He pulled out his phone and called her. Before the second ring, his house lit up as every light switched on and a loud siren blared from the massive structure. He raced inside and found Amanda in the foyer, poking buttons on his alarm system.
"Shit! Shit," she said as she squinted at the keypad. "Six seven two four, dammit! No, it's seven six four two. Wait."
The landline started ringing. Jacob lifted the receiver and was greeted by the security system operator. "We have evidence of an unauthorized front door entry."
"Everything is fine," Jacob said. "My girlfriend accidentally set off the alarm." And she was adorable when flustered. He was strangely glad he hadn't shut off the entire system when he'd entered through the garage. Amanda spun around and splayed her hands, shaking her head when she recognized she wasn't alone in the room.
"These things happen. We'll cancel the call to the police and reset the system on our end. What's your pass phrase?"
"One day the light will fade, the end will come, his debt repaid." It was a line from one of Sole Regret's songs-"Darker." He sang it almost every night, so it was easy to remember.
The alarm stopped blaring. Jacob's heart rate didn't slow, however. Not with Amanda in the room.
"Thank you, sir," the operator said pleasantly. "Have a good night."
"Oh, I will," Jacob said, his gaze drifting down the slender curves of Amanda's bare legs.
Jacob hung up the phone. The lights dimmed to darkness.
"Well, that's one way to announce my late arrival," Amanda said.
Jacob chuckled and approached her in the dimly lit foyer. The lights on the exterior of the house filtered in through the glass of the front doors, but otherwise it was dark.
"I had hoped to beat you here, but I'm glad I didn't set that thing off while I was by myself. You'd have had to bail me out of jail."
"I was expecting to find you naked in my bed when I arrived," he said. "I must admit I was a little disappointed."
A little? Fuck, he'd been devastated.
"I couldn't get Leah to leave the bar. She met some guy and they really hit it off."
"So why didn't you just leave her with him to get acquainted?"
"I have trust issues," she said.
He was close enough to touch her now and to feel the heat of her body through his clothes. But he kept his hands at his sides, knowing that as soon as their skin made contact, he'd be unable to control himself. Unfortunately, his condoms were all in his bedroom, so fucking her against the foyer wall was out of the question.
"You have trust issues? Since when?"
"I don't trust anyone to treat Leah the way she deserves to be treated."
Jacob smiled and forced himself not to drag her against him. He doubted he'd be able to keep his desire in check much longer. "You mean you're overprotective of your friend."
"I guess so. Especially after I've had a few drinks."
"You didn't drink and drive, did you?" He thought she had more sense than that.
"No, I stopped drinking early. Been sober for hours. Those two would not shut up."
Jacob took a step closer. Her breasts brushed against his chest, and he tilted his face toward hers, inhaling her familiar yet unsettling scent-a hint of spice, a touch of sweet, and something exotic that tugged at his balls.
"Well?" she whispered, her breath tickling his throat.
"Well what?"
"Are you going to kiss me or do I have to take the initiative here?"
"You messed up my plan," he said.
"Mmm." That little sound did things to his tenacious grip on control. "Maybe we can make an adjustment to that plan," she said.
"Or maybe you can strip off your clothes, climb into my bed, and pretend to have been waiting for me all along."
"Mmm," she murmured again. "But if I'd done that, I wouldn't have been able to think of anything but how much I wanted you to join me, how it feels to have your strong, hot body against mine, your cock filling me. You probably would have discovered me with my fingers in my pussy, imagining they were yours."
That was exactly how he'd hoped to find her.
"Amanda." He lifted his hands, holding them a hair's breadth from the skin of her arms. He fought the urge to grab her, throw her over his shoulder, and claim her as his. She shivered.
"I am a little tired," she said with a-hopefully-feigned yawn. "Maybe I should just go on to bed without you."
"Amanda." He couldn't seem to come up with anything more profound to say.
"I guess I won't need this," she said. Her shirt brushed his face as she lifted her arms and stripped it off. "Would you mind holding it for me?" She handed him her shirt, and he bunched it into a ball against his chest.