Imperfect Justice (8 page)

“I like you too.” She sort of strangled on the words and they came out choked and barely audible.

His warm hand slid up her arm and over her shoulder so his fingers could tip up her chin. Their gazes met and she saw a heat in his eyes that was echoed in her thundering heart.

“I want to kiss you, Misty Foster. But not like last time. This time I want you to want it as much as I do. Should I walk out the door or should I lean in and kiss your pretty pink lips? It’s your choice.”

Her breathing shallow, Misty was lightheaded and dizzy. She did want Jared to kiss her. So much. But did she want more? She could feel the attraction simmering between them growing stronger each and every minute they spent together. A kiss would only be the beginning. If she said yes it wasn’t going to stop there. He would want it all. Was she ready to do something out of the ordinary? She was leaving Fielding in about a month so he wouldn’t be around to remind her if this turned into a fiasco. But something inside was tugging her toward him…pulling her inexorably…

She wanted to feel everything. More. She wasn’t her mother but she was a woman full of passion and desire. For this one man. For one night.

“Kiss me.”

Chapter Six

M
isty’s lips were soft and trembling, tasting of sweet chocolate and something undefinable that only she had. His fingers curled around the nape of her neck and tangled in the long silky strands of her pale blonde hair. He rubbed a tendril between his fingers – like satin against his rough skin – his body tightening at the contrast between them. Man. Woman. Her innate femininity made him feel infinitely more…masculine.

Yet protective. Her smaller frame was so delicate he needed to be supremely gentle tonight. He could feel her surrender but her nervousness too. He’d take this as slow as possible, allowing her inhibitions to fall away.

Reaching up to the daybed he yanked away a blanket and laid it on the rug, never letting his lips move far from hers. He pressed her back so they were both lying on the soft flannel throw as his lips explored the hollow of her throat were the pulse beat madly. Her hands moved restlessly on his back and his cock tightened painfully behind the fly of his jeans. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted a woman this badly. She called to more than his base instincts. Her sweet and gentle nature called to his soul.

“Jared,” she sighed as he nipped at her earlobe and then soothed the tiny hurt with his tongue. She was squirming underneath him and his only thought was to strip the layers of clothing between them as quickly as humanly possible.

His fingers closed around the hem of her sweater but he paused, needing to be absolutely sure this was what she wanted. Her skin was warm and soft under his palms and he itched to delve deeper, exploring all the secrets she’d hidden under heavy clothing.

“I can stop if you want me to.”

Although it was clear from his tone he sure as hell didn’t want to. But then he wasn’t trying to hide how much he wanted her. Considering the hard ridge in his jeans it would have been a waste of time.

Her fingers gripped his shoulders and he felt a shudder run through her body. “No. No, I want this. You. I–I just don’t have much experience.”

He froze, the full import of her words smacking him between the eyes. “You’re a…virgin?”

He said the last word in a hushed voice as if someone was listening in, but they were the only two in the room.

Misty shifted underneath him restlessly and a blush crawled up her skin. “Well, not technically.”

“Technically? I need a little more to go on here, honey,” he said almost desperately. He wanted her fiercely, and to his dismay her innocence only fueled that fire when it should have turned him off.

“I–I’ve had sex three times,” she admitted, her teeth sinking into her lush lower lip. “I wouldn’t say it went well. In fact all three times were a bust. He said I was frigid. Maybe I am. I don’t know.”

“I’m absolutely sure you’re not frigid, honey.”

“Why?” she asked, struggling to her elbows. “Because I’m the daughter of Annette Foster, the town floozy? If my mother loved sex that much then I must too?”

Jared wasn’t the most sensitive of men but even he knew his answer to her question was important and he couldn’t fuck it up. He laid his palm on her shoulder and gently pressed her back onto the blanket.

“Your mother has nothing to do with this. The reason I know you’re not frigid is by how you’ve responded to me. No frigid woman heats up like that after a kiss. As for your would-be lover, he may want to check a book or two out of the library about sex. I think he needs to learn a few things. Maybe a lot more.”

He must have said the right thing because her pupils had turned a deep purple and her breath was becoming more shallow. His little Misty was definitely aroused.

“He seemed to know a lot about…you know…sex. What would he need to learn?”

Such an innocent question but the perfect opening to showing her all the pleasure her body could give and receive. Jared made a mental note to punch that asshole boyfriend of hers if they ever met up. That made two of her former men he was looking to put a hurt on. Jared couldn’t think of any other woman who brought out the Neanderthal in him like Misty did. He wanted to drag her off to his cave for the next week and make love to her over and over until she was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt she wasn’t frigid.

He balanced his weight on his elbows and dropped kisses on the skin just above her collar, enjoying the sigh of pleasure that fell from her lips. “For one thing, he needs to learn that a woman takes a little longer to get warmed up and he should go at her speed. Take his time.”

“What–what else?” she asked, a sexy breathless quality to her voice that made the blood pump in his veins a little harder. Her innocence was so goddamn sexy it hurt.

“A man needs to learn how to undress a woman, for example. Kiss every inch of skin as he exposes it. Tell her how incredibly beautiful and sexy she is and how much she turns you on. A woman wants to be romanced and seduced.”

Her eyes were wide with amazement now and he had to hide his chuckle of amusement. She was glued to his every word.

“A man should make sure the woman has an orgasm first, and if possible has at least two. That’s job number one. If she isn’t satisfied and exhausted from your lovemaking then you’re half-assing it.” Hadn’t Gerald Monroe always told Jared that any job worth doing was worth doing well? He’d taken his father’s words to heart. “Maybe we should get these clothes out of the way.”

His hands slid under her sweater, inching it up until her midriff was on display. He pressed kisses from her waistband up her belly until the cotton of her bra halted him. Wanting to make this last for her, he dragged his tongue down her rib cage and then around to her belly button. Misty giggled and wriggled underneath him, brushing his denim-covered cock and taking his breath away.

Her skin was creamy and velvet-soft, and he had to deliberately slow himself down as he gently tugged the knitted monstrosity over her head while his lips and tongue traveled up the sweet scented valley between her breasts and then under the lace edge of her bra. He tossed the sweater to the side and continued to rain kisses across her shoulders all the way down to her delicate artist’s fingertips, loving the groans and sighs she emitted with each tender touch.

Jared nuzzled her neck while his fingers grazed her stomach on the way to the button on her jeans. He slid them open and tugged the zipper down slowly, letting his lips create a path down the middle of her torso all the way to the elastic of her white cotton panties.

He had to close his eyes and concentrate on his breathing so he could keep up this slow and steady pace. She didn’t need him coming on too strong and ravishing her like a caveman. He would treat tonight as if this was her first time. In a way it was…this was the first time she’d know true passion. He’d make sure of it.

Working the thick denim down her legs, her baggy jeans joined the sweater in a pile on the floor. He knelt beside her and let his gaze run up and down this woman who was looking up at him so trustingly.

What he saw took his breath away.

She looked like an angel.

An angel with hourglass perfect curves that he couldn’t wait to worship and praise. In fact, he was going to start right now.

“You’re gorgeous, Misty. So fucking beautiful. I don’t even have the words to describe how amazing you are. I wish I did but you take my breath away.” He lifted her hand and pressed her fingers to his hard cock pushing for release from the confines of the denim. He bit back his groan of frustration as her palm pressed and rubbed against his fly. “This is what you do to me. I swear I could pound nails with my dick, I’m so hard. I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you right now, right here.”

His compliments had turned her already pink cheeks a bright red and it spread all the way down to the curve of her luscious breasts. Her arm was crossed over her chest but it only served to push them up temptingly. If he didn’t make love to her soon his cock and balls were going to explode in a burst of flames.

“I’m too heavy,” she whispered, her gaze darting everywhere, unable to look him in the eye.

“Are you kidding? You’re perfect. Why do you cover up this gorgeous body with those clothes that are two sizes too big? You should be showing it off and making us men drool on our chins.”

She looked up at him through her lashes. “I didn’t want people to think…”

Her voice trailed away but he got the idea. She didn’t want anyone to think she was like her mother. Somewhere along the line she’d taken it to the extreme, suppressing her own healthy sexual appetite. But tonight he hoped she would throw away all that baggage.

And let herself go.

Nothing had prepared Misty for Jared’s assault to her senses. She felt wonderfully alive as if for the first time. Every nerve ending in her skin tingled, her breath came in rasps, and heat swept from her toes all the way up to her forehead. This was nothing like the fumbling attempts she’d had before. Jared seemed to know all the places to touch and kiss.

She felt helpless to resist.

But shouldn’t she? Would he think she was easy or trampy if she went up in flames so easily? She was acting so different from her usual reserved self it unnerved her. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about it.

Jared didn’t give her a chance to ponder the question.

His tongue traced the straps of her bra as he reached behind her and unclipped the fastenings. The garment seemed to slide away of its own volition along with her panties moments later, leaving her bare to his heated gaze.

Bending his head to her breast, he teased an already hard nipple with his tongue until it was painfully tight. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth to try and get some sort of semblance of control over the arousal and heat that fizzed through her veins. A man’s touch had never affected her like this before.

He lifted up and paused his ministrations. “Relax, honey. There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing here. If it feels good it’s okay.”

His soft assurances made her realize she was holding herself stiff and immobile in his arms, trying to think about anything but how he made her feel.

“It’s just–I’ve never felt…” Completely inarticulate at this moment, she simply shook her head. “It almost feels…too good.”

That made him grin and chuckle, his warm breath like a caress on the sensitive peaks of her breasts.

“You’re good for my ego, honey. But there’s no such thing as too good. I feel the same when you touch me.”

The thought that her hands and lips could make him feel this amazing piqued her curiosity. She’d never had anyone say she aroused them but Jared’s words intimated that very thing. And she wanted to make him as wonderful as she did. She slid her palms down his chest over his flat abdomen, tearing a groan from his lips and making her smile.

Plucking at the buttons on his shirt, she parted the material and let her fingers explore the muscles underneath the fabric. His eyes closed and his breath became more ragged as she tentatively explored the ridges of his stomach. A surge of feminine power ran through her, hiking up her own arousal ten-fold.