“This. This flirting.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“That depends on its purpose. If you’re doing it to mess with my head, then yes, stop, please, it’s torture. But if you’re trying to work me into a frenzy so I can’t keep my hands off you—”

“The second one.”

His heart stuttered.

She took another sip of her juice. “Drink?” she offered, tipping the bottle toward him.

Juice sloshed out of the bottle and splashed against his chest. It trickled down the center of his belly and disappeared into the waistband of his shorts. “Whoops.” She leaned forward and licked the juice from his skin, working her way down his body.

He wished his brain worked better when his dick was hard. What had turned her from cold to hot in less than half an hour?

“I thought you said you hated me,” he said.

She stood straight again and leaned closer, her hand pressing against the tent in his shorts. He drew a sharp breath through his teeth.

“I still hate you,” she said. “That doesn’t seem to stop me from wanting you, though.”

“So, this is just about—”

“Sex, Sedric. Nothing more.”

Could he have a purely sexual relationship with Jessica? He had no problem having that kind of relationships with dozens of other women, so why was he hesitating with her? Because she was different.

She could hurt him.

She did hurt him.

Just looking at her hurt. When he couldn’t see her, it hurt. When he thought about her, it hurt. When he tried not to think about her, it hurt. But which hurt more, being with her or being without her?

The entire time his internal battle raged, she just stared up at him, waiting for him to make the next move. His hand trembled as he lifted it to cup her jaw. His thumb brushed across her lips. Should he kiss her? She wouldn’t realize that he hadn’t kissed another woman since he’d fallen in love with her. Maybe his body had cheated, but his heart never had.

Her eyes drifted closed as he lowered his head. He hesitated, a hair’s breadth between their lips. Something told him he’d regret this tomorrow, but now seemed more important. He traced the contour of her lush upper lip with his tongue. She sighed, trembling, as her lips parted. His tongue probed deeper, running along the ridge of her teeth, the roof of her mouth, and then stroked the surface of her tongue. She groaned and squeezed his hard-on through his shorts.

He shuddered and kissed her deeply, a ripple of delight streaking down his spine. He drew the tang of orange juice from her mouth into his, kissing her until her unique flavor greeted his tongue. That’s what he wanted. Her taste. God, he’d missed it so much. He couldn’t get enough. She groaned into his mouth.

The bottle of orange juice slipped from her hand. It hit the floor with a thunk and tipped onto its side, its contents glugging out and spreading across the linoleum.

Jessica pulled away. “Oh crap.”

She bent to retrieve the half-empty bottle, put it on the table, and reached for a dish towel. He spooned up against her back, his hand running up her belly under her shirt.

“Leave it.”

“It will just take me a second to clean it up.”

“I’ll go kick Eric out of the bedroom.”

She shook her head. “That’s not necessary. Go grab a blanket and spread it over the sofa. I’ve got something for you.”

There wasn’t much privacy in the living room area. Someone could enter the bus at any moment, but maybe that’s what she wanted. Fine with him.

While Jessica cleaned up her mess, Sed yanked the blankets from his bunk and spread them over the sofa.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to kick Eric out of the bedroom?” Sed asked.

“I’m sure.”

She approached him slowly, looking deeply into his eyes. When she paused before him, he reached for her, but she placed a hand on his chest and shook her head at him. “No touching the dancer.”

“Huh?”

She pushed his shorts down over his hips, drawing them down his legs as she squatted in front of him. He lifted one foot and then the other. She tossed his shorts aside, leaving him completely naked. She ran her hands up his thighs, hips, belly, and chest as she stood again. Craving her attention, his cock twitched.

“Have a seat,” she said breathlessly.

He sat on the sofa and reached to pull her down to join him.

She took a step backward. “No touching the dancer.”

“Jess—”

“Shh.”

He dropped his hands and watched her walk over to the stereo system. After some fumbling, she turned it on and a song from Sinners’ latest CD came from the speakers.

“This is my favorite band.” Jessica smiled at him over her shoulder. “The lead singer is gorgeous. Listen to that voice. Mmmmm.” She rolled her eyes with undisguised delight.

“I hear he’s hung like a horse.”

Jessica’s gaze dropped to his jutting cock and she licked her lips. “Horses are jealous.”

He laughed.

His smile faded when her hips started to sway to the music.

She ran her hands over the luscious curve of her ass and bent forward, her long strawberry blonde hair brushing the floor in front of her. She rocked her hips back and forth, and though she was still clothed, he couldn’t draw his attention from the sweet spot between her thighs. She stood, flipping her glorious hair over her back as she ground her hips and squatted down to the floor before standing again. She turned to face him, still gyrating her hips. Her hands moved to the fly of her pants.

She unfastened the button and inched the zipper down, dancing for him seductively. Her hands ran up her sides, revealing the skin of her flat belly as she eased her shirt upward.

“Take it off,” he murmured.

“Take what off?”

“I want to see your tits.”

She pushed her shirt higher, teasing him with the vision of the under curves of her full breasts. She turned around, revealing an expanse of her sexy lower back, and peeled her shirt off over her head. He loved the way her thick, wavy hair brushed over the skin of her back as she continued to sway her hips. He imagined his fingers tangled in those silky, flowing locks, pulling her head back so he could suck on her collarbone, her throat, her jaw, her ear, her…

She tossed her shirt at him. It hit him in the chest and slid down to cover his lap. She turned to face him, her hands cupping her naked breasts. Her pink nipples protruded from between her fingers. He wanted to draw his tongue over them. Make them hard like he was hard. Draw shudders from her body. Deep sighs from her throat.

She danced closer. He reached for her and she paused.

“No touching the dancer.”

“This is torture, Jessica.”

She pouted. “I thought you’d like it.”

“I do like it. I like it too much. It’s driving me crazy.”

She smiled. “I’m not finished yet.”

She pulled her shirt from his lap. When the fabric brushed over his most sensitive flesh, he drew a sharp breath through his teeth. She stood on the sofa, one foot on either side of his hips and squatted in front of him so his face was between her breasts. He turned his head and tugged her nipple into his mouth, sucking it rapidly to a hardened point. She gasped and jerked away.

“No touching the—”

“You didn’t say anything about sucking on the dancer,” he murmured, and tugged her nipple back into his mouth. She cupped his face and shifted his mouth to her other breast.

“Why can’t you behave?” she whispered, shuddering as his tongue flicked over her pebbled flesh.

He leaned back and looked up at her. “Do you want me to behave?”

She chuckled. “Not really.”

She pulled away and turned to face the other direction, rubbing her ass and the rough fabric of her jeans over his engorged cock. He grabbed her hips, but she slapped his hands away and moved off the couch again.

While she danced in front of him, she stroked her nipples in hypnotic circles, making them even more erect.