Recognition of what he was thinking hit her like a bolt of lightning. “You think I’m using you.” He might be more than willing, but he wasn’t liking the fact that he thought that she would take a man—any man—right now to distract her.
If she had blinked, Mara would have missed the validation of her suspicions shadowing his expression for an instant. And then it was gone, replaced by a stoic look. I wasn’t like she didn’t know that Jared had insecurities buried deep inside that drool-worthy chest of his, but her selfishness hit her like a brick to her head. People always wanted something from him, used him. She’d acted no better than any other woman in his life by trying to rationalize what she was doing by saying she needed the distraction. She did . . . but only Jared could give that to her. She needed . . . him. Somehow, she needed to make him understand.
He shrugged. “It’s not like I’m not willing. More than willing, actually.”
Jared Sinclair was doing something Mara suspected he rarely did, because he knew she was vulnerable. He was letting her take control, letting her use him to escape from her own pain.
I don’t want just anybody. I need him. Jared. I wouldn’t be reacting this way with anybody else.
Dropping the condom she was holding on the pillow beside his head, she straddled him, biting her lip to hold back a moan as her saturated * connected with his sinewy, hard abs. She was no seductress, but his split second of insecurity made her bold. “I don’t want it, Jared. I want you.” Spearing her hands through his hair, she leaned down, her pebbled nipples chafed by the light sprinkling of hair on his chest. “Only you. I wouldn’t have asked for this with any other man.” She pressed open-mouthed kisses against his neck and along his strong jaw. Grinding her hips against his stomach, she let him feel her wet heat slide along the hard strength of his groin.
“Jesus, Mara,” he rasped. “You’re so fucking wet. There’s only so much control I can manage right now.”
“No control,” she insisted, inflamed by his response. “I need you right now, Jared. You.”
Jared’s arms wrapped around her as though he had finally snapped, his hands stroking greedily down her back and to her ass. “You’re so soft. So damn sweet.”
Mara knew she was too soft. She carried more weight than she should, and her ass was entirely too big. But the way that Jared was squeezing, worshiping her body, made her feel like a goddess.
Unable to stop herself from wanting to be more connected to him, she met his tortured gaze briefly before lowering her mouth to his. Mara savored the taste of him, and his delectable masculine scent as he responded, taking control of the passionate clash of tongues and teeth as they devoured each other. Her breath was coming unevenly between her lips as she finally lifted her head.
His fingers reached between their bodies from behind, meeting her wet heat with a low groan. “Have you had a man my size before, Mara?”
No. But she wanted to. She needed him so damn desperately that she was ready to start begging again. “No,” she admitted breathlessly.
“Not like this then.” He grasped her around the waist and flipped their position slowly, careful not to twist her injured ankle. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Mara’s heart clenched as she wrapped her legs around his waist, her ankle twinging in protest, but she ignored it. “I already hurt. I ache, Jared.” All she wanted was to feel their bodies joined, that gorgeous cock of his filling her until she no longer felt empty.
“You won’t,” he promised, his voice graveled with desire as he pushed his body up to kneel between her legs, causing her feet to drop to the bed, her thighs spread wide to accommodate him. “You won’t feel anything but me.” Running his palms up her torso, he cupped her breasts and lowered his head to one of her hardened, sensitive nipples.
“Yes,” she hissed, her hands fisting in his hair to keep him there. “Please.”
His mouth nipped and sucked, tortured and soothed until Mara was lifting her hips, pleading for his cock to fill her. Without letting up on her breasts, one of his hands slid down her body and between her thighs, stroking through the folds of her *. She quivered as his fingers brushed her engorged clit, setting off a chain reaction of pulsation that stimulated every nerve ending in her entire body. Slowly, he stroked his way inside her channel with two of his fingers. “Christ, you’re so tight,” he growled against her breast, his fingers curling and finding a sensitive area inside her that she didn’t know existed.
“Fuck me, Jared,” she whimpered, lifting her hips, her need for him so intense that she nearly sobbed.