by Cynthia Eden
“I, um…is there a place for me to sleep?”
His gaze shot back to her. Hell, yes, there was. My bed.
Her cheeks were stained a faint pink. Her lips were red and moist and with every breath that he took, Jason fucking inhaled her.
Strawberries.
Champagne.
He’d made a public claim on her at the restaurant. Did she realize that had been his intent? He wasn’t lurking in the shadows any longer. Everyone would know about them.
Every. One.
He stalked toward her.
She backed up. Since she’d barely inched inside his place, she only had a few steps to go before her shoulders bumped into the wood of the front door.
My, what big eyes you have…Her blue eyes were so wide as she stared up at him. Wide and fearful.
He didn’t want her fear. He wanted to see her eyes blazing with passion. Filled with desire for him. Not fear. When would she realize that he would never hurt her? Pleasure was all he wanted to give her.
His hands flattened against the wood behind her as Jason leaned in close to her. He wanted to put his mouth against her throat. Right there over her racing pulse as he tasted her.
Soon enough, he would.
Cat’s hands came up and her fingers slid over his chest, but she didn’t push him away. “We should’ve called the cops…”
“There was no tag on the bike.” He’d looked. “And no street cameras were around to capture the guy’s image. Local cops wouldn’t have been any use.” He had his own connections that he’d use to track the man down.
Then he’d make the jerk pay.
“You…you shouldn’t be looking at me like that.”
“How am I looking at you?” He loved it when her voice went husky and soft. Breathless. It was the way she sounded when she was in his bed.
“Like you want me naked.”
“I do.”
“Like you…like you want me now.” Her voice was even softer.
“I do.”
“Jason…”
“It’s you and it’s me. My home, not some hotel room. We’re safe here. No one can see you…no one but me.” He bent his head then and brushed his mouth over her neck. She gasped lightly and a shiver shook her. He remembered so much about Cat. About all of her sweet spots, and she was so very sweet. His tongue snaked out and lightly licked her skin. Her hands flattened over his chest.
“It was good between us,” Jason murmured. Better than good. Destroy-his-fucking-world perfect. “Don’t you want it again?” He pressed another kiss to her neck. “Don’t you want me?” Because she had to say it. Nothing could happen, not one thing, without her giving him the words that he needed.
There would be no mistakes this time. He couldn’t afford any.
But Cat wasn’t speaking. Cat wasn’t—
“Yes…” So soft. “I wanted you from the first moment that I saw you.”
A year ago. In a crowded Vegas casino. As if he could forget the moment he’d looked up and seen a woman with dazzling eyes and a trembling smile.
A woman he’d made his.
Even though he’d known he should stay far away from her. That one night had wrecked so many plans. And this night, well, it would change their future. Once he had her again, there would be no going back.
“Why do I feel this way?” She sounded lost. “No one else makes me feel like this.”
Hell, yes. His right had moved and his fingers curled around her hip. Then, slowly, inch by inch, those fingers rose, sliding up her side, moving to rest right beneath the curve of her breast.
“You touch me,” Cat said, “and I forget everything I should do.”
“There’s only one thing you should do tonight.” His mouth moved from her delectable throat to hover over her lips. “Be with me.” The world already thought they were together…now it was time for them to actually be together. “Be with me,” he said again, and his mouth took hers.
Jason knew he should have tried to be gentle. Tried to seduce with his lips and tongue—and he could seduce, but not then. The need he felt for her was too strong. The desire too intense. The kiss was hard and deep, consuming, taking.
Because he wanted all that she had to give.
Fear still snaked through him when he thought of that motorcycle. Fury heated his blood, mixing with the desire he felt for her. The desire he always felt.
He hated the damn fabric in his way, so Jason pulled back—just long enough to lift up her shirt and touch smooth, silken skin. His cock shoved against her. He wanted in her, and Cat…Cat was arching toward him. Her mouth met his with the same hot passion he remembered.
No going back. And, unless he got her away from that door in the next ten seconds, Jason knew he’d be taking her right there. His control was too thin. He started to pull away. But her hands curled around his shoulders and she pulled him back against her. She licked his lip, slid her mouth over his, and told him, “I wanted you every night for the last year.”
She broke him.
In that instant, with her soft confession, his control shredded. He yanked her shirt away. Didn’t even spend a second admiring the sexy red bra she was wearing. He pushed the lace out of his way and put his mouth on one tight, pink nipple.
Strawberries.
No, better.
He licked her. He sucked her nipple into his mouth, and his hands jerked at the snap of her jeans. Cat kicked her shoes away and her jeans hit the floor in the next instant.
More red. A scrap of panties.
She’d been wearing this when she planned to enter the Playhouse?
Jealousy twisted him.
His hands grew harder on her. Then he sank to his knees in front of her.
“J-Jason?”
He put his mouth to the red silk. Loved her gasp. Her hands flew back to his shoulders and— “Hold tight,” Jason ordered her as he glanced up to make sure she obeyed.
Her cheeks were flushed even darker and her eyes blazed. Passion. Pleasure. No fear.
He pushed her hips back against the door. Spread her legs a few inches more. Positioned her easily right before he ripped those panties out of his way. He was so much stronger than she was, and he could hold her up and—
Taste.
His tongue licked over her sensual flesh. She was bare, so smooth and sexy, and he could never get enough of her. An addiction had been born in the darkness of the night a year ago. He’d needed her, wanted only her ever since then. Just as she wanted me.
“Jason!” His name was a sharp cry on her lips.
He lifted her up more, holding her so easily. His tongue thrust into her, then he licked her clit.
She came against his mouth. Gasped and had him nearly erupting in his pants.
Need her. He licked her again, savoring her on his tongue, then he pulled back. Stared at her—so perfect. Slowly, the blood pounding hot and hard in his veins, Jason rose up. She trembled against him and he liked it. But he planned to do more than just make her tremble.
“Y-you’re still dressed,” Cat gasped out.
He wasn’t taking the time to strip. “Are you on the pill?”
She gave a jerky nod. Good, because he didn’t want to feel anything between. “I’m clean,” he told her. Flesh to flesh. That was what he wanted.
“So am I…”
There would be nothing between him and his wife. He pulled out his cock, the thing was so swollen that he ached, and he lifted her once more. He held her pinned between his body and that door. His eyes locked with hers before he took that first thrust. He wanted to see her as he took her. Wanted her to know—
There was no escape this time. No vanishing in the dark.
He plunged into her. Deep and hard, and pleasure ripped through him. She was tight, so tight and wet. Hot. Better than he remembered.
He withdrew and drove back inside of her. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her nails dug into his shoulders.
He withdrew. Thrust.
Again.
>
Again.
Cat gasped his name.
He wanted her to come again. Wanted her to cry out with her release.
His thrusts were rough and fast. Demanding, but it wasn’t enough. He needed in deeper. Needed more. Needed everything.
His hold was too rough. His passion too hard. He should slow down but—
Faster.
Deeper.
Harder.
She stiffened against him and gave a little scream. He felt the delicate, inner walls of her sex contract around him with the ripples of her orgasm. That was all he’d been waiting for. Her release. He thrust into her once more, slammed balls-deep, and his climax hit him. On and on and on…the pleasure beat through his veins as he shuddered against her.
She held him so fiercely, as if she didn’t want to let him go. Good. Her nails had bit into his skin, and he wanted her mark on him. Just as Jason wanted his mark on her.
Her head lifted. Her eyes held his. Her legs were still wrapped around his hips, and he held her up with a steady grip on her waist.
She licked her lips.
His cock jerked inside of her.
Round two…
He had to kiss her again. Had to slide his tongue past her lips.
Slowly, carefully, he let her slide down his body. When she trembled, he steadied her. He let the kiss linger, just a bit more—need her—then he pulled back to hurriedly ditch his clothes. When he was done, Jason lifted her into his arms. Carried her to the bedroom.
He put her on the massive, four-poster bed. Where she belongs. Right there, with him. Jason stared down at her a moment.
“Jason?”
His cock was fully erect again. “It didn’t take the edge off.” Not even a little. Having her had just made him ache for her even more. One woman shouldn’t have that much power over him.
She did.
Her gaze fell to his cock. “You’re—again?”
Always. He put his hand on the mattress. Wanted that hand on her. “A year is a long time.”
She blinked at him.
“Too long…I’m going to be rough again.” He was trying to warn her. Control wasn’t an option. “It was too long.” It was all he could do not to fucking pounce on her.
Her blue eyes widened once more. “But…you’ve been with others…since us…”
He gave a grim shake of his head. His ring was on her finger. She hadn’t been in his bed. That meant no one had been there.
“Jason?” That lost note was back in her voice. “Why?”
“Because no one else was you.”
He heard the rush of her breath, then she asked, “But what about the Playhouse? They knew you there…”
Did she think he’d lie, about this? About her? “From before. Charles knew me before you.” Because that was how he thought of his life. The days before Cat. The days after.
He put his knee on the bed. Put his hand on her thigh. He loved touching her. Loved the feel of her smooth skin beneath him. Loved being in her even more.
Cat shook her head as if she still didn’t believe the words that he’d said. They’d work on that. Soon, she’d believe in him completely…because he would accept nothing less from her.
Cat would be his. Body, mind, heart. He would take all of her because that was what he needed.
“Spread your legs for me,” he told her.
She did.
“So pretty, love…” He stroked her. Had her arching her hips toward him. “So very…mine.”
Jason slid himself between her splayed thighs. His hands caught hers and he pushed them back against the bed. He could feel the gold band of the ring against his fingers. His band.
His.
He thrust into her. She was slick and swollen from her orgasm, from him, and a moan broke from her lips.
Her body arched beneath him. A smile curved her lips, the same smile that she’d flashed a year before when he’d had her beneath him in bed. The smile that told him she liked what he was doing. Liked it rough and wild. Liked it hard.
He gave her what she liked.
The bed thumped into the wall. The mattresses—fucking expensive—squeaked, and her legs wrapped around him. He thrust into her again and again, endlessly, and his hands held hers.
His orgasm pressed closer and his movements became even rougher as he drove for fulfillment.
She cried out his name.
She came for him.
He exploded within her.
***
He’d shut out the light.
Cat lay in bed, all too aware of Jason’s strong form beside her. She felt marked, taken…because she had been. Again and again, and she’d reveled in every moment of pleasure.
Darkness surrounded them, but she knew dawn had to be close. There weren’t any clocks that she could see in his bedroom—his bedroom!—but they’d been together so long, the last hours of the night must have slipped away.
Just as she had to slip away.
She’d stayed with him, given herself to him, because she’d wanted him for so long. Cat had thought that, surely, sex with him couldn’t possibly have been as good as she remembered.
It had been. Dammit. No, it had been even better this time.
After the near run-in with that motorcycle, an adrenaline rush had made her shaky and her desire for Jason—well, that was a weakness she seemed to carry all the time.
And I need to leave him. It can’t be safe to want a man this much.
She had to go and contact her brother. Cat knew she had to warn Cameron about the PR nightmare that would soon be falling on her family. Because of her. Another Cat screw-up, as her father would say. She seemed to make those often, at least in the eyes of her father.
She slid toward the edge of the bed. The sheet was cool over her skin as she rolled carefully off the mattress. Her feet touched the carpet and she held her breath as she tip-toed toward the door. But, helplessly, she glanced back over her shoulder. Jason was—
Watching her. In that flash, he’d flipped on the lamp’s light and she could see him perfectly. Just as he could see her.
Oh, crap.
Her heart stopped right then.
He was supposed to be sleeping.
Instead, he was glaring at her. “You think you’re just going to slip away from me again?” He’d sat up in the bed. The sheet pooled near his waist.
Maybe she should lie and say that she had just been going to the bathroom…except that the bathroom door was on the other side of the room.
“My scent is still on you. Your lips are still red from my mouth.” He rose from the bed. Totally naked.
Um, so was she. Cat tried to cover up as best she could with her arms.
He glared harder. “I know every inch of your body.”
His hands and mouth had certainly done plenty of exploring. So had hers.
He was closing in on her. “Jason, listen—”
“Were you leaving me again?”
The question cut right through her heart. “Yes.”
Fury flashed on his face. Right. She definitely should have lied.
“Good enough to fuck, but when the light of day comes, you’re ashamed to be with me?”
“That’s not fair!” She wasn’t ashamed of him. “I’m not the one trying to destroy your family! I’m not—”
“I have no family! No one matters to me! No one but—” He broke off and strode closer. His nostrils flared and his golden eyes burned with a fury to match the rage that tightened his expression. “They’re not saints, Catherine. Your father. Your brother. You think you owe them for being blood? Because your brother did something right once in his life when he was a boy? You don’t know them, not the fuck at all.”
She had a furious, naked man stalking her. And he was right-about some things. His scent was on her. She could still feel him. She still ached for him. But… “They’re not the only ones I don’t know.” That was why she was leaving him. When she was close to Jason, she felt too much, too fast. “
Who are you?” Cat asked. “The man who acts as if he wants me so badly…or the man who set out to coldly seduce me a year ago?”
He started to shake his head.
Her rough laughter stopped him. She should have learned from the past. She hadn’t. When it came to Jason, she had a serious weak spot. Or maybe she was just blind. “When we met a year ago…it wasn’t chance, was it?”
His lips compressed but after a moment, he said, “No.”
Right. “Why did you approach me in that casino?”
“Because I wanted you.”
She waited for more and wished she had on clothing.
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “And I wanted to fucking destroy your family.”
Those were the words she’d expected all along. So why did they hurt so much? “We’re done,” she told him simply. Then she turned away. She would not cry in front of him. Had she seriously deluded herself during the hours of the night? After the motorcycle incident, he’d…he’d seemed to care.
No one else was you.
He was such a good liar.
And she sucked at the games men played with women. Cat fumbled with the doorknob. Stumbled out of the bedroom. Her bag was near the couch. Her panties…her panties were on the floor. Shame burned through her because she’d reveled in being with him during the night.
Only to have him slam cold reality into her face once more.
She grabbed for her clothes. Jerked them on as quickly as she could. There was no way she was running buck naked out of his penthouse. With her luck, a reporter would be outside, waiting to snap a picture.
“Stop!” Jason grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him. “Let me explain!”
“You just did!”
“No!” He gave a jerk of his head. “I wanted to hurt them, not you. I never wanted to do anything that would hurt you.”
She could only stare at him. Didn’t he get that hurting her family—by association—hurt her?
A hard knock sounded at his front door. Cat glanced toward that door.
“Whoever the bugger is, he can screw off,” Jason snapped. His hold tightened on her. “Your father and brother…they smash anyone in their way. Every day, they ruin businesses, families, and they never hesitate.”
“That’s not—”
“My father came to the States fifteen years ago. He’d opened his restaurant. Scraped and saved and my mum and I were working round the clock with him.”