by Arianna Hart
“That was an added bonus, yes.”
“You are a pig, but I’m starting to like it. God help me!”
“I knew I could win you over eventually. Drink up; it will help you enjoy the music more. Bob’s Barn Band is not meant for sober folk,” Jared said taking his own advice and tipping his beer back.
“You know something, in my entire life I have never had more than two glasses of wine in the same sitting. I don’t think I metabolize alcohol very well. If you keep pushing wine on me things could get very interesting.”
“Well, we’ve eaten a ton, and it’s been an hour since your first glass, so I don’t think I’ll have to pull you off the table top, but if you don’t want any more it doesn’t bother me.” Just then the music bumped up another notch in volume.
“Get me another, I’m going to need it,” Macayla said, downing the rest of her wine. She was going to need all the help she could get, besides, she didn’t even feel a little buzz, she’d be fine.
“Your wish is my command. Stay here and I’ll be right back.” Jared gave her a quick, hot kiss before he headed over to the bar. Macayla watched him walk across the floor. Man, he could fill out a pair of jeans. He really did have a nice butt.
His long legs ate up the distance until he got closer to the dance area where he had to slip and slide through the madly gyrating crowds of dancers on the dance floor. He moved very lightly and gracefully for a man, especially one of his size. He glided through the crowd with barely a ripple, and Macayla had to admire the sheer beauty of his movements.
Maybe she’d had too much wine after all, she was suddenly feeling very warm. Just watching that man move could melt an iceberg she thought ruefully. She was also wearing a flannel shirt and the place was filled with people. She unbuttoned the shirt and let it hang open. She wasn’t ready to take it off completely even though she had the tank top on.
Although as she glanced around the room she noticed many women wearing far less than tank tops. She spied several women wearing backless halter-tops, and strapless numbers that left little to the imagination. All things considered, Macayla was dressed pretty conservatively. Certainly she was in much better taste than the blonde who was eyeing Jared by the bar.
Macayla’s eyes narrowed as she watched the woman lick her lips over Jared. He was talking to the bartender, presumably ordering their drinks, and didn’t notice the hungry looking female ready to devour him. Macayla thought she looked familiar, but couldn’t place her. She was trying to remember where she had seen that woman when Jared paid the bartender and made his way back to the table. Luckily for him, he never noticed the woman looking at him or Macayla would have gone through the roof.
“Here you go honey, scooch in.”
“I’m surprised you made it back alive.”
“What do you mean?” Jared asked, looking a little puzzled. “The crowd wasn’t that bad.”
“The blonde at the bar looked ready to eat you alive. If you had even looked in her direction she would have probably attacked you right then and there.”
“Who?” Jared asked looking around.
“Don’t look at her you idiot!” Macayla hissed. “She’ll probably take it as an invitation. The blonde who’s almost wearing that jean skirt at the bar. She looked like she wanted to eat you whole. It’s disgusting!”
“Gee, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.” Jared said, looking like he was enjoying himself thoroughly.
“If I were jealous, it would be over someone much more deserving of my hostility. That bimbo over there isn’t worth my energy.” Macayla knew she sounded catty, and also knew Jared was enjoying it. She took a sip of wine to buy herself time until she got her emotions under control.
The woman couldn’t be faulted for drooling over Jared he was drop dead gorgeous. Jared did nothing to encourage her, so there was nothing to get upset about. It wasn’t like her to get so possessive over anything, she needed to relax and cool down. As she watched the laughter simmer in Jared’s eyes, she decided cooling down was a good idea, and took the flannel shirt off revealing the tight tank top underneath.
Jared’s eyes practically dropped out of his head along with his jaw that was already on the floor. Macayla’s tank top was no more skimpy than any of the other outfits on the dance floor, it was just she had so much more to work with that it appeared much more revealing than he was comfortable with.
“Maybe you should put your shirt back on,” Jared said, eyeing the crowd to see if anyone else noticed the abundance of skin on display.
“No, it’s much too hot, besides this is less revealing than ninety percent of the women here.”
“Yes, but they don’t have quite as much to reveal.”
“Well, then doesn’t that make you the lucky one?” Macayla retorted, mischief lighting her green eyes. She folded her arms under her breasts and leaned towards Jared, as she did so her breasts rose higher inside the shirt. Jared could feel himself stir to life.
“If you keep this up, we won’t be here long enough to finish your drink,” Jared warned.
“I don’t want to leave yet, not when things are just heating up,” Macayla said, running her hand up his thigh.
“Let’s dance, it’s the only way I’m going to get you to behave.”
Macayla laughed and drank the rest of her wine in one swallow. He could tell she was feeling powerful and loved it. By the time Jared had managed to drag her to the dance floor, the band was taking a break and someone had put on an old slow number on the jukebox. Jared pulled her into his arms and wrapped her close to him.
If she wanted to feel powerful, he’d let her know just how much power she had over him. He pressed his raging hard on against her soft body and pulled her close with his hands on her butt. The feel of her soft breasts pressed against him was sweeter and more intoxicating than any drink he could think of.
They said nothing for a while, just swayed slowly to the music. Jared rubbed his hips suggestively against Macayla, and felt her breathing quicken against his chest. He quickly eyed the room and noticed that no one was paying any particular attention to them. The other couples on the dance floor were wrapped in their own private worlds.
Jared rubbed his hand lightly up and down Macayla’s back, covertly rubbing her breast with his forearm. His hand massaged her rear, and his leg rubbed against the junction of her thighs. He was making love to her in the middle of a crowded dance floor with no one the wiser.
He felt Macayla become breathless, and smiled in satisfaction as she reached up on tiptoe to offer her mouth hungrily to his. He broke off the kiss and nuzzled her ear, “let’s go home.”
“Let me get my shirt,” Macayla said, looking at him between her lashes. The blood was pumping in her veins, and suddenly being with other people was a nuisance. She turned and walked as quickly as she could back to the table. As she moved she noticed the blonde who had been eyeing him so hungrily slid up to him.
“Hi Sugar, looks like your girlfriend left you all alone, now isn’t that a shame.”
Now she knew who it was! It was the same woman she had seen in the woods.
Macayla grabbed her shirt from the booth and headed back to where she had left Jared. She saw him standing straight up with his hands behind his back, and the blonde attacking him.
Macayla saw red.
Her blood, which was already flowing like hot lava from Jared’s teasing, immediately erupted like a volcano at the sight of the blonde with her arm around Jared. She was seeing clearly enough that she saw Jared’s discomfort, but completely missed his warning head shake. Macayla stomped all of her five foot three inches right up to Jared and the floozy that was throwing herself at him.
Laura, who was taking Jared’s silence for acceptance had started to unbutton his shirt and was caressing his chest. She completely missed the red headed natural disaster headed her way.
“Gee honey, if I had realized this was a costume party I would have dressed up. I didn’t know that barna
cles had bleach blonde hair with two inches of roots showing though,” Macayla said in her sweetest voice. She wanted to pull that hair out by its black roots and slam her to the floor.
Laura looked up from her perusal of Jared’s chest long enough to ask, “Who’s that?”
“I would be the one he is going home with, not you. Now, you have ten seconds to decide if you want to let go of him voluntarily, or if you want me to pull you off him and kick your ass.”
“Listen little girl, I don’t know where you come from, but unless he has a ring on his finger he is fair game.”
Jared jumped in before Macayla could answer. “I don’t choose to play your game. I’d appreciate it if you let go, I’d rather avoid a scene, but I won’t stop her if she decides to knock you on your butt.”
“That little thing, she couldn’t scare a fly off a jelly doughnut,” Laura laughed raucously.
“Time’s up!” Macayla said as she grabbed the other woman’s hand and twisted it until she let go and collapsed to her knees on the floor in pain. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood, if I was really angry I’d have broken your wrist. Go find your own man for a change.” And with that Macayla threw her wrist away from her and started walking out of the bar without waiting for Jared to catch up.
“Macayla! Hold up!” Jared called racing to catch up with her, she was half way to the cabin before he was able to reach her. “It wasn’t my fault, I was waiting for you, and she oozed up to me and just started touching me. I didn’t invite it.”
“I didn’t think you did. I’m not mad at you, I’m just disgusted by her; I recognized her from the trailer park,” she said while still walking. “Why is it that some women only find men attractive when they are taken? I got out of there because I really wanted to hurt her. I mean really, and if I didn’t leave, I wasn’t sure I could trust my control. I have a bad temper.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“You have only seen the tip of the ice berg. I have to control my temper constantly. I am always reining it in. If I wasn’t such a control freak, I could really hurt someone. I have a responsibility to control myself, I have too much knowledge not to.”
“I see what you mean. I just didn’t want you to think I was another one of those weak-willed men who cheat. I have never, and will never betray a trust, I promise you that.”
“You were the one who set up the rules, I won’t be the one who breaks them. Now let’s drop the subject. I was feeling hot for a different reason before, I refuse to let that sleaze ruin it for me.”
“Hear, hear.” Jared pulled her against a tree and cuffed her hands over her head. He pulled her into a searing kiss that dissolved any thought besides the feel of him against her into a puddle of feeling. He used his free hand to capture her breasts through her tank top, teasing the nipple to attention.
Macayla moaned from the sensation, she desperately wanted his hands on her bare flesh. She tried to free her hands to touch him, but he wouldn’t let her. He continued to tease her through her shirt until she thought she’d go mad. His burning lips moved from her mouth to her neck, to her ear, whispering racy words, daring her to respond even more. Macayla was thrusting her chest at him, all but begging him to touch her skin. Finally he slipped his hand into the velvet warmth between her breasts. Macayla almost cried out at the heat.
“I’ve been thinking of this since you took that damn shirt off,” Jared murmured, pulling the shirt down to free her breasts.
“Me too,” Macayla sighed pushing closer to him. “Let me touch you,” Macayla pleaded.
“Not yet, once you touch me, I lose all the control I ever had. Let me pleasure you before I cave in.” Jared scooped her up into his arms, her breasts were still exposed to the night air, and the combination of feelings was very erotic. The roughness of Jared’s shirt against her breast, the night breeze across her nipples, the warmth of Jared’s breathing was like a hundred little caresses, working her up to a fevered pitch.
Jared worked the door open without putting Macayla down, when he got in, he kicked the door shut and leaned against it, ravaging Macayla’s lips again in a soul searing kiss. This time Macayla’s hands were free and she latched onto Jared’s head like it was a lifeboat.
Once she realized he wasn’t going to impede her progress again, she pulled and tugged on his shirt to get it off him. Her own shirt she whipped over her head with little regard for modesty. She grabbed at Jared’s belt and pulled at the fastening of his jeans with frustration.
“I like it better when you wear sweats,” she muttered as she struggled with the button-fly.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jared said, as he gripped the doorknob for dear life.
Macayla got his pants down to his ankles and didn’t bother to try to take them off completely, she had access to the parts she wanted to. She made sure she had her own boots off before stripping her jeans down her thighs.
Jared was sweating in his effort not to touch her. By the time she was completely naked, Jared couldn’t believe he was still standing. When she got on her knees and started kissing his legs, his knees almost buckled.
“Macayla, let’s go in the bedroom, I’m not going to make it much longer.”
“Neither am I.” Macayla said as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist. “So what are you waiting for?” Macayla asked as she worked her way onto his jutting shaft.
“Nothing any more,” Jared said as he clamped down on her hips and pumped into her as quickly as he could. When he was able to form coherent thoughts again, he wondered how they ended up two feet from the couch without even trying to use it.
Chapter Fifteen
Shaun Hints was not a forgiving man, and when one of his compatriots turned on him, there was a price to pay. It wouldn’t do to have any of the other members of their little coalition feel that rolling over on him was the lesser of two evils.
The wayward stool pigeon who was going to give state’s evidence in order to get a reduced sentence was now dead. The only loose end now was that disgustingly brilliant Romero, and Rocky had a line on him. In a few days that end would be tied up as well. Rocky was making a trip to Connecticut now; it was only a matter of time before Shaun would be back in business, and Jared Romero dead.
* * *
Jared crept out of the bed without disturbing Macayla. It wasn’t often that he got up before her, but they had made love through the night, and Jared was almost certain he had exhausted even her supply of energy. He put the coffee on and grabbed his brief case.
It wasn’t that he was intentionally hiding his computer use from Macayla, but neither did he want her involved in this part of his life. A few years ago, he might have worked for Hints, now he was pursuing him. It felt a little better to get his rush on the good side of the law.
For a long time the morals of his work didn’t bother him. When he worked for the Special Operations unit the things he did were outside of the law, but all for the good of the country, he was told. When he left the military, his consulting jobs tended to lean more to the dangerous than to the mundane. Usually those jobs were on the up and up, but every so often Jared looked the other way and operated in a gray area of the law.
After Connor and Samara had honored him with being their first child’s godfather, he had something of an epiphany; he was no longer answerable only to himself. If Connor and Samara died, he would be the one to raise their child. If he continued to look the other way and do things on the fringes of the law, he could easily slip completely over the line.
That was no longer an option.
Jared’s skills were in high demand; he wouldn’t go broke because he no longer took the lucrative, if questionable jobs. He was worried about getting bored with the more mundane jobs, obviously that wasn’t going to be a problem either. Going into hiding, getting shot at, and being chased up and down the east coast had been anything but boring. Spending the last few weeks with Macayla hadn’t exactly been dull either.
Jared poured his coffee and booted up his computer. He hadn’t even opened the computer since the day he and Macayla made love for the first time. He wanted to know what Hints was up too, but wasn’t going to give up what little time he had with Macayla to find out.
Connor had been working behind the scenes; it was Jared’s turn to trust his friend to get him out of a jam. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Jared checked his e-mail, filing away the offers for jobs and focusing in on the e-mail from Connor. Opening it took some time because Connor had encoded the message so that only Jared could open it. If Jared tried using another computer it wouldn’t even show up in the mailbox. Jared tapped impatiently on the table, waiting for the message to clear. When it finally was readable, it was only one line:
“Stay put. Witness dead. Have a lead. Will call.”
“Son of a bitch! What does that mean?” Jared swore, pushing his hand through his hair in frustration.
“What does what mean?” Macayla asked from the kitchen doorway.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Well, it’s obviously something or you wouldn’t be so upset now, would you?”
“Just drop it will you?” Jared asked a little sharply. He wasn’t mad at Macayla, but she was an easy target.
“Fine, far be it for me to intrude on your life.”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Jared said, trying to control his frustration. “I’m mad at something, and you are here. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.” Jared held his hand out to her.
Macayla looked at his hand like someone would look at an unknown snake, not quite sure if it was poisonous or not. She slowly took it and let him pull her into his lap.
“I wasn’t trying to pry. You just seemed upset.”
“I know. I just don’t want you involved in this whole mess, that’s all.”
“Uh, don’t you think it’s a little late for that? I was involved the minute you fell out of my truck.”
“I know, I know. I just don’t want you hurt. You matter to me,” Jared said, staring intensely into her eyes. He didn’t know how to tell her his feelings, because he didn’t know them himself. All he knew was that he couldn’t stand the thought of her being hurt, especially if it was his fault. “The witness they were counting on to seal the case has been killed. I’m all they’ve got to build a case on.”