They’d want to pity him. And he couldn’t stand that. He didn’t need pity.
Belle’s eyes narrowed, as if trying to read between the lines. Then she sighed, as if giving trying to figure him out. He couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.
“You know, I don’t expect you to stay here continuously.” She tilted her head to the side. “I understand you have other, more important obligations in your life.”
Other? Yes. More important? He couldn’t think of any. His mother’s episode had passed. And now he just wanted to forget everything else for a few hours and spend time with her. “I have the time to spare. You’re open Sunday, right? I’d like to see what weekend traffic is like around here.”
“Doesn’t Tyler need your help with the hotel?”
“The hotel can manage without me for a week. Tyler’s a big boy. He doesn’t need me to hold his hand.”
But Jared needed to touch her. He reached for her hand, now resting on the counter, and laced their fingers together. After a few seconds, hers curled around his.
And that tight knot in his chest eased a little more.
She let her gaze drop to their hands, let her fingers tighten for just a second, then released him and picked up the old-fashioned hard-wired phone on the counter.
“I’ll give Kate a call and let her know you’re here. Anything you don’t like on your pizza?”
He shook his head, fighting the urge to bend her over the counter and take her right here and now.
Where the hell was this seemingly uncontrollable lust coming from?
Christ, he wasn’t a sex fiend. Yeah, he enjoyed it but he didn’t let it run his life.
He needed to keep himself under control before Belle thought that’s all he wanted.
Of course, what the hell else did he want with her? Yes, they were attracted to each other. And he knew exactly why he was attracted to her—brains and beauty were a lethal combination in his book. So why the need to act like a caveman with her?
Because she wasn’t like the other women he knew? Those fell into two groups: Those who wanted him for his bank account and name and those who wanted him for sex.
Belle enjoyed the sex. She wasn’t the most experienced partner he’d had but she…What was so different about Belle?
“Hey, Kate. Just wanted to let you know Jared’s back. Would you mind if I bring him along tonight?” After a slight pause, Belle gave a little laugh, sending his heart into a pounding rhythm. “Uh, no.” She glanced his way for a brief second. “Don’t think I have to worry about that. Yeah. Okay. We’ll be there in a half hour.”
She hung up, gave him a smile, and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to change. Give me a few minutes. Make yourself at home.”
Images of her naked flashed through his brain and he moved to follow her up the stairs.
“I’ll just come up with you, if you don’t mind.”
She gave him a quick, startled glance over her shoulder as they made their way upstairs and when she turned, he let his gaze drop to her beautiful rear end swaying in front of him.
“No problem,” she said. “I won’t take too long.”
Lust swept over him, made it hard for him to breathe. Belle appeared absolutely oblivious as she headed for her bedroom.
“Kate’s house is just up the street,” she said. “It’s not far to walk.”
“Good to know.”
She hesitated for a second as she realized he hadn’t stopped in the living room but had followed her to her room.
He wanted her, the need a growing ache in his balls. He recognized the fact that he’d never wanted anyone with the single-minded purpose with which he wanted Belle.
Now she stared at him like he’d grown another head. What the hell was wrong with him?
“Jared?”
He continued forward until he could touch her, lifting his hand to run a finger along one perfect cheekbone. With a fierce and almost savage elation, he felt her shiver and her lids lowered to half-mast until only a slit of those pale green eyes showed.
He bent his head slowly, wanting her to know exactly what was coming and giving her more than enough time to tell him no. Though he hoped like hell she didn’t.
He needed her.
When her eyes drifted shut and she tilted her lips up to him, Jared released the restraint he’d been holding on to by his fingernails.
She gasped as he pressed his mouth to hers with little finesse and slid his tongue into her mouth. He kissed her, pressing hard so she couldn’t block him. His lips slanted, wanting more, and she opened further, giving it to him. Her hands latched onto his shoulders as if she needed the support and his moved to cup her ass and pull her tight against his erection.
Moaning, she arched into him and something snapped in Jared’s head. Some final remnant of control.
Lifting his hands to her shirt, he went to work on the buttons, fingers clumsy as he forced the tiny discs through their holes. Her hands slid into his hair, her nails scratching lightly at his scalp, shivers of pleasure shooting down his back, straight to his balls.
When he had the shirt unbuttoned, he went for the bra, groaning in approval when he found the front catch. With a flick of his fingers, her breasts spilled into his hands. He cupped her, kneaded the warm, soft flesh, and rubbed his thumbs over the pointed tips.
Moaning into his mouth, she thrust hard against his hips, pushing her breasts more fully into his hands.
The need to take her right here and now, to make her scream his name as he came inside her became his only reason for being. Letting one hand drop to her waistband, he undid her jeans and slipped his hand into her panties. Her heat seeped into him as his fingers slid into the silky wetness of her sex.
Her moans and attempts to get him to sink deeper fueled his own lust, the deep, pounding need for her. His cock felt like heated iron against his stomach.
Pulling his hands free, he grabbed her waist and lifted her off her feet, turning toward the wall of her bedroom. It was closer than the bed and every second counted.
Her back hit the wall and she gasped into his mouth. Freezing, he pulled away to look down at her, afraid he’d hurt her.
“Belle…”
Her passion-glazed expression made his balls tighten to the point of pain and her hands gripped his hair hard. “Don’t stop. I’ll kill you if you stop, Jared.”
Her raspy voice hit his system like a powerful aphrodisiac, and he bent to devour her mouth as her hands reached for the button on his jeans and his went to push hers down.
He couldn’t take the time to strip her. He had to be in her now. With a growl, he ripped his lips from hers and spun her to face the wall. “Brace your hands and don’t move, Belle.”
“Faster, Jared.”
He tried. Jesus, he tried. He stripped her pants down to her ankles and moved her legs as far apart as they could go. Her shirt tails covered her beautiful ass, and he pushed them out of the way so he could pet her with one hand while he ripped his own jeans open and pushed them down far enough to release his cock.
The cool air of the room barely registered against his heated skin. When he slipped his cock between her legs to coat himself in her juices, sensation shivered through him.
He had the vague notion that he should slow down, that he was out of control, but the pure ecstasy of her slick lower lips sliding along his shaft short-circuited every synapse in his brain.
Pulling her hips just far enough away from the wall so that he could get a better angle, he thrust into her and started a fast, hard rhythm that made her moan his name.
Pleasure fired in every cell of his body as his bare flesh pierced her, creating an intense friction. Already so close to orgasm, he moved faster, going as deep as he could get, one hand on her back to keep her bent, the other arm around her waist to immobilize her.