Only the man lying on top of her, making love to her flesh with his enticing mouth.
She slid her fingers into Jared’s hair, relishing the feel of his tongue on her nipple, his teeth grazing the stiff peak. As he sucked and licked, the heat between her thighs simmered, her center tight and aching.
I’ll never get enough of him.
Ari’s body responded instantly to Jared’s every movement, his every caress, her nerves electrifying as he stroked the curve of her ass, his fingers sweeping closer and closer to her wet, throbbing center.
She needed to feel him, to take him in again. To drown the last of her regrets with the blissful drug of his touch, losing herself in the slippery feel of the satin sheets against her back, in the pulsating rhythm of his thrusts as he urged her closer and closer to the edge.
Ari arched her back, brushing against his stiff, rigid length.
Sensing her need, Jared shifted between her thighs. He slid his hands beneath her ass and pulled her close, his thick, beautiful cock rubbing her clit as she cried out in desperate agony.
Jared groaned in response, the low tenor of his voice rippling across the sensitive skin of her breast. He sucked her nipple into his mouth again, teasing and tasting, biting down with just enough pressure to make her writhe.
God, he knows exactly how to drive me crazy…
She arched her back higher, seeking the friction of his cock, but before she found relief he shifted his body away from her. Blazing a trail of hot, wet kisses down her stomach, he worked his way lower, his head dipping between her legs, hands sliding along her thighs and spreading her wide. Her muscles ached, but the pain was exquisite; the memories of Jared spreading her wide and fucking her over the back of the couch sent another hot rush to her core. Jared licked her, slowly tasting her, inhaling her scent. She’d never before been with a man who truly enjoyed eating her pussy.
Jared not only enjoyed it, he craved it like a drug, and she was more than willing to indulge him.
The soft, silky feel of his hair ticked the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, and she ran her fingers through it, fisting it, pulling him closer as he kissed her aching flesh. She didn’t know how much longer this would last, and she wanted to give and take as much as she could; to pull him close, closer, to touch him everywhere, to leave no part of his body unexplored.
Beneath the demanding pressure of his hands, Ari spread herself even wider, the cool air teasing her wet skin. Jared blew a soft breath over her clit, stroking the outer edges of her pussy with the tip of his tongue, tracing the hot lines of her body with slow, delicious precision.
A warm, tingling pressure started at the base of her spine, slowly building, sending shockwaves of pleasure all the way to the top of her scalp.
“You taste so fucking good, woman.” The whisper was like a caress against her sex, a gentle touch that sent shivers up her spine.
Slowly, agonizingly, he ran his hands up the insides of her thighs, his thumbs teasing her outer lips as she begged for more. Jared had always enjoyed making her wait, dragging out his exquisite torment with every breath, every kiss, every delicious stroke of his tongue, but tonight was going to be sheer, delicious torture. They’d gone so long without touching each other, without tasting each other… after the hot, rough sex in the living room, she knew Jared was going to make this moment last all night.
It was a high she couldn’t resist, no matter what the consequences.
Her legs trembled, and without warning he gripped her thighs and crushed his lips against her clit, kissing and sucking, swirling his tongue around the sensitive nub. Ari rocked her hips forward, everything in her tight and throbbing, eyes shut against the world, senses flooded with the scent of his skin, his hair, the cool, slippery sheets beneath her. His tongue swirled again, dipping into her entrance and thrusting inside, spearing her with a white-hot intensity that made stars dance across her eyelids.
“Oh, God,” she whispered, losing herself in the feel of his expert touch, the slide of his tongue as he fucked her with his mouth, the delicious pressure throbbing in her core as her body turned to jelly.
But then he pulled away again, slowly kissing his way back up the length of her body, everything in her tight and ready, thrumming with the promise of bliss she was so close to reaching.
She opened her mouth to speak, to tease, to beg him to bring her over the edge, but instead she only whispered his name.
Tonight wasn’t about begging, wasn’t about their flirty, dirty talk and power games.
It was about being together, feeling every bit of each other, giving in to their desperate longing in any way they could.
Silently, she reached for him, pulling him to her mouth. She brushed a soft kiss against his lips, holding his gaze as he positioned himself at her entrance, whispering his name as he finally slid inside her with a long, slow thrust. Her pussy clenched around him, drawing him deeper inside until he filled her completely.
Ari rocked her hips, finding and then matching his rhythm, her gaze unwavering as their bodies drew together and apart, again and again and again, skin slick with sweat, mouths hot and eager as they tasted and touched, pushed and pulled.
She ran her hands along his back, down to his tight ass, and clutched him closer, harder, his fevered thrusts intensifying, everything inside her slippery and hot.
Once again, Ari felt the muscles in her abdomen tighten as Jared’s cock thickened inside her. She was heading over the edge with no idea where she’d land or how far she’d fall, but she didn’t care. All that mattered right now—her entire fucking world right now—was Jared Blackwell.
“Jared,” she breathed, her eyelids fluttering closed as the wave rose inside… she was weightless, floating, but before the darkness came, before she surrendered to the ecstasy and her eyes shut out the world, Jared cupped her face in his hands and breathed her name like a prayer.
“Open your eyes,” he whispered. When she did, she looked deep into his soulful, honey-brown eyes, and there, shining in the windows to his soul, she saw it.
Love.
He brushed the hair from her face, his other hand finding hers beneath the sheets and holding it tight.
“Stay with me, Arianne Holbrook,” he whispered, his breath urgent and hot on her lips.
Ari nodded, her heart thudding wildly.
“Stay with me,” he whispered again, squeezing her hand like he never wanted to let her go.
Eyes wide open, locked in his intense gaze, Ari’s body clenched, the wave cresting and breaking as Jared plunged inside her with a growl that rumbled from his chest, their mouths seeking desperate kisses as they tumbled headlong together into that final, bruising moment of pure ecstasy.
Ari wasn’t sure how much time had passed, her mind and body drifting in and out of awareness, when suddenly the delicious weight of Jared’s body vanished.
Cool air rushed over her as he lifted the sheet and covered her. She didn’t open her eyes.
Jared stroked a finger along her cheek. In a whisper as soft as powder, he said, “Arianne? Are you awake, love?”
She didn’t move. She didn’t want to respond, to acknowledge him, to even breathe. Because Ari knew what would happen the moment she opened her eyes. Without a doubt, she’d look deep into his eyes and find—where only an hour earlier there’d been unguarded love—the familiar doubts and mistrust.
She couldn’t face it. Not yet. She remained utterly still and silent.
Jared let her be. She felt him shift on the bed, heard him sit up and grab his phone from the night table. He sighed, then tapped out what sounded like an urgent text.
Without sparing her another look, he rose from the bed and headed into the bathroom.
The door clicked shut.
The shower turned on.
And Ari swallowed back her tears, the air in the room going cold in Jared’s absence, her mind confirming the harsh reality of the situation she’d tried all night ignore.
This was a mistake.
/>
Chapter Twenty-One
Dressed in a pair of black leggings and a too-big hoodie she’d found in Jared’s closet, Ari crouched behind a row of manicured bushes outside the FierceConnect office building, carefully dodging the security cameras.
What are you up to, Jared Blackwell?
After his shower, Jared had returned to the bedroom and dressed quickly, pulling on a pair of dark jeans and a thin black sweater that clung to his muscular frame. Dressed for a night out, he leaned in close as if to confirm that she was asleep, then knelt on the floor and lifted the duvet, retrieving a silver briefcase from beneath the bed.
After scribbling a hasty note and tossing it onto the night table, he left.
Gone for a midnight snack. Sleep tight—be back soon.
—J
Ari wasn’t sure what kind of midnight snack required a shower and a silver briefcase, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t tortilla chips and a jar of salsa from the 24-hour deli downstairs.
Late on a Friday night, Duane Street was deserted; she’d caught up with him easily, keeping to the shadows as they made the short walk to his office.
She’d assumed he was meeting Evan, and after ten minutes of waiting, her suspicions were confirmed. The two men exited the front entrance of FierceConnect HQ, Evan now carrying the briefcase, Jared right by his side.
Ari had expected them to hop into a car, but as they reached the sidewalk and turned left, picking up their pace, it was obvious they were heading to their destination on foot—a lucky break for her.
Keeping a safe distance, she moved through the shadows like a cat, following them to the Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall subway station.
In the month or so she’d known Jared, she’d never once seen him take the train. Car services, taxis, his own luxury cars—fine. Jared traveled above ground.
But not tonight.
What are you two up to?
The men hesitated on the stairs, and Ari waited, ducking behind a group of bar-hoppers heading toward the station.
Evan said something, but Ari wasn’t close enough to hear it. Jared nodded and clapped Evan on the shoulder, both of them finally heading underground. Grateful for her MetroCard, Ari quickly followed, swiping herself through the turnstile and finding a good vantage point behind a large stone-and-tile pillar.
Though the platform wasn’t crowded at this out-of-the-way spot, there were still enough late-night workaholics, shift workers, and party-goers that Ari could hide among them in plain sight. As they waited for the 6-train, she watched her boys looking this way and that, keeping the briefcase between them, Evan’s knuckles white as he held the handle in a death grip.
When the train arrived, she waited until the last possible second, hopping into the train car behind the one Jared and Evan had boarded just as the doors swished closed. Once the train started rolling, she slipped out through the back door and grabbed the railing, steadying herself between the cars so she could look through the window and keep the men in her line of vision without being spotted.
They rode through several stations, finally getting off at 23rd Street.
Ari followed them upstairs, and then up Madison Avenue. Jared stopped to pick up a newspaper and candy bar from the newsstand, tossing a few bills on the counter without even glancing up. Then, the men continued walking, making a full loop around the perimeter of Madison Square Park before ending up right back where they started.
They must be meeting someone else.
At the entrance to the park, Jared said something to Evan, gesturing toward a row of benches. Ari wished she could hear them, but there was too much noise—cars honking on Madison, the wail of a police siren, a jackhammer echoing off the buildings at a nearby construction site, the sad cries of a lone saxophone somewhere inside the park.
New York was never quiet, no matter what time of night, what day of the week.
When Jared was finished talking, Evan nodded, his face grim and determined.
Jared clamped a hand over his shoulder, and then they laughed, but Evan still looked nervous. Jittery. Ari had only met him the one time, at the fundraiser at Jared’s estate last month, but the man she remembered was confident and cool. She suspected it had to do with whomever they were meeting, and whatever was in the briefcase—money, most likely. A lot of it.
Suddenly the men split up, Jared taking a seat on a bench where he’d indicated, and opening the newspaper he’d picked up.
Evan headed deeper into the park.
Follow the money.
Leaving Jared to his nightly news, Ari slipped back into the shadows and crept along the path, following Evan to the Reflecting Pool. Save for a handful of people, the place was mostly deserted, and for a brief, frustrating moment, Ari thought she’d lost Evan.
But then, seated on the steps of the Farrugut Monument, the old bronze admiral looming large above them, Evan sat with another man.
Between them, they’d placed the briefcase and some sort of package.
The park was closing up, the few remaining visitors at the Reflecting Pool gathering up their bags. Ari lingered at a small bench, pretending to tie her shoes as the two men chatted amicably several yards away. After just a few minutes, they stood, shook hands, and parted ways, the stranger taking the silver brief case, Evan walking away with a package about four times the size of a shoebox.
Ari retraced her steps back down the path, hoping to end up on the opposite side of where Jared had parked himself so that she could continue spying on them from a safe distance. But when she reached the end and turned around, she collided with a firm, solid, and quite familiar wall of muscle.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Jared said, his tone anything but jovial. He gripped her firmly around the arms, his eyes blazing. In a harsh whisper, he said, “Explain.”
Rage. It was ridiculous, it was unfair, but that’s what she felt, a hot torrent of anger coursing wild and sudden through her blood. He’d brought her home, kissed her, touched her, fucked her senseless, and then—without warning or explanation—he’d snuck off to do a backdoor deal in the middle of Madison Square Park.
“No.” She shook free of his grip, heart pounding madly. Jamming her finger into the brick wall of his chest, she said, “You explain.”
“Good evening, Miss Holbrook,” Evan said, finally catching up. “I wasn’t aware you’d be joining us.” His icy glare and chilly demeanor could only mean one thing.
She cut her eyes back to Jared. “You told him.”
It wasn’t a question, and Jared didn’t deny it.
“There is very little about my life that my best friend doesn’t know,” Jared said. “If we’re going to continue working together, you’d best make yourself comfortable with that.”
“Working together?” she asked.
Ignoring her, Jared asked Evan to show him the goods. Evan gestured toward a nearby bench, setting down the box and removing the lid. After Jared had satisfied his own curiosity with a peek inside, he waved Ari over to take a look.
Warily, Ari peered over his shoulder, her eyes widening at the sight. Fitted snugly into a nest of foam and straw, a gilded statue with the head of a lioness and the body of a woman stared back into Ari’s eyes. Her body was carved with hieroglyphs, spells to aid the royal deceased through his underworld journey.
Ari was shocked. Even without closer inspection, she knew it was authentic.
“So that was our friend Mr. Errington?” she asked, the pieces finally clicking into place.
Jared nodded.
“How much?” she said.
“Two hundred thousand,” Jared said. “Cash.”
Ari let out a low whistle. “Personally, I wouldn’t have paid half that, but to each his own.”
“Do you recognize it?” Jared asked.
“This? Sure. It’s Sekhmet,” Ari said. Despite the circumstances, she couldn’t help but be awed by the beautiful carving, the gold overlay shimmering in the darkness as if it had its own life force. “Part of the vast Eg
yptian pantheon, a powerful goddess whose breath was said to cause the desert winds. I don’t know much about the cult, but her bloodlust was legendary.”
“Fitting,” Evan said.
“Authentic?” Jared asked.
“One hundred percent,” Ari said. “This piece was discovered in the tomb of King Tut, and was reported missing from the museum at Cairo in the seventies. Authorities believed one of the workers stole it, but they could never prove it.”
“Cairo?” Jared said. “I was hoping it might be from the cache you told me about. Your father’s—”
“Sorry to rain on your parade.”
“But you said there were several statues of Sekhmet. Bronze, faience, gilded—”
“Do you know how many Egyptian antiquities are floating around on the black market?” Ari closed the box and turned away, her frustration mounting. “Jesus, Jared. You can buy a royal mummy if you know the right people.”
“Is that true?” Evan asked. Ari had nearly forgotten his presence.
Jared scoffed. “Forgive me for not knowing the quote unquote right people in your vast underground network.”
“You can really buy a mummy?” Evan said. “How much do they—”
Ari cut him off with a look that could shatter glass. Evan held up his hands and took a few steps backward, finally settling himself on the bench next to the lioness.
Jared sighed. “Fine. It was a long shot, granted.”
“You spent two hundred grand on a long shot?” Arianne laughed. “I’m selling a bridge in Brooklyn, if you’re interested.”
“I might be, if I thought for a moment it would help our case against the man who likely wants you and your sister dead.”
Jared’s words found their target, piercing Ari’s heart with stunning accuracy.
She shoved her hands into the sweatshirt pockets, folding in against herself. What could she say to that? He was right, and with just a week left before the planned heist, she hadn’t come up with any other ideas, anything that could get them closer to nailing Davidson.
Bared to the Billionaire: The Complete Series Page 35
