Chompin' at the Bit (Horse Play Series Book 2) Read online

  “Maybe later. Truth or dare?” I asked in an effort to get the game started.

  “Um … Truth. Yes. Definitely truth.” I laughed as he convinced himself that truth was the “safer” option.

  “What’s your favorite …” I paused for dramatic effect “… part of my body?”

  “Oh, this is dirty truth or dare. I am so screwed,” he said with a chuckle. “Okay … I would have to say that my favorite part of your body is—”

  “Be honest,” I interrupted teasingly, arching my eyebrow.

  He glared at me through the corner of his eye without moving his head. “Your eyes.”

  “Shut up! Come on, be serious.” I laughed.

  “I am. I guess it feels as though, when I’m looking into your eyes—no matter what it is we’re talking about or doing—it’s like you’re letting me in. Almost like we’re able to communicate without speaking.” Suddenly nervous, he ran his fingers through his hair and laughed.

  I stared at him for a minute as I absorbed his words and placed my hand on his forearm. “I feel that way too.” There was another moment of silence where we smiled at each other before I continued. “Okay, your turn.”

  “All right. Truth of dare?”

  “Dare,” I said, curious to see what he would come up with.

  I didn’t miss the glint in his eye and the way his cheek dimpled slightly when he smiled deviously. “I dare you to … tell me what you’re most looking forward to this weekend.”

  “Um, that’s not really a dare. That’s a truth disguised as a dare,” I pointed out.

  “I fail to see the difference,” he said with a coy smile.

  He was a tricky bastard, I’d give him that much. “This weekend … I guess I’m looking forward meeting the rest of your sister—even if that scares me a little too.” Stopping for a quick breath, I smiled as I stared at him. “But I think what I’m most excited about is spending time with you. Alone. With no work or other distractions around.”

  “And we don’t get that at home?” he asked.

  “No, we do. It’s just, at home my dad could stop by at any minute or we could get called out to the barn for an emergency. But I get you all to myself after dinner tonight. No distractions. After the wedding tomorrow night? Also mine. All day Sunday? Mine.”

  The corners of Jensen’s mouth twisted up. “And what is it you have planned for me since you’ll have me all to yourself?”

  I shook my head. “Ah, ah, ah,” I taunted. “One question at a time. Truth or dare?”

  “Truth.”

  “Ugh!” I grumbled. “You’re no fun! I had a really good dare too. Fine. Um, how many women have you slept with?” I asked the question quietly.

  He didn’t even flinch when he answered. “Two.”

  “Two?”

  Looking over his left shoulder and turning on his signal light before changing lanes on the highway, Jensen chuckled. “You seem to forget, I’m only two years older than you, and I was in a serious relationship for a couple years and then incarcerated for three—wait. How many have you been with?”

  I knew what he was asking, but the way he worded it still made it sound like he wanted to know how many women I’d slept with, so I decided to toy with him. “Um, I’ve never slept with any women. Plus, you didn’t ask if I wanted a truth or a dare.” Not that it would have mattered; he’d have found a way to ask me the question with either choice.

  “Okay, smartass. If you choose truth, I’d like to know how many men you’ve slept with. And, if you choose dare, then I dare you to tell me how many men you’ve slept with.” He glanced at me for just a moment before turning his eyes back to the road, but in that brief second, I saw that he wasn’t going to let this go. Not that I expected him to; it was only fair after I asked him.

  “Four. My high school boyfriend—all of two times. Two guys in college, and then there was Dane. How is it you’ve only slept with two? I mean … you have seen you, right?” I asked, stealthily tacking my questions on to the end of my quick ramble.

  “Ah, ah, ah,” he parroted my earlier words. “You didn’t ask truth or dare.”

  Maybe this game was stupid. What the hell was I thinking? “All right,” I conceded. “Tru—”

  “Truth. I’ve always believed that sex is something that two people in a committed relationship do. It wasn’t something to be taken lightly.”

  The use of past tense wasn’t lost on me.

  “And now?” I didn’t ask truth or dare, nor was it my turn, but Jensen didn’t seem to catch it.

  Jensen sighed, concentrating really hard on the road and not looking at me, for whatever reason. “I’ve decided to just live in the moment. I lost a small portion of my life when I was locked up, and I’m not willing to sacrifice any more of my happiness for fear of missing out again.”

  God, I want to kiss him right now.

  Jensen looked over at me and smiled, my lower half suddenly reacting quite positively to his smolder and making me a little uncomfortable in my seat. “Not while I’m driving.”

  Apparently I still had to work on that whole brain-to-mouth connection—or lack thereof.

  “Will you tell me about your family?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Chuckling, Jensen glanced at me. “Is that a truth or a dare?”

  I shrugged, wrapping my arms around my legs and relaxing my right cheek onto my knees again. “Neither.”

  “Bored with it already?”

  Smirking, I said, “Meh, I guess without the real dares it’s just not that much fun. It’s basically just truth or truth.”

  “True,” he responded, making me laugh loudly before he carried out my request. “Well, you’ve met my parents. We’ve always been pretty close. They’re both actively involved in multiple charities, so there are always events and functions to go to. Fundraisers, galas.”

  “That’s so cool.”

  “My mom hails from London. Occasionally you’ll hear her native accent slip in, or she’ll call you ‘love,’” he explained, and I smiled.

  “Lilah and I were born two years apart and fought throughout most of our childhood. We became close before I left for college.” He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. “But it wasn’t until after the incident with Robert that we became even closer—even if she tells you it’s all me refusing to give her space. Which is likely to happen.”

  “She sounds great.” I was even more excited to meet her now. A part of me was a little envious, though; Dad was the only real family I had left. I loved him dearly, and we had a close relationship—as far as fathers and daughters went. But Jensen had it all: both parents, a sister …

  When the city skyline came into view, I lifted my head and dropped my feet back to the floor as anticipation filled my body. “What hotel are we staying at?” I asked, slipping my shoes back on as we entered the city limits.

  “The Peabody,” he said.

  My eyes widened as I abandoned tying my shoelaces and gawked at him. “Jensen, that’s not necessary. It’s so expensive,” I told him. While a part of me has always wanted to stay at the Peabody, I knew we would have been just as happy in a room for half the price. Though, I’d be lying if said I wasn’t a little more excited now.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s covered,” he assured me with a sly smirk.

  “What does that even mean?” I asked as he navigated the busy rush hour streets of downtown Memphis. Pretending he didn’t hear me, he remained silent as he continued to make his way to the hotel.

  It had begun to rain as we pulled into the hotel’s parking lot. The sky above was still light, the sun just starting to set somewhere behind the darkening clouds. Jensen put the car in park and hopped out, grabbing his jacket from the back seat and holding it over his head as he came to help me.

  “I don’t know why I don’t have an umbrella,” he said with a laugh as he flung my door open and held the jacket wide enough to shelter the both of us from the rain.

  Laughing with him, I
wrapped my left arm around his waist and laid my right on his stomach, gripping his damp T-shirt as we ran for the doors. “Probably because it’s Tennessee, and this is rare this time of year,” I teased.

  Once inside the hotel’s doors, Jensen removed the jacket from over us and put it on. “Okay, I’ll go grab the bags. Why don’t you stay here and then we’ll go check in.” After placing a sweet kiss on the tip of my nose, he braved the cold wind and rain to retrieve our belongings.

  While he was gone, I looked around the main lobby. It was absolutely stunning. The furniture was antique, fully restored and would have looked out of place anywhere else. It was obvious that their decorative inspiration was the original architecture. What I liked most about it was the beautiful hand-carved details below the open balconies that looked down on the lobby.

  I was so immersed in the beauty of the main lobby that I almost didn’t realize Jensen had returned. His hair was soaked from the rain, which had apparently gone from bad to worse in a matter of minutes. When I held my hands out for my stuff, Jensen disregarded me playfully and ushered me toward the front desk.

  “Good evening,” the desk clerk, Carlos, greeted us with a smile. “What can I help you with tonight?”

  “We have a reservation under Davis,” Jensen replied.

  Carlos’s fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard in front of him before his eyebrows furrowed. “It seems we’ve got more than one reservation under that name.”

  Shaking his head, Jensen apologized. “Right. Sorry. It’s Jensen Davis.”

  A few more key strikes and Carlos smiled. “There we are! Looks like I’ve got you on the ninth floor with a breathtaking view of the city. Your room has a king-sized bed and Jacuzzi tub as well as a forty-inch flat screen television and a fully stocked mini bar.”

  As Carlos rattled off the features to our room, my jaw dropped more and more; Jensen had really gone all out when booking our weekend getaway.

  “Sounds great,” Jensen said. “Do you need my credit card on file for any charges to the room?”

  Carlos looked at his computer monitor a little closer before shaking his head. “Nope. It looks like a Mr. and Mrs. Henry Davis have taken care of the charges for the three rooms.”

  I looked up at Jensen with wide eyes. “Your parents are paying for our room? No, Jensen … I want to pay for half. This is going to cost a fortune.”

  “My father wouldn’t allow for it,” Jensen told me with a grin as Carlos handed him two electronic key-cards, one of which he promptly handed to me.

  “Room nine-oh-seven,” Carlos told us. “The elevator is just through this main foyer and to your right; the stairs are through the door down the hall from them. There is a community pool farther down that hall; though we ask that if you decide to go swimming, to ask us for towels up here as opposed to using the room towels.”

  Man, this place had a lot of rules.

  “The restaurant is fantastic and serves a continental breakfast in the mornings until eleven a.m. If you have any questions or need anything at all, please feel free to call down to the front desk, and we’ll do our best to meet your needs.”

  “Thanks,” Jensen said, nodding his head in the direction the elevators were. “Shall we?”

  Smiling my own thanks to Carlos, I followed Jensen to the elevator. As we waited for the doors to open I found myself growing more and more excited about the weekend ahead. I’d never been away with a guy before. The elevator doors opened and my heart thumped excitedly as we stepped in. I hit the button for the ninth floor and stood next to Jensen.

  “Are you sure I can’t take anything?” I asked, glancing over to see he had my suitcase handle in his right hand, his own bag slung over his left shoulder and my dress’ garment bag in that hand.

  “Nope. It’s fine. I promise,” he assured me.

  As the elevator continued to climb, my excitement level rose right along with it. When the doors opened, Jensen waited until I stepped out into the hall first before following me. We followed the shiny gold-colored signs that pointed us in the right direction before finding our room. I slid the keycard into the lock until I heard the electronic lock disengage, and pushed the door open.

  Sliding my hand along the wall next to the door, I found the light switch and turned it on. All the air was sucked from my lungs as I took in the gorgeous room we’d be staying in. I slowly walked forward, just barely hearing the door close behind Jensen, and I made my way for the bed.

  “This is incredible,” I said breathlessly. The walls were painted a very pale blue with white trim and crown moldings. There were two windows along one wall with floor-to-ceiling dark brown curtains that were open, letting what little light was behind the dark clouds into the room. The bed was huge, dressed in fluffy white linens and pillows that took up half the bed. A sturdy, intricate looking wooden headboard with a matching dresser and nightstands completed the room.

  I just started to turn to Jensen when I heard something hit the floor behind me and strong hands ensnared my waist, completing my rotation before throwing us down onto the bed. I squealed playfully on our descent, and just as I suspected the blanket was so delightfully downy that it nearly swallowed us both.

  Once on the bed, Jensen’s mouth found mine, his tongue tracing the line of my lips as his left leg found its way between my thighs. Basking in the feeling of finally being in his arms like this again, I complied more than eagerly. I moaned as I opened my mouth and our tongues met, slowly gliding against each other as my fingers wove into his soft hair. Jensen’s left hand moved down my body, a tremor of desire tingling in its wake until he gripped my ass and rolled us over so I was straddling him.

  A strong feeling of longing settled between my legs, begging for an overdue release, so I pushed my hips forward in an effort to quell the ache for his touch. Both of us moaned at the friction—even with the two layers of denim between us—and continued to writhe against each other. I slipped my hands between us and started to unbutton the shirt he was wearing as he continued to guide me on top of him, setting the speed. With his shirt now open, my fingers danced over the hard lines of his chest and abdomen until I found his belt and started to unbuckle it. I moved fast, really hoping he wouldn’t stop me this time, and had it open, along with his pants button and fly, only seconds later.

  Jensen followed my lead, moving his own hands to the hem of my shirt before raising it up my body. I sat up once he reached my shoulders and finished pulling my shirt off before tossing it behind me. Jensen eyed me hungrily—like he wanted to completely devour me—and my body shook with exhilaration.

  “Should I …?” Knowing what I was asking before I could voice the question, Jensen nodded emphatically. I removed myself from his waist and went over to my suitcase, opening it to find the box of condoms I made sure to put in there. My hands trembled as my nerves took over and I fumbled with the box, dropping it with a sharp hiss when I gave myself a paper cut on the tip of my forefinger. Once the stinging subsided, I picked up the box and finally got it open before tearing off one of the foil squares and returning to Jensen.

  He remained on the bed, his pants still on but undone, and he smiled at me as I moved to take my place over him. The foil square was still secure in my right hand as I leaned forward to kiss him again, and his hands quickly unfastened my jeans before he slid his right in and teased me over my panties.

  “Oh, God,” I gasped into his mouth as he pressed down hard, the white-hot desire I felt ripping through my entire body almost blinding me.

  Slowly, Jensen swooped his fingers inside and began stroking me—no barrier of denim or cotton anymore, just skin on skin. I could feel the pleasure beginning to swell and build rapidly with every firm pass he made between my thighs, and my legs started to tremble the closer I got. My lips stopped moving against his, opening slightly as I panted shallowly and moved my hips against his hand.

  My abdomen tightened in preparation of my climax and I could feel myself just barely teetering along the edge of
pure rapture when my right leg felt a dull tingle on the inside. Then, it stopped as suddenly as it started before repeating.

  “No, no, no,” Jensen chanted quietly against my mouth, his fingers stilling. I kissed him softly and pushed my hips back into his still hand when the vibrating sensation ceased again. He waited about thirty seconds, and when nothing happened he slowly started moving again. I should have known it wouldn’t last, though. The vibrating started once more, forcing Jensen to pull his hand from between my legs.

  I whimpered at the loss of his touch and watched sadly as he reached into his left pocket and pulled out his phone. Rolling his eyes he connected the call. “Hey, Mom.”

  That one greeting officially signaled the end of our make-out session. Damn. I made a move to hop off the bed before Jensen smirked and held me in place. “No, we’re in the city. We just got to the room, actually. Why?” he asked. There was silence on his part, and I could barely hear his mother’s muffled words. “Oh, is it already that late? Damn. Yeah, just let us get ready and we’ll be right down … Yeah, we’ll see you in a few.”

  With a groan, Jensen hung up his phone and tossed it onto the bed before double-fisting his unruly hair. “Ugh!” he cried out in frustration—frustration I, too, understood.

  “Hey,” I managed to croak out. “It’s okay. We have all weekend.”

  He dropped his hands to rest on my thighs, and I closed my eyes as a tiny ripple of lust seeped back into my veins. “It most definitely is not okay. She couldn’t have waited just a little while longer?” He grumbled, squeezing my legs and injecting a fresh shot of arousal into me.

  I had to be the stronger person and stop this before it began again, making us even later for the rehearsal dinner. Opening my eyes was probably mistake number one though, because Jensen looked simply ravenous as he stared at my bra-clad chest and his fingers continued to send wave after delicious wave of lust through me. “Baby, I assure you, when we return to the room tonight, I promise to let you do whatever you want to me. But first …” I forced myself back down his body until I stood at the foot of the bed and smiled resolutely at him. “We need to get ready.”