Take Me 01 - Love Me

night. Before that even. And now that she was being so honest with him, he felt more contrite than ever.
    “I don't want to hurt you, Janica.”
    She blinked at his abrupt statement, her mouth opening slightly, her tongue flicking out in a surprisingly nervous gesture.
    “Trust me, I'll tell you if you get too rough.” She smiled that sexy smile that sent blood rushing to his groin. “You haven't even gotten close yet.”
    But he wasn't talking physical. God, he hated having to lay it out like this, but there was no other way. Not if it meant lying to her. Not if it meant making her promises that he couldn't possibly keep.
    “Your coming here means more to me than I can say, Janica. But it won't work.”
    She cocked her head to the side, acting like she didn't know exactly what he was saying.
    “It?”
    She was forcing him to be as brutally honest as she'd been.
    “Us. You and me.”
    She licked her lips again, dropped her eyes to his mouth. “Seems to me we work together pretty damn well.”
    Despite the heavy nature of their conversation, his body instantly responded to her words, to that one look. And the awesome visuals and memories that went with them.
    “Look, I've never been more sexually compatible with another woman, but—”
    “But this thing we're doing could never be more than sex?”
    He felt like the world's biggest asshole.
    “Right,” he forced out. Asshole didn't even come close.
    She didn't look angry, thank god, but he hated the slight downturn of her beautiful mouth. As if she was tasting something sour.
    “Because you're you and I'm me? Apples and oranges?”
    Again, he had to force out an, “Exactly.”
    She stared at him as if daring him to look away. “I don't buy it.”
    What the hell? He'd just told her he couldn't foresee any kind of future with her and she was questioning him? Any other woman would've probably been crying. But not Janica.
    Despite himself, his respect for her notched up another level.
    And a sweet sense of relief that he hadn't seen coming flooded through him as she said, “I think you like me a whole lot more than you want to admit. And don't tell me that if I leave right now you won't be coming by my place later to have sex with me again.”
    A warning light flashed before him. Partly because he was afraid she was right. Partly because he didn't want her to be right. He'd always been in control. Always.
    But something told him where Janica was concerned, he might not ever be in control again.
    It was unthinkable not to fight it, not to fight what he was feeling, not to fight what he couldn't possibly understand.
    “Right there,” he said in just as challenging a voice as she'd made her previous statement, “that's exactly why we could never work as a couple.”
    “A couple, huh?” She cocked one eyebrow up in an exaggerated manner.
    She was turning his words around like a lawyer intent on prosecution. “Jesus, Janica, you're not listening to me!”
    “Yes I am, Luke.”
    “No, damn you, you're not!”
    He never raised his voice. Except with her.
    “Actually,” she said sweetly, “I thought I'd been listening to you pretty darn well. Did I not drop to my knees or strip fast enough for you last night?”
    “And that's another thing,” he found himself saying as he tried to keep up with her. “That's not how I have sex.”
    “Could have fooled me,” she retorted. “Seemed like you knew exactly what you were doing.” She paused, narrowed her eyes. “At least in my experience.”
    Jealousy bit him in the ass at the thought of her role-playing with another man. He couldn't stand the vision of another man ripping her dress from her, giving her commands, forcing her to suck his dick.
    “How many other guys have you let dominate you?”
    “Is that what you did?”
    His jaw felt tight from gritting his teeth together so hard. Why couldn't she make this easier on him?
    Of course she couldn't. She was Janica Ellis.
    The ultimate pain in the ass.
    And...the sweetest lover he'd ever had.
    “You know damn well what I made you do,” he said in rough voice.
    She grinned and he was surprised by it. Just as he was continually surprised by everything she did. That was her problem, she was unpredictable. Or, he thought a beat later, maybe the problem was that she was predictably wild. Sexy. Overwhelming to his senses. He just couldn't take her in, couldn't process her in a rational way.
    “I loved every single second of 'what you made me do',” she