by Lori Foster
“Molly will be in touch with her sister and anyone else she wants to update. It’s no concern of yours. Remember that.” Dare shut the door in his face and then locked it.
Molly bit back a smile. “That was almost mean.”
For long seconds, he stood there staring at her. This was a new look for him, one she hadn’t seen before. He had that same intensity as when enraged, but she knew he wasn’t truly angry over anything. The way he watched her made her feel…warm.
And aware. And…excited.
“Dare?”
“How do you feel, Molly?”
The gravelly tone to his low voice stroked along her nerve endings. The spark of heat in his blue eyes, and the slow rise and fall of his muscled chest, took the strength from her knees.
“I’m good.”
“Not just fine?”
God, was he teasing her? Like a patient predator waiting to pounce, he kept his distance by the door.
Molly licked her bottom lip. “I…” She looked around at her still messy apartment, knowing it didn’t matter. Everything else could wait. But she couldn’t.
She turned back to Dare’s probing gaze. After a deep breath, she said, “If you want the truth, I’m eaten up with wanting you.”
He straightened his posture against the door. His shoulders flexed.
Voice rough and raw, he asked, “Are you sure, Molly?” And then, more harshly, “Tell me you’re sure.”
Seeing him like this, recognizing the lust, affected her, and she couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead, she opened her arms to him.
A low curse, barely audible, left him. In the next instant he had his powerful arms around her. He pulled her up against his body, kissing her hard enough, hungrily enough, to tip her head back.
And Molly loved it.
DARE WAS NOT A MAN to lose control, but the things she made him feel… He wasn’t used to being jealous, but, damn, he had been. Red-hot and enraged with jealousy, and for no other reason than that Molly had once cared for Adrian. Dare thought about taking the fool apart, and he would have, except that it hardly seemed fair. Her ex was pathetic.
What the hell had she ever seen in him?
And then seeing her so strong, so proud… It had damn near put him over the edge. Never before had he thought about the perfect female counterpart to him, but now he knew: Molly defined that woman.
He struggled to get it together, but she didn’t help much. The taste of her, the way her fingertips dug into his shoulders with insistence, and how she lifted into him, pressing into his erection, made rational thought a far-fetched thing.
But he knew what she’d been through, the marks that she still carried and the memories that continued to haunt her. Never would he add to that. He’d sooner die.
“Molly.” Dare opened his mouth on her throat, sucked on her soft, fragrant skin and lowered one hand to her ass. He loved the feel of that firm, plump flesh, kneading her, stroking. “We should slow down,” he said against her throat, “I should slow down.”
“No. Please don’t.” She grabbed his face and brought his mouth back to hers. “No more waiting, Dare.”
“No.” Hell, he couldn’t wait. The need to consume her pushed him.
But he had to know.
Holding her shoulders, he put enough space between them to talk. “The bedroom is okay?”
She nodded, but then paused and asked, “What do you mean?”
“No…” Fuck, he hated this. “Your asshole boyfriend was here, and we both know he intended to use your bed, so…”
Her expression softened. “Forget Adrian. I don’t think he did anything in there.” She took Dare’s hand and turned to lead him to the room.
He was so charmed by her urgency that he grinned. Lust and humor—who knew? He’d never experienced the combo before.
Molly’s long, fast steps did amazing things to that delectable backside that he’d just been pawing, and he had to say, with heartfelt sincerity, “You have an incredible ass, Molly.”
She smiled at him over her shoulder and tugged him into the room. “Thank you.”
He stood in front of her, the bed right there, her need obvious. Damn, but his hands shook with the wealth of everything he felt. He’d known extreme lust, but he hadn’t known this.
Smoothing her hair back, he bent to kiss her forehead, her cheek, her chin and finally her mouth. “I’ve thought of seeing you, all of you, a hundred times.” He dropped his fingers to the top button of her blouse.
She kept her head down, watching his hands as he opened the blouse little by little. When he reached the button between her breasts, she sucked in a shuddering breath.
“Dare?”
He kissed her temple, slipped the last button free and opened the blouse. “Hmm?” Damn, she was sexy.
“I still have…marks.”
“I know.” He stroked the back of one finger over a bruise visible on her ribs. “I’d like to kill them all over again. But they’re already gone, honey.”
“It’s not that. I just…they look awful.”
He slipped the blouse off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. “Nothing about you is awful.” Bending, he kissed the angriest bruise left on her right shoulder. “And I won’t let anyone ever hurt you again.” To get her back where she needed to be, Dare kissed his way along her upper body, over her shoulders, her collarbone, her throat. Every so often, he gave her a gentle love bite and then soothed it with a soft openmouthed kiss and the stroke of his tongue.
Holding on to his forearms, Molly tipped her head back. His hands easily spanned the width of her narrow back. Holding her like that, he arched her up and closed his mouth over her left nipple through her bra.
Her vibrating groan tested his resolve, but he held on. Barely. While he teased her, he teased himself, too, by grinding his erection against her soft body.
She sucked in a breath. “Dare?” Her right hand left his forearm and went to his abdomen, then down along the fly of his jeans.
Through the denim she found and stroked him, making him nuts.
“That…” He went still, his stomach clenching. “That might not be a great idea.” But God, he didn’t stop her.
Calculating as only a woman could be, Molly whispered with pleasure, “You’re even bigger than I imagined.”
Fuck patience. “Tease.” Dare opened her bra and pushed the cups down to expose her. Her heavy breasts, now freed of restraint, swayed with her every movement. Her nipples were soft pink in color, pulled tight.
Growling with impatience, Dare pried her hand off his dick so that he could remove the bra completely, and he could have sworn that he heard her laugh.
It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be amused for long.
Going to his knees, he opened the snap on her jeans, slid down the zipper and tugged both the jeans and her panties to her knees.
“Dare.” Sounding strangled, she braced her hands on his shoulders. “What are you—?”
Holding her backside in both hands, he pulled her close and pressed his face against her. He inhaled her scent and growled again. “I can’t wait.”
As he came back to his feet, she said something, but he wasn’t sure what. Lifting her up and onto the bed, Dare stripped the clothes from her body.
Even though his gaze wanted to linger on her breasts and puckered nipples, her smooth belly and that neat triangle of dark pubic hair, he still saw the bruises. In stark contrast to her pale, soft skin, they were impossible to miss. They just didn’t matter, not to how he felt about her, how much he wanted her.
As the marks healed, they turned muddied shades of yellow and green. But they were healing. Molly would be okay.
He didn’t find the injuries ugly, as she did. If anything, they only served to remind him that when he’d carried her out of that place, he’d taken responsibility for her. She relied on him now.
She was his.
With one hand he touched the sleek silky skin of her upper thigh, while with
the other he opened his jeans and eased the zipper down over his hard-on. He had to step back to get his shoes and socks off, and then he stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside.
Knees together in a modest—and enticing—pose, Molly rose up to her elbows to watch him.
He shucked off the jeans and straightened in front of her. If she enjoyed looking at him half as much as he liked seeing her, he had no problem with that.
But the longer she looked, the more he wanted her. And she was taking her time, studying every inch of him.
“You’ve seen men before, Molly.”
Slowly shaking her head to deny that, she whispered, “I’ve never seen a man like you.”
What the hell did that mean? Given the way she held her bottom lip in her teeth, and how her gaze went all soft and heated, it wasn’t a complaint. “I don’t want to rush you, honey, but how long should I stand here?”
“It just occurred to me,” she said, her gaze still on his cock. “I don’t have anything. I mean, for protection.”
That was her holdup? He didn’t think so. “I’ll take care of it.”
Did she think, even for a second, that he wouldn’t do the responsible thing? Or was she hesitating out of nervousness?
He retrieved a lone condom from his wallet; for now, it would do. But after that, he’d get the box from his duffel bag. To be sure, he asked her, “Anything else?”
Her gaze lifted to his, and she licked her lips. “Just…hurry up.”
Smiling, Dare said, “Right.” He should have known that she wasn’t the type to hide her feelings. If she had second thoughts, she’d have told him so.
As he took precautions, she watched him with so much fascination that maintaining control wasn’t easy. He wanted no secrets between them, no modesty or shyness. The light on her desk was enough, and he was relieved that she didn’t ask him to turn it off.
Dare stretched out over her, and as her legs parted he settled against her with a feeling of rightness. He’d had sex; this was more.
While he again explored her lush breasts and taut nipples, he kissed her. She accepted his tongue, even sucked on it, making him nuts with lust. Her hands were all over him, from his back to his ass and thighs, and back up to his shoulders. She seemed every bit as urgent as him.
In minutes, they were both breathing hard and fast. Not moving proved impossible for him, especially with her so soft and giving beneath him, squirming each time he tugged on a nipple with his fingertips or nibbled on her earlobe.
When he first rolled his hips against her, she freed her mouth and moaned. Just as she had on the dock, she went hot and ready with blazing speed. Moving to the side of her, Dare slid his hand down along her body until it rested low on her belly.
“You are so small, and so sweet.” He rubbed his cheek against her breast. “But not small here. God almighty, woman, you have a killer body.”
Raising her hands over her head, her eyes closed, Molly clenched in anticipation. He loved looking at her, at the honest reactions on her face.
Watching her, he asked, “Are you wet, Molly?”
She nodded, then arched, trying to hurry him.
Teasing her was so hot, so sexy, that it slowed him down enough. He wanted to take his time and relish this. He didn’t want to miss a single moan or sigh.
“Let me see,” he whispered, and he cupped his hand over her.
Her fingers knotted in the sheet at either side of her head. She looked at him with dazed eyes and honest need. So beautiful. So real.
While he stroked over her, parting her, exploring her with just his fingertips, he bent and slowly sucked on one nipple. She twisted beneath him, breathing hard and fast. With his teeth this time, Dare tugged on her nipple, and she cried out.
He chose that moment to relentlessly press two fingers into her, as deeply as he could.
The way her body clasped his fingers, the low sounds of raw pleasure she made, told him how she liked that. But it wasn’t enough for him.
While he eased his fingers out, and then back into her, he kissed each nipple again, and then her ribs. When he trailed a path of damp kisses down her abdomen, she went still—maybe with expectation, maybe with uncertainty.
It didn’t matter.
He dipped his tongue into her navel, making her squirm more, then over to her hipbone. A ticklish spot for her.
Liking that, he stored the knowledge away into his memory banks with plans to investigate it more later.
Right now, he wanted to taste her. He wanted to hear her cry out, feel her reaction, when he took her into his mouth, replaced his fingers with his tongue.
Already, her heady scent had ripened, sweet and rich. The strongest aphrodisiac for any man was a woman’s arousal. For Dare, Molly’s arousal amplified the effect tenfold because, in so many ways, she was special.
When she tangled her fingers in his hair, urgently holding on to him, he decided this had to be the biggest turn-on ever.
Nuzzling against her, her small cries filling his head, Dare licked over her turgid clitoris. She almost shot off the bed. Pleased with that reaction, he braced a forearm over her midsection to keep her still, teased with his tongue again—and then closed his mouth around her to gently suck.
The second he tasted her, he wanted to come.
Molly did, too.
Her deep rumbling groan said more than words could. She arched her back; her legs trembled. She moved against him, squeezing the fingers he kept deep inside her as her climax swelled, crested and wracked through her. The sounds she made were almost as good as the sweet taste of her.
Dare kept her there, at the peak, relishing every second of her, until she groaned and pressed back into the mattress.
Lifting his head, he looked up the length of her body to her face. Eyes closed, cheekbones damp, chest still heaving, she lay utterly limp. Slowly, he eased his fingers from her and then put them into his mouth. He closed his eyes, too, loving the intimacy, loving…
His heart damn near stopped.
He looked up at Molly again and found her watching him in sated amazement—and something more, something that unsettled him.
His whole body on fire, Dare rushed up over her. Pushed by turbulent emotion, he caught her face and kissed her hard. She gasped and then accepted his tongue again. The need to devour her pushed him. He reached down and, clasping a knee, spread her legs wide.
Still kissing her, unable to get enough to appease him, he situated himself. He could feel her, open, warm and wet, against the head of his cock, and it was enough to make him lock his teeth. He had to pause to get control.
No way in hell would he risk hurting her.
Leashing his tattered discipline, struggling to be gentle, he rocked into her. Small, tight and…perfect.
His head swam. Emotion mingled with carnality, leaving him blindsided. Molly wrapped around him, cocooning him in her scent and the feel of her. He savored the way she hugged him so tightly and the way she met his every thrust with the rise of her hips.
Dare put one hand beneath that delectable ass and lifted her even more so he could go deeper, so she’d take all of him.
In no time at all, it put her over the edge again. She freed her mouth to gasp and groan, her head back, her hair spread out around her.
Seeing her like that, feeling each contraction on his cock, did him in. “Look at me, Molly.”
Lips parted, face flushed, she opened her eyes and shared everything with him. It was enough. Almost too much.
He drove into her, groaned, and at the last second took her mouth again as he gained his own volatile release.
Minutes later, Dare eased to his back beside her. Even as his heart still raced and his legs stayed shaky, his thoughts scrambled in an effort to sort out everything he felt. Dominant in those feelings was a need to cement his odd relationship with her.
He dropped a forearm over his eyes.
Hell, Molly still thought she’d be paying him for his protection. Did she also thin
k that once he secured her safety, they’d be done? He snorted at that repugnant thought.
Molly stirred, turned to her side to cuddle against him and settled back into a deep sleep.
Looking down at her in amazement, Dare frowned…but when her breathing evened into a light snore, the frown turned into a grin. Apparently she didn’t suffer the same confusion plaguing him. Given all she’d been through, he was glad.
He put his head back against the mattress and wondered what spell Molly Alexander had put on him. Because he sure as hell didn’t feel like himself anymore.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
UNABLE TO SLEEP, Dare grew antsy. Taking care not to disturb Molly, he slipped out of the bed. Before he went into the bathroom he lifted the tangled covers over her. He’d left her crossways in the bed, her feet hanging over the side, but that didn’t seem to interfere with her tiredness.
Seeing her like that, so peaceful, made his heart clutch anew. He noticed that her now-swollen lips were tipped up in a slight smile. God knew the woman didn’t have much to smile about lately. Her innocence and optimism charmed him, burned him, brought out all his protective instincts and other less comfortable emotions that he barely recognized.
Turning away from the bed, Dare picked up his jeans and went into her bathroom. The space was small, but it didn’t feel cramped. He disposed of the condom, washed up and pulled on his jeans. Curiosity got to him, and he opened her medicine cabinet. A few routine over-the-counter drugs sat with a prescription for birth-control pills. She’d missed two weeks’ worth, of course, so condoms remained necessary. But the idea of being inside her without barriers…
He closed the cabinet and took a moment to clear his head. Inside a vanity drawer he found a few makeup items, a variety of hair brushes and combs, typical feminine hair adornments. The idea of Molly with a clip in her hair teased his senses and left him grinning for no reason at all.
Turning to the tub, he lifted the pastel-colored soap and breathed in the scent of hyacinth. He could imagine Molly soaking in that old-fashioned tub, covered in fragrant bubbles. But nothing smelled as good as her bare skin, her soft hair—and her excitement.
