Pining For You: Jasper Falls Read online

  “I don’t understand what you want from me,” she whispered, her gaze lifting and slaying him in one glance.

  “Does it matter?”

  She studied him for a quiet moment. “Yes. I want to know.”

  Her appeal to understand him gave him so much more than he had a right to ask for, more than she likely realized she was offering. He wasn’t perfect. That didn’t mean she had to accept him, but he felt her desire to do just that. He truly believed she wouldn’t be satisfied until she understood every hidden part of him, and it was her curious interest in him that fed something starved inside.

  “Why would you think I didn’t want you there tonight?” She’d become a part of them. She made them function better as a family, and she was exceptionally patient with Addy. Of course, he wanted her there.

  Her brows drew together in a fiercely adorable scowl. “You aren’t clear about your expectations. You had no right to get pissed that I stayed. Addison was sleeping. We weren’t in the way.”

  “I never said you were.”

  “Well, Erin…” Her words faded away and her lips pressed tight.

  “Erin what?”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I know you were frustrated on the way out of there tonight. What did I do to frustrate you?”

  Would she be able to handle the truth? He needed to find out. “You existed.”

  “What?” Her head drew back.

  “Skylar… I wasn’t angry that you stayed late. I felt like a shmuck for being too preoccupied to see that you and Addy made it home safe and at a reasonable hour. I was pissed at myself.”

  She looked away in confusion. “But my existence frustrates you?” When her stare returned to his, she was pissed. “Are you firing me?”

  Startled she’d jump to such a conclusion, he panicked. “No. The thought never crossed my mind. Do you want to quit?”

  Her head shook, but her eyes hid secrets.

  “Tell me what you’re thinking.” His voice stayed low and neutral, but he’d beg for her thoughts if he had to. He wanted to crowd her and touch her, but they needed to clarify a few things first.

  Her lips pursed with a tight little scowl. “We never discussed what happened in the kitchen.”

  “So, let’s discuss it now.”

  A deep blush crested her sharp cheeks, drawing his attention to the beauty mark by her eye. She looked incredible tonight. Beautiful in a different way. Her eyes were done up with black coal and the blue irises popped in contrast. She looked dangerous, and for the first time, he admitted that this woman could actually hurt him.

  She was the whole package and she deserved the same. As much as he wanted to get to know her, he now understood that women like Skylar Marcelli deserved a man’s full attention. They were an investment, because women like her could ruin men for all others. And once he had her, he was certain it would be a long time before he’d let her go.

  “I kissed you because I wanted to. I stopped because I didn’t want you to feel pressured. You’re my employee.”

  “You didn’t pressure me.” Her voice softened and he held his breath to hear every raspy word as she confessed, “I wanted it.”

  His body tightened to a point of pain. “And now?”

  Her gaze lifted, stark blue eyes driving home a challenge. “I don’t want to get hurt.”

  “I won’t hurt you.” It was more likely that she’d be the one to hurt him in the end.

  He stepped closer, dropping his voice and grazing his fingers along the delicate heart shape of her jaw. When she didn’t back away, he whispered, “But I’m not sure I can be gentle.”

  “I don’t want gentle.”

  God, help him. “What do you want?”

  You… The silent word screamed from her eyes but he needed to hear her say it.

  “Tell me.”

  Her shyness, or perhaps it was inexperience, stole her voice.

  “Your job is safe, Skylar. Whatever this is, it’s separate.”

  She gave a subtle nod, which he translated as relief, consent, and a dark desire to continue.

  “If you let me have this, I promise I’ll make it good for you.”

  Her full lips trembled as she looked up at him giving another subtle nod. “Tell me what you want,” she rasped, her voice a throaty temptation that drove him wild.

  It had been a long time since he wanted someone the way he desired her. Tonight, in the limo, he finally admitted, resistance was futile.

  “I want everything you’re willing to offer.”

  Her breasts pressed against the blue silk as her breath noticeably quickened. She glanced at the double doors to his bedroom and his gut clenched with need. He wanted to devour her, and he was running out of patience. He’d die if she turned him down now.

  “Make a choice, Skylar. Left, you go to your room, shut the door, and go to sleep. Right… You’re awake all night and nothing’s the same in the morning.”

  Her brow puckered. “What about Addison?”

  “I told you, your job’s safe either way. I’m not a shmuck. My daughter loves you. You’re good for her. You’re good for us.”

  She stepped around him and his heart ripped into a hard beat, pounding behind his ribs until she turned left. His mood plummeted and his body raged at her rejection as she slowly walked toward her bedroom door.

  How had he so massively misread the situation? He shouldn’t be surprised. He wasn’t new to rejection and—

  She paused at the end of the hall, but she didn’t open the door. Setting her shoes beside the carpet, she turned, her footsteps silently treading over the runner as she walked back to him.

  His throat went dry and desire spiraled through him. That look. Did she even realize how much she tempted him?

  His body vibrated with needy hunger as she took a step. His breath caught as she slowly walked toward him, returning to him. Rivers of midnight blue taffeta rippled from her narrow hips as she took her time, drawing out his torture.

  She stopped two feet in front of him and met his stare. “Addison can’t know. I don’t want her getting hurt.”

  “Agreed.”

  A nervous smile teased her lips but didn’t hold. “Okay then.”

  “Okay?” He had to be sure.

  She nodded. “I’m ready.”

  He closed the distance, trapping her face in his hands and stealing her mouth with a darkly promising kiss. She lifted to her toes, pressing into him with a soft moan. He pulled her close, delving his tongue deeper and forcing her to open for him. She complied with a sort of elegant grace that was his undoing.

  She was incredibly easy going, but she left him hard by simply breathing. Their chemistry seemed absolutely effortless. It was the simplest connection he’d ever experienced with a woman, and that terrified him.

  “How far are we taking this, Skylar?”

  If there was any chance they’d have to slow down, he needed to know now. He already knew, once they started, it would be excruciating to stop.

  She lifted a delicate shoulder and blushed. “How far do you want to go?”

  She was too agreeable for her own good. “With you? I can’t imagine ever hitting a limit.”

  This time she let her full smile show, radiant and flawless, and his knees nearly buckled with need.

  “Show me,” she challenged, her smile playful and curious.

  He caught her tempting body in an unbreakable hold and slammed her to the wall, his mouth crashing over hers and delivering a sinful kiss that promised she’d be a wiser woman come morning.

  Biting her full lip, he tipped up her face and vowed, “You’re mine.”

  Grinding his body against hers, he showed her what she did to him. His mouth dropped to her throat, nipping and tasting, tongue sliding over her racing pulse until he groaned with desperation, needing to be inside of her.

  Her kisses were addicting. Soft, leading, teasing. He pulled away and growled, resenting their clothing and the trek they still had to make to h
is bed.

  “Your mouth makes me crazy,” he confessed, dragging the pad of his thumb over the pillow of her lower lip.

  She pressed her cheek to his touch and parted her lips, letting the digit slip inside. His eyes rolled back, and he groaned.

  “Don’t tease me.”

  “I’m not.”

  When she looked up at him with those smokey blue eyes, he nearly came in his tux. Tugging her away from the wall, he lifted her off the ground, anchoring her body to his so that her legs twisted around his hips.

  His face buried in her throat, sinking kisses over every exposed inch of tempting flesh as he crossed the threshold and kicked the door shut. He didn’t stop kissing her until he tumbled her to the bed, sinking his weight over her, pinning her in a purely possessive way.

  She laughed, the sound sweet and nervous, and he valued that she didn’t scare easily. He caught her jaw in an unbreakable hold, then loosened his grip to stroke the long, tempting line of her throat.

  She sobered under his intense stare and moaned softly when he flexed his hips, giving her a slow kiss that left her pliant and warm. God, she tasted like Eden, and her skin smelled like heaven on fire.

  Dragging his mouth lower, he teased his tongue along the seam of her bodice. Her body was a symphony of springtime that lured him like a spell.

  Straddling her hips, he stared down at her tousled beauty. Her pure skin was rosy from his five o’clock shadow, and he took great satisfaction in seeing markings from his touch on her flesh.

  “No going back now.” He peeled away the plunging neckline of her dress and her nipples sprung free. “Jesus.”

  Pert, tight little buds, begging to be touched. Her curves were lush and inviting. His palm cradled the soft flesh as his thumb teased the hardened tips. Lips parting, back slightly arching in a plea for more, her eyes grew heavy with need.

  His mouth closed over the turgid tip, his teeth nipping with a teasing pull as he sucked hard and greedily. She gasped and a startled moan escaped in breathy relief. He looked up at her, only to find her watching him with innocent curiosity.

  He recalled being a boy in his early twenties. The fumbling, the lack of endurance, and the selfish need. It had been a while since he took a woman to bed, but he was certain he could open her eyes to the joys of sleeping with an experienced man.

  “I warn you now, I’m greedy, but also generous.”

  His tongue licked over the tip of her nipple, now a deeper cherry red from his rough pulls. He pinched the other, and she inhaled sharply. Then he released the tip and captured it in his mouth, bathing the abused flesh with warm, wet kisses.

  He worked a hand under the endless layers of her skirt as he feasted on her breasts. Teasing and tormenting, training her responses and showing her how easily her body answered to his touch.

  Her thighs were lush and supple, stirring an endless hunger in him. He teased his fingers close to the seam of her panties but never made contact, drawing out the excruciating hunger they shared.

  “Rhett, please…”

  Her plea poisoned his patience and his hips reflexively rocked with urgent need. He’d tormented them long enough. He rolled to his side, but still angled his body over hers, still played at teasing her into a soft but hungry frenzy.

  Silken legs scissored against the duvet, as he traced his nails to the top of her pantyhose and slowly rolled the covering away. This stunning woman, drowning in waves of gossamer, was easily the sexiest female he’d ever touched. If he didn’t get her naked soon, he was going to embarrass himself.

  He chuckled. “I think your dress is growing the more I try to get you out of it.”

  She laughed and he couldn’t resist that mouth. Dropping his lips to hers, he kissed her slowly, devouring her with every swipe of his tongue. Soft, kitten-like mews left her throat as his hands explored her bare thighs, hips, and stomach.

  She was burning hot, and every inch of her skin called to him. His life revolved around being the perfect, politically correct civilian, but the things he wanted to do to her in that moment were a far cry from civilized.

  Her thighs opened, silently begging him to stop teasing her. The swatch of silk covering her sex was damp with arousal. He pressed the material against her skin, showing her that he found the evidence of her desire.

  Another stunning blush.

  He rubbed the silk of her damp panties, finding the tight bud of her clit through the material and adding enough pressure to drive her mad.

  “Rhett!”

  “Do you want me?”

  She nodded.

  He stripped her of the panties, leaving the dress twisted around her waist, and grinned. “Show me. Open your legs for me.”

  His fingers traced a line from her ankle up her shin, and her knees drifted apart. Sharp breaths panted past her lips, and her eyes were wild as his touch dragged higher.

  Her body unfurled like a flower, hinting at the sweetest honey. He dipped a finger between her folds, keeping his touch shallow and teasing. Her body arched, pressing into his hand, and he chuckled again, pleased by her eagerness.

  “More?”

  “Please.” She panted.

  “So polite.”

  He plunged a finger into her heat, stopping only when his palm cupped her sex. Warm cream coated his knuckles and together they groaned. He held still for a moment, allowing the anticipation to build.

  The touch of his thumb slipped over the bud of her sex, and then he was sliding into her delicate folds, adding another finger, and drawing the softest cries from her throat.

  She was tight. Petite. He took his time, stretching her and stoking that fiery need. Returning to her tempting breasts, he kissed and teased, never letting his fingers slide fully out of the hot grip of her sex.

  His mouth shifted to her lips and she kissed him back with such desperation, he knew it was time.

  He moved between her legs and pushed her thighs wide, dragging his tongue through her slit and closing his lips over her sensitive flesh. He continued to tease and pleasure her, loved when her fingers boldly raked through his hair, pulling hard at the strands and anchoring his mouth to her sex. His other hand toyed with her breasts and her body fluttered and responded to every touch.

  “You’re almost there.” He stroked and kissed faster and her breath hitched.

  He teased her into a frenzy until her cries crested into a breathtaking crescendo and her body came alive, arching against the mattress, back bowed and quivering, calling his name as heat gushed over his fingers.

  Her hands knotted in the coverlet. Her body wore a feminine dew of sweat and arousal. The scent of her desire was a drug to him. And he was an instant addict, needing more.

  He kept going, kissing her swollen flesh and pumping his fingers. He drank every drop of her sweet release and pushed her to give him more.

  He was a glutton for her pleasure, needy to impress her and prove himself the best she’d ever had. He lost count of how many times she cried out in pleasure and her body grew weak. Her limbs draped over the covers and her moans were near delirious.

  Taking pity on her, he softened his licks to gentle kisses and removed his probing fingers, simply petting her delicate, but swollen folds.

  “You’re so pretty here. Pretty everywhere. But here…seeing your soft, pink skin, swollen from my mouth, wet from my touch… I’m aching to be inside of you.”

  She sighed and gave a smile sculpted of the sweetest secrets. “Then why aren’t you?”

  When she showed that direct side of her, assertively content in her sexual need and undaunted by the fact that she was a hot, red-blooded woman, he craved her a hundred times more.

  Fascinated, he laughed and whispered, “Where did you come from?”

  She smiled. “Jasper Falls.”

  Yet, no one in the town could claim half her beauty, match her wit, or entice him so completely. Maybe there was some sort of magic hiding in the water up on that mountain where her family lived, something sacred.


  “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

  She smiled and the flush on her cheeks darkened. “I hope you know I’m not usually this, um…forward with men.”

  He leaned in and gently kissed her. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

  In the bathroom, he stripped off his tux and opened a condom. She waited in a rumpled heap of blue on the bed, her tapered limbs and tempting curves on full display, her still tight nipples glistening in the moonlight.

  She opened her eyes as he pulled her to sit up. “I should have taken this off before we started.” He searched for the zipper as satin and taffeta pooled around her waist.

  Her body was pliant, her smile soft and satisfied. He slid the material to the floor, revealing her flawless shape. She was utter perfection in that she appeared so beautifully human with rounded curves and a healthy softness around her hips and thighs.

  He joined her on the bed and kissed her tenderly. Their bodies aligned and she looped her arms around his neck, staring deep into his eyes. He settled his weight on his knees, careful not to crush her.

  He wanted her without barriers. The hot slide of her sex against the tip of his erection made him resent having to use protection, something he never resented since becoming a father.

  He reached between their bodies and guided himself close, sliding along the seam of her sex without fully penetrating.

  Her brow creased and he worried he might have been too rough during their foreplay.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  She shook her head. “No. Keep going.”

  He nudged deeper, stretching her, careful to take it slow. Her brow tightened again and he paused. He pressed a kiss to her temple and whispered, “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No. It’s just…” Her breath teased his ear. “You’re really big.”

  He chuckled. “That sort of flattery will only make me bigger.”

  She laughed then sobered. “Just… hold me tight. I want to keep going.”

  He gathered her in his arms and kissed her. Her body momentarily tensed as he nudged forward, and then he was in. “I’ve got you.”

  The sinking feeling that this might be her first time haunted him, but he chased the thought away, as it made her seem too young and innocent, when so far she’d matched his desires every beat of the way.