This Time, Forever

by Peters, Heather

  "What does that have to do with us, Jared? That happened several years ago." Thea was no fool. Her eyes narrowed and she shrugged as her voice remained calm. "She didn’t even acknowledge you when we met with her."

  And then, as if the veil was lifted from her eyes, Thea's eyes widened in obvious realization. "You went back for your keys, and you didn’t come back for several minutes, Jared. What was said when you were with her?"

  Jared swallowed hard. "Thea, she was crying. I had to know why. I asked her, one thing led to another and- and—"

  Thea rose slowly, as did Jared. Her only reaction was a hand that slowly covered her mouth, whether with surprise, rage or jealousy, he couldn’t tell. "You were with her, in her office, Jared?"

  "Yes!" He exclaimed. "We got caught up in the surprise of seeing one another, and I held her, comforted her, and then we almost lost control. I'm so sorry Thea. "

  Expecting anger and rage, Jared watched in disbelief, as a tiny smile curved her lips. "Do you still care for Miss Wilding, Jared?"

  He couldn’t deny it. "Yes, Thea. I've never stopped loving her. I've treated you unconscionably and under the circumstances, it's not fair to remain engaged. I take complete responsibility."

  Thea's demeanor then turned into something, well, unexpected. Jared expected her to hit him, curse him; hell, throw him out on his ass.

  But, he was so wrong. He'd never been so wrong.

  Her expression was unreadable at this point. "I have a confession of my own to make. You've met our new CEO, Desmond Healy? Well, last month, in a moment of weakness, we found ourselves alone in his office, and I'm afraid our emotions got out of hand. Don't worry, Jared, we were very discreet. Just a one time thing. So you see, darling? What you did wasn't earth shattering," she shrugged. "These things happen and we'll just put it behind us."

  Jared nearly lost his footing as he backed away. It was as though he heard Thea's declaration through a narrow tunnel. Did she just say….? It was true that he'd rushed into a relationship with her. His loneliness had overtaken his common sense, and they'd shared a mutual attraction. Now Jared knew with vivid realization, not enough to marry her.

  Thea's indifference not only shocked him, but it was all clear to him now. She'd fucked the new CEO and Jared had no clue. She stood here before him, calm and cool as a summer breeze. His love for Shana and their break up must have screwed him up more than he'd realized. And there was something else: He never really loved Thea, and now, he found he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.

  But it seemed she wasn’t done. "Jared darling, this doesn’t have to change anything. We are both human. These things happen. It meant nothing with Desmond. After all, you and I are engaged to be married."

  "Not anymore," Jared declared, gazing at her unchanging expression, and knowing with Thea, this was how it was to be. No, not for him. He looked at the opulence surrounding him and realized he didn’t belong here, had never belonged here.

  He belonged in his own world of hard work, softball games on Sunday mornings and jogging five miles a day in the park.

  He belonged with Shana.

  "Jared, daddy has shelled out a lot of money for our wedding. You're not going to ruin everything are you?"

  Suddenly he couldn’t get out of here fast enough. The woman standing before him was a stranger. "I shouldn’t be surprised, Thea, at your lack of rage or anger. I nearly made love to my ex-girlfriend and feel like the lowest kind of scum. You fucked Healy, when? Weeks ago and then came to my bed as if nothing happened? Don't you have any scruples? I feel like a royal scumbag for what happened before with Shana.

  Jared backed away physically, as well as emotionally distancing himself from this woman. "Wow, I don’t know what qualifies as honesty for you, but from where I'm standing, that's cheating, and I may be many things, but an adulterer is not one of them. I'm done."

  He noticed that Thea didn’t try to stop him as he walked out of the room, through the hall, and out the door.

  ~*~

  On his way home, a myriad of emotions swept through Jared with the strength of a raging storm.

  In the space of several hours, he'd been planning his wedding, encountered and nearly made love with Shana, then cancelled his wedding to Thea. A guy could go crazy from the happenings and the day wasn’t over yet.

  Imagine, Thea cheating on him, and then going on as if it had never happened. What bothered Jared was that the fact that his future wife had been unfaithful and Jared felt….nothing. Not anger, rage, betrayal, or love. Maybe a slight bruise to his ego, but that's where it ended.

  He loved Shana. There, he thought it, realized it to be true.

  Approaching the parkway on the way home, his thoughts drew back to the day Shana broke their engagement….and his heart…..

  "What's wrong sweetheart." He noticed Shana's hands shook. She'd asked him to meet her at her apartment and now she paced the living room, back and forth, hands wringing, tears falling, and Jared had a bad feeling in his gut.

  He kissed her and leaned his head back instantly. "Talk to me."

  Shana turned from him with clenched hands. She stepped to the window across the room. "Jared, I need to tell you something." He closed the distance between them, and held her arms. Shana swallowed hard and kept her head up, gazed straight into his eyes and never faltered.

  "Talk to me Honey. You're scaring me."

  She shook her head. "I can't see you anymore. Our engagement is over."

  His hands fell from her arms, his face drained of all color. "What the hell are you talking about? We're getting married. You love me."

  "No we're not. Please leave." She pulled the treasured ring from her finger and held it out to him. "Please take it back."

  "Just like that? I know something's going on here, Shana, and you're going to tell me, now. Up until yesterday, everything was fine, we were fine. And today all of a sudden, we're breaking up. I'm not leaving here till you give me a fucking reason for this bullshit."

  Shana straightened, arms stiff at her sides. "Okay, you’ve forced me to tell you the truth. I don’t love you anymore, okay? You wanted a reason, there it is. Now please go."

  He frowned and opened his mouth as if to say something, but he held his tongue. "I don’t know what's going on here, but I suspect it has something to do that one incident with the law, and the fact that he doesn’t think I'm good enough for you. But you know me, Shana, honey. You know who I am."

  "You're wrong." He knew she was lying. Her hands were clenched so tight, her knuckles were practically white. "This has nothing to do with my father. I just feel as if I'm too young to be married. I'm sorry Jared; please leave now."

  He rubbed his neck, then pushed a hand through his hair, his gaze never leaving hers. "There's a lame excuse if ever I heard one. I don't know what this bullshit is all about, but this is not over, Shana. I'll get to the bottom of this and then we'll be together. We'll run away if that’s what it takes."

  Expecting her to agree, she became visibly upset. "I'm not running away with you, Jared."

  Her words cut him to the quick as he held out his hand. I don't want the ring; I want to talk about this. Come on, I'll take you home. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

  "I'll take a cab. Goodbye Jared."

  He lingered for several seconds, then stepped back from her. "Don't do this baby, please."

  Jared's heart shattered as she ran from him, her cries echoing deep inside his chest. Jared debated whether to chase her, beg her to come back, that whatever the reason, they'd find the solution, get married and be happy. But he did nothing, just walked away. He vowed to find the reason as to why the love of his life broke their engagement, and his heart. He knew her stepfather was at the core of this issue with Shana. But how was he supposed to go up against Wilding?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  For the next five days Jared remained on his construction site till late at night, burying himself in contracts, looking into his next three projects, hoping to erase the
image of Shana in her office, looking hot and cold at the same time. He worked himself so hard, the only thing he had strength for when he got home, was drag himself into the shower and fall into bed. But sleep was long in coming.

  His dreams were all consuming and all about Shana. Wet dreams that had them writhing on silk sheets, their bodies consumed with heat.

  Jared would awaken sweating and hard as brick. Countless cool showers failed to bring him the sleep oblivion of sleep, and after a week, he was about to go out of his mind.

  He had to see her. Today. Now.

  Showering quickly then pulling on jeans, t-shirt and work boots, he shrugged into his denim jacket, then grabbed his wallet and keys and headed out the door.

  Sleep deprived and very cranky, not to mention frustrated, it was time to hash this out. He still loved her, and that would never change. His engagement from Thea and subsequent break up only served to tell him that it was Shana he wanted, had always wanted, even after she'd broken his heart and walked away.

  After touching her in her office and nearly burying himself deep within her, he'd been going insane to connect with her again, being with her, and making sure she knew that they belonged together. And he was willing to do anything to convince her that they could erase the years spent apart, and reunite.

  Hours later, Shana swung open the door, a frown marring that pretty face. "You shouldn't have come."

  Jared took in her wet hair and slinky robe, and his cock sprung to life. He'd bet the farm she was naked beneath that thin fabric. All he wanted, and needed, was to hold Shana in his arms again, inhale the fragrance that was hers alone. To bury himself deep inside her wet, tight, heat and make love to her until they couldn’t walk.

  She blocked her doorway.

  "Aren't you going to ask me in? I have things I need to say."

  She exhaled a breath and held the door open. He walked through to her colorful, cozy living room, and stood in the center, hands on hips, ready to do battle.

  She wrapped her robe tighter around her. "I guess you'd like to sit down."

  "No thanks, I'll stand."

  Her scent wrapped around him and held fast. Those crimson-colored toenails peeked out from her robe, and her shoulder-length hair began to curl from her shower. He couldn’t bear the distance between them any longer. Jared took several long strides to reach her. Her bouquet guided him toward her like a beacon of light.

  He gathered her in his arms, tilted his head back to look into her red-rimmed, tear-filled eyes. "Listen to me. I was the one who came to you. I wanted you, and I couldn’t leave without touching you and if we didn’t stop, I would have buried myself deep inside you until we both fell apart. I knew once I put my hands on you that marrying Thea was out of the question, okay? I just had to know if you felt the same."

  Before Shana could answer, he gathered his thoughts, then continued. "I told Thea what happened. You didn’t really think I could marry her after I touched you, did you? It's a good thing this all happened now. I didn’t love Thea the way I should have. Not the way I love you, baby." He took a deep choking breath. "Not the way I've always loved you."

  In one swift move, he pulled the robe from her, delighted to find she was naked underneath.

  He grabbed her upper arms tightly and lifted her toward him. "Tell me you don't want me, want this, Shana." He nipped at her ear, then down to her lush full lips. "Say it now, 'cause once I kiss you, I don't intend to stop."

  The answer was in her eyes. "Jared, I do—"

  His mouth crushed hers, forcing her lips apart so he could plunder the wet heat inside. He swirled his tongue around hers, and his cock responded when she moaned softly and circled his tongue with her own. Her arms crept up to his shoulders, then locked behind his neck. Jared rejoiced as she joined him and held him to her heat.

  He broke the kiss, only to make her see that this was where they belonged. This was home. "Oh baby, I missed you so damned much."

  His hands roamed her body and he palmed her beautiful, full breasts, pushing them together.

  He sampled her pebble-hard nipples, suckling and licking, while Shana writhed in his arms, naked while he was fully clothed. It was the most erotic moment of his life.

  "You taste like heaven," he whispered, his cock hard and heavy with arousal. He'd never felt this way with any woman, not even Thea. "What about this? Did you miss this?"

  He fell to his knees and spread open her soft thighs, revealing her pussy, all pink and wet with arousal.

  "Yes," she breathed and threw back her head. "I missed you, missed everything we shared. Please forgive me. I'm sorry, so sorry. Please…..touch me."

  He used his thumbs to stretch her swollen petals and pierced her wet slit with his tongue, delving as far as he could go. He licked and suckled rhythmically, until he sensed her oncoming orgasm.

  "It's okay, sweetheart, don't hold back."

  "Jared, Jared," his name was a mantra.

  Her body stilled, then shivered with her orgasm, and Jared held her before she fell to the floor in a puddle.

  He followed her down, then leaned in close, seducing her with his whispers. "I'm here. Show me how much you missed me. Now." She shivered at the deep timbre of his voice. Her insides clenched at his carnal demand as he nipped her lobe, groaning her name like a litany. "Oh how I missed you my sweet Shana."

  She nodded, silently in his arms, looked up so he could see into her eyes. They were dark and filled with passion. Desire had taken her over, and Jared needed to be inside her, and quick.

  "Undress me, baby. I need your mouth on me, now. Tell me you still love me or I'll die."

  Her gaze locked with his as she pulled his shirt over his head, then unbuckled his pants. Her mouth opened and she let out a silent "oh" as she slid her palm up and down his erection. Slowly, with deliberate movements, she pulled the zipper down, tooth by tooth, until his cock sprung free and she caught it in her soft, capable hands.

  Shana dropped to her knees. "I do love you, Jared, and I'll prove it." A raspy breath was her answer.

  "Take all of me, baby, I'm burning up. Put out the fire."

  He threw back his head at the first touch of her lips on his crown almost undid him. How he'd missed her lips, her touch, and oh yeah, the way her mouth felt as the heat of her lips touched him. She always made him feel like he was the only man in the world.

  She took him fully into her mouth, as far as she could, and Jared growled with lust. She sucked him hard, one hand pressing his ass closer to her mouth, the other fingering his sack until his arousal rose so high he forgot to breathe. He wasn't going to last, not the way she performed her own brand of magic with her touch. She took him deep, and bobbed her head, up and down, three, four, five more times, until he stilled and pushed her mouth away. He slid up her body, into her waiting arms with a single thought: nothing mattered except sliding his body inside her slick channel, back where he belonged – now.

  Words ceased as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his hips. Jared slid easily into her slick hot channel. Shana responded by lifting her hips to meet his own desperate thrusts. He was so hot, he knew it would only take seconds for them to burn in a blaze of sexual flames.

  Faster, harder, hotter, their flesh slapped together, two people in perfect synch, reveling in the joy of making love.

  He waited as long as he could. When she cried out in a long wail, his back arched, and together, they fell over the edge of the precipice.

  Shana felt herself being lifted into Jared's strong arms and carried to her bed. She smiled, barely able to move a muscle, but savoring his touch. She was held close and safe. He smelled faintly like mind blowing sex and sexy, aroused male. Warm and naked, a wave of completion and happiness engulfed her.

  "Now that we're alone and I have your attention, there are things I want to say to you. Then we're going to make love for a few days. That okay with you?"

  Shana lifted her gaze and met Jared's dark eyes, serious and focused on her. S
he swallowed hard, words abandoning her. She continue to stare at him, this man whose heart she'd broken and left in ruins, expecting never to see him again, never love him again. But today had proved a miracle. He was here, with her, holding her warm, naked and willing body captive in his arms. Could there be hope for them yet?

  "I didn’t want to believe you'd leave me just because your stepfather convinced you I was no good."

  Words formed in her throat. "Jared, he said he'd ruin your reputation, that because of your police record, no one would ever want to work with you, or for you." Her words came out in a rush, but she had to make him understand. "You know how influential he is. He had people who were going to doctor your specs, forge your name to the invoices and make it look as though you ordered inferior lumber, and cheap electrical wiring. Nothing I said to him got through. He wouldn’t listen to me." Her tears fell freely now, and the whole scene seemed surreal. "I couldn’t let him do that to you. I loved you too much. So I gave you up, let him file the restraining order so that you'd think it was me who didn’t love you."

  "You could have told me so I could fight back." He sat up, tunneled his fingers through his hair in frustration.

  She pulled him toward her, cradled his face in her hands, and kissed him gently on the mouth. He didn't flinch.

  "I was afraid for you, do you understand?" She whispered, kissing him again on his cheek, then his nose and chin. "I couldn't bear to see you go to prison," she added as he calmed a bit. "And he had the power to make it happen. Do you understand? Please say you understand, Jared?"

  He nodded slightly, and then she sighed in relief when he smiled and ran his thumb lightly over her lower lip.

  "I missed you every day." He kissed the place his fingers caressed.

  She nodded, gripping his hand to convey her support, her belief in him. "I was sick for weeks after I broke off our engagement, Jared. I never got over you. There were days I was coming back to you, but I know daddy was having me followed."