Let It Ride. Jillian Burns

for her. No matter what. She used to say, “You and me against the world, kiddo. We’ll make it as long as we stick together.” And she’d been right.

      But it was Cole’s words that played in her head like a looped movie trailer…all I know is, I want you. The raspy hunger in his voice made her breathing hitch.

      She missed sex. She bit her lip at how she’d almost told him she wanted him, too. To take her to his hotel room. Or his apartment on base, or whatever. Wherever. Anywhere. As long as he threw her on the bed and they went at it like horny teens. Just for a few wild, reckless hours.

      Sherri was right. A hot bout of sex would release the stress and help her study. Sex didn’t always have to be about love and commitment. Sex was really just about sex. The tension inside her stretched so taut she’d snap if she didn’t relieve some of the pressure.

      “Well, hi there, pretty thang,” a tall youngish guy grabbed her bottom.

      She knocked his hand away. “Get lost!” She couldn’t take it anymore. Was this what she had to look forward to for the rest of her life if she flunked her finals?

      “Jordan!” her boss came up behind her, soothing the guy with a card for a complimentary dinner before he took her arm and urged her toward the break room. “You know how it works. If someone gets handsy, call security. You never, ever yell at the customers. Now, clock out. Go home.” He gave her a serious glare. “Don’t ever let that happen again.”

      Oh, my gosh. What had she done? She needed this job. And she’d been a model employee for years. Working double shifts, and filling in for absent or late co-workers. He wouldn’t fire her for this one infraction, would he?

      A crazy rebellion boiled to the surface. So what if he did? Hadn’t she already been deserted in this unfamiliar city without a job? She’d survive somehow. Without even bothering to change, she threw her backpack over one shoulder and stalked out of the hotel.

      Forget it. Just for tonight, she didn’t want to be responsible. She didn’t want to keep denying her needs. And she didn’t want to always wonder how hot the sex might have been with Major Cole Jackson.

      Too bad she’d turned him down.

      

      COLE CRUISED around Vegas, his mind mulling over new strategies to make Jordan give in to him.

      Never mind the challenge, he needed her. It had nothing to do with proving himself to his buddies. He just…needed her.

      And it didn’t take a brain surgeon to know she felt the same pull of desire he did. Their kiss had sparked every nerve ending he had, and he’d felt it igniting all through her and back into him.

      But how to keep her from hitting the all-systems-off button again?

      Winning was all about tactics. Tonight, he’d lost his cool and scared Jordan off. Bad habit. Leaping before he thought. Failing to curb his impulses. Same reason he’d gotten shot down.

      As he pulled the Harley into the Grand’s parking garage, he heard a screech of tires and a car horn honking. From the corner of his eye he caught a flash of red sequins in front of the honking cab. What the hell? Jordan was flipping the driver the bird as she strode past, heading back toward the hotel from the bus stop. And she was staring right at him.

      Their gazes met. Her eyes flared. A tense energy radiated from her. My God. He was completely captivated. Her blond hair flowed around her shoulders, reminding him of a proud lioness.

      He U-turned his bike into the exit lane and pulled up next to her.

      There was a wild look in her eyes. “I’ll take that ride now.”

      Suddenly, he couldn’t think. Maybe it was all the blood rushing south. She wasn’t usually in her work clothes at the bus stop. And she wasn’t usually off this early. Something must have happened.

      He shrugged out of his jacket, draped it over her shoulders and she slipped her arms in. Then he gestured for her to get on. “Where do you live?”

      As she settled behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and her breasts pressed against his back. “I don’t want to go home.”

      Her words socked him in the gut. “Where to, then?” He held his breath.

      “Anywhere. Away from everything.” Her voice trembled.

      He could take her there and beyond. But he’d have to be a world-class jerk to take advantage of her in this mood. “Look, maybe you should—”

      “Just get me out of here. Please.” Her arms tightened and one hand roamed over his chest, the other down over his zipper.

      His breathing hitched and his dick tried to jump into her palm. He clamped his jaw shut. “Zip the coat. The wind bites.”

      Her arms left him and he heard the zip, and when she hugged him this time her hands spread across his stomach and chest. He checked the traffic, then roared out of the parking garage.

      As Cole sped onto Las Vegas Boulevard, all he could think about was the heat, the slightest breath and movement, of her plastered against his back.

      Once they passed the city limits she slid her hand under his belt and cupped his rock-hard cock through his briefs. And even though she hadn’t moved her hand except to accommodate his lengthening, he was the most turned-on he’d ever been in his life. He felt as if one wrong move could have him begging for mercy.

      Why hadn’t he taken her straight up to his room? Because he’d heard the restlessness in her voice. She wanted to escape the hotel and everything it stood for. And so did he. Heading out into the desert night with her clinging tightly to him brought a primal urge to the surface—to haul his woman away from the world and keep her for himself.

      With the eternal lights of Vegas only a glow on the horizon behind them, he slowed down, pulled off the road and into the dirt, and killed the engine. Beyond his headlight’s beam, the sand and scrub disappeared into black nothingness, as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. He could hear his ragged breathing, and hers. He could smell his desire. And hers.

      He twisted to look at her, his hands squeezing the handlebars. Wondering if she’d leave him blue-balled, he searched her eyes.

      She framed his face with her hands and pulled his mouth to hers. Her kiss tasted of desperate hunger as she slipped her tongue inside.

      Fumbling to kick down the bike stand, he took control of the kiss, taking it deep and wet. But she pulled away.

      “This is just for tonight, right? Like you said—no promises.”

      “Uh…yeah, sure.” At this point, he would have signed a contract in blood.

      She nodded and slowly unzipped the jacket.

      He unbuckled his belt, gripped her around the waist and pulled her in front of him, onto his lap. While she thrust her tongue deep into his mouth, she somehow straddled the seat to face him and hooked her legs over his thighs.

      After that, things got frantic. Dug through his wallet for a condom. Ran his hands through her silky hair the way he’d been dreaming of. And never stopped kissing her. He couldn’t get enough of her mouth and tongue, or her sweet, sexy whimpers.

      Her hands were all over him, too. Her fingers combed through the hair at the back of his neck, and he shivered. She grabbed the edge of his T-shirt and lifted it to run her hands over his chest, tweaking his nipples until he wanted to squirm and beg. Then she roamed down to unbutton and unzip him and her fingers grazed his stiff, sensitive cock. Their mouths never breaking contact, she pulled down his briefs and encircled him. Sensations exploded. She stroked him with long, sensual pulls.

      Oh, yes. His desire crested. He needed release. He needed to have her surrounding him.

      Only vaguely aware that he’d moaned and growled like some crazed animal, he pushed into her caress. Then her hand and mouth were gone as she leaned back, yanked off his jacket and draped it over the handlebars.