Playing For Keeps Part 3

"I need to touch you," he replied.

And that was exactly what he did, touched her, stroked his palms down her back, ma.s.saged the muscles of her thighs, kissed the back of her knees and each of her ankles.

Her legs were wobbling beneath her and when he tipped his head back to stare at her, she said, "My legs are feeling a bit weak here, slick."

"Good." He nuzzled the curls between her thighs and then added, "I feel weak every d.a.m.n time I look at you."

He came to his feet and she reached between them, stroked his c.o.c.k through his jeans. Giving him a wicked grin, she said, "You don't feel weak to me."

"Then you're not looking." His voice was gruff, rougher than normal as he moved to stand behind her and rest his palm on her belly. She covered his hand with hers and smiled as he whispered once more, "A baby."

Jake didn't understand how he could feel so d.a.m.ned proud, yet so amazingly humbled, all at once. How he could want to cuddle and soothe and pamper even as he pushed Dana to her back and mounted her, f.u.c.ked her until they were both left empty from it. Didn't realize it was possible to want to laugh and cry at the same time.

He caressed her soft, flat belly and then slid his hand around, stroking it up her back, gathering her hair in his fist. After he'd bared her back, he dipped his head and pressed a kiss to her nape. She sighed and arched her head to the side. Answering that unspoken request, he raked her neck with his teeth. His c.o.c.k jerked as her breath caught in her throat and she swayed back against him.

Her a.s.s, round and soft, cuddled against his c.o.c.k. d.a.m.n it, it was a good thing he hadn't gotten his jeans off yet. Otherwise, it would be over with before it even had time to begin. Urging her to the bed, he turned her around and had her sit on the edge, her legs off the side. He held her gaze with his as he knelt between her thighs.

Her golden brown eyes had gone dark with need. Her hands shook as she reached for him. Catching one wrist in his hand, he shook his head and pressed a kiss to the inside of her palm. "There's no rush."

"Is, too. I want you to touch me."

Skimming his palm up her calf, he asked, "Like this?"

Dana pushed up on her elbows, shaking her head. "No. Not like that."

He brushed his lips against her knee. "How about this?"

"Getting closer. Still off." She reached down and tangled her fingers in his hair, tugged on his head.

"Not right, huh?" He nuzzled the soft skin where her thigh and hip joined, licked her. "This closer?"

He continued like that, resisted the tug of her fingers in his hair as she tried to guide his mouth.

In a plaintive voice, she said, "d.a.m.n it, Jake."

"What...I thought you liked to play." Catching her ankles in his hands, he pushed them upward, guiding them to the bed-opening the folds between her thighs, exposing her.

She was slick already. The sight of that pretty pink p.u.s.s.y had him groaning and he gave up teasing her. He dipped his head and licked her, using his tongue to open her slit and then hooking his arms around her thighs. "f.u.c.k, you're sweet."

She tasted different somehow. Darker, riper, somehow. Growling against her, he stiffened his tongue and pushed it inside. The tight muscles clenched around him, squeezing, teasing. Inside his jeans, his confined c.o.c.k jerked demandingly. He wanted to tear his jeans open and bury himself inside her, feel the muscles of that sweet, hot p.u.s.s.y clenching down like that around his d.i.c.k. Instead, he f.u.c.ked his tongue in and out until she was whimpering and panting, until the pale gold of her body was flushed pink and covered with a fine sheen of sweat.

Until she came against his mouth and sobbed out his name.

Then he pulled away and stripped out of his clothes, letting them fall to the floor. He never once took his eyes from her-couldn't have done so to save his life. He needed to see her. Needed to see everything. Needed to see her face as he pushed inside her, as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

Needed to see her as he started to move, stroking deep, sinking his c.o.c.k inside her slick, wet heat and feeling her clench down around him as he withdrew. Needed to see her as she arched her hips to meet him. Needed to see her as she whimpered his name and hooked an arm around his neck, staring up into his eyes.

Reaching down, he caught her knee and drew it up, anchoring it to his hip. Then slowly, he rotated his hips and watched as her lashes fluttered low and she moaned. A second time, a third time, then as the head of his c.o.c.k b.u.mped over that little notch deep inside her p.u.s.s.y, she convulsed around him and came.

I love you.

He tried to use his body to tell her all the things he wished he had the courage to say.

You're the only woman I want to touch like this. The only woman I dream about at night, the only woman I wake up thinking about.

The mother of his baby-holy h.e.l.l, he loved her. But he couldn't tell her-not until he knew she would actually hear him. If she smiled at him, brushed it off like he was just her friend, just her buddy, it would kill him. His heart would just turn to ashes in his chest and it would kill him.

So he didn't say the words, even as they burned inside him. Even as he f.u.c.ked her, even as he loved her and brought her to climax a second time, then a third, he held the words back.

But as the chains of his control began to weaken and his own climax rode him, he couldn't keep the words trapped inside him forever. Burying his face in her hair, he mouthed the words.

I love you...

Someday, he told himself. Someday he'd have to find the courage to tell her.

Chapter Three.

It was nearly nine as they lay on the bed, their legs tangled together, sweat drying on their bodies. Jake had his hand on her belly again, stroking in slow, lazy circles.

"You're happy," he whispered against her shoulder.

"Yep." She sighed under breath and snuggled closer, not that she could get much closer.

"You want the baby."

"Hmmm." She reached down and covered his hand with hers. "You want the baby, too."

"d.a.m.n straight," he growled.

She shifted her head on the pillow, staring at him in the darkened room. There was just enough of the fading, late afternoon sunlight streaming through the window so she could see his face. "I had planned on coming to talk to you in the morning. I just took the test a little while before you showed up...although I've suspected-"

"For a week," he interrupted, irritation apparent in his voice and in his eyes. "Ever since you started avoiding me."

Leaning in, she kissed his chin. "I'm sorry. I just..." her words trailed off and she tried to give him a charming smile. "Can I plead hormones?"

His face softened and he worked his way down on the bed until he could press his lips to her tummy. "You can plead whatever you want."

Her heart melted as she stared down at him.

Always Jake...

Reality, though, broke through the happy fog she'd spent the past few hours lost in. "I'm sorry for the past week. I've just been...well, trying not to think about it until I was ready to."

"So you're ready to think about it now?" he asked. "About being a mom?"

Dana snorted. "I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that part. There are just...well, other issues to think about." She pressed against his shoulders and murmured, "Let me sit up."

He didn't need to ask why. Nerves and jitters were already warring inside her and she didn't do nervous very well, at least not if she had to be still. Swinging her legs out of bed, she slid to the floor and started to pace. Jake settled against the headboard, watching and waiting.

"I knew the baby was yours." She shot him a look over her shoulder. "I think I've known since that morning. Even when I told myself I was just spazzing over it, nervous because the rubber broke, I think I knew. I wanted it. The past few weeks, I've been edgy...restless."

Mason had only been by twice since then, and he remained blissfully unaware of the broken condom and Dana's restlessness. He'd called, several times, and Dana had either not answered the phone or put him off. The two times he had been over, she'd been rescued by the bell-or the phone actually, once. She took non-emergency calls on a rotation with the other nurse midwives through the practice and that call had come at a perfect time. The other time, she'd answered the door looking a little green around the gills after convincing herself she could manage to eat some vegetable soup.

He hadn't been too keen on hanging around when she wasn't feeling up to much of anything, so he'd disappeared real quick. Those few sporadic visits, a couple of calls, that was all the contact she'd had with him and she hadn't missed him. She'd been dating the man for nearly a year but his absence from her life and bed over the few weeks hadn't bothered her at all.

"You going to explain these other issues?" Jake asked softly, drawing her attention back to him.

Stopping at the foot of the bed, she crossed her arms over her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s and blew out a breath. "Mostly just one issue. Mason."

The lines of Jake's face tightened-a minute change. Almost imperceptible. But it was a familiar look, one she often saw on his face when Mason was mentioned, when he was around. "You don't like him much," she said quietly.

He shrugged restlessly, not confirming, but not denying, either.

"If you don't like him, then why..." Her voice trailed off and she gestured at the bed. Blood stained her cheeks and she felt ridiculous, standing there, too embarra.s.sed to put her thoughts into words. She could enjoy a menage easy enough, but actually talk about it? That was harder.

But she didn't need to give her thoughts a voice.

A sardonic smile curled Jake's lips. "Why?" He slid out of the bed and came to stand behind her. Wrapping his arms around her, he muttered against her neck, "The why is easy. Because of you, Dana. I don't give a d.a.m.n about Mason, but I do give a d.a.m.n about you...and anything I can do to get close to you, I'm going to do."

His voice hardened as he added, "Even if it means sharing you with another man."

"And what if there isn't another man?" Wiggling around in his arms, she stared up at him. "What if it comes down to just you? Just you and me."

His eyes flashed. The arms around her waist tightened, and against her belly she felt the change in his body. His c.o.c.k started to stiffen and she eased back, reaching down and wrapping her fingers around his width. He was thick and getting thicker, hard and getting harder, and the soft, silken skin that stretched over his s.e.x was still a little sticky from earlier. They hadn't used anything-it was the first time they'd ever made love skin to skin and it had been hot, sweet, erotically beautiful.

She wanted more.

"Just you and me..." he whispered, his lids drooping low over his eyes. He stared at her from under his lashes. "Just you and me-for how long this time, Dana? Just while it lasts?"

There was something in his voice, an odd undercurrent that she couldn't quite identify, or maybe she just didn't want to let herself. "You're asking questions I don't have answers for." Tightening her fingers, she started to stroke his c.o.c.k, milking him until he started to thrust into her hand, meeting her. "I just know I want you with me...just you."

"Just me." He growled and reached down, grabbed her hand to still her movements. "Just you..."

He took her back to the bed, urged her down on her back, but instead of coming down on top of her, he stood at the edge. Bracing her hips there, he brought her thighs up and held her open as he pushed inside. "Just me. Just you."

Reaching down, he stroked her c.l.i.t, toying with it, squeezing, stroking, slapping it lightly. All the while, he stared at her face, stared at her as though he feared she might slip away from him.

"Just you," she whispered, staring blindly at his face.

She was swollen, sore, flexing around his invading c.o.c.k, sensitive from making love with him earlier, stretched to the point of pain, but she didn't care. He plunged deep and his b.a.l.l.s slapped against her. Crying out, she reached for him. He hooked her knees over his arms and came down on top of her, crushing her mouth with hers. He bit her lower lip. "Hold onto me, Dana... Say my name..."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her lips to his chest and whispered, "Jake."

"Tell me to make love to you. Tell me to touch you."

"Make love to me... Keep making love to me, don't stop touching me...Jake...please..."

He slid a hand down the back of her thigh, cupped her a.s.s, tucked her close. "I don't ever want to stop touching you, don't ever want to let go of you. f.u.c.k, Dana, I need you..."

He jerked inside her p.u.s.s.y and she whimpered, clenching down around him. He went to withdraw and she cried out, tried to follow, tried to keep him deep inside her. But she could barely move and he withdrew. An aching sense of loss flooded her, but then he was stroking back inside-filling her. Completing her.

Back and forth, over and over...withdrawing and leaving her empty, hollowed-out, and then f.u.c.king his way deep, deep inside, so deep she could take no more and he had no more to give her. He muttered in her ear, whispered to her, whispers of things hot, dark and wicked. "Tight, soft little p.u.s.s.y...yeah, squeeze me like that...f.u.c.k, Dana, you're so d.a.m.ned wet...come for me...come...come..."

She came.

He swore, rode her through it, his c.o.c.k jerking while the flared head stroked the sensitive bundle of nerves buried deep inside her sheath. She dug her nails into his shoulder and sobbed out his name as the o.r.g.a.s.m pulled her higher, higher...tighter...tighter...until it broke over her. Dark dots danced before her eyes and exhaustion pulled at her. Moaning, she went lax beneath him.

"No...not yet." Jake straightened, curling one hand over her right thigh, holding her open. His other hand he stroked down, down, down...until he could pet her c.l.i.t, teasing it with certain, sure strokes.

Forcing her lashes upward, she stared at him. "Can't, Jake."

"Can. Will..." He touched lower, stroking the flesh of her p.u.s.s.y where she stretched tight around him. Then he reached up and caught her wrist, bringing her hand down. "Touch yourself. Let me watch."

Through her lashes, she stared at him. Dazed, drained...but not completely. Hunger was already burning inside her and the ache he'd eased just seconds ago was back with a vengeance, tearing and clawing through her. Her breath shuddered out of her in a harsh sigh as she started to touch herself, circling her index finger around her swollen, wet c.l.i.t. Slippery, slick and hot.

Jake let go of her leg and cupped her bottom in his big hands, tucking her against him. Then he started to shaft her, slow, deep strokes that stopped this side of pain. He stared at her, his dark blue eyes glittering, burning with need, stared at her as though she was the center of his entire world.

The way he looked at her, it left her feeling stripped bare and vulnerable, but she didn't care. Not with him. Twining her legs around her waist, she reached down and closed her fingers around his wrists, anchoring herself. "Jake..."

"Dana." He rasped her name out between clenched teeth, a spasm of pleasure tightening his face.

His c.o.c.k jerked inside her and swelled even more-she felt it and cried out as he started to ride her harder, faster. Bare flesh slapped together, harsh male groans and soft female cries sounded in the air as they came together-as one.

She wanted to sleep.

But her body wanted food more. Shuffling down the hall, her thighs still wet from herself and Jake, she made her way to kitchen. Jake joined her there a few seconds later, wearing nothing but the jeans he'd shucked hours earlier. She wore only his T-shirt. She smelled of him. All over. With a happy sigh, she paused by the sink to wash hands before going to the refrigerator.

"So you been able to eat okay?" Jake asked as he reached over her shoulder for a bottle of water.

Glancing over her shoulder, she made a face at him. "Be quiet or you're going to jinx me."

He chuckled. "So that means not always."

"That means only rarely, at least right now," she said, blowing out a breath. Her belly growled demandingly and she went for what was quick and easy, not trusting her body to cooperate. Roast beef, cheddar cheese, mayo, some tomatoes from the plants she had out back, lettuce, wheat bread.

In under five minutes, she had a huge sandwich ready and gestured towards the island as she settled down on the stool with her plate. "Help yourself. I gotta eat while my body is letting me, otherwise I'd make you one, too."

He didn't do anything right away, just stood there, his hip braced against the counter and drinking from the water bottle as he watched her eat. "You're beautiful."

She paused, the sandwich halfway between her plate and her mouth. Blood rushed to her cheeks. "No, I'm not. But thank you." She took another bite of her sandwich and focused on chewing it as he walked over to her.