Free Framed and Hung by Alexis Fleming Page A

operates.’
    ‘Control issues much, Jake?’
    They’d reached the door of Zoe’s unit. Jake released her arm and turned to face her, a grin on his face. ‘And you’re one to talk about control? Pot, meet kettle.’
    She laughed on cue, but deep down she knew that’s what all this pussy-footing around was about. Control!
    There was no doubt Jake wanted her. Even now, as she brushed against him, she felt the hard ridge of a flagrant erection tenting the front of his pants.
    So it all came back to control. As in, Jake controlling how this little fling progressed.
    She bit her lip to stop from laughing. Poor Jake. He was about to learn she had her own issues and he couldn’t always have his own way. Let’s see how he liked having the tables turned.
    Linking her arms around his neck, she pulled herself up and wrapped her legs about his hips. His automatic response was to grasp her bottom and ease her closer. Zoe grinned. Just the reaction she wanted.
    ‘I guess the time has come to say goodnight,’ she whispered before running the tip of her tongue along his bottom lip.
    Jake tightened his hold. ‘Nice way you have of dealing with the height issues. At least I don’t have to carry a box around so I can kiss you goodnight. You’re such a tiny thing.’
    She shifted, rubbing against his erection. His hips jerked, pushing against her core. ‘Haven’t you heard the old cliché about good things coming in small packages? And I can be oh, so good.’
    Not giving him time to respond, she slanted her mouth over his. He immediately opened to her and she took control, nibbling at his full bottom lip before flicking her tongue across it to soothe the love bites.
    He groaned and she applied pressure, sending her tongue snaking to taste him. He reciprocated, his tongue twining with hers. Movement for movement. Advance and retreat.
    This time Zoe groaned as sensation shot through her. Heat pooled in the bottom of her stomach, swept through her blood, igniting nerve endings along the way. Using her grip on his shoulders, she moved against him, positioning the hard ridge of his erection right where she wanted — no, needed — it.
    Jake took up the dance, pumping against her. The friction of their clothing just increased the building tension. Jake’s movements sped up. So, too, did hers. He deepened the kiss, his tongue lashing hers. She followed him, fighting for sanity in the maelstrom that had overtaken her and turned her insides to mush.
    God help her, she was supposed to be the one in control, but she was in serious danger of losing it here. Of losing herself permanently. Not going to happen.
    Gasping, Zoe broke off the kiss, wiggling her legs until Jake let her down. For a moment, she felt light-headed as she struggled to regulate her breathing.
    She ran a trembling finger across his mouth. ‘Goodnight, Jake,’ she whispered, opening the door behind her and stepping back.
    The last thing she saw as she shut the door between them was the shocked look on Jake’s face. But not only that. Hunger. Raw, potent hunger, aimed directly at her.
    Locking the door, she flicked on the light and sagged against the timber surface of the door. Damn it, that had been hard. The last thing she’d wanted to do was walk away. She shook her head. Control, my girl, control.
    Poor Jake. He really didn’t know what had hit him. Even now, she could still hear him outside her room, his breath rasping in his throat. Then one hard thump on the wall and footsteps heading next door to his room.
    She gave a slight grin. If he felt anything like she did, that had probably been a clenched fist belting the wall in sexual frustration.
    Stepping away from the door, she unbuttoned and shimmied out of the tight shorts, bending over to grab them and toss them onto one of the tub chairs. It was time she got some sleep. That’s if she could stop thinking about that smokin’ hot kiss she’d just shared with Jake.
    She’d put everything she had into that