Bully(94)

“And the lantern on your arm?”

“Oh, you ask too many questions,” Jared complained playfully, and I could tell he was embarrassed.

But I waited, not letting him off the hook.

He pinned me with a resigned smile. “The lantern is you, Tate. The light. I got it after I got in trouble last year. I needed to clean up my act, and my mom decided to do the same thing with her drinking. We both picked one thought that would get us through the day. A dream or a desire…” he shook his head and trailed off.

His confession made me breathless. He had thought of me every day?

“Me?” I asked.

He gazed down at me and stroked my cheek with his thumb. “It’s always been you.” He used my words, and I couldn’t swallow for the lump in my throat.

“I love you, Tate.” Jared looked at me like I was the most important thing in his world.

I closed my eyes and touched his lips to mine. “I love you, too,” I whispered against his mouth before sealing it with a kiss.

Our bodies melted together, and his fingers threaded through my hair as we devoured each other. His lips were soft but strong against mine, and my fingers dug into his back as his hands claimed my body. I wanted him everywhere.

I was insatiable, and guilt reared its ugly head at me. I wanted him here and now, but sex in someone else’s room while a party happened downstairs was not something a nice girl did.

I pressed my hips into his, and we were both breathless in between kisses.

I trailed a path to his jaw, and my teeth lightly grazed his chin. “Unzip me,” I panted.

He groaned. “Let’s just get out of here. I’m in the mood for more than a quickie.”

“Well, I’ve never had a quickie,” I pointed out. “Unzip me.”

He complied, but the corners of his mouth lifted in a sexy smile. “Where’d my good girl go?” The question was rhetorical. I knew he loved the way I wanted him.

I felt the draft when Jared’s hand reached behind me to unzip my dress, and I moaned when his hands slipped down and caressed my back. His hands were like a drug, almost as addictive as his mouth. I peeled off his jacket, while he let my dress fall down to my waist.

Jared’s mouth seared my neck in soft kisses, and I worked the buttons of his shirt. I sucked in a breath when his hands went to my breasts. Tingles spread across my skin, craving more of him.

“Jared,” I whispered and wrapped an arm around his neck, placing my lips to his. “I really am a good girl. But tonight I want to be really, really bad.”

His breath shook against my mouth, and he captured my lips in a fierce kiss. God, he wanted me. And I was thrilled, because I didn’t want to wait until we got home.

Jared tore open the rest of his shirt, sending buttons scattering to the hardwood floor. I let my dress spill to my feet and then peeled off my panties, leaving my high heels on.

“Fuck, Tate.” Jared clenched his jaw, taking in the sight in front of him. And he pulled my lips to his again, devouring almost every part of me with his mouth and hands. “I’m sorry. I want to go slow with you. It’s just so hard. Do you think in ten years I’ll finally get to where I’ll actually need foreplay to get hard with you?”

His eyes questioned me, but I could only smile. There was just something about the way he wanted me, the way his eyes drowned out any doubts, that made me feel powerful.

Jared, from what I’d seen, was a one-nighter kind of guy. He didn’t do sleepovers, and he didn’t take phone numbers. I worried that he’d lose interest or consider it a mission accomplished when we’d first slept together, but instead, he’d become even more hungry.

Every touch this past week, every kiss, every time we’d loved, he acted like everything we were doing was new. Ridiculous, I know. He had more experience than me, so why would anything be different than what he’d experienced before?

Unless he loved me. That was something I was sure he hadn’t had with any other girl. I hoped, anyway.

I wanted to be bold, even though my nerves wanted me to run for the hills. I wanted to experience everything with Jared. No hiding, no fear. I was going to ask for everything I wanted, and be brave about it. Forever or never.

His shirt dropped the floor, followed by his pants.

Be bold.

I put my hand on the swollen proof that he wanted me. He jerked and sucked in a breath while I wrapped my hand around him and stroked. I expected him to close his eyes. Wasn’t he supposed to do that? To concentrate on the feeling more? But instead, he just watched me touching him. He got harder in my hand, and I clenched my thighs, turned on by the smooth length that had been inside of me and would be inside of me again.