“Whom you haven’t known very long.”
“Don’t get on my case. Everyone is freaking out because this is the first time I’ve ever done anything that wasn’t planned,” Chris replied, walking toward Jared. When he was within striking distance, he poked Jared in the chest. “But they should really be looking at you and figuring out who this impostor is that looks like my brother.”
“Funny,” Jared said without humor.
“It is. Everyone’s favorite good-time guy is finally doing the right thing. Go figure!” Chris said. “Is it Morgan? Is she the reason you’re finally behaving like an adult?”
“That’s not fair,” Jared replied. “You were happy being the big brother when it suited you. And when it didn’t, you ran.”
“Avoidance,” Chris said, laughing, “Signature Jared. You like the girl and she’s good for you. Admit it!”
“She’s here, isn’t she?” Jared answered.
Chris chuckled. “Yeah, she is. And making a big impression on our grandmother. Apparently Kandi needs some advice on how to cozy up.”
“If that’s possible,” Jared said, laughing. He was happy to have Chris back. He’d missed the camaraderie they shared and didn’t realize how much he looked forward to their bantering.
“Since you’re not going to tell me what’s really going on between you and the beautiful Morgan, I’ll have to find out for myself,” Chris said. “Shall we go join our women?”
“Lead the way.” Jared motioned for Chris to walk ahead of him.
Jared wasn’t ready to tell Chris or anyone his true feelings about Morgan. How this beautiful woman was starting to capture his heart.
Twelve
Morgan had needed to do something. The Robinsons were crashing and burning around her. So she offered to show Kandi around the estate to keep the peace. Maybe Jared could smooth some ruffled feathers while they were gone. If they treated Kandi so harshly, Morgan hated to think how she would have been received if she and Ruth hadn’t hit it off.
“Thank you for that,” Kandi said, once they were walking back toward the house. “It was getting dicey in there.”
“Ya think?” Morgan asked with a raised brow. She was surprised the woman could walk in the five-inch heels and form-fitting dress, but who was she to judge? “I’m hoping some time will help alleviate the tension.”
“I doubt that’s possible. Those people hate me,” Kandi said, inclining her head toward the main house. “They’re never going to accept me.”
“You don’t know that,” Morgan said. “You can win them over.” She opened the door to the sports pavilion, which housed the gym and basketball arena. “Check this out.”
Kandi oohed and aahed like Morgan had earlier.
“It’s pretty spectacular, huh?”
“Yes, and far removed from how I grew up,” Kandi responded.
“Me too,” Morgan murmured. “Not everyone was born with a silver spoon like Jared and Chris.”
Kandi offered a small smile and Morgan hoped she was getting through to her. “So if you’re not one of them, how did you win them over?”
Morgan shrugged. “I don’t know. Ruth and I hit it off right away. I’ve never had grandparents and for some reason being around Ruth is comforting. And maybe vice versa.”
“It’s always been me and my mama. I was looking forward to being part of a family.”
Morgan understood and wondered if that’s why she felt a kinship to Kandi. She reached for Kandi’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m new to the Robinsons too. All I can do is tell you to give it time. They’ll come around.”
“They won’t have a choice,” Chris said from behind them. He and Jared joined Morgan and Kandi on the trail. “We’re getting married and having a baby.”
Kandi rushed to Chris’s side and encircled his waist with her arms. “True, but it would be nice if they liked me.”
“All that matters is you and me,” Chris murmured and bent his head to kiss her.
Morgan loved how affectionate they were. It was clear they were in love and Morgan wanted that for herself. Someday. What she had right now was Jared standing there watching her from a few feet away. The heat in his gaze was unmistakable. They might not have love, but one thing was for certain: they had lust in spades.
Jared opened his arms and Morgan felt compelled to stride toward him. When he wrapped his arms around her, Morgan felt as if she’d come home.
“What do you say we give this dinner thing another try?” Jared asked.
Morgan noticed the look of absolute terror on Kandi’s face. “It’s okay, you have allies.” She glanced up at Jared and he gave her a wink.
“We’ll do it,” Chris said, “but if everyone can’t be civil, we’re leaving.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Jared responded.
The four of them walked the short distance to the main house. When they did, Antoine met them in the foyer. “Your grandmother and parents are in the dining room. They were hoping you would join them for dinner.”
“Thank you, Antoine.” Jared led them all down the hall.
An hour apart had allowed the older Robinsons to realize alienating Chris wasn’t productive. Dinner went smoothly. Ruth played the grand hostess, though Morgan saw the tight lines around her mouth. Clay was quiet, saying only a few syllables when the conversation required it. Mary was effusive. She seemed to be the only one who was genuinely happy about Chris and Kandi’s news.
“I’m so excited to plan a wedding,” Mary said with a smile when the petit fours arrived for dessert. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
Morgan was about to tuck into hers when Chris coughed and Morgan sensed the family wasn’t going to like what came next. She put her fork down on the table and waited for the fallout.
“Umm, we were thinking about just going down to the courthouse. We don’t want a big fuss,” Chris said.
Ruth sucked in a loud breath. “Robinsons have always been married in a church before God and family. It’s a tradition.”
“Surely a small gathering could be held at a church for the family.” Morgan knew she was speaking out of turn and glanced across the table at Kandi, silently pleading for her to reconsider.
“Morgan, I appreciate…” Chris started speaking, but Kandi patted Chris’s hand on the table.
“Yes, I’m sure we can work out something.”
“Excellent,” Ruth stated and gave Morgan a conspiratorial wink.
Morgan released a sigh, which Jared heard because he bent his head and said, “What do you say we get out of here?”
She glanced up into his dark eyes and whispered, “Are you sure?”
Jared nodded. “If you’ll excuse us.” He stood. “Morgan and I are going to turn in.”
Morgan flushed as several sets of eyes looked at her. Were they all assuming she and Jared were going upstairs to have sex? She was sure that was the expectation, given Jared’s reputation and the fact they were dating.
She allowed Jared to lead her away from the dining room, but instead of going upstairs as she’d anticipated, he said, “Walk with me for a minute.”
The sky was dark but a dusting of stars could be seen as Jared took her to the outdoor living area. They walked over to a high-end wicker sectional with a large round ottoman. Jared sank down, taking Morgan with him. She settled beside him in the crook of his arm.
“Thank you for tonight,” he finally said. “You were a lifesaver.”
“It was nothing.”
Jared peered down at her. “You and I both know it was more than that. Chris’s announcement caused a mutiny in the Robinson clan. You defused the situation by taking Kandi aside so cooler heads could prevail. And I heard what you told her. You were a friend and made her feel welcome.”
“Being confrontational wasn’t going to solve an
ything,” Morgan responded. “I learned from my stunt at the wedding. All it did was alienate Henry.”
“You still want a relationship with him, don’t you?”
Morgan’s mouth ran dry and she couldn’t speak; she merely nodded. “I just want to belong.”
Jared turned her until she was facing him. Then he placed his hands on either side of her face. Morgan could see the heat in his gaze and something flared inside her. “You belong here with me,” he murmured and then he pulled her toward him. Jared captured her mouth with his own. She kissed him back with a fervor that drew a low groan from him.
This time, they didn’t pull back, and the kiss became hot and urgent as passion exploded between them. Morgan sensed a wildness in Jared he’d been holding back. This time he didn’t. He gathered her close, crushing his body against hers, and the divine fragrance of his aftershave mixed with his own uniquely male scent shot Morgan’s senses into overdrive.
Jared broke the kiss and trailed kisses down her cheeks, throat and over to her neck. He lingered there and suckled. Morgan couldn’t suppress the moan that escaped her lips. And she didn’t stop Jared’s hands when they began sliding under her sweater to cup her breasts. He teased her nipples with his thumbs until they turned into hard pebbles at his touch and Morgan wanted more.
“I’ll give you more,” Jared said in an amused voice. Color flared on Morgan’s cheeks when she realized she’d verbalized her plea. So it was no surprise when he lifted the sweater higher and pushed aside her bra cups. Morgan felt a cool breeze against her skin seconds before he flicked his tongue back and forth across her nipple.
“Oh!” Morgan let out a cry when he continued by closing his mouth around the peak and sucking hard. Morgan sighed with pleasure as he drew her nipple even deeper into his mouth. She wasn’t thinking about denying the moment. Instead, she was powerless against the tide of desire and need swelling inside her.
Jared’s hands skimmed lower to her leggings and reached the apex of her thighs. She sucked in a harsh breath when he slid inside, touching her abdomen. When he came to the waistband of her panties, Morgan could feel herself blush as he brushed his hands across her. She’d never allowed another man to touch her this way, but Jared was different, so when he pushed the damp fabric to one side and touched her intimate flesh, she quivered.
“Easy, I’ve got you,” he murmured.
His fingers teased and explored her crease and Morgan ached—for what, she didn’t know. She soon found out, when he slid one finger inside and she bucked off the sectional. Jared kissed her again, this time hard and fierce, and Morgan gave herself over to the invasion of not one, but yet another digit. She writhed against his fingers as they began thrusting in and out, and lost the battle. Hot, sharp barbs of pleasure took over and her orgasm was so intense, she screamed.
Jared covered her mouth with his, absorbing her cries as his fingers continued to caress her through the waves. Morgan panted out a breath and was coming back down to earth when Jared said, “I want you, Morgan.” To prove it, he brought her hand to the large swell of his erection. There was no denying how turned on he was.
But it also caused Morgan to flash back to the event in her bedroom when her mother’s boyfriend Troy made her touch him.
“I can’t!” Morgan straightened her clothes and jumped up from the sectional. “I just can’t,” she cried and ran as fast as she could away.
Morgan knew she was being irrational after the intimacy they’d shared, but she wasn’t sure she was capable of getting over her fears, not even for Jared.
For a moment, Jared shrank backward in stunned silence. He’d never had a woman run away from him. Usually women were lining up to be with him because of his sexual prowess. But Morgan was pushing him away, and if he wasn’t mistaken, tonight had been her first orgasm. She’d seemed surprised by her body’s reaction to their lovemaking, but how was that possible? She was an attractive twenty-five-year-old woman. Were the men she was with incapable of pleasing her? Or was it more? He did sense a fear in her. Had she been hurt previously in a sexual relationship?
Was that why she was running away?
He had to know. If for no other reason than to show Morgan he could make her body hum with pleasure. Jared knew they would be spectacular together. He’d known it the minute he’d seen her at the bar at Dane’s reception. He only needed Morgan to let down her guard long enough for him to show her how good it could be. She had for a moment and she’d felt so good. Tight, but good, and he couldn’t wait to make love to her.
Rising to his feet, Jared gave chase.
Instead of going back to the main house as he’d anticipated, he saw Morgan skirt into one of the guest cottages on the estate. Was that a sign she wanted to be alone? Yet he couldn’t let this go.
He knocked and when Morgan didn’t answer, he tried the door and found it unlocked. She was sitting on a sofa in the enormous room in the gathering dark. Jared turned on the lamp on the cocktail table, giving the room a subtle glow. Morgan was squeezed onto one side of the couch as if she were going to bolt any minute. Jared sat in the chair across from her so she knew he would keep his hands off if that’s what she wanted.
“What’s going on, Morgan?” Jared searched her face for an answer, but all he saw were tears streaking her cheeks. “I’d like to understand what’s got you so rattled. If I’m not mistaken, you enjoyed what just happened. Am I wrong?”
Morgan shook her head.
“Then was is it?” Jared asked. “Sweetheart, whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Morgan sniffed and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. When she finally looked up at him, her lashes were wet. “When I was sixteen, one of my mother’s boyfriend’s assaulted me.”
“What!” Jared’s eyes grew hard as ice. “You were raped?”
“No…” Morgan shook her head furiously. “It didn’t come to that. My mother came home before—before he could.”
“Morgan, I’m so sorry. You don’t have to talk about this anymore.”
“I have to. Don’t you see?” She looked at him with beseeching eyes. “If I don’t, he’ll always win and keep me from having a fulfilling life.”
“All right, then talk to me. What happened?”
“I came home from band practice and Troy was waiting for me. From the empty beer bottles, I could see and smell he’d been drinking.”
“Go on.”
“I rushed to my bedroom. He chased after me, slamming the door shut. I was terrified. He threw me on the bed and climbed on top of me. Then he was ripping my blouse open and fondling my breasts.” Morgan wrung her hands and Jared’s heart broke for her and all she’d been through. “He started rubbing against me. I could feel how aroused he was even though I was fighting him every step of the way. He made me touch him and told me in vivid detail what he was going to do to me. Thankfully, he heard the apartment door and jumped off me.”
“What did your mother do?”
More tears fell down Morgan’s cheeks. “She took his side. He told her I’d thrown myself at him and she believed him. My own mother took the word of a would-be rapist over mine!”
Jared rushed to her side and wrapped Morgan in the cocoon of his arms. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. She was wrong. She should have believed you, her child.”
“I always wondered if I did anything to lead him on.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Jared said, clutching her face in his palms. “Please tell me you know that.” He wiped away her tears with the pads of his thumbs. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you. It was your mother’s job to protect you and she failed. You were the victim.”
“I don’t want to be a victim anymore,” Morgan responded softly. “He robbed me of the joy and thrill of intimacy with a man. It’s why I’m still a virgin.”
Jared wasn’t surprised at Morgan’s bold statement. Given how skittish
she was whenever things heated up between them, Jared had expected as much, but in this day and age, she was a bit of an anomaly.
“I want to take back what he stole from me and you can help me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Make love to me,” Morgan murmured, looking up at him with her mercurial hazel-gray eyes. “Help me wash away the bad memories so all I can think about is you and how good you make me feel.”
Jared shook his head. “No, I—I can’t. You’ve been through too much. I’m glad you were able to tell me about what happened, but I won’t take advantage of you. If I did, I’d be as bad as he was.”
“You’re not taking advantage of me,” Morgan replied, her tone defiant. “Back out there—” she pointed to the door “—I wanted you. Like I did that first night when I asked you up to my hotel room. I want you still. It’s my choice to be with you.”
She launched herself at him until she straddled his hips, then leaned forward and covered his mouth with hers.
For heart-stopping seconds, Jared didn’t know how to respond. Morgan had been through so much and her opening up was a breakthrough. To take what she was offering tonight would be wrong, reckless even, but Morgan was pressing hot kisses all over his face and moving against him, causing his length to swell.
But she was right. It was all about choices.
And tonight, his choice was to have her.
His arms came around Morgan like steel bands and he opened his mouth to the fierce demands of her kiss.
Thirteen
A thrill rushed through Morgan when Jared responded to the passion in her kiss. Throwing herself at him was all sorts of stupid, but she hadn’t known what else to do to convince Jared she was ready. He made her feel safe and cared for. She was tired of living with regrets. Desire was pulsing through her veins and she wanted to forget about anything and everything but the exquisite havoc Jared was wreaking.
His lips moved with an increasing urgency over hers, and her body came alive at the determined thrusts of his tongue. No one had ever made Morgan feel this level of excitement. When Jared crushed her against his broad chest, Morgan was left with little doubt of how strong and muscular he was. She arched into his embrace and as a result, felt the hard points of her nipples pebble against him. Jared shuddered. It gave Morgan a burst of self-confidence knowing she could stir the same emotions in him that she felt.
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