was right. The only thing certain was this moment. And tasting her, touching her, was everything. His brain was done. He just wanted to feel. He wanted to connect. He wanted to make her happy. He wanted to make her feel something other than fear.
Kissing her now felt different than it had at her house. There was more emotion and an even greater urgency to get rid of the barriers between them.
He lifted his head and turned her around, reaching for the zip on the back of her dress. He slid it down, revealing a lavender bra and dark-purple panties. He smiled to himself as her dress fell to the floor. He loved that there was always something unexpected about Maya.
She turned to face him, her hands moving to his shirt. He tugged it off and tossed it on the ground, then stripped off his pants and briefs while she unfastened her bra and slipped out of her panties. And when he gazed at her bare, beautiful form, he thought she was absolutely perfect, the prettiest woman he'd ever seen.
She licked her lips. "You're staring."
"So are you," he said, very aware of her gaze raking his body.
"Are we going to do more than look?"
"So much more," he promised. He took her hand once more and this time he didn't lead her through fire; he took her into his bedroom.
As she moved onto the bed, he opened his bedside table drawer and pulled out a couple of condoms. And then he stretched out next to her, pulling her into his arms, kissing her hot mouth, running his hands up and down her back and around her sweet ass, as she did her own exploring.
The heat between them was as hot as the fire they'd just escaped, and as he ran his mouth down her neck and cupped her breasts and slid his leg between hers, he stopped thinking altogether. He just wanted to taste and touch and drive her crazy. Every gasp of her pleasure became his pleasure. He took them as high as they could go, and then they caught each other on the way down.
Chapter Eighteen
Maya turned to Jax more than once in the night. Making love with him was the most unbelievable experience, and she kept wanting more. In between the erotic highs, they would talk and laugh. She'd never felt so much like herself with a man. And wrapped in his arms, the earlier fears of the night seemed very far away.
Sometime in the night she drifted to sleep, finally awakening to the sun streaming through a skylight over the bed. Jax apparently didn't have a problem with the light waking him up. He had to be a morning person. In fact, he was already out of bed.
She felt a little disappointed that he was gone. She'd had a few really good ideas about how to wake him up. But the scent of coffee brewing was a big consolation. And was that bacon?
Her stomach rumbled. She'd definitely worked up an appetite. In fact, she couldn't remember when she'd last eaten. It was at Belle's when they'd had brunch. Dinner had never occurred to her. There had simply been too much going on, but now she was starving.
She slid out of bed and moved into the bathroom. It was warm and steamy, telling her Jax had been in there recently. And once again she was hit by a wave of longing for the shower they could have taken together. As she stepped under the hot spray, she closed her eyes and let herself savor the moments they had shared, the various ways he'd touched her, his hands rough and urgent, and then slow and tender, reflecting the way his mouth had moved on her as well. The man had a lot of layers. He was certainly not one note. Sometimes, she thought she knew him well. And other times, she didn't think she knew him at all.
But every time she learned something about him, she liked him more. She liked the way he laughed, the fact that he found her amusing. She liked the way he didn’t take himself too seriously. He didn't seem to be someone who cared that much about what anyone thought of him and that was refreshing, having grown up in a place where looks and image were often valued more than anything else. Most of all, she appreciated his willingness to let her lead, whether it was in their detective work or in