He moved his hand, not over her breast even though he still wanted to touch her there, to feel the hard little nipple, the firm resiliency of her flesh, but rather up between her breasts, over the smooth skin between. She moaned as the T-shirt rode up on his arm, and he let his fingers slide higher until he cupped her throat.

He kept kissing her, alert for her response to the dominant gesture. Some women didn’t like that. But she melted into him, apparently confident that his touch there wasn’t a threat. He kept his touch carefully gentle, softly possessive as he kissed her, breathed her in, stroked her tongue with his, then let his fingertips glide down between her breasts again.

And finally, finally he cupped one full mound and he couldn’t stop the groan that escaped him at the feel of her softness filling his palm. Jesus. She was exquisite. Her hot whimpers and cries filled his senses as he took one nipple between thumb and forefinger and squeezed.

His mind fogged, his body burned. “So I’m guessing that’s a yes.”

She tipped her head back and blinked at him. Fuck, she was sexy! All heavy-lidded eyes with smudgy eye makeup now revealed without the sexy librarian glasses, her mouth all swollen and shiny. “What?” she murmured.

One corner of his mouth kicked up. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. “I asked if you want to make out.”

The slow curve of her mouth sent another shaft of heat right through him. “No. I don’t.”

He laughed. Out loud. With a hard-on, for Chrissakes. Shoved a hand into her tousled hair and brought her head back to his for another long, drugging kiss. But he couldn’t leave those breasts alone for long and after a moment he broke the kiss, slid his hand out from her panties and used both hands to draw her shirt up and over her head. She lifted her arms obediently to assist.

He could only stare in awe at her naked torso, full round breasts gleaming in the lamplight, pretty nipples all pulled into dark pink peaks right in the center. “Sweet Jesus,” he breathed, running both hands up the sides of her rib cage. “You are so fucking gorgeous, Shelby.”

Her mouth went soft and her eyes hazy as she watched him, and she lifted a hand and pushed the hair back from his forehead in a tender gesture that tugged at something way deep inside him.

He laid her carefully back onto the arm of the couch and bent over her, taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking. It fit perfectly to his tongue, lengthening so sweetly. Her fingers slid through his hair, over his scalp, sending waves of pleasure rolling over his entire body, coalescing at his groin where he was so hard he hurt.

He cupped her breast with his hand, lifted it to his mouth, closed his eyes and suckled. Let the nipple slide out of his mouth, slow and seductive. Then he moved to the other breast. He wanted to eat her up, all of her, somehow. So he spent endless long minutes there, tasting and nibbling and playing. She arched her back, lifted herself to his hungry mouth, hands on his head pulling him to her breast.

He could stay there forever licking and sucking, rubbing his face over soft curves, breathing in the scent of her skin.

“So sweet, Shelby Rose. So damn sweet.”

“Love that.” Her voice whispered over his skin like a caress. “You’re making me so hot, Jake.”

“Good. Wanna make you burn, baby. ’Cause I sure am.”

He was about to burst, his balls agonizingly tight, and he wanted to bury himself in her sweet pussy. Sweat dampened the back of his shirt and cooled on his forehead. A ferocious hunger for her had him tugging the drawstring of her yoga pants until it released, then hooking his fingers into the soft fabric and drawing it down her thighs. She helped him push them off and lay across his lap wearing only sheer, black lace panties, a striking contrast to the casual clothes she’d had on. He blinked at them, fascinated. “These are nice,” he finally croaked, touching his fingertips to the scalloped edge.

She smiled at him, a secret, feminine smile that told him she loved his reaction. His body sizzled with the need to be inside her. He was about to start inching the lacy underwear down her legs when a loud knocking noise erupted in the room.

His head jerked up. What the hell?

“Someone’s at my door,” she whispered, eyes wide. She sat up, arms crossed across her chest.

He could have wept. Why now?

“Don’t answer it,” he urged her. His cock throbbed insistently.

She bit her lip then reached for her glasses. Then her cell phone buzzed somewhere in the room.

“What if it’s about Adam?” she hissed, sliding the glasses on her nose and rising off the couch. She grabbed her clothes and, clutching them to her, hurried to the door.

He watched her pretty little ass in those tiny black lace panties as she crossed the room, admired the elegant curve of her bare back, her blonde hair brushing her shoulder blades. He heaved a heavy sigh and put his hand to his aching cock. Shit.

“Just a minute!” he heard her call to whoever was on the other side of the door. Then a rustling sound as she tried to dress hurriedly, a thump, a muffled curse and then the door opened. “What are you two doing here?” Her voice sounded breathless.

Shelby’s heart raced as she let Myra and Riley in.

“What’s going on?” she demanded, trying to breathe. She was all hot and bothered from making out with Jake, and seeing her friends at her door unexpectedly just totally threw her off. “Is it Adam? Is he okay?”

“Yes, he’s okay, as far as we know. We just thought we’d come over and see how you’re doing.” Riley snapped her phone shut and Shelby’s phone stopped warbling as Riley walked past Shelby toward her living room. “You seemed upset last night after we saw him in the hospital and I had nothing to…” She stopped in the doorway. “Oh. Uh…hi.”

Myra, following behind Riley, stopped too.

Shelby pushed her hair off her face and swallowed her sigh. “You haven’t met Jake, have you?”

Riley swiveled her head and stared at Shelby. “No. We haven’t.”

Riley turned back to Jake, still sitting on the couch. He sat up straight, very carefully, and Shelby winced as she realized why. Would her friends notice?

Riley might have, because she turned to study Shelby and amusement tipped up the corners of her mouth. “Jesus, Shelby, I’m so sorry.”

Myra’s grin widened. “Uh…Shelby, hon, your shirt’s on inside out.”

Shelby looked down at the inside-out T-shirt, her hard nipples poking through it, and heat swept from her cheeks right down to her chest. Her braless chest. Oh crap. She gave her friends a weak smile.

She expected them to leave once they realized what they’d interrupted, but no, Myra sauntered over to a chair and plunked herself down in it. “I’m Myra,” she said to Jake with a wide smile.

He held out a hand. “Jake Magill. Nice to meet you, Myra.”

“We thought Shelby might not want to be sitting at home alone. Though she clearly isn’t.” She winked, then sobered. “I guess you’ve heard about our friends Adam and Kiara?”

“Yeah, I have. I’m sorry.”

She nodded. “Yeah, it sucks, huh?” She glanced at Shelby. “We could use a drink.”

“Myra, we should go,” Riley said, giving Myra a pointed look.

Shelby stood there, fingers curling into her palms. Her body still tingled everywhere, her pussy aching, her nipples on fire from all Jake’s attention to them. Lord, the man knew how to turn her on.

Hell, all he had to do was look at her to turn her on.

“We can stay for one,” Myra said to Riley, returning the look.

Shelby wanted to tell her friends this wasn’t very good timing but clearly they already knew that. She sighed and walked toward the kitchen. “Wine?”

“That’d be great.”

The twinkle in Myra’s eyes told Shelby that Myra knew exactly how annoying she was being and didn’t care. What was with her? She shot her friend an evil glare from behind Jake’s back as she poured white wine into two glasses. While she was there, she snagged two beers out of the fridge and tucked them under her arm so she could carry the wine to her friends. Riley had taken a seat on another armchair.