Jared (Coyote Ridge) (Volume 2)

by Nicole Edwards

  “Hi,” Hope greeted him when she turned to look his way.

  “Hey.”

  “Have a seat.” She patted the wood beside her.

  Jared eased himself down, hanging his legs over, careful not to get his boots in the water.

  And just like the last time he saw her, Jared was instantly overwhelmed with the urge to touch her. He’d honestly never felt this sort of unrestrained lust when it came to a woman. Hope Lambert did it for him. He thought about her endlessly. Day, night. Didn’t matter. Even on the drive out, he’d imagined the many different ways he could greet her. The main one being with a smoldering kiss that would set them both aflame. Somehow, he managed to refrain.

  In the dark, the two of them stared at one another briefly before he spoke. “I should probably be offended that you’re using me for sex…” he teased, keeping his voice low.

  “But you’re not?” she asked.

  “Offended? Not at all. Not when I see you. It takes a lot of damn effort to keep my hands off you.”

  “Why would you want to do that?”

  Jared shrugged. “I figured you’d wanna talk.”

  They were silent again, still staring.

  “How was your week?” she finally asked.

  Jared shrugged, leaning back on his hands as he stared up at the sky. “Same as last week. Busy. No major fires to put out, so that’s a plus.” He peered over at her. “What about you?”

  “Good. Things are slowin’ down a little now that we’re not in peak tourist season.”

  “What do you do in that downtime?”

  “Depends. Chores come first, takin’ care of the animals, you know? My sisters get to help more when we have fewer guests. We’ve got a small store on the property, which doesn’t have to be open as much.” She smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Like you, we have the normal disruptions. Problems with water, broken tractors, equipment failures. That sort of thing.”

  Jared stared out at the water, enjoying the sound of her voice. When he looked over, he found Hope staring at him. He could see the heat in her eyes. How they’d managed to make it these few minutes without mauling one another, he wasn’t sure. He did know that it wouldn’t be much longer before that happened.

  Hope finally spoke. “I don’t wanna talk anymore, Jared.”

  Damn, she was so beautiful. Her long blond hair glimmered in the moonlight; her turquoise eyes practically glowed.

  She moved closer and Jared remained perfectly still, refusing to reach for her. He didn’t trust himself. But then Hope straddled his thighs, and he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close, not wanting her to go into the water.

  “This thing between us…” Hope smiled as she got settled. “I like where it’s going.”

  Jared cocked an eyebrow.

  “This only-sex thing,” she explained. “We’ve got a month of it before your family reunion. I thought maybe we should come to an understanding.”

  Jared brushed her hair back behind her ear. “What’s that?”

  “I’ve come to accept that sex with you is … phenomenal.”

  “You don’t say.” He grinned, letting his hand drift up her thigh. Tonight she was wearing a dress. Nothing fancy. A little more than a sundress, probably. She had on a lightweight sweater over it, probably due to the cooler air coming off the water.

  “I do say. But I think it’ll be easier if we don’t play any games.”

  “Like sex games?”

  Hope chuckled, shifting closer, grinding against his rapidly growing erection, her fingers cool against his cheeks. “I like sex games.”

  Yeah, he suspected she really did.

  “But those aren’t the games I’m referring to,” she clarified. “I was thinking more along the lines of who’s gonna call who.”

  Jared hadn’t called Hope, nor had he texted her, for the simple fact that he wanted her to make the next move. It hadn’t been a game he was playing, but he could see how it might seem as though he were. His real reason had been because he wanted her to be sure this was what she wanted. He’d met women before who had agreed to only sex; however, after the first rodeo, they were moving on to planning the wedding and whatnot.

  Although Jared was interested in something more than sex with Hope, he certainly wasn’t entertaining any notions of happily ever after. Not this early on anyway.

  Hope said she wanted this, but Jared hadn’t wanted to assume anything.

  “So, we’ll what? Have a standing date?” he asked, grinning.

  “Something like that.” Hope leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. “You know, before you got here, I had this whole conversation planned out, but now that you’re here, I really just want…” She leaned in closer to his ear, her breath warm against his cheek. “I really want to feel you inside me.”

  Jared curled one hand around Hope’s head, bringing her mouth to his while his other hand slid beneath her dress, his fingers eagerly seeking her pussy. Oh, damn. The woman wasn’t wearing panties. She’d obviously known exactly what she wanted when she invited him down here.

  He teased her clit by grazing it with his thumb repeatedly, his tongue driving into her mouth as she latched on to his shoulders. As much as he liked her adventurous side, the hard wood planks of the pier weren’t going to make this easy. Rather than tell her that, Jared shifted, getting to his feet as she wound herself around him. He had to move his hands to hold on to her, but she didn’t seem to mind.

  The only reason he pulled his mouth from hers was to ensure he wasn’t going to take a walk off a really short pier as he tried to make his way up to his truck.

  Thankfully, that trek didn’t take him long at all.

  WHEN JARED OPENED his truck door and pulled her inside with him—thankfully he’d opted for the backseat—Hope didn’t say a word. It wasn’t until he had the door closed, her perched on his lap, and was once again kissing her that she had to put the brakes on.

  She peered around briefly, noticing there was no car seat in the back this time. It was a solid reminder that this man had a kid and she had to be extra careful with how far she let this go. Emotionally, of course. Sexually… Well, it was far too late for that because Hope was jonesing for this man.

  “Were you worried someone would see us out there?” she asked, meeting his gaze.

  Hope saw amusement reflected in the smoky blue depths.

  “No,” he told her. “That’s the least of my worries.”

  “You don’t mind an audience?” She meant it teasingly, but the heat that backlit his eyes told her that he hadn’t taken it that way.

  “My cousins run a fetish resort, Hope. I don’t have a whole lot of limitations.”

  For some reason, that drew her up short. She hadn’t thought about how many women he might’ve been with over the years. And no, she hadn’t thought he’d been celibate since his divorce, but…

  “I haven’t taken any women there,” he said, brushing his lips over hers. “In case that’s what’s going through that pretty head of yours. However, I have gone. I’ve checked it out, spent a little time … watching.”

  “So that really is a thing? Watching?” Hope slid her sweater off her shoulders, revealing the strapless sundress she’d put on. She’d had one thing in mind when she had dressed—ease of removal.

  Jared’s eyes dropped to her mouth, her body warming as his hands grazed over her slowly.

  “It’s definitely a thing. So, if you’d ever like me to take you, just say the word.”

  Her? At a sex resort? Hope fought the urge to snort. Sure, she enjoyed sex as much as the next woman, but she couldn’t imagine…

  “Scoot back, just a little,” Jared ordered.

  Since Hope was facing him, straddling his lap, she had to move her butt toward his knees, her back against the front seat, in order to do what he a
sked. The backseat was much bigger than she’d thought it would be. Considering Jared’s knees weren’t up by his ears, there was quite a bit of room.

  “Now put your feet up here,” he instructed, patting the seat on either side of his hips.

  Hope did.

  Jared seemed to want to take it from there, so she sat there, reaching behind her head to hold on to the headrest, watching him while he put his big hands on her knees, pushing them wide, exposing her as he pushed her dress up to her waist. But he didn’t stop there. With her arms stretched back, her breasts were thrust forward. He reached up, pulling the bodice down until her naked breasts were exposed.

  She really was glad she had foregone the bra.

  His fingers drifted lower, sliding over her bare mound, and she sucked in air as the intense sensation made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

  “I like how wet you get for me,” he said, his eyes flicking up to meet hers briefly before trailing ever so slowly back down. The heat of his gaze made her insides tremble, her womb contract. The man knew how to stoke a fire, that was for sure.

  And when he met her eyes again, he held her gaze as his hands roamed, his fingers lightly grazing her skin.

  Hope had never had adventurous or extremely verbal lovers, but Jared Walker seemed to be both of those. She tried to tell herself that was why she wanted this. Why she was looking for no strings for the next month. It certainly didn’t hurt.

  Jared’s thumb slid through her slickness, grazing her clit, then gliding lower. Never once did he take his eyes off her face. It was as though he enjoyed watching her reactions. And she was certainly having those in spades. The man was wicked with his fingers, as well as other things. Like his tongue.

  The mere thought sent a tremor through her.

  His other thumb brushed over her bottom lip. “One of these days, I want to feel your sweet lips on my dick.”

  Heat exploded inside her. The thought of sucking him into her mouth, watching him the way he was watching her now… “Why wait?”

  “’Cause I’m not done with you yet.”

  Hope’s head fell backward when he pushed one thick finger inside her. “Ohhhh.” She arched her back, trying to take his finger deeper, wishing he would add another.

  “I could sit here and play with your pussy all night,” he told her. “It would be so much better if I could taste you, slide my tongue right here…” He demonstrated with his finger. “I want to make you come again with my mouth, Hope.”

  Lifting her head, she met his gaze, doing her best not to rut against his hand.

  Jared added another finger, fucking her slow and easy with two deliciously thick fingers while his thumb circled her clit, over and over.

  “Why didn’t we do this at your place?” he asked.

  Hope shrugged. “I was hoping for … adventure, I guess.”

  She hadn’t wanted Jared to think she was boring, actually. They’d had sex on her couch, on her kitchen counter, and even in her bed. Those were all relatively safe places. She wanted to experiment, especially if she only had one month with him.

  Jared twisted his hand around, driving his fingers even deeper as he pulled her mouth to his. “I definitely think a trip to AI is in your cards.”

  AI… Right, Alluring Indulgence. The sex resort.

  She didn’t know about that, but she didn’t tell him as much. However, it had piqued her curiosity.

  What could it hurt? She wouldn’t be seeing him after his family reunion, and she wouldn’t be seeing anyone at the resort after they went there either. Of course, Cheyenne was her cousin. As far as Hope knew, the woman was going to marry a Walker. If she was invited to the wedding—which she definitely would be—perhaps she would run into Jared again. That might be awkward.

  “Would you like that, Hope?” Jared was pumping his fingers into her, deeper, faster, pushing her closer and closer to the edge. “I can show you what real adventure is.”

  Hope dug her fingernails into his shoulders, trying to hold on as he finger-fucked her. It felt so damn good.

  “I won’t let another man touch you, though. I’m not willing to share. But they can watch,” Jared whispered close to her ear. “They can watch as I fuck you, as I drive my dick deep into your sweet pussy.”

  That did it. Whether it was the visual or simply the overwhelming sensations his fingers wrought from her body, Hope shattered, crying out his name over and over as she came on his fingers.

  “How about we go someplace a little less adventurous for now?” Jared suggested. “Like your place so I can eat your pussy while you come on my face.”

  Yep, there was no doubt about it, Jared Walker’s dirty, delicious mouth was going to make this more difficult than she’d thought. Hell, this was only the second time they’d been together. How was she supposed to survive another month without going completely out of her mind?

  Chapter Seventeen

  BY THE TIME Wednesday rolled around, Jared was aching to see Hope again. Although he hadn’t gone back to the ranch since the night he’d fingered her in his truck, then taken her home only to ravish her for another two hours, he was counting down the minutes until he could make that happen.

  He had dedicated the weekend to Derrick, taking him to his favorite bounce house place just north of Austin on Saturday and then to the movies on Sunday. They’d had McDonald’s for dinner on Saturday night and spent the evening with the whole family for Sunday dinner at Curtis and Lorrie’s.

  On Monday, he had hoped to slip out to the ranch to surprise Hope, but a problem with one of the jobsites had derailed him all day. Then on Tuesday, Jared got a response from Sable that had pissed him off for the better part of the day. It wasn’t that he hadn’t expected Sable to put a price tag on Derrick—she’d done it once already—but it had hit him at the exact wrong time.

  According to Sable, Jared simply needed to wire her twenty-five thousand and she’d be out of his hair for good. If he opted not to, she’d take him for more than that when she took him to court. Sable was adamant that no court would keep a child from his mother.

  Of course, Jared had forwarded it to Travis, and his cousin said he’d gotten a lead on something and would get back with him. Travis had also advised Jared to print the emails out so he’d have a copy. The lawyer would be able to use Sable’s unstable messages to prove she was just that … unstable. Jared honestly didn’t think Sable was going to take him to court. However, he did fully believe that she would try to insert herself in his and Derrick’s lives again, which would probably be the second-worst thing that could happen. The first, of course, being that Sable could take Derrick from him.

  Because Sable had made his blood pressure skyrocket, Jared hadn’t wanted Hope to have to endure his shitty attitude, so he’d figured that night wasn’t good, either.

  But those days were over and he was now looking forward to surprising her.

  At least he was finally down to minutes.

  Tonight, Derrick was going to spend some time with Lorrie and Curtis, along with Mason and Kate. The five of them were going to church, which meant Jared had a few hours to himself. He didn’t waste any time, either. As soon as he dropped Derrick off, he hit the highway and headed toward Embers Ridge. He had told himself that the next time—after this—he was going to have Hope come to him.

  At the resort.

  Yeah, he’d gotten the impression that Hope was quite interested in finding out more about Alluring Indulgence Resort. When he had talked about it, he’d seen her hesitance, but then, during the text messages they’d exchanged over the past few days, she’d been the one asking him about it.

  However, he wanted to take her there on a Saturday night, when they were in full swing. The weekdays could be hit or miss, with mostly die-hards coming out to play during that time. But on the weekends, things tended to get lively. Since Travis and his brothers c
ontinued to maintain the resort’s invitation-only policy, Jared had had no choice but to approach his cousin with his request.

  Travis had pretended to be shocked initially, but he hadn’t asked any questions. Not that Jared would’ve told him why he wanted the invitation. He knew that his cousins didn’t spend much time at the resort when they weren’t working. Because they all had families now, they tended not to play as much at the resort anymore. Although there were those rare times when they went for the same reason Jared was going. For something out of the norm, a little walk on the wild side.

  When Jared arrived at the ranch, he shot Hope a text, letting her know he was outside waiting for her.

  Really? What a nice surprise. Come to the dining room.

  He parked in the guest area, then walked around the porch to the back door that led to the oversized dining area where the guests came to have dinner.

  The place was nice, with a homey, rustic feel to it. The interior of the house was bright, with dark wood beams on the ceiling, even a few posts on the floor. It had a log cabin feel that Jared liked. A lot.

  Hope was waiting for him just inside the door. Her smile was wide, but it was clear she was trying to hide her hunger from him. He noticed it anyway, and he knew she wasn’t craving whatever the kitchen had made for tonight’s meal. Nor was he.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “I am,” he told her, ensuring she knew what he was hungry for.

  “In that case…” Hope turned to look around, probably wanting to make sure no one was watching her. She must’ve determined the coast was clear, because she nodded toward the door.

  Jared followed her back outside.

  “I’ve got something I want to show you in the barn,” she said sweetly, grinning up at him.

  Sweet jeezus.

  He remained quiet as he followed her into the main barn. This one was clearly used to house equipment and hay but no animals. And just like in one of those cheesy pornos, Hope, dressed in a long-sleeve, body-hugging red T-shirt, and her boots, paired with very short shorts that showed off her incredible legs, headed right for the ladder that led up to the hayloft.