The Scale (Martha's Way) (18 page)

She glanced around when he parked. With the exception of a
lake and a lighthouse, the place was deserted. “Where are we?”

“I came here often after my mother died,” he explained, his
eyes fixated on the calmness of the water.

She sat quietly next to him, letting the silence between
them comfort him. Minka tried to focus her attention on the lighthouse, but
couldn’t. She was sitting too close to him and felt the natural heat he
projected. Slowly she turned to him. He ran his fingertips up her forearm,
leaving a trail of goose bumps blooming in their wake.

“I love it here.” His voice no longer held the edginess from
earlier. It warmed Minka.

She nodded in agreement but remained silent, enjoying the serenity
the atmosphere offered.

“Come here.”

She looked at him harder. The man was serious. He wanted her
to sit on his lap. She couldn’t even fathom how she was going to fit.
“On your lap?”

He nodded.

“I can’t fit there.”

He shifted his seat back to allow her more room,
then
leaned forward. “What’s your excuse now?” he asked in a
deep, husky voice.

She blinked.

He grinned. “I’ll make it worth your effort.”

Minka was only able to stare at him. She was sure she could
come up with a million reasons why she shouldn’t try to squeeze herself between
Jason and the steering wheel, but it didn’t look like he was going to buy any
of them. She reached to open her door.

“I think it’s best if you stay in the car.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to make love to you right here in my
Jeep.”

Her mouth fell open. He couldn’t possibly be serious. She
sought him out. His blue eyes were the color of the Mediterranean. One look inside
them, she felt she could swim about as deep as she wished.

“Jason,
it’s
broad daylight. People
can see us.”

He shook his head. “We’ll be fine. Trust me. Besides,
there’s no one here.”

She knew why they had driven there; he had sought solace in
her. Yet, insecurities over her body crept in and there was the obvious—she was
nothing but one of his conquests. Unable to shake off the self-doubt, she
exhaled a heavy breath.

“And for the record, I’ve never had sex here with a woman,”
he admitted.

Great, now he was a mind reader.

“I come here because I love the water, and to think.”

Minka wanted to believe him, but could she?

Men lied. Why should he be any different?

However, when she looked into his eyes, it was anguish she
saw. His pain, as she had come to learn, was greater than hers. He suffered the
unanticipated loss of his mother at a pivotal stage of life. When most people
in their twenties were just starting to settle into adulthood, he had been
forced to suddenly grow up. He told her he was meeting his father today. Minka
guessed it wasn’t a productive meeting.

Many questions formed in her head. She wanted to know all
the different layers that weaved together to make him who he was. Instead, she
pushed up the skirt of her dress and maneuvered her body over and sat on his
lap. She bumped her elbow as she did so but disregarded the slight twinge. His
hands came to her thighs. He brushed the skirt of her dress farther up,
exposing them. Their faces were so close she could taste him.

“My father seems to have another girlfriend.” His voice was
dry, raspy, while his hands stroked her bare thighs. “She can’t be much older
than me.”

The agony in his voice ripped through her. She reached and
combed her fingers through his hair, wishing she could take away his pain. She
remembered when he found her in Keely’s suite crying, the way he had held her
until exhaustion had taken over. He had not asked any questions, but only
offered a pair of listening ears. She wanted to provide him the same kind of
comfort, the type of comfort in which he could lose himself and forget
,
if only for a short period of time.

“Make love to me.” She offered herself to him.
“Right now.”

Minka barely finished the sentence before his lips crashed
onto hers. His hands cupped her breasts over the thin silky material of the
dress before fiddling in the back for the zipper.

“There’s no zipper.”

There was only one way to give him access and that was to
remove the dress and stay in her skivvies. She broke their connection and
reached for the dress but he stopped her.

“Jason…” she started but stopped short at the ripping noise.
Her bra now fully exposed, her eyes widened with shock. He had torn her dress.
She opened her mouth to speak. To complain, scold him, to tell him how hot that
was, but his hands and mouth were already on her breasts, sucking and nipping.

The
desire to have him fill
her
intensified. “Jason.”

He shifted her thighs a little to unbutton and unzip his own
pants and slid his briefs just enough to allow his flesh to rest against hers.
Only the silk material of her panties separated them. The connection stunned
her. She wanted more. “My panties, I need to…”

“We’ll accommodate,” he whispered, his voice rough against
her neck.

She felt his hands on her lacy underwear and tore it aside. He
stroked a thumb over her flesh,
then
plunged his
fingers into her. And she lost it as he stroked her to the tip of her
pyramid.
 
The orgasm ripped through
her and carried her high in the air. He held her quivering body for what seemed
like eternity. She felt drowsy, shattered but still wanting more.

“You okay?”

His voice was soothing in her ears. She nodded.

“I still want to be inside you.”

She nodded again. With one arm around her to support her
weight over him, he leaned over to the glove compartment and pulled out a
condom. Minka tried to move, to give him room, but he held her steady with his
free hand. He simply shifted her weight forward to slip the condom on,
then
lifted her bottom to place her over his hardness.
Slowly he lowered her over him.

“Watch with me. I want to be deep inside you.”

Mesmerized, she followed and watched him disappear. The
experience was erotic, sensual and staggering. She never thought she could want
someone so much. Once he was fully buried inside her, connecting them, he
started rocking.

“You have to ride me, baby,” he growled. “Don’t be shy. You
can control this and fuck me. Here. Let me show you.” His hands came to her
waist, guiding her back and forth over him.

Minka thought she was going to explode right then and there.
He felt so good inside of her.
 
He
must have felt her muscles contracting for he looked at her and smiled.

“Just like that,” he whispered. “Let me know when you’re
there and don’t close your eyes.”

Panting and out of breath, she nodded. He let out his usual
chuckle. “Good girl. Increase the speed a little so you can come.”

His hands guided her into increasing the movement of her
waist. He let out an exasperated sigh.

His teeth nipped her shoulder. His hands were everywhere on
her body, her breasts, her thighs, leaving her senseless. “Jason, I’m…” She
forgot what she wanted to say as her brain exploded. She pushed his hands away
to increase the speed of her movement on him.

“Look with me, love.”

She watched as he moved in and out of her. She crushed her
bottom on him, taking all of him inside of her. Filled to the max, she tumbled
into an erotic space filled with sensation and pleasure.

Her body collapsed in his arms, her breathing ragged. One of
his hands smoothed her hair, helping her to regain her sanity.

“I want more,” he whispered against her face. “Can you take
more?”

She was drained, weak, shattered, physically exhausted. But,
oh God, she wanted more. “Yes.”

He shifted inside of her and smiled with satisfaction before
kissing her. “I’m going to push the seat back and roll you under me. I don’t
want to come out of you.”

Minka could only nod. She wasn’t quite sure how he was going
to make that possible since what he just described was against the law of
physics. But, heck, she was already in broad daylight in her underwear so why
not go for it?

True to his words, seconds later, she found herself under
his hard body. He lifted her legs to settle one over the driver door and the
other on the dashboard. “Yes, just like that.
So sexy and
beautiful.”
His words, true or not, made Minka feel good.

Her fingers impatiently went to the buttons of his now-wrinkled
shirt. She needed to feel his skin against hers. “Please.”

“Please what, Minka? Please fuck you?”

She stared at him, sweaty and flushed with desire. Words
like that were not often used in her vocabulary, at least not during sex. He
knew what she wanted, but he wasn’t going to do so until she said the words.

“Please fuck me.”

He dove into her.
Hard and deep.
And she screamed with pleasure. Her fingers gripped his shoulders, each stroke
driving her deeper and deeper into madness. She felt him wince and realized she
probably bruised him again. But, at that instant, she didn’t care. She wanted
all of him insider her. She arched her back and tilted her waist against the
leather seat.

“I need you deeper,” she begged, “harder.”

He moaned, grunted unfamiliar words in French then he was
doing as she requested. He pumped deeper and harder inside of her, his
breathing fast and short against her hair.

“Tonight we can last longer. I promise.”

She shook her head. She didn’t care about tonight or
anything past this moment. He could last two minutes for all she cared and she
would have been satisfied.

“
Chérie
, I can’t
hold anymore.”

“I’m going to come again, Jason.”

“Perfect.”

His lips were against her ears as he moaned her name. She
shivered with excitement. She liked the huskiness of his voice against her
skin. Seconds later, their bodies were riding high before crashing together.

For a second, he lay on top of her, neither able to move. Her
mind scattered. Minka didn’t quite understand what was happening. She didn’t
have anything to go
on,
still she never imagined sex
could be so mind-blowing. Everything about Jason was new to her.

“Jason.”

When he didn’t move, she nudged him lightly. Not that she
wanted to. She liked the feel of him on top of her.

“Hmm.”
 
 

 
“I think I need
to get back now.”

Slowly, he pulled his body away from her. She watched him as
he removed the condom and pulled up his pants. He looked so relaxed, easy, and
definitely not as affected as she was. A slight frown settled on her face.
 
She needed to make sense of the situation.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she answered and turned her attention to her
ripped dress.

“I’m sorry.”

She gave him a shaky smile. “It’s okay. I guess you gave me
a reason to go shopping.”

Jason chuckled, reached over and grabbed a loose curl. “I’ll
buy you a new dress. Here, take my jacket.” He reached over and placed the
jacket over her shoulders. “You should check out of your hotel and stay with me
while you’re here.”

A flush of adrenaline tingled through her. The words stunned
her. Why was he asking her to
come
stay with him? Men
liked Jason liked their space, their freedom to come and go as they pleased.

“I want everything from you while you’re here on The
Vineyard.”

Minka knew her mouth was wide open in shock. And she
probably looked like a cat getting ready to play in a yard filled with dogs.
But who could blame her? He had shocked her with another request. He leaned his
head against the cushion and exhaled. Minka continued to gape at him.

“That came out of nowhere,” he admitted with a smile. He reached
over and pulled one of her loose curls. “Come stay with me.”

“I…my friend Lily
is
coming at the
end of the week.”

“She’s part of the wedding?”

Minka shook her head. “No, I invited her for the weekend.
She caught her fiancé cheating on her.”

He took her hand in his. “We’ll figure something out. But,
you’re checking out tonight and coming home with me.”

She looked at him, her eyes filled with uncertainty. “I
don’t want to intrude.”

 
“I want you with
me, Minka. Do you want to be with me?”

She nodded then answered, “Yes.”

“Then it’s settled.” He reached to place one final kiss on
her lips before letting her slide back to the passenger seat. Jason switched
the ignition back on. Usher’s voice blasted on the radio to the song
U Got It Bad
.

Chapter Thirteen

“The scale is not
always right; don’t let it steal your moment.”

Anonymous

Minka stepped out of the Jeep feeling euphoric. Everything
that just happened had been out of character. She knew her lips were still
swollen from Jason’s kisses and her mascara was probably smeared, but she had
never felt more alive.

He pulled her into his arms, once more quickly taking
possession of her lips with surprising strength and wild unquenched desire.
Once again, his reaction and attraction to her left her baffled.

She didn’t dwell on it. Enraptured by his touch, she wrapped
her arms around his neck and tried her best to meet his passion because the
fire inside of her was just as strong, if not greater. His body pressed her
back against the door of the Jeep, forcing her to feel his hardness.

“There you are.” Blake’s voice registered somewhere in
Minka’s mind. His voice carried a hint of amusement, an indication he was aware
of what they have been up to. Her body stiffened in Jason’s arms.