Sweetened With a Kiss (29 page)

He vaguely caught a glimpse of Grant stopping Jared from moving.

“You did not just say that to me,” Jen said, color finally starting to return to her face. Sure it was furious, angry color, but Stefan would take what he could get.

“Say what? That I’m sick of this delicate flower act? Because I’ve had about as much of it as I can stomach,” he threw at her, and startled himself. But instead of crumbling, he watched her light up like the Fourth of July. “You didn’t like that, did you?”

He stood up and she backed up, so he walked her back through the butler pantry and into her kitchen.

“Good, because I don’t either. I want the girl who wears sheer stockings with little black bows on her ankles just to torture me. The one who put on that pink dress and tricked me into having sex with her before dragging me to Vegas.”

“Tricked?” Jen sputtered, but he knew he had her now. Her face was raging with color and her eyes were spitting fire. “I didn’t trick you. That was pretty straightforward.”

“You. Tricked. Me.”

“And you loved it,” she shot back.

His hands were on her waist now and he dragged her up against him even as he walked her up against the wall.

“Absolutely,” he agreed, covering her mouth in a rough kiss that proved he didn’t think she was fragile. His whole body shuddered when he felt her teeth pull at his bottom lip, then lick the delicious little stab of pain away with her tongue.

He pushed his tongue deeper into the burning, hot sweetness of her mouth. He was starving for her and the more he tasted the hungrier he got.

But he had to be able to think. He ripped his mouth off hers, grabbed the hands that were clamped around his neck, and spun her around until she faced the wall. He shoved one foot between her feet, pressed himself hard against her, as his hands covered hers, flattening them to the wall. Her breath hitched and the surprised little cry made him forget he still had a meeting going on in the next room. He pressed his face into her neck, running his tongue along that delicious curve of her shoulder until he settled behind her ear. Screw the meeting.

“Feel that?” he asked, grinding hard against the soft, rounded curves that turned an already rock-hard erection into steel. “Does that feel like I think you’re fragile?”

She shook her head as much as she could, but even pressed so tight against the wall, he could feel her body ripple with reaction. Her breathing was slow and ragged. She liked this. Staggered that she really liked it when he played rough, he gave into a fantasy he’d never admitted, even to himself.

He pushed her left hand over then pinned both of her wrists with his left hand. His right hand slid slowly down her arm, then curved around her breast. He breathed hard against her neck as his thumb slid over one tight nipple and she jerked back against him, her head hitting his shoulder despite what little room there was between them. “Does that?” He rolled the hard peak between his thumb and forefinger and she shivered against him, pressing even harder back against him

She shook her head again, turning her face into his neck, he felt her whole body go tight as he kept his hand moving down until her got under the T-shirt she wore, sighing as his hand smoothed across all that silky skin. She shivered and he tightened his hold on her, pressing harder. His fingers slid easily past the waistband of her leggings. He kicked his foot against one of hers again, spreading her legs further apart, then let himself touch what he’d been aching for all day.

She was burning up for him. Hot and wet and already really, really close. He could feel the ripples building up inside her as he pushed deep, his teeth raking across her throat as she stopped breathing. He swirled and stroked and teased until he felt her knees start to go. He dropped her hands and banded that arm around her midriff, holding her hard against him as he built a slow, steady fire inside her. One of her hands grabbed his arms, the other reached back and slid through his hair, making him sorry he’d ever cut it because he was pretty sure if she ever got a fistful of it, he’d never want her to let go. He slid out, returned with two fingers, catching the cry that escaped her with his mouth.

“You still think I see a little girl?” he rasped, his lips still touching hers as he spoke.

“No,” she breathed out.

He had her right on the verge. One little twist and she’d go flying. He knew it, and the second she realized it, he said, “Now you listen to me.”

She went rigid against him.

“This is what’s gonna happen. I’m going back in there and finish this meeting. You are going to go upstairs to wait for me. You can take a shower but you will not touch yourself. There will be hell to pay if I think you’ve used that pink, sparkly vibrator. Understand?”

She nodded quickly. “Stefan.” His name was a plea and he almost, almost moved his fingers and gave her what she needed. She felt so good, it took all his self-control to keep still. She tried to move her hips but he shut that down with his own.

“I will be upstairs as soon as I get rid of the lawyers, and then I’m going to show you exactly how not fragile I think you are. I’m going to fuck you so hard you won’t be able to move. I’m going to make you come so many times you will never be able to walk away from me again the way you did this afternoon. By the time I’m through with you, I’ll be black-tar heroin in your veins and you won’t be able to go four hours without me somewhere deep inside you.”

Jen went off in his arms like dynamite, catching him by surprise.  He almost lost his footing and took both of them to the floor. His left hand clamped over her mouth cutting off the cry as he backed up just enough that he could bend her forward and amp up her climax with deep, long strokes of his fingers. He drew it out for as long as he could, unable to believe she’d reacted to him like that. Possibilities started forming dirty lists in Stefan’s mind and he almost shoved her legging down right there and demonstrated that he meant what he’d said.

When he felt her about to collapse, he swung her up in his arms. She melted into him, still shaking, her lashes wet with tears and her breathing shattered. She was just about the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen in his life and he really would kill the next person who tried to take her away from him. Because it finally hit home, finally became perfectly clear that he really could not live without her. She was as necessary to him as oxygen.

He carried her upstairs, leaning over her as he dropped her lightly onto the bed. She tried to roll away from him, and he grinned when he realized she was blushing like crazy. He rolled her back.

“Open your eyes,” he ordered, almost losing his breath when she blinked dilated eyes a few times. His smile was slow and deliberate. “Don’t think you aren’t going to pay for that.”

He was rewarded with a slow, deliberate smile of her own. A wicked smile. The kind he couldn’t get enough of. “Promise,” she breathed.

He leaned over her, kissing her deeply. “My fairy princess likes for me to talk to her like that, doesn’t she?”

Her eyes darkened and she shook her head. “No. But your wife does.”

Something warm and sweet rushed through him like honey. “That’s right.
My wife
. Mine. Do not move from this spot.”

Her hand lifted and her fingers trailed down his cheek and once again gravity became just a suggestion for Stefan as he turned his face to kiss her fingers.

“We’re done,” Stefan said, not even stepping completely into the formal dining room. Grant already had packed up his briefcase.

“We are so not done,” Jared snarled, standing up. “I want that motherfucker’s head, Sellers.”

Stefan grinned, and Grant just rolled his eyes.

“Good,” Stefan said. “You’re hired. Consider yourself on retainer.”

“What?” Jared sputtered, leaning across the table on both fists.

“You. Are. Hired.” Stefan pronounced each word slowly. Then he turned to Grant. “We’ve got office space at the Tower you can lease. I’m assuming you’ll want a satellite to work out of. I’ll call our PA in the morning to get it ready for you.”

“Sounds good,” Grant said, standing up and grabbing his coat off the back of the chair. “C’mon, Jared, let’s go. We have work to do.”

“Work?” Jared exploded. “What the hell are you two talking about?”

“Too much tequila,” Grant said, and Stefan nodded in agreement.

“Should have come to LSU,” Stefan said, then got serious when it became clear Jared was about to go off. And the hippie looked surprisingly scary. He almost started to feel sorry for the judge. “What? You think you’re going after him with pastry? Maybe force him into a diabetic coma? Was that your plan?”

Jared opened his mouth, then closed it. Then said, “I’m not a fucking lawyer.”

“You are now,” Stefan assured him. “You’re my fucking lawyer and you better get to fucking work. Are we clear?”

Jared stared at him a second, and Stefan almost felt himself step back. He wasn’t sure if the world was ready for what he was about to unleash.

“Taking him down on his turf,” Stefan said, “How sweet will that be?”

Black eyes stared back at him, and then Jared grinned. “It’s on.”

And it definitely was. Stefan almost couldn’t wait.

The second Stefan stepped through the door, Jen was ready for him. When he swung around, she launched herself at him full force and he had no choice but to catch her. He staggered back, and sat down hard on the bed, but she didn’t let him go. She held on like a constrictor snake and for once kissed the hell out of him.

His arms went around her but she didn’t let him flip her to her back. Instead she managed to catch his wrists and pin them back to the bed.

“How do you like being pinned down for a change?” she asked, pulling his earlobe into his mouth with her tongue, and grazing it with her teeth.

“Gotta say, it doesn’t suck,” he admitted.

She raised her head. “You like it, don’t you?”

“Mmm,” he nodded, blue eyes burning through her.

“I realized something,” she said. “I’m an idiot.”

His humor faded. “You are not an...”

She covered his mouth with her fingers. “Hush. I am an idiot. I don’t know why I never realized how bad you had it for me. And you’ve had it really bad a really long time, haven’t you?”

He watched her carefully, then nodded.

“Since I was sixteen?”

He nodded again.

“And you really kissed me prom night and told me to stay away from other boys.”

He moved his face away from her hand. “I didn’t want to go to jail for murder.”

She laughed. “I always thought that was a dream.”

“It was like a dream,” he admitted. “At least it felt like one.”

“No more dreams,” she warned. “No more lies. No more protecting me. No more trying to keep me safe. Just the truth from now on, Stefan. I won’t break. No, listen to me for a change. I did need you to protect me before and you did an awesome job. But I’m good now. I can handle it. I’m not a little girl anymore.”

His grin was a shade lecherous. “I thought we’d already established that.”

“I think we should reestablish it on a daily basis. Just to make sure you’re clear.”

“Yeah, ’cause I may not be completely clear...” he admitted, his hand going to her hips as he moved her back to position her against him. “But a daily routine for say the next forty or fifty years should help.”

Jen sighed, and rocked against him. She rose up on her knees, thinking she’d take him inside her when she had a much better idea. “Stefan?”

“Hmm?” His eyes were laughing at her.

“You have a ring on your finger,” she reminded him.

“What?” He tilted his head not catching her meaning until she pushed his hands away from her waist and her hair wisped down his chest. The exact second he grasped her meaning, his whole body bowed off the bed as her mouth closed over him, hotter than he could have ever imagined and Stefan discovered that he had never really lost control before in his life. Not really. Until now.

And as her heat sucked him deeper, he knew he was never going to get it back.

And when her tongue swirled and scorched and licked, he decided he really didn’t care.

And any illusions he still harbored about sweet, innocent fairy princesses exploded into all out fantasies about dark, dangerous witches who spun cotton-candy into dresses and let him glimpse white hot paradise the second before he went blind from it. But before he went careening into that abyss, he grasped a handful of silk, wound it around his fingers and dragged her up. Her laughter danced all over his skin, and she rained kisses that burned all over him.