Her skin against his lips had felt soft like velvet, and he’d been close to coming in his tuxedo pants when she’d stopped him. Yet now, in his imagination, she wasn’t stopping him. She was letting him continue, writhing underneath him, moaning out her pleasure.

He pumped his cock harder and faster, his chest heaving now as if he were running a marathon. His balls pulled up tightly. He remembered the taste of her juices on his tongue and shuddered. His semen shot through his cock and rained over his hand and the tile wall. The warm water washed it away, but it couldn’t wash away the disappointment that Tara hadn’t given him a chance.

He stayed under the shower for a long time before pulling out his razor and starting to shave. Finally he turned off the water and dried off. He hung the towel over the rail and strode into his stateroom, heading for the closet. At the sound of a creaking floorboard near the door, he whirled around.

“What the—” He stopped himself, frozen in place.

Tara stood in the door, a small traveling bag in her hand. She wore shorts and a tank top. And she was staring at him with an open mouth, her eyes traveling over his naked body.

“I thought you’d left,” he managed to say. And though by now he’d recovered enough to be able to reach for a piece of clothing to cover his lower half, he didn’t.

Tara shook her head without taking her eyes off him. Fair enough. He’d seen her naked the night before. It was only fair that she now got a good look at him. He wasn’t shy. Besides, he liked the way her eyes roamed over him.

“I only went back to the Gilberts’ house to get my things. Nobody saw me. They were too busy fighting because of Holly. It’s a right mess. But I’m sure they’ll work it out.”

Jay nodded. Paul was a smart man. He would do the right thing, whatever that turned out to be. “Frankly, I wasn’t expecting you to come back. I thought you’d snuck out not wanting to see me again after last night.”

She took a few steps closer and placed her bag next to the bed. “I was thinking…”

“Yeah?”

Tara dropped her gaze lower, sending a tingling sensation through his body. Despite the fact that he’d climaxed less than half an hour earlier, he felt his cock swell again.

“You were really nice to me last night…”

He tried to swallow away the lust that her words conjured up—with little success. “Which part?”

Her cheeks flushed a little, attesting to the fact that she understood very clearly where his mind was heading—back to the shower with him kneeling in front of her.

Tara’s lips parted, hesitating. “I wasn’t talking about… I mean, I wanted to say it was nice that you let me stay after everything, you know. Another man would have tossed me out on my ass for what I tried to do.”

He wasn’t quite sure yet where she was going with this, but he was definitely curious. “Uh-huh.”

Another step brought her even closer. She was within his reach now. If he stretched out his arm, he could touch her, pull her to him.

“I wanted to make it up to you.” She dropped her gaze to his groin.

Her gesture was unmistakable. She was offering to suck his cock. Instinctively, Jay took a step back. “You can’t be serious. Don’t you remember what we talked about yesterday?”

She met his eyes then and gave a tentative smile. “That’s why I’m back. Because of what you said. And what you did. Because you stopped me from doing something stupid. Even though it meant you didn’t get what you wanted. And even though we slept in the same bed last night, you didn’t try to seduce me. Although I know you wanted to. You put my wishes ahead of yours. Nobody’s ever done that for me.”

“And that’s why you’ve decided to suck my cock?”

Tara shook her head. “No.”

Had he misunderstood her completely? “So you haven’t come to…?” He made a motion to his cock, which hung heavy between his legs, ready to rise at a moment’s notice.

She smiled and closed the distance between them. “Oh, I’ve come to suck your gorgeous cock. But not because you were a friend last night. If that were the only thing, then I would have bought you a nice bottle of wine and thanked you.”

He lifted one side of his mouth. “Somehow I don’t think there’s wine in that bag of yours.”

“No wine for you, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. But don’t let me interrupt you. You were saying…”

“Ah, yes, I was just trying to explain why I’ve decided to come back and suck your cock.”