Gwen sighed. Jack kissed her neck, peppering soft touches of his mouth along her shoulder and then upward, to the sensitive place behind her ear. She shivered when he tugged lightly at her earlobe with his teeth.
"You're so soft," he marveled. "I want to touch every inch of your skin."
"I do, too."
He growled. His cock was hard and aching already and he'd barely touched her. If she touched him right now, he might explode in his boxers, he was that turned on.
He rubbed the back of her neck. Gwen tipped her head back, sighing. When he turned her around so he could massage her shoulders, she truly began to relax under his touch.
Jack had figured out long ago that a little bit of effort with women in the beginning yielded better results later on. Besides, he liked just enjoying a woman's body, from head to toe.
He pushed one of Gwen's bra straps down, and he waited. She didn't stiffen. Kissing the bare patch of skin, he kept running his hands along her spine, working out any knots he found.
"I had no idea you could give a massage like this," said Gwen. "I would've asked you to massage my shoulders years ago."
"I'm just good with my hands."
Her expression was flirtatious as she looked over her shoulder at him. "I can feel that."
He pushed her hair aside so he could kiss and lick the nape of her neck. When goosebumps rose on her skin, he knew he'd found a sensitive spot. He then reached under her shirt until he reached the hook of her bra.
"Can I take this off?" asked Jack.
"Um, not yet. Sorry." Gwen shot him a pleading look.
"Don't apologize. Nothing to be sorry for."
He removed his hand, instead focusing on making her relax. He eventually turned her back around and began kissing her again. As the kisses deepened and lengthened, Jack touched her bottom lip with his tongue. This time, she allowed him in. He felt triumph shoot through his veins.
It didn't take long for them to lie down on the bed, facing each other. Jack was touching Gwen's bare skin under her shirt, while Gwen was doing the same to him.
"I want to see you," he murmured.
Gwen inhaled deeply, as if gathering her courage. Then she nodded.
Jack slowly slipped her shirt off and then, reaching behind her, unfastened her bra. He didn't immediately reveal her bare breasts. Instead, he kept kissing her, tracing figure eights on the tops of her breasts, letting her get used to the sensations.
Gwen kept wiggling to get closer to him. When she began to tug off his shirt, Jack didn't hesitate.
"Let me see these beauties." He tugged at the center of her bra.
To his surprise, Gwen slipped the bra off herself, flashing him a wide grin. But her courage failed when she realized how hard he was staring at her breasts.
"They're kind of small." Gwen tried to cover herself now, but Jack peeled her arms away.
"They're perfect."
He kissed her, coaxing her, until she let him touch and caress her breasts. Her nipples were sensitive buds that made her gasp when he tweaked them.
Everything faded away for Jack. It was only Gwen, and this bed, and the taste, touch, and scent of her. He wanted to make her moan, beg, even scream. He wanted to kiss every crease, every secret part of her. He wanted her to let go of the fear that had been holding her back for so long.
When he began to palm her ass, rubbing her core through her jeans, he was so intent on kissing her that he didn't hear her at first.
Then Gwen was pinching his ear and saying repeatedly, "Salmon, salmon—Jack!"
He stopped. His brain screeched to a halt, and it felt like a bucket of ice water was dashed on top of him. He sat up, allowing Gwen to scramble away from the bed. She was holding her shirt in front of her and breathing fast.
"Gwen," he said, taking her hand. "Gwen, breathe. It's okay. I'm sorry I scared you."
He could've kicked himself for not hearing her. He should've been paying more attention, and now he'd probably made things worse.
Gwen took in a shuddering breath, then another. She then shot him a wobbly smile. "I'm okay. Sorry. I was having a good time until—"
"Until it was too much."
She looked like she was trying not to cry, and it made his heart crack in two.
"I don't know if this is going to work. I'm probably too much of a mess." Gwen was staring at her hands.
"Gwen, look at me."
She did, finally.
"If you don't want me to touch you ever again, I won't. If you only want to cuddle with our clothes on, we can. I don't care. There's no agenda here."
She finally let him hug her. "Thank you," she whispered.
He didn't want her to go, but it seemed as though she needed some space. Jack kissed her goodbye, and she just said thank you for a second time.
Jack returned to his bed, the scent of Gwen still on the sheets. He was still hard as a rock. Unzipping his jeans, he stroked his cock, thinking of Gwen and hoping he'd get another chance to show her how good things could be between them.
Chapter Eleven
When Gwen got the text from Tim, she wondered if it was an omen.
Did you get my last text? Thinking about you lately.
Gwen stared at her phone, her brain seemingly trying to translate the message on the screen. Tim had been thinking about her?
When they'd first separated, Gwen would've done anything to receive a message like this from Tim. Despite everything he'd done, she'd wanted their marriage to work. She'd vowed until death do us part. And she'd loved her husband still.
Now, though, Gwen could only feel confusion. And a touch of anger. When she'd failed to respond to the first message, that should've been clear enough. Apparently she was going to have to be more transparent than that.
Please don't text me things like that, she replied.
She watched the three dots blink. Then: We were good together. I miss you.
"What happened?" said Jocelyn over Gwen's shoulder.
Gwen nearly threw her phone across the front desk of the inn. Instead, it fell from her hand, bounced from the counter to the floor, and was screen-side up when Jocelyn picked it up to hand it back to Gwen.
"Good lord, are you jumpy." Jocelyn eyed her. "Did you get bad news? Is it from Luke?"
It took Gwen a moment to remember who Luke was. She shook her head. "No, no. Nothing to do with the business."
"Then what is it?"
"It's personal." Gwen winced at how snippy she sounded. "Just something that I didn't need today. That's all."
"You've been out of it for the past few days. You were staring off into space yesterday. It took me saying your name three times for you to hear me."
Gwen blushed. Since her night with Jack that had ended so awkwardly, she'd been struggling to stay focused. If she didn't think about him during the day, she dreamed about him at night.
What was worse was that she'd gotten so twisted up inside, so sure that he wanted nothing to do with her now, that she was in a constant state of alert in case he stopped by.
It was Tuesday. He was due to drop off some salmon this morning. Gwen's heart sped up at the thought. She hadn't seen him since their last evening together.