Page 6 of The Pilot’s Good Girl (Praise Me Like Fire #3)

Jake

Damn.

The way she’s looking at me, nervously biting that full lower lip…

it takes everything in me not to turn her over and have her right here and now.

Instead, I make do with moving over to her side of the booth, sitting next to her with my arm on the back of the booth behind her.

I can’t sit so far away from her any longer.

“This okay?” I ask.

She nods, leaning closer to me, her throat arching gracefully like an invitation. I reach out without thinking, tracing the side of her neck with one finger, keeping my touch featherlight.

She freezes, then shudders.

“Ticklish?” I murmur.

She gives me a look that’s anything but amused. It’s wide-eyed and curious and just a little unsure. “That’s…not what I’d call it.”

Oh, we’re playing that game now?

I lean in closer and let my fingers skim higher, just behind her ear. Her skin is so soft, so warm, I can feel her pulse flutter against my knuckle like a trapped butterfly. She exhales slowly, like she’s trying to ground herself. But I’m not making it easy.

“Jake…” she says, her voice a low whisper wrapped in warning and want.

“Yeah?”

“It’s really hard to think when you do that.”

I grin, and my thumb brushes the edge of her cheekbone. “Maybe I don’t want you thinking.”

Her breath catches as I lower my hand and slide it down the inside of her arm. Goose bumps rise like a trail in my wake. It’s subtle. Teasing. But the air between us is positively humming now.

“Ruby,” I murmur, leaning in just enough that her hair brushes my jaw. “You say the word, and I’ll stop. I swear.”

She doesn’t say anything.

She doesn’t move.

She just looks at me with those wide, dark eyes, pupils blown and lips parted like she’s already halfway gone.

“It’s just…I’ve never done anything like this before,” she whispers.

My whole body goes still. What?

I pull back an inch, narrowing my eyes slightly. “Like what?”

She lowers her gaze, almost embarrassed. “This. Any of this. I’ve never been kissed or touched like…” Her voice trails off. “God, this is embarrassing.”

Holy shit.

“Are you a virgin, Ruby?”

“Yes,” she murmurs, ducking her face.

My chest tightens with something fierce, something more than lust, as the implication of her words dawns on me. My jaw clenches. Not because I’m annoyed, but because I suddenly want to destroy anyone who’s ever looked at her without appreciating how fucking rare she is.

She’s a virgin. Damn.

I grip the edge of the table, knuckles white, forcing down the primal surge of emotion that rises inside me. I want to grab her and claim her. But I can’t—I shouldn’t. Not here. Not like this.

“Ruby.” My voice is gravel. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

She blinks up at me, lips parting, and gives the smallest nod.

Like the damn universe knows it’s time, Milly suddenly appears at our table, smiling like she’s been watching a romance movie unfold from the kitchen.

“Well, well. You two clean up nicely together,” she says, giving Ruby a wink before placing the bill down in front of me. “Dinner’s on me tonight. Consider it a welcome to Sun Valley gift.”

I shake my head. “Milly—”

She waves me off. “Don’t argue. Just promise you’ll bring her back again.” She smiles sweetly at Ruby. “He’s a good one, honey. Moody and impossible sometimes, but good.”

Ruby laughs, cheeks flushed pink. “Thanks, Milly.”

Milly leans down and pats my shoulder, a knowing glint in her eye. She whispers close enough for only me to hear, “Be gentle. Don’t you dare let her slip away.”

Then she’s gone, leaving behind a receipt with nothing but zeroes on it.

I look at Ruby. She looks at me.

Yeah, we need to get out of here.

I take her hand in mine, gently guiding her through the rows of tables and chairs. We make it to the truck in silence, but it’s not a quiet kind of silence. It’s loaded. Buzzing. She’s breathing faster, her pupils blown wide in the soft light spilling from the diner windows.

As soon as the truck doors are closed behind us, I reach across and cup the back of her neck. She lets out a soft gasp, her eyes locking on mine like she’s aching for me to kiss her again.

So I do.

Her lips part eagerly, like she’s been thinking about this as much as I have.

I’m already half hard just from watching her all evening, but kissing her sends me to another level.

I deepen the kiss, slipping my tongue into her mouth, and she moans into me, causing blood to rush from my brain to my cock.

“Fuck,” I whisper against her lips. “You’re addictive.”

She whimpers again, and that sound just wrecks me. I break the kiss, leaning back just enough to look at her face—her flushed cheeks, kiss-bruised lips, the way her chest rises and falls…

“Come here.”

I guide her across the bench seat until she’s in my lap, straddling me, her skirt riding up, and fuck if I don’t nearly lose it right there. Her hands go to my shoulders, then my hair, tugging slightly like she’s trying to keep herself grounded.

“You ever been touched like this before, baby?” I ask her, my voice rough with restraint.

She shakes her head. “No…not like this.”

Jesus.

My cock twitches against the fly of my jeans. I grip her hips and pull her tight to me, letting her feel how hard I am, how badly I want her. She gasps again, wide-eyed.

“You sure you’re ready?” I murmur against her jaw, then her neck. “You tell me to stop, I stop. No questions.”

She doesn’t answer with words. Just a breathy “please,” and a slow roll of her hips into mine.

I slide one hand under her skirt, up the inside of her thigh, feeling her tremble beneath my fingers. Her skin is soft and hot, and when I reach the edge of her panties, I groan into her neck at the dampness.

“So fucking wet for me already.”

Her whole body stiffens in embarrassment, but I kiss the corner of her mouth and murmur, “That’s perfect. You’re perfect.”

I run my fingers over the damp fabric of her panties, pressing lightly into her, teasing her clit through the lace. Her lips part and her eyes flutter shut.

“Jake,” she breathes.

My name in her voice sounds like a goddamn prayer. I shift the fabric aside and touch her bare folds. Hot, slick, pulsing. I sink one finger inside her, slowly, carefully. Her body clenches around me, and she tenses.

“Easy,” I whisper. “Just my finger, baby. You’re so tight…”

She lets out the softest moan, her hips rocking involuntarily.

“That’s it,” I coax. “Just like that.”

I add a second finger, working her gently open, curling them just right. Her breath hitches, then breaks into a gasp.

“Oh my god—Jake…” she moans, grabbing my shoulders.

She clings to me like I’m the only thing keeping her upright. Her thighs shake. I keep one arm firm around her back, anchoring her to me, while my fingers work her slowly, deliberately. When I find her G-spot, she cries out.

“There?” I ask.

She nods desperately.

I keep circling her clit with my thumb as my fingers thrust in and out of her, curling just right each time. She’s trembling in my lap now, the tension in her building fast and tight.

“That’s it, Ruby. Come for me. Just let go. You’re safe.”

Her whole body jerks as she shatters around my hand, clenching so tight I can barely move my fingers. She buries her face in my shoulder and sobs out my name again, her orgasm rolling through her like a damn earthquake.

I hold her through every wave of it. My cock’s throbbing in my jeans, painfully hard, but I don’t care. This is about her. About letting her feel wanted, worshipped.

When she finally looks up at me, her eyes glassy, face flushed, I can barely breathe.

“Holy shit,” she whispers.

I grin. “That good?”

She smacks my shoulder playfully, her cheeks growing pinker by the second. “Shut up.”

I raise my fingers to my mouth and slowly lick off the essence of her, savoring the sight of her eyes dilating as she watches me. Then I lean in, kiss her soft and slow. “Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable.”

Because that was just a taste.

And I haven’t even started.

The truck’s engine rumbles under us as I drive, but the real thunder is coming from her.

She’s still breathless, still flushed, her thighs pressed tight together like she’s trying to contain the aftershocks of what just happened.

I glance at her, one hand on the wheel, the other twitching with restraint.

I should behave.

Should take it slow.

But I’ve already tasted heaven between her legs, and now every inch of me is starving.

She looks at me from the passenger seat, cheeks still red, her lips swollen from kissing and moaning my name, and fuck if I don’t grip the steering wheel harder to stop myself from pulling over and ravishing her right here on the side of this lonely, dark road.

“You okay?” I ask, my voice husky with need.

She nods slowly, but I can see the deep hunger in those deep brown eyes. “Are you okay?” she counters teasingly, like she knows exactly how tightly I’m wound.

“I’m hangin’ on by a thread, baby.”

Her blush deepens. I reach over, trail my fingers along her thigh, and feel the little tremble that runs through her.

I smirk. “You keep lookin’ at me like that, and I’m gonna take you in the hallway before we even get the door open.”

She bites her bottom lip without looking away.

Fuck. I know that was intentional.

It’s crazy the effect she has on me.

Soon, I pull into the lodge, and the second the truck’s in park, I’m out and around to her side. She steps down and I grab her hand, walking in fast, purposeful strides. My grip is firm, and she lets me lead her to my room without hesitation, like she knows what’s coming and wants it just as bad.

The moment the door shuts behind us, it’s over.

I pin her back to the wall and slam my mouth over hers, running my hands all over her body—her waist, her hips, the curve of her ass. She’s kissing me back like she’s trying to consume me.

“You have no idea,” I growl against her mouth, “what you do to me.”

I lift her into my arms, and she gasps, her legs instinctively wrapping around my waist. I carry her across the room and drop her gently onto the bed.

“I want you,” I whisper, eyes locked on hers as I lean over her. “But not like that. Not yet.”

She blinks up at me, breath catching. “What?”

“I want to take my time. Learn every way you like to be touched. Every sound you make when I make you come.”

She lets out the tiniest moan, and I smile, dragging my fingertips up the insides of her thighs again. Her skirt is already hiked up. I hook my fingers in the waistband of her panties and pull them down slowly, teasingly…as if unwrapping the most sinful gift I’ve ever been given.

I kiss her knee, then the soft skin just above. Slowly. Tormenting her. Letting anticipation coil tight in both of us. Her breath is coming in fast little bursts, and I watch her nipples pebble through her shirt.

“Gonna make you beg, sweetheart,” I murmur, kissing higher.

She whimpers.

I slide two fingers through her slick folds again, loving how she jerks at the contact. She’s so wet for me, already sensitive from earlier, and I haven’t even started.

She whispers my name.

“No, baby,” I say darkly, lifting my eyes to hers. “Not tonight. Tonight, it’s Daddy.”

Her lips part, her eyes clouding with surprise at first. Then something else…something darker. Hotter.

“Say it,” I coax, fingers circling her clit again. “You want more? Ask Daddy.”

She gasps. “Please…Daddy.”

Fucking hell.

I growl low and sink down between her thighs, tasting her again, slowly, practically drooling as I devour her, sloppy and thorough.

I want her writhing, mindless, calling my name until she can’t speak.

And she does. Again and again, her hands in my hair, moaning into the room like she doesn’t care who hears.

Each time she gets close, I slow it down. Back off just enough to tease her. Drive her crazy.

“Not yet,” I whisper. “Not until I say.”

She’s trembling, begging now. Her thighs clenching around my head. Her voice ragged.

“Please, Daddy, I can’t…please let me…”

That’s my breaking point.

I suck hard on her clit and press my fingers in again, stroking just right until she shatters beneath me. Harder than before. Her whole body arches off the bed, and she sobs out my name, coming all over my mouth.

I kiss her through it. Worship her. Let her come down slowly. She collapses against the sheets, her chest heaving like she ran a marathon. I crawl up beside her, tugging her into my arms, tucking her close.

“That was awesome,” she says breathlessly.

“And I’ve barely even started,” I reply with a wicked grin.