Just Like a Hero Read online

  “And?” he asked even as he struggled to hold back his laughter.

  She sighed her disgust. “Go ahead and laugh. I had cops looking into everything. One of them took his sweet time pawing through my underwear drawer. I don’t know what he expected to find there. I thought they were going to pull up the floorboards before they got a call and had to leave.”

  He frowned. “Did they have a search warrant?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t think of it at the time, but I guess they didn’t.”

  “You don’t have to let anyone in without a search warrant. I’ll talk to a few people. It won’t happen again.” As he spoke, he moved closer, one hand held his glass, while the fingertips of the other brushed against her cheek and jaw, finally her throat and shoulder. Lexie’s heart pounded as his fingers slid down her arm and dropped to her waist.

  A shiver of electricity spread up her spine at his touch, and she took a deep trembling breath as he inched her closer to where he stood.

  “Did he ask you out?”

  She frowned, “What?” Then blinked as she realized his question, “Oh you mean…” The cop. A frown creased her smooth brow. “How did you know?”

  “I know because I asked you out, and I haven’t even seen your underwear drawer.”

  She smiled. “But you expect you might?”

  His hand moved to her lower back, and he shrugged. “I might, but I think it would be a lot better to watch you wearing something from that drawer.”

  “But suppose I’m not.”

  “Not what?’

  “Wearing anything but these shorts.”

  “Damn,” he said on a heavy breath while closing his eyes. Clearly, until she’d mentioned it, he hadn’t given that possibility a thought.

  She laughed. The effect she had on him was obvious, and she loved it.

  “You smell delicious,” he said, his hand at her lower back. He exerted no pressure but gently held her in place as he stepped a fraction closer.

  The movement was slow, barely noticeable, but deliberate. So subtle, she might not have realized it except that their hips finally made contact. There was no way for Lexie to miss that, especially since the closer he came the better he smelled. The pleasure of his hard length against her only added to his scent.

  “This feels good,” she said as he rubbed his hips against her belly.

  “If you come closer, you could feel more.” As he said it, his hips again rubbed enticingly against her. She hadn’t noticed he no longer held his glass, hadn’t noticed her glass sat next to his on the counter.

  “If I come closer, I’ll be behind you.”

  He smiled. “Would you like to sit?”

  “I think my knees would be grateful.”

  A second later, he stood between her legs as she sat upon his counter. Her surprise was obvious. “I thought you meant your living room.” Though their hips had just been touching, this position seemed far more intimate. Oddly enough she found she had to concentrate on her breathing. It took a deliberate effort to get to the bottom of each breath.

  “You’re adorable.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I like your hair, the way it curls, and your eyes.”

  “Thank you, but my eyes don’t curl,” she teased, pretending to misunderstand.

  He grinned. “They don’t? Are you sure? Then I must have meant I like the color of your eyes.”

  “You might as well know I enjoy compliments.”

  He chuckled at her wise-ass attitude. “All right,” he said with a shrug. “Dirty, sort of dishwater-gray eyes have always been my favorite, especially when one is slightly higher and a bit smaller than the other.”

  She laughed. “Blue, they’re blue. The same size and perfectly even, thank you.”

  “Oh they are,” he said in feigned amazement. “I’ve always wanted a woman with dark hair and perfectly even blue eyes.”

  “You’re lucky I’m here then.”

  In this position, their mouths were almost even. He moved closer. As he did, his body pushed her legs wider apart and her breathing grew even more choppy and shallow, especially since she wore shorts and his hands were on her naked thighs.

  She felt bombarded with sensation as he leaned toward her, and she absorbed the deliciously heated scent of him. She closed her eyes as his warm, wine-tinged breath brushed against her jaw, her cheek, her mouth.

  Just before their lips touched, her heart seemed to stumble then somehow remembered to beat again. Her pulse pounded wildly in her brain, her ears and her throat. Lord, but this man was gorgeous. Especially when his dark eyes twinkled with laughter and his smile flashed white, even teeth. She’d known that from the first, but sitting here, talking, with only inches separating them, he looked even better.

  “You got that right,” he said, just before his mouth claimed hers in a delicious kiss. She couldn’t hold back a low whimper of pleasure and shivered as his lips pulled away only to return and brush lightly against hers again.

  He tasted clean, laced with wine, his breath was deliciously warm. She felt as if he were somehow absorbing her entire being. Dizzy, breathless, she’d never known anything like it. As light as a summer breeze, his mouth held the promise of exquisite tenderness. Lexie fought against the need to climb all over his gorgeous body. Her heartbeat quickened, and her lips parted to his gently questing tongue. She groaned as the kiss changed, and his tongue delved deeply, hungrily into her mouth.

  After pulling apart for the moment it took to fill their lungs, their mouths came together again, and Jim made a sound deep in his throat as she sucked his tongue. He growled and crushed her willing form against him.

  With a ravenous swipe, he took in her flavor and scent, pulled back and gasped. “God, you taste amazing.” An instant later, his mouth was on hers again. Another quick sample caused him a low moan, as if he silently begged for more. He seemed starved for her. He sucked her bottom lip. For endless moments, he licked every inch of it. Gently, he worried it between his teeth, and they both groaned their pleasure.

  They parted and came together again and yet again each time with lips opened wider, angled and hungry, eager to attain more taste, more texture and heat. Greedy for all they could reach, their hands moved over flesh, only to return and touch again. Her fingers slid up his chest and inside his opened shirt to his shoulders, stopping at the back of his neck just before they slipped up into thick, dark hair.

  He brought her to the edge of the counter and shuddered. “God, I can’t tell you how much I need this.” He pulled her close to the counter’s edge and rubbed his hips against her. “I’m harder than I can ever remember.” Gathering her more firmly against him, he groaned in obvious delight at the feel of her generous curves against him. “I love this,” he murmured between heavy gasps of breath. “You’re soft and full where a woman should be. Damn, this is good.” Slowly, his hands moved from her back and waist, under her shirt, up her flat stomach and narrow midriff toward her breasts.

  Just below her breasts, he stopped, dragging out the pleasure. He sensed her anticipation, felt her shiver of longing, the pounding of her heart as she waited for him to touch her. She arched her back, offering him her softness, and he knew she wanted this as much as he did.

  He groaned again in delight to find her breasts unconfined. She wore no bra. Soft yet perfectly firm, they filled his hands, and he couldn’t have asked for more, unless it was to see what he touched.

  “God, you feel good,” he managed on a breathless gasp as he tore his mouth from hers and sucked in a lungful of air. “Wait,” he said breathlessly, heavily, his forehead against hers. “I’ve got to go slower, or I’ll be finished before we really start.”

  Lexie groaned. “I can’t believe how good this feels.” She pressed, mindlessly toward him. “I think something was in the wine.”

  He chuckled at her remark, while taking in the subtle insistence for more. “You like that?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck where it met her shoulder and liste
ned to her soft moan of pleasure.

  “No.”

  He laughed at what could only be an outright lie. “If you don’t like it, I must be Mother Theresa. Maybe I should kiss you somewhere else then.”

  “No,” she managed on a low groan. “You can kiss me there.” She gasped, nearly drunk on pleasure, and teased, “I’m stronger than I look. I’ll get used to it.”

  He chuckled. It was obvious she loved everything he was doing. “Are you dizzy?”

  “Maybe a little.”

  Her blouse lay open at last, and for a long moment, he obviously admired what he’d felt a moment ago. “God, these are beautiful. I love it. Did anyone ever tell you—?” He cut off his own question as he latched to one breast with a strangled growl, apparently unable to resist her any longer.

  She shuddered as the heat of him engulfed not only her flesh, but her mind. It was a mistake to think this man could bring her anything but pleasure. Every touch, every whispered word, every movement brought her closer to the waiting ecstasy. As if there were a direct line from her nipple to her pussy, he awakened her need as he sucked her. It seemed to exaggerate the pleasure and dragged her closer to the edge of madness.

  “I could do this for hours.”

  “And I could let you.”

  He pulled away, looked into her face, smiled then sucked her again. Once more, he released her nipple. “Do you think you could always come over here like this?”

  She blinked in surprise. “You mean stand at your doorway with my blouse open?”

  “God, I’d love it.” A moment later, his frown matched hers. “Yeah, I see what you mean. That wouldn’t be any good. Suppose you open your shirt the moment you step inside?”

  She smiled. “I didn’t think we’d be doing this so soon.”

  “Really? We’ve known each other for more than a month. And you think this is too soon?”

  Lexie shook her head. “We’ve seen each other in passing for a month. We haven’t spoken a dozen words during that time.”

  “I spoke to you all the time in my head. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

  She smiled as she looked from his warm, dark gaze to his mouth and back again. “What did you say?”

  “You mean besides, you’re a gorgeous lady and I’m dying to make love with you?”

  She laughed. “Yes, besides that.”

  “Mostly what I said was, ‘God, please tell her to come knocking at my door one night. I need her in my apartment. I need to kiss her. I desperately need to lick her nipples’.”

  It took a few moments to realize what he said since he again licked her nipple. When she did, she stiffened slightly, her gaze widening in shock. She pulled back just enough for him to lose his suction, and a low wicked laugh slipped from her smiling lips. “Shame on you. You can’t pray for things like that.”

  “Why not?” he asked. He cupped her breasts, bringing them together, while his mouth returned to play again. “Looks to me like it worked.”

  “You’re very bad, and I haven’t a doubt God ignored that particular prayer.”

  He grinned. “Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “Still you’re here. Instead of praying, I should have taken matters into my own hands.”

  “Matters in your own hands? Sort of like what you’re doing now?”

  “If you knew how much I wanted you here, wanted to touch you, you would have been scared.”

  “I don’t think so. If I’d known, I would have knocked on your door sooner.” Her soft sigh turned into a low moan of pleasure as his hands, measured and weighed her softness. His thumbs teased her nipples into hard buds. He bit each one then rubbed his tongue over the tender flesh. “I can’t tell you how good this feels.”

  A pulse pounded in her throat as she struggled to lengthen their play. Lexie thought nothing was better, nothing enticed or set her senses spinning like teasing foreplay, especially when that foreplay involved her nipples. “I think it feels better because we waited. It’s always better to wait a bit.”

  “With wine and cheese maybe, but not with you. I think it’s hot in here and you might be more comfortable if you took some of these things off.”

  “I’m only wearing a shirt and shorts.”

  “Are you? They’ve got to be awfully heavy.”

  “They are a little heavy,” she said, agreeing with his absurd comment.

  “You’re very strong. They would probably crush me.”

  Lexie took a shuddering breath and leaned back, placing her hands slightly behind her and supporting herself as he left her breasts to nibble at her lips again. “Do you know how freaking sexy you are?”

  He grinned as he backed up a few inches and watched her gaze move hungrily over his chest and belly. “I was sort of thinking the same thing about you.”

  “Were you? What else were you thinking?”

  He smiled. “I was thinking I’m feeling a little light-headed ‘cause most of my blood is throbbing in my dick. It’s bigger and harder than it’s ever been before.” His breath came in short jerking gasps. “Damn, I need you now.” He grabbed her by her collar and pulled her toward him so their mouths were even again. “Kiss me. I need you to kiss me like you’ll never get enough.”

  Chapter Two

  “Oh my God,” she groaned, dazed, shaken and breathless from the desire their kisses had instilled in her. Unable to hold up her head, she allowed it to fall back, giving him ample access to her neck and shoulders. Somehow, her shorts had slipped down her legs and now lay discarded on the floor. She’d never felt him pull them away and now sat on his counter naked except for a shirt that lay open, exposing all of her to his view.

  His gaze moved hungrily down her length. “God, do you know how beautiful you are? I knew you’d look good, but I never imagined anything like this.”

  She took a sharp breath as his fingertips plucked at a nipple. “Like that, do you?”

  She tried to shrug, but couldn’t manage the movement. “Some,” she returned, knowing “like” was nowhere near the truth. She didn’t like it. She loved it more than she could say.

  He chuckled at her response and nuzzled his face into the warmth of her neck, while his hand slipped from her generous breasts down her slim midriff to her softly rounded hips then finally between her legs.

  She held her breath at the movement. His fingers were hard, warm and slow against her swollen, moist flesh. She shivered, knowing she’d never been more ready for a man’s touch. She shuddered and whimpered a soft sound, telling clearly her pleasure and her eagerness.

  “Like that too, I take it.”

  “Shut up,” she said on a groan.

  He laughed as his finger slipped slightly inside her, barely touched the sensitive edge of her clit. “Should I stop?”

  “Oh my God, I’m going to get you for this,” she said, her eyes narrowing with warning.

  “Jesus, I hope so. You want to move to the couch?”

  “I don’t care,” she returned. It didn’t matter where they were as long as he never stopped touching her. Her arms around his neck refused to let go as she drew his mouth to hers.

  “Lexie, God, babe,” he murmured amid mind-stealing kisses. “You’re driving me crazy. I’ve got to have more.”

  The kiss went on and on. He angled his mouth again and again as if to gain greater access as he ate at her, with teeth, tongue and lips, absorbing all he could of her taste and texture. His mouth was hot, wet, his tongue smooth yet rough, its movement, his obvious hunger sent chills down her spine. “I can’t get enough. You taste so good.”

  She was on the couch. She didn’t remember how she got there. He pressed her back and sat at her feet, pushing her knees apart. “I need to see you. All of you. Is it all right?”

  She couldn’t speak. There was no way she could carry on any sort of conversation. All she could manage was a moan in response. With her legs parted, his fingers played with her clit, gently massaging the nub to madness, wet with her juices. He studied the prize before him as his
fingers teased. Delicately, he rimmed her warm tunnel, never penetrating but causing her shivering gasps, while her pleasure bordered on near insanity. She was nearly overcome, trembling with the need for more. He pulled slightly away from her and licked his fingers.

  Lexie shuddered as she watched his eyes close in obvious enjoyment. She trembled in her need for more of this man’s touch.

  “You want to taste how good this is?”

  This was the sexiest moment in her entire life. She didn’t respond. She couldn’t. She’d never known passion like this, never suffered under the weight of this kind of lust.

  His fingers, wet again with her juices, painted her lips just before she hungrily sucked them into her mouth. Lexie’s heart pounded like a hammer in her chest. Breathless with anticipation, she wondered if she’d live through it. She couldn’t catch her breath. All but this man blurred out of focus. In a daze of passion, she was helpless.

  “Tell me, Lexie. Tell me you want me to touch you again.”

  “I do. Touch me. Never stop touching me,” she mindlessly replied.

  He groaned as he knelt between her legs and drew his zipper down. His dick was enormous, thick and long. Her breathing was nearly non-existent as she waited. She shivered in anticipation. Her hips rose from the couch daring him to refuse her. She trembled in near desperation to feel him inside her.

  The moment he reached for her again, he frowned. “Lexie, someone’s pounding on your door.”

  “I know,” she said on a sigh. Dazed, she sat up and searched the floor for her shorts. It took a moment for her to overcome the passion, for her mind to catch up. At last, she saw them on the floor by his kitchen counter. She blinked in obvious confusion as his words finally registered. “Someone’s pounding,” she said as if he hadn’t just said as much. “Why?”

  “Let’s take a look.”

  She was pulling her shorts into place when they heard the sound of wood splintering. Her hands shook as she yanked her shirt closed and buttoned it. She had only one shoe on. For some reason, she couldn’t manage to slide her bare foot into the other. Finally, she grabbed it.