'd found something out from a crossword puzzle.
"No...I...This is so confusing." She shook her head and let out a deep breath she didn't know she'd been holding.
"Because you can't choose between me and Zac?" he asked.
"No." The answer came out so fast she couldn't believe it, and yet she still knew it was the truth. "Because you're my best friend. What if...what if we ruin everything?"
"But what if we don't?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"But what if we do?"
A faint smile touched his lips. "I only know a few things. The first is that you're fucking gorgeous. The second is that I like you. And the third is that I'd be willing to do just about anything to feel your body against mine. I could barely sleep for thinking about you and I can't bring myself to think it was a mistake."
She blinked, then bit down on the inside of her cheek as she took in the words, playing them back over in her mind.
"You're all I've got," she whispered. "I don't have Andy and Matt. I don't have Army buddies. I've just got you. It's not the same risk for you."
"Then tell me you don't want me. Tell me you want Zac."
"I don't want Zac." She said, and this time she didn't feel anything at all. Like stating a fact.
"Tell me you don't want me." Derrick said, his tone gruffer than she'd ever heard it before. More raw. More sexy. Almost like he'd sounded when he'd whispered against her hair the night before.
Another ache swelled between her legs. "I can't say I don't want you."
"Then take a risk with me," he said. "Take a risk, Jade."
There was a pause, just the slightest moment of silence, and then her body responded before her mind had a chance to. She met him quickly until her chest was flush with his and her aching nipples pressed against the hard planes of his abs.
He met hers hungrily, devouring every last ounce of her insecurity.