Chapter 7
Holy fuck, could Carla Hernandez organize shit. He wasn’t sure how she’d done it, but within a matter of hours, she’d inventoried all their supplies, found a way to get more of what they’d needed, and had sorted out a couple of Lola’s elderly neighbors.
All Jonah had done was hammer some boards and fill some sandbags, following her directions.
Just in time, too. The winds had picked up, and the sky had gone gray and sickly green in places. She needed to get back to the house—and soon. Carla was at one last neighbor’s place, making sure she had enough food and some boiled water to get through a power outage.
He should have gone with her. The way he’d started to feel responsible for her right after meeting her should freak him out. Every second that she wasn’t in his sight made Jonah more anxious. After seeing her get Lola’s house ready for the storm, he was sure that this morning’s anxiety attack had been an anomaly. No wonder she’d been upset with him seeing her like that. Something about her competence this morning had made him think that this was who she really was.
But knowing she could take care of her own shit—and everyone else’s—didn’t make him any less worried about her out in the building storm. She was so small she could blow away or get swept up in a flash flood as soon as it started raining.
His friend had said that they could expect thirty-nine inches. Jonah hadn’t missed his former paramour’s out-of-place double entendre when she’d said it. The joke had missed. His dick was big, but it wasn’t that big.
It started raining, fat drops that would soak Carla through in an instant if she was out in it. He was just as worried about himself for fretting like a nursemaid as he was about Carla getting home safe. But he’d seen a flash flood getting out of control before. He knew people who had died in natural disasters. This kind of shit where everyone said that everything was going to be okay made him nervous.
Just when he was ready to go out in the storm and fetch Carla by hand, she burst through the front door. Her filmy little top and shorts were soaked through, and he wasn’t that worried about her being cold; he was worried about how fast he could get her out of those wet clothes and on her back.
His mind went blank because he could see pert nipples poking at her top. He couldn’t make out the lines of a bra. She must not be wearing one. Like usual. Thinking about her tits hanging free had his mouth filling with saliva. The need to taste her almost had him walking across the foyer and carrying her caveman-style up the stairs to fuck her until the storm passed. That way, neither of them would have the time to worry about flooding or the speed of the wind.
Instead, he said, “You’re wet.”
“You’re obvious.” She squeezed a puddle of water out of her hair and onto the marble foyer floor. “Did you get all the windows boarded?”
He nodded. “We’re all safe and snug in here.” But he really wasn’t sure. They were protected by a sea wall, but who knew when that would crumble. If the tide breached the barrier, the roads would be a washout, and Lola’s house could get flooded to the second floor. Worst-case scenario, they ended up stuck on the roof. That wasn’t really the worst-case scenario, but he was trying not to think of anything beyond that.
“Did you take the nonperishables to the second floor?”
“I did everything you told me to.”
“Good boy.” Her words were laced with sarcasm, but she didn’t quite pull it off because she was shivering. He wanted to get her naked and warm her up, but he needed to step back for a hot minute. He wasn’t thinking clearly around this woman, and that could get him into trouble if he wasn’t extremely careful. If anything was going to happen between them, it needed to unfold slowly.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m your lap dog.”
“Oh, I know you’re not.”
Looking at her there, soaked through and succulent, terrified him. Like something in him knew that she wasn’t just demanding on a surface level. She would take everything he had to give her and more, just because she could. She might seem dainty and sweet, but she was the most dangerous kind of woman there was. She was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
She looked right back at him, a wry grin passing across her mouth, as though she knew what kind of power she had over men. As though she reveled in it.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What do you want to know?” She pinched a bit of the fabric of her top, flapping it in between her fingers. In the hall light, the movement revealed a silhouette of the underside of her breast. He bit his lip, knowing that she would see what he wanted to do to that fleshy bit right then.
“Why are you so calm getting ready for the storm?” As a follow-up, he wanted to know if she liked fucking doggy-style or up against a wall. He’d give her both if she asked, but he needed to know what she wanted more right now.
“You mean how am I so calm now when I was a basket case earlier?”
His face heated. Although he had only meant to distract himself from wanting to fuck Carla through a mattress, he’d poked at something that clearly bothered her and embarrassed her. She was probably going to toss him out in the storm now. “I guess, but I don’t think you were a basket case.”
“Well, I do.” She walked closer to him, her damp heat permeating his skin. “I got dumped. A gajillion people get dumped every day. And now I can’t even take a little street harassment? I’m wandering the streets like a lost, little moppet for no good reason. If it wasn’t happening to me, I wouldn’t believe it.”
“You were going to marry this guy?” Jonah hated this guy. Not only was he a loser, he was a loser who’d gotten to see Carla naked. A muscle in her cheek ticked as she nodded. “If you were going to marry him, he probably meant a lot to you.”
“Everything.” And now Jonah hated this dude even more. From what he saw today, Carla threw everything into a situation if it truly mattered to her. If she had given a guy everything, then he’d better have done everything he could to deserve her.
“Well, he’s an idiot. So now you’re freaked out because you gave everything to an idiot.”
She threw her head back and sighed. “It’s so embarrassing. All my friends are married, and most of them are expecting their first baby. And I get left at the altar. It’s all anyone could talk about when I would show up someplace for months. Eventually, I just stopped going.”
“It sounds like your friends have boring lives.” He knew he shouldn’t talk about something without properly chewing on the words first. He knew he could come off as judgmental sometimes.
“That’s judgmental. You don’t know their lives.” Her face was pink again, and when he looked down at her arms, the goose bumps she’d had when she walked through the door disappeared.
“I know they don’t have anything more interesting to do than talk shit about your life.” He shrugged, and her gaze dropped to his chest. “So, I’m guessing their lives are extremely boring.”
“You probably think you’re better than everyone else because you travel the world snapping pictures.” Her cheeks weren’t just pink now; they were red, and she looked like she was about to hurl her purse at him. “What do you have to show for it? A family? No, you had to glom on to mine and accuse Lola’s real family of trying to bilk her. You’re a pompous asshole.”
She tried to slip by him, but he grabbed her arm, surprising himself. He let go the instant she looked down on his hand with disdain.
* * * *
They’d been doing so well.
He hadn’t sniped at her once or even called her “princess” in a tone that bothered her in several hours. And she’d been feeling good about what she’d gotten done that day. She was always better when she had a project to work on. Who knew that storm preparation had a lot in common with party planning?
And then he had to go and be an asshole about her friends. Well, fuck that. She tried to stomp into the kitchen, but it was lame, with her sopping wet and wearing no shoes. She should head up to the bathroom to dry off, but she saw the way he looked at her while she was trying to get some of the damp out of her top. It was the same way he’d looked at her earlier. In her bedroom. Right before he’d kissed her back.
Even though he pretty much sucked, she liked having him look at her that way. And, since they were stuck here for the next twenty-four hours or so, she was going to make him look, but not touch, all night long.
She peeked into the refrigerator and got herself a cold beer. Since the power would likely go out, she would enjoy it while she could. The rum could wait for later. Alcohol would maybe help with the wanting-to kill-her-erstwhile-roommate situation.
She rested her head against the outdated stone countertop, exhausted to her bones. It wasn’t bad, necessarily. But she hadn’t felt this way in months. Staying inside had killed her business, which was another reason for her coming down here. Her father was going to pay her to redecorate the house. It wouldn’t make her even with her parents, not even close. They’d laid out almost a hundred thousand dollars for her wedding, and a lot of that had been forfeited when they’d canceled. So, her breakup was more than an embarrassment, it was just another reason for her to believe she didn’t measure up to the family standard.
Jonah came into the kitchen with a towel. “Dry off.”
He was so imperious, and it made her hot. She was still bent over at the waist, and she wanted to arch her back even more when he gave her that order.
His gaze dipped to her ass, which made her stand up even more slowly. She wondered what it would feel like if he smacked it. Would both cheeks fit in one of his palms? Probably not, but the power he could put into a spanking would probably press her pelvic bone against the edge of the counter. She could probably come that way. And she wanted to test that hypothesis right now despite the fact that Jonah was an asshole who thought she was frivolous and silly.
But, every time she got a smell or an eyeful of him, she couldn’t seem to care. She stood up and looked her fill. Took a deep gulp of beer.
“Little early for that, don’t you think?”
“I figure that lots of beer is the only way to make being stuck here with you any fun at all.”
“You know what won’t be fun?” He shook the towel at her, which made her want to take it even less. “Walking pneumonia.”
When she didn’t take the towel from his hand, he unfolded it and wrapped it around her.
“You sound like my mother.”
“At least I don’t look like her.”
She knew he probably didn’t mean it to sound like her mother was unfortunate-looking, but she wasn’t about to let it pass. “I do, so what’s wrong with the way I look?”
He stilled for a moment. “Nothing.”
Carla craned her neck and looked up at him. He hadn’t backed away when giving her the towel, and she pressed herself closer, mindless of the fact that she’d probably get him all wet.
“You hated me on sight, so there has to be something.” She sure as hell felt something now. The bulge in his jeans was proportional to everything out of his jeans. He might think she was empty-headed, but his cock didn’t give a crap.
He put his hands on her shoulders like he was going to push her away. Instead, he lifted her up by the waist and sat her on the counter. She still wasn’t at his eye level, so he leaned in close and gave his crafty villain smile. “Now, you’ve got me all wet.”
“Will you take your pants off?” She took another sip of beer. “I’d hate for that jumbo-sized treat in your pants to shrivel up.”
“No chance of that happening with you around.”
A tingling started in her chest. She was shocked that he’d admitted that he was to attracted her. Especially since she wasn’t ready to admit that they had chemistry out loud. She was still at the teasing and innuendo part of their situation. He was going to steal her fun if he took the bait too soon. But, then again, she’d probably give up the game entirely for some of what he could dish out.
“You don’t hate me then?”
“I never hated you.” He grabbed the towel again and rubbed her head with it. Being handled like she was a child coming out of her bath shouldn’t turn her on as much as it did. “I just didn’t trust you. I don’t really trust anyone.”
“Do you trust me now?”
He didn’t answer, and her stomach swirled with unease. She didn’t know why it was important that he trust her, just that it was important. After all, they were kind of a team in getting through this storm.
“Kind of.” He dropped the towel to the counter. “But that’s about as good as it gets for me.”
“I’ll take it.” For now.
“You did good getting us sorted for the storm. I’ve seen professionals start panicking when they realize that they’re actually going to have to weather a natural disaster in a place that’s ill equipped to handle it. You didn’t panic.”
Carla beamed under his praise but tried not to show it outwardly. She looked down. “I don’t know. I just don’t think there’s any use in panicking.” She didn’t miss the irony, remembering herself in the alley. “When there’s actually something to worry about.”
She gulped the rest of her beer so that she wouldn’t grab onto Jonah and try for another kiss. It would really help if he moved away, but he didn’t seem to be in any rush to do that.
“Any more of those beers in the fridge?” He still didn’t move away.
“Plenty.” She gestured. “You should get one. They’ll skunk if the power goes out.”
That earned her a smile and butterflies all over her body, but he still didn’t go get this beer he seemed so interested in talking about. “Wouldn’t have guessed that you liked beer.”
“Why not?” Her voice sounded husky and desirous, and she couldn’t help it. She licked her lips.
“Princesses usually don’t.”
“I’m not as much of a princess as you think I am.”
He dipped his head and nuzzled into her hair. Her breath caught. She had been expecting him to kiss her—wanting and waiting for it—but she hadn’t expected him to waste time doing something as silly as smelling her hair. He was probably getting a nose full of acid rain, but she hardly cared. The heat of him so close to her skin caused something inside her to bloom, soften, open up to anything he wanted to give her.
“You smell like rain.”
“Is that good?” Please let it be good. She wanted him to want her.
His only answer was an, “Mmmm,” as he moved her hair away from her neck and put his lips on her skin, tasting her flesh. She’d never felt so savored before, and it made her restless for more.
“What are you doing to me?”
The question made him stop, which was the last thing he wanted to happen. “Do you not want this? Weren’t you just sticking those tight little cheeks up in the air, hoping to drive me crazy so I would touch you here.” He palmed her in between her legs, punctuating his thought, and driving her mad.
She moved her legs further apart. How could she want him so much when he was in such control? He went back to kissing her neck, but he didn’t move his hand. Without volition, she pressed herself against him, praying for the fabric to move so she could feel his fingers against her skin. She wanted to jump inside him.
He moved down to her collarbone, his touches still maddeningly soft against her skin. She made a sound of protest, and he lifted his head again. “What’s wrong?”
“I want more.”
He braced his hands around her hips, leaving her wanting—again. “You want more?”
She nodded. With his hands off of her, she noticed how uncomfortable her damp clothes were against her skin, a slight musty smell starting to grow.
“If I give you more, you might not want it.” She didn’t miss the grimace on his face.
“You’re worried your dick is too big?” If he thought her eyes were bigger than her vagina, he had another think coming. When she’d thought about him the night before, he was just as big as what she’d felt in his pants. She had to remedy him of the erroneous idea that she was a delicate flower right about now. “I assure you that I am fully prepared to take whatever you give me.”
To make her point clear, she snaked her hand in between them and cupped him. He dropped his head back and made an animal noise, but he didn’t back off. He never backed off completely, but he seemed shy about sealing the deal. Her teasing him when he first came into the kitchen must have confused him. Or maybe he thought she was the one who was confused about what she wanted.
They were totally wrong for each other in a myriad of ways. She liked to stay close to her family in Miami; she wanted to see them more than once or twice a year. He traveled the world, most of the time looking for trouble—big trouble like war and famine. He thought she was silly and frivolous. She thought he was a judgmental jerk. She wanted a husband and babies. He wanted the next adventure.
This would be extremely time-limited, just for as long as they were trapped by the storm, but she needed what he had to offer. As hard and as often as he had to give it to her.
“You think you’re going to hurt me?”
“I know I am.” He pressed a hand to his abdomen, which she followed with hers, lifting his shirt. If he didn’t take it off, she was going to start feeling like a creep. She didn’t care as soon as her fingers met his smooth, ridged skin. He must live in a gym when he wasn’t on the road. “I’m so big, and you’re tiny.”
“You can’t possibly be as obtuse about how human coitus works as you sound right about now.” She wiggled her fingers into the waistband of his jeans. His pants were loose, so her fingers found the base of his cock. “You’ll fit.”
He grunted and pushed his hips toward her. “I know.” The knowledge that she could make him lose control sent chills all over her body, unrelated to the fact that she was wearing wet clothes. But his eyes snapped open.
“You’re cold.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Don’t argue with me.”
“Why not?”
“Because it makes me want to do things to you?”
“Really, like what?”
“I want to tear those little shorts off.” He ran his fingers under the hem. “And I want to turn you over and spank you.”
No one had ever spanked Carla before, no matter how bad or good she’d been. Her pussy went wet and soft as her fantasy came to life with his words. “Go on.”
“You really need me to fill in the blanks?” She scored through the hair surrounding his cock with her nails. “Fuck. Your hand is practically wrapped around my dick, and you want me to give you a play-by-play of the ways I’m going to fuck you if you let me.”
“Yes. It turns me on to hear you say it.” She pulled her hand out of his pants, pulled his shirt up, and ran her tongue along the line between the muscles of his abdomen. “What happens after you spank me?”
“I’m going to want to see how red I made those cheeks.”
Carla got his shirt up over his nipples and took a bite of one. His groan shook his chest. It shook her. She wanted to squeeze her legs together, maybe get his hand back there. She needed relief. “Why?”
“Why do I want to spank you?” He got his act together and pushed his hand down the back of her shorts, squeezing her flesh there. “Because watching you walk up a staircase is a religious experience.”
No one had ever said that about her ass before. She’d always thought it was disproportionally big for the rest of her body. But his hot hand against her chilled flesh made her want them both naked now.
“You want to spank me now?” She pulled his shirt over his head and took a minute to admire his torso. She’d been so taken with the muscles in his legs a few days ago, she hadn’t had the opportunity to pay homage to the rest of his truly spectacular physique. “Dude, how much do you work out?”
Then, he blushed. And it shocked the shit out of her and made her curious about him. He was this perfectly gorgeous man who seemed ashamed of several of the things that made him appealing. If he didn’t want people appreciating his body, he shouldn’t walk around looking like a damn superhero.
“It keeps my mind busy.”
She supposed that his job was stressful, and it might be good for him to blow off steam, especially if he was in a conflict zone. She had to think about mimosas in order to get through a spinning class. And that seemed shallow next to the things that Jonah likely experienced frequently. But this was about sexy times, not her own damage. “What else do you do to keep busy?”
He ran his hands up her lower back, taking her top with them. “I’m glad you’re not wearing one of those stupid little romper things again.”
She didn’t miss that he didn’t answer her question, but maybe the answer was sex. And, even though this was temporary, she didn’t want to think about him doing this with anyone else. Especially spanking. Spanking was her thing now. If only she could get him to do it and seal the deal. “Rompers aren’t stupid.”
“They are stupid because they make it harder for me to get you naked.”
“Nuh-uh. They are only one piece. One piece is easier than two pieces.”
He pulled her top off instead of continuing the argument. They’d only known each other for a few days, but she was beginning to understand how he interacted with others. If she asked a question he didn’t like, he didn’t answer it. He said something else or did something to piss her off. Now he had her taking off her shirt because she was no longer thinking about her wardrobe and relative ease of removing items, she was looking at him, looking at her with something on his face that approached awe.
She liked it, but it kicked up her heart rate. “Are you just going to stand there looking at them?”
“No. But I want to remember these.”
“So you can jack off to them later.” She leaned back. “I mean I guess I’m flattered, but I’d rather you try to remember them with your mouth.”
He swooped in and took one of her nipples between his teeth. She jumped but grabbed his head to keep him there. He pulled more of her breast in his mouth and licked her slowly and just the right way. Her mouth dropped open, and whatever he was doing to her traveled straight to her clit.
More than his mouth got down to business. He pulled down her shorts and panties and somehow lifted her up and pulled them off without her doing anything to help.
“Your size makes it possible for you to do that.” She dropped her head back when his lips traveled down her belly, and he held her open with his hands. “I like how big you are.”
He hadn’t even made her come yet, and she wanted to tie him up and bring him back to Miami with her. She could resume her previous social schedule and endure the pitying looks and outright scorn from the other Junior Leaguers if she was getting it every night from this guy.
When his mouth found her center she melted into him. She raised her head and looked down, wanting to commit this to memory so she could refer to him inside her as her very own form of anxiety relief.
“It’s so good.” She knew she sounded surprised, but it had been so long. Geoff had gone down on her every once in a while, but he’d never had what she would call an “assertive tongue.” He’d gamely hung out down there, but she’d had to do all the work, oftentimes to no avail.
This was so much better because Jonah held her hips still while he took his time tasting her. He used the perfect pressure, but he didn’t get into a groove, no repeats. Everything he did felt awesome, but her orgasm couldn’t get a head of steam behind it.
“Please.” She hated having to beg for anything, but begging for an orgasm was just pathetic. Unless it was the one that Jonah owed her after all this time between her legs. “Stop fucking around.”
He lifted his head, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from yelling in frustration.
“You are so used to getting what you want, aren’t you, princess?
“You don’t know anything about me.” Truth told, she hadn’t had an orgasm by anything but her own hand in ages. But she wasn’t about to tell him that truth. He’d feel sorry for her. She didn’t want a pity orgasm from him. She wanted the real deal. She wanted it because he wanted to be down there. “But when a man has his mouth between my legs, I expect to come.”
He sat back on his heels, bracing his hands on his upper legs. He was still almost eye level with all of her good bits. “I was getting to that part.” He shook his head with a wicked smile. “You really do have to learn to enjoy the journey more, princess.”
“Stop calling me that. I’m at enough risk of losing my lady boner as it is.” He stood up on his knees and grabbed her legs again, as if he thought he could assuage her with touch. He could. “I just happen to really like this particular destination, and I’d be much obliged if you take the direct route to getting there.”
“And that would be?”
He was asking her? She felt sort of ridiculous explaining exactly what she wanted him to do, but his thumbs were rubbing the crease between her thighs and her pussy. It made her pathetic situation desperate. “Just do the sucking thing. The licking thing is nice, but it’s a diversion.”
Before she’d gotten all the words out, he swooped in and started with the sucking thing. After the pause, it was almost too intense. She wasn’t about to complain because it went from too much to just enough very quickly. Her muscles twitched, and she grabbed at his hair. When he added a tongue swoop, it pulled her over the edge, and she came. She whimpered and slumped over his head, effectively trapping him.