He pulled the sash loose and let the ends fall free to dangle by her sides. His palms slipped over her nipples. Traitorous tits. They’d been begging for his attention, and he noticed, teasing each mound with a massage that would make her climax if he wasn’t careful.
“You think I don’t have a code? Fuck it. Let’s forget my T-and-A tenets and your guard-your-heart statutes.” His thumbs and forefingers teased until her eyes closed and her body went soft against his.
Guard my heart? Her bottom lip quivered, and she didn’t try to stop it. “I’m not in a good place to negotiate.”
“So don’t. Give me the sincere Sugar. I like to play with the ball-bustin’ Sugar, but bench her tonight. I want the real deal.”
“I’m—”
“Nope. Don’t lie to me.” He brushed his lips down her neck. His teeth dragged, ordering lightning bolts to rappel down her spine. “Don’t hold anything back with me. Ever.”
“Ever?” She rolled her neck, allowing him full access. He was asking for a lot. But she could trust him.
She could… right? Yes. She could. She would.
“Ever,” he growled. The authority in the word and the iron-clad strength in his tone made it a commitment that she could agree to.
“Okay.” A weight in her chest lightened. Wait. The foggy mirror reflected a fresh scar on his shoulder. Sugar stalled, turning for a better look. “This is recent.”
“Shrapnel. Doc got it all out.” He went back to her neck. “Won’t say it doesn’t still hurt.”
“You were injured when you came back for me?” She batted his mouth away. “Jared?”
“Got an ugly freshie on the back of my leg if you want to gawk at that, too.” He brushed a wet strand of hair away from her cheek. “Nothing could stop me from bringing you home.”
“Oh.” Nothing? Maybe I can do this with Jared. Maybe.
She grasped his cheeks and kissed him hard, needing to convey what “Oh” meant without uttering a word. She could feel all of him. His hard-on strained into his sweatpants as her robe acted as a curtain, framing her naked body for him.
Their tongues tangoed, dancing to the tempo of a symphony progression, entwining and caressing. It was an overture, a prelude to his delectable devouring of her, completely and totally, leaving an undying need for more.
“No more games.” Jared scooped her into his arms.
“Agreed.” Her fingernails grazed his stubble, scratching his chiseled jaw. “No more.”
Gone was the steamy bathroom. He carried her into the dimly lit bedroom, placing her in the middle of a luxurious down comforter. Satin and silk surrounded her body. The bed dipped as he came closer. His large frame steeled above her.
“Every time I close my eyes, Sugar, this is what I see. You. Naked. And all mine.”
She almost choked. She wanted that, needed to hear it, and would take whatever temporary basis he offered. For this moment, she could justify his ill-guided confession.
Sugar pushed her arms out of the robe and offered a crystal-clear invitation. Her. Him. Now. “You’re the one wearing pants. What should I think about that?”
He captured her lip with a bite, groaning into her smile when she flexed her hips. “Such a bad girl. Always pushing me.”
“That’s how you like me.”
“You know me too well.”
Their mouths clashed. Her tongue grazed his, challenging and chasing. Heat rioted within her belly, swelling behind her breasts. Constricting in her throat. Saturating the area between her legs. Every sensitive zone was on a high alert, waiting impatiently for Jared to kiss, bite, and tease.
He found her nipple, freezing her breath. Mind-numbing, arousal-decreeing licks and flicks of his tongue caused her back to arch. Each suck and pinch elicited tiny bucks that she couldn’t control.
God, how he made her feel and how her body responded… and he hadn’t even really touched her. Not yet.
But he would. The vivid memory of their romp on the floor had given her a sneak preview of what she could expect. Great things. Monumental things. And that had nothing to do with the size of the heat he packed. Heaven help me.
“Enough,” she ordered. “Lose the pants. Now, Jared.”
He chuckled against her skin. “Not yet.”
“You want me to beg?”
“No, sweetheart.” He gave her a harsh kiss. “I need this as much as you do. Taking my time.”
His hand trailed down her stomach, then between her legs. She was ready for him, slick enough for more than a tease. “Please.”
“I want you burning for me.”
She trembled against his barely there touch. Fast and furious was long over with. He was giving her a slow death, and she needed more. “That’s just cruel.”
“I’m a bastard doling out torture,” he murmured, trailing the tips of his fingers across her folds.
Her head fell back, pushing deep into the feather comforter. He nudged and stroked, opening her to him. Variations of his name rolled off her tongue as she savored his fingers dancing against her flesh. Insane emotion built with their skin-on-skin collision.
“Fuckin’ beautiful, Sugar. Love the sounds you make. Love how sweet you are.”
Oh, God. He moved down to her stomach and dipped his tongue into her belly-button, then wrapped his free hand around her waist, pinning her still. She moaned his name again. No wonder he had a God complex. She couldn’t stop from crying out. She didn’t want to. Jared. Jared. Jared. Ruler of the bedroom, Jared.
His tongue trailed from one hip bone… lower and lower. He stopped.
“I’m dying.” She couldn’t hold back the begging any longer. “Put me out of my misery.”
He smiled, laughing against her skin, then lavished her with sinful kisses while on his mission to her other hip bone. “I could do this all day.”
“No, you can’t.” Her voice was hoarse. “You won’t. We need this. Together.”
He bit her flesh and speared a blunt finger into her wetness. She jackknifed. “True.”
“Again,” she moaned. She would beg again—anything to move along from anguish to apex.
He pressed into her again and circled his thumb against her most sensitive spot. His finger voyaged deeper against muscles that’d barely recovered from his previous entry.
“That good for you, baby?” Watching her face, he encircled her bud of nerves with his thumb. All she managed was a throaty sigh and a nod. A please continue, whatever happens, don’t stop. “So expressive. Show me more. Show me the real Sugar.”
Two fingers penetrated, slamming her eyes shut. Her head fell to the side, and her breaths erratically pounded their own beat. She drew her ankles back and bent her knees against his broad shoulders. He lowered his head, poised at the center of her heat.
“Jared…”
And he kissed.
“Yes.” She swallowed the word, failing to breathe and speak simultaneously. “I need you.”
That honesty spiraled her mind. His fingers and tongue found a staggering cadence, and she fell apart, not caring if the pieces never fit back together again.
Writhing against his onslaught, her legs wanted to snap closed, but his forearms wrapped around her thighs made it impossible. He licked as if dousing her in hot flames. Rapture filled her body. Pleasurable sensations and revelations overpowered her.
“Fall apart for me, Sugar.” It was a directive, a command that roared for her attention. The vibrations between them reached to her soul, fueling the fervor. “Now, baby.”
She unraveled, bucking into his mouth. He gripped her hips, holding her in place, drinking her in. His velvet tongue rode each pulse. Her hands ripped through his cropped hair. Unable to grasp strands, she gave up. Her hands smacked onto the bed with a mind of their own, gathering the comforter into her fists. Stars exploded in her head. Bright, shiny bolts of electricity zipped about the room.
He let her come down from her high. Slowly. She savored the wave of euphoria, soaking in the wonder
fulness that was them.
“Perfect.” He sat up, pulling her tight to him. In a voice gravelly and deep, he told her, “I’ve never tasted anything as perfect as you. Sweet fuckin’ nectar, Sugar. I’m addicted.”
Addicted? They should form a two-person support group to survive their high together. Her limbs shook. Her brain couldn’t connect thoughts to words, so she said nothing. Jared rolled to the nightstand, shucked his pants, and slid on a condom.
He leaned over and kissed her. Lightly and lovingly, he started the path to a blistering explosion all over again. It held the hidden promise of a mind-scrambling release. That man always had a plan. An objective. Thank the gun gods above, it was her pleasure.
His wicked mouth did what she’d learned it did best—ravage her with kisses, turning their connection into something better. Nothing had ever been as good as Jared. Nothing ever would be.
The deep, brooding shadows on his face and the primal possessiveness that poured off him clutched her heart, stealing all logic. Like a tango target, she had nowhere to go, and the fallout would be catastrophic.
“Can’t wait to have you again.” He crawled toward her. “You’re in my head, girl. In my blood. I can’t stay away.”
Interlacing their fingers, Sugar pulled him on top of her. She locked her legs around him, positioning his shaft, which was poised for unimaginable ecstasy.
“You said… don’t hold anything back?” Her mouth readied to bare her innermost secrets before her uncertainty had a chance to say, “Shut the hell up.” But the uncertain, lucid part of her brain remained mum, conveying an unquestionable belief. Jared won’t hurt me.
“Never.” He tightened his grasp on her hands, squeezing tight. “Never hold back from me.”
“I don’t want to just…” No looking back. “I want this to be more. Make love to me. I need all of you. Even if it’s just this once. Just tonight. Let me be all yours.”
A flash of something crossed his face. A pause. A moment.
Pin, pulled and tossed. The grenade was in his backyard now.
He kissed her gently, nudging her lips open, then he touched his forehead to hers. “For you, Lilly Chase, I’d do anything.”
Her heart and her very soul sighed. Relief made her want him all the more. Jared flexed his hips, pressing his erection against her. Sore and needing more, she released a moan. He captured it with a mesmerizing kiss. That kiss didn’t seem possible from a man as impenetrable and inflexible as the battle-hardened warrior between her thighs. But for some crazy reason, it made perfect sense for them.
Splitting her from the inside, he thrust. Huge and hot. Pleasurable pain and dangerous desire. Their pace worked to incredible, indelible. He held her, soothing and stroking. Promising the world without a word, he filled her, pushing her to a shattering realization. She’d tied herself to him. His wild, jagged barbs ensnarled her heart.
Arching her back, she absorbed his drive. Cries craving release carried through their kisses. A tornado of tension swirled. Her insides throbbed, building a tempest of intensity. She couldn’t breathe or see. She could only feel the deep connection.
“Yes, Lilly. Come for me.” His words were a carnal command.
Lilly? He was with her, not the Sugar she presented to the world. She nodded, understanding and needing release, needing to ride the wave that neared crest.
His hips rode into overdrive. Panting and perspiring, Jared owned her. She’d climax because of him, for him—
And again. She felt a release unlike any she’d known. Tensing and tightening, throbbing for her master of everything, Sugar combusted. Lights and stars burst in the eye of their hurricane. She tried for a breath, then another, before failing. She found the ability only after staring into the force of his gaze. It steadied her amid their swirling storm.
Torment painted his face. “You’re destroying me, baby.”
“I’m already ruined,” she whispered. At least the devastating truth was out there.
Pounding into her, capturing every sound she offered, Jared surged toward his zenith. Sensation ripped through them, his release rocketing into her as he strained, his muscles tight. His howl of her name sounded primal.
Watching him come, feeling him through the godforsaken condom, ignited her all over again. They struggled wildly. Tight in his embrace, Sugar felt as if she were holding on to a supernova. Her tears threatened to fall.
He collapsed against her, creating a tangled heap of their bodies. Gasps raced one another, alternating like pulses clamoring to a barbaric beat. His mouth was still connected to hers. Not a kiss. Not a lick. Just a hold. From lips to legs, they were flesh on flesh. No space. No secrets. Just Jared and Lilly.
If she’d fallen asleep in his arms, she didn’t know. Time stilled. Danger disappeared. They weren’t in Abu Dhabi. They weren’t anywhere.
He whispered against her ear, ensuring she was awake. “I’m in uncharted territory. And the only goddamn thing I’ve got in my arsenal is you.”
Pulling him impossibly closer, she let her heart escape, along with a sigh. “Jared—”
His cell beeped like an alarm. He reacted immediately, barreling over her, grabbing it as if a man had gone down. “Fuck me.”
Maybe one had. Terror struck her, and his tenderness was gone. The hardened bastard was back, and her stomach sank—not because she didn’t love his commando routine, but because it meant something had gone wrong. Titan had a casualty? Because of her? She couldn’t live with that guilt.
His eyes narrowed, and a knot travelled the length of his throat.
“What’s wrong?”
His hands flexed on the cell.
Sugar sat up, pulling the comforter around her to fend off a sudden chill. “Goddamn it. Tell me.”
He paused a beat, steeling strength into his features. “Asal’s gone.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jared’s gut tensed trigger tight. A missing Asal meant a war-ready Sugar. The anger and apprehension was visceral and tangible. He had to stop her emotional bleed out. However, he had no idea how to pull off a maneuver like. He couldn’t Ace-bandage her worry or splint her rage.
“Sugar. Take a breath. It’ll be fine.” Yeah, they both knew his words were textbook response. He needed a plan.
“Who was that?” Her lips were red and swollen, reminding him of their tangled-sheet blowout. “I need to know everything.”
“Rocco. My team’s all over the hotel, finishing up GSI.” Any plan he could draft involved his number two, Brock, getting everyone in line.
Sugar scowled, pouring venom. “They missed something.” She jumped up, taking the covers with her.
“Easy there, baby cakes.”
“What did he say?” Her body leaned forward like she was liable to attack if he made the wrong move.
The situation was serious, and no amount of sugarcoating would make it better. “He said—”
“Spit it out, Jared.”
“The UN chick’s dead. Asal’s nowhere to be found.”
Sugar gasped. “What the fuck? What if Asal’s dead, too? God. I bring her to this fancy hotel when all she’s known is rocks and caves. Fucking goats—”
“She’s alive. She has to be.” His heart pounded. Taking the kid? Asal was strong, a spitfire who’d shimmied across a mountain with his special forces team. She would survive, and he would make sure Sugar knew it. “They wouldn’t have left one body if they were going to kill Asal. It’s better that she was here then on a devastated mountain. We’ll find her. Bring her back.”
That kid had etched a place in his heart, and he wouldn’t fail her or Sugar.
“To me.” Resolve burned in her eyes. It was an order, and he wasn’t one to take them from anyone—except her.
Jared nodded. “Yes, to you.” His phone rang again. Brock. “Tell me something good.”
Sugar wrapped the covers tighter around her body and paced his bedroom.
Snagging his sweatpants off the floor, he pulled them on and matc
hed her paces. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to end.
The status update was grim and to the point. Professional hit. Clean sweep. Asal was still missing, and his team was ruthless on its recovery objective.
Sugar cracked her knuckles. “GSI’s going to use her to lure me out.”
How is this possible? No one knew about Asal. Just Titan and his counterpart who’d arranged for the UN attaché. Jared trusted everyone who was in the know. Nothing added up.
“Brock, have someone sweep Sugar’s room for bugs. Hell, every room we have, including mine.” Even though his was swept daily and monitored constantly.
With a grunt from Brock as a response, Jared ended the call. Brock would issue the orders to the team, and Jared could stay with Sugar, at least until it was time to fix the situation, and keep her from going nuclear. GSI couldn’t have gone too far with Asal. They couldn’t have…
Bullshit. Why would he lie to himself? GSI had access to just as many planes, trains, and for-hire ex-military forces as Titan did. The problem with GSI was they were dirty. Snatching a kid for bait? Buck Baer would do it in a hot second.
A vein protruded on her temple. Her neck strained. “My room was bugged. This is my fault. I’m gonna—”
“Sugar, stop.”
His phone rang. Rocco’s name scrolled on the screen. “Yeah, Roc?”
“Swept all the room but yours. They’re clean. Brock’s headed to you now.”
No bugs? Why would GSI remove them? That would be pointless.
“Get dressed.” He threw sweatpants and a shirt to Sugar. “Unless this building is bombed and crumbles, there’s no safer place than in this room. Brock will stay with you after he sweeps my suite.”
She pulled the shirt over her head, then shimmied into the pants. “Where are you going? I’m coming—”
“To have a conversation with GSI. To stick my foot up Buck Baer’s ass until he chokes on my fuckin’ bootlaces.”
She rolled the waist on the pants in choppy, spastic moves. “I’m not going to sit here like some—”
The Titan Series: Military Romance Boxed Set Page 63