When You Dare (32 page)

Teasing her was so hot, so sexy, that it slowed him down enough. He wanted to take his time and relish this. He didn’t want to miss a single moan or sigh.

“Let me see,” he whispered, and he cupped his hand over her.

Her fingers knotted in the sheet at either side of her head. She looked at him with dazed eyes and honest need. So beautiful. So real.

While he stroked over her, parting her, exploring her with just his fingertips, he bent and slowly sucked on one nipple. She twisted beneath him, breathing hard and fast. With his teeth this time, Dare tugged on her nipple, and she cried out.

He chose that moment to relentlessly press two fingers into her, as deeply as he could.

The way her body clasped his fingers, the low sounds of raw pleasure she made, told him how she liked that. But it wasn’t enough for him.

While he eased his fingers out, and then back into her, he kissed each nipple again, and then her ribs. When he trailed a path of damp kisses down her abdomen, she went still—maybe with expectation, maybe with uncertainty.

It didn’t matter.

He dipped his tongue into her navel, making her squirm more, then over to her hipbone. A ticklish spot for her.

Liking that, he stored the knowledge away into his memory banks with plans to investigate it more later.

Right now, he wanted to taste her. He wanted to hear her cry out, feel her reaction, when he took her into his mouth, replaced his fingers with his tongue.

Already, her heady scent had ripened, sweet and rich. The strongest aphrodisiac for any man was a woman’s arousal. For Dare, Molly’s arousal amplified the effect tenfold because, in so many ways, she was special.

When she tangled her fingers in his hair, urgently holding on to him, he decided this had to be the biggest turn-on ever.

Nuzzling against her, her small cries filling his head, Dare licked over her turgid clitoris. She almost shot off the bed. Pleased with that reaction, he braced a forearm over her midsection to keep her still, teased with his tongue again—and then closed his mouth around her to gently suck.

The second he tasted her, he wanted to come.

Molly did, too.

Her deep rumbling groan said more than words could. She arched her back; her legs trembled. She moved against him, squeezing the fingers he kept deep inside her as her climax swelled, crested and wracked through her. The sounds she made were almost as good as the sweet taste of her.

Dare kept her there, at the peak, relishing every second of her, until she groaned and pressed back into the mattress.

Lifting his head, he looked up the length of her body to her face. Eyes closed, cheekbones damp, chest still heaving, she lay utterly limp. Slowly, he eased his fingers from her and then put them into his mouth. He closed his eyes, too, loving the intimacy, loving…

His heart damn near stopped.

He looked up at Molly again and found her watching him in sated amazement—and something more, something that unsettled him.

His whole body on fire, Dare rushed up over her. Pushed by turbulent emotion, he caught her face and kissed her hard. She gasped and then accepted his tongue again. The need to devour her pushed him. He reached down and, clasping a knee, spread her legs wide.

Still kissing her, unable to get enough to appease him, he situated himself. He could feel her, open, warm and wet, against the head of his cock, and it was enough to make him lock his teeth. He had to pause to get control.

No way in hell would he risk hurting her.

Leashing his tattered discipline, struggling to be gentle, he rocked into her. Small, tight and…perfect.

His head swam. Emotion mingled with carnality, leaving him blindsided. Molly wrapped around him, cocooning him in her scent and the feel of her. He savored the way she hugged him so tightly and the way she met his every thrust with the rise of her hips.

Dare put one hand beneath that delectable ass and lifted her even more so he could go deeper, so she’d take all of him.

In no time at all, it put her over the edge again. She freed her mouth to gasp and groan, her head back, her hair spread out around her.

Seeing her like that, feeling each contraction on his cock, did him in. “Look at me, Molly.”

Lips parted, face flushed, she opened her eyes and shared everything with him. It was enough. Almost too much.

He drove into her, groaned, and at the last second took her mouth again as he gained his own volatile release.

Minutes later, Dare eased to his back beside her. Even as his heart still raced and his legs stayed shaky, his thoughts scrambled in an effort to sort out everything he felt. Dominant in those feelings was a need to cement his odd relationship with her.

He dropped a forearm over his eyes.

Hell, Molly still thought she’d be paying him for his protection. Did she also think that once he secured her safety, they’d be done? He snorted at that repugnant thought.

Molly stirred, turned to her side to cuddle against him and settled back into a deep sleep.

Looking down at her in amazement, Dare frowned…but when her breathing evened into a light snore, the frown turned into a grin. Apparently she didn’t suffer the same confusion plaguing him. Given all she’d been through, he was glad.

He put his head back against the mattress and wondered what spell Molly Alexander had put on him. Because he sure as hell didn’t feel like himself anymore.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

U
NABLE TO SLEEP
, Dare grew antsy. Taking care not to disturb Molly, he slipped out of the bed. Before he went into the bathroom he lifted the tangled covers over her. He’d left her crossways in the bed, her feet hanging over the side, but that didn’t seem to interfere with her tiredness.

Seeing her like that, so peaceful, made his heart clutch anew. He noticed that her now-swollen lips were tipped up in a slight smile. God knew the woman didn’t have much to smile about lately. Her innocence and optimism charmed him, burned him, brought out all his protective instincts and other less comfortable emotions that he barely recognized.

Turning away from the bed, Dare picked up his jeans and went into her bathroom. The space was small, but it didn’t feel cramped. He disposed of the condom, washed up and pulled on his jeans. Curiosity got to him, and he opened her medicine cabinet. A few routine over-the-counter drugs sat with a prescription for birth-control pills. She’d missed two weeks’ worth, of course, so condoms remained necessary. But the idea of being inside her without barriers…

He closed the cabinet and took a moment to clear his head. Inside a vanity drawer he found a few makeup items, a variety of hair brushes and combs, typical feminine hair adornments. The idea of Molly with a clip in her hair teased his senses and left him grinning for no reason at all.

Turning to the tub, he lifted the pastel-colored soap and breathed in the scent of hyacinth. He could imagine Molly soaking in that old-fashioned tub, covered in fragrant bubbles. But nothing smelled as good as her bare skin, her soft hair—and her excitement.

Damn it, he’d just taken her. She’d opened herself to him completely.

But it wasn’t enough.

All he could think now was that he wanted more. A lot more. More hot sex, the full-body contact of her cuddling afterward, more talking and laughing and learning together…

Now what was he supposed to do?

M
OLLY AWOKE TO AN
empty bed. She reached out for Dare but felt nothing. Sitting up, she realized that the room was now dark with only a sliver of light coming from beneath the bedroom door.

She started to slide out from under the covers—and she heard it again. The noise that had awakened her: a key in the front door.
Again
.

Suddenly the light in the other room disappeared, leaving her in utter darkness.

What was Dare doing?

Heart in her throat, Molly slipped out of the bed and pulled a blanket around her. Padding barefoot, she went to the bedroom door, slowly turned the knob and opened it oh-so-quietly.

Her gaze scanned the dim living room. Enough moonlight filtered in the windows for her to see that Dare had been working. He was such a neat freak that the mess of her apartment must have made it impossible for him to sleep.

Or maybe, his lust appeased, he just hadn’t been interested in staying that close to her.

That thought hurt, so she pushed it aside and instead concentrated on seeing the room. She noted that the overturned table had been righted and her mail neatly stacked.

She didn’t see Dare.

Before she could worry too much about that, the front doorknob turned. As the door opened, it screeched in that familiar way.

Hushed voices came from the outer hallway, right outside the door, whispering, maybe even teasing.

Around niggling fear, Molly frowned in vague recognition. One voice almost sounded like—

The door swung open and there was a sudden rush. Her sister squealed, and a loud thump sounded, followed by a curse.

Hurrying out of the bedroom, Molly shouted, “Natalie!” She flipped on a light—and froze.

Sure enough, she’d recognized her sister’s voice, even in a whisper. As if tossed there, Natalie sprawled in an easy chair, unhurt but stunned.

In the middle of the floor, Dare pinned down a man almost as big as him. He kept his gun barrel pressed hard against the stranger’s jaw.

With the lights on, Natalie saw the gun and screamed. “Oh, my God! What are you doing? Who are you?”

Dare didn’t take his gaze off his captive. With a nod of his head toward Molly, he said, “I’m with her.”

As her sister and the man glanced at her, Molly gave a loose finger wave.

Dare nudged the man. “Who are
you?
”

His mouth flattened. Nodding his head toward Natalie, he said, “I’m with her.” Dare frowned.

Natalie scrambled from the chair in what Molly recognized as “attack mode.”

“Wait.”
Molly had no idea what was going on, or who the man on the floor might be, but she wouldn’t allow her sister to jump Dare.

She didn’t want her sister to get hurt.

“Everyone, just chill a second, please.”

“Easier said than done,” the man beneath Dare quipped.

The stranger kept his palms, at either side of his head, open and nonthreatening. But something about the way he stared back at Dare made Molly uneasy.

Dare didn’t move—which meant he didn’t hurt the guy, but neither did he let him up.

Molly pulled the blanket tighter. “Dare, this is my sister, Natalie.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Natalie warned. And then to Molly, “What’s going on here?”

“Dare is, um, protecting me. Nothing to worry about. He’s one of the good guys.”

Disbelief flashed over Natalie’s white face before she gathered her gumption. “Well, then, tell him to get off of Jett.” She looked ready to launch herself at Dare if he made the wrong move, so Molly moved closer to her.

If she had to, she’d tackle her sister. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, not with her naked beneath the blanket.

“Dare,” Molly ventured. He looked to be in a killing mood. “Really, she
is
my sister, I promise.”

“Sister, got it.” Indecision plain, Dare eased back just a little but kept his gun on the man.

“Jett Sutter.” The stranger lay there, not really discomfited by the attack. “I know. Sounds like
jet-setter.
My folks are regular comedians.” He tilted his head to see Molly. Eyes so dark they looked black took her measure. His long, sinful lashes might have seemed effeminate on another man, but not on him. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, Molly.”

Molly blinked. “You know me?”

“Only from what Natalie has told me, which was all flattering but didn’t include associates with guns.”

His good humor left Molly gaping. He was a handsome man, and even flat on his back with a gun in his face he managed to appear competent.

“How do you know my sister?”

He looked Molly over in the blanket and cocked a brow. “Ask Natalie.”

Natalie turned three shades of red. “Oh, Molly, there’s so much we have to talk about.” And then, as if she forgot the men, she wailed, “I was so worried about you.
Where the hell have you been?
”

Molly almost lost her blanket when Natalie jerked her into a tight bear hug. She wanted to soothe her sister, she really did. But with the men on the floor…the timing was definitely off.

“I’m okay, Natalie. Really.” Over her sister’s shoulder, Molly saw Dare eyeing Jett.

He said low, “You might want to stop looking at her like that.”

The man actually grinned. “Right. Sorry. It’s not lascivious, I swear. I was just noting the similarities between the two of them.”

“Sure you were.” Dare leaned into him a little more. “What are you two doing here?”

Jett put one hand behind his head, rested the other on his chest and looked to be getting comfortable. “We just returned from a trip. I told Natalie that Molly was probably back by now. It’s the middle of the night, so she didn’t want to call, but she couldn’t stand waiting until the morning to check on her. So…” He shrugged as if to excuse Natalie’s misguided intention, and then, with caution, used the side of his hand to edge the gun away from his face. “She was going to peek in and make sure her sister was okay. That’s all.”

Dare didn’t like that one bit. “You’re shitting me. You two snuck in, and you were going to look at Molly in her bed—”

“I was only here to see to Natalie’s safety. She’d have done all the peeking on her own.”

With her hands on Molly’s bare shoulders, Natalie pushed her back the length of her arms. “Do you have any idea how damned scared I’ve been for you?”

Molly sighed and again adjusted her blanket. If she lost it, she’d die on the spot. “I called you earlier, but you didn’t answer.”

Aghast, Natalie blinked as if ready to cry. “When?”

Since she didn’t know what time it was, Molly couldn’t answer. “As soon as Dare and I got back to the apartment. I don’t know. Hours ago.”

“Oh, God, Molly. I’m sorry. I…” She looked at Jett. “We… He…”