by Mari Carr
With her heart racing and her breath coming in quick, shallow pants, Hayley looked into his eyes, so close to hers and so angry.
She was terrified. Too paralyzed to move, she struck back with the weapon that saved her with Wilshire—her words. “Afraid? Of you? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any demons. I just don’t want to get married.”
Jack laughed again, but this time it was cold, mirthless. “No fear? Then you should have no trouble repeating your earlier statement.” Leaning closer, his lips almost touched hers. “Tell me you love me, Hayley. Say it and mean it.”
Full-blown panic rose in her chest. She’d never said those words to anyone—ever. Not Marian, not the June girls, no one. “Jack,” she started, but she couldn’t speak another word. The damned familiar lump formed in her throat again and she struggled to catch her breath.
“Look at you,” he said. “You’ve lost all the color in your face and you’re trembling. You faced death with more bravery than you face love. Come on, firebrand. You’ve already said the words. I’m simply asking to hear them again.”
“Get away from me, you big bully!” She attempted to push him away, but he was immovable and her strength had not yet returned. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why? Can’t you tell? Look at me, Hayley. Really look at me.” He shook the bed around her as he spoke. “I’m as big a coward as you.”
His last words, spoken so quietly she could hardly hear them, caused her to cease her struggles. Looking into his face, she could see the truth. He was also having trouble breathing and what she had earlier thought was anger, now looked more like fear and something else. Something she didn’t recognize. She closed her eyes, unwilling to look.
“Oh, no you don’t.” His hand gripped her chin. “Open your eyes. See what you’ve done to me.”
Slowly, she lifted her gaze and saw what she had been afraid to find—love. Jack truly loved her. He’d said it before, but she hadn’t believed it, not really. Now she knew it as surely as she knew herself. She braced herself for the oncoming panic attack, but it didn’t come. Instead, she felt warm inside.
“Jack,” she said softly, but found there were no words. She reached up to touch his face, running her fingertips along his lips. Her hand broke the last of his restraint. His entire body came down on hers as he took her mouth in a kiss that was surprisingly gentle, despite the passion behind it.
Even in his ardor, he was cognizant of her injuries. Hayley responded, kiss for kiss. Their tongues battled while their hands ran deeply through each other’s hair. The kiss seemed to last for hours, during which she scarcely remembered to breathe. Jack softened the kiss and began to pull away.
“No,” she said, clinging to him. “Don’t stop.”
He kissed her lightly on the end of her nose. “Hayley, if I don’t stop now, I won’t stop.”
He attempted to rise, but her grip around his neck tightened.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered.
“I have to. Your body needs time to recover. So does this.” He tapped her head lightly. “And this,” he said, touching her heart.
Jack climbed out of the bed and walked across the room to gaze out the window. “I don’t want to hurt you. I love you very much. And before this relationship progresses any further, we are going to have to establish some rules.” His deep voice returned to its arrogant, captain-like tone.
“Rules?”
“Yes. First of all, I want to hear you say you love me again. Say it and mean it,” he demanded.
Taking a deep breath, she whispered, “I love you.”
Jack smiled. “Say it again.”
Grinning, she said it louder. “I love you, Jack Campbell. Now stop being such a demanding ass and tell me what the rest of these rules are.”
“I want you to stay with me, here, in this time. Not just for the remainder of the year, but forever. I can’t touch you, Hayley, and then let you leave. If you can’t commit to me, it would be better not to go any further, although frankly, we’ve already gone too far.”
She wasn’t surprised by this condition. He’d asked her to stay before. She’d dismissed his request without much thought. The idea of giving up so much, while giving someone so much power over her had terrified her at the time. Could she give up Whoppers with cheese, hot showers and her VW Bug? Yes, she could. And quite easily, too.
The thought of staying with Jack didn’t seem like a power struggle so much as it just felt right. She’d never met anyone like him and she didn’t know how she could face one day, let alone a lifetime without him.
“Okay, fine. I’ll stay.”
“Really?” he asked. “You mean that? You understand what that means?”
“Yes, I understand,” she replied. “I want to stay with you. Forever.”
The smile he flashed was so bright, Hayley knew without a doubt she’d made the right decision. She could easily spend every day of the rest of her life looking at that smile.
“Is that all?” Hayley asked. “No more conditions, rules, laws, etc.?”
“There is one more. I want to marry you.” He approached the bed until he was standing beside her again. With his last words, he knelt on the rug and took her hand. “You’ve sworn you’ll never marry, but Hayley, that’s the only way we can be together. I won’t make you my mistress. There can be no twenty-first century understanding. I want you to be with me, mine—legal and binding.”
Hayley flinched at the last comment, until he continued.
“Just as I will be yours—legal and binding. Will you marry me, Hayley?”
Hayley looked at her hand held tightly in his. His proposal didn’t frighten her as much as she thought it would. For the first time in her life, she had found a man she truly trusted with her heart. Jack would never hurt her, never be cruel, never raise a hand to harm her.
While they may disagree vigorously over her freedom and his arrogance, they would never try to change each other. She enjoyed their heated discussions because he challenged her without threatening her safety. He wouldn’t beat her like her father beat Marian. He wouldn’t try to hurt her like Wilshire. He loved her…and she loved him. That was all that mattered.
“Yes,” she said, her voice breaking. “I’ll marry you.”
With a loud whoop, he swept her out of the bed and into his arms, spinning her around.
“It’s about damn time,” he shouted. “You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met.”
“Don’t blame me.” Hayley laughed, clinging to his neck as they twirled. “I had to think long and hard about hitching my wagon to your arrogant, demanding horse for all time. You didn’t make it an easy decision.”
The spinning slowed to a stop. “Ah, my fault, I should have realized.”
Hayley reached up on tiptoe and kissed him. “Just say that after every argument and we’ll have a long and happy marriage.”
Walking back to the bed, he laid her down, tucking her under the covers.
“Jack,” she said, pulling him down to her. “Make love to me.”
“It’s too soon,” he replied. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me,” she said softly. “I need you.”
Weeks of wanting him, desiring him, touching him—had worn down all of her defenses. She had agreed to stay, to marry him. She was his and she needed him more than she’d ever needed anyone in her life.
When he didn’t move, Hayley took the initiative, sitting up and pulling her shirt off. The sight of the fading bruises on her breasts left him visibly shaken. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to kiss away all the pain her ordeal had caused him. She wanted him to make love to her so she could replace all their fears and bad memories with pleasure.
She laid her hand on his cheek. “Now, Jack. I need you now.”
The dam broke and all his doubts seemed to wash away as he gently pushed her back on the bed, kissing her lips, invading her mouth with his tongue.
They kis
sed for minutes, hours, days. Time stood still for them. Slowly, he trailed his lips to her cheek, nipping her earlobe with his teeth, before moving along to her neck.
She grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head; so that she could touch his chest, his back, feel the muscles of his arms. He was glorious and strong and he was hers—now, forever.
When his lips moved to her breasts, a soft moan escaped her lips. Feeling his smile against her skin, she ran her fingers through his thick hair. Lightly, he ran his tongue over her nipples, causing them to bud. He took one in his mouth and began to softly suckle. Hayley felt the familiar tingle he created within her begin. She became anxious for more, for all.
He played with her breasts as if he had the rest of his life to make love to her. He didn’t share her sense of urgency, but instead tried to make the moment last an eternity.
“Please, Jack.” She was desperate to have him inside her.
He began to kiss her lips again. “Patience, firebrand,” he murmured against her lips.
“No,” she argued. “Now. Please, now.”
He chuckled until her hands slipped lower. She started to undo the buttons on his breeches, as he sucked in a huge breath. Freeing him from the pants, she grasped him in both hands, slowly moving to cup his balls, then pulling one hand back up to the smooth head. With her fingers, she found a small drop of liquid at the end and slowly rubbed it around and around.
“You’re right,” he growled, pulling her hands away and rising from the bed. “Now.” He removed his pants before crawling into the bed beside her. She wrapped her hands around his neck as his kisses took on a frantic pace. His fingers briefly touched her breasts, before moving down her stomach, sliding through her hair to find her sex.
Hayley was hot and wet and it was all he could do to keep from pushing into her. Running his fingers around her clit, he found the spot that made her squirm.
“Jack,” she said, breathlessly.
“We have to go slow, firebrand,” he whispered between kisses. “It’s your first time. I want the pain be as little as possible.”
“I am one giant mass of cuts and bruises and believe me, this waiting hurts worse than all of them put together. Do it now.”
“Damn it, woman. We’re doing things my way for once.” He kissed her quickly in an attempt to cut off any reply she may have.
His fingers probed at her pussy and he slid one finger in. She was tight, too tight. He would never enter her without causing some discomfort. Her hips rose to meet his finger, her inner muscles contracting around it. Sliding another finger in, Jack knelt, parting her thighs with his legs.
He matched the rhythm of his fingers to that of his tongue, dancing with hers in a passionate kiss. With his thumb, he rubbed her clit.
He stroked her, building pressure and speed until she leapt from the cliff, giving in to her orgasm. She climaxed hard, her muscles clenching so tightly on Jack’s fingers, he feared he wouldn’t be able to make it inside her before he came.
Removing his fingers, he positioned himself over her body. She was wet, hot, relaxed. Ready. Slowly, he began his journey to heaven. He paused when he felt the constriction of her maidenhead, mumbling curses over what he was about to do. Then he looked into the clear, beautiful brown eyes of his firebrand and saw complete trust and love. He smiled as he pushed through the barrier and completely into her, sunk to the hilt.
The contact of their gazes never broke. Then, Jack froze, studying her face, until she smiled and moved beneath him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear.
“No, you aren’t.” She drew him into a light kiss, sprinkled with their shared, soft laughter.
The dance began again as they moved together, in and out, up and down. Neither breaking the connection of their eyes or their bodies. When Jack felt as though he would burst, he reached down to touch her, determined to bring her with him.
When the moment arrived, however, he realized it was Hayley who brought him with her. Her pussy muscles contracted against him, massaging him, carrying him to a climax so overwhelming, he felt light-headed. As he emptied his seed deep into her body, Jack knew the universe had corrected itself when it sent her back to him.
Epilogue
June 2009
Come for me.
The late afternoon sun shone down on her face as she sighed heavily. Alone under the oak tree, Tori thought back to happier times—summers filled with laughter, shopping excursions, hiking, sleeping under the stars and sharing secrets. Summers with Hayley and Erin. The same familiar lump formed in her throat, the same ache in her chest as she thought about her friends and how much she missed them.
The trip to the tree had been deliberate and thought out. Tori was tempting fate, daring the same unknown force that had snatched her friends to come and take her as well.
Come for me.
Unfortunately, all the day had brought her thus far was sunburned shoulders and a sore bum from sitting on the hard ground. For the past two hours, she’d been telling herself to give up, to go home, but still she sat—determined to stay all night if need be. She had spent an entire year anxiously waiting for this day. The day her questions would be answered.
This time, this year, it was her turn. She refused to be the one left behind. The one struggling on her own. The past year had been pure hell and her friends were going to come back for her. Sheer force of will would make it so. Silently begging—she repeated the same words over and over.
Come for me, come for me, come for me.
As she whispered the words, the tree began to tremble.
The End
Preview the next book
No Regrets
June Girls, Book 2
“Didn’t Mrs. Henry tell you to stay away from here?”
Surprised by the malice in his tone, she took a small step backwards before nodding.
“Then why are you here?” His face was twisted with anger.
“I—” She stumbled, fear beginning to course in her blood. “I was w-worried about you.”
A harsh bark of a laugh cut the silence of the room.
“Worried?” he asked sarcastically.
“Yes.” She glanced at the door, feeling very much like Chelsea must have only minutes earlier. Desperate for escape.
“Oh.” He slowly rose from his chair. “Yes, you should be worried, but not for me.” His clothes were wrinkled as if he’d slept in them. His white shirt hung open at the neck and, as he approached her, she was able to make out the lightest smattering of dark hair on his chest. His feet were bare, except for his stockings, and she worried about him cutting himself on the broken glass on the floor. His hair was disheveled as if he’d tried to pull it all out.
“I’m sorry I disturbed you.” She wished she had taken Mrs. Henry’s words more closely to heart. This man towering over her was not the Ben she’d come to consider a friend. He was a cold stranger who oozed danger through every pore on his body. “I can see you aren’t in the mood for company tonight.”
“Yes,” he hissed. “Sorry. You should be sorry. You were warned.”
“I’ll leave.” She turned quickly for the door.
“Oh no.” He roughly grabbed her shoulders preventing her from taking a step. He lowered his face until it was only inches from hers. His dark eyes bore into hers with an intensity that stole her breath. This man was not a friend. She shivered in his grasp as she looked into the eyes of a stranger, a madman.
“Ben,” she whispered, hoping to dispel the anger in his eyes, the violence in his face, the powerful grip of his hands.
“You were warned and now you must pay the penalty.” Before she could reply, his lips descended to hers in a painful kiss. His grip on her shoulders tightened as he held her still for his assault. She struggled to turn her face away, but he moved his hands to her cheeks, refusing to allow her retreat.
His lips roughly ground into hers, his tongue pounding into her mouth, his teeth nipping her lower lip
until she could taste the bitter metallic flavor of her own blood. She shoved against him with all her might, but her slight strength was no match for his power.
She began to fight back in earnest, pummeling his chest with her fists, as he continued to back her against the wall, his mouth relentlessly attacking hers while his hands moved to capture her head in an even more forceful grip. Roughly, he pulled the pins from her hair, the sound of each one hitting the floor like another nail being driven into her coffin as he continued his assault. She was defenseless against his might and for the first time since she’d met Ben, she was truly terrified of him.
Her soft whimper of alarm and violent shaking must have broken through his crazed mind as he slowly softened the kiss. His grip loosened as he brought his arms slowly around her back in an almost gentle embrace. His tongue, when it touched her this time, attempted to soothe the damage he’d wrought on her lips, as if he were trying to heal the wounds he had inflicted. The power of the previous kiss was gone, replaced now by lips that gently caressed hers.
The fear that had permeated her body fled, replaced by something perilously close to raw desire. Her clenched fists opened as she slid her arms over his muscular shoulders to wrap them around his neck. Driven on by her sudden capitulation, his hands roved over her body, caressing her everywhere, desperately, as if she were about to vanish from his sight forever. No part of her was safe from his frantic, tender exploration. Her back, bottom, waist, breasts, stomach were all touched with a compassion and adoration she would never have suspected given his frightening mood. Shocked by the force of her own desires, she was helpless to resist. Her own cravings replaced the fear and uncertainty. She wanted this. She wanted him.
His hands returned to her head, soothing her scalp where he’d roughly pulled her hair before, clasping her cheeks gently, almost reverently in his large palms and the kiss turned even softer, his lips barely brushing hers in a wordless plea for forgiveness.
He worshipped her mouth as his hands slid through her long silken tresses savoring the feel of each strand. She mimicked the motion with her own hands as she ran her fingers through the soft, thickness of his hair, pulling him closer to her, unwilling to allow him to remove his lips from hers.
