Jake (California Dreamy) - By Rian Kelley Page 0,21

you’ve been close enough to break point to know your own resilience. It’s a real draw.”

Beauty from ashes, she thought. We can rise up, like the phoenix. A rebirth and, from what she understood, new life always rose from a bloody mess.

“You haven’t heard the worst part yet,” she said. “I sacrificed my relationship with my sister in order to wallow in my misery.”

“You can fix that,” he said and she loved that about him. He was always positive. Always saw the possibilities. He didn’t look at circumstances but at potential. It seemed like it came

naturally to him, where she had had to work at getting there. But she knew that wasn’t true. And it wasn’t fair—he’d earned his maturity just as she had.

“I already did,” she told him, then pulled on his hand to continue their walk to the car.

Chapter Seven

Jake watched Ivy place her foot on the railing and then fold her body over the long, supple length of her leg. She was wearing short-shorts that hiked up her thigh and bared the soft curve of her buttocks. The sneak peak throbbed in his cock. He wanted to reach over and tug at the material—there were other guys around, jogging or biking along the path, and he didn’t want them to have what every atom in his body screamed was his. Not even a glimpse of it.

He told himself to turn around. To look at the ocean. To follow the wheeling of the sea gulls overhead. Anything but focus on the way her clothes—or lack of them—sheathed her body.

Damn. There was no way he could run with a hard-on and he was more than half way there.

She brought her foot down and turned, lifting her face so that she could deliver a cheeky smile.

Jake felt a growl rumble through his chest. “You know exactly what you’re doing.”

“I hope so.” She moved closer, until there was only an inch of air between them. “For some reason, I really want to win today.”

“This isn’t a race,” he pointed out.

“I want to be stronger than you,” she revealed.

“That will never happen.”

“Them are fighting words,” she returned.

“Are you competitive in all things?”

She tipped her head to the side, considering. “I didn’t think I was competitive at all. Until I met you.” She lifted her hands, letting them flutter around his body. “You’re just so obviously fit. Strong. Immovable.” Then she leaned closer. “I want to move you, Jake.”

He could taste her breath and nearly popped a boner when her tongue slipped between her lips to stroke them.

“You know you do.” He was already breathing like he’d run a mile.

“Control, that’s it,” she said, stumbling onto her discovery. “You’re always in control. And I want you to lose it. I want to be the reason you do.”

She lifted her hand and Jake could see the intent in her eyes. He matched his palm to hers and stopped her before she could lay a teasing touch on him.

“Do that and I’ll have to change my pants,” he warned.

Ivy’s eyes flared and then her laughter bubbled up, throaty and full. She laced her fingers with his.

“Then I have you where I want you.”

“I’ve been there from hello.”

Her smile deepened. “Catch me if you can,” Ivy invited and sprinted off.

Jake watched her go.

He’d never run half aroused. He’d heard that some men ran into battle with a full erection, that it made them more alert and was responsible even for the more daring charges into enemy territory—steps men would have lacked the courage to take had they not been on edge—and the most stunning victories. As he fell into an easy lope, he had serious doubts about those reports. He tried to ignore the rub of material against his shaft and made his eyes focus on Ivy’s hair, the way her pony tail bounced and swayed with her steps. Every time his gaze began to drop lower, Jake pulled it back. He increased his pace, lengthened his stride, and kept Ivy within capture. Which wasn’t easy.

She was fast and smooth, her arms toned and her body fluid. A sheen of sweat covered her skin and Jake thought about licking her clean. Salty, sweet, spicy. She would be all of those, satisfying his tastes. He wondered if she would let him between her thighs, allow him to bring her to satisfaction first by stroking her sex with his tongue and drinking deeply of her essence.

He wanted that more than he wanted joining with her. He wanted her