Oh God. Every bit of warmth rushes to my center as his deep, sensual voice ignites one of my dark fantasies. Jake, straddling my bound body, growling commands, telling me what he’s going to do to me in the filthiest language I know. A soft moan escapes my lips and we’re back on the roller coaster again.

“This game you’re playing confuses me,” I say. His heart beats strong against my palm when I lay my hand over his chest.

“Me too.”

“Then what are you doing?”

His eyes take on a feral gleam and my br**sts tingle.

“Playing dirty.” Tangling his hand in my hair, he tugs my head back, exposing my throat to the heated slide of his lips. “Sometimes you have to stop thinking too much and just go with it.”

My breath comes in short pants as he sucks gently on the pulse at the base of my throat. Barely able to form a coherent thought for the pounding of blood in my temples, I scramble for sanity. “There’s too much between us to just go with it. We need to talk…”

His hand closes in my hair, twisting roughly. “Lawyers talk. You don’t look like a lawyer now. You look f**king sexy, and your mouth is all lush and pink and needing to be kissed. You want to talk, Amanda, or you want that kiss?” He nips the sensitive spot between my neck and shoulder blade.

Pleasure and pain meld together and I whimper as a heated rush of sensation floods my veins. “Kiss.”

Jake smiles. “My dirty girl wants a dirty kiss.” Holding my face, he slants his mouth over mine and kisses me.

Soft kiss. Sweet kiss. Warm, firm lips tasting faintly of coffee. His five o’clock shadow brushes my chin as his tongue eases my lips open to stroke against mine. My body melts against him as he explores my mouth, leaving nothing untouched. Tongues wind and tangle. Two years of fantasies coalesce in a single rasping breath.

“’S not so dirty,” I mumble against his lips.

“Oh, you don’t know how dirty I can be.” Jake grips my hair and tugs my head back with a firm, hard yank, sending little bolts of lightning straight to my core. Then he kisses me hard and fast. Rough. His teeth scrape my bottom lip as his tongue dives deep, filling me, taking what I have to give and demanding more. The pounding of my heart shifts from lust to fear as he consumes me, and for a moment I worry he has forgotten I need to breathe.

When he breaks the kiss, I draw in a long, ragged breath. “You never kissed me like that before.”

“You were never like this before.” His fingers ease up my shirt, his thumb tracing over the crescent of my br**sts. “Raw and open, vulnerable, needing my help. So f**king real.”

My breath catches in my throat as he explores, cupping and squeezing my br**sts and then teasing my ni**les through my lace bra until they are tight, aching peaks.

“My clothes. Take them off.”

Jake’s sensual growl is the only warning I get before his hands slide around my rib cage to unhook my bra. Moments later, I am bared to him, my clothing a soft puddle on the counter, my skin on fire despite the cool night air whispering through the cracks in the window.

“Beautiful,” he whispers as he palms my br**sts. Then he bends down to tease my ni**les with his clever mouth, nipping and sucking until I am panting and grinding against his erection, pressing against my throbbing sex.

“Fuck, baby. Tighten your legs around me and give me what you’ve got. You get off before I get into your pants, I’ll give you a special treat.”

“I hope that special treat is big and hard and lickable.” I tighten my legs until he is nestled exactly where I need him to be and rock my hips against the bulge in his jeans. He loved my mouth on him before. I only had to lick my lips to find myself on my knees, his hand fisting my hair, his c**k hot and heavy in my mouth.

Jake’s nostrils flare and darken and he reaches for his belt. “Change of plans.”

Before we can indulge in the change of plans, a door slams. My heart kicks into overdrive at the sound of heels clicking across the floor in the main reception room. Jake helps me tug on my clothes just before the door swings open.

“Jake, honey? Are you coming back out? Everyone is wondering what happened to you.” The slender brunette who joins us in the kitchen is exactly who I pictured as Jake’s perfect woman when I tortured myself night after night imagining who he was with. She has a tiny pixie face, porcelain skin, and high cheekbones. Gazing up at Jake with liquid brown eyes, she parts her ruby lips and leans up to kiss his cheek.

My blood turns to ice and my stomach clenches so tight I can barely breathe.

All cool and calm, Jake gives her a warm smile. “We’ll be out in a sec. This is Amanda. She’s my new tenant.”

New tenant. Not friend or lover or even ex. I’m the new tenant. And she’s…

“I’m Sia.” She slides an arm around his bicep and leans in to give him a squeeze.

For a long, uncomfortable moment I simply can’t speak. This must be the girlfriend Sandy told me about. So what is he doing in the kitchen with me?

A choked “Hi, Sia” is all I can manage before I slide off the counter. “I think I’ll go check out that barbecue after all.”

“Amanda.” Jake’s words fade away as I push open the back door and step out into the night.

First stop: Makayla. I spot her laughing it up with Rampage and Blade Saw beside an overgrown clump of weeds. I plaster a smile on my face and drag her away.

“You told me he didn’t have a girlfriend.”