by Scott, J. S.
Mara’s heart felt like a large fist was wrapping around it and holding it in a crushing grip. “So you were trying to save me?” Sweet Jesus. He’d been trying to save her life even back then. “What were you going to do with the house?”
“I had no fucking idea. I don’t need another place in Amesport. It would have had to go through costly renovation or come down.” He was silent for a moment before he added, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. Once I fell completely in love with you, I didn’t want you to hate me. Once you said you loved me, I was terrified that you wouldn’t love me anymore.”
She felt like her heart was completely exploding, the pressure unbearable. “I’ll always love you, Jared,” she choked out. Getting up, she pushed their coffee to the center of the table and straddled him on the chair. “You love me?” Even now, Mara longed to finally hear the words.
He grasped both sides of her head so she’d look directly at him. “Jesus, woman, if you haven’t figured that out by now, I don’t know how else to show you how much I love you. When you left the reception today, I was more afraid of losing you than I’ve ever been scared of anything. I need you, Mara. I love you so damn much that I can’t fucking breathe.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I was scared, too. Loving a man this much is frightening,” she whispered as she lowered her mouth to his.
Snaking his arm behind her head, he took control of the embrace immediately, ravaging her mouth with such ferocity and desperation that Mara could do nothing except wrap her arms around his neck and hold on. He conquered. Controlled. Adored. Loved.
Wrenching his mouth away from hers, he growled, “I love you, dammit. I love you.”
“Show me,” she panted.
He stood, taking her body with him, and Mara lowered her feet to the ground. He stripped her quickly, lowering the zipper on her dress and letting it drop to the floor.
“Christ!” he cursed in a low, predatory voice. “If I would have known this was beneath this dress, I would have fucked you before we ever left home.”
“You like?” she teased, glad that Jared appreciated her sexy lingerie, black thong panties with a matching garter belt and stockings. She tore at his clothing, divesting him of his jacket, shirt, and the accessories of the tuxedo. Once he was bare from the waist up, she stroked her palms lovingly over his chest, savoring the rippling muscles as she moved her hand lower.
“No,” he growled as Mara reached for the zipper of his pants.
Tossing their coffee cups into the sink with a loud clatter, he lifted her onto the kitchen table, his hands immediately reaching for her bare breasts. “These have haunted me all day. All I could think about was getting you out of this damn dress so no other man could see what was mine.” His mouth closed over her nipple, biting gently before laving it with his tongue.
Mara clutched his hair, urging him for more. He gave it to her, his mouth alternating from breast to breast, teasing them both until they were so sensitive it was almost unbearable.
Finally, Jared straightened, his hungry gaze fixed on her. Mara felt wanton and beautiful, her sexy, lingerie-clad body sprawled out on the kitchen table, Jared’s hungry eyes devouring her. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said fiercely, his fingers stroking lightly over the silk panties. “And you’re so wet for me.”
“No teasing,” she begged. “I need you today.”
“You have me forever,” Jared pledged gruffly. “I hope you’re not too attached to these panties.” One hard tug pulled them from her body, a loud ripping noise audible as the material gave way to Jared’s considerable strength.
His fingers stroked through her welcoming heat, sliding against her clit.
“Jared. Please,” she pleaded, writhing on the table.
He unzipped his pants and liberated his cock, using the head to tease her clit. “You’re mine, Mara. Say it,” he commanded.
“Yes. Yes. I love you, and I’m yours,” she whimpered.
“I love you,” he groaned, plunging deeply inside her, his hands gripping her hips as he slid her ass to the edge of the table.
“Oh, God. You feel so good.” Mara thrust her hips forward, savoring the feel of him inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, needing him even closer.
“I’m claiming you. No more bullshit about me not making you mine,” he said gutturally as he slammed into her again.
“You’re mine, too,” Mara asserted with a loud moan.
“Always, baby.” He started moving inside her faster, harder.
The spiral in her belly started to unfurl, tension spreading to every part of body. “Yes. Fuck me, Jared. Hard.”
He pumped into her with an intensity that took her breath away. Panting for air, she moaned as her sheath started to spasm, clamping down on his cock. She splintered as Jared pounded in and out of her unceasingly, no mercy, his fingers searching and finding her clit. He stroked over the tiny bundle of nerves as she shattered screaming his name. “Jared!”
He pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her protectively, lovingly. “I love you, sweetheart. Never forget. Never forget,” he insisted, the muscles in his neck straining as he let out a tortured groan.
Wrapping her arms around him, she dug her nails into his back as she milked him of his orgasm, her body trembling against his.
“Mark me, Mara,” he growled carnally, spearing his hand into her hair and burying his face in her locks.
Primitive instinct surrounded them, and she finally stopped clutching at his back and leaned against him, spent.
They stayed that way for moments or hours. Mara felt like time was standing still as they clung to each other, both of them gasping for breath.
“I love you,” she told him breathlessly, her voice muffled against his chest.
“I love you, too, baby. But I’ll never be able to look at this table without getting hard,” he rumbled, his voice sounding amused.
Mara laughed, hugging him harder against her body. “Are we going back to the guest house? I have no clothes here.”
“No. No more guest house. We can work there, but I want you in my bed where you belong.”
Her heart soared with joy. “Yes. Please.”
“Fuck it. I’ll bring your stuff here later. You aren’t going to need any clothes for a while.”
Lifting her off the table, her legs still around his waist, Jared carried her up the stairs and to his bed.
Mara sighed against his shoulder, knowing the emptiness and loneliness she’d felt since her mom had gotten sick were finally gone forever.
“You’re going to marry me. Soon,” Jared demanded as he dropped her gently on his bed.
Her pulse raced as she looked up at him. “I think we’ve had this discussion before. You didn’t ask.” She was teasing him just like she’d done the first time he’d gone to the market and demanded she spend the day with him, but once again she saw a quick flash of vulnerability in his intense green eyes before it disappeared. She had to wonder all over again if he demanded because he was afraid she’d say no. “I guarantee I’m a sure thing if you ask,” she told him softly.
“Well, will you?” He parroted exactly what he’d said at the market that day, a grin starting to spread across his face as he relaxed and teased her back.
She beamed at him. “I’d love to, Jared. Thank you.” She repeated the same words she’d said to him at the market.
His grin grew even broader as he climbed onto the bed and crawled toward her, stalking her. She squealed as he pounced, trapping her body beneath his powerful form.
“Now that I know you’ll say yes, I’ll ask you for real. Will you marry me, Mara? I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy.” He was still smiling, but his eyes were predatory and filled with adoration. And love.
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you. I love you.” Mara’s heart was p
ounding as she gazed back at him, knowing her heart was in her eyes, too. “You’ve already made me happier than I ever dreamed I could be.” She reached up and smoothed back an errant lock of hair from his forehead lovingly. “You love me, and that alone gives me more joy than anything else in the world.”
She could feel his heated breath on her face as he started to lower his head. “Then prepare yourself to become completely elated, sweetheart, because I know damn well I’ll love you more and more every damn day, every time I touch you or see you smile at me.”
She smiled at him tremulously. “Lay it on me. I think I can take it.” She could more than take it; she’d be wallowing in it.
“I’m planning to start working on it right now,” he said huskily as his mouth covered hers with a tender passion that rocked her to the depths of her soul.
Mara was more than elated. She was completely ecstatic as Jared proceeded to show her how much he loved her, and she gave herself up to him completely, giving all the love he gave to her right back to him.
They both had a lot of catching up to do when it came to truly being loved, but Mara wasn’t worried as they spent the rest of the day and night together doing nothing but trying to make up for lost time. They had a lifetime now, and it would be filled with nothing but love.
EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
Mara sighed as she watched her husband hammering nails into a board in the new interior of what used to be her old home, ogling him openly as she watched the powerful muscles in his arms and back flex. He was sweating even though it was winter, shirtless because of the manual labor he was doing at the moment.
Unaware of her presence, he kept working, and Mara kept watching, still wanting to pinch herself to make her believe that the life she was living now was actually real and not a very lovely dream.
A whimsical smile passed over her face when the glitter of the enormous diamond wedding ring on her hand winked at her as she lifted her hand to pull the warm knit cap from her head. She’d just come from her new site, situated right outside of town, an enormous warehouse and shop that produced and sold the products for Mara’s Kitchen. The small business she and Jared had started had grown into a monster in a very short amount of time, and her products were now in demand all across the country, her consumer list growing larger every day.
She had more employees than she could count, and a huge storefront that was managed by a lovely woman who she worked with on a daily basis. Jared was already searching out more sites for the business because it was growing so fast, and the demand was already getting too high for just one large site. The products were currently being produced in a special kitchen with commercial equipment in the enormous warehouse that was separate from the shop. Even though she had plenty of employees, Mara still supervised the production kitchen and the shop every day, never wanting her product to lose its original taste or appeal because it was being produced in mass with commercial equipment.
The presence of a large, new business had brought incredible economic growth to Amesport, employing many people who needed jobs. For Mara, that was one of her greatest accomplishments.
As she eyed her husband hungrily, she knew Jared was her greatest asset and always would be, no matter how large her business grew in the future. She could live without the business; she couldn’t live without him.
Just like he’d promised, he did seem to love her more and more every single day. So much so that they’d both had a hard time parting in the morning since he’d started work on rebuilding the house, doing some of the manual labor himself.
Jared had needed to make a few short business trips for his commercial real estate business since they’d gotten married, and separation for even a few days had been excruciatingly painful for both of them. Maybe it was the newness of their love, or maybe it was just because they were addicted to each other and couldn’t bear to be apart. Now that she had so much competent staff, if he needed to go away, she tried to arrange to travel with him.
I love you even more today. I miss you.
That text appeared on her cell phone every day without fail while she was working at Mara’s Kitchen, and her heart never ceased to skitter every time she saw it, and she quickly texted back.
I love you. I miss you, too.
Today, his text had been different, throwing her off balance.
I love you even more today. I need you.
He’d never texted that he needed her, and the slight difference had put her senses on high alert. She handed everything over to her manager and left Mara’s Kitchen early, suddenly needing to see Jared, to assure herself that everything was okay.
Now that she was here, she could see that her husband looked fine in more ways than one, and she wondered if she’d just panicked for nothing.
She removed her jacket and gloves, dropping them onto a newly built countertop by a beautiful, large window. Jared had done a complete teardown on the old, burned-down structure and had started over again. He was building a replica of the old house, trying to duplicate everything to resemble the same model and period of the previous residence. The majority of the house was up, and there was heating and wiring installed, but many of the details on the inside still needed to be completed. Eventually, Jared wanted to make the old home a museum, displaying antique items to tell the history of Amesport. She’d cried like a baby on the day he’d shown her the plaque he planned on designing, dedicating the museum in memory of her mother and her gran because her family had spent so much time on this small plot of land.
Mara kept her eyes glued to his muscular back as she moved toward him anxiously, needing to touch him.
I need you.
It wasn’t like Jared didn’t tell her that all the time, but he’d never changed his text. They’d been married for five months, having an even hastier wedding than Sarah and Dante had put together. Evan had come back for their wedding, as had Hope and Jason. A few months later, Jason had brought Hope back to live in Amesport permanently, and she and Hope had become extremely close. Actually, she’d become good friends with Sarah, Emily, and Randi, too, all of the women—including her now-healed best friend, Kristin—getting together as often as possible.
I have family again. Lots of family and friends.
It didn’t matter that none of them were blood related. Mara had quickly discovered that once you became a Sinclair by marriage, or were taken under their wing, you were family to them. And oh, it felt good to have brothers and sisters, something she’d never had before, people she knew she could count on to support her through anything.
Mara carefully slipped her arms around Jared, hugging him from behind after he’d put down his hammer. “Hello, handsome,” she purred against his back.
“Hey, sweetheart. You’re early.” He turned instantly and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sweaty and I probably smell,” he warned her huskily.
“I happen to love you hot and sweaty.” Visions of the many times he’d been hot and perspiring with exertion from making her come until she screamed floated through her mind. She inhaled his musky scent, the erotic images becoming more vivid. She had plenty of those memories due to Jared’s insatiable desire to make her come. Not that she was complaining.
“I love you that way, too. Wanna work up a sweat with me?” he asked hopefully as he moved his hands down the back of her sweater.
She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “Are you okay?” She could see that he was fine, but the sense that something was troubling him still lingered.
He hesitated a moment before replying, “Yeah. I’m good. Why?”
I need you.
She shook her head slowly, realizing she’d overreacted. “Your text was different today. I thought you needed me, so I left early.”
Jared pulled back for a minute to dig into his pocket for his cell phone. He stared at it for minute before he replied, “I guess
I typed what I was feeling at the moment. It is different.” He frowned as he looked up at her with an intense expression. “I can’t believe you even noticed.” He put the phone back into his pocket.
She tried to explain. “It wasn’t just the words. After I read them, it was like I sensed . . . something.”
Jared released a masculine sigh. “I was thinking about an idea I’d been considering right before I texted you.”
“What?”
“Since I’ve been working on this house, I realize how much I miss doing this. I know I’m only doing a replica, and I’m not doing all the work myself, but I miss working to restore history. I got a crazy idea to stop my commercial real estate business and start up a new venture.”
Mara’s heart skipped a beat. Did he want to go back to his original passion? “You want to start restoring old homes again?”
He shrugged. “It was just a thought, and not very realistic. How can I relinquish control of a business that makes billions now to go into a new one that’s not going to make a ton of money?”
“Very easily,” Mara said fiercely, wrapping her arms around his neck. “We have billions, Jared. You don’t need to make even more money. Are you ready to go back to restoring old homes again?” She wanted this for him desperately, but only if it would make him happy.
He grinned at her. “You’re willing to watch me let go of a corporate life to restore old homes?”
