Sweetly, Deeply, Absolutely (Sweet Love)

by Kira Archer

  He’d never gotten that carried away before. But he couldn’t seem to think straight. There was only her. Her taste, her moans of pleasure, her scent filling his senses until his head swam.

  He stood up long enough to turn them around and move them farther up on the bed. She lay there, looking up at him with such a sweet mixture of pleasure and impatience that it was all he could do not to take her right then and there. He reached for his nightstand and grabbed a condom, rolling it on quickly while her hands lightly raked down his thighs. Then she reached for him, pulling him down for a hungry kiss.

  He hovered over her, dipping down to nudge at her entrance before retreating, tantalizing and teasing until she threw her head back.

  “Jared,” she gasped, lifting her hips to meet him.

  He chuckled and leaned down to nip at her neck, trail his tongue along her smooth, sweet skin until he reached her nipples and sucked one into his mouth.

  She inhaled sharply and ran her hands down his back. Her legs encircled him, and he couldn’t resist any longer. He sank into her, groaning at the silken heat of her. He pushed in as far as he could and then withdrew, watching her face as he plunged and retreated. She was flushed, her mouth open as she sucked in one shaky breath after another. He thrust again and she bit her lip.

  Her legs tightened around him and she rose up, rolling them until he lay beneath her.

  “Payback’s a bitch,” she murmured.

  …

  Jenny leaned forward to kiss him, her hair falling about them like a curtain. He laughed and reached up to hold her waist, guide her back to him.

  “Nuh-uh,” she said. She grabbed his hands and drew them up to her breasts, sucking in a breath when he massaged their softness, his fingers rolling over her nipples. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her body ached for him. She wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long, but he definitely deserved a little payback for the teasing he’d just given her.

  She sank down just far enough that she could feel him and then retreated. He groaned in frustration.

  “I know exactly how you feel,” she said, smirking at him.

  “Oh, do you now?” He surged up with a predatory grin and wrapped his arms around her so he could roll her back beneath him.

  She yelped in mock protest and then laughed when he pinned her hips to the bed with his own. He captured her mouth, his hand cupping the back of her head. He kissed her until she was quaking beneath him. Ready to beg him to fill her.

  “Playtime’s over,” he growled, plunging into her.

  She threw her head back and cried out. He stilled and she bucked beneath him, letting him know she was very happy he was there. No more playtime, indeed. He held her hips down with one hand, the other braced beside her keeping most of his weight off her. Lying there while he thrust in and out, gaining momentum, but unable to rise to meet him, ratcheted the intensity of the sensations building in her until they crested and broke. Her climax washed over her in wave after throbbing wave of pleasure, her muscles contracting around him.

  Their hearts crashed together, and for a moment she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began. She gazed up at him. His eyes, still dark with passion, locked with hers. She reached up and caressed his face, let her fingers trail over the stubbled skin of his chin, rub over his full bottom lip, dip inside his mouth. He sucked on her finger, gently biting, sending another jolt of heat straight to her core.

  His rhythm faltered, and he plunged deeper, harder, until he tensed and thrust one last time with a guttural cry of his own. She could feel him pulsing inside her, her muscles still rippling with aftershocks that had every nerve ending in her body electrified.

  He gazed down at her with a smile that she couldn’t help returning. Her heart still pounded, and she sucked in breath after heaving breath. He rested on his arms, letting her feel his weight without crushing her, and gave her a long, slow kiss before rolling onto his side. She rolled with him and curled up against him, suddenly in need of a nice long nap.

  He reached over and brushed her hair out of her face. All the teasing and smugness had gone, replaced by a look so tender it made her heart clench. That look right there, that was the kind of look that could worm its way into her heart and set up camp, if she let it. It was good this was only a one-night thing because spending too much time with Jared could be very risky. Which sucked, because she very much wanted to do it again.

  Jared Crew might turn out to be more addicting than she thought. And at the moment, she couldn’t care less.

  He pulled her in for a soft, sweet kiss that melted the Do Not Disturb sign around her heart. Oh, she was hitting treacherous territory, all right. Doubly so because she was loving every second of it.

  “I can practically hear the wheels turning in there,” he said, drawing a finger down the side of her face until he’d reached her lips. He traced the lines of her mouth, and she nipped playfully at him as he’d done with her. “What’s going through that mind of yours?”

  “That you’re going to be more dangerous than I thought.”

  His eyes widened in surprise. Yeah, she was kind of surprised she’d admitted that. But after what had happened between them, lying to him seemed not only wrong, but impossible. No one had ever broken through her defenses before. She’d always been able to keep a certain distance from her lovers. Keep a part of herself locked away. For the first time, she hadn’t been able to do that. He’d owned her. Absolutely.

  He kissed her again and then took a deep breath, resting his forehead against hers.

  “So are you,” he whispered.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jared rolled over the next morning, his hand reaching for Jenny. Only he found nothing but empty space. He sat up, disappointment filling him until he heard the shower running.

  Hmm. Now that was a wake-up call he could get behind. Literally. He grabbed a condom from his dwindling pile on the nightstand and went to join her in the shower. Her yelp of surprise when he opened the curtain quickly turned to happy moans as his hands took over the job of soaping every inch of her. Repeatedly. Some spots more than others. By the time they were finished he was pretty sure they needed another shower. But it might take him a minute to recover first.

  They collapsed on the bed in a tangled heap of damp towels and glistening bodies.

  “I think a nap might be in order,” Jenny said with a lazy smile.

  He snatched her towel away and loomed over her, pinning her down while she giggled and squirmed beneath him.

  “I’m afraid your nap is going to have to wait.” He dipped down to capture her mouth and didn’t release her until she was panting for more. He snagged the last condom from the nightstand and held it up.

  “Only one left. Whatever shall we do with it?”

  Jenny snorted. “If you don’t know that by now, you might have a serious problem.”

  “Oh, really?”

  Jenny nodded. “That’s okay. I think I can handle things.”

  She took it and rolled it on him, her hands moving with exquisite slowness, her fingers dancing along his length until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

  He settled over her and continued the pace she’d set, making unbearably slow love to her until she finally grabbed him and rolled. Once she was on top and in control it was a whole different ball game. One that he would fantasize about for the rest of his life. When she finally collapsed against him, her body still shuddering around him, he wrapped his arms around her and held on until their hearts stopped their frantic pounding.

  “I hate to be the one to point this out, but if we have any intention of doing that again, and I hope we do, we’re going to need to get our asses out of bed and down to the drugstore.”

  Jared sighed. “I guess we have gone through our supplies, haven’t we?”

  Jenny laughed and pushed at him. “Go shower. I’ll get in after you.”

  “Hmm,” he said, leaning back over to kiss her neck. “You sure you don’t want to join me again?”
<
br />   “You joined me last time. And not without a trip to the store first.”

  “Excellent point. Okay, I’m getting up.”

  He headed for the bathroom to clean up. He should have stayed in bed. “Oh shit.” He stared at the wad of tissues in his hand. This was not good. So very, very not good.

  “I can’t tell if that’s good or bad,” Jen said, lying on her side and looking sexy and tousled.

  He didn’t want to tell her. He had to tell her. But…what a way to end a perfect night. And morning.

  The smile on her face faded to a frown. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yeah. No. Well…maybe.”

  “Well, that’s helpful,” she said, laughing.

  He hated to turn that beautiful smile of hers into a frown but… He sighed and held the tissues out to her.

  “Um, that’s okay. I don’t need to see it,” she said.

  He had to laugh at the look on her face, even though the situation wasn’t remotely funny.

  “It broke.”

  She blinked at him, the smile frozen on her face. When he didn’t say anything else, she blinked again. “What?”

  “It broke,” he said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

  She sat upright. “But I’m not on the pill.”

  Double shit.

  He took a deep breath. One of them had to stay calm, and it didn’t look like it was going to be her.

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe it broke when I took it off.”

  She relaxed slightly, and he offered up a silent apology for the white lie. That baby had been shredded long before he took it off.

  Oh God. Baby.

  Naw. Well, theoretically, he knew it was a possibility, but still the likelihood was pretty small. He hoped.

  He realized she still hadn’t said anything else but was sitting on the bed, face gone ghost white, staring at him with wide, completely freaked-out eyes.

  He tossed the worthless piece of latex in the trash and came to sit by her.

  “Hey.” He smoothed her hair back from her face. “Let’s not freak out until there’s a reason to freak out. We could still be totally fine here.”

  She nodded slowly, then again more strongly. “Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously there are some people who get pregnant on the first shot but most people have to try a while before it happens. Right?”

  He had no damn idea, but he hoped so. To her, he said, “Right. I bet we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

  She nodded again. “Right. Okay. So. We won’t worry then.”

  “Deal.” They sat there and stared at each other for a minute more. “But…can’t you take a test and find out?” he asked.

  She pursed her lips and frowned at him in that womanly you-are-such-an-ignorant-man way. “It doesn’t happen instantly. Sperm can hang around for up to a week in there. And the earliest test I can take is like six days before my period is supposed to start, so at least a week plus a few days before I can even take the test because I’m not supposed to start for two more weeks. Which…” Her face paled even further.

  “What?” he asked, panic starting to course through him.

  “I’m probably ovulating right now.”

  “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  She gave him a disgusted look and pushed up off the bed, grabbing his T-shirt off the floor to put on. “Oh yeah. I’m joking. Because I figured now was the perfect time to make a crack about being fertile.”

  “Hey,” he said, pulling her into his arms. A fine tremor ran through her, and he rubbed her back until she settled against him with a sigh. “I’m sure we’re fine,” he said, praying to God it was true. “And I’m here with you all the way, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, rubbing her cheek against his chest.

  “What about that morning-after pill?”

  She shook her head. “I’m allergic to one of the ingredients. And it’s in all the different brands. I’ve checked before.”

  “All right. That’s okay. We just need to get through, what, the next ten days?”

  She nodded and he held her tighter. “Piece of cake. No reason to worry until we have a reason to worry, right?”

  She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I guess.”

  “Good. Okay. So. We’ll keep calm and deal with whatever we need to deal with, if it happens.”

  She looked up at him with a small smile. “Okay.”

  “You know,” he said, holding her tighter and leaning in toward her. “Since we already might be in trouble, we might as well…”

  “Oh!” She pushed him away from her. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  He laughed and shrugged, happy to see some color back in her cheeks. “Hey, it was worth a shot.”

  She rolled her eyes and then plopped back on the bed. “Well, now what?”

  “Well, we’ve already played away half the day, and since you shot down my plans for the rest of this afternoon, and staying in is tempting fate, because I’ll never be able to keep my hands off you…” he said, demonstrating what he meant by trailing a finger along the back of her neck and across her collarbone. She shivered and bit her lip. And then seemed to realize what he was doing and batted his hand away.

  “You were saying?” she said.

  He gave her that smug smile that he knew she loved so much. “Why don’t we go out and do something?”

  “Like what?”

  He thought for a second and then had a brilliant idea.

  “What?” she asked again with a big smile, obviously picking up on his excitement.

  “I’ve got an idea. Let me make a phone call real quick.”

  “All right. I’m going to hop in the shower. You make your phone call.”

  He nodded. “You need any help in there, let me know.”

  She snorted. “You are on total lockdown until we know.” Her smile faded around the edges and he gave her butt a quick slap. She yelped and dodged away from him, laughing. Much better.

  “Go get in the shower. I’m going to take you someplace you’re going to love.”

  Her face brightened. “Ooo, I’m intrigued. Okay. Be right out.”

  …

  Jenny watched out the windows for some clue to where they were going. When they took the exit for the Bronx Zoo she turned to Jared, nearly trembling with excitement. “We’re going to the zoo?”

  Jared smiled at her. “I thought you might like that.”

  She glanced at the clock in the car. “But won’t they be closing soon?”

  “Leave that to me.”

  She raised her eyebrows. He was full of surprises today. Trips to the zoo. Secret connections, pulling strings. Of course, some surprises were better than others. Broken condoms were not on her list.

  Her stomach somersaulted again and she took a deep breath to try to calm it. Jared was right. Freaking out before they had a reason to wasn’t going to help anyone. Of course, that was easier said than done.

  She so wasn’t ready for a baby yet. She was only twenty-three. Only halfway through school, starting a brand-new career. And it was a career she was excited about. How was a baby going to fit in with that?

  Of course, she’d have help, she hoped. If she moved home. Her mom would help. It would be a good place for the baby. Growing up, their house might have been a bit chaotic with so many of them running around, but her mom had raised five kids into decent adults and they’d had an awesome childhood. When she thought about a good, stable environment in which to raise a child, her mom’s was the first place that popped into her head. She certainly couldn’t picture herself creating a nurturing environment like that on her own. Being the youngest, she hadn’t been around babies much like her siblings had been. But her mom could teach her. She hoped.

  But…the thought of leaving her program, leaving Paris, depressed her to no end. She loved living in Paris. But she’d need her mom’s help. And Jared…he said he’d stick around. If he didn’t…well, he wouldn’t be the first father t
o bail. And even if he stayed, she wasn’t sure how much help he’d actually be. The thought made her feel horrible, but as funny and charming as Jared was, he didn’t exactly scream responsible father. He was a blast to hang around and the sex…oh my God, beyond incredible. But none of those things helped when she had to go to work and didn’t have a sitter, or the baby wouldn’t sleep at night, or she was up to her neck in poopie diapers, or something.

  Her dad was the total epitome of a responsible father. He’d always held down a steady job, and even when he’d worked long hours he made sure he had time to spend with each of his kids. He was there for every recital and play, helped with all their projects, and had hung out with them on weekends. He had even helped cook and clean and never left her mom on her own when there was work to be done.

  She took a long deep breath and tried to calm down. It had only been a few hours since Condomgate. No point in already being disappointed in the father of her as-yet-nonexistent baby. There’d be plenty of time for that later.

  Then again, maybe he’d surprise her. Jared was a good guy, for sure. But Jenny just didn’t know if he could live up to his good intentions. If it was just herself she had to worry about, she might take the risk. But how could she gamble with a baby’s future like that? She knew she was being totally unfair. Making assumptions before Jared had even had a chance to try. But his life was the total opposite of stable and responsible. Then again, so was hers.

  They were so screwed.

  Jared reached over and took her hand, giving it a squeeze that made her feel doubly guilty for her thoughts. He was a sweet guy. Totally brilliant with a ton of potential. He made her laugh. And the sex…yeah, she kept coming back to that but damn, it deserved a little attention. Maybe she shouldn’t be so quick to judge what kind of a father he’d be.

  He pulled around to an employee lot and parked the car. He fired off a quick text and then got out, meeting her on her side.

  “Come on,” he said, taking her hand with a grin so infectious she couldn’t help but smile back.

  “What are we doing here?” she asked. “It closes in twenty minutes.”