to back down from a challenge."
He flexed a bicep and waggled his eyebrows at her, but even as she laughed, she was the one ogling now, and her nipples were peaking under her thin tank top.
"So you came here just to flash me? Nice guns, by the way."
"Thank you. I was hoping you'd like them," he said, sly, and she knew she'd lost that short-lived battle with her conscience (if there ever had been another option).
Besides, there was something strangely attractive at the thought of exploring an old lover's new body, especially when she knew exactly how well they were matched in bed. It was Eric's fault for not calling, and she refused to feel guilty.
When Jake held a hand out to her, she took it, and let him pull her against him for a kiss that started light and slid into openmouthed and dirty in a matter of seconds. Jake's hands were in her hair, stroking her neck, her shoulders, roaming her back, cupping her ass, playing her body like a familiar instrument. He bit her neck, softly, licked a broad stripe up to her ear, and Emmy whimpered. Right now, she was emphatically not thinking about Eric Oswell.
"You don't know how much I've missed you," he whispered in her hair, crowding her against the stove and grinding his erection into her hip.
"I think I'm getting the message," she replied, lightheaded with want. Behind her, the gas hissed as she nudged one of the knobs, and she initiated a stagger towards the couch in the neighboring room before they accidentally set themselves on fire.
Within two minutes, Jake had efficiently stripped her of tank top and pants, and his mouth was latched onto her left breast, while his hand delved between her legs, teasing her without actually touching her core, fingertips trailing along her inner thighs until she threaded her hand in his hair and pulled his head up.
"Stop teasing and touch me," she said, breathy, and he immediately complied, slipping a finger between her folds and seamlessly inside her. She was so turned on — so wet — she cried out, and writhed as he added his thumb on her clit.
"There's my girl," he said — his tone just smug enough that if she hadn't been spiraling towards release she'd have been annoyed — and he increased the pressure and the rhythm, unerringly, until it all coalesced in one bright spasm, and Emmy came.
She'd barely recovered her breath, heartbeat still erratic, and Jake was fumbling with his half-open pants, fishing out a condom from a pocket and sheathing himself. She wouldn't have picked the couch as the best place for sex — he was so tall he spilled over at both ends — but Jake was determined, and he draped himself over her, one knee on the ground, right arm braced on the back before sliding into her, stretching her in the best possible way and, God, she'd missed this.
They were so attuned to each other — and she was still so sensitive — that it only took him a few thrusts to tip her back into orgasm, and she felt him shudder as she crested again, her whole body throbbing and flooded with endorphins. Not even the unprompted memory of Eric's eyes, dark and needy, the other night, could stop her cascading into bliss, but when she came down from her peak, there was a hint of guilt that she could have done without.
"Jesus, babes," Jake panted into her ear as he struggled not to fall off the couch, and she felt a surge of fondness for him. Maybe she had fucked him partly to exorcise Eric's silence and implied rejection, but they'd always been great in the sack together, and she wasn't crazy enough to forget that.
"We're gonna need a bigger couch," Jake announced when they finally pulled apart and rearranged themselves so she was sprawled half on top of him, her head pillowed on his broad chest, wrapped in a couple of her comfort blankets.
"I do have a bed — it's not my fault you're so rushed you can't make it ten feet down the hall," she shot back. He felt reassuringly solid with his arms around her, and she let herself sink boneless into his embrace.
"So what have you been doing while I was hunting the Taliban?"
"Nothing much new — running the store, working, not going on vacation, more work."
"No boyfriend since last time?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but... no. Not really."
"Not really?"
She