Chapter Twelve
He told her about San Francisco. He didn't go into details, but he explained about Mission Street and the way Max found him. He told her about the life they cobbled together, from their first trip to the ballet to Jonathan's first job interview.
"He's really important to me." It was an understatement, but Jennifer nodded thoughtfully.
"You're lucky to have each other." She rubbed her palm over his thigh.
"I'm the lucky one." Jonathan insisted. "I don't think there would be a Jonathan Hart Industries if it weren't for him. He helped me open my first bank account and he boxed my ears when I tried to use some of that money to bet on a horse."
"He's very proud of you." That much was obvious. There was deep affection between the two men, highlighted by the way they looked after each other. Max, with his amazing meal. And Jonathan, with the sweet way he took over when Max was tiring.
Jonathan buried his face in her hair. She had been touching him for a while now, her fingers drawing lazy patterns on his thighs. He was still in his rumpled slacks, although he'd abandoned his pressed shirt before they ate. Max would never forgive him if he'd gotten red sauce all over it. His undershirt was so thin, he could feel every curve of Jennifer pressed to his side, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't distracted by it.
It was time, he thought, to take her to his bed. He waited all day for this moment, with so much anticipation. That morning, as he'd readied himself to head to the office, she startled him with a question he hadn't expected, and the exchange was on his mind all day.
"Have you been tested?" It was so matter of fact, so blunt, for a moment he wasn't sure she was talking about. But then she'd made significant eye contact with him.
He had, of course, and had a clean bill of health.
"It's just that pregnancy isn't a concern for me anymore. If you've been recently tested I just thought…" She did blush then, try as she might to stay business-like about it. But she was determined to walk this line, to put into action the things she'd written about earlier that month.
"I have, and there are no concerns." He said. He was proud of the fact that Hart Industries offered comprehensive testing and healthcare support and he was one of the first to use the program to show his employees it was safe, fully anonymous and accurate.
"Good. Me, too." She said, and her little smile had inflamed him with the promise of all that was to come.
He was inflamed now, just thinking about it. Although he still had condoms if she'd changed her mind.
"Let's go upstairs." He tried to nudge her up, but she didn't move. When she looked up at him, her expression was apologetic.
"Darling," He could tell from the stricken look on her face that the endearment had slipped out unbidden. She swallowed. "Jonathan. I can't stay tonight."
He wanted to ask her why not, to cajole her into changing her mind. But he also noticed she wasn't putting space between them and instead continued kneading his thigh.
"I'm going into the Malibu Hills in the morning and I have to be ready for the team to pick me up at 6am. They're coming to the hotel. I should have told you sooner, but I thought maybe if we had an early dinner…"
Maybe they could have had a little dinner, a little sex and she could have been home by ten.
"You don't owe me any explanations." She didn't, not really. He was just relieved it wasn't because she had regrets or was losing interest.
No, no regrets. Only responsibilities. A thought occurred to him, but his brain was waylaid by the realization that she was undoing his slacks.
"I can't stay. But I've wanted to do this all evening." Her hand curled around him. Soft, but perking up in the warmth of her fist.
"All evening?" He croaked. He was having an out of body experience, every ounce of his focus on the easy way she worked him. She paused mid-stroke and Jonathan almost cursed aloud.
"Since the shower, actually." He recalled the morning vividly, the water sluicing over them. She'd tried to drop to her knees then but Jonathan stopped her and backed her against the wall. There's time for that later, he promised, and hitched her thigh over his hip.
Apparently it was later, because Jennifer gave him a fiendish smile, maneuvered herself in a comfortable position and lowered her mouth to him.
Jennifer never felt more powerful than in moments like this and it was an even headier experience with Jonathan Hart.
Not quite whimpering…but not quite not whimpering either.
His chest was rising and falling rapidly and he was groaning loud enough that Jennifer was glad Max had his earplugs.
Wildlife ruckus indeed.
"God," He panted and rolled his hips. He hadn't touched her yet, instead fisting his hands into the couch. His eyes blinked open rapidly when she drew her mouth away. His erection stood proudly and she arched her brow up at him. When he still stared dumbly and thrust his hips against the air, Jennifer lifted his palm to her lips then placed it on her shoulder. She nuzzled at him, encouraging him to tunnel his fingers into her hair.
She bent to her task again, humming in pleasure when he uttered a sharp curse above her followed by a series of unintelligible pleas.
He was so strong, so virile, and so totally in her thrall. She increased her speed, chasing the tangy musk of him, and clenching her thighs tightly. Perhaps later, when she was alone in her hotel room, she would regret not taking her own pleasure at this moment. But she couldn't imagine it, now when the vision before her could fuel her fantasies for days, weeks and months to come.
With each passing minute she felt him coil tighter beneath her, his breath catching in uneven gasps. He was all muscle and need and shredding control.
She realized he was saying her name, the word strained and broken as he tried to hold back the delicious power of himself.
For what, she wondered, and used just the slightest pressure of her teeth.
His self control, monumental as it was, snapped.
There was a second of suspended animation when her name became a shout that reverberated through her.
He fell apart under her touch.
"Stay," Jonathan murmured. Her ear was pressed to his chest and he wondered if she could hear it galloping, could hear the way it yearned for her.
He could barely move, such was the force of what she'd done to him, dissolving his bones and turning his muscles to goo.
"We both know if I stay we won't sleep." Jennifer nuzzled his throat and sat back, her golden flecked eyes swimming with regret and lust. "And I have a very long day tomorrow."
She was right. He knew she was right. And still his blood was honey thick in his veins, desire thrumming a primal beat from his heart to the fingers cupping her against him.
He could so easily lose himself in her. Wanted nothing more than that. Not just physically, either, although her mouth was nothing short of magic. The erotic image of her bent over his lap pleasuring him was burned into the back of his eyelids.
No, it wasn't that she'd just blown his mind. But the whole evening was something of a miracle. The easy way she'd engaged with Max, drawing him into conversation all evening. And after the meal, when they worked together to clean up, she'd been vulnerable with him and exposed her own delicate underbelly.
Sensing his distraction, Jennifer turned her face up to his and rose to her knees. Her expression was soft and open, all that they'd been and done to one another in her dreamy smile. Jonathan kissed her, deeply, and tasted himself on her tongue.
She was glorious. Heaven-sent. Wicked and wonderful, kind and generous.
And so god-damn sexy.
"Go away with me this weekend." The idea that had just begun to germinate earlier was suddenly a full-fledged plan. Jonathan knew in the back of his mind it was too soon. Too fast. But he wanted her to himself, just for a little while, to see what there was between them. What could grow.
Forty eight hours with just the two of them. The chance to shed the artifice and the expectations, and simply be with one another.
She stiffened in his arms, a brief seizing of her muscles before she relaxed again and buried her nose against his chest, breathing deeply.
"Just a few days. Say you'll come with me." If there was the hint of a plea, of naked yearning, he didn't care. He needed her to know how much he wanted this time. "Darling, say you'll come with me."
Whatever internal struggle she waged ended quickly and she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed an open mouth kiss against his throat.
She suckled there, not painfully, but it would leave a mark.
She would leave a mark on him, forever.
"Yes." She breathed into his skin, tasting along his clavicle.
Yes.