Page 25 of Saving Jared

8

You.

Jared dared not breath, while his hands tightened on Willa’s upper arms. How many times during the last hours had he willed her to come to his door like this? But each time he’d called himself a fool and tried to go to sleep.

It hadn’t worked.

What had changed her mind? She’d made it abundantly clear she’d considered what had passed between them a mistake. In many ways he’d agreed. So many reasons they shouldn’t be together had played on his mind.

Her family.

His family.

The ten-year gap in their ages.

So, no way in hell had he planned on initiating something by going to her room again. But when he’d noticed the shadow under his door, he’d sat up in bed, hoping that somehow it might be her.

And he’d waited.

After several seconds of the shadow not moving, he’d quietly left his bed, gone to the door, and hurriedly pulled it open. Only to find his arms full of Willa after she’d basically fallen into them. And now…

He couldn’t help how his hands tightened even more. "Is this really what you want?"

Her sweet, passion-filled stare that had zeroed in on his chest inched toward his waist—and below—the slow perusal nearly his undoing. Especially the way she bit her bottom lip when her focus fixed on the front of his pajama bottoms. If she needed proof about how much he wanted her, his evident arousal should have left her in no doubt.

Give me strength.

"Jared, I…"

She shook her head, her glance shy and cheeks flushing when she pulled away from him. He let his hands drop. If she’d changed her mind, he’d just have to get over it. But instead of leaving, she stepped around him—her shoulder brushing against his. He slowly pivoted and followed her progress as she made it halfway to his bed, then stood motionless when she stopped and lifted her tank up and over her head before tossing it aside.

"Are you going to shut and lock the door?"

When had her voice gotten that low, breathy quality? The one that traveled straight to his—

"Jared?"

The light from the hallway shone on her questioning glance over her shoulder and highlighted her dark brown curls sweeping across her upper back. He had no answer for her as he stepped fully into the room, carefully closed the door with a quiet snick, and turned the lock. A silent darkness surrounded them as he made his way to her, then rested his hands on her naked shoulders.

Her shiver vibrated under his touch as he bent toward her ear. "Are you cold?" he whispered.

"No." She shivered again, while bits of goose flesh rose up against his fingertips. "I know we’ve already gone beyond simple touching. But I’m still a little nervous," she said on a slight laugh.

"Don’t be," he murmured. He closed his eyes at how his stubble caught in her hair when he nuzzled into it and breathed her in. He savored the sensation—savored how her scent filled him.

"It’s kind of hard not to be," she said low. Her body trembled in his arms when he wrapped them around her middle and pulled her body flush with his. "I’m… I…" Her firm ass nestled against his hard, prodding cock seeking relief between those luscious cheeks. "Oh…" Her low moan nearly had him moaning, but he held it in.

"You’re what?" he asked, his nose coasting up her neck. He gave the pounding pulse at her neck a little lick, then smiled at her quick gasp and how her long fingers wrapped around his wrists and held tight. Tasting Willa—having the freedom to brush his hands up over her quivering abdomen—before filling his hands with the slight, barely-there weight of her breasts, while her hard nipples speared his palms, had gone to the top of his best moments in life.

"A virgin."

Jared froze while seconds ticked by and Willa’s body tensed.

"Does it matter?"

Hell, yes, it mattered.

But probably not the way she thought. Because while Willa probably felt awkward after her hesitant, quiet admission, it had had the opposite effect on him. Deep inside something roared to the surface—a craving so intense his fingers dug into her tender, giving flesh to keep from ripping away the rest of their clothes and burying himself in her body.

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