by C. A. Szarek
“Not a problem for me. Let’s help you loosen up.” He stood, extending his hand.
“Why the heck not?” Renee chugged the beer and slammed the empty on the table. When she looked up at him, she flashed a lopsided grin that made his insides wobble.
Jared arched an eyebrow and chuckled.
It’s gonna be one hell of a night.
Renee’s one drink melted into three…four…or five?
Shit, he’d lost count, but had only had one more shot of Scotch himself. He had to drive home, not to mention be at work earlier than normal
They danced until it was almost eleven and the place was pretty cleaned out, given it was a week night.
The youngest McAuley, Brian, kept throwing Jared knowing looks from the bar. The guy was paying more attention to them than the counter he was supposedly cleaning.
Yeah, I know, I’m thinking what you are, dude.
Jared wanted Renee. Wanted to take her back to his place, throw her down on his bed and give her the time of her life.
She’d have no problem relaxing.
He pulled her closer and swayed to some random country song about long lost love. It could’ve been any one of the greats crooning as they danced, but it didn’t register. He couldn’t keep his mind off the gorgeous woman in his arms.
Soft, curvy. Perfect.
Jared wanted to taste her. All of her. His cock twitched as her pelvis brushed his. He tried to tell it now wasn’t the time, but let’s get out of here was on the tip of his tongue.
“Hard,” Renee whispered, lifting her head from his shoulder.
He stilled and their eyes met. God, he’d die if she realized he was half-aroused.
Then again, it’s a good way to see if she’s on the same page.
“What?” he croaked.
“Your chest. It’s so hard.” She poked his right pec. Her cheeks went rosy for the hundredth time, but Renee was adorable.
Most of the flush was alcohol related. He needed to remember that. Pin it to his brain. He got the feeling she didn’t drink much, but he hadn’t lost track of all the beer she’d downed. His conscience chided, Put her in a cab. Send her home.
He couldn’t. Jared wanted her. If she was willing, he’d have Renee.
You are such a sleaze.
She peered up at him as if she was waiting on him to say something.
Right. Hard.
Heat crept up his neck. “Uh. Yeah. I work out.”
Renee blinked then giggled. “Guys who look like you don’t notice girls who look like me.” She backed out of his embrace, gesturing to her body. The movement of her arms made her skirt play at her knees. A tease.
Jared’s dick jumped and he almost groaned. He wanted to see more. But her words sank in and he cupped her face. “You are absolutely gorgeous.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Right. Me.”
Lowering his head, he took her mouth, swallowing her surprised squeak. Beer and sweet, sweet woman greeted his tongue when Jared forced her to open for him.
God, she tastes good.
Like a sugary treat mixed with the stout lager she’d consumed, her kiss was a drug he had to have more of.
Renee stepped into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She moved her mouth under his, kissing him back, giving when Jared took. Her hips against his made him granite, and when she rocked into him, his body took over and pressed right back.
He kissed her long and hard, until his cock threatened to blow in his jeans. Considering the three shots of Scotch and at least three beers, he was pretty damn impressed.
Jared needed to get her to his place. Now.
Panting, he made himself end their lip-lock before he wrapped her legs around his waist and pushed her skirt up right there on the dance floor just to get inside her faster. “Wanna get out of here?”
Large, perfect breasts rose and fell against his chest. Purple fabric shifted as she struggled to breathe evenly, giving more than a mere hint at cleavage. Her blue eyes were hazy, but she nodded.
“Yeah?” His heart kicked into overdrive and he chided himself to calm down. They were both inebriated, but this isn’t a good idea went unheeded. He wasn’t exactly thinking with his big brain.
“Yes.” The word was breathless and made him groan.
“My place or yours?”
Her hesitation made him cringe.
Please don’t change your mind.
“Yours.” Renee nodded, as if she was trying to convince herself so he kissed her again, cupping her ass and pushing his erection into her pelvis.
“I want you,” he breathed.
No way was he sleeping alone tonight.
Chapter Two
They fell against the apartment door as soon as it was closed—but at least they were on the right side of it. The short drive in his big black truck was a blur.
Jared’s kisses were burning a trail down her neck and Mel’s legs wobbled. She clutched him to say upright. The heat of his skin warmed her hands and her whole body, even through the cotton of his shirt.
What is he doing to me? Alcohol muddled her brain but she was right with him. Wanted more…wanted him.
Is this a dream?
The guy was hot. No one that looked like him had ever given her a second glance.
“Bedroom,” he ordered in a warm blast below her ear.
Mel froze. This was real. She was about to go to bed with a guy she’d met tonight.
Sex with a stranger.
“Renee? You still with me?”
Renee. Right. She’d given him her middle name.
Why?
Because one of the girls had put him up to this. Was sex a part of the deal? Was he…an escort or something?
Who cares?
“Yes.” She forced the word out of her mouth.
He was holding her, kissing her. Val always said she needed to loosen up. So, by God, she would.
Jared straightened and cupped her face.
God, he’s tall.
Warmth enveloped her and Mel closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she fell into his, pools of midnight that melted her half-hearted resistance.
If he kept looking at her like that—with heat and desire—she’d give him anything he wanted. Although, she didn’t like being naked alone in front of a mirror. How was she supposed to manage it with the male model/linebacker in front of her?
Mel gulped as everything sank into her hazy brain. Naked. Sex. With Jared. A tremor shot down her spine and her thighs quivered. Her core was already hot. Her body wanted him.
So shut off the rest.
“I want you,” she blurted.
A slow, sexy smile spread across his kiss-swollen lips and her stomach fluttered.
Then his expression sobered and he stroked her cheeks with both thumbs. “Do you really want to be with me tonight?”
She nodded. The concern in his dark gaze made her heart patter. Drunk off her ass or sober as a nun, Mel would be stupid to walk away—or stumble, in her current state. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Good. ’Cause I want to do you.”
Mel giggled and he flashed a lopsided grin. “Nice romance there, Casanova.”
“Do I really need to worry about having game? You’re already at my place.”
She kissed him in answer.
Jared spun her away from the door and kissed her until her toes curled and her sex pulsed. They staggered around in the dark apartment. Mel let him lead the way, though their mouths remained fused as they moved across what had to be his living room.
One of her borrowed purple stilettos slipped and she yelped into his mouth, clutching at his broad shoulders.
He broke their kiss and laughed as he steadied them. Their eyes met and Mel couldn’t look away. This man was beautiful. And he wanted her. Her stomach flipped and she reached to undo the top two buttons of his shirt.
Jared took her mouth again her as her fingers worked, and he moved them both forward. He groaned against her lip
s as Mel slipped her hands inside his open button-down. Thick muscles greeted her seeking touch.
Hard. Hot.
She wanted to see what she was touching. Mel ended the kiss, walking backwards to his forward step, her eyes glued to the expanse of gorgeous male in front of her.
“You look…like a model.”
He laughed and her cheeks burned.
Geesh…give you a little alcohol and it’s like truth serum.
Shut. Up. Melody Nash.
“So do you.” He pressed a tender kiss to her mouth to stop her protest.
Her? A model? Right. The dream of every size fourteen kindergarten teacher.
I couldn’t even pull off plus-sized model.
Desire made her belly quiver as Mel commanded her brain to turn off. Kissing Jared harder, she twined her tongue around his, forcing deeper into his mouth, rocking her hips into his. His erection pressed right back, long and hard, making her even hotter for him.
He swallowed her moan and slid his big hands down her back, over her bottom. Something brushed her hip and a loud crash made them both freeze.
“What the—?”
“I never liked that lamp.” They spoke at the same time.
Mel tried to laugh, but even to her own ears it came out as a nervous titter. She bit back a cringe.
Jared shoved the debris out of the way with a combat boot. He released her and put out his hand. “C’mon. Maybe we should watch were we’re going. My bedroom’s not far.”
Heat suffused her again when she touched him. She shivered and bit her bottom lip.
His dark eyes were molten.
How could he look at her like that?
God, don’t let it just be the alcohol.
He kicked off his boots and shoved his shirt off his shoulders as soon as they made it into his bedroom.
Mel couldn’t stop watching the play of his muscles as he moved. He had a smattering of dark hair across his defined chest. Dark curls narrowed into a strip that disappeared into his jeans. Powerful thighs, though she couldn’t see them just yet. He was sculpted—everywhere.
She gulped. I’m really doing this.
Goody-two-shoes was going to have sex with a stranger.
“Renee?” Jared froze with fingers on his zipper.
“Yeah?”
“Lose the clothes. I wouldn’t want to damage such a nice outfit.” He smirked. It was sexy and made the butterflies in her stomach swarm.
Her head spun and she backed up to the bed, sitting down hard. A soft comforter cushioned her butt. She looked at the bedding. Deep red sheets peeked out from the black sea of thick blanket she sat on. So masculine.
A very naked Jared was at her side in seconds.
Darn, she’d missed the rest of the show.
He cupped her cheeks and tilted her face up, but her eyes wanted to take in all that bare skin. His erection in particular. It jutted proudly.
Mel’s fingers itched to touch him there.
Where’s that ounce of bravery coming from?
“Are you okay?”
“Y-y-yes.” Stuttering? She wanted to melt.
Great way to move right to ‘idiot’.
Jared flashed a smile and tugged on her shirt.
Mel lifted her arms and let him take it off, fighting the urge to cover her black lacy bra—the only non-practical one in her wardrobe.
He groaned and took a step back. “Gorgeous.”
She stood, digging deep for courage she didn’t know she had.
Thanks be to alcohol, after all.
“I need to touch you.”
Mel ignored Jared’s whisper and lowered her skirt’s zipper. With a shimmy of her rounded hips, it fell to the carpet, a heap of royal purple. She made herself meet his eyes.
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing and it made her feel like she was on the red carpet—wait, was there a naked red carpet?
“You make me feel pretty.” The words fell from her lips and heated her cheeks.
Truth serum strikes again.
“You’re not pretty, baby. You’re gorgeous.”
Baby.
Mel sucked in a breath and pushed her black bikinis off the most flawed part of her body.
Don’t look at my hips—
Jared gasped and yanked her to him before she could even step out of her heels and kick her panties away. His mouth descended hard on hers, while his fingers worked the clasp of her bra.
His erection pressed into her pelvis and stole her concentration as she returned his kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, caressing the muscles of his back.
Mel yelped when he lifted her and she scrambled for a grab at his shoulders, but the bed took their collective weight, Jared following her down. Without breaking the seal of their mouths, he divested her of the bra and threw it.
Then he grabbed her shoes and panties, tossing them across his bedroom. Jared returned to her quickly, dragging his mouth down her neck.
She melted under the movements of his lips.
He cupped her breasts, kneading them and kept his kisses moving south, until Mel was squirming.
Jared’s stubble teased her inner thighs and she froze, a hand on his thick shoulder.
Squeezed her legs together.
“Baby, let me in. I need to taste you.”
Taste her? As in… No one had ever—
She stopped the words before they could tumble out and made herself relax into his bed. Mel loosened the rest of her body, inch by inch.
Jared didn’t waste any time. He dove between her legs and licked the sensitive bundle of nerves at the top of her sex. She cried out and arched.
“Did that feel good?” He gripped her hips and held her firmly, but didn’t hurt her. “We’re just getting started.”
Mel didn’t answer him, but she wouldn’t have had time anyway. He parted her slick folds with his tongue.
She whimpered.
“Good? Hmmm, you taste good and you’re so wet for me.”
Writhing beneath his touch, she couldn’t have formed a word if she’d tried. So Mel let go and just felt.
Jared added his fingers to his kisses, gently probing before thrusting into her. At the same time, he sucked her clit.
She screamed his name and her thighs trembled as inner muscles gripped him. The slow pumping of his fingers made her hips lift of their own accord. He was relentless, stroking into her until Mel wiggled and moaned.
“You’re so tight. Squeezing me. Hmmm…you’re close. Let go for me, baby. Come hard, Renee.”
His words were a trigger. She couldn’t take any more.
Mel arched her back and cried out, orgasm roaring over her. She panted and gasped, and collapsed onto the bed.
Jared shot up her body and held her close, caressing her forehead and kissing her there, despite the dampness of her heated skin. “Did that feel good?”
His warm breath whispered over her face and made her moan. She burned for him, burned for more, despite the soul-rocking climax.
Mel had never felt like this before.
Their eyes met and he smiled. Slow and sexy with a touch of tender. How could a stranger look at her like that? How could Jared make her feel so much?
She trembled and reached for him. Cupped his stubbled cheeks and dragged him down for a kiss.
He took it from there, deepening their lip-lock. Her essence swirled around with their tongues. It made her body warm all over again. Her core ached. Mel wanted Jared inside her.
After pulling away from their kiss as if he’d read her mind, his muscled chest heaved against her breasts. “You’re killing me, baby. I need you.”
Mel closed her eyes as his words washed over her as strong as his touch. Her whole body was like a live wire for Jared. “I need you, too.”
“Thank God.” He rolled away, leaving her cold, but wrenched open the drawer of his nightstand.
She sucked in a breath when Jared flashed a smile and ripped the foil packet open with his teeth.
Condoms at the ready. How often does he do this? Should I…do this?
Mel ignored the sudden dose of conscience and watched with rapt attention as he rolled the latex on his impressive erection.
Need took over her brain, and that was just fine.
“Jared,” she whispered, as he came back to her, pulling her into his arms.
“Hmmm, baby?” His mouth hovered millimeters over hers.
She lifted her face, brushing her lips against his. He deepened the kiss and parted her thighs with a knee. Mel wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close as Jared settled on top of her.
Her sex bloomed again, throbbing as the tip of his erection brushed her sensitive clit. Then he was there, pushing inside her, filling her.
Pleasure was instantaneous, rolling over her. She gasped and tilted her hips to take him deeper.
He groaned into her mouth. “Damn, you’re tight.” Jared panted, his powerful chest heaving.
Mel kissed him harder, lifting her bottom to meet his first thrust. Now was not the time to think about the one lover she’d had in her life, nor that he’d left her at the altar. She hadn’t had sex since… No.
She wasn’t even going to say his name in her head.
Jared was with her, inside her, scrambling her brains with every movement of his hips.
She pushed away insecurities about her body and inexperience and let physical demands take over.
He trailed his mouth down her neck as he propelled forward.
Mel moaned and buried her hands in his hair, leaning her head back to allow him better access.
He nipped her chin and licked the spot, making her pant.
Her body was on fire. They were both covered in sweat, but she didn’t care. She followed the curve of his shoulder as Jared found her mouth again, moving his tongue in rhythm with his hips.
She caressed his damp skin, reveling in the hard muscles of his back. Mel slid her hand lower, grabbing his rear end with both hands, kneading and squeezing. He moaned and her body contracted, muscles tightened, as if his pleasure was a trigger to her orgasm. Climax hit her like a ton of bricks.
Mel panted his name as Jared stiffened in her arms. He threw his head back and whispered her middle name.
Biting back a correction, she locked eyes with him.
No use having him call her Mel now.