Sweet Salvation (23 page)

“Thank God.” His thumbs wiped away the tears still rolling down her cheeks. Leaning in, he pressed a soft kiss to her tear-stained cheeks before gently brushing her lips with his. “Let’s get into bed where we can be comfortable.”

Lifting her in his arms, he carried her to their plush king-sized bed. Following her down, he braced himself on his elbows, his handsome face above her all that she could see.

“You’re a beautiful, poised woman, but you talk as though you’ve just come down from a mountain top where you’ve been living like a hermit for the past decade. You have a southern grace and charm that is utterly captivating and was the first thing I noticed about you.”

Her unladylike sniff was anything but charming. “You said it was my ass in that pencil skirt I wore to my interview.”

“Mm, yes, I did love that skirt.” His leering face and waggling eyebrows got her tickled. Snickering, she smacked his shoulder lightly.

“What can I say? I’m a man and I’m not blind.” His lips quirked momentarily when she rolled her eyes.

“Do you think I’m being ridiculous about all this?”

“No, it’s how you feel, so it’s not ridiculous and after last weekend, I can certainly understand your reluctance to have a big crowd.”

“That’s something I’m supposed to work on in therapy, but I doubt if I’ll be ready in a few weeks. If you want to postpone—”

“No. We’re getting married as planned. I want you to be mine, forever, and I want everyone to know it.”

“You’re not still mad at me?”

“No, but I am disappointed that you didn’t come to me with this. All of this drama could have been avoided. You can tell me anything. If I don’t listen, or don’t seem to understand, like this morning, keep telling me until I do. Nothing is as important as keeping us together.”

Jared lowered his head and kissed her. His lips and tongue teasing at first then taking more, claiming and possessing her. When she was breathless and limp, he lifted his head.

“What if we just get married at the courthouse? We’ll invite my parents and Marc and Jess can stand up for us. Afterward, we can throw a small dinner party here with family and close friends to celebrate.”

“Your mother will hate me.”

“No, she won’t. She has the engagement party.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Twining her arms around his neck, she pulled him close, burying her face against his neck. “Thank you, Jared. I really am sorry for tonight. It’s like my mouth has an override button on my brain sometimes.”

“It wasn’t only your mouth tonight, honey.”

He wasn’t going to allow her to minimize her reckless leap from the car, or withholding her feelings from him. “I know, but it seems to get me in the worst trouble.”

“I happen to like your mouth, although it did call me an ass, so your butt owes me ten.”

Of course, he wouldn’t forget that. Her head came up, brows lowered in indignation. “I claim temporary insanity due to that crack about being hormonal. Any other woman would have called you worse, Jared. I mean, really. That’s a sexist low blow, don’t you think?”

Peppering small kisses along the corner of her mouth, he scattered more along her cheek and jaw. “Hm, that was rather crude, although there is scientific evidence behind it.”

“Jared!”

His hand came up and captured her chin, nudging it upward until she was staring into his green-gold eyes. He offered another compromise. “I’ll give you amnesty this once.” She was expecting a steamy kiss, but instead his face turned stern as his husky voice laid down the law. “Next time, I expect you to get my attention, but not with childish behavior like today. Sass and sarcasm gets my notice, Stacy-mine, but only tells me that something is bothering you. That will earn you more corner time with a sore bottom. Although I’m happy to give you what you need, I prefer a more direct route. Be open and honest with me, especially when it comes to problems between us. I don’t have a crystal ball, nor am I a mind reader. I can’t help solve these problems if I don’t have all the facts.”

“I really was a brat today, Jared, and I’m sorry. I promise I’ll try harder. Will you be patient with me?”

He rolled until she was on top, her hair a silky blond curtain around them. She pushed up on her forearms and looked down into his handsome face, melting at the golden sparks of passion that flashed in his eyes. His smile lightened the mood, breaking through the seriousness of their discussion, like the sun penetrating gray clouds on an overcast day. She didn’t need an answer to her question. She could read it in his loving gaze.

“You know that verse we heard at that wedding a few weeks back? Love is patient…”

“Love is kind? I do, darlin’, it was beautiful.”

“Love rejoices with truth, always trusts, and never fails. I’m determined to have all those things, Stacy. No matter what, I’m in this for the long haul.”

Tears flowed anew. How had she been so fortunate to find this man? “You say such sweet things, but they make me cry and I drip like a leaky faucet.”

He ignored her little joke. “Promise you’ll talk to me.”

“I promise.”

“That’s my good girl.”

A pang of guilt hit her gut. She hadn’t been completely honest, had she? Should she tell him? Maybe she should let his mother’s report speak for her. She was confident in her research and planning. What harm would it do for her to look?

He pulled her head down and gently kissed her, lingering along her lips before delving into the warm recesses of her mouth. The kiss soon surpassed gentle, the intensity building incrementally as all thoughts of work, reports, and proposals disappeared. Swept up quickly in his passion, Stacy groaned as his hands wandered to her backside and glided over her tender, still warm flesh. Gripping her thighs, he spread her legs until they straddled his hips, opening her to his thorough exploration. His fingers played over her wetness, curling into her from behind as she arched her back, opening more fully for him. Pressing his hips into hers, his rather insistent erection found its place between her thighs.

“How about you show me what you can do with this glorious ass. Ride me, baby.”

Jared flexed his hips, his cock gliding into the cleft of her swollen wet lips. Stacy groaned helplessly, lifting her hips she moved over him until the smooth head of his cock nudged firmly against her clit.

“Sit up and take me inside.”

Pushing up on his chest, she angled her hips so that he slipped right inside. She was so slick that he slid in smoothly, filling her to the hilt, without the need for a guiding hand. Stacy sat back, enjoying his impressive length stretching and filling her, her lips parting on a heavy exhalation as the head of his cock bumped up against her cervix.

“You fill me up so good, darlin’. We’re perfect, you and me.”

“Move on me, Stace.” His hands claimed her hips and set the pace, guiding her up and down his hard length. After he’d set her movements to the rhythm that he liked, his hands began to play. Her fingers splayed over his smooth, broad chest as she moved against him. She was angled forward, causing her full breasts to sway seductively as she rode him, his fingers tweaking and tugging her erect nipples. His mouth replaced teasing fingers and captured her nipple between his teeth. He bit firmly, just a touch of pleasure-pain, enough to make her whimper and arch her back, seeking more.

“Such sensitive nipples, love that.”

When his head moved to her other nipple and latched on, the need to come tightened like a knot low in her belly. She rode him faster. She wanted to come, the need building to a near unbearable level. Her man was a full on assault to her senses, using every tool in his arsenal to make her squirm. His mouth continued its sweet torment as his fingers trailed teasingly down her flat belly, finding the sweet spot between her thighs. Expertly, his thumb homed in on her clit, circling and flicking it, ramping up her need for fulfillment and sending her quickly out of control. However, the devious man was in the mood to drag things out. A quickie was not what he had in mind for tonight, because just shy of her peak, he took his hand away. Growling with sexual frustration, her focus centralized on the aching need between her thighs.

“Jared,” she gasped. “I’m dying here.”

“Patience, all in good time.”

Now is the time
, she thought and her hand sought the burning fire he’d built, then abandoned. Her tormentor caught her hand shy of its goal, however. A keening cry of desperation rose from deep within her as her head fell forward, thumping against his shoulder. “Jared, darlin’, please. You’re getting me all hot and bothered, then just as I’m fixin’ to come, you stop. It’s killing me and I can’t bear it any longer.”

His taunting mouth released her breast with a little pop. His hand wrapped around her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair as he pulled her face down to his.

“Look at me.”

Panting agitatedly a hairsbreadth from his mouth, she felt his lips move against hers. Her eyes opened and she was mesmerized by his golden gaze, the amber flecks having conquered the green in his passion. His grin told her how much he’d enjoyed subjecting her to his brand of slow, agonizing torture.

“Are you asking to come then, Stace?”

She nodded, his lips tickling hers, her tongue coming out to soothe the itch. As she licked her lips, her tongue rubbed against his as well.

“Talk to me, baby. Ask for what you want.”

“I’ve been begging, Jared. It seems I’ve been waiting forever for you to end this wild ride.”

“Say it, then.”

“Please, Jared. Make me come.”

Capturing her mouth with a penetrating kiss, he surged up into her. His hand in her hair tightened as he fused his mouth to hers. They shared shuddering breaths as his long arm wrapped around her hips, anchoring her close. With one push of a strong leg, he rolled them.

“On your belly.”

His command sent a thrill rushing through her and she scrambled to obey.

“Bottom up and spread for me, baby.”

Her lungs seized and her body trembled as she spread her legs wide, arching her back and angling her pussy like a cat in heat. A finger dipped into her cleft and she jerked.

“Easy,” he reassured as that finger glided through her wetness, tracing her clit then finding her already clenching opening. “So eager and responsive, you’re beautiful, Stacy-mine.”

A second finger joined the first and he slowly entered her, sending a rush of desire sweeping through her. Already on a tight thread, she clamped around the fingers curling into her core.

“I swear, you’re gonna tease me to death, darlin’.”

She’d begun to rock back against his tormenting fingers, when his hand came to her hip and stilled her.
Dang it!
He stopped again.

She cried “Merciful heavens!” in a high-pitched wail at the same time his cock entered her, hard.

“Hang on tight, ‘cause this wild ride’s about to get wilder.”

He fucked her then. A crude word, but to Stacy, that seemed to fit best as Jared slammed into her from behind. His legs braced against the back of her thighs and his hands clamped over her hips as he took full possession. Her body, held in check so long, was like jelly and all she could do was submit to his power. Like a force of nature, he drove into her—frenzied and fierce—taking her roughly and she enjoyed every minute of it. Reaching back with one arm, she curled her fingers around one thick wrist and held on tight—unable to do much else—reveling in the thrill of his possession, the excitement of his control.

His hands moved, gliding around her hips and chest. He curled his body and arms around her, pulling her up against his chest until they were both on their knees. His lips found her throat, as her head fell back against him with a wild cry of passion. The arm around her chest clamped down as the other moved lower, capturing her clit and he began to work her with his fingers.

“You feel so good. Are you ready to come now?”

A guttural groan was all she could manage as her mind, numb from the simultaneous sucking, fingering, and fucking, checked out. All she could do was feel.

“Sounds like a yes to me. Come for me now, baby,” he finally allowed.

That was all Stacy needed—a green light for completion. Her arms rose above her head and plunged into his hair. She angled her head searching for his lips as she arched. He surged unbelievably deeper. From this angle, each upward thrust abraded the hypersensitive bundle of nerves at the front of her channel. The three different sensations pushed her to new heights and she flew apart, soaring over the peak and into the white-hot sensual haze beyond. Stacy screamed and Jared’s guttural growl answered in turn. Internal muscles clamping around his hardness, she clung to him replete in culmination as he twitched and jerked inside her, finding his own passionate release.

Collapsing beside her on the pillows, he snaked one arm around her and hauled her up against his side. She looked at him through heavy lidded eyes and grinned like a sated fool.

“Happy?”

“As Nana Altman would say, ‘I’m happier than a pig in sunshine, darlin’.’ Only she didn’t always say sunshine.”
She said shit
, Stacy thought with a snicker, but since Jared didn’t like a cussing woman, she’d told him the G-rated version that Nana used around the grandkids.

“Your nana sounds like she was a real character.”

“She’d have loved you, Jared.”

“A Yankee like me? How’s that?”

“She’d have loved you for loving me, darlin’.”

“I do love you, Stacy.”

“I love you, too. You know, I figured out your little lesson amidst all our lovin’.”

“What lesson was that?” he asked and she felt his lips curve into a smile against her skin.

“That I need to tell you what I want, not expect you just to be able to figure it out. That was very sneaky, darlin’; effective, but sneaky.”

“Even in the throes of passion, you’re sharp as a tack. I’m glad you got it. I didn’t know I was such a good teacher. I might have to consider education later in my career.”

Rising up on an elbow, she glared at him. “I don’t think so, Dr. Baker. Not if those are the techniques you plan to use.”