“Damn,” he said, holding his head. “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know. It felt like the same thing that happened last night at midnight. The clock…”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
Oh, no, she thought with a steadily sinking feeling. It’s not over, is it?
It felt as though a lightning bolt had ripped through the soft tissue between her ears. She closed her eyes and gingerly rubbed her temples.
“What does it mean?” he asked. “We’re nowhere near the clock right now.”
“No idea.”
“Are you okay?”
“Fine. Now I am, anyhow. The pain’s gone. You?”
“Just dandy.”
She jumped a little and grabbed his hand when he brushed his warm fingertips over her forehead.
“What are you—?” she began.
But she couldn’t finish the sentence because he kissed her and in the next moment she was kissing him back as if she didn’t have any other choice. It was a compulsion. A compulsion that brought back the events of last night in Technicolor splendor, every detail, every nuance filling her mind, wiping her thoughts away as his tongue slid against hers and her senses were filled with the warm, sexy scent of him. She pulled at his shirt so she could touch his skin and his hands were already up under her sweater cupping her breasts.
The sound of traffic thundering past where they were parked cleared her mind for the briefest of moments, at least until Jacob undid the front of her jeans. His left hand moved down and under her panties to slide between her legs and almost all thought vanished from her mind.
“It’s the clock’s spell,” she gasped, shifting herself closer to his hot touch. It felt way too good to stop him. “We’re still enchanted.”
His mouth was on hers again and she forgot everything but the pleasure that kissing Jacob brought with it. He felt so good, so right against her. His mouth, his tongue, his hands doing things to her that she couldn’t resist. After a brief struggle with her stubborn clothing, her jeans slipped down to the floor and she hazily realized that she was now sitting astride him on the driver’s seat.
“Amanda…” he managed. “We’re at the side of the road in my car. In public.”
“I don’t care.”
And she didn’t.
He let out a dark groan when she undid his zipper and pulled him completely free from his jeans, finding that he was hard and ready for her.
“Condom. Quickly,” she urged.
He fumbled for a foil packet. “This is the last one I have on me.”
“Hurry…please…”
He sheathed himself, his gaze wild and filled with need as he met her eyes again. She lifted her hips up to position herself properly then in one smooth stroke, took his full length inside her.
“Damn—” Jacob swore through clenched teeth. She traced her fingers along his tight jaw, feeling the rough stubble there. “Amanda, you feel so good. So good.”
She leaned forward and cut off any more conversation, such as it was, with an openmouthed kiss.
The steering wheel bit into her back painfully but it didn’t make her want to stop. She wasn’t sure anything would make her want to stop. She needed this, needed him inside her. How could something so wrong feel so completely right?
Her name was a harsh sound from his lips against hers as he began thrusting up into her. He pushed the fabric of her sweater aside and the lacy edge of her bra, to swirl his tongue around her right nipple. The combination of sensations made her arch her back as a shuddering current of pleasure rocked her. It was only a few moments later when he softly cried out her name again, pressing his face between her breasts to muffle the sound of his release.
When the thrusting of his hips ceased she stayed locked against him, her hands pressed to either side of his face, looking into his vivid green eyes. His hands remained low on her hips, half-cupping her buttocks.
“I think we might be in serious trouble,” he said gruffly.
The blaring screech of somebody lying on the horn as they zoomed past snapped her out of the daze she’d been in. Something must have changed in her eyes, from passion to clarity, because Jacob’s grip tightened.
“No, Amanda, please—”
She got off him and scrambled for her jeans, putting them on quickly. Unfortunately her underpants wouldn’t live to see another day since they were ripped in half. She stuffed the torn patch of silk into her pocket.
And then she went very quiet. She was afraid to speak. She was afraid of what she might say. She might beg him to make love to her again. She hadn’t even tried to resist that time. Not even a little bit.
Jacob was right. In the room he’d put up a valiant effort to stop what was going on and she hadn’t. She’d wanted it. She’d wanted him the way she’d wanted him from the first moment they met.
Did the clock know that?
“Amanda, we need to talk about this.”
“No.” It came out a little louder than she’d meant it to. She took a deep breath. “We don’t need to talk about this. We need to go back home and then we need to never see each other again. Obviously there’s something wrong and we need to stay the hell away from each other until we figure out what it is.”
She hates me so bad she can’t even look at me.
“I don’t hate you,” she said.
Jacob frowned. “What?”
“I said I don’t hate you, even though maybe I should. And I can look at you, I just choose not to.” She cleared her throat nervously, ignoring the way her body still tingled all over.
“Why do you think I think you hate me?”
“Because you said it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Is she okay? Maybe all that pain did something bad to her head. Maybe I should take her to the hospital.
“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” she sighed. “I’m fine, I’m just…a bit disturbed. To say the least.”
Jacob was silent for so long that she finally looked at him.
He studied her with a stunned expression. “I didn’t say that out loud.”