Things get a little steamy in today’s instalment…

Don’t miss Part 1 and Part 2!

Chapter 2

JAXON

How long since I’d felt this kind of pull with a woman? Months, years, aeons?

I dated. Casually. Women who knew the score. Usually wannabe models or starlets wanting a leg-up in the industry, using me for my credentials. I didn’t mind. Having money, prestige and contacts meant I scored whenever I wanted.

Not that I was a man-whore. I was selective. Choosy, even. But for a guy who’d been bullied at school to the extent girls avoided me, I got my fair share of sex these days. I considered it an occupational perk.

So what was it about this woman that had me eager to take her back to my place and see if we could create sparks beyond the verbal kind?

I liked banter as foreplay. Give me a quick wit and I was a goner, the boner in my pants testament to that ever since we’d started sparring.

But I didn’t pick up women in bars. Wasn’t my style. But the longer she studied me like some complex science experiment she couldn’t figure out, I knew this time I’d make an exception.

There was something about her … an elusive hint of vulnerability beneath her brash exterior that guaranteed she’d be fun in bed.

Decision made, I stood. ‘I’m leaving now. For ice-cream.’ I made those cutesy inverted comma signs with my fingers that I hated. Shit. She had me seriously rattled if I was resorting to trite.

She stared at me and I saw the battle she waged in her eyes; big, brown, expressive eyes with dark caramel flecks that a guy could drown in. Interest. Excitement. Tinged with fear.

‘I don’t have ice-cream with just anyone, especially when I don’t know them.’ She raised an imperious eyebrow and squared her shoulders, drawing my attention to pert breasts encased in black cotton.

Unlike most of the women here she didn’t go for the slinky revealing look, yet she rocked a denim mini and cotton tank better than the haute couture of past dates.

‘The only way to rectify that is get to know me better.’ I held out a hand, daring her to take it. ‘My apartment is just around the corner.’

‘Of course it is,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘Though shouldn’t that be ice-cream parlour?’

‘There’s ice-cream there. Strawberry, boysenberry and double choc chip.’ She smiled and my cock thickened further. The simple action of her lush mouth curving upward transformed her face from pretty to spectacular and I couldn’t help but imagine how that beautiful mouth would feel wrapped around me.

‘What are you, a girl?’

I almost said, ‘My sister visits regularly,’ out of habit. But Erin hadn’t visited in two years. Thanks to me. And I had to live with the truth that I’d contributed to my sister’s death every fucking day.

I cleared my throat, hating the way it tightened whenever I thought of Erin, so I blurted the first fib I could think of. ‘My mum stocked the freezer with her favourite flavours.’

It made me sound like a mummy’s boy. I didn’t care. Besides, I couldn’t tell her the truth: that I stocked Mum’s favourite flavours in the hope she would drop by unexpectedly like she used to.

These days, we avoided each other. I hated seeing the devastation in her eyes, she hates seeing the guilt in mine.

An eyebrow quirked. ‘Wow, so we’re really going to eat ice-cream?’

I couldn’t resist. ‘I’m going to eat something.’

Rather than slap me, she chuckled. ‘Bad boy.’

‘I can be good too.’ I gave in to the impulse to touch her and trailed a finger down her bare arm. Goosebumps sprang up over her skin and I glimpsed the telltale hardening of her nipples.

Fuck, I wanted to wrap my lips around them so bad. To suck them into my mouth, twirl my tongue over them, have her arch and thrust them into my mouth. Were they pink or brown? Large areola or small? Were her tits the perfect handful?

She must’ve glimpsed the lust in my eyes because she eased away. ‘This is way out of my comfort zone,’ she blurted, colour flushing her cheeks. ‘But I’m renowned for my bluntness so here goes. I like you. I like the fact you’ve been straightforward with what you want. I don’t like the fact I haven’t had sex in almost a year.’

She blew out a long breath. ‘And I’m very tempted to rectify that alarming statistic with you.’

My cock surged to fully erect. Suit jackets were good for something after all. How could this gorgeous, intriguing woman not have had sex in almost a year? A travesty, one I intended on remedying if she let me. She’d be so responsive, going off like a firecracker with the slightest ministrations, and I couldn’t wait to get my mouth on her.

‘Then what are we waiting for?’ I held out my hand, willing her to take it.

She hesitated, staring at it for an eternity, before she finally moved, sliding off the stool to stand in front of me. Wow, she was tall, at least five-nine, her height a welcome surprise. I always felt like I’d break the petite ones, considering I’d hit six-two at nineteen.

‘I won’t bite.’ I flexed my fingers, inviting her to take hold. ‘Not unless you ask politely, that is.’

When her tongue darted out to moisten her bottom lip, I almost lost it, the yearning to grab her hand and make a run for it incredibly strong.

‘This is so not me,’ she murmured, so softly I barely heard, before she finally, finally, placed her hand in mine. ‘But maybe for one night it can be.’

I squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, strong and sure, at odds with her wary expression. ‘For what it’s worth, I’m not some sleaze who picks up women in bars for one-night stands.’

She gave a slight nod. ‘I’m a pretty good judge of character and I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought you were.’

I wanted to say she shouldn’t be so trusting. That you couldn’t tell a good guy from a bad on first meeting. But it wasn’t my place to lecture her and I knew she’d bolt if I did. Did that make me a selfish prick? Hell yeah, but with her soft hand in mine, my little head overruled my big one.

‘Let’s go.’

Can’t wait to see what happens next? Go straight to PART IV

And don’t miss the steamy conclusion in PART V

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Are they playing to win…or playing for keeps?

Angelica Bryant has a dream. The only child of a soccer legend, she pays her bills by working at her father’s bar while pursuing her goals: a role in sports management and a place in the newly established Women’s Aussie Rules league. Football is her passion, and she won’t let anything get in her way: including an ill-advised one-night-stand with one of Australia’s most successful agents.

Jaxon Flint thrives on success. His workaholic lifestyle keeps his agency and the athletes he represents at the top of their game – and all of his emotions at bay. Until he meets Angie, W.A.R.’s newest star, who undermines his carefully laid plans and gets under his skin. Is he willing to relinquish his careful control both in and out of the bedroom?

When Angie and Jaxon end up working together, it’s game on!

All three Women of W.A.R. titles release 20 February 2018!