She would definitely be ready when he returned.
Jared returned ten minutes later. Ten minutes on the nose and not one second more.
He opened his door and stepped into the darkened room. He couldn’t help but be amused as he switched on a light. Dana must have figured her scent would give her away so she had liberally sprayed his suite with the perfume she’d been wearing.
He glanced around the room and noticed her sandals were by his sofa. Evidently she had kicked them off there. He walked over and picked one up. They were pretty and boy did she have small feet, sexy feet. He placed the shoe back down and glanced at the sofa. It seemed her shoes weren’t the only thing she had left behind. He picked up the scarf she’d worn around her waist.
He glanced around, his ears on alert. The door connecting their suites was open. He crossed the room to go into hers. It was dark and he turned on a lamp. His gaze looked around, nothing looked amiss, and there wasn’t a sound to be heard. And the scent of her perfume was in this room, as well. He walked out of the bedroom to the sitting area. He looked down in front of the sofa and blinked. There in a pool on the floor was her dress.
His breath caught exactly the same moment his arousal thickened. This was definitely one hell of a game she was playing. He hadn’t expected it to take this turn so quickly, but he wasn’t complaining. He had told her that he would leave it up to her to let him know if and when she was ready to take their relationship to another level. This was her way of letting him know she was ready.
Now it was his job to find her.
He was the hunter and would find his prey. With a determined purpose he walked across the room to the small kitchen that had a breakfast bar and table. He opened a closet door and found it empty.
He then retraced his steps back to her bedroom and went to check out her bathroom. He found it almost empty. A red lace bra was hanging from a light in the ceiling. He reached up and pulled it down.
He was getting hot.
Walking back to her room he got on his knees and looked under the huge king-size bed and found nothing. He looked in the closet and came up empty. He opened the French doors and walked out on the balcony. It was bare.
Frustration, added to intense arousal, wasn’t a good thing. The pressure of his erection against his pants was almost killing him. When he found Dana she would pay dearly for this torture. He walked back through the connecting door into his suite and glanced around. The bedroom door was closed and he distinctly remembered it being open when he’d left.
An enticing possibility flooded his mind, made his body harden even more as he slowly crossed the room. He glanced down the moment he reached for the doorknob and saw red lace. Leaning down he picked it up. It wasn’t much, barely a scrap, but he definitely knew what it was and where it came from.
Bringing the item to his nose he inhaled Dana’s scent, a different one than the perfume. It was a womanly scent that was all hers. Privately. Exclusively. Deciding that she definitely wouldn’t need it anymore tonight, he slipped her thong into his back pocket. Slowly opening the bedroom door, he walked into darkness and closed the door behind him.
Dana held her breath. Jared had finally found her. Not that she had done a good job at hiding. She thought she had made it easy for him but evidently she hadn’t.
She had known the exact moment he had returned and had heard every step he’d taken around the room. She’d known when he had searched her suite and when he had returned to his own. And now he was here, in his bedroom, and she was in his bed, totally naked and waiting for him.
Her mind was made up, her decision final, with no regrets. When he walked away she would have reminders of this night. They would be memories that would last her a lifetime because she knew whatever he did, Jared never did anything halfway. He was meticulously thorough and methodically efficient.
“I know you’re in here, Dana,” he whispered huskily in the darkened room. “And ready or not, here I come.”
She heard his footsteps, slow, yet determined. She heard the sound of his breathing, quick and uneven. She almost held her breath when he came closer and closer to the bed. She felt his presence and smelled his masculine scent.
And when he switched on the lamp, bathing the room with a soft translucent glow, their gazes connected. Held. Then slowly, his gaze drifted from her face and moved downward to the sheet that covered her nude body. Then it moved back up to her face. It was a while before he spoke.
“I found you,” he said in a raspy voice that was so husky it stirred heat all over her skin. “So what do I get?”
She paused a moment before saying, “Anything you want.”
A hint of a smile touched his lips. Intense desire darkened his eyes. “Anything?”
“Yes, anything.”
He continued to hold her gaze. “Are you sure?” he asked moments later.
“Positive.”
His sensuous smile deepened. “And you’re ready?” he asked, wanting to be doubly sure that she was. Once he began making love to her, he would be hard-pressed to stop. Unable to help himself he reached out and pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen in her face. He needed to touch her, connect with her on any level.
“Yes, I’m ready.”
“With no regrets?”
She inhaled slowly. Knowing what he was asking and why. Nothing had changed. Sooner or later, possibly even sooner, depending on the results of his mother’s surgery, he would be walking out of her life. She knew it. Had accepted it. And would be prepared when it happened.
But she wanted to seize the moment. Celebrate life. With him. “There won’t be any regrets, Jared. I knew the score going into this game.”
She then slowly eased up, letting the sheet fall away, hearing his sharp intake of breath when it did so. Getting on her knees she brushed her hand against his chest and moved slowly downward to feel the hard planes of his stomach. “Are we going to talk all night or are we going to get on with what we’ve wanted for quite a while?”
He reached out and traced a path around her nipple with his finger, teasing the darkened tip. “And what is it that you think we’ve wanted?”
“Some of each other.”
“Some?”
Her lips smiled with warm confidence. “Okay, I stand corrected. All of each other.”
Without giving her the chance to draw her next breath, Jared pulled her into his arms and covered her mouth with his, igniting an explosion of passion between them. He kissed her with hungry intensity. It seemed as if a dam had burst, emotions were flooding and there was no one around to fix it.
Dana’s arms came around him and held on, taking everything he had to give and wondering how she had denied herself for so long. Jared was a special man who had always treated her like a lady. And for that she would always be eternally grateful.
He slowly released her and stepped back. Her legs trembled from the impact of his kiss. He continued to hold her gaze, looking at her with virile intensity, as he unbuckled his belt. She felt heat pouring into her stomach and drifting downward between her legs as she began catching fire from his flame.
“Tonight I’m going to do all those things I’ve been dreaming of doing to you,” Jared said, his voice a thin whisper and full of sexual need. “I want to see you reach a climax again, several of them, over and over. But this time, you won’t be alone. I’ll be there with you, joining in and sharing the pleasure.” His words were seduction all wrapped in silk.
Dana watched as he pulled his shirt over his head. With the top of him bare, he exuded strength, power and muscular endurance. He had a beautiful chest and his dark coloring made him look even more beautiful to her. He tossed the shirt aside, then sat down in a wing chair to remove his shoes and socks. After that was done, he stood and went back to his pants, tugging the belt from the loops.
He smiled over at her. “When I told you that I wouldn’t push until you were ready, I knew that meant my patience would be tested. I’ve been wanting you forever and tonight I plan to show you just how much.”
Dana continued to watch as he slid down his pants and underwear. She blinked when she saw the size of him. She had felt his hardened erection plenty of times against her but now seeing it in the flesh was putting a whole new spin on things. Jared was loaded. He had been very fortunate when certain body parts had been distributed.
“Umm, interesting,” she whispered softly, meeting his gaze and smiling.
He chuckled. “Interesting? Is that all you can say?”
“I’ll wait to make sure it can work before making any more comments.”
He laughed, loving every moment of sharing this camaraderie with her, while at the same time fire bolts of desire raced through him. “Trust me. It will work. In fact I plan for it to go into overtime.”
The room got quiet as the reality of what they were about to do set in. For the longest time, their gazes connected and their minds were of one accord. Naked, Jared slowly walked over to the bed and took Dana’s hands in his. He brought them to his lips and kissed her palms.
“You do things to me that no other woman ever has, Dana. You make me feel things. Make me want things. I don’t want you to think what we’re about to do is just another roll between the sheets for me. It’s something I consider exceptional and extraordinary.”