The Dangerous Gift (14 page)

“I don’t know.” Jared’s troubled expression was transparent; he really didn’t know what to believe.

“Maybe it has something to do with the oil survey. The accident happened around the date the report was issued, and both accidents involved explosive blowouts of almost-new tires,” Jennie said.

“It’s the work of some faceless assailant hired by the oil company. Is that what you believe? Why kill your parents and not mine, though? They were the owners of the Unicorn, after all.”

Jared’s logic made Jennie doubt her assumptions. “Yes, I guess you’re right. And why did they kill Ryder and Darleen’s parents and not their grandparents?” Jennie shrugged. “Oh well, it was just a thought. I just want to make sense of it all. I guess they’re just unhappy coincidences.”

“I’ll mention it to the sheriff when I see him later. That’s why I’m back, really. He called me earlier. Apparently, the accident investigator’s report on the plane crash is in, and he wanted to give me the heads-up before it’s publicly released.” Jared’s gaze betrayed his anxiety, but his next words surprised Jennie. “He’ll be here soon. Do you want to meet him with me? I could do with your support.”

Jennie smiled. “Of course, Jared. Help me up. I need a shower after my ride. What time is he due here?”

“In about half an hour; that is, unless he gets called out on another case. Do want me to help you upstairs?” Jared’s gaze flickered with heat.

Jennie’s toes curled with desire, and her body flooded with liquid fire. She wanted him to help her with much more than the stairs. When he met her gaze at last, his own was filled with fire and sincerity. He wanted her and he wouldn’t hurt her. Where did that knowledge come from? Intuitively, all her doubts about Jared’s involvement in her accidents dissipated. Maybe reminiscing about her parents’ accident had clarified things for her. Jared always acted in her best interests. He wouldn’t hurt her.

The fear and jealousy that clouded her thoughts cleared too. Whoever had hurt her, it wasn’t Jared, so there was no reason to wait to show him how much she cared.

“Yes, please. I could really use some help.”

Chapter 13

Jared

Jared held Jen tight in his arms, smiling. This was more like the girl he knew, before he broke her heart. This time, he wouldn’t let her go. As he negotiated the office door into the house, her trust made him feel ten feet tall. She didn’t say the words, but he knew she no longer suspected him of trying to hurt her. The reasons for avoiding her and not acting on his feelings faded away. The similarity of the accidents bothered him some, but his libido shelved his suspicions for later perusal. Now, he wanted to make this woman, the one he’d waited so long for, his in the most physical way possible.

Jen put her arms round his neck and leaned into him, and her breasts brushed against his taut abdominal muscles. His arousal rocketed as her flowery scent tantalized him, and his breath hitched as he fought the urge to lay her down on the stairs and take her there.

He took the stairs two at time and strode along the galleried landing. When he hesitated outside Jen’s room, she leaned back and captured his gaze and caressed her full pink lips with her tongue. “This is fine, Jared.”

He braced his arm around her and opened the door with his free hand. The room smelt of her—flowers and an exotic scent he couldn’t name, but her face came to mind when it drifted across his senses. He kicked the door shut behind him and reached the bed in three strides. His cock rubbed against his zipper, demanding release. He wanted to make this good for her, perfect if he was honest. They’d waited so long for each other, but his need threatened to override his finesse.

He laid her carefully on the bed and lay down beside her. She tightened her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. As she pressed a gentle, tentative kiss against his needy mouth, it was all the invitation he needed. He crushed her against his body and groaned against her soft mouth. It felt so good, so right. He opened his mouth against her soft lips, and his tongue traced the path her tongue had taken moments before. She sighed and parted her lips, and he thrust his tongue into her heat, the carnality making his cock jerk. He needed to be inside her or he would be pumping his seed into his jeans.

He hadn’t had a woman since Darleen, and that had ended months ago. Jared’s passion was reflected in Jen’s fevered gaze. She clawed at his shirt buttons, which flew off in all directions, as she swept her hands across his naked chest and abdomen. She moaned and writhed against him as she pressed open-mouthed kisses against his naked body, leaving a trail of fire from his throat to the waistband of his jeans. Jen reached for his fly button, but he dragged her hands away.

“Not this time, honey. I need to be inside you now.”

Jen stretched out alongside him, and her shirt stretched over her breasts, making the outline of her erect nipples easily discernible. He sat up, removed his boots, and flicked the button of his fly open. Conscious of her hot gaze, he stood and pushed his now-too-tight jeans and boxers down his legs and stepped out of them. He ripped his shirt off and turned back to Jen, who eyed him with undisguised appreciation.

Jared knelt on the bed and unbuttoned her jeans before pulling them down her legs, kissing the naked skin he revealed as he did so. Jennie removed her already unbuttoned shirt. She lay back, waiting, letting him have the control he so desperately needed. He kissed the valley between her breasts, eased her up, and unhooked her silky bra, which joined the pile of clothes on the floor. Her nipples puckered in the cool air, or maybe from the force of his hot gaze. He tasted her, rolled his tongue round the hard pleasure point until she writhed underneath him. He then leaned over and laved her other nipple.

Jared traced her soft skin until he reached the barrier of her silky thong. He leaned up so his gaze could follow his fingers’ exploration, and when he glanced up, their gazes clashed, and dilated pupils betrayed her arousal. He pushed the material aside and dipped his finger into her dark heat. She was so wet and ready for him. He caught his fingers in the string of her thong and eased them down over her hips, kissing what he revealed.

As he stroked his tongue across her clitoris, she moaned and parted her legs. He ran his fingers up her inner thigh and thrust two of them into her core, pressing against her innermost walls until she contracted around his fingers and found her release.

Jared positioned himself between her thighs and thrust into her hard. She was tight, and the last of his control splintered as he found his own nirvana.

***

Jennie

Jared rolled to the side and pulled Jennie tight against him.

“I knew it would be like this.” Jennie sighed, snuggling closer and hoping what they’d done meant as much to Jared as it did to her.

“Me too. If only I listened to my heart rather than other people. Why did I wait and miss out on this?” Jared kissed her and pulled her closer still.

“You did what you thought was right. We can make up for lost time.” Jennie kissed his chest and laved his nipple, which hardened with her touch. “Though it pains me to say it, maybe Ralf was right. Five years ago, this wouldn’t have been the same. I would have been too young, too naive.”

Jared laughed. “Now who’s being philosophical?”

***

Jennie stretched. Her body ached in some unusual places, but she wasn’t complaining. She needed to take a shower, but Jared was already in there. The sheriff could arrive at any time. At least one of them needed to be downstairs to meet him when he did.

She opened the en suite’s door, and a steamy, spicy atmosphere engulfed her as she walked into the heat. Jared’s phone vibrated, and he opened the shower enclosure and grabbed it from where it rested on top of the toilet. “Hello, Sheriff. No, that’s fine. We’ll see you later, then.”

Jennie took the phone from his damp hand, hung up, and placed it on the shelf. “Isn’t he coming?”

Jared stepped out of the shower. “Not until this evening at the earliest. There’s been a pileup on the Interstate, and he’s been drafted to help.”

The steam filling the room allowed her tempting glances of his muscled, naked butt and thighs, and Jennie leaned forward to improve her view. She’d endured years apart from the man she loved and was entitled to ogle him. Without warning, Jared lifted her and pulled her against his hard, wet body.

“Jared, what are you doing?” But Jennie immediately forgot her halfhearted protest as her body gravitated to his like a key to a lock.

“I thought you wanted a shower?” Jared let her slide down his slick torso until her bare feet rested on his. His erection rubbed against her naked tummy. Her toes curled as he kissed her in a deeply satisfying way. When he ended the kiss, he looked at her expectantly, clearly waiting for her answer. If only she could remember the question. “So do you want to take a shower now, sweetheart?”

“Yes.” Jennie was incapable of more than a monosyllabic response.

Jared opened the enclosure to its full extent and scooped her up. Inside the humid shower, he lowered her gently onto the tiled floor. Jennie shivered under the rhythmic flow of the pulsing water, cool against her heated skin. She pushed her long hair out of her eyes, and the shower enclosure door clicked shut. A sigh escaped when she realized Jared wasn’t showering with her, especially since their guest wouldn’t be arriving for hours. She reached for the soft sponge and ylang-ylang shower cream and soaped her body.

The sponge disappeared as she lifted her arms to soap her breasts. Jennie looked over her shoulder, and through the water she saw her naked cowboy up close and personal. He enclosed her in his muscular arms, added shower cream to his large hands, and let them slide over her breasts and abdomen. Teasing sparks of renewed arousal skittered across her breasts and down her body to pool between her legs, which were still incredibly sensitive from their earlier passion.

Jared moved his bubble-covered hands lower, his long fingers blazing a trail of devastation. She leaned against his hard torso as her knees buckled. His erection pressed between her thighs, hot and insistent. He lifted and turned her so she faced him. Instinctively, she opened her legs and straddled him.

His intense gaze left her in no doubt what would happen next. He pressed her against the shower’s slippery walls. Legs braced, he thrust his cock deep inside her. Jennie wanted him to fill her, push her over the edge into sweet sensation. She drew him closer until he thrust into her balls-deep and catapulted her into a powerful orgasm, which rocked the shower enclosure. Jennie’s screams mingled with Jared’s rough voice shouting out her name as he followed her lead, intensifying her pleasure.

The shower spray relaxed her sated body as he withdrew and let her slide gently down his muscled frame until her feet touched solid ground. She swayed, but his arms anchored her as he washed the evidence of their loving away and turned off the shower.

Jared opened the enclosure and snagged a white, fluffy towel, which he draped over her. He lifted her into his arms and stepped into the en suite, keeping her tight against him until he laid her on the bed before dropping down beside her. He pulled her against him and held her until she slept.

***

The insistent buzz of a cell phone dragged Jennie out of her dreamless sleep. When she stretched and encountered a hair-roughened leg, her heavy eyelids lifted at the unexpected discovery. Her sleepy gaze skimmed over the muscled calf and thigh and rested on a semi-aroused shaft. She forced her gaze away from the tempting sight and let it skitter over the near-perfect six-pack and defined pectorals.

The corded throat vibrated. “Seen enough, Jen?”

Jared’s deep, gravelly voice made her shiver as it resonated in all Jennie’s pleasure points. “Oh, you’re awake…”

“Yeah, the phone buzzing woke me.” Jared stroked Jennie’s hair away from her eyes and pulled her close enough for a kiss. Jennie opened her mouth, and their tongues met and tangled. Sexual fireworks exploded along her nerve endings. Reluctant, she pulled away, anxious to know who had called and woken them. It might be important.

“Good morning to you too. Who called your cell?”

“The sheriff. He’s on his way.” Jared gently disengaged from Jennie’s embrace and stretched. She barely resisted the urge to trace the rippling muscles and tendons defined under his supple, tanned skin. “It’s evening, not morning, hun. We only slept for a short while. The sheriff’s coming here straight from the Interstate accident.” Jared got off the bed as he spoke.

“Have I got time for shower before the sheriff gets here?” Jennie slipped off the bed with a sense of déjà vu.

“He’ll be here in forty minutes, so yes, as long as it’s alone.” Jared’s smile reached his blue eyes. They twinkled with amusement and heat as Jennie recalled her last shower. She threw the still-damp towel in his direction. He caught it easily and wrapped it low on his hips.

Jennie snatched a quick, fortifying breath as she stared at the tent his erection made. Jared’s hot gaze speared hers when she looked up. “Sure you’re not sharing my shower, Jared?” She walked slowly towards him, uncaring of her nakedness. “I could help you with your wardrobe malfunction.” She walked past him, so close she could smell his arousal, but she didn’t look back until she stood in the en suite’s doorway. “Last chance.”

Jared groaned but stood his ground. “I can’t, but don’t think this is over.” He stroked his shaft through the towel. “This will keep.”

Jennie licked her lips, enjoying the heat burning in Jared’s stare.

“Enough. I’m out of here while I can still walk straight.” He reached her bedroom door in a few strides and snatched it open. “See you downstairs in twenty minutes.” Jared blew her a kiss and shut the door quietly behind him.

Jennie worried her bottom lip. She could follow Jared; his obvious arousal would make him a pushover. No, they needed to be downstairs and focused when the sheriff arrived with the investigator’s findings on Annie and Ralf’s plane crash. Whatever the outcome, Jared would need her support. Physical comfort could come later.

She turned on the shower and made the temperature colder than she favored. It would cool her libido and focus her for the ordeal ahead.

***

Ryder

The sun glinted on the powerful camera lens, which Ryder focused towards the Unicorn’s ranch house. He’d ridden back to the Pegasus when he left Jennie late that morning, disturbed by her none-too-subtle digging into his and Darleen’s past. He didn’t buy that she simply wanted to take a trip down memory lane. Jennie was suspicious, but how much did she really know?

Later, Ryder found where Jared was working and waited. When Jared and the men headed back towards the Unicorn late that afternoon, Ryder followed them, determined to watch Jennie and Jared together, to see if they were suspicious of him. He took the camera as an afterthought, hoping to add to his photographic record of Jennie. A few more candid shots to adorn the walls of his secret place would be pleasing.