by Lora Leigh
Chapter Thirteen
Keeping up with Jared on the farm would have been an impossible task if he hadn’t been willing to let her keep up with him. By afternoon, she was dragging with exhaustion and all she had done was follow from one point to another as he oversaw what she was learning was a vast operation.
Was there anything he didn’t do?
First thing that morning he was meeting with some poor farmer who was convinced that the sperm of a prize bull Jared owned was worth more money than Kimberly made in a month. She had sat and listened in amazement as a deal was reached, a check was written out, and some misguided fool left with a test tube of cow soldiers for a price that should have been illegal.
“Highway robbery,” she accused Jared under her breath as the happy little man left with a broad smile on his face.
“Do you have any idea how much I paid for that bull?” He arched a brow as he stared down at her in amusement. “Trust me, sweetheart, Mr. Cunningham got a good deal, and he knows it.”
Kimberly snorted. “I saw a lot of cows on my way here, Jared,” she said, fighting to hold back her laughter. “He could have stopped on the way, jacked one off and gone home without losing a fortune. No wonder farms are failing across the nation; you guys don’t let the poor critters breed the natural way.” He swatted at her rear, laughing as she jumped out of his way and tossed him a saucy grin in reply.
“Woman, you’re a menace,” he had growled, catching her to his chest and dropping a quick kiss to her lips. “Come on, I have to check on the horses before we head back to the house for lunch. I have a ton of paperwork waiting on me.” 78
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Kimberly was still waiting for lunch. She propped her foot on the lower rail of the corral and watched at he talked to the foreman. His sun-bronzed face was creased into a thoughtful expression, his sensual, slightly fuller lower lips had tightened, the five o’clock shadow had come early to his chin, giving him a dangerous, sexy look. She wanted to drag him back to bed, run her hands over his body, and lick him from head to toe.
She had nearly accomplished that task earlier that morning. Unfortunately, she made it as far as the thick length of his cock and became sidetracked by the power and promise in that hard flesh.
She propped her hands on the upper rail of the fence, rested her chin on them and wondered what the hell she was going to do now. She was falling in love with him. Hell no, she wasn’t. She was already in love with him; had been for nearly a year now and had refused to admit to it.
Was it his smile that first invaded her heart? That quirky, crooked little smile that he seemed to have for her alone? Or was it his eyes, a stormy gray one minute, a soft, gentle slate the next? No, it was all of him—his teasing, his gentleness, the many ways he had found to make their meetings special, to give them an air of fun no matter how crazy he made her. There was something about him; as hard and dangerous as she sensed he could be, she could also see the soft, inner core of him.
The buzzing of the cell phone at her waist jerked her quickly out of her thoughts and back to reality. Jerking the little device from its holder at her side she quickly checked the caller display and grimaced in distaste before flipping the receiver up and connecting to the call.
“I’m on assignment,” she said coolly. “What do you want?” There was a moment of silence across the line.
“Typical response.” Her father’s voice was as righteous and prim as ever. “Are you ever not on assignment, Kimberly?”
“Not if you’re calling,” she assured him.
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“You should be here at home, where I can see you properly protected,” he snapped.
“I should have known better than to expect you to take a reasonable course of action.
Thankfully, Carolyn’s son might be a pervert, but he is trained where you’re lacking.” Boy, was that the truth. Kimberly grinned at the sensual knowledge, though she knew her father was talking about an entirely different matter.
“Yes, I’m alive. Jared is alive. The bad guys haven’t won yet. Anything else?” There were days she felt a flare of guilt for the animosity she showed the man who should have been her father. His caustic attitude and sniping tone never failed to dissuade her from the feeling though.
She heard the shuffle of papers through the phone line, felt the tension that suddenly invaded it.
“Stay out of his bed, Kimberly.” His voice, when he spoke again was hard and icy cold. “I’ll never approve a marriage to him and I doubt seriously that a man of Jared’s temperament will be willing to wait the required five years. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can play him as easily as you think you can play everyone else.” Why did it still hurt? For a moment, she was amazed at the ever-present slice of pain that struck her chest whenever he revealed his contempt of her.
“Did you receive the doctor’s report last week?” she asked him rather than answering his accusation.
“Of course,” he snarled. “They are sent directly to me.”
“Then I will assume you are aware I am still a virgin,” she said sweetly. “Until the reports say otherwise, anything I do and whoever I do it with is none of your concern.
Correct?”
The blatant, falsely sweet tone of her voice would have his face turning red, his hazel eyes nearly bulging. She felt a flare of satisfaction at that thought.
“You think this is about no more than the tests?” he raged. “You are as corrupt…” 80
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“Don’t say it.” She couldn’t bear to hear it. Not now. “I’ll hang up the second you do. If you don’t have anything pertaining to this assignment to say, then I’ll hang up so fast you won’t know what’s hit you.”
“He shares his women, Kimberly, shares them with his friends and God knows who else. No daughter of mine will be part of that.” She wished she wasn’t his daughter. It would have made things much easier on her.
“When you’re ready to be a father, rather than a moral barometer, be sure to let me know.”
She disconnected the call slowly as she stared across the corral at Jared. He was staring back at her with a frown, one that didn’t ease when she sent him a quick smile.
Her father’s accusations flitted through her mind, reminding her of who and what Jared was. A member of The Club. A man whose sexuality was so far advanced, so out of any other male’s league, that the sheer scope of it sent her pulse racing.
Yes, if he possessed her, he would share her. He would pick a third, just as the other members of The Club did, and he would share her, stroke her every fantasy and give her a freedom to enjoy it that most women could only dream about.
Did it make her love him less? It made her love him more. It made her hurt more, because no matter how she might dream, or how often she assured herself that five years wasn’t that long, she knew better. It could be a lifetime.
“Kimber.” He stood on the other side of the fence now, watching her worriedly, his brow furrowed into a concerned frown. “Everything okay?”
“Fine.” She swallowed tightly as she stemmed the tears and the knowledge of everything she was being denied. “Are you hungry yet? Lunch was an hour ago, Jared.
I think I’m starved, it’s been hours since breakfast.” She knew by the narrowing of his eyes that she wasn’t hiding anything from him.
For the first time in her life she was faced with someone she couldn’t fool.
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“Kimber.” He reached across the fence, his hand cupping her cheek and only then did she feel the slight dampness that had fallen from her eyes to her cheeks.
Her smile fell.
She licked her lips, staring up at him regretfully, aware of the rising emotion that began to fill the air.
“I want too much,” she finally whispered. “As always, I just want too much.” She turned away from him then and rushed across the barn
yard, heading for the house. She couldn’t face him any longer. Couldn’t face the past, the future without him, or the demands suddenly whipping through her. She couldn’t face Jared, or she would never survive the choice she had sworn she would make.
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Chapter Fourteen
Jared watched as Kimberly stalked back to the house. He could see the tension in every line of her body, had seen the hopelessness blooming in her gaze. He propped his hands on his hips and shook his head helplessly.
He had learned patience while in the service. Had learned to sit and wait for what he wanted, what he needed. And though waiting on Kimberly went against every possessive instinct he had, he would do it. But that didn’t mean he would watch her suffer.
The sexual tension and anger raging inside her was her own worse enemy. Even with her visits to The Club, she hadn’t yet learned how to control that intensity and anger, or how to relieve it.
A smile crossed his lips as he pulled his cell phone from his belt and hit the speed dial for The Club.
“Let me talk to Ian,” he said quietly when Thom came on the line.
Ian Sinclair was the owner of The Club. The inheritance had merely stroked the fires of the other man’s sexuality. He was the perfect third for what Jared had in mind.
“Jared, you’re slacking.” Ian’s voice was rough, a deep lazy rumble that did nothing to disguise the powerful enemy he could become.
Jared snorted. “Not hardly. But we’ll talk about that later. I need a favor.”
“A favor?” Amusement crept into Ian’s voice. “This sounds interesting.”
“You have no idea,” he sighed. “I need a third.” Silence filled the line then. It was a well-established rule that Ian did not participate as a third. A first perhaps, the dominance the other man possessed rarely allowed him to take a backseat in anything.
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“Why?” he finally asked.
Jared explained the situation briefly, keeping his voice level, his driving need banked. But damn if Ian wouldn’t be perfect to join him on this adventure into Kimberly’s sexuality. He was restrained, perfectly in control, and despite appearances, a compassionate man.
Once again the other man was quiet. Silence stretched between them for long minutes.
“Son of a bitch,” he finally muttered. “Remind me to back whoever’s running against the Senator in the next election.”
“Let’s keep politics out of it,” Jared sighed. “Mother’s backing him so I don’t even want to think about losing here.”
Ian snarled. There was no other way to describe the curse that sizzled across the lines.
“Anal or oral sex is a very poor second to the real thing, Jared,” he sighed.
Jared knew that well. He was walking around with a hard-on that would eventually kill him. No matter how many times he took her ass or her sweet mouth, he knew he would never know real satisfaction until he managed to fuck her hot little pussy.
“It’s her only option right now, Ian,” he growled.
“So let me get this straight,” he sighed. “No vaginal, period. You know, don’t you, that we’re both going to have a case of blue balls from leaving that pretty little cunt untouched.”
Jared grinned. “Yeah, that pretty much describes it. Come on, Ian, you can get your rocks off anytime. This is Kimber we’re talking about. She needs this.” She was a member of The Club, and a woman, and that gave her a certain standing with Ian. It meant he had personally selected, invited and approved her. He likely knew more about the situation than even Jared did.
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“Why did I know this call was coming?” he finally asked Jared with a thick vein of amusement. “How will you get rid of the bodyguards? The bedroom is the wrong place for this, Jared. If you’re going for intensity, you’re going to have to add that extra level of danger for her while keeping her in the security of your home. Otherwise, I would suggest bringing her here to The Club.”
“No. We’ll use the living room here.” Jared shook his head at the alternative. “I have a few of the men from my old team here. We’ll arrange the particulars, you just be here.”
“Blindfold her, it will roughen the edges of her security.” Ian’s voice deepened further, indicative of his interest and arousal. “I’ll be there at ten.” Jared’s cock jerked in the confinement of his jeans. Ian had forgotten more about stroking a woman’s arousal and submissive instincts than most men would ever consider.
“I’ll have everything ready.” He smiled slowly, envisioning the evening ahead. “See you at ten.”
He disconnected before turning his head to stare back at the house. There was Adams skulking around the house again. Matthews and Danford were watching him with a frown from their positions. That left the fourth man in the house, most likely watching Kimberly.
Bastards. Lowell and Adams were riding his last nerve and if they weren’t careful they would find themselves finishing out this assignment locked in the basement. He paused at the thought. That wasn’t a bad idea, actually. Matthews and Danford he could trust. The other two were the problem.
Yes, the basement was beginning to look better every minute.
Kimberly could feel the tension growing in her. It was worse than before. Like a bone-chilling craving she couldn’t identify and had no hope of fulfilling. Was this how 85
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her ancestors felt? Those women who had been restricted from fulfilling the heightened sexuality that tormented her.
A curse they had called it. She poured a cup of fresh coffee as she breathed out roughly, stilling the trembling in her fingers as she carried the cup to the kitchen table.
It was worse than a curse.
She stared through the window, watching Jared as he worked around the barns.
Lean hipped, muscular. He moved with a grace she had rarely seen in other men, and he mesmerized her.
Why was he different? Why had he been the one to slip under her guard and steal her heart?
She turned away from him, her hands wrapped around the cup as her head lowered, eyes closing.
She wanted so much more now than she had ever dreamed of. Before learning the terms of the Trust, before the betrayal of the exams, she had decided she would never endure the pain her mother had known. Her virginity had been a matter of pride. Her self-respect and her determination to know a life opposite of her mother’s had often been all she’d had to hold on to.
After the shock of the examinations she had fought back in the only way she knew how. Smug, triumphant, she had learned she could have her cake and eat it too. She could assuage the lusts that built within her body and still pass the tri-monthly tests her father demanded.
And that had been enough. Until Jared.
“What now?” she whispered, her gaze returning to the window, to the man. “What do I do now?” Because she knew it was no longer enough, and it never would be again.
Now, she wanted it all.
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Chapter Fifteen
“Kimber.” Jared’s voice had her breath catching hours later as she walked out of the bathroom, tightening the belt of her robe.
He stood across from her, leaning against the footboard of the bed, his gaze dark, heavy-lidded, his jeans straining at the crotch.
Kimberly stopped in the middle of the room, watching him somberly.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” she whispered. “Sometimes I…” She waved her hand, grimacing at her reluctance to explain the turbulent emotions that filled her.
A gentle smile quirked his lips.
“That’s okay,” he said softly. “I’m not upset, but I do think I’ll punish you for it.” She stared back at him in surprise.
“Excuse me?” Her heart began racing in her chest as she interpreted the dark expression that came over his face.
Now he looked dominant, dangerous. A shocking thrill shook her body, making her tremble in awareness.
“The house is empty and will be for the rest of the night,” he began to explain, his voice deep, throbbing with arousal. “You’ll keep your virginity, Kimberly, but the rest of you belongs to me. Unconditionally. Agreed?” She swallowed tightly.
“How?” She licked her lips nervously.
He shook his head firmly. “It doesn’t matter how. All I need is your agreement.
Unconditional surrender, Kimberly. Can you sacrifice your control for tonight? No matter what happens, no matter what I ask.”
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She could feel her body responding to the heat in his eyes, the arousal and demand in his voice. Her clit ached unlike anything she had known in the past. She could feel her vagina moistening, spilling her juices along the folds of flesh beyond.
Her breasts were swelling, her nipples becoming hard and sensitized beneath the silk of her robe.
“All control?” she asked weakly.
She had never dared to attempt such a thing before.
“All control, Kimberly.” He would demand nothing less.
She fought to breathe normally, but the rising excitement made it impossible. Her breasts were rising and falling harshly, the blood pumping fiercely through her veins.
Kimberly pushed her hands deep into the pockets of her robe, staring back at Jared intently. What did he have in mind? He wouldn’t hurt her, he wouldn’t breach her virginity. What was left that she would need to surrender her control?
“No explanations, Kimberly.” He forestalled her request for just that. “Either you trust me or you don’t. There’s no in-between.”
“I trust you.” There was no question of that.
He smiled again, a crooked, tender smile that caused the muscles of her stomach to clench in response.