Page 60 of Studfinder

“You can go to the authorities. Tell them the truth.”

Jake perches up on an elbow, wedged between my body and the back of the couch. “I don’t know what to do.” He shakes his head. “I just . . . can’t think about this anymore.”

I understand. There’s so much to consider, but the pile-up from Nolan’s confession alone is weighing Jake down. He’s gone to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, while his brother had known the truth all along.

“Why didn’t he ever tell you? Admit his part in the fires before.”

Jake shakes his head again. “I don’t know, and I don’t have space to think. I’m just . . . spent tonight.” He lowers his head once more, and I’m reminded of his cinnamon scent when I opened the door.

“Are you drunk?” I ask again, worried that his own state of mind is clouded by more than this revelation.

“Stone sober, sweet. The gum was not to disguise anything but just take away the stench. I didn’t want to upset you.”

My arms tighten around him again, holding him in place against my body. Jake slips one arm out from under me and slides his hand along my outer leg, lifting them both to lay across the couch cushions. He shifts himself, so my legs spread, and he settles between them, keeping his upper body over mine. His head remains near my racing heart, and we hold one another for a while longer in this position.

Time passes although I’m uncertain how much before Jake shifts, rubbing his nose against my skin above the scoop neck collar of my nightshirt. Slowly, he begins kissing me along the ridge of material.

“Jake?” I whisper.

“Don’t talk,” he quietly states, opening his lips to suck at the path he’s made. He shifts a bit, and his mouth moves to my neck before his tongue comes forward. He licks down the column of my throat to the edge of my low-cut nightdress. As his tongue moves down my skin, his hand slips upward, covering my breast over the material.

“Jake,” I groan as he squeezes me hard through the soft covering, bringing my nipple to a sharp peak.

“I need you, sweet,” he mutters into my skin. It’s wrong, I want to say to him. It shouldn’t be like this—when he’s so broken, so desperate—yet I can’t deny him the comfort he seeks, reminding myself of that fateful night for me. How badly I wanted to recapture the sensation of another body over mine. How strongly I wanted to join with another. I had hoped to get lost in someone else. Of course, the circumstances were different. I was drunk out of my head, unfocused, and uncertain of what I was doing.

This is Jake.

“I stopped drinking hours ago,” he states, looking up at me once more to assure me of his mental state. As our eyes meet, he leans upward, joining our lips. At first, the kiss is slow and sad. His mouth is swollen. His cinnamon flavor invades my tongue. Quickly, the kiss grows more desperate. Jake fists his fingers in my hair and deftly moves us until he’s sitting upward and I’m straddling him.

“What is it with you and couches, Kaplan?” he teases before nipping at my lower lip and forcing my mouth open to continue kissing. My hands cup the side of his head as we continue to explore with eager tongues and unquenchable lips. Jake breaks first, pressing me back only enough to work a few buttons on his skewed dress shirt. The tie is already loose at the neck. He tugs everything over his head from the back collar, giving me his firm shoulders and flat chest to explore. My hands wander down his pecs while fingers comb through the fine hairs on his chest.

His hands fist in the material of my nightdress and gently tug it upward, revealing my body in a slow tease of exposure until I lift my arms and he removes it completely. His face is eye level with my naked breasts, and he cups one, leaning forward to suck hard at the swell. Instantly, my back arches, forcing myself deeper into the warmth of his mouth. My fingertips dig into his shoulders to balance myself against his hungry suction. Popping free of one, he moves to the other, swirling his tongue around the nipple before dragging his teeth to the nub. The contrast of lapping tongue and sharp bite causes me to squeak. Jake returns to my mouth.

With our lips still joined, his hands slip into the sides of my underwear, and he presses at my hips to momentarily stand. When we can’t remain joined by lips, I break free, and Jake lowers my panties. He keeps me upright a moment, skimming his hands over my naked thighs, along my hips, and over the small swell of my stomach.

“You’re so beautiful, sweet,” he whispers, choking on the compliment before leaning forward and sucking at my belly. One hand slips lower, cupping between my thighs as his mouth sucks at my loose abdomen. My fingers fall into his hair once more, combing through the locks while his fingers stroke over slick skin. Without warning, two fingers slide into me, causing my head to loll and a moan to escape. Jake takes his time to drag them to the edge before filling me once more. He works me back and forth, and the motion is like a slow-release drug, taking its time to sedate me, relax me. I make sounds I’ve never made before as one arm wraps around my backside to keep me balanced. He licks and sucks over my stomach while his fingers work their magic.

Quickly, my legs tremble, and my knees break. I warn Jake with only his name.

“That’s it, sweet. Come alive for me,” he says. My body is hyperaware of being alive at this moment, being treasured by this sad man before me. Tonight should be about him and his loss, what he’s learned, but I sense taking from me, doing what he’s doing brings him the distraction he needs. Once I break, he rushes forward, forcing his face between my thighs and lapping at the release. I’m still standing, and I’m not certain my legs can support me as his tongue is wicked torture. He works hard to bring me to the edge once more. My hips rock. My pelvis thrusts. I’m right there when he stops.

I hiss, but Jake softly chuckles. Leaning back against the couch, he unbuckles his belt and removes his pants, shoving boxer briefs and all over his knees. As they fall to his ankles, he guides me by my hips to climb over him. Holding his stiff shaft upright, I position myself on the tip, and we both groan at the sensation of his hard skin against my damp folds. Slowly, I lower over him, bringing him into me. Once seated to the hilt, I pause, and our eyes meet.

“Thank you,” he whispers up to me, tipping his head back for my mouth once more. We return to kissing, keeping this still position for only so long before Jake moves my hips up and down his hard length. With hands on his shoulder, I aid myself in the movement, rocking with greater speed, quickly rebuilding the lost orgasm from his mouth on my clit moments ago. In this position, I feel both wild and sensual, taking what I want from this man but also giving to him what he needs. He needs me, and I marvel at how I’m in a position I never thought I’d be in again.

I’m in love with him.

The emotion overwhelms me as I rock where we are joined, keeping him deep within the warmth of my body. Moving faster, rubbing my clit against him in a manner that quickly ignites the tension, I break apart once more. When I lower my face, my hair curtains our heads, and Jake captures the silent scream of my orgasm ripping through me. I struggle to kiss him in return, unable to catch my breath. As my body slowly melts into his, his arms wrap around my back.

He shifts, keeping us attached, and I laugh at the unexpected movement as well as his strength. I’m flipped to my back with him over me, our position similar to that first night on a dusty covered couch. This couch is certainly more comfortable and more functional. Jake grabs each of my hands, lifting one and then the other over my head. Sliding his fingers between mine, he balances over me, moving his hips in that manner he has, reminding me again of how he can dance. He thrusts, and he sways. He surges, and he teases.

“God, Rita,” he hums like I’m a prayer of gratitude. Then he stills, pumping into me. His forehead comes to mine as he squeezes my fingers until I lose circulation. We remain joined as he rides out his own release. His body stays tense, keeping some of his weight off me until he can’t balance any longer. He collapses briefly over me, breathing into my neck, inhaling my sleep and sex scent. A soft kiss comes to my lips, and tears fill my eyes. A sudden sense of ending slips down my body like a silk cloth falling to expose my raw skin.

“Let’s go to bed,” Jake mutters, pressing up over me like he isn’t exhausted or distraught. He slips out of me quickly and stands, lowering a hand for mine to pull me upward. Silently, I follow him to my room, walking naked through the house until we reach my bed and fall into one another once more.

24

Rita