Page 65 of Pursuing Desire

The hotel room is eerily quiet. The sun hasn’t come up fully yet, so the room is still bathed in shadows with only the barest hint of light. Jess is sleeping soundly. Her hair is spread across the pillow, curls in total disarray. Her back is to me, and I’m wrapped around her, both of us totally naked. I’ve never been much of an after-sex cuddler, but I have to admit it feels damn good to wake up like this.

The last twenty-four hours keep replaying in my head. I see Jess’s laughing face as we tease each other, Jess in the throws of passion, Jess telling me we aren’t compatible. I don’t know why I’m so enthralled by her, and somewhere along the way, I stopped caring about the why. Everything about her captivates me.

I’m so attuned to her that I feel the tiniest movements she makes in her sleep. And now, I can tell that she is finally waking up. I quietly wait for the moment when she realizes that I’m wrapped around her like a snug cocoon.

She shifts just slightly away from me and moves her leg as though she’s trying to slowly extricate herself from my arms.

I’m not quite ready to let her go. So I tighten my arms and pull her back to me.

I can feel the smile in her raspy voice. “Good morning, Dax. I was trying not to wake you.”

“I was already awake. Did you sleep well? You seemed pretty exhausted last night.”

She laughs sexily. “Yeah, someone wore me out. I’m completely incapable of moving a muscle right now.”

I touch my lips against the side of her neck. “Who would do such a thing? Give me a name, and I’ll take care of him,” I tell her.

“Mmm, he’s about six-foot-two, dark hair, the most stunning blue eyes I’ve ever seen, and, well, he also happens to be my fiancé.”

I trail little kisses along her neck and down her arm. “I was going to kick his ass. But you know, he sounds pretty amazing.”

“He seems to think so,” she says with a husky laugh. She rolls over onto her back and stretches her arms above her head. She looks like a woman who has been well satisfied, like a cat who has gotten her cream. She reaches up with her finger and runs it along the side of my jaw. “I don’t want him to get a big head or anything, so I won’t be admitting to how amazing he was last night.”

The sound of her voice is a soothing caress, warm and soft. There’s a strange feeling in my chest when I listen to her. Do I desire her? Hell, yes. But it’s more than that. I feel as though I could lay here all day and just talk to her. No sex, just talk. I want to know what she’s thinking, what she’s feeling. In all of my thirty-two years and all of my different relationships, I don’t recall ever feeling that way. I’ve cared for the women I’ve dated, but I’ve never once wanted to just lay in bed and listen to one of them talk.

I’m on the edge of new territory, and I’m not exactly sure how I feel about that.

“What do you think about staying in bed all day? We could order some room service and watch some movies.”

My suggestion is just as surprising to me as it is to her.

Jess’s eyes go wide at first, but then she leans up and kisses me solidly on the mouth. “Sounds great. However, we can’t. The show has given us an itinerary for the day. We have to get going soon.”

“Screw the show. I don’t feel like following the itinerary. I say we make our own schedule. It can include food, vegging, sex, food, then more vegging. And if you’re nice to me, maybe more sex.”

I nuzzle her neck, and she lets out a squeal as she ducks away.

“You need to shave. Your prickly stubble is scratching me,” she accuses. She pokes my chest and flips onto her side so that she can get out of bed. “And no, we can’t just lay in bed. We have commitments. Our photo shoot starts in a little over an hour. So let’s go, lazy butt.”

I fold my hands under my head and look at her through half-closed eyes. “If you want me to get out of bed, come and get me. Bet you’re too scared,” I taunt.

“Ha! I’m not scared of a rich, spoiled brat.”

“If you’re listing my many attributes, you’re missing several. I’m also handsome, sexy, hilariously funny, and I have rock-hard abs. So enchanted by my stunning good looks, women have fainted at the sight of me.”

“And you’re modest as well,” she says wryly. “Now, can you get your ass up? I’m going in the shower.”

I sit up quickly. “Well, if you’d just said that to start with . . .”

“No, you’re not joining me,” Jess says sternly. “We don’t have time for your sexual antics this morning. If you come within two feet of me, I will kick you in the balls.”

“Kiss? I like the sound of that.” I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively.

“You wish.”

I scrunch my face up in a grimace. “That’s just plain mean. What did my balls ever do to you?”

She puckers her lips up in an exaggerated kiss, then turns and saunters toward the bathroom. She shakes her fine ass the entire way.