A Sweet Life-kindle Read online

  Being able to touch Jake at her leisure like this was such a gift. But it wasn’t nearly enough to whet her ravenous appetite for more of him. She didn’t just want to know the contours of his body with her hands, she wanted to feel them all against her lips, wanted to know the taste of him on her tongue.

  She shifted her head so that she could press her lips to his breastbone. His body was so solid, so strong. He smelled so good, and he tasted even better. She shifted again, just enough to lift her head from his chest so that she could lick him, barely managing to hold back a moan of pleasure as she laved his slightly salty skin. No wonder men were so fixated on women’s breasts. Already, she was an addict, could spend hours with her mouth on him, her tongue, her teeth, all vying for superiority.

  Slowly shifting her weight, she moved her legs to either side of his hips and let her weight fall to her knees on the mattress so that she could kneel above him and feast her eyes. That was when she realized his dark eyes weren’t closed.

  “You’re awake?”

  His mouth curved into a sexy smile. “Do you actually think there’s a guy alive who could sleep through that?” His hands curved over her backside, gently squeezing the soft flesh there. “I’ve been awake since you made me your body pillow a couple of hours ago.” He chased his words with the slow drag of his hands from her hips to her waist.

  “Poor baby.” She smiled down at him, loving when he was playful like this. “I should make those sleepless hours up to you, shouldn’t I?”

  His eyes lit with surprise—and heat—at her soft words, just a beat before his fingertips skimmed the bottom of her rib cage and his hands curved over her breasts, his thumbs brushing over her already erect nipples. She wanted to keep focusing on him, on the heady adventure of exploring his body, but when he touched her like that she couldn’t keep her spine from arching her deeper into his hands. Nor could she keep in a low moan of pleasure at how good his touch felt.

  His shaft was hugely erect between her thighs, and her body moved into position over it as though they were connected by magnets, so that she could glide over him, back and forth, until her breath was coming fast.

  Jake looked from her breasts in his hands to the slick, aroused vee between her legs, then back up at her face. When their eyes met, it sent an even deeper, stronger wave of pleasure through her than having him between her legs did.

  “God,” he said as he listened to her breath catch, “I love the sounds you make when you come. I love to watch you come. Do it now for me, princess. Ride me all the way there, just like this.”

  Every time she was with Jake, Sophie disappeared deeper and deeper into the sensual spell he wove around her. She’d never thought she could be this woman, one who brought herself to climax while her lover urged her forward, had never imagined she would break into the swim center to skinny-dip with him.

  Then again, she’d never felt this safe before, had never had a man look at her as though she was the only person in the world who mattered.

  The intense appreciation in his dark eyes sent her hurtling over the edge. As she ground her pelvis into his, and his fingers played over the taut peaks of her incredibly sensitive breasts, Sophie realized she wasn’t nice anymore. But she wasn’t naughty, either.

  She was simply a woman who finally understood how deep pleasure could run when she was with the right man…especially when love was bringing them together as much as hormones and attraction.

  She leaned down over him, then, and their mouths met in a tangle of desire, tongues slipping and sliding, teeth catching on lips. Waves of ecstasy crashed into her, through her, over her. Her orgasm seemed to go on and on forever, spiraling higher and higher before leaving her muscles loose and limp. Even then, despite the way his shaft was still hard and throbbing between her legs, he simply stroked her hair, her back, as she worked to catch her breath.

  “Mmmm.” She couldn’t get her brain around anything clearer than that little hum of pleasure. Still, any minute now, she was sure he’d roll them over on the bed, push her legs open and take her in a deliciously dominant way. And, oh, how she’d enjoy every second of it.

  But even after she could breathe normally again, even when she realized his muscles had tensed up so much that he was nearly a living, breathing rock beneath her, he didn’t move.

  She lifted her head from the crook of his neck and brushed the damp strands of hair from her face so that she could see him properly. “Aren’t you—?” She paused, blushing despite the fact that they were already naked and she’d just climaxed in cowgirl position over him. “Don’t you—?”

  His mouth captured hers. “Yes.” He kissed her again, the thrust of his tongue the perfect window to his desire. “God, yes.”

  Suddenly, Sophie was struck with an idea that she never would have dared to see through before. But being with Jake made her feel brave. Moving off him, she slid off the bed and went to her bag to pull out a couple of hair clips. Within seconds, she had her long hair pulled off her face into a tight bun. She rooted around for the nonprescription glasses she kept with her to wear to important meetings—when she needed to make sure her brains were the only thing people noticed.

  Ah, there they were. The big, thick rims were perfect.

  She turned around to face Jake and had to laugh aloud at the look on his face. Lust mixed with horror.

  “Sweet Lord, you’re every twisted librarian fantasy I’ve ever had come to life.” His voice sounded strangled as he looked down at her naked body, then back up to the bun and glasses. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. I’m pretty much on the edge already, here, Sophie.”

  “Not Sophie.” She squeezed his huge erection before letting herself stroke up, then down, the skin that had been stretched smooth. “Ms. Sullivan.”

  “Is that your librarian voice?” When she nodded, he groaned. “This is officially my new favorite game.” She glared at him and he added, “Ms. Sullivan. Ma’am.”

  “Game?” She crawled back onto the bed, straddling him again and leaning down to lick up the side of his neck. “Do you think this is a game?” She sank her teeth into his earlobe before moving to the other side and giving it the same treatment. “Or this?” She pressed her hands flat over his chest, covering his pectoral muscles. “What about this?” She lowered her head to his chest to lick and nip at him, and he reached for her.

  But instead of letting him pull her up over his body, a surge of feminine power came over Sophie. She’d reduced big, bad, lady-killing Jake McCann to a puddle of desire. That was how much he wanted her…and, oh, wasn’t it just lovely to finally be wanted?

  Before he could stop her, she moved down his incredible body to experience something she never had before but suddenly couldn’t live without for another second. Seconds later, warm, thick male flesh greeted her tongue. She hummed her pleasure at how good he tasted as she circled the broad head of his erection before opening up her mouth and taking it inside.

  Jake’s fingers threaded into her bun so tightly that Sophie was held captive over him, but she didn’t care that she was no longer in charge, didn’t even care about playing the “sexy librarian” role anymore. She threw off the glasses and gave in to the shocking thrill of giving Jake pleasure as he thrust up into her mouth. He’d wanted her to come above him earlier and now all she wanted was for him to do the same for her, just like this.

  “I need you here.” His words barely pierced the thick fog of her lust. “Right here with me.”

  A heartbeat later he was pulling her up and then down over him, causing her to lose her breath completely as he filled her all the way up. If it had been just her body he was filling, then maybe she would have been able to handle it, but the way he was looking at her, like she was his every dream, every single fantasy come to life, had tears springing to her eyes even as her body began to explode around his.

  “Now,” he urged as he grew impossibly big inside her and her inner muscles instinctively clenched around him. “Come with me.”
r />   Sophie threw her head back and held on to him like she was going for rodeo queen and he was the prized bull that was going to clinch her the title. Jake’s roar of pleasure set every nerve in her body to tingling as she called out his name.

  When she could finally rouse her brain to working again, she realized that somewhere in there he must have rolled them over to cradle her in his arms.

  For several minutes, they remained connected, two sweaty, panting people wrapped around each other. Sophie felt she could stay like this forever. No need for food or clothes or words. Just Jake’s arms around her, his heart beating against hers.

  ***

  Jake had spent his entire life on guard against pain, failure, disappointment. Being with Sophie made him want to stop bracing himself for the inevitable fall, made him want to give in to a hope he’d sworn as a kid never to let himself feel again.

  “Can I ask you something?” She was slowly tracing the inked armband around his bicep with the tip of one finger.

  He tensed before he could will himself not to give his discomfort away, and she pressed a kiss to his chest. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. At least, I don’t think it is.”

  She lifted her face to look up at him, and his breath caught at how beautiful she was. He kept thinking that, after all these hours they were spending together, he’d get used to it soon.

  Considering he’d never been able to get used to it as she’d grown from girl to woman in the past twenty years, he supposed he should just man up and accept that he never would.

  She was that beautiful to him.

  “What is it?” he said, the realization of just how powerfully the woman in his arms rocked his world making the words come out harder than he intended.

  Fortunately, she didn’t flinch. Sophie had never been afraid of him. Even when he’d thought that might be better for both of them, even when he’d been rough with her, she’d risen to every challenge he’d given her. And then some.

  “I was just wondering about your tattoos.” She slid the tip of one finger over the Celtic dragon tail that ran from his back to his lower rib cage. “They’re beautiful. I’m sure they must have hurt, so you must have really wanted them.”

  Being drilled with a needle for hours hadn’t hurt nearly as much as his father’s punches had. At least the tattoos had made him feel stronger. Tougher. As though the Celtic warriors of the past were in the wings waiting to help him when he needed them most.

  “Tell me what they mean.” At his continued silence, she lifted her eyes to his again. “Please.”

  Did she know that he could never refuse her anything if she looked at him like that and asked so sweetly? Did she have any idea just how tightly she had him wrapped around her little finger, that even as a bitter ten-year-old boy he’d been utterly captivated by her? Every year that passed since they were kids had only made her allure stronger…and his need for her more undeniable.

  “That one is a Celtic dragon.”

  “We’re always so busy with—” She blushed, and he found it impossibly sweet that even after having wild, unbridled sex, she could still be shy around him. “I’ve never really had a chance to see the whole thing up close.” She slid her fingertips over the tattoo, her breath warm on his skin. “It’s amazing. What does it symbolize?”

  He’d never shared the symbolism, or his reasons, with anyone else. Had never even been tempted before now. Before Sophie.

  “One who conquers the dragon.”

  She slid her fingers from his ribs, up his torso to his upper arm. “What about this band around your arm? What does that stand for?”

  “The strength of a warrior.”

  Again, she moved across his skin, lighting a fire everywhere she touched. “And the leprechaun on your forearm? Why does he have his fists raised?”

  He would have shut her down if he’d thought he could get away with it. But he knew with utter certainty that she wouldn’t leave it alone until she had all her answers. And if he didn’t give them to her, she’d just look them up in one of her books.

  Anyone who thought Sophie Sullivan was a pushover was the real idiot.

  “Leprechauns are fighters.”

  “Funny, I always thought they were more like rascals hiding a pot of gold.” She moved her hand up his chest, to his right shoulder. “This one looks like a shield.”

  “It is.”

  She cocked her head to the side, and asked, “No four-leaf clovers anywhere?”

  “I’ve never believed in luck.” Or any of the other things that the four leaves represented, like hope, or faith.

  Or love.

  Sure, he’d loved Sophie nearly his whole life. How could he not? But he’d never believed anyone could love him back…never thought there was a chance that luck, hope and faith would barge into his life by showing up on his doorstep in Napa.

  She placed her hand flat over his heart and looked up at him. “Strength. Symbols of battle. Warriors. Shields.”

  He could hear the sadness she’d been trying to hide from him in the restaurant when he’d told her about his mother and father. She moved onto her hands and knees and crawled over him.

  “Can we pretend you have one more tattoo, right here?” She pressed a kiss over his heart and left her lips pressed against him.

  He couldn’t answer, couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but pull her closer so that he could kiss her. He would have kissed her forever if he could have, would have simply stayed here in this bed with her and pretended nothing else existed but her.

  “Thank you for answering my questions,” she added in a husky voice when he finally let her go. “If I wasn’t almost late for work already, I’d thank you properly.”

  She pressed one more soft kiss to his lips, then went to take a shower.

  Jake remembered what Chase had said on his wedding day—that Chloe was worth so much more than one-night stands and random hookups. Jake hadn’t believed it, but now he knew the truth: One of Sophie’s smiles, her gentle kiss—along with the love she’d once declared to him—meant a million times more to him than anything else ever would.

  Twenty

  Jake and Sophie stood on the library steps half an hour later. She had kept her hair up in that hot little bun, and as he kissed her goodbye, he tangled his fingers in it to pull it loose.

  “Knowing you’re in there today looking like that would mess with my head really, really bad.” Her librarian role-play that morning had been one of the hottest things he’d ever experienced. “You don’t have your glasses with you, do you?”

  He loved the sound of her laughter, so carefree, so pretty. But then her smile turned to uncertainty. “Jake, would you come inside with me today?” When he didn’t immediately reply, she said, “I loved spending time with you at the pub. It’s nice to be able to picture you at your desk going over spreadsheets or bossing around your employees like a tyrant.” She looked up at him with impossibly big, beautiful eyes. “I thought maybe you’d like to know about where I spend my days.”

  Jake knew it was long past time to stop being such a wimp. Libraries weren’t his thing, but he couldn’t avoid them forever.

  “Well,” he said slowly, “if you’ll agree to put your hair back up and have your way with me in a dark corner…”

  Sophie smacked his arm and exclaimed, “Jake!” But the grin she couldn’t quite contain along with the sensuous way she ran her hand down his arm before threading her fingers through his as they headed up the steps to the front door told him the truth about how much she liked his teasing.

  He held the door for her, but she stopped and sucked in a breath, squeezing his hand tight.

  “Sophie? What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head, taking a couple of breaths before saying, “Nothing. Just took the stairs a little quick, I think.” She tugged him into the building, her color back, thank God. “Isn’t it incredible?”

  Jake had to admit the building was impressive. The domed ceiling in the main room had to be
at least three stories tall. At some point someone had painted murals on it and even a nonreader like him could easily guess that they must be scenes from classic literature.

  “Sophie, hi!”

  A woman he assumed was a coworker practically ran up to greet them. Sophie’s hand stiffened in his for a split second, and he pulled her closer to him.

  The woman’s eyes darted between them. “Is this your…friend?”

  The urge to claim public possession of Sophie was nearly impossible to hold at bay. But their week wasn’t up yet. And this would be a good chance for him to see where she was in making her decision about letting him stay in her life. The way she’d made love to him this morning had given him a piece of the answer.

  It wasn’t until Sophie squeezed his hand and turned to him with a radiant smile that he realized he’d been holding his breath. “This is Jake.” She never looked away from him for even a second as she said, “My boyfriend.”

  There was no point in trying to stop himself from kissing her. After keeping the kiss way shorter than he wanted to out of respect for her job, he held out his hand to her coworker. “Great to meet you.”

  “Wow, it’s really nice to meet you, too. I can’t believe Sophie has been keeping you a secret all this time. Aren’t you the owner of the McCann’s pubs?”

  He was sure Sophie didn’t realize she’d put her free hand over her stomach just then. Two more secrets would—soon—be revealed, whether she wanted anyone to know or not.

  Sensing that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with this woman, he said, “Yup, that’s me. Come in for a beer on the house sometime,” before turning to Sophie and saying, “Why don’t you show me around before I have to get going to my meeting?”