by Mari Carr
For several breathless moments, neither of them moved, both aware the spell would be broken soon enough.
Finally, Emma released him and sank back on her haunches. She stared straight ahead, refusing to look up into his face. He sensed she was searching for something, though whether it was her words or her composure, he couldn’t tell. While she avoided looking into his eyes, he was mesmerized by her beautiful face. His gaze refused to move, studying every aspect of her—seeing things he’d managed to miss during a lifetime spent in blind friendship.
Her cheeks were flushed, bringing her pale complexion to life and accentuating her high, delicate cheekbones. Her lashes hid her pale blue eyes, drawing his attention to the slanted shape of them instead. She’d pierced him with those powerful eyes on many occasions—usually after he made an insensitive joke or a bad decision. Emma’s eyes didn’t speak in mere emotion, they spoke sentences, volumes. With one long, hard look, she could convey so much.
He wished she’d raise those eyes now. One glance, and he would know where he stood. One brief peek into her cerulean eyes, and he’d discover paradise or hell.
“Look at me.” The words came out too demanding, too gruff.
She took a deep breath, the motion causing her chest to rise and drawing his attention to her taut nipples. He imagined the hours—no, the days—he could spend feasting on her lovely breasts.
Slowly, her face turned upward and she gazed straight into his eyes. His lips turned up in a smile he couldn’t suppress. The answers to all his questions and concerns were written as clearly as if they were displayed in flashing neon lights.
She wasn’t sorry. There was no regret, no recrimination. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was looking at him with nothing less than outright satisfaction, even smugness.
“You’re incredible,” he said.
She smiled. “Bet you didn’t know I had it in me.”
He laughed, her comment so utterly Emma. “I’ve been a fool.”
She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “Tell me something I didn’t know.”
He reached down to lift her to her feet. “I’m not letting you go and we aren’t stopping now.”
She didn’t back down, didn’t cower from him. “I don’t remember asking you to stop.”
He cupped her cheek, savoring the softness of her skin. “Come to my bedroom with me.”
He sensed a moment’s hesitation, then she started to speak. “Jack, I’d like—” Her cell phone rang and she sighed. “Damn. I thought I’d turned the stupid thing off.” She reached for her iPhone and started to mute it. Glancing at the number, she paused. “Travis,” she said.
Jack nodded. “You better answer. He’s not one to make social calls. Must be something up at the club.”
Emma hesitated and he suspected she’d rather ignore it. In the end, her dedication to work won out and she answered. “Hello.”
Jack studied her face as she spoke, wondering what her response to his invitation would be. He wanted her in his bed. He’d keep her there for hours showing her exactly how far from mismatched they truly were.
He’d thought for a moment she might refuse him. While he’d turned a corner in their relationship, Emma appeared to be hovering at the edge—still undecided.
“But the meeting’s not until noon,” Emma said, frustration rife in her voice. She listened as Travis replied. “I don’t give a fuck what his secretary wrote on his schedule. We’re not supposed to meet—” She sighed heavily and gave Jack an apologetic look.
He nodded and murmured, “It’s okay.”
She shrugged regretfully. “Fine, Travis. I’ll be right there.” She hung up and put the phone back in her purse. “Jack…” she started.
“We have time, Emma. Go to work. Do what you need to do. Come back here tonight.”
He sensed she wanted to take exception to his demands. She was used to being the driving force in all her relationships—with friends and lovers. No one called the shots in her world. He intended to show her another way.
“It might be late. We’ve got two new waitresses coming in and if they don’t work out, I want to be around to put out fires if needed.”
He grinned. “Backtracking already?”
She narrowed her eyes, scowling at him as if he’d called her a coward. “No, Jack. I’m just saying—”
“I know what you’re saying. Come here after work. I’ll be waiting.”
She started to offer another excuse, but he cut her off. “If you don’t show up on your own, if you make me come looking for you, you do so with the knowledge that I’ll punish you.”
She scoffed and dismissed his threat, pretending to be unaffected. Her response poked the beast within and he pushed her back against the front door, trapping her with his larger frame.
“What are you doing?”
Rather than answer, he reached down and drove two fingers into her drenched pussy. She gasped.
“You want me, Emma. You know who I am and what I expect of you. Stop pretending to be anything other than what you are right now.”
She threw her head back haughtily. “And what’s that?”
“Turned-on, hot, horny. Your cunt is burning my fingers. You can’t hide what you want from me. I know you too well. So stop wasting time. Time we could put to better use.”
He rubbed his thumb against her clit, curling the two fingers buried inside her, hitting the spot he’d discovered last night. She leaned her head against the door, her eyes drifting closed as he worked her hungry flesh. Her cheeks flushed and her breathing accelerated. Soon her hips were working in tandem with the fingers he was driving into her. Her inner muscles fluttered and she groaned.
When Jack sensed she was very close to exploding, he withdrew his fingers.
“Hey!” she protested. “Don’t stop.”
He lifted his fingers to his lips, licking her essence.
She was panting, her eyes drinking in his movements. When he put his hand back by his side, her fury grew with the realization he didn’t intend to carry on.
“Dammit, Jack.”
“I’m taking out an insurance policy.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He bent forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “If you want that orgasm, you’re going to have to come back tonight. I’ll tie you to my bed and we’ll do it right.”
She bit her lip and he sensed she wanted to protest, to demand he finish what he’d started. He kept his facial expression impassive, letting her know he wouldn’t concede on this point. He was surprised—and pleased—when her face softened.
“Fine,” she said softly. “I’ll come back later.”
He smiled, cupping her cheeks and giving her a kiss filled with the promise of what lay ahead. She had a beautiful, powerful spirit and he’d take great care to see that never changed.
When they parted, he placed one more light kiss on her cheek. “You better get to the club. Travis will be going mad.”
She nodded. “You’re right. He will. He hates having to deal with salespeople.” Then she laughed. “So maybe I should take my time.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No way. If he finds out you were late because of me, he’ll take it out on both of us. This way it’s only you going down.”
She gave him a sexy smile. “I already went down. It’s your turn.”
Her wicked innuendo sent the recently departed blood back to his cock. “Christ. You’re a menace. Go to work.”
She redressed, Jack helping her, then picked up her purse. He put his sweats on before opening the door to his apartment. “I’ll see you later.”
She turned as she left, giving him an uneasy look. “Okay,” she said, but her tone gave him reason to pause. Clearly, Emma wasn’t convinced of her path yet. As she walked away, he stood in the doorway and grinned.
If it was more convincing she needed, he’d be happy to oblige. Fortunately, he had just the plan.
Chapter 4
Emm
a clung to the post of the headboard as another rough wave shook the pirate’s vessel. The storm had come up suddenly during the night and Jack had gone above to steer the ship to safety. She’d remained in bed, tousled and shaken by the storm for hours, unable to do anything except pray that, with each dip and sway, the ship would hold up under the intense beating it was taking.
She hated feeling so useless. Helpless. It wasn’t a sentiment she wore easily. In the last hour she’d thought perhaps the storm was abating, but she was worried that was simply wishful thinking.
“I can’t stand it,” she said aloud to the empty room. If the ship was going down, she certainly wasn’t going to die sitting on her hands while someone else fought the battle. She attempted to rise from the bed, but was thrust back onto it by a hard crash of a wave. Undaunted, she stood again, gripping the side of the mattress for support.
Her dress lay neatly across a chair several feet away. Clearly Jack had placed it there and she was touched by his thoughtfulness. Rising, she tried to find her sea legs, struggling to remain upright. She’d only taken a few tentative steps when the ship took another hard hit and she was slammed against the foot post of the bed. Crying out, she rubbed her arm. No doubt she’d have a nasty bruise from the blow, but the pain only strengthened her determination. She managed to get to the table, dressing herself despite the hard rocking of the vessel. Once dressed, she used the room’s furnishings to fight her way to the door of the cabin then threw it open.
Clinging to the walls of the narrow passageway, she’d just made it to the foot of the ladder leading to the deck above when a hard crash threw her back. She cried out, landing roughly on her ass. She tried to shield her eyes as the hatch opened and a man descended the ladder. Light, water and wind pummeled her from above as she lay on the floor. When Jack reached the bottom, he looked genuinely surprised to find her out of the cabin.
“What the hell are you doing?”
His concern was laced with a harsh tone that drove home the stupidity of what she’d been considering. “I was coming to see if you needed help.”
His eyes darkened with fury as his large frame towered over her. He was soaked to the skin, his long black hair plastered to his rough-shaven face. He was intimidating, enraged and handsome as sin. “You what?” His voice was an equal mixture of disbelief and anger. “Are you mad? You could have been swept overboard and I wouldn’t have even known you weren’t tucked safely in our bed. How could you have even considered doing something so reckless?”
Her words lodged in her throat in the face of his scowling visage. Unfortunately, his comments sparked a recognition in her as well. She felt foolish holding this argument while sitting on the floor and she struggled to rise to her feet. Jack reached down to help her up and she fought not to wince when his hand engulfed her bruised arm.
“How do you think I felt?” she retorted, the stress of the past few hours escaping in a flurry of furious words. “You could have been killed up there at any moment, while I’m expected to sit in the room like a good little girl. I’m not weak, Jack. Not helpless.”
Her comments didn’t abate his anger and for a moment, she thought it had even grown a notch or two. “No,” he said, turning her and pushing her none-too-gently toward his cabin. “You aren’t helpless. But you soon will be.” Once they entered it, he slammed the door, driving home the true extent of his disapproval.
“Take off your clothes,” he commanded. “All of them.”
She wanted to make the same demand of him, but was saved from speaking as he began to strip off his drenched clothing. She tried to hold on to the bedpost while disrobing. Jack’s gaze never left her face, never softened.
Once she was completely naked, he gestured for her to get into the bed. She wanted to protest, wanted to reassert her ability to take care of herself, but his face stopped her. She returned to the bed she’d only vacated a few minutes earlier, watching as Jack rummaged around the room for something.
When he reached the side of the bed, he was completely, gloriously nude and holding several long lengths of rope. “Clearly my mistake was that I didn’t leave you helpless enough. That’s an oversight I intend to correct now.”
Jack placed a knee beside her hip on the mattress and reached for her arms. She fought against him but her strength was no match for his, and in a matter of moments he had her hands tied to the headboard.
Climbing over her, he forced her legs apart as he settled in between. His fingers briefly touched her wet slit, the chill of his hands sending shivers of cold—and heat—through her body. Apparently satisfied with what he found, he placed the head of his cock at her opening and shoved inside with one hard, deep thrust.
Emma screamed in the face of his violent possession. In their previous encounters, he’d always taken her with a certain level of gentleness and care. This time, Jack was proving a point. As he rocketed into her body, he punctuated each beautiful blow with a demand.
“Don’t you ever put yourself in such danger again.”
She started to reply, but Jack wasn’t looking for responses.
“It was a treacherous thing to attempt, you little fool.”
She wanted to take exception to his name-calling, but Jack wasn’t finished.
“If you ever try such an insane thing again, I’ll take you over my knee and see to it you can’t walk for a week.”
His thrusts were gaining speed and power. Emma felt the first tremors of her coming orgasm and she moaned.
“If I ever lost you, I’d die.”
His confession was so unexpected and beautiful, tears gathered in her eyes. He’d die without her?
Could his feelings truly be that engaged? And if so, what would happen when the ship landed ashore and her father came to claim her? She feared she knew the answer to that question. And it killed her.
Emma stood outside the door to Jack’s apartment and hesitated. Her daydream of Jack as a pirate had seemed so real, she could feel the dampness between her legs. It was a miracle she hadn’t crashed the car driving over here as she’d fantasized about her forceful lover the entire way.
She’d expected to be nervous, uneasy tonight. What she didn’t anticipate was feeling so calm. She’d been half in love with Jack Carlysle for most of her life, yet she’d never crossed that line from friendship to lovers. Entering a sexual relationship with him had never been a serious consideration and the only thing that had ever changed between them throughout the years were her reasons for not acting on her feelings. Every time one concern no longer existed, another would take its place. Protecting the friendship, her boyfriends, his girlfriends, his dominance, her stubbornness, his cockiness, her drive to succeed, his business, her job—the list was endless…and pointless.
She’d pushed off this inevitable moment for over two decades and for what? Nothing. Here she stood.
God. She’d been a fool.
Raising her hand, she knocked on the door and suddenly butterflies began to flutter in her stomach. For a second, she felt the irrational urge to turn around and run. Instead, she stood her ground. The time for escape had long since passed. She wanted tonight with every fiber of her being—regardless of right or wrong, intelligence or stupidity. She wanted Jack. And she was going to have him.
The storm that had shaken her insides all day stilled the moment he opened the door. He was dressed in jeans and a simple button-down shirt. His shaggy, dark hair was pleasantly mussed and he was smiling at her. He’d never looked more attractive or sexy.
“You’re earlier than I thought,” he said, stepping back and gesturing for her to enter.
She’d stalled at work as long as she possibly could, but his damn “insurance” had been tweaking at the edge of her nerves all day. She was a ticking time bomb, poised and ready to explode. One touch from him was all it would take to set her off.
“The waitresses worked out fine. Besides it’s Sunday night. There’s no show and business was slow.”
As she entered the apartm
ent, she noticed the pains Jack had taken on her behalf. The typically messy living room was tidy and he’d lit several candles. There was the distinct smell of coffee and something sweet wafting from the kitchen. He knew the way to her heart all right.
“Cookies?” she asked.
He seemed pleased she’d noticed. “Chocolate chip. My mom’s recipe. I know they’re your favorite.”
She was touched by his thoughtfulness. “You wouldn’t be trying to bribe me into your bed with sweets, would you?”
Jack laughed and walked closer, pulling her toward him with his hands on her waist. “Would that work?”
She shook her head and gave him a saucy smile. “I’m going to bed with you tonight, Smacker. Cookies or not.”
His cock firmed up at her words, making an obvious appearance against her stomach as Jack pressed closer. “You know what I love?”
“What?”
He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, his response whispered against her skin. “Cookies for breakfast.”
She nuzzled closer, taking a deep breath and soaking in the scent of his soap. “Me too.”
Taking her hand, Jack led her to his bedroom. She followed him with no reservations, feeling only overwhelming anticipation and excitement. He’d taken the same care in his bedroom that he had in his living room. The room was tidy. Hell, it was downright clean.
“Wow,” she teased. “Finally break down and hire that maid I’ve been suggesting?”
He turned off the overhead light, drawing her attention to the lit candles scattered all around the room. The soft lighting instantly cast a romantic air over the place. “I’m perfectly capable of cleaning.” He grinned. “Especially when given the right motivation.”
She took two steps toward him, reveling in the way their personal space had shrunk over the last two days. She ran her hand down his chest, desperate to touch and be touched. He gripped her waist firmly and she watched her affable friend morph into the man she’d seen traces of in the past. A hungry, dominant male staking his claim.
