It was like a narcotic, ambrosia, it was the most sensual, most erotic dance of lips and tongues that he had ever known. They ate each other, both ill-prepared for the sudden fires erupting through the other.
She could spout her denials until hell froze over, but here, she couldn’t hide. Beneath his lips she couldn’t lie, couldn’t refuse the pleasure that burst through their bodies like a firestorm of the senses. And he wouldn’t let her if she tried.
Jared forced one hand free of her hair, lowering it to her back and lifting her against him as he pressed her into the wall. Instantly, her knees clasped his hips, a startled cry erupting from her throat as he pressed his cock against the hot, wet pad of her pussy.
“Feel that,” he snarled against her lips, staring down at her fiercely. “You’re so damned wet you’re soaking my slacks. So hot you burn me alive. And you expect me to take no for an answer?”
Shocked, drugged with passion, her eyes widened as he ground his erection against her.
“No.” She swallowed tightly, shaking her head in denial despite the flow of heated liquid that damped his pants. “I can’t, Jared…”
“Oh, but you will,” he assured her darkly. “I’m warning you now, baby. The next dick that slips up that tight little ass will be mine. The next man to touch you, taste you, hold you, will be me. Only me, Kimber. Until you admit to the fever burning us both alive, no other man will touch you.”
Her fierce shove against his chest had him stepping back. Reluctantly, he released her, seeing the simmering fury pulsing in her gaze as she faced him now.
“You do not own me.” She was fighting to even her breathing, to still the desire pulsing hard and hot inside her, as it was him. “I won’t let you dictate to me this way.”
“Oh won’t you?” he asked her, almost wincing at the dark, rough tone of his voice. “Too late, sweetheart. I know your weakness, and I know your hunger. And Kimber…” he watched her closely now. “I know your secrets. Don’t think for a minute I won’t use every weapon I can find to have you. That would be a mistake you don’t want to make.”
She drew in a deep, hard breath, the flush of arousal receding as she realized that now, he most likely knew far more than she had ever wanted him to.
“I’m still a virgin.” She drew herself stiffly erect as a little painted smile of mocking triumph curved her lips. But her eyes were dark with pain. “And unless you’re into rape, you won’t win, Jared. You or Father.”
The bitterness in her tone tugged at his heart. He could see the suspicions in her eyes, the fear that he was somehow working to aid her father’s triumph. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Your father can go straight to hell. And no, Kimber, I’m not into rape,” he finally said gently. “But I will be into you. Sooner or later, one way or another, that I can promise you. You can keep your virginity, but I’ll be damned if you’ll continue to run. Not anymore.”
He turned away from her, knowing if he didn’t leave now, then he may do something both of them would end up regretting. His control was shakier than he had ever known it to be, his hunger deeper than he could have imagined.
“Jared, this won’t work,” she warned him again as he opened the bedroom door, pausing in the doorway. “You have to forget what you saw tonight.”
He turned back to her, smiling with a bit of mockery himself now.
“Do I, Kimber?” he asked her, his tone musing. “Tell you what, when you can look at me and not let me see the memories in your eyes, then we’ll discuss whether or not I can forget. Then we’ll discuss just how the hell I’m supposed to fucking let you go.”
Because despite the obstacles he suspected he faced in possessing her, Jared had a feeling he would never manage to push her out of his head now. And if he did manage that, how was he supposed to break the threads weaving around his heart?
Chapter Three
“She’s going to make me crazy. A year. I’ve chased the woman for a blasted year and still she’s running from me.”
Jared pushed his fingers restlessly through his short hair as he paced the length of his mother’s kitchen two days later, uncomfortable under the eagle-eyed scrutiny of his too perceptive mother, Carolyn Raddington Madison.
He couldn’t get Kimberly out of his head. It was frustrating, aggravating, driving him insane with the liquid heat pulsing through his bloodstream and keeping his cock in a constant state of readiness. But even more was the ache in his arms to hold her. Fuck, he just wanted to hold her close to his heart, to shelter and protect her from the pain he had glimpsed in her shadowed green eyes. He wanted to see laughter there. Wanted to see warmth and passion and naked need, and happiness.