Page 76 of Reputation
He stepped to the side, making his way around her desk.
Standing on shaking legs, she asked, “Why?”
Tracking his approach around the side of her desk, she took a small step backward, away from him.She wasn’t afraid of him, but his words had her body pulsing with a need that matched the look in his eyes, and instinct told her to keep a distance between them.
“I can’tstandthis anymore,” he said as he continued to stalk her retreat.“I can’t stop thinking about you.You haunt my thoughts day and night.You’re a constant distraction.I can’t focus on what I’m doing on the ice.Youconsumeme at night.All I see, all I think, all I dream about is you.Being with you, inside you, making you screammyname.”
Each one of his words, said in a low and dangerous voice, sent a fire licking down her spine.Moisture pooled between her legs as her heart pounded from his confession.
“I know you feel it, too.I see the look in your eyes when we’re together.You told me last night you wanted me and I can’t stay away from you anymore.Eavie,” he said, continuing to stalk her pointless retreat, “I need to have you like I need my next breath.”
Eavie sucked in a shaky breath as she continued trying to keep a distance between them, never taking her eyes off him.She didn’t make it far.One of his steps was the same as two of hers, and he caught her just as she reached the middle of the room.
He stopped so close, but didn’t touch her.He just stood there, looking down at her.Eavie looked back, frozen on the spot by the closeness of his body.It called to her, made her want to press against him just as she had that night in Vegas.It took every ounce of strength in her to stay where she was.
“Let me have you,” he said, his breath fanning her face as his deep, sexy voice wrapped around her like dark silk.Her breathing was coming in harsh pants, and brought with it the scent of his soap—the scent of him—with each intake.He smelled so good—musky and so perfectly male.
With a weak shake of her head, she looked up at him.“Jax, we…can’t.I…can’t,” she sputtered, trying to get her brain to work.The desire thrumming through her was making it difficult to do anything.“My job…If anyone were to find out, I could be fired.It’s my reputation, my career, that would be ruined.”
She hoped the pleading look she sent him conveyed her inner turmoil.She had to stay strong.She couldn’t break and let him through her defenses.
Too late, she realized.Too late because he was already past them.Jax had torn those walls down sometime between Thanksgiving and now, and when she’d built them back up, she had done it with him on the inside.
She continued to look into his eyes as he stared back at her.His eyelids were heavy with desire, hooding the gray depths underneath.His lashes were so thick and long they fanned his cheekbones as he flicked his gaze down to her lips.
“No one has to know,” he whispered, his finger brushing a loose strand of hair off her cheek.“We’ll keep it quiet.It can be our secret.”He paused, closing another millimeter of space.“All I know is that I can’t stay away from you for another minute.Eavie, I have to have you.I’ll do whatever you want.”He gazed into her eyes.“Please, say yes.Tell me you need me as much as I need you.”
They were almost touching, but the distance between them was nearly unbearable.She stood there motionless, unable to move, to think.All she could do was feel.Feel a need pulse deep in her abdomen.Feel the shivers of electricity traveling across her skin.He barely touched her, but she felt hot as his gaze left a burning in its wake.
She looked into his eyes and unconsciously worried her lower lip between her teeth.The movement caused his gaze to flick there again, and she could feel the waves of want vibrating off him.
Could she do this?Could she trust him, let herself go, and give in to their intense chemistry?Eavie lived and breathed by her rules, coveted her reputation above all else, and would not jeopardize it.
But as she reminded herself of that, a small voice in the back of her mind said maybe she didn’t have to.
Over the last few months, she had gotten to know him and learned he was a kind, caring person.She liked him—a lot.She’d learned about how he kept his life quiet.Hadn’t Molly herself confirmed Jax didn’t publicize his private business?
She closed her eyes, taking in a few slow, deep breaths.She felt his forehead meet hers as she stood, at war with herself.
“Eavie,” he whispered, the sound the sweetest worship she had ever heard.The soft sound caused a jolt of longing, like an arrow to the chest, to spear through her.
Maybe she could trust him.Maybe they could keep it quiet, at least until they knew what this was.It could end up being nothing more than a quick infatuation, a fast burn.And if it turned into something, well, she would have to figure out what to do about it.
For now, no one had to know, and she could no longer deny how much she wanted him.
She let her emotions from the last few weeks rush over her.She thought about everything he’d said, everything he’d done.She focused on the man that he was, not the one she had believed him to be.
Slowly, she raised her hands from where they hung by her sides, placing them on his chest.Jax pulled in a sharp breath at the contact.Opening her eyes, she saw he was looking at her.He moved his hands up and cupped her chin between his palms.
“Eavie,” he whispered again, pleading.
She opened her mouth, licking her lips to moisten them.“I want you, Jax.”
That was all he needed.Like a wall crumbling, the second the words left her mouth, his lips crashed onto hers in a fierce, bruising kiss.
Jax kissed her long and deep, sliding one hand from her chin to the back of her neck, holding her in place.His taste flooded her mouth, his scent mixing into her senses, causing any remaining thoughts to vanish.So once again, instead of thinking, she just felt.Felt his hand holding her head, felt him run his tongue across her lips, seeking access to her mouth.She obliged, opening to grant him what he wanted.He deepened the kiss, moving one hand down her side, settling it on her lower back.
Pulling her up into his body, he continued his thorough exploration of her mouth, and she met each thrust of his tongue with her own, matching his intensity with equal enthusiasm.
