not with superstuds like Jaiven Rodriguez. He’d seen her control-top underwear, for heaven’s sake.
And yet he was still here, and judging by the size of his arousal, he wanted to be. He wanted her.
Desire crashed over her at the thought.
“You’re not getting cold feet, are you,” Jaiven murmured as he drew her naked body to his, points and curves colliding in exquisite agony. “Because you know what I said about that.”
“Nope,” Louise assured him. “Just kind of amazed this is happening, actually.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
“I bet you do.” She could feel the rough hair of Jaiven’s legs against her own; his arousal pressing insistently between her legs. She stifled a moan of pure longing. Jaiven nipped at her earlobe, sending sizzling arrows of sensation shooting throughout her body, before he scooped her easily in his arms and brought her to the bedroom of the hotel suite. He deposited her on the silky, slippery duvet before joining her there, his mouth finding her breast, his hand seeking between her thighs.
Louise arched off the bed, her body short-circuiting with sensory overload. It had been a really long time since she’d felt anything like this.
Her hands clawed at the sheets as Jaiven moved his mouth down her body, tongue licking and teasing as he found her navel, her hip, and then—
“Oh dear heaven.”
She bucked under his knowing mouth, her body ablaze as he hooked her legs over his shoulders, her climax coming so fast and hard she barely had time to catch a breath. She let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a shout, and gently Jaiven lowered her legs.
“That was easy,” he murmured, but Louise was too overwhelmed by the aftershocks of her orgasm to be embarrassed.
“It’s been a while,” she said with a shaky laugh, and Jaiven pressed a kiss against her middle.
“I gathered that.”
And even though she was still recovering from that last wave of pleasure, she could feel a pressure building up inside her once more, and as Jaiven touched her with such knowing expertise, she felt that restless ache again.
It seemed an age before he finally gave her what her body had been clamoring for; he rolled on a condom and then slid inside her so she gasped at the sudden sense of completion she felt. She wrapped her legs around his waist and arched into him, meeting him thrust for thrust, clumsily at first because it had been so long and then remembering the rhythm.
And then exploding into fragments, the pieces of her tightly held self scattering under the force of their shared climax.
Afterward she lay underneath him, his heart thundering against hers, her face tucked into his shoulder. She’d forgotten how intimate sex was. It seemed crazy that people could have dozens or hundreds of lovers, that they would share this experience with anyone they didn’t truly care about.
And yet she just had. She didn’t care about Jaiven; she didn’t even know him. And what notch was she on his bedpost? About seven thousand?
Squirming a little, she rolled out from under him. He let her go, falling onto his back as he watched with an amused, knowing little smile.
“Thanks for that,” Louise said, inwardly cringing at the ridiculousness of her words. But what did you say to someone who had essentially just serviced you? Of course, he’d had his share of pleasure. But when she’d agreed to go back to this hotel with Jaiven she hadn’t quite taken into consideration the awkwardness of the afterward.
She needed to get out of there fast.
* * *
Thanks for that?
Amused, Jaiven watched as Louise hunted around for her clothes, having obviously forgotten that they were in the living room. He quickly took care of the condom before rising onto one elbow as he watched her search through the scattered bedclothes.
“If you’re looking for those impressive underpants, they’re in the other room.”
“Ah, right.” She averted her face, her hair coming down to swing against her cheek in a soft, dark waterfall. Then she hurried from the room, presumably in search of her clothes.
Jaiven gave her about thirty seconds before he followed, lounging in the doorway as he watched her hunt for her underthings. There was something inherently sexy, he mused, about a naked woman looking for clothes. She grabbed her dress, held it to her body as she went in search of her bra and pants.
“You don’t have to go quite so soon, you know,” Jaiven offered lazily. “I was just getting started.”
She shot him one quick, surprised look. “I’m good. And I’ve got essays to mark.”
Essays to mark? She was leaving his bed so she could grade a bunch of college papers? He would be offended if he didn’t think that Louise leaving like this was for the best.
It had been fairly obvious from the moment she’d walked into the hotel room that she didn’t play by his rules. One-night stands were the aberration rather than the norm. And since he didn’t do any messy emotion or serious sentiment, it was better all around if Louise beat a hasty retreat.
Except he didn’t want her to go.
He watched as she found the last of her clothes and clutched the whole bundle to her as she searched rather wildly for the bathroom.
“Through the bedroom,” he offered.
She muttered her thanks as she headed for the bathroom, only to come to an abrupt and awkward halt in front of him.
Slowly she tilted her head up to meet his gaze. “I think you need to move.”
“You’re not going to run away now, are you?”
“I’m not running away,” she snapped, her clothes still pressed to her chest. “I told you, I have stuff to do.” Her cheeks reddened again, rather adorably. And Jaiven wasn’t used to thinking of women as adorable. But then everything about Louise had confounded him; even the sex had been surprising.
He’d always viewed sex as a tit-for-tat type of exchange; he gave pleasure in order to receive it. But the giving of pleasure had never been more than a necessary part of the bargain…until tonight.
Until Louise Jensen had come alive under his mouth and hands, and her response had made his own pleasure all the sweeter. Deeper.
“You have stuff to do at eleven o’clock on a Saturday night?” He arched an eyebrow, challenging her to keep his gaze. She did, and he admired her for it. She might be shy, uncertain, embarrassed, but Louise Jensen possessed a strength and confidence all of her own. He found he liked it.
“Look, both you and I know what this is,” she said, lifting her chin a notch. “A one-night stand. And as you’ve probably guessed, I’m not well versed in the protocol.”
“I guessed,” Jaiven agreed in a murmur. She’d caught her lower lip between her teeth and just that thoughtless little gesture had desire rushing through him again. No way was she ducking out of here now.
“So I think it’s easier all around if I just leave.”
“How is it easier, Louise?” He braced his arm against the doorjamb, blocking any exit she might have been hoping to have. “You’ve come this far, and I mean that in all sorts of ways.”
“Your double entrendres are so charming.”
“Secretly I think you like them.” He took a step closer to her, so her breasts brushed his bare chest. He felt her shudder, or maybe it was his response he felt, because that was strong, too. Overwhelming.
“I’ll say please,” he answered in a low voice. Gooseflesh rippled across her skin and she shivered. “Please stay. Please let me make love