"How many cupcakes can we have each?" Millie asked him, her mouth full of icing from the first cupcake she grabbed.
Amy and Jared spoke at the exact same time.
"You can have one," Amy said sternly.
"You can have one of each flavour," Jared assured them.
Of course, the girls went with Jared’s answer, grabbing one each of the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry cupcakes. Amy gasped in dismay, her gaze swinging to Jared, a look of horror in her eyes.
"Do you have any idea what that kind of sugar is going to do to these two? They'll never go to bed tonight."
Jared shrugged. "Isn't that whole sugar rush thing a myth? Pretty sure I read some article about that."
Amy bared her teeth at him. "The scientists that came up with that nonsense obviously haven't spent any time around children who just ate their weight in sugar. They are wrong."
Jared gazed at Millie and Sarah who were rapidly shoving cupcakes into their mouths before their sister could stop them. He was a little worried that they might choke, but they seemed to know what they were doing. He wondered if Amy had ever considered entering these two in an eating contest before. He bet that between them they could eat a whole lot of hot dogs.
"You two, go play in the yard when you're done. There's a surprise back there for you." Jared pointed at the back door and winked at the two siblings.
Millie squealed while Sarah reached out to snatch another cupcake, both running from the kitchen to see what the surprise was. Amy raised an eyebrow and stood to follow her sisters. Jared grabbed her arm, whirled her around and dragged her back until she fell into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and planted a solid kiss on her lips.
He didn't let her up for air for several minutes, knowing that the surprise he got for the girls would keep them occupied.
When he finally let Amy breathe, she immediately questioned him. "What did you get them?"
Jared frowned at her, wishing she'd want more kissing and less talking. Maybe if he got the talking out of the way first, they could get back to the kissing. "A treehouse kind of thing. Put it together myself so I know it's solid."
"I don't remember seeing any trees back there."
"Yeah, there's not. I guess it's more of a fort, since it's built on the ground. But I prettied it up and put some girl stuff inside, like a little mini bake oven and some Barbies."
Amy's jaw dropped. "When did you get them all that stuff? When did you have time to build a fort?"
Jared could actually feel his face reddening in embarrassment, an emotion he didn’t know he had, but Amy was pulling all kinds of new feelings from him. He knew it was insane to buy such an extensive item for the sisters of a woman he’d had a crush on for less than a week, but that hadn't stopped him. He knew what he wanted and he was determined to get it. Integrating himself into their lives was important to him.
"Had a friend come over and help." Jared smirked as he remembered the look on Enrico's face as he kneeled inside the tiny house and set up the mini kitchen. He’d been so concentrated, so determined to get everything right, that Jared had started to think Enrico was more invested in the project than him.
For a few seconds Amy just looked at him, her face expressionless. Jared was starting to worry that he'd gone too far, that he'd insinuated himself into her life too much, too fast. Maybe she wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment yet. He wasn't going to let her back away from him, but he didn't want to have to be forceful with her. She was too… delicate.
Yeah, that was the right word.
For all appearances, Amy was a tough, no-nonsense, responsible young woman. But Jared saw so much more. He saw the vulnerable girl inside, the one that longed to be a normal 20-year-old; longed to go out partying with friends, to stay over at a boyfriend's house, to break rules, go to school, not worry about money and children. He wanted to give her some of the things that she was missing.
Finally, Amy's expression melted into one of happiness. She threw her arms around him and dropped her lips to his, kissing him soundly. "Thank you."
Jared was so in love with this woman, he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and drag her off to his bed where he would fuck her senseless and show her just how much she was coming to mean to him.
It was too soon for that, but not too soon for a good old-fashioned make-out session. He stood with her, tossing her over his shoulder and laughing as she squealed in his arms. He’d take her to the couch and show her what a sort-of-gentleman he was.
Eleven
Jared followed Amy back to her house where she spent half an hour helping her sisters get ready for bed. She threw a distracted smile at him as she went streaking through the living room in search of a stuffed unicorn named Clarence. Then, she ran back through the living room with a multicoloured toy in her hands.
Jared grinned to himself, stretching his arms across the back of the sofa. He didn’t mind waiting one bit. He was enjoying this small glimpse into the domesticity that went on next door to him.
Finally, after another five minutes, Amy dropped onto the sofa next to him sighing loudly. She looked tired but satisfied, as though she loved the bedtime routine. Jared wanted nothing more than to drag her across his lap and plunder her with kisses. Maybe even go to second base and put a hand up her shirt.
But first, he needed some information. "Your dad called today. Want to tell me about it?"
Amy's face dropped in disappointment and she shrank back on the sofa. Jared didn't like that, so he reached out, plucked her off her side of the couch and set her across his lap, cradling her back in his arm and holding her against him with a hand across her knees. She didn't protest, but it took her a moment to get comfortable.
"Tell me about it, Amy. It'll make you feel better." Jared softened his voice, hoping it would help her open up.
She sighed deeply and settled against his arm, dropping her head into his neck. Jared ran a hand over her smooth dark hair, reveling in the softness and breathing in her strawberry shampoo scent.
"He murdered my mom, right here in this house. I heard him do it, saw her body after… when the coroner took her out." She shuddered against him, and he held her closer. "Yet, there's no remorse in him. He doesn't call often, but when he does it's always for money, or for something else he needs. It's never to check on us, to see if we’re okay. He's never once apologized for killing her. For taking our mother away."
Amy's voice hitched and it took her several deep breaths to get herself back under control. Jared almost wished she would break down and cry against him. He would comfort her, talk to her, help her. He suspected she never really opened up about this.
"Do you give him what he wants when he asks for money and other things?" Jared asked, trying to keep his voice gentle.
She didn't say anything and Jared knew the answer. He shook his head. "You can't do that anymore, Amy."
She didn't say anything for several long seconds, then said in a small voice, "But he's my father."
Jared didn't remember his parents. As far as he was concerned, his best friend Vince was mother, father, brother and anything else he needed. Jared acted as the same for Vince. They’d both grown-up as orphaned brats in a motorcycle clubhouse. Though he’d never had it confirmed, Jared suspected that they'd been sold to the club. As children, they'd made excellent drug runners. No one suspected children as young as they'd been. Their sharp wit and fast reflexes were prized by the club.
Unfortunately, as they grew into tall, gangly teens, the club’s use for them dwindled, along with its loyalty.
Jared tried to put himself in Amy’s shoes, tried to imagine having a complete family, with all of its joys and all of its problems. "I understand he's your dad, Amy, but you can't enable him. He'll never learn to take care of himself, never understand what he did to this family as long as you're helping him."
"I know," she said in a small voice. "I just hope he doesn't get out."
Jared decided that he better start looking
into her father's situation. If Michael Funk was at any risk of getting out of prison, Jared wanted to know immediately. It didn't seem likely that a man who murdered his wife would get out after only a couple years, but Jared had seen more fucked up things in his time, so he wouldn't put it past the justice system. People with minor drug charges could rot in jail for 20 years, 30 years, a lifetime, while others, like Amy's father, in for murder, could get out in 10 to 15. Didn't seem fair.
Jared pressed his lips to Amy's head, but didn't say anything. He wanted to make her feel better but refused to lie to her. He wouldn't start their brand-new relationship with any lies.
Instead, he tried for reassuring. "You know you can always talk to me. About anything. I will always listen, and if you want, I'll do what I can to help."
She tipped her head back to look at him, her eyes questioning. She was so achingly beautiful that he just wanted to worship every part of her, wanted to watch her eyes light up with happiness, the clouds of her past drifting away.
"Why do you care so much?" she asked hesitantly, almost as if afraid of the answer.
Jared wanted to use the ‘L’ word, but it wasn't time yet. He didn’t want to freak her out. Besides, he wasn't sure he was ready to say it. He never said it to anyone in his life. Didn't have anyone to say it to except Vince, and Vince wasn't the kind of guy he said something like that to.
"Because I care."
Jared smothered whatever else she intended to say in a long, lingering kiss. As their lips met and a flare of heat erupted between them, the world faded away. It was only the two of them, there on that ratty couch, in a living room littered with children's toys, in a house that had seen more tragedy than any other on the block.
Amy twisted her body until her breasts were pressed against him and she was able to kiss him more fully. Jared didn't hesitate. He crushed her against him, tangling his hand in her hair at the base of her neck and anchoring her to him. His other hand ran up and down her back, hovering just over her ass. As he worked her lips, he slid his hand up under her skirt. He paused for a few seconds and when she didn’t shove his hand away, he continued his upward path, toying with the lacy edge of her panties.
Amy moaned and twisted even more, until she was able to straddle his lap, her knees on either side of him, her crotch pressed down on top of his. She rubbed her covered pussy against the raging hard on he was sporting beneath his jeans. A kaleidoscope of colours shot through Jared's brain, exploding any rational thought he might have had. For a few horrifying seconds, he thought he was going to shoot his load right there in his pants.
Amy's hands roved over his chest and shoulders, then around to his back and up into his hair where she clutched him. Jared wasn't used to this much response in his women. Maybe he'd been doing it wrong, or maybe something was just clicking with Amy. Everything felt so much better. From her kisses, to the press of her breasts, to the wiggle of her hips and ass, to the tight press of her legs on either side of his.
Then, it was his turn to take control. He lifted her right off the couch, swallowing her squeak of surprise, and lowered her down onto her back. He dropped down on top of her, crushing her with his weight and taking her lips in a kiss meant to plunder, steal and ravish. She returned his ardor, kiss for kiss, touch for touch. His brain screamed at him to take her, but the few brain cells he had left, floating around, somewhere towards the back of his head, told him he couldn't fuck her on her living room couch with her siblings only a few rooms away.
He needed to stop.
Amy's hands dove under his shirt and roved up his bare back, raking her nails as she went. He shivered and tipped his head back in ecstasy as pleasure raced through his body, pulling at his balls and making his dick so hard he was sure that it was going to have the permanent stamp of a zipper on the back. He kissed her again, tangling his tongue with hers and drinking her sweetness.
Jared was pretty sure he was supposed to be doing something… something important. Or maybe, it was that he was supposed to not be doing something. So bloody hard to concentrate with Amy's hands feathering their way down to his belt, sliding under his jeans and searching.
Stop! His brain screamed at him. Then he remembered, he couldn't fuck Amy on the couch. But Jesus, if he didn't do something now, she was going to be the one fucking him.
He broke the kiss. "Amy… Amy…." He planned on going for forceful, but he was pretty sure his voice came out as breathless and uncertain.
Finally, her small hand found him, and she wrapped her long, beautiful fingers around his bare cock. Jared's mind went blank as fireworks went off behind his eyelids. He groaned, dropped his head into her neck and held onto the last bit of sanity he could.
"We have to… stop," he groaned.
There, he’d done it. Now it was up to her to be the responsible one and actually stop.
She wiggled her hand further down into his jeans and stroked his balls. Fuck. He was pretty sure this is what it felt like to go insane.
"Amy… sisters." It was all he could manage.
Amy turned her head to the side and looked at him. "You have sisters?"
"No, yours."
She sank her teeth into the side of his neck at the same time as pressing her fingers into the spot between his ball sack and his penis, massaging lightly. He groaned deeply and did exactly what any dude anywhere didn't want to do. He came in his pants.
"Goddammit, mother fucking, holy shit fucker."
"What about my sisters?" she asked innocently, continuing to stroke lightly, running her hand through his cum and spreading it down his penis.
Jared had no idea how he managed to have enough breath left in his lungs to address her question. Somehow, though, he found the ability to speak. "They could come out here and see us."
Amy smirked at him. “Nope, they rarely leave the bedroom after I put them to bed. Besides, I set up the iPad for them. There's no way they're gonna wander out here so long as they have reruns of Kim Possible to watch.”
Jared took several deep breaths, trying to regain a few brain cells. "What the fuck is a Kim Possible?"
Amy laughed and feathered kisses down from his ear to his shoulder blade. "A cartoon chick with who saves the world on a regular basis while keeping up with her education. My sisters love her, they can't get enough."
Jared chuckled and dropped his head against her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. "She sounds badass, like you."
He must've said the right thing, because Amy took a fistful of his hair, dragged his head back and kissed him soundly.
Twelve
The following weeks were some of the best that Amy could remember. Jared came over almost every day, his hands piled high with something new. Either dinner, toys for the girls, or something to make Amy's life easier. It became such a routine that Millie and Sarah would watch out the front window expectantly each afternoon for Jared's arrival home from work. He waved at the girls, going to his place for a shower and then making his way over to theirs.
Even Teagan was beginning to like Jared. Or, more like he met and worshipped Jared's bike. Jared also promised to take him for a ride, which helped ease any potential animosity. Teagan had come home for more clothing to take over to his friend's house and had walked in on Jared and Amy sitting on the sofa watching TV.
At first, he'd been standoffish and angry. His usual attitude. But once the guys started talking bikes, tattoos and other things a teenage boy might be interested in, Teagan loosened up enough to actually have a respectful conversation with Jared.
At first, Amy was surprised at how accommodating Jared was with Teagan, given how pissed off he’d been at the teenager for making Amy's life miserable. But gradually, Amy saw the wisdom in Jared's approach. He took Teagan for a motorcycle ride and Teagan had been hooked on bikes ever since. It was all he wanted to talk about.
Jared promised to show Teagan how to ride by himself but had told the teen it took a great deal of responsibility to own a bike. Jared insisted that Teagan would
have to show him what a responsible person he could be if he was going to learn how to ride.
From that moment forward, Teagan began coming home every day, spending the night more often, even helping Amy around the house without his usual attitude. He was determined to show how responsible he could be.
The only bone of contention between Amy and Jared was her job. Surprisingly, it wasn't her nighttime phone sex job he despised, but her morning job at the factory. He hated that she had to get out of bed so early. Hated that she was treated like a second-class citizen at the factory. But he tolerated her job, telling her that she would be quitting sooner rather than later.
Amy let his words roll off her. She was already so happy she could burst with it, but with that happiness came terror. She'd seen just how badly relationships could end, and though she knew she wasn't her mother and Jared wasn't her father, the whole experience left her nervous about allowing so much happiness in her life. A happy person became a vulnerable person, because that happiness could be taken away.
Today, Amy was meeting Jared's friend Jenna for lunch. When Jared had taken Amy on a tour of one of his job sites, they'd run into Vincent and Jenna. Amy thought that Vince was a big grumpy guy, who was better left alone. Jenna, on the other hand, was sweetness incarnate. She looked sweet, acted sweet, spoke sweet.
Amy was instantly drawn to her and after a long discussion, the two women agreed to meet at the mall for some food and shopping. Jared let Amy take his SUV. In fact, he’d been insisting that she take it more and more often while he rode his bike. She suspected he didn’t like her taking the bus all the time.
"Hi girlie, how goes it?" Jenna waved Amy down in the food court where they’d agreed to meet.
Amy walked toward the other woman, her arms laden with a disgusting amount of fried Chinese food. It wasn't often that she ate this much greasy food, but she and Jared had been doing so much home cooking lately she thought it was time to indulge herself in a treat.
Loving Jared: A Mafia Romance Novella Page 6
