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She didn’t seem to mind that he’d gotten off and she hadn’t. In fact, he’d say she enjoyed it. “No salad. But steak and beets, right?”

  “Yeah. I’ll find us something else to go with it.”

  “No, I’m fine. I don’t eat much.”

  He studied her, liking everything he saw. “You wouldn’t. You’re tiny.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Not so small I can’t still kick your ass, Bloom.”

  “Have I told you how cute you are when you cuss?”

  “Dickhead.”

  “Just beautiful.”

  “Fuckwad.”

  He laughed at that one. “Gorgeous. Makes me want to lick you right up.” He stared at her breasts, pleased to see her nipples despite the weave of her sweater. Then he glanced at her crotch and licked his lips. “I’m thinking I’m going to want dessert. A couple helpings, at least.”

  “Sure you’ll have room for it?” she taunted. “I mean, you just had a lot of lettuce.”

  “Now who’s the smartass?”

  She snickered. “I’m going to get more wine.”

  “Good. You get nice and loopy so I can properly take advantage of you after dinner.”

  “Convinced you have me pegged as easy, don’t you?”

  “How could I have you pegged, Ann?” He checked on the beets so he wouldn’t reach for her again. He’d cooked them down earlier, so he needed nothing more than a little warm up and some seasoning. The steaks looked almost ready as well.

  “Just because you came like a rocket doesn’t mean I’m ready to get horizontal with you. I just thought if you had some ease from that pole in your pants, it would make it nicer to have dinner together without you obsessing about sex.”

  He gaped at her, not sure who the hell this frank-talking woman was. The sweet natured girl he’d once known had been replaced by a blunt woman who’d taken him to heaven with a few tugs of her hands. She still looked like his angel, but now she had sinful moves.

  “You think one orgasm is going to tide me over?” he asked with a laugh. “Think again. I’m good for a few more, angel. Count on it.”

  Count on it? Could he be any sexier? Somehow she’d lost control of the situation, even though she’d been the one calling the shots. Because now she wanted nothing more than to feel that big shaft inside her. To watch him come with her, staring into his eyes.

  Oh man. All that feeling crap had come back with the sex. How could she get revenge when she already wanted more from him than an orgasm? No looking at each other during sex, she decided. Maybe they could do it doggie style. Or…

  “You’re thinking too hard.” He chucked her chin, and she realized she’d been staring at his crotch. “And speaking of hard… Well played, Ann Weaver. You’ve got me hooked on your hot little hands. But a taste of my meat and you’ll be all mine.”

  “God, you did not just say that.”

  “Pretty bad, eh?” He smacked his lips. “I have a lot of meat. Big, juicy meat. Inches thick—”

  “Stop!” She tried not to laugh.

  “Porterhouse steaks. All I’m saying is that you’ll love dinner. The beets are good too. They’re both nice and round…under my long, fat spoon.”

  “Oh wow. That’s even worse.” She didn’t bother to hide a smile. “You have to admit I was creative with your salad.”

  “You sure the hell were.” He adjusted himself in front of her, and she knew she’d never forget this night. She, Ann Weaver, had jerked Jack Bloom to orgasm in the kitchen, of all places. Who said she wasn’t an animal when it came to sex? Well, besides her last two boyfriends? And Riley…and Maya…?

  More than pleased with herself, she excused herself to the bathroom to wash up, then sat down at the kitchen table and let Jack serve her.

  He kept smiling, carnal need in his gaze. But he only asked her about her job. She told him funny stories about her students, including Josh. Jack got a kick out of their second grade exhibitionist, even though the poor kid had been sent home for his behavior.

  “So what about you?” she asked him. “What’s up with the job transfer?”

  “I’ve been wanting to come back to Bend for a while, but I had to finish my education. Did a bit of traveling around the world. It’s been a blast.”

  “No steady girlfriends?” she found herself asking, then mentally slapped herself for expressing such obvious interest.

  “A few. But nothing lasting or anything. I can’t explain it. I just knew we’d part ways before long. It helped that I moved around a lot. After graduation, I traveled to Europe and Asia, working while learning. I lucked into an incredible international program through school. Then I came back, got my graduate and fast-tracked a doctorate.”

  “You have your PhD?”

  “Yeah. That’s what’s allowing me more latitude in the job search. That and the expansion here at OSU.”

  “Right.”

  “How about you? I knew you wanted to teach, but you also talked about being an artist or maybe going into business.”

  She shrugged. “The business thing was a phase. I was consumed with money for a while.”

  “Aren’t we all?”

  She smiled, startled to realize how natural if felt being with him. No awkwardness after their session by the sink. No leering. He looked her in the eye when he spoke and waited for her answer, listening to her. She liked him all the more for it and remembered he’d always been that way—unselfish, interested in her as a person.

  Not a good thing to realize since she still planned to bump and dump. This is about teaching him a lesson, isn’t it? She shelved a returning case of the guilts. Remember, he has it coming.

  “Ann? You okay?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  He frowned. “You have a funny look on your face.”

  “You mean, like this?” She stuck out her tongue and made a face several of her students had perfected.

  He made a face back at her, then they traded juvenile insults about mothers that had her laughing so hard she almost spit her wine all over him.

  “Quit nursing that glass. You’ve been on the same one since you sat down to dinner. I’m on my third beer already.” He shook his head, smiling at her. “But then, you always were a lightweight.” Pushing away from the table, he gathered his plate. “You done?”

  She nodded and moved to stand.

  “No, I got this. You just sit pretty and let me wait on you.”

  “Hey, a man wants to serve me. I’m not going to say no.”

  “Exactly.” He cleared the table, then brought her favorite dessert with him and set it in front of her. “New York style cheesecake with cherries. And no, I did not make this myself. I bought it from Riley. The minute I stepped into her place, she glared holes through me, even when I confessed I was there for you. That’s probably the only reason she didn’t spit in the dessert.”

  She laughed. “No way. Riley would never mess with one of her masterpieces of confection, as she likes to call them. She might have spit at you when you left the store though.”

  “Hadn’t thought of that.” He sat next to her instead of across from her. Way too close.

  “Um, I’m good. You can go back to your seat.”

  “Nope. I can’t. A good host sees to his guest. Open up.” Damn. He had taken a forkful of the sweet stuff and held it to her lips. “Go on. Take a bite.”

  “Said the witch with the apple,” she added, making him laugh. She watched him while she put her lips over the fork. The fork came back sparkling clean, and his gaze went dark. He took a bite for himself, not looking away from her.

  “More?” he asked, his voice husky.

  “Maybe a little.”

  “Maybe a lot.” He gave her another bite.

  When she finished, he didn’t take any more for himself. He stood and pulled her to her feet, then backed her against the wall and caged her between his arms.

  “Um, Jack?”

  “What’s that, angel?” Oh boy. Not the smoky voice.

  “I was
n’t done my dessert.”

  “Good, neither am I.”

  What she feared came to pass, because her control of the situation shifted dramatically when he kissed her. With only one and a half glasses of wine in her, she couldn’t blame the alcohol. No, it was all Jack seducing her into a pliant ball of need.

  She didn’t know when she’d put her hands on his shoulders or dragged them through his hair.

  His hands found her bra and unfastened it before she could think to protest. Then he was touching her breasts, teasing her hard nipples. He kissed and nipped his way to her throat, where he sucked until she moaned, lost in lust.

  “I need my dessert,” he growled.

  Her sweater and bra disappeared. Jack’s mouth closed over her nipple. He sucked, and she nearly came.

  “Jack, oh God. Yes.”

  He continued to tease, then moved to her other breast and gave it the same attention. Fingers, lips, teeth—all hurtled her toward an orgasm she hadn’t thought to experience so soon.

  “Gotta taste you.” He tugged her jeans open, and before she knew it, she wore nothing at all. Not even her socks.

  “Jack.” Just his name. It didn’t matter that she was stark naked in the kitchen. That he still wore his clothes and she teetered on the brink of climax. She wanted him so much…

  He nudged her legs wider and kissed his way down her belly, nuzzling the trimmed hair over her mound.

  “You are so sexy.” He took her clit into his mouth, and she exploded.

  She cried out as he continued to lap at her, sucking her to a bliss that continued to course through her. When she’d moved past her orgasm into sated exhaustion, he stood and kissed her.

  She tasted herself on his lips, and it tied them even more intimately. She could feel him against her belly, hard and huge and ready for round two. What she hadn’t expected was her sudden return of arousal so soon after that supernova of a climax.

  “You—naked. That’s my dessert. And I’m still hungry.” He looked her over while he stroked her with callused hands. Nothing soft about Jack, especially not now. “You feel so good. I have to be inside you.”

  Remember, you’re calling the shots this time. Take control. Don’t let him— “Yes.”

  Anticipation glittered in his eyes. When he picked her up into his arms, as if she weighed nothing, she couldn’t help feeling owned, taken by a stronger, dominant male. She’d always been on the small side, but Jack’s presence, size and stature made her want to submit.

  Before her sensible side could reassert itself, he stopped in the hallway and kissed her. He’d slyly moved a hand between her legs, and when he thrust a finger inside her, she moaned in supplication.

  He pulled away from the kiss, panting. “I’m going to fuck you so hard.” He hurried into a bedroom, put her in the middle of the bed and stripped.

  Memories of another time, another place intruded, and she stopped him with a hand to his chest before he could pounce. “Condom.”

  He blinked. “Right.” Diving into the nightstand drawer, he found a packet, ripped it open and was about to slide it over his thick length when she stopped him.

  “My turn.” She urged him to his back and knelt beside him. He palmed her breast while she leaned down and blew a soft breath over his cock. Jack wanted her. No doubt.

  “Suck it,” he growled. ”Take me deep, angel.”

  A planted manipulation, using that pet name? Or a man at the end of his patience? She didn’t care, because as she opened her mouth to take him inside, his hand crept up her leg, between her thighs, then cupped her pussy.

  He jolted into her mouth, surging deeper, and his fingers began sawing in and out of her, rubbing her clit while he sought a place deep inside her that needed more.

  “No, stop,” he rasped when she took more of him.

  His balls were hard knots, his cock thick and salty in her mouth. She knew he had to be on the verge of coming. Then he yanked her off him and rolled the condom on. He flipped their positions, putting her flat on her back under him.

  “Jack, what—oh.”

  He thrust hard, buried himself as far as he could go, and she tightened around him instinctively.

  “I need to move, but you feel so fucking good.” Jack rarely swore. That he did so now only reinforced how lost he must be.

  “More, Jack.”

  He didn’t need to be told twice. There was nothing gentle about the way he took her, and he watched her as each thrust connected them closer. He’d become part of her body. Her mind. But not her heart. She tried to hold onto that corner of herself that had to be strong, determined never to need a man the way she’d once needed him.

  But he wouldn’t let her hide as he took her like a man possessed. The hard thrusts, the grunting, the magic of their bodies climbing higher in the pursuit of the ultimate pleasure…

  “Watch me, angel. Watch me come hard in you.”

  She cried out his name as she came again, a mess of emotion while he slammed inside her one last time and stilled.

  The look of ecstasy and agony on his face was forever burned into her mind. Jack was handsome, but lost in rapture, he was absolutely gorgeous. He continued to shudder as if he hadn’t come not so long ago in her hands.

  “Yes. All of it,” he rasped as he pumped a few more times, still watching her through shuttered eyes. “Ann.” Finally done, breathing hard, he leaned down and kissed her. “This. This is what I’ve been missing.”

  Feeling the same scared her out of her mind. She was falling right back into the role of that weak girl who’d been heartbroken in high school. No. She refused to pay the emotional price tag attached to this romp. Hell, he’d only been back a few days. How tied could they be to each other?

  I can use him and lose him. I know I can.

  Yet as he stared into her eyes, she had a bad feeling she was lying to herself. She’d make some excuse to leave, then call her friends to circle the wagons. Time to regroup, to—

  “Whoa. Where do you think you’re going?” Jack asked with a lazy smile, belied by the spark of determination in his eyes. She tried to move him, but he remained buried inside her. A part of her. And still semi-hard.

  “I was going to clean up.”

  “Now, angel, why would you want to do that?” He kissed her, so slowly, so thoroughly, she forgot all about making her escape and pulled him closer. “That’s it. Stay with me. Right here, with me.”

  Chapter Six

  “You’ve lost your friggin’ mind.” As always, Maya didn’t pull her punches.

  Next to her on her couch, Riley sighed. “Give the girl a break. It’s not every day you have marathon sex with someone like Jack Bloom.”

  “Fair enough. So was he better than he was in high school?”

  Ann just smiled at Maya. Such a nice way to spend a Friday evening, reminiscing about amazing sex with her friends.

  Maya scowled. “Figures. They all get bigger and better looking. Then God gives them staying power and bam. How do you fight that?”

  Riley raised a brow. “Oh? Does Dex have staying power?”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  Her lofty tone didn’t fool Ann. “What happened with Dex anyway? You saw him?”

  Riley answered for Maya with a laugh. “While you’ve been playing tonsil hockey with Jack, Maya’s been sniffing around Dex’s new studio.”

  “That’s right. He’s a photojournalist.” Ann remembered the guy’s fascination with anything camera related in high school. “A pretty good one, from what Bonnie told me. She’s friends with his mother.”

  “Thanks for sharing,” Maya muttered. “And I am not hot and bothered. That would be you, Riley, panting after Anson.”

  Anson and Dexter had been thick as thieves growing up. Cousins who were more like brothers, even after Dex had changed high schools during his last year. The Blacks had often been seen hanging out with each other. She remembered that Jack had been good friends with Anson especially.

  “I wonder i
f Jack has reconnected with them,” said Ann. “Wouldn’t that be funny? Us against them.”

  “Against? You mean, all of us, or just Riley and me? Did you manage to disengage from the guy without losing too many body parts? Or is he hiding under Riley’s couch, attached to you in an unmentionable place?” Maya pretended to look under Ann.

  Riley grimaced. “You have the worst way with words.”

  “Don’t hate, Maya.” Ann sighed in remembrance. “I was due a few orgasms.”

  “A few, she says.” Maya pointed at Riley. “And don’t you say a thing.”

  Riley raised her hands. “What? That despite your claim you can snap your fingers and get sex you might as well be a born-again virgin? That if anyone is due, it’s you, Ms. I-Hate-Men? Nope. Not sayin’ a thing.”

  “Glad to hear it.” Maya shot Riley a dark look. “Ann, aren’t you the one who came up with the idea for girl power? To get back at the ones who need to pay?” She ran a hand through her long hair. “I’m all for it. But we—as a group—need to remain strong. I’m glad Jack rang your bell. But don’t forget he did that twelve years ago and knocked you up.”

  Riley scowled. “Nice.”

  “Truth hurts.”

  Ann sighed. “I know I need to be careful. The sex was amazing. But it’s just sex.” So she kept telling herself. “We made a date to go out tomorrow night. In public. And honestly, I needed the breather. I have to be able to deal with him without wanting to jump him.”

  “Geez, Ann. It’s happening all over again. You’re falling for him.” Maya shook her head.

  Ann flushed. “I am not. The sex threw me. I hadn’t expected it to be that good, is all. He’s learned a few moves since high school.”

  Riley snickered.

  “But I’m keeping my head. I’m enjoying his body. Like we said. Use him and lose him, right?”

  “Uh huh.” Maya sounded less than convinced. “I’m pulling for you. It’s just that you’re a nice person, and it’s hard to go against type. I’m worried you don’t have it in you to kick him to the curb.”

  Insulted, Ann glared at her friend. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “She called you nice,” Riley repeated.