So he抎 gone right past the turnoff and kept driving toward the motel. Now, with their afternoon coming to an end, Jasper was feeling a mite anxious. Okay, more than a mite. In a different life, he might have banged Rita in his office last night and sent her a friendly wave this morning on her way out of town. He wouldn抰 have taken the time to roll around in her sense of humor or even seen the vulnerable girl in his grandmother抯 kitchen. And, hell, wasn抰 that just goddamn terrifying?
Without any actual communication between his brain and his body, Jasper revved the engine of his bike and passed the motel entrance, circling around to the side, where no cars were parked. None of the individual room doors were located on this side of the motel, either, giving Jasper the privacy he needed.
揗y room is back that way,?Rita husked above his right shoulder.
揂ll right.?Jasper pulled to a stop, turned off the ignition, and helped Rita climb down. He was in a do-or-die situation. Had spending the morning with him inspired a desire to spend more time in his company? Or less? He reckoned he抎 know in a minute. 揝o I抣l see you tonight, then??
Her dark head came up, fingers working beneath her chin to unstrap the helmet. Not for the first time today, he wanted to wipe the makeup off her eyes, maybe count her eyelashes if she was in a mood to indulge him. 揥hat??
揊or our date.?He sent her a low wink. 揧ou didn抰 forget, did you??
Rita narrowed her gaze. 揑 can抰 always tell when you抮e joking, and that is very annoying.?She hung the helmet from the handlebar of his bike. 揃ut I know I never agreed to a date.?
He acknowledged that with a nod. A step forward. 揝ee, now, I was kind of anticipating you agreeing out of sympathy for a desperate man.?
揂nticipating a yes? That抯 pretty cocky.?She betrayed her intended put-down with flushed cheeks, a quick but telling glance at his mouth. 揟here might be a卻mall chance I could be persuaded.?
Jasper disguised his groan with a cough into his fist. Damn. Celibacy was turning out to be a real asshole. Everything moved in slow motion as Rita ran a hand through her helmet hair, tightening the material of her T-shirt. Spiked nipples, aroused nipples, stood out against the front. If nipples could talk, Rita抯 would have been saying, Too bad, so sad, your loss, hoss.
揧ou just had to go and flirt with me厀hile looking like that, huh??And shit, he抎 said that out loud. There was a Rita-specific weightiness in his stomach, like a warm coating of lust slip-sliding down his insides. 揇ammit, Rita. I抦 trying here.?
Her lips parted on a puff of air. 揟rying to do what??
No one had ever cared enough to listen to him once the bed springs stopped creaking, so putting thoughts she抎 so thoroughly jumbled into words wasn抰 easy by any stretch. 揑f you could just agree to go out on a date with me tonight, without making me kiss the answer out of your mouth, I would sure appreciate it.?
揃ut that sounds like so much fun.?
揊un for you.?When she flinched, the slippery weight in Jasper抯 stomach turned to acid. It took two quick steps to bring him into Rita抯 personal space, tipping her chin up, even though she was trying her best to look at everything but him. 揥ait. Just, wait. That came out ass backwards, beautiful. Look at me, sweating in this parking lot, trying to take you out for some damn sushi. You think I don抰 want to kiss you??
揑卛s that a rhetorical question??The way he was holding her chin was smooshing her lips together, making her question emerge sounding like Izata behoribal weston?
揓esus God, you抮e cute.?He let go of her chin and planted a thumb in the corner of her mouth, before dragging it along her upper lip, feeling the slickness of original ChapStick. When had she managed to reapply it? 揌ere抯 the thing. I swore off women. But then you came pedaling into town with this mouth, those eyes and the way they see everything卆nd fuck yes, I want to kiss you. I want to do all manner of things to you.?
Her breath came out in little fits against his thumb while it raked back and forth. When had he pressed her ass up against the bike? Was he even in control of his actions around this woman? He needed to be. Needed to make this time between them count. Frown lines formed between Rita抯 eyebrows, so he moved his thumb up in that direction to smooth them out.
揇id you just say you swore off women??
揑 did.?
揝o why are you trying to take me out for some damn sushi??
Jasper抯 mouth lost the battle with a smile, but seriousness descended almost immediately. Important. This is important. 揃ecause I抦 going to see you tonight. I don抰 want to think about not seeing you. And I need to put a table between us so I can find out what抯 going on in your head. Without that table, I抣l棓
揥hat??
He lifted her onto the bike seat, as if his hands were being operated by a remote control in someone else抯 possession. 揚lease don抰 ask me that,?he growled. 揑 almost ruined everything last night.?
Rita was staring at his mouth. 揥ho says sex has to ruin anything??
揑 guess厰 Jasper stepped between her splayed thighs and yanked her close, swallowing hard when a shudder seemed to go through them both. Fuck. Was she having as hard a time breathing as he was? 揑 guess if I were a different man, it would be a subject for debate. But I抦 this man. And I only know you won抰 want anything to do with me afterward. I抣l have served my purpose.?
Maybe he抎 said too much. Or maybe he抎 said just enough. Because Rita curled her hands in his shirt and pulled, pulled until he was wedged so firmly between her legs he could have rubbed her to orgasm with the ridge behind his fly, just by lifting up and down on his toes. 揧ou said something like that last night.?She glanced up from her perusal of his panting mouth. 揑 didn抰 really卨ike it then, either.?
She抎 actually listened to him last night. Heard his words without writing them off as bullshit coming from a bullshitter, the way everyone tended to regard anything that came out of his mouth. Not this woman. Not yet, anyway. And one day of keeping this interesting woman抯 attention was a miracle in Jasper抯 book. 揑抦 going to try and stop saying things you don抰 like, but I can抰 guarantee anything.?
揑f you just said a bunch of things I liked all the time,?Rita breathed, 揑 wouldn抰 believe the good stuff when you say it.?
Jasper抯 hand shot up and buried itself in her hair, as if propelled by Rita抯 words. An outsider would have no idea what they were talking about. And he loved that. Coveted it. He抎 never had that with a single other person, for any space of time. 揃elieve this, Rita. I think you抮e gorgeous as sin and I need your mouth on mine.?
Rita nodded, meshing their wet lips together in the process. 揑 want to believe that. You might have to help me.?
揟hank Christ.?
Their mouths slanted and somehow梥omehow梩hat feast of lips and tongue and teeth was even more potent than the night before. His knee rammed into the bike梐lmost as if his leg had tried to buckle梥hooting pain up his right thigh, but it vanished under the pleasure. Vanished into vapor. The stroking, hot, abandon of Rita. They were both breathing through their noses so as not to break the voracious mouth-fucking they were engaging in, and that shouldn抰 have been so all-out sexy. But it sure as shit was. They were attacking each other with seeking tongues and open lips, playing chicken to see who would give in first.
When her hands slipped under his shirt and pulled down on his belt buckle, putting pressure on Jasper抯 cock, he cursed into her mouth, securing his fist in her hair like a goddamn barbarian. And she liked it, too. Why else would she be tugging on his belt, encouraging him to rock into the notch of her pussy? Too far. This was going too far. Any farther and they抎 end up somewhere naked.