CHAPTER 18
“So did you really build all these homes on the Amesport Peninsula just because you hoped all your family would come back here someday?” Mara was salivating to touch Jared, and she distracted herself with the question as he drove the short distance back to his house.
“I think I did,” Jared answered in a low, thoughtful voice. “After Evan sobered me up and went back to his business, I needed to feel like I was doing something useful. I told each of my siblings that I was building them a house after I went and visited Grady and saw this peninsula. It was like some kind of compulsion. None of them objected, so with their input on what they wanted, I did it. I wanted to make everything just right, maybe because I really did want them to stay.”
“Did you stay with Grady all that time?”
“No. I took up almost permanent residence at the Lighthouse Inn. They have a good breakfast,” he answered, his voice light.
Mara knew the adorable bed-and-breakfast that had been in Amesport for years. “Somehow, I can’t see you staying there.”
“Why? I liked it.”
The place was nice, but rustic. “It’s lovely, but you’re a bit too pretty for a place that rustic.” She knew she’d be in trouble for saying it, but she couldn’t resist.
“You’re in trouble, woman,” he growled ominously.
“Good. I want to be in trouble.” She unbuckled her seat belt as they pulled into Jared’s long driveway. Rising onto her knees, she leaned over the console of the vehicle and started to unbutton his shirt, delving beneath the hem with her other hand to make contact with his warm skin.
“I’m driving here,” Jared said with very little conviction.
“I’m not,” she answered mischievously, popping the top button on his jeans and lowering the zipper. “You’re hard.”
“It’s a chronic condition whenever you’re around,” he grunted. “Hell, it’s constant even when you’re not around because I’m fucking thinking about you.”
“I love you, Jared. Right now, I can’t wait any longer to touch you.” Mara’s heart was overflowing with emotion for this man, and that organ was taking control. The entire evening had been so intense, and she’d wanted to touch him, comfort him somehow.
“Fuck! You’re killing me.”
“You’ll live,” she purred, liberating his enormous cock and stroking over the shaft. The feel of him delighted her. He was like steel covered by silk, and stroking him was divine. “I have to touch you or I’ll die of longing.”
“Do you know what you do to me, Mara? Do you have any idea how good that feels, and how incredible it is to me that you’re that eager for me? That’s why it makes me crazy when you beg for me to make you come. No woman has ever wanted me that damn badly,” he said with a groan.
Scorching liquid heat flooded between her thighs, and her heart raced like she’d just run a marathon. Jared should be loved like this, needed to be loved like this. The women he’d been with mystified her. How could any woman not want Jared desperately? “I don’t just want you. I need you.” Her mouth closed over his cock with a hungry moan.
A deep, reverberating sound left Jared’s throat as he braked the vehicle in front of his house and slammed the car into gear and cut the engine. He wound his hands into her hair and fisted the locks desperately. “Not. Like. This.”
Disappointed when Jared used his grasp on her scalp to lift her head from his cock and open his car door, Mara reluctantly straightened up and licked her lips, still drunk from the taste of him as her gaze met Jared’s. Her pulse began to race as she observed the dangerous, feral look in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought you might like—”
“Don’t ever fucking apologize for touching me,” Jared demanded, ripping his gaze from hers and coming around the car in nothing more than a few heartbeats, snatching her from the seat. She wrapped her legs around his hips instinctively as he grasped her around the waist. “I need you to touch me. This body belongs to you, baby. Understand?”
Mara’s breath hitched as she nodded, her eyes locked with his, his words making her shiver with need. He belongs to me. “Then why did you stop me?”
“Because I’d have been a goner after just a few more sucks of that gorgeous mouth, or a few more flicks of that hot little tongue. Fuck knows it makes me crazy, but it isn’t what I need right now, and I don’t think it’s what you need, either.”
She lowered her feet to the ground after he’d taken a few steps. The motion lights had come on at the front of the house automatically when they’d pulled into the drive, and Mara bit her lips as she nearly drooled at his muscular chest, bared because she’d opened the buttons. The tails of the light green shirt dangled at the sides of his hips, and his jeans hung low and sexy with the zipper open and his cock standing about as erect and rigid as possible. “God, you’re beautiful, Jared,” she said in a soft, breathy voice. “What do you need right now?” Mara was aching to give him anything he wanted, anything he needed.
Jared yanked at the hem of her shirt and she lifted her arms as he made short work of removing it and then the flimsy bra she was wearing. Dropping on his knees despite the cement on the driveway, he unfastened her jeans and yanked them down with her panties until she could step out of them.
He stood, crowding her nude body against the bumper of his SUV. “I need us to lose ourselves in each other. I need to feel you clinging to me, touching me like you’ll never let go. I need to touch you, fuck you until the only thing you can think about is me. I want to hear my name on your lips with every breath you take while I make you come.” He slapped his hands on the hood of the vehicle, putting a palm on each side of her body, his eyes burning with an intensity that was nearly blinding. Lowering his head, he moved his lips along her temple and down her neck. “You smell so fucking good. I want to breathe you in until the scent of you permeates every cell in my body so I’ll never inhale again without savoring your essence.”
Mara was panting just from listening to the erotic, romantic words he was saying in a husky, fuck-me voice. “Jared. Please. I need you.” She moved her hands to his shoulders and lowered the shirt to his upper arms. He shrugged it off impatiently, and she stroked her hands over his chest, letting them glide to his back and then into his hair. She couldn’t get enough of him, couldn’t get close enough to him to satisfy her. “Fuck me, Jared. Fuck me now.”
His mouth crashed down on hers as his muscular arms wrapped around her waist. One of his hands threaded through her hair, and he held her prisoner, tilting her head so he could take complete control of the demanding embrace. Lifting her bare legs around his waist, Mara moaned and writhed against his burgeoning cock, desperate to feel him inside her.
He conquered her with his mouth, spearing between her lips again and again, entangling her tongue with his until she was breathless. Panting, she begged him again, “Please.”
“What do you need, sweetheart?”
“You. Just you. Make it hard, make it rough. I need you to make me yours.” Mara wanted to sob with the need for him to claim her with a possessiveness that would satisfy her unbearable craving for him.
Lowering her legs from around his waist, he stepped back and turned her body, pressing her hands onto the hood of the car. “Like this?” he asked roughly, demanding an answer as his hand stroked down her back and over the cheeks of her ass.
Oh, God, yes.
“Yes. Please.”
Jared delved between her thighs, spreading her flesh and running his fingers through her moist heat.
Mara threw her head back as he probed her pussy with expert fingers, her ass in the air, her hands on the car hood keeping her in a bent-over position. Jared brushed against her clit just enough to make her moan.
Her body jolted as he slapped her ass. Hard.
Whack.
The carnality of his erotic punishment nearly made her climax right then and there. He had her in a vulnerable position. Standing at her side, he was able to tease her pussy with one hand and smack her ass with the other at the same time. The pleasure-pain sensation nearly drove her insane, and she screamed his name as he slapped her ass again.
Whack!
“That’s for calling me pretty,” he told her dominantly, huskily.
If this was what she got, she’d call him pretty ten times a day. “Make me come, Jared.” The spiral of tension in her belly was almost unbearable.
He moved behind her and grasped her hips. “I’m going to go deep this way, Mara,” he told her in a strangled groan.
“Good. Go deep,” she panted, more than ready to feel him inside her. “And don’t be careful. Claim me. Please.” More than anything, she wanted Jared to lose control. He’d never hurt her, and she wanted him just as raw as she was at this moment.
He slammed into her, and he wasn’t gentle. Mara could feel his control had snapped, and instinct and elemental desire had taken hold.
“You feel so fucking amazing. It’s like we were made just for each other.” He pulled back and stroked into her again.
She wanted to tell him that she felt the same way, but all she could do was moan, words escaping her as her need tore at her. His hips began to move faster, and Mara thrust back to meet every frantic thrust, her climax clawing at her.
So close. So damn close.
“Jared. Jared. Jared.” She started chanting his name with every breath she took, unable to stop herself. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else existed except him.
“Come for me, baby,” he commanded, taking one hand off her hip and wrapping it around her waist, stroking down to her pussy.
Mara ignited as Jared took the tiny bundle of nerves between his thumb and index finger, putting pressure on it while he stroked. She came screaming his name, her sheath tightening against his cock.
He threaded a large lock of her hair through his fingers and tugged her head back, nipping at her neck with a love bite that sent her reeling, tumbling end over end. The only thing keeping her grounded was Jared’s tight, possessive hold.
Pumping into her several more times, he spilled his warm release inside her with a feral groan of satisfaction. Lowering his body over hers, he turned her head with her hair, capturing her lips in a raw meeting of mouths that left her chest heaving as he rested against her back, his breath ragged and uneven as he buried his face in her hair. “Christ. Did I hurt you?” he asked in a low, anguished voice.
Mara let out a strangled laugh. “No. I’m starting to think I need it a little rough. Did that orgasm seem like I was in pain?” she teased.
Jared straightened and turned her body, lifting her ass onto the hood of the car and wrapping his arms around her protectively. “I just don’t ever want to hurt you.”
“You won’t,” she assured him, hugging him until their bodies were skin to skin and wrapping her legs around his waist to bring him closer.
“It was a nice way to initiate your new car,” Jared said with laughter in his voice. “I’ll never look at this vehicle again without getting a boner.”
Puzzled by his words, Mara asked, “What new car?”
“The one your beautiful ass is sitting on.” He pulled back and grinned at her.
Oh, God, what did he do?
Turning her head, she finally noticed that the vehicle they’d been using as makeshift furniture was not Jared’s SUV, but parked right next to it. This particular shiny new vehicle was very similar, but as she looked closer, she realized that the color was a deep metallic red. She hopped off it with a squeal of distress, Jared catching her as she moved. Mara lowered her feet to the ground and gawked at the car parked right next to Jared’s. “You bought another Mercedes SUV?”
“A work vehicle for you. Mara, you can’t keep driving your old truck. Everything on it needed to be fixed. The business is growing. You need a new vehicle.”
She looked at Jared as he tucked himself back into his jeans and zipped them, leaving his shirt open. Her mouth went dry as she eyed the beautiful vehicle. “I can’t keep this. It’s too expensive. I know I need a newer car, but this is too much.” She looked around her. “What happened to my truck?”
“Todd said he’d take it. He’s mechanical and can fix everything on it with the money he’s earning. Then his family will have a vehicle. He’s seventeen. He wants wheels.”
“You just gave it to him?” she asked indignantly, reaching for her clothing. She pulled her bra and T-shirt back on, then tugged on her panties and jeans awkwardly, well aware that Jared was watching her.
“You’ll have to sign it off to him. But he wanted to get to work on it. He’s really excited.”
“Dammit. You knew I’d never take back a vehicle that was promised to Todd.” She folded her arms in front of her and glared at Jared. She loved him with every fiber of her being, but his actions were way too high-handed, even for Jared.
“Why in the hell would you want to take it back? If you don’t like this one, I’ll get you something else.” He looked at her like he was really confused.
Mara tapped her foot against the concrete, trying to keep her temper. “Because it was my truck, and I can’t take a gift this expensive. Jared, you’ve already helped me out enormously, and I don’t know what I would have done without you. But this is too much.” Honestly, she really didn’t know what she would have done had Jared not come into her life. He’d been her rock, the person who had saved her from homelessness. And for him, the things he was doing for her weren’t big things. “Why didn’t you ask me first?”
He shrugged. “Why? I handle the business part of Mara’s Kitchen, and a new vehicle for you was in the contract. I guess I should have checked with you about giving your truck to Todd, but I didn’t think you’d mind since you have a new SUV.”
Oh, God. She hadn’t really read every line of the contract. She trusted Jared, and she’d only checked to make sure he wasn’t screwing himself. And all things considered, she wouldn’t have minded giving her truck to Todd at all. His family had so little, and if the vehicle would help him, she would have gladly turned it over to him if she got other transportation. “I should have been consulted. We’re partners, and it was my personal property.”
“You’re right. I should have. But you’ve been working yourself into the ground. I thought it was something I could take care of for you.”
Mara’s heart dropped to the ground at Jared’s contrite expression. He’d been trying to help, and it made her feel like a bitch. “We really are from two different worlds,” she mumbled irritably, unable to make Jared feel worse than he did by being upset with him. “If it concerns my personal property, I’d appreciate it if you’d ask next time.” Dammit. She was so easy. But Jared had been through so much today that she didn’t want to argue. She wanted to talk to him about how things had gone with Mrs. Olsen, and find out if he felt better, if it had helped resolve anything for him. All she really wanted right now was to touch him and for him to hold her while they talked about it.
“Okay,” he agreed gruffly. “But if I had to, I would have had someone do you a favor and steal that damn truck. It was dangerous. And you needed a new vehicle, dammit.”
Okay . . . maybe he wasn’t all that remorseful. Mara had a hard time biting back a smile. Jared was incorrigible and so honest that he could get himself in trouble very easily. The problem was, she could see his concern for her. He wasn’t doing this for any other reason. “You’re lucky you gave me that fabulous orgasm. I’m too sated to argue with you.”
“So that’s how I can get whatever I want? Make you come?” A slow grin formed on his lips and spread to his eyes as he looked at her hungrily.
She couldn’t help herself. She teased him back. “It certainly wouldn’t hurt, I’m sure.”
“If you want something from me, all you have to do is smile at me like you are right now. I’ll give you anything you want,” he told her bluntly, genuinely.
“You know it’s almost impossible to get angry with you for very long.” Mara moved forward and stroked his sexy, stubbled jaw. “What if I want you to stop buying things for me?” She beamed at him to make her point.
“Everything except that,” he grumbled, leaning down to kiss her tenderly. “If you’re in need of something, I want to be the one to provide it.”
“Thank you for the vehicle. It’s beautiful. But since when is a car part of a business contract?”
His grin grew broader. “Since I asked the attorney to put it in there and hoped you wouldn’t notice.”
She lifted her eyebrow at him. “So you were actually hoping I wouldn’t read the fine print?”
“Yep,” he admitted shamelessly.
Sweet Jesus. Jared was breathtakingly gorgeous even when he was being an arrogant ass. “You win. This time.”
“Is it really so hard? Letting me get you what you need? I want to know you’re safe.” His tone was hesitant and confused.
“Yes.” She sighed, knowing Jared had gone through the trauma of losing people he loved, and she did understand that he wanted anyone he cared about to be safe. “Every woman in your life has used you because of your money. I want you to trust that I’m not after your money.”
“I already do know that. You’ve had to do things yourself your whole life, Mara. Let me do some things for you. I can’t cook, so I can’t make you incredible meals just because I want to, and I can’t make sure you have an extra pie just because I know you like it. Let me do what I can do. Please.”
She could hardly compare the two things, but she got his point. For him, getting her what she needed was his way of showing he cared. Throwing those gifts back in his face hurt him as much as it would hurt her if he refused to eat things that she made especially for him. “I appreciate them, Jared. I’m just not sure how to accept them. In my world, men don’t give women they’re dating a new vehicle that costs more than some people’s houses.”
Jared shrugged. “In my world, women don’t waste their time making their man homemade baked goods. I’m willing to bet you spend more time cooking for me than I spent buying this vehicle.”
Mara caved, understanding what he was trying to say. If the two of them were going to be together for however long it lasted, she was going to have to accept Jared as he was or not at all.
Fact: He was a billionaire.
Fact: For him, the money he spent on her was nothing.
Fact: He wanted to do things for her, and this was his way of showing that he cared. It was no different than when she did things for him.
“Okay,” she conceded. “I’ll get used to it. Just no more giving away my personal property without asking me first.”
“Agreed. You’re right about that. I thought I was helping, but when you put it that way, I understand why you’re upset,” he answered agreeably. “So I can get you whatever I want now?” he asked hopefully.
God, she loved this man. “I don’t need anything else right now except you, Jared. Let me get used to this before you spring anything else on me, okay? I need to work into this slowly.” She held out her hand. “Can I have the keys? I want to look at my gift.”
He dug into the pocket of his jeans and held out the keys. “It’s nothing flashy. I didn’t think you’d like that. It’s practical.”
Mara smiled at him, thinking the expensive luxury vehicle was anything but practical. It was a Mercedes, for God’s sake.
Remember Jared’s status. For him it probably is practical.
She snatched the keys and ran a reverent hand over the shiny surface of the car. “I can’t believe I screwed on a new Mercedes,” she muttered.
“We didn’t exactly fuck on it,” Jared commented, sounding disappointed that they hadn’t.
She fumbled with all of the fancy buttons until the car unlocked. Nearly gasping at the plush leather interior, she inhaled, still unable to believe that the new vehicle was really hers. “Want to take a ride?” she asked Jared, her heart hammering at the thought of actually driving a car this expensive.
Jared hopped into the passenger seat like an eager teenager as she slid into the driver’s seat.
“I love the smell of leather,” Mara mused, inhaling deeply.
“Does that mean you like it?” Jared asked anxiously. “Because if you don’t, I can get you—”
Mara pressed her hand over his mouth and met his deep green stare. “Don’t go there. I love it. But not nearly as much as I love you.” Her heart swelled as she replaced her hand with her lips, savoring the sensual feel of his mouth under hers.
“Are you sure you really want to go for a ride?” Jared asked when she pulled back reluctantly to start the vehicle.
“A short one,” she agreed, her body aching for Jared’s again. “First the new car, and later I’ll ride you.”
“Would that be before or after I get my chocolate turtle cheesecake?” he asked in a sexy, husky baritone as he nibbled at her neck, his big palm running erotically up the inside of her thigh.
Mara’s core flooded with heat, and she squeaked, “Before and after. Definitely.” She could barely think as she put the purring vehicle in gear and started turning it around. It was going to be a very short ride.
“I love the way you think,” he said with a chuckle as his hand finally landed between her thighs.
“I’m driving here,” Mara parroted his earlier words desperately.
Jared simply laughed harder.