But when a hot guy with long hair and tattoos was kissing her and playing with her nipples and making her think about body parts that got attention mostly from her vibrator, she did realize that there were good reasons to leave the penguins. Once in a while.
Sex and cheesecake.
And not the no-bake kind made with whipped topping.
Real cheesecake that had to be baked.
Those were two things she was willing to leave the penguins for periodically.
But other than that, she had a hard time coming up with things that were more important than what she did for a living. She was not good at relationships because she rarely put anything or anyone above her work. Men—and to be fair, most people—got tired of coming in second. So, to avoid arguments and break ups and generally hurting people’s feelings, she made sure her relationships were very clear from the beginning.
But this guy? And his tongue? She might be willing to make a few exceptions for him.
Zeke pulled back, staring at her eyes, and ran his hands from the back of her head down her shoulders to her wrists where they were linked behind his head. He pulled them apart and nudged her off his lap.
“Want the rest of those off,” he said, nodding to her clothes.
She started on the button of her pants, but he stretched to his feet just then and stripped his t-shirt up his torso and over his head.
Holy crap.
The guy was ripped. He had muscles. She’d already known that he had great muscles in his arms, shoulders, and chest, but seeing them without the black cotton covering them was hot-fantasy-at-night-in-bed-with-her-vibrator-alone level. The guy had suntanned skin and just the right amount of chest hair that narrowed into a line that bisected his sixpack abs, and muscles that were not only incredibly defined, but were covered in gorgeous dark ink.
His right shoulder was covered from the top curve to his elbow with a huge grizzly bear head that spanned onto his chest and wrapped around to the back of his shoulder. Across his chest were words that appeared to be French and were wrapped with magnolias and met up with a dove on the front of his left shoulder and an eagle on the back. Then down his arm all the way to the wrist was a combination designs, feathers, and vines.
She wanted to explore every single line. She wanted to know what they were all about, what they meant to him, why he’d gotten each one.
But mostly, and first, she wanted to run her hands over them, followed by her lips and tongue.
With his hair down and wild around his shoulders, the glint of an earring from his left ear, the ink covered muscles and the low-slung blue jeans along with the black leather riding boots, he was the epitome of an indulgent fantasy in a roadside motel and Jill was suddenly filled with swirling hot, oh-my-God-yes excitement.
The last few weeks since A.J. had passed and she’d inherited the penguins, her life had been crazy.
She’d quit her job, found a new place to live, prepared to move several states away, broken the news to her family and friends, and learned all about the penguin conservation and propagation program she was now automatically a part of.
She’d spent her time trying to get the penguins used to having her around, figuring out how to actually be in charge of endangered wildlife, getting licenses and paperwork transferred, and figuring out how to be in possession of millions of dollars.
Everything in her life had been turned upside down, it seemed, and if anyone deserved a hot night fulfilling a whole bunch of I-probably-shouldn’t-but-I-really-want-to urges that no one would ever know about, it was her. This was actually the perfect situation and she was all in.
“You okay?” Zeke asked, his hands pausing on the button in front of his jeans.
Jill lifted her eyes to his. She realized that she had been frozen, just staring. She swallowed and nodded. “It just hit me what an amazingly wonderful idea this is.”
The corner of his mouth curled up and he took a step closer. “Which idea exactly?”
“Getting you naked and riding you ’til dawn.”
For just a second Jill was shocked those words had come from her mouth.
But the way his pupils dilated and his mouth fell open, made every bit of shock and embarrassment fade quickly. She loved having an effect on this guy, and there was something about not knowing him, not expecting any of this, and him looking at her the way he was right now that made her feel very brazen.
“Well, since we have until dawn, there’s a whole lot of stuff I’d like to do before we get to the riding,” he told her. “But while we’re both gonna enjoy me bending you over and fucking you from behind, taking you up against the wall, and some good old missionary before we get to that, I’m going to think about you straddling me the whole time.”
Heat blossomed in Jill’s lower belly and spread quickly through her body. God, she loved a guy who talked dirty. And she very much loved the fact that he was meeting her brazen talk with his own.
He reached for the front of her jeans and dragged the zipper down slowly as he said, “And please tell me that you like cowgirl more than reverse cowgirl, because I’d really love to watch your tits bouncing and see your face when you come.”
Her breath caught in her chest and Jill didn’t speak for a moment as he pushed her jeans over her hips and down her legs.
She braced a hand on his huge biceps as she lifted a foot to kick free of the jeans absentmindedly. Her brain was fully focused on what he had said.
“I actually like both lots. Reverse is a fantastic angle and there can be something sexy about getting off without seeing your partner’s face.”
That actually made Zeke stop in the midst of helping her get her jeans off.
“Is that right?”
She looked at him, realizing he was surprised that she’d answered completely honestly. She hadn’t been teasing, flirting, or just talking dirty. All of what she just said was true. “But I’m willing to do cowgirl for you.”
He laughed. “Thanks. I do really appreciate it.”
She let her gaze wander over his body.
He was hard and ripped but he didn’t have a weightlifter’s physique. He had very natural muscle definition, clearly built from hard work.
“What do you do for a living?”
“Construction. Mostly.”
“Shows.”
“Thank you.” He seemed surprised.
She looked up at him. “Are you telling me that I’m the first woman to think you’re good looking?”
“You’re the only woman who matters right now.”
She gave a soft snort. “Good answer.”
He reached out, snagged her wrist, and tugged her forward. He put her hands on his chest and covered them with his. “I hope it goes without saying, but this isn’t show and tell. Feel free to handle anything you see that you like.”
“There’s going to be a lot of handling then.”
“That is a good answer.”
He ran his hands up her arms and down her sides. Goosebumps broke out over her body and she couldn’t help but move her hands over his skin as well. He was hot to the touch and she loved every sensation from the soft hair on his chest to the firmness of his nipples to the hard contour of his chest to the way he shuddered as she ran her hand down his ribs.
His hands went to her panties and he quickly pushed them down her thighs. They dropped to her ankles.