“Was it my sparkling personality?” she teased.
After a long pause in which Ari was certain he was going to call the whole thing off, he finally spoke.
“I’m just going to say it.” Jared took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Meeting her eyes, he said, “Maybe I’ve misread the signals, but I think there’s a bit more to this than sex.”
“Exquisite sex.”
“Yes, that,” he said, still holding her close. His every touch, every breath, every look sent shivers racing across her skin. “Am I wrong?”
“No.” Ari’s mouth was moving before her brain had time to talk her out of it. “I feel the same way.”
“Wonderful. In that case, you won’t mind if I take you on a proper date.”
“A date?”
His full smile was back, stretching across his face and lighting up the room. “Yes. A mutually enjoyable activity engaged in by couples who’d like to get to know each other better, preferably outside of the house. Surely you’ve heard of dates.”
Ari laughed, hoping it would hide her panic.
A date? Outside?
No. She needed to be here at the house, scoping out every nook and cranny for Davidson. In the wake of their morning marathon sex, Ari’s brain was kicking into high gear again, reminding her of the real reason she’d agreed to spend the weekend with Jared.
Davidson.
What if he still had surveillance guys watching the place? Vincent?
Ari shuddered at the thought, a gesture which only made Jared tighten his hold on her.
“It sounds nice,” she said, squirming out of his grip, “but I can’t go anywhere. I… I don’t even have the right clothes.”
“What about your bag?” he asked.
“I didn’t pack anything date-worthy.” She wasn’t planning on staying; all she’d packed were her toiletries and makeup, pajamas for the hotel, a few pairs of panties, and some yoga pants to wear on the drive back with the snake—a drive she was grateful she wouldn’t have to endure.
If Jared noticed her nerves, he didn’t mention it.
“As you might recall,” he said, “my guest room closet is loaded with women’s clothes. Surely you can find something that suits you.”
“Hmm.” Ari rolled her eyes, trying to mask the jealousy bubbling up to the surface. She’d almost forgotten about that room, about the heels and dresses, the workout clothes, the jeans. All women’s stuff. “What will your other women say about you loaning out their clothes?”
Jared smirked, wriggling his eyebrows in a way that Ari found both maddening and sexy as hell. “Jealous, love?”
“Not really. I’ve got a pretty amazing wardrobe myself. I just didn’t bring it with me.”
“Liar,” Jared teased. He let her stew a moment, then finally said, “My sister won’t mind. She’s home in London mostly—only visits a few times a year. I keep telling her not to buy so many clothes, but she can’t help herself. The woman is mad for boutiques.”
Ari beamed like an idiot, unable to hide the relief on her face. At Jared’s laughter, she said, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Very much so.”
Ari rose from the bed, realizing she was all out of reasons for avoiding this date. And then realizing, with her very next breath, that she wanted to be out of reasons for avoiding it.
Because deep down, she was actually excited. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been on a proper date.
“Okay, now that we’ve got that sorted,” Jared said, smacking her playfully on the ass as she joined him in the bathroom for her second shower of the day. “There’s just one condition. We put everything that happened last night aside for the rest of the day. No talk of work, or art auctions, or stolen paintings. I just want to spend the day with you. Getting to know each other like regular people.”
“Regular people,” she echoed.
It sounded amazing, and Ari would love nothing more than to put her work aside, to bury her own thoughts of art auctions and stolen paintings.
Why not? There was still plenty of time to finish checking things out later. Plenty of time to ferret out more info on the LaPorte painting and the statue.
Ari beamed, looping her arms around Jared’s neck and pressing her breasts against his sticky flesh, devouring his mouth with a grateful kiss.
“I’ll take that as a yes?” Jared said.
Ari nodded. “I’m yours for the day. Do with me what you will.”
Jared cupped her bare ass in his hands and squeezed, his cock thick and ready again, pressing impatiently against her flesh. “Count on it, love.”
Chapter Seven
Sitting in the passenger seat of his ’62 Ferrari 250 GTO, Jared wiped his damp hands on his jeans.
I can’t believe I agreed to this.
He could tell Arianne sensed his nerves; he’d been jumpy ever since they pulled out of his driveway.
“Don’t worry,” she said, downshifting to take the next curve. She squeezed his knee as she accelerated into the turn. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“But it’s not a rodeo, is it? No.” Jared removed her hand and placed it firmly back on the wheel, tapping it twice for emphasis. “It’s a priceless piece of machinery careening down an unfamiliar mountain road.”
“Careening? Please.” Arianne laughed, her hair whipping around her face in the breeze. She took her hand off the wheel to free a few strands that hand blown into her mouth.
Jared closed his eyes. “You’re killing me, love.”
“Boys and their toys,” she said. “I’m surprised you let me drive it.”
“No more than I, believe me.” When he’d led her into the garage an hour earlier and told her to chose their transportation for the day, her face lit up like the proverbial child on Christmas morn. She went straight for the classic red Ferrari, admiring it with such reverence that when she finally turned to ask him for the keys, Jared swore there were tears in her eyes.
He’d never imagined she’d ask to drive it, but once she did, bouncing on her feet, her grin endless, there was no way he could turn her down. Not about the car. Not about anything.
And that, frankly, scared the hell out of him—even more than her penchant for speed.
Jared opened his eyes as the engine whined, Arianne waiting until the last possible second to shift into fifth.
“This car is unbelievable,” Arianne said. “So responsive. I feel like I could drive it with my eyes closed.”
“I’d really prefer if you didn’t.” Jared’s heart rate skyrocketed as they glided into another curve, the road twisting deeper into the mountains, the sun lighting their path through the eastern red cedars and paper birch. The power in the 250’s engine was unmistakable, the machine growling beneath them like a wild animal, and when Arianne gave him another teasing smile, her whole face lit up.
There’s my answer. That’s why I said yes. Why I’ll keep saying yes.
She’d intrigued him from their first meeting. And since that moment, through every touch, every kiss, every exquisite moan, and especially that damn beautiful laughter, she’d wholly captivated him.
They reached a long straightaway, no other cars in sight, and Arianne gave it some more gas, pushing the engine to her limit. The car wasn’t built with a speedometer, but from the blur of scenery along the road, Jared guessed they’d hit at least eighty.
“Do I make you nervous, Mr. Blackwell?” she asked.
As nervous as Jared was, Arianne's enthusiasm was contagious. He couldn’t help but appreciate her skill. She handled the car with such ease, such unrestrained joy, it was as if she’d always been driving it.
And truth be told, every time she wrapped her hand around the gearshift, her grip tight, her face fierce and determined, a bolt of heat shot straight to his dick.
“No,” Jared finally said, relaxing. He curled his hand around the back of her neck, stroking her earlobe with his thumb. She was so soft. Divine. “Apparently, I trust you i
mplicitly.”
“How much longer?” she asked. “I mean, until we get where we’re going. Not until you stop trusting me implicitly.”
“We’re nearly there, love. The trailhead turnoff is round the next bend.” He stroked down her arm, then ran his fingers along her bare thigh. She was wearing a short little summer dress and sandals, and Jared had the sneaking suspicion she’d gone without panties.
He couldn’t wait to find out.
“Here,” he said, pointing. “Make the right, then take it all the way to the end.”
Arianne downshifted again, slowing the car and navigating them along the turnoff road. A few minutes later, they arrived at the end, no more than a dirt clearing that served as a parking lot for picnickers and hikers. There were two SUVs there, but their owners must’ve been off hiking; there were no other people in sight.
Jared and Arianne had the place to themselves, the whole vista of the Catskill range stretching wide before them.
“Jared, this is incredible.” Arianne stepped out of the car and walked to the edge, a rocky ridge that sloped down into the valley a hundred feet below. “Why do I recognize this place? I’ve never been up here.” She turned, hitting him full on with that bright, hazel-eyed gaze. “It’s like… I don’t know. Almost like a painting come to life.”
“It is, actually.” Thrilled that she recognized it, he pointed at a rocky outcropping several feet away. “That is where Cole Diamante sat to paint—”
“Midsummer Secrets,” Arianne said. “Of course! I’ve seen that painting a hundred times at the Met. It was Diamante’s last landscape. After that, he moved on to portraiture, but he never achieved the same level of critical acclaim. Too bad, really. His portraits are exquisite.”
Jared laughed at her exuberance. “Is there anything about art you don’t know?”
“I didn’t know this was here,” she said, returning his easy laughter. The breeze picked up, blowing her hair back and pressing the thin fabric of the sundress against her body, outlining every delicious curve. Without warning, the wind shifted, lifting the dress up to her waist and giving him an all-too-brief glance of her bare flesh, of the soft triangle of hair he’d brushed his fingers and mouth across more times than he could now recall.
Arianne didn’t squeal, didn’t grab the dress and hold it down. She only smiled, throwing her arms out and twirling into the breeze, spinning until the air finally stilled.
“What are you looking at?” she teased, meeting his eyes again. There was so much light in them, so much playfulness.
Had he only met her a week ago?
“You’re beautiful,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her close. He pressed his lips against hers, drinking her in, her mouth warm and soft, her gentle murmurs stirring him into another frenzy.
He might have taken her right there, just laid her gently in the grass, opened her legs, and taken his fill of her delicious flesh. But a pair of hikers crashed onto the path from the woods behind them, shattering their privacy as they made their way to one of the parked cars in the dirt lot.
“Come on,” Jared said, reaching for Arianne’s hand. “Help me get the stuff out of the car.”
He’d packed the cooler this morning while cooking breakfast, and now he hauled it down to a secluded meadow just slightly off the trail, hidden from view by a grove of paper birch trees. He’d discovered the spot a few summers ago, and it quickly became one of his favorites.
Until today, he’d never shared it with anyone. Not even his ex.
“How’d you ever find this place?” Arianne shook out the blanket he’d packed and smoothed it onto a flat patch of grass. “It’s perfect.”
“I made a reservation,” Jared said with a wink.
As they dined on a buffet of apples and four different hard cheeses, cucumber-and-mint salad, scones with jam, and sparkling water, Jared told her about his family in London. They were a massive clan, the core of which included his parents and six sisters, each one more bossy than the last. He was the only one who lived on this side of the pond, but they visited often enough, and he traveled to England several times a year on business.
“Sometimes I wish I had a big family,” Arianne confessed. “Even with my dad around, I was pretty lonely growing up.”
Jared knew her father had passed on, and that her mother had left them when Arianne was young. But now he asked gently, “Is your mother still alive?”
Arianne nodded, her mouth turned down at the corners. “As far as I know, she lives in Florida. We’re completely estranged.”
Jared couldn’t imagine how hard that must’ve been for her. His parents and sisters—not to mention all of their husbands and kids—drove him mad on the best of days, but they were a close bunch, always there for each other when it counted.
“I’ve got a nineteen-year-old sister,” Arianne said. “Natasha. We didn’t grow up together, though—different dads. I’ve only known her about five years. My mother kept us apart until she didn’t want her anymore.”
Jared was shocked. All he could say to that was, “Natasha is lucky to have come into your life, then.”
“I’m the lucky one,” Arianne said. “She was the best thing my mom ever gave me. The best person I know. I used to wish… I…” Arianne trailed off suddenly, and Jared saw the transformation come over her face—from opened to closed, content to afraid. Her jaw clenched, and she shook her head, as if she were trying to reason with herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said, forcing a casual laugh that sounded anything but. “I didn’t mean to let all those skeletons out. I still can’t believe you made these scones. You won’t judge me if I have another, right?”
Jared’s heart sank. It was like he’d undid all of their progress, starting over from the beginning again. He looked at the woman sitting across from him on the blanket, a smudge of jam in the corner of her mouth, and all he could see was the beautiful stranger in the penthouse closet from last weekend—passionate on the outside, but closed and unknowable inside.
Jared didn’t know what to say to make it right. He wanted her to know she didn’t have to be guarded with him. She didn’t have to be afraid. He wanted to take away all the pain her family situation had caused, replace all the love and friendship she’d missed out on for most of her life.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said suddenly.
“How am I looking at you?”
“With this face.” She traced her fingers delicately across his forehead, then down to his jaw, where her touch lingered, warmer than the sun. “You feel sorry for me.”
“No, love.” Jared grabbed her wrist, turning her hand over to press a kiss against her palm. “I just wish I could take it back for you. Fix it. No one should have to endure—”
“No, but we do, right?” Arianne smiled, her eyes finally losing some of their sad haze. “Anyway, all that stuff with my family, everything… regrets are pointless. It all brought me right to this point.”
“What point is that?”
She flashed him a grin and shifted closer toward him on the blanket. “Oh, you know. Hobnobbing with elite art collectors. Driving priceless sports cars. Picnicking in the mountains like I haven’t a care in the world.” She rested her hand against his chest and let out a deep sigh. “Right exactly here.”
Jared licked his lips, but before he could pull her into a kiss, Arianne leaned against him, guiding him backward onto the blanket with a sure and steady touch. Straddling him, she unhooked his belt, and freed him from the confines of his jeans and boxers.
“We’re outside, love,” he said, sensing her intentions. “Anyone could wander through here.”
“Best not delay, then.” With hot, devouring lips, Arianne kissed her way down his neck, his chest, slipping her hands beneath his shirt. Her touch left him wild and undone, growing hard between her thighs as her nails traced agonizingly faint patterns down his abs, through the line of hair that led from his bellybutton to his aching cock.
Resign
ed to her desires, Jared groaned, and Arianne kissed her way back to his lips, barely brushing his cock with her slick, panty-less pussy.
Fuck, I want her. Now.
Jared grabbed her arms, arching closer to her heat, so ready to plunge inside. But then he realized he didn’t have any condoms.
“Wait,” he panted. “I don’t have a—”
“Shh.” Arianne silenced him with a firm finger against his lips, followed by a deep kiss, every stroke of her tongue bringing him closer to the fucking edge.
She’s going to make me come right here…
She was teasing him now, dragging her wet flesh along his shaft, stroking him up and down, her kiss intensifying. Jared was so turned on, so enraptured by her, he didn’t even notice the sky had darkened until he felt the raindrops pelting his skin.
Arianne didn’t stop, though, her touch growing more electric, more fiery, even as the rain picked up. She grazed his lower lip with her teeth, then traced the outline of his lips with her tongue, following the path of a raindrop down to the hollow of his throat.
“Close your eyes,” she whispered, and Jared obeyed, threading his hands into her hair, still warm underneath from the sun. He felt her settle her body between his thighs as she took him into her mouth, stroking his shaft with her hand, her tongue licking a delicate circle around the tip.
The dual sensations of the cold, slippery touch of her rain-soaked fingers and the soft heat of her mouth was exquisite, sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout Jared’s entire body that chased away the chill.
With a hungry moan, she took him in deeper, the sound vibrating straight through to his balls.
Jared couldn’t take it anymore. He had to see her, to watch those luscious lips as she took him in deep.
This woman is fucking amazing.
Through wet lashes, she looked up at him with desirous eyes, her skin and hair dripping wet, her lips glistening, her tongue driving him fucking wild. Without looking away, she took him in deeper, her lips and tongue working in tandem, sucking him into her mouth while she massaged his balls with perfect pressure.
Bared to the Billionaire: The Complete Series Page 16