She was finally free of the day-to-day grind of caring for someone, fully free to do something important to her for a long time. She owed it to herself to follow through.
Even if a very tiny part of her was no longer sure that was still her dream.
God. She just wanted to shove all that aside right now and climb back in bed. On top of Jason. She wanted to have her merry way with that body.
Again.
All day long.
He propped his head up on his hand and regarded her in the barely there light. “You look so pretty standing there, Lizzy. Pretty and cold. Come here, let me warm you up.”
She knew what she looked like in the morning. Bed-head hair. Pale face, probably lined from where she’d smashed it into her pillow as she tended to do. “I want to go.”
“I know. Come here first.”
He held out a hand to go with the request, and she stared at it. Big and callused, that hand had stroked and touched and revered every inch of her body, and just looking at it made her knees wobble.
Who’d have thought such a big, work-roughened hand could bring such pleasure? “Jase.”
He simply wriggled his fingers and waited patiently.
So damn patiently.
She had no idea what it was about him that had her feet taking her back to the bed until her knees touched the mattress.
Smiling up into her face, he reached out and wrapped his fingers in the blanket.
And tugged.
With a gasp she fell over him, minus the blanket, which he tossed aside. With an appreciative growl for what he’d unwrapped, he tucked her beneath him and rolled on top of her, pinning her to the bed. “Better,” he murmured, dipping his head to the spot on her throat that always drove her crazy. “You taste good.”
“We-” She broke off as his hand swept up her thigh, over her belly, her ribs, to cup a breast. “Have to-”
His thumb brushed over her nipple.
She licked her lips and closed her eyes, arching up into him. “Go.”
He bent his head and replaced his thumb with his tongue, making her gasp and arch up again. “Just want one more taste…”
When she was wriggling, panting, he kissed his way down her belly, pressed open her legs and kissed an inner thigh.
“Jase-”
The single word ended on a rough exhalation as he took his “one more taste,” and then, holding her thighs open with his warm palms, took another.
And another.
“Love the way you say my name,” he said against her, and then he sighed, licked her one more time, and came up on his knees, pulling her to hers.
She was shuddering, quivering, and she stared at him as he rolled off the bed. “You-we-I…”
“I know.” He looked at her, his hair wild, his eyes hot. “We’ll finish later.”
Okay. Except that hadn’t been what she’d been about to say. She’d been trying to say how mindboggling it was that he could make her feel so beautiful, so turned-on, so blown away, without even trying.
She’d been about to say how unnerving it was to find herself realizing how much more than just a crush this was.
But some things, she realized, were better left unsaid.
12
JASON CLIMBED up the stairs from the garage level of Cece’s condo, and into the kitchen. Wet to his thighs, he pulled a river raft behind him, with two life vests in it. He had a lot on his mind, and not the least was that he’d just had the hottest night of his life.
He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant except it couldn’t be good news that he was goners over one soft, beautiful, tough-as-nails Lizzy Mann.
She stood there, looking at him, and his heart gave one good, hard knock against his ribs. He’d spent twenty- four hours with her, an intensely concentrated twenty-four hours, during which time he’d seen her run the gamut of emotions, and face things most people never had to face.
She was solid. Loyal. Smart.
Yeah,
Instead, here he was, wrapped around her pinkie, willing to do anything for her.
Which meant he wasn’t just goners, he was screwed a hundred ways to Sunday.
LIZZY STARED at Jason as he came close, dripping everywhere. Her clothes weren’t quite dry yet and they certainly weren’t as warm and toasty as Jason’s arms and body had been all night, but they’d do. With no hot water and no electricity, the morning routine had been simple. She’d “borrowed” Cece’s extra toothbrush-which Jason had been kind enough to let her use first-and pulled on her slightly damp clothes.
“Found our way out of here,” Jason said.
She looked at the raft, then into Jason’s eyes and let out a breath. “Oh, boy.”
“Don’t worry.” He set down the raft and came closer still, pulling her up to her toes to give her a warm, hard kiss. She couldn’t tell him that it wasn’t their mode of transportation that had worried her.
“Find any food?” Jason asked, setting her down, turning to the cabinets.
“A single-track mind,” she said.
“Nope. It’s a double track.” Over his shoulder, he wriggled an eyebrow in her direction, telling her without words what else he could think about.
Impossibly, her lips twitched. “I found some snacks.”
“Great.” He looked around hopefully. “Where?”
They’d had sex.
That thought kept bumping around in her brain, which meant
“It’s actually warmer out there than it was yesterday,” Jason said. “Which doesn’t bode well. Warmer air usually means more rain.”
“Yeah.” She’d looked out the window. The rain was still coming down. They were past the twenty-four-inch mark and climbing, and no end was in sight. The winds were still a problem, keeping the power lines down and unsafe. But flooding was the biggest concern. The street outside was nothing but a raging river now, which had overtaken the yards and the bottom floors of every building along it.
Cece’s garage had over four feet of water in it and the level was rising. She’d never seen anything like it except for on the news.
But Jason had. He’d lived it, and it’d cost him dearly. “Here’s what I’ve got.” She revealed the Cheez Whiz and crackers in Cece’s pantry and made him laugh. “I know, my sister has the palette of a puppy, or a twelve-year-old boy.”
“Not seeing the problem,” he said, already plowing his way through the crackers.
“I’m assuming you usually eat more healthy than this.”
“I eat in bigger quantities, that’s for sure.” He stuffed a loaded cracker into her mouth, then opened the cupboard behind her.
She took in his long, lean, tough body. “So how do you keep in such good shape?”
