Sexy in Stilettos (A Sexy Contemporary Romance)

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bleary-eyed, Alec opened the door of his suite to Jaya. “I’m glad to see you don’t give up so easily. After I dropped you off last night, I wasn’t sure I’d see you again.”

  Jaya scrunched up her nose. “I don’t do giving up. You weren’t still sleeping, were you? Come on, it’s eight in the morning. We’ve got plans to make. You can’t sleep the whole day a—” She paused as she took full stock of his unclothed form. A pink flush tinged her cheeks. “Oh. Well, surprise.”

  If she wasn’t so cute, he’d have deepened his scowl. Normally, he was a morning person, but the double duty at the bar and corporate offices were killing him. He’d finally hired a manager, so that was one less thing to worry about. But the heaven-or-hell sent dreams of Jaya had made it impossible to sleep. “Didn’t close the bar until four.” He shuffled into the sleeping area not giving a damn about anything but climbing back into bed, least of all his bare ass.

  All he heard from the doorway was, “If you’re busy, I’ll um, I’ll just go and you can—”

  He didn’t let her finish. Instead, he turned back around, grabbed her hand and dragged her through the foyer into the darkened sitting area and bedroom. As she attempted to wiggle out of his grasp, he scooped her up in his arms and growled. “There’s no one in here with me. Besides, I’m so horny thinking about you, I’d be pretty useless to anyone else. Especially since you’ve been on my mind nonstop since the other night.” He hefted her closer as she stared up at him with those pretty brown eyes.  I promise you I’ll behave, but if you just lie still and let me sleep for one more hour, I swear we’ll plan to your little heart’s content. Deal?”

  She swallowed hard and then nodded her head. “Can you put me down now?”

  He squeezed her tighter, unwilling to let her go. “Yep. Sure thing.” When he dropped her unceremoniously onto the bed, she let out a little squeal, which was quickly followed by a groan as he joined her on the bed and hauled her against him.

  “Hey, you promised to behave.”

  God save him from stubborn women. “Yes, I did, and if you just let me hold you like I intended to do the other night, maybe we’ll both get some sleep.” He anchored her to him and inhaled. Roses.

  His cock gave an immediate jerk, but he wrestled it back under his mental control with sheer force of will. He honestly did just want to hold her. What the hell was wrong with him? Maybe he’d just change his name to Alec “Sap” Danthers.

  If she noticed the unwanted attention of his cock, she didn’t say anything. She barely moved. But the longer he held her, the looser her body became until he was pretty sure she was asleep.

  Alec drifted into sleep too. Soft material caressing the length of him in such a sweet rhythm threatened to pull him into another tortured dream. His brain issued the command to his hands to rub at his eyes, but one was stuck in an awkward position under his pillow and the other one was too busy stroking a breast that fit his palm like a glove. Not awake. 

  God, another Jaya dream. All night, dreams like this had kept him up. He’d given serious thought to going to her place last night and telling her the no sex with him rule was stupid. Every time he caught a hint of flowers, he’d been hard. And now he was stuck in another fantasy sure to give him blue balls for life.

  Except, this didn’t feel like a fantasy. The movements against his crotch reminded him of the way Jaya had moved when she danced. His hips gave an involuntary roll and he hissed when his bare cock came into contact with soft slippery material. Satin, maybe? Like the underwear that Jaya liked to wear. Who gave a shit? A fantasy was a fantasy. Goddamn it. He commanded his eyes to open again, but they ignored him. Most of his concentration was on the soft globe of flesh in his hand.

  His thumb circled the tip and he felt it harden. Gently, he plucked at it. The satin around his cock moved again, gyrating in time to his plucking motions. He pinched harder and heard her breath catch. This fantasy was better than the one he had during the night. He could almost feel her breath on his skin. So real. His name on her lips brought him closer to waking from the dream, but he struggled to hold on to her.

  Maybe he couldn’t be with her in real life, but here, hovering somewhere between dreams and reality, just this one time, maybe he could get to release. Get some relief and finally get to sleep. All the other times, he’d been tortured to the point of so-near bliss only to wake with aching balls and no Jaya.

  She moved against him, massaging his aching cock with the satin covered globes of that heavenly ass. He hadn’t been this turned on since he was sixteen and Madeline Devon had promised she’d blow him behind the bleachers at school. What was it about Jaya that had him so worked up? She was the sense of stability and normalcy he’d run away from his whole life. He’d only hurt someone like her. Sooner or later, he’d get bored and itchy and need to leave. And she was definitely a picket fence kind of girl.

   “Just let me have this one dream,” he murmured in an effort to get his body to focus.

  Dream Jaya's voice was soft. “It doesn’t have to be a dream, Alec. I think I was wrong about this whole not sleeping together thing.” Her breath caught as he shifted his hand from her breast and skimmed down over the silk fabric, seeking her center. “I-I can do casual.”

  He slipped his hand beneath her waistband, traveling over her delicate lips and stroking to find her button. Dipping his long finger into her liquid center, he dragged it through her slick folds until he found his quarry. With firm strokes, he circled the sensitive bud. He'd already learned that direct pressure didn’t work, so instead, he teased around it. He knew what she liked.

  Moving his hips in time to his strokes he nuzzled her hair. God, he loved the feel of it. So thick and soft. The dark color was like ebony on his pillow. Except he’d never seen her hair on his pillow. The other night, they’d made love in all kinds of places. When they’d finally made it to the bed, he’d shoved all the pillows off the bed.

  Frowning, he gave the command for his eyes to open again and this time they obeyed. Cracking them open. Darkness filled his field of vision until he could make out her form. He tested the soft flesh at his fingertips and she moaned his name.

  Shit. Not a fantasy. Real life. With the woman who’d said she wasn’t interested in a fling. With the woman who made him want to run fast and far. The woman who felt like heaven. “Jai, I—”

  “Alec, please, God, don’t stop. I want you. I want this.”

  She trusted him. Again. He wanted to tell her not to do that. He’d only hurt her. But he couldn’t form the words. Instead, she moved against him.

  “Shit. You have to stop doing that or I’m going to come outside of you instead of inside where I want to be.”

  She rolled her hips again and he bit out another curse. “I don’t care. I just need to have this. Whatever it is. I need it. I need you.”

  He knew he should stop. Knew if he slept with her again, he was the one in danger of getting hurt. Knew if she begged him again, he might never let her go. “I—”

  “Alec.” She moaned again.

  He stroked her again and felt the flow of juices making her wetter, more ready for him. And he was lost. Shoving aside the scrap of fabric, he nestled his cock against her bare ass and almost came. The contact with her skin felt like he’d been zapped with a taser.

  “Alec, I need—”

  “I know. I need it too.” He shifted her so he could pull her sundress above her head. When he laid her back down, her breasts were free and her back was bare to him save the satin he was working with. As he continued his stroking, he angled her so he could continue playing with her breasts. She tried to turn and face him, but he held her firm in place. “My fantasy. You’ll get your turn later. As his cock settled back in position, he hissed when the round tip came into contact with her slick heat. Resettling the satin in place, he closed his eyes in bliss. With every movement and arch of her back, she milked him with the globes of her ass.

  “Damn
, Jaya, I’ve been dreaming about this since the moment I saw you.” Pulling away from her, he reached inside the bedside table and fumbled around for a condom while she stepped out of her panties. Making quick work of the foil and latex, he settled back against her to find she’d rolled onto her back. The smile she gave him seized his heart. So bright and so steady. Oh man, trouble. How much of an ass was he that he didn’t care. All he could focus on was holding her one more time. Feeling her soft skin against his. Never mind that he’d pay for the consequences for the rest of his life.

  As he rolled on top of her, she made room for him, even as she hooked her legs around his waist. As she smiled, she said, “Next time I’m being irrational, just go ahead and tell me.”

  “Anytime,” he mumbled against her neck. Conscious thought wasn’t foremost on his mind. All he could focus on was the heat surrounding the tip of his cock. He tried to go slow. He really did, but her hands on his ass urging him on were counter to his plan.

  “Alec, hurry. I need you.”

  He clenched his teeth against the roaring need and maelstrom of curses. “Damn it, Jaya, I’m not going to last for more than a minute if we don’t slow down a little.”

  “We can take our time later.”

  What the lady wants, the lady gets. He slid in to the base of his cock, breath catching in his chest. Beneath him, she moaned out his name. He tried to take control of the pace, but all his attempts to slow down were thwarted by the low keening sounds she made, and the way she traced her hands over his shoulders. Worse was the way she met him thrust for thrust. Rolling her hips, eager to meet his. How she angled her head up and grazed his nipple with her teeth.

  “Jaya. Shit.” The tingle in the base of his spine was his first warning. The greying of his vision was his other clue. He ground his teeth desperate to ward off the impending orgasm and wait for her. Wait her out, wait her out. You son of a bitch, wait—

  Jaya's hips bucked and she threw her head back. As she called out his name on a strangled breath, he could feel the walls of her pussy convulse around him.

  Her nails dug into his ass and he drove forward, no longer trying to ward off the release. As the zinging pleasure drove him on with each thrust, she locked gazes with him. In that moment, he started to come and poured himself into her soul. Unable to look away, for the first time, Alec knew what true human connection felt like.

  “Are you okay?” Still unable to break eye contact with her, he levered himself off her chest to give her some breathing room.

  The smile she gave him showed full dimples. The inner walls of her pussy clenched around him and they both moaned. “Yeah. I think so.”

  She didn’t say anything, but he could tell she could feel the change in the air. Something had just happened between the two of them. He didn’t know about her, but he was terrified.

   “You can use the main bathroom to clean up.  I’ll use the guest one. There’s a blow dryer and toiletries in there if you need anything. Whatever’s not in there, I can call down for.”

  She nodded mutely as she wound the covers around her body. For reasons he didn’t want to examine too closely, the shy gesture bugged him. Reaching for the sheet, he tugged at it. “No going back now.”

  She nodded but didn’t release the sheet. “I know.”

  Tugging harder, the sheet gave way and her breasts spilled forward. Again, his body jerked awake with his cock making a rallying cry. “On second thought, maybe the sheet is a good idea for now.”

  As she strode off toward the bathroom, she muttered something about incorrigibility.

  Alec knew this wasn’t smart. He was setting himself up for a hard fall and setting her up for pain. He reminded himself of what would happen if he stayed. How ugly things would eventually become. Jaya Trudeaux had worked her way under his skin. There would be no getting over her now.

  After his shower, he ordered breakfast and a change of clothes for Jaya. He’d already snooped in her closet when he hid in her bathroom, so he knew her size. When the bathroom door opened, he couldn’t help the excitement at seeing her again. Easy, Sparky. But reasoning with Sparky didn’t help. He wanted to be let off leash.

  She smiled at him as she picked through the new clothes. “You think of everything don’t you.”

  “Well, I had to think fast. I wasn’t expecting us to—” He bit his tongue and tried again. “I mean—”

  She shook her head. “Relax. I’m okay. I practically begged you to take off my clothes.” She eyed his still-shirtless form. “Are you going to finish getting ready? I wanted to go over logistics for the wedding.  I made you a folder of the key players.  Who you’ll need to run interference with if I’m to get a crack at Brett James.”

  Alec frowned. He knew he was supposed to understand what she was talking about, but his brain was still foggy. “Logistics?”

  Her sunny disposition vanished. “You seriously forgot?”

  “It’s early. I need a memory-jogger.” He shrugged and tried for a charming grin.

  “You know what?” she muttered as she dragged on her discarded white sundress, leaving the clothes he’d called up for her in a pile. “Forget it. When you said to come over and give you the run-down, I thought—”

  Shit. “Jaya. I’m sorry. I totally forgot. It slipped my mind. And I was up ‘til four. Give me five minutes. I—”

  “Forget it, Alec I don’t need your help. I can go it alone.” She slipped delicate feet into her heels.

  Her quiet declaration pissed him off. It’s not like he was brushing her off. But he had forgotten, so that was a problem. As she tried to move past him to the door, he took her arm. “Look, I screwed up. Okay? I know that. I gave you my word. And that actually means something to me, believe it or not. I said I’d be your date and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

  His skin warmed as her eyes roved over his chest. She sighed and relaxed in his grasp. “You’re going to need a shirt, then.”

  He snatched his polo off the bed and dragged it over his head. “Are you happy now that I’m decent?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Happy isn’t the right word exactly.” She pulled a large folder out of her bag. “So you understand the plan?”

  He rolled his eyes as he scrubbed his hands over his stubble. She didn’t give up on anything she wanted. And it was exhausting.

  He still hadn't had any sleep but at least he wasn’t as frustrated now, though the need for her was like a constant ebb in the background. “I understand. I pull your father aside, asking him to show me around the country club. You get Brett James alone and chat with him. Not too hard.  If I see Derrick coming, I’ll send up the Bat Signal.  How did the family dustup happen, anyway?  Your sister seems a little self-absorbed, but man-stealing goes against a sister code or something, right?”

   Jaya shrugged.  “I guess I bored him or something.  All I know is I came home to find Tamara faking it like a porn star in my bed.  No surprise really.  He was terrible in bed.”

   “Well, at least there’s that.  Tamara got what she deserved.”

  “Can you believe he tried to tell me he thought she was me? We don’t look that much alike.” She blew out a breath and planted her hands on her hips. “Look. I get it.  You think this is some ‘woman scorned’ stuff, but it’s really important to me. I need to get my job back.”

  “I know how important this is to you.” He rubbed his hands over her shoulders and she didn’t stiffen. “Though I'm still not sure why you have to get that job back. If things go well with Adele, you'll be able to get any job you want. Why is that one so important?”

  She shook herself out of his grip and he let her go easily. “Besides the fact that Derrick doesn’t want me there? This is my family. I belong at Trudeaux. I helped build that place. It's my legacy.” She blew out a breath. “It’s my home.”

  A need for home was one thing he could understand. “You can still have a home without being at Trudeaux. Any chance you and your father will work it out
?”

  “After last night, I doubt it. Without work tying us together, there's nothing really there. After Mom died, he got even more distant. Tams has always been his favorite. But he needs me. He just doesn’t know it. I promised my mother I would look out for both of them.”

  Ah, ghosts. She wasn’t the first person to do something trying to please someone who was long gone. He lowered his voice. “She’s gone, Jaya. Do you really think she would want you bending over backwards and making yourself unhappy? I doubt it.”

  She softened her chin. “Says the guy who's the perpetual rolling stone and has no responsibilities?”

  “Touché.” She did have a point. What the hell did he know about family and responsibility? He’d run from everything that ever mattered.

  She scrubbed her hands over her face. “I'm sorry. That wasn’t fair. I'm really keyed up.  I need to make this work.”

  He shrugged. “But it's the truth, isn't it? I'm the perpetual vagabond. We both know it.”

  Jaya eyed him shrewdly. “But you don’t have to be. You’ve already shown you’re smart. You choose the vagabond lifestyle for a reason.” She shrugged. “I wish I knew what it was.”

  She was digging too close and it made him itchy. No one ever got this familiar with him except Adele, and he'd already worked out ways to avoid her prying. Jaya was something different. She was getting closer to him than he ever let anybody, and he barely knew her. Good thing he wouldn’t be here long because she was dangerous to him.

  “Jaya, I won’t be sticking around.”

  Her eyes met his. “I know. But there’s no point in pretending I’m not enjoying myself.”