MINDY WALKED THROUGH the door of Jax’s apartment. He followed close behind her, a bag of groceries in his left hand, his right free to reach his weapon. She had never imagined having a bodyguard, but she was glad Jax had volunteered for the job.
On the way to his house, he had suggested they order pizza or Chinese takeout, but she figured as a bachelor he ate that a lot. He’d been disappointed that he didn’t get the home-cooked meal, so she’d persuaded him to stop at the market. They were having spaghetti and meatballs, French bread and a salad with herb vinaigrette.
Not that she was all that hungry.
Still, she needed to stay healthy and to keep up her spirits. She believed in Jax. He was working with Hawk, Chase and the Dallas police. They would figure out what was going on. In the meantime, Jax would keep her safe.
His one bedroom apartment was Spartan, with a dark brown tweed sofa and chairs in the living room, a coffee table made from the crosscut slab of a redwood tree varnished to a glossy sheen, and a huge flat-screen TV.
The place was masculine in the extreme and suited him perfectly. It was also immaculately clean. Jax was former military. The lessons he had learned had obviously stayed with him.
The kitchen was larger than her own. As Mindy started cooking dinner, water boiled in a pot on the stove, steaming up the room and the lenses of her glasses. She took them off and set them on the windowsill. She could see without them, just not that well, but certainly enough to cook. She returned to stirring the spaghetti sauce, simmering in the skillet, and looked up to see Jax walking in.
Her breath hitched. He was the hottest, sexiest man she had ever seen.
“Smells great,” he said.
Mindy looked down and stirred the sauce. “I hope you like it.”
“You cook for Wyman?” Jax asked.
“Sometimes. He preferred going out most nights.”
“If you were my woman, I’d have a hard time letting you out of the house.” He smiled. “And you can cook, too. How much better does it get?”
A flush stole over her. If she was his woman? She refused to let herself imagine it.
He grabbed the wooden spoon off the counter, reached around her to scoop up a bite and swore under his breath when he burned his tongue.
“Be careful,” she said.
He just smiled. “It’s delicious.” He was standing so close she could feel the muscles across his chest moving against her back. The front of his jeans rubbed against hers where they curved over her behind.
She almost moaned.
Jax eased away. “So...you and Wyman, you were pretty serious for a while, before he started drinking and doing drugs.”
She nodded. “Smoking pot mostly, but still...”
The pasta and sauce were done. She turned off the stove and turned to face him. “That wasn’t the only reason we broke up. There were...other issues.”
“Yeah, like what?”
Oh, boy. She wished she hadn’t opened this particular Pandora’s box. “We were...um...incompatible in other ways.” She could feel the color rising in her cheeks. Jax noticed, and his dark eyes sharpened.
“You mean physical ways? You two weren’t compatible in bed?”
She moistened her lips, barely able to force out the words. “That’s right.”
Jax’s gaze held hers. “Why not?” He seemed to be demanding an answer. Her breathing went shallow. Her heart beat too fast. Did she have the courage to tell him?
“Curt was pretty much...um...a beta kind of guy. He liked me to...um...take the lead in the bedroom. But that’s just not my thing.”
She had barely seen him move, but suddenly he was closer, just inches away. “So you like a man who takes charge.”
She swallowed. She could see the heat in his eyes, feel the hunger in every muscle in his body. He wanted her. This was her chance to fulfill every fantasy she’d ever had about Jaxon Ryker.
She looked into his hard, handsome face. “Yes.”
One step and he was pressed full-length against her. A big hand slid into her hair to cup the back of her head and hold her in place as his mouth came down over hers. Her eyes closed and her lips parted. Jax was kissing her, deeply and thoroughly, the way she had always imagined.
She moaned and he deepened the kiss, ravaging her mouth, sending delicious shivers through her body, and still it wasn’t enough.
“You want this?” he asked as he pressed his lips against the side of her neck. “You want me?”
Her breath hitched. “Jax... I’ve wanted you for so long.”
A low groan escaped. “Mindy, baby...” He kissed her again, and then he was lifting her into his arms and carrying her out of the kitchen and down the hall to his bedroom.
He kissed her as he set her down beside his king-size bed and began to strip off her clothes. His big hands were everywhere, unbuttoning her blouse and tossing it away, unfastening her bra and sliding it off her shoulders.
He cupped her breasts, lifted and caressed them with a reverence she had never imagined, then he lowered his head to take the fullness into his mouth. A soft moan escaped as he explored and tasted and drove her insane. Desire rolled through her, thick and hot. Her head fell back, shifting her long hair across her back.
Jax returned to kissing her, and for a few precious moments, her passion-fogged brain functioned enough to shove up his T-shirt, urging him to strip it off over his head. Jax complied.
Hard muscle surrounded her, deep sculpted valleys, six-pack abs, toned pecs, the perfect fan of curly dark chest hair, narrowing down in a single line that disappeared into the top of his jeans. She loved that he didn’t have Curt’s pale, hairless chest. Jax was all man and proud of it.
She pressed her mouth against a flat copper nipple, and a shudder rolled through his powerful body.
“I’ve got to have you, baby. I know I shouldn’t. I know it isn’t right, but I need you. Tell me I’m what you want, too.”
“Yes... Oh, yes, Jax. Please...”
“Jesus, honey...” The next thing she knew she was naked and he was lifting her, settling her in his big bed. He left her long enough to strip off his clothes, then he joined her on the mattress and started kissing her again.
“I want everything from you,” he said, his hands moving over her breasts, skimming lower, sliding hotly, expertly down her body, touching, stroking, making her burn. “I want everything you’re willing to give. But I promise I won’t rush you.”
She whimpered. She wasn’t that experienced with men, as apparently Jax could tell. Mindy pulled his head down and rained kisses all over his face, kissed the corners of his mouth.
Jax framed her face between his palms and kissed her deeply again. She wanted more—wanted all of him.
“I need you,” she said. “Please, Jax...”
A growl came from low in his throat. He stroked and teased, didn’t stop until she was pleading, begging him to take her. His heavy weight pressed her down in the mattress, skin to skin, hard muscle to feminine softness.
Pleasure rolled through her, sweet and thrilling as he finally claimed her, his movements sure and deep. Even with the difference in their size, somehow her body meshed perfectly with his. She picked up the rhythm he set and heard his low growl of passion.
He increased the pace, took her and took her. A shattering climax struck, sending her over the edge, but Jax didn’t slow. Instead, he drove her up to a second towering peak before his muscles tightened and he followed her to release.
Mindy clung to him, her skin damp, soft pleasure pulsing through her as, little by little, they began to spiral down. She could feel the thudding of his heart, felt the brush of his lips in a last soft kiss, before he left to dispose of protection. When he returned, he cuddled her against him spoon-fashion and just held her.
“That was amazing,” she said.
Jax chuckled. “I’d take you again, but you’ve had one helluva day.”
She flushed, pleased to know he wanted her again so soon. She loved the way he felt wrapped around her, loved that he made her feel so safe. She was drowsy but not really sleepy. She wasn’t used to having sex more than once, but with Jax the idea shot a surge of heat right to her core.
“Maybe having some dinner would help you regain your strength,” she said with a smile, surprised she felt comfortable enough to tease him.
Faint laughter rumbled through him. “That sounds like a challenge.” He kissed the side of her neck, lightly nipped an earlobe. “Dinner’s done. Why don’t we wait, heat it up a little later?”
Mindy smiled, rolled onto her back and laced her fingers in his short dark hair. “Why don’t we heat things up right now?”
Jax laughed and kissed her.
The second round of lovemaking was as good as the first. Everything would have been perfect, except that someone might be trying to kidnap—or maybe even kill—her.