Before she could think too hard on that, he speared his fingers through her hair and took her mouth like a man who was done waiting. His tongue swept inside and a warm flush spread through her body. If the last kiss had stolen her breath, this one nearly shattered her. She slid her hands up his arms, her greedy fingers teasing under the edges of his sleeves, then clutching at him while his skilled kiss alternately coaxed and demanded.
And all she could think was, More. More of his taste, his scent, his touch.
The tension that had simmered between them all day exploded and when his thigh pressed between her legs with just the right pressure, it brought a rush of heat to her core. In this moment there was nothing else to think about, nothing else to want except this man with his hands and mouth making her entire body hum with pleasure.
While his lips drove her wild, one hand slid cleverly up her rib cage, stopping just at the underside of her breasts. A whimper escaped when his thumb rasped over her nipple. He did it again and she gasped his name. She wanted him, God, how she wanted him and everything his kiss promised, but this was going too fast. Especially since she didn’t know where it was going at all.
She broke the kiss, bringing herself back. Back to the place where she made sure she was doing the right thing, making all the right decisions. Jake lifted his head but didn’t let go.
They were both breathing hard and it took her a second. “I shouldn’t be doing this,” she said softly, followed by a nervous laugh. “You’re kind of impossible to resist.”
His smile was soft and slow as he smoothed her hair back from her face. “I like being kind of impossible to resist.” He grazed his hand over her hair again and gently tucked a strand behind her ear. “And I like you.”
Looking up at him, she felt like a seed were being planted right inside her chest. A little bit painful and a lot scary, but she smiled. “I like you too.”
Chapter 11
The sun rose into a clear sky the next morning as JT drove an hour north up the coast, then inland to Malibu State Park. He’d woken up the same way he’d gone to sleep—thinking about Paige. After a short run with Boulder, he decided to test out a new prosthetic rock-climbing foot. He’d combine work with pleasure, get some air and clear his head.
He needed his head cleared because he’d been an idiot for kissing Paige again, for even thinking he could get that close and resist her. She smiled and he felt taller, she laughed and he felt like a winner. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he never wanted to let her go. But even without the kiss, he figured he could have sat outside her trailer all night and been a happy man. Just talking to Paige, getting to know her, sitting close enough to hear her breathe filled something in him.
He needed to take a giant step back and think, because the things he was feeling were racing far into unknown territory.
It was barely eight when he was harnessed and roped in. He liked this time of day when the shadows moved across the rocks like a sundial. His climb would be moderate in difficulty, but the steep, pocketed volcanic rock would be a good first real-world test of the new foot he was developing specifically for climbing.
His newest design was narrow, with a sole that contracted and pressed outward to save energy. The elastic cord on the back allowed the ankle joint to extend when force was applied, then snapped back into position when the foot was lifted.
It’d been a game of trial and error to get it right, which is why he’d test it himself before he had anyone else try it.
When he reached a height of about fifteen feet, he clipped in and stretched for the next hold. One of the main challenges in sports was the lack of sensory feedback coming from the bottom of both feet. He felt the pressure at the sight of his amputation, but he couldn’t feel the rock under his right foot like he could his left.
Like he could feel Paige’s body under his hands. Her warm lips under his. Shit. He used his legs to push himself up to the next handhold. What was so different about Paige that he couldn’t resist her, that he felt so out of control around her and couldn’t stop thinking about her? She was soft and generous, strong and cautious. He was drawn to her in a way he didn’t even understand. But there was a connection there and he was sure she felt it.
The climb grew more challenging, and he forced himself to focus on the rock face so he didn’t get careless. He’d been pushing himself hard for forty-five minutes, his arms and shoulders were on fire, reminding him to use his legs more.
He paused before a particularly difficult overhang to catch his breath and drink some water. Sweat dripped from his face and neck, the bandana around his forehead long since soaked as the late-morning sun baked him like it baked the dark gray rock he clung to.