“Would you like a glass of wine?” Jared asked, pushing back the kitchen door.
“Sure.” She leaned against the doorjamb near the hallway to the family room. Sipping wine on the floor in front of a fire certainly would set the mood.
“Why don’t you go put some music on,” he suggested as he pulled down a bottle and two glasses. “I’ll be right in.”
She made her way into the large family room, turned on a light near the stereo, and then ran her trembling fingers across his selection of CDs. After settling on a case labeled ‘soft rock,’ she sat down on the hearth and entertained her own second thoughts.
I’m not in love with him
, she thought as she lit the long match and turned the switch to the gas starter.
A quick poof, then the fire began to take hold of the wood. She settled herself on the floor with a pillow against the couch. She liked him a whole lot and had lusted after him since she knew what sex was. But love didn’t, and wouldn’t, enter the equation. At least not the forever kind of love.
“You read my mind,” he drawled, entering the room. Feet had never been a fetish of hers, but when he sauntered into the room with his T-shirt, jeans, and bare feet, sexy took on a whole new meaning. He handed her a glass and sat down next to her. The heat from his body was unmistakably inviting.
She took a long, slow sip, hoping the wine would go straight to her head. Her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear the music playing in the background.
He tossed back the rest of his wine like it was a beer, then set the glass aside and stared out into the darkened room. He cleared his throat as if he might say something, but no words followed. Only a deafening silence.
A rush of adrenaline shot through her already shocked body. She couldn’t let him change his mind. She had to get him out of her system once and for all. Following his lead, she finished her wine in a quick gulp, then threw her leg over his body and straddled him making sure she positioned herself over the part that mattered.
“Ryan.”
She touched her finger to his mouth. “Shh.” She adjusted herself, knowing she had affected the right part of his body when he groaned and gripped her thighs. Framing his face, she lowered her eyelids and pressed her lips against his.
At first he barely participated, his lips merely responding to the movement of her mouth. The fire crackled in the background, but didn’t drown out the pounding of her heart. She rolled her tongue across his soft lips catching his soft moan as it rumbled through her body.
He squeezed her thighs tight, massaging her quivering muscles. Slowly, he took control of the kiss as his hands made their way up her legs, over her hips, and across to her behind. His fingers dug in hard as he thrust his hot tongue into her mouth. Unable to keep up, she pried her mouth away, grabbing the hem of her shirt.
She looked down at him. His mouth gaped open, then shut tight as he swallowed. His eyes focused directly on her chest. She wiggled as she whipped off her shirt, exposing the most pathetic excuse for a bra. She had bought a bunch of plain white ones to replace the ones that got stolen. Sexy bra or not, he still stared. She reached for the front clasp.
“Don’t,” he whispered.
Fighting back the tears that had begun to well in her eyes, she inhaled a sharp breath. If he refused her now, it would be worse than waking up alone.
He shifted underneath her, but didn’t ask her to move. She scowled, not understanding what he wanted. The lump in her throat prevented her from forming any words.
His gaze lifted to her eyes as his fingers tingled up her spine. She arched like a cat while he danced his fingers across her skin.
A wide grin that showed off his perfectly straight teeth damn near knocked the wind out of her. He tapped his finger against the small of her back, one of the most sensitive spots on her body.
“That tickles,” she said.
His hands slid down her skin, applying pressure at her hips. With ease, he shifted her off his lap and laid her down on the rug in front of the fireplace. Kneeling over her, he lifted his T-shirt over his head and tossed it to the side.
His magnificent torso glowed in the firelight. The perfect amount of hair lined his upper chest. She reached up to run her fingers through the coarse curls and let her inhibitions fade away.
Completely lost in the moment, she lowered her head and pressed her lips against his rock-hard abs. The muscles in his stomach twitched when she flicked her tongue out and traced a path around his navel. She continued on her exploration of his glorious body right up to his nipple.
“Ryan,” he said with ragged breath. “Slow down.” Moist lips pressed into her neck, then glided down her collarbone. “I want to enjoy you.”
“I was enjoying you.”
Hot breath panted against her skin when he chuckled. “I go first.” With nimble fingers, he unhooked her bra, sliding the thin straps down her shoulders, letting the garment fall to the floor.
“Why?” The calluses on his hands tickled when he ran his fingers up the side of her breast, brushing his thumb over her taut nipple. When he lifted his gaze, his lids were heavy and his stare full of desire.
“Please don’t make me answer that.”
The CD changer clicked, then clanked, as it changed from one artist to the next. She hadn’t really been paying attention, and now she didn’t care. The depth in his deep green eyes commanded her to gaze intently at him.
She’d been with other men before, but nothing she’d experienced had come close to his gentle caresses and passionate kisses. No one had ever put her pleasure before their own. “Why?” she asked again, needing to know and understand his desires.
He drew her near. “I want to please you.”
“Touching you would please me.”
A deep groan rumbled in his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair, letting it fall at her shoulders. “I want to discover what makes you…” He traced a circle with his finger around her breast.
“Oh, God,” she mumbled, closing her eyes.
“I want you thoroughly satisfied before I lose myself in you,” he whispered.
She forced her lids open just as his tongue darted out of his mouth and drew her nipple inside. Instantly, her entire body ignited into a burst of fiery flames. Before she had a chance to come up for air, he pressed her back to the floor. He pried her jeans down her legs.
“Beautiful.” He ran his hands up and down her legs. “You’re a beautiful woman, Ryan.”
The way her name fell from his lips sent a shiver from her toes to her fingertips. She cupped his head, feeling the softness of his buzzed hair on her palms. He laced her stomach with wet kisses before slipping off her panties in one swift motion.
In awe, she watched him lift her leg and plant an erotic kiss on her big toe. He moved his mouth to her ankle, and then worked his way across her knee, finally landing on her inner thigh. Her most vivid dreams didn’t hold a candle to reality.
“Ja…red.” She moaned, tossing her head on the floor and arching her back when his hand rubbed across her dark curls, then separated her legs more. His long fingers slipped inside her. She jerked at the intensity of his touch.
“Did I hurt you?” He stopped the most exquisite sensation she’d ever experienced.
She shook her head, gasping for breath. “Don’t.” She moistened her lips. “Don’t stop.”
“You like this,” he said, moving his hand inside her once again. Hot breath tickled her skin right before he kissed her intimately.
“Oh, God.” Her body flew into flames like a spark given just enough oxygen to explode into something more.
When he lifted his head, locking gazes with her, her breath hitched at the passion filling his sea-like eyes. A seductive smile broadened his face.
Her pulse raced out of control and her chest heaved up and down with her short, choppy breaths. The outside world disappeared like a ship sailing over the horizon. She rolled her hips in rhythm with his hand. The blood in her veins raced like a wildfire following the oxygen it needed to survive.
He nestled himself between her legs, his soft mouth stroking her to the point of sheer madness. Deep groans rumbled up to her throat and escaped her lips in a passionate sigh. Electric pulses pounded through her heart and spread to every inch of her body. Every muscle tensed when she reached her limit and convulsed over and over again crying out Jared’s name.
Sexually, she’d been thoroughly satisfied. Emotionally, she’d experienced something beyond her craziest dream. And with a man who was only capable of giving his body.
This didn’t help get him out of her system, but made her system demand more.
* * * *
Jared pressed his hand against Ryan’s stomach. A complete sense of fulfillment washed over him. Hearing his name fall from her lips while her body reached the glorious pleasure he’d given to her gave him complete satisfaction.
If she wanted to curl up in his arms and go to sleep, he’d sleep as if he just had the best sex of his life.
“Up here,” she whispered, cupping his face and drawing him closer.
His chest tightened when he looked into her bright blue eyes. Just getting through the pain, he reminded himself. Ryan offered her warm body instead of the loneliness of a cheap bottle of whiskey. This was their way of saying goodbye to this part of their lives and moving onto something else.
He soothed her skin with his hands as he made his way to her perfect breasts. Taking a puckered nipple into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it, he lost himself completely. No one had ever responded to him the way she did.
Not wanting to let any part of her go untouched, he switched his affections to her other breast while moving his hands everywhere he could manage on her quaking body.
“Jared,” she called, tugging at his head.
Seconds after he lifted his mouth from her skin, her lips locked with his and her tongue thrust into his mouth with feverish intent. Before he could manage a quick gasp, she had him lying flat on his back and her lips were dancing down his neck.
“Sweet Jesus,” he grumbled when his nipple got sucked into her hot mouth. Her teeth scraped against the sensitive nub when she began her descent. “Ryan.” He breathed deeply. “You don’t have to do this.”
Her hands trembled with the button to his jeans; his erection pressing against the tight fabric wasn’t helping the process. Ending his own misery, he swatted her hands away and began sliding his pants over his hips.
“These have to go.” She toyed with the elastic to his boxers. Her bright smile electrified the room as she shoved them down to his ankles.
He groaned. Her hands massaged his thighs, then glided over him. Everything in the room blurred into a mass of nothing. She brought her mouth to him, sending him into the abyss. The way she touched and explored his body humbled him. No one had ever cared this much about how he felt. Hell,
he’d
never cared that much.
Sex had always been about instant gratification. The release of tension and mutual satisfaction had been the sole purpose. But something in the way she caressed him and responded intuitively to his body’s signals, made this experience something more.
“Stop,” he said, pushing the insane thoughts from his mind.
“Why?” she asked.
He rolled to his side, pulling her next to him, holding her close, and enjoying the goose bumps her flesh created when he ran his fingers up and down her arm. “Because.”
“Because why?”
“You ask too many damn questions.”
“I asked one and you haven’t answered it. Why do you want me to stop?”
He laughed, giving himself the time he needed to calm down. Damn woman had him unglued. “Because if you kept doing that, well, this would be over before we even got going.”
“Oh.” She kissed his chin. “So, you liked that.”
Unglued was putting it mildly. Slipping his thumb under her chin, he tilted her head and brushed his lips across hers. “Yeah,” he whispered, then a low moan grew inside him, releasing his deepest desire. “I like.”
Rolling her onto her back, he took his time touching and probing, bringing her to the brink of pure passion, barely holding back his own primal needs. The fire crackled in the background, sending an outdoor smell that, when mixed with her rosy scent, acted as an aphrodisiac.
“I’ll never forget this,” he forced out with strangled breath. She was a sponge that soaked up all the pain he’d buried deep inside. He was finally allowed to have a single night of peace on the anniversary of the worst night of his life.
Her fingers splayed across his back, encouraging him to finish what they’d started. He pressed his hands against the floor so he could admire her precious face. He planted tiny kisses on her eyelids, cheeks, and lips before he entered her in one long, intense stroke.
Her body accepted him as if she’d been created for him to fill, savor, and please. His muscles shook like he’d been lifting weights beyond his abilities. He blinked his eyes shut trying to distance himself from any real emotion. This was just sex, an act every adult human being craved, and it had nothing to do with happily ever after.