Crap. How long were they going to be trapped here together? Because being so close to what she wanted twenty-four/seven but not being allowed to have it was going to suck ass. Big time.
Jess lingered in the shower longer than strictly necessary, but the warm water felt so good on her sore, tired muscles that she couldn’t force herself out. By the time she toweled off, she was yawning and her limbs felt like they’d gained twenty pounds each. She hung her wet clothes over the shower curtain bar and secured the towel around her torso. Being upright was nearly painful after so many hours awake, so Jess could do little more than stumble out of the bathroom.
She walked right into a wall of strong, hard muscle that woke her right up.
“Oh. Ike. Sorry. What are you doing?” she asked, stepping back. Arms crossed in a way that highlighted the thick mounds of his biceps, Ike was leaning against the jamb, his broad shoulders covering most of the doorway. Like he’d been waiting for her to come out.
“I handled that all wrong,” he said.
Jess blinked, her brain scrambling to figure out which “that” he was talking about. The scent of him, all masculine spice and summer air, didn’t help, either. God, she wanted him. “Uh, handled what all wrong?” she managed.
“What you did…Doc was right. I should’ve thanked you, not yelled at you. Fuck, Jess.” He nailed her with a stare nearly as intense as the one he’d given her in the kitchen. Though, where that one had been full of heat, this one seemed softer…affectionate? Or was that more projecting? “Those boys mean the world to Slider. I owe you.”
She sighed. “Ike, you’re putting your whole life on hold for me. You totally do not owe me anything. And I understand why you were worried. I should’ve let you know where I’d gone. Oh, well, I guess I don’t know how I would’ve done that without my cell, but, anyway, I get it.”
He pulled something from his pocket. Her phone. “That’s why I’m giving you this back. I should’ve trusted you to not use it unless it’s an emergency. And that way, I can reach you, too.”
Jess accepted the phone into her hand and nodded. “Thanks.”
And then they just stared at each for a long moment. Jess went from feeling amused to awkward to observed…and that made her hot. Especially as she was standing there in nothing but a towel.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Ike’s gaze slowly ran down her neck to her chest. She wiped at something there and the wetness on the fingers told her it had been a droplet of water from her hair. Ike watched the movement of her hand openly, hungrily, and his desire made her bold, daring, hungry in return.
Without giving herself time to second-guess the idea, she reached out and lightly dragged her wet fingers against his bottom lip.
And it was like she’d unleashed a beast.
Ike grabbed her wrist and hauled her to him. He was on her everywhere. His hands in her hair, on her back, grabbing her ass and lifting her up so that her legs circled his hips. His tongue licked the exact route that water droplet had taken, from chest to neck to ear. And then he was kissing her, fucking her mouth with his tongue, absolutely devouring her.
Jess held on like her life depended on it, and at some point she became aware of the breeze on her bare skin. She’d dropped the towel, which meant she was totally buck-ass naked in Ike’s big arms, and she couldn’t have cared less.
Ike licked her mouth, sucked her tongue, nipped at her lips. He turned with her still in his arms and made for the stairs, and Jess thought she might die from sheer joy and anticipation. He tasted like strength and sin and sex, and she tightened her legs around his hips as he carried her to the loft, eager to see if all of him tasted so good—or even better.
When they reached the second floor, Ike growled low in his throat and his grip tightened on her ass, his fingers digging in. She moaned and—
Cool air from the ceiling fan washed over Jess as Ike dropped her onto the bed—and promptly turned around to leave. Jess was so stunned she couldn’t speak. Just as he hit the top of the steps, he said, “Don’t fucking tease me, Jessica. I’m trying to do right by you, but I’m still just a goddamned man.”
Ike felt like a bomb waiting to go off.
For one goddamned second, he’d let himself off the leash, and he’d been all over Jess.
For two glorious minutes, he’d held her and tasted her and had his hands and mouth all over her.
For the past three hours, he’d worn a path in the wooden floor of his cabin, wanting more but holding himself back from taking it. And feeling hungry and empty and desperate, like a man who’d just had his last meal and would now be forced to go without for the rest of his life.