Hounded (Going to the Dogs) (11 page)
Read Hounded (Going to the Dogs) Online
Authors: Zoe Dawson
He took a deep breath, reminding him of her body so soft and pliant against his, her scent driving him wild.
“I have two tats. I’ll show them to you.”
“You are as tenacious as your terriers.”
She grinned without remorse. “If it gets me what I want, I can be relentless.” She grabbed the towel, and he grabbed her hand. She tugged, hard. He tugged back.
She grinned. “Are you playing hard to get?”
He barely held it together. And he wasn’t sure if he was talking about himself or the towel.
He swatted at her, but she held on and tugged again. “One of them is on my firm and sexy ass.”
He groaned again, because Poe couldn’t say that without blushing to the roots of her hair, and it only made him want her more.
She tried to reach under the towel, but he sidestepped her.
“Oh, you’re fast. But I want you, Jared.” She looked at him, her eyes full of tortured passion. “Make love to me.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I want you, too. But I’ll want more than that.”
“Maybe if you only wanted me for my body, this would be easier.” She rubbed her face against his.
“Yeah, it might be. But that’s not the case.”
She smiled. “Stop being a gentleman and take me like a mad hatter at his crazy tea party.”
He laughed. “Mad is the right word.”
His direct answer, coupled with his very direct gaze, seemed to catch her off-guard. He wasn’t flirting now. And she knew it.
“I don’t know what to do with that,” she said. “But, I know exactly what I want to do with you.”
There was that sly grin of hers again, and he braced himself for a Poe-sized whammy. “The other tat is on my breast.”
You are so fucking crazy,
he told himself, even as he tightened his hold on her shirt and pulled her closer. It was crazy to kiss her after promising himself that he would hold off. Crazy to kiss her after confessing how much he wanted her ‘cuz he was trying to not have sex with her, but that possibility was rapidly becoming a hot and insane mess of a reality. He didn’t have the high ground here, no tactical advantage, and no good reason on earth to kiss her, except for the low ache in his body that could only be relieved by getting close to her—really close. He wanted to get inside her. Poe was on full assault and there was only one way a man was trained to handle this kind of full body attack.
He pulled on her shirt until her hips came up against his, but he kept the other hand on his towel. “Touch me,” he said in a ragged whisper, “and this is all over.”
She closed her eyes. “Gee-whiz, make it hard on a girl.”
“Oh, it’s hard enough,” he said in that same gruff voice.
Then he backed her up against the wall and all thoughts of advantage, tactical or otherwise, disappeared. He held her dark-eyed gaze, and heat coiled low in his belly. She was more beautiful than he had a right to. He let his gaze drift over her face, memorizing every curve. When his attention settled on her mouth, he could tell she felt it. She softened with a slight intake of her breath. Whatever else was going on between them. However this turned out. He couldn’t regret this moment. She wanted his kiss as much as he wanted hers.
She wanted to get inside him, too, inside his head and his heart. Little did she know, she was already there, already dug the trenches, and set up camp.
Pulling her even closer, he lowered his head and took her mouth, slanting his lips across hers and seeking entrance with his tongue. Her response was immediate, a soft gasp of pleasure, and he took the kiss home, slipping inside and finding his own piece of heaven. And, geezus, but it was sweet.
Her hands came up behind his neck, her fingers tangling through his wet hair, and he opened his mouth wider, taking more of her—and knew a single kiss wasn’t going to be enough.
Her mouth was like her, lush, enticing, erotic. She moved against him, her breasts pressing against his chest, her mouth angling over his and creating a brief moment of suction, and his already hard dick managed to get harder.
Her kiss was enough to undo him. They’d barely begun and he was already primed to take her to the edge. She made a sound in the back of her throat, the kind of sound guaranteed to focus a man’s attention.
He slid his hands up under her shirt, one smooth sweep of his palms up to her bra, and for a second, she stopped breathing. He rubbed his thumbs across her nipples, making them pebble. The result of his need to feel the wonderful soft weight of her breasts in his hands and the amazing texture of lace over silken skin, she groaned in his mouth.
The sound shot through him like wildfire. Geezus! He knew lust, and it was certainly running hot through his veins, but there was something more. Something beyond the burning ache he felt for her. Something fiercer, with an edge of desperation he was trying to ignore and could barely comprehend. If it was love, he didn’t want to know.
Kissing her was making him crazy. Her mouth was hot and wet and had gone from sweet to demanding. She wanted more and he obliged, gently sucking on her tongue, setting a rhythm he matched with his hips.
With a quick and powerful move, he gathered her in his arms and strode out of the bathroom, losing his towel in the process. He made it to her room and shut the door with his heel.
In slow increments, he guided her down his body until she was on her feet and panting. He pulled her top off over her head, and the black lace covering her breasts made his cock pulse, but what made him groan was the raven created out of the word
Nevermore
just above the slope of her breast. He reached around her and unsnapped the bra with one hand, and bared her breasts to his gaze. He covered her nipple with his mouth and she gasped and arched into him.
He sucked at her taut nipple, one hand going to the small of her back and arching her harder against his mouth as he consumed her, biting and sucking. He moved back to her mouth, her lips so soft and pliant, a sure sign that she was lost in the pleasure he was giving her.
His hands went up under the plaid schoolgirl skirt she wore, then slid his fingers slowly beneath her underwear and began moving in the moist folds of her sex. The kiss came to a sudden, heart-catching stop, leaving both of them standing very still, breathing into each other’s mouth, hardly daring to move.
She cried out as his fingers moved on her, her hands sliding up his arms, curling around his taut biceps.
“God, you are so soft,” he murmured against her lips. “So beautiful.”
She softened against him in a thousand yearning ways, and it only seduced his desire into a fiercer edge. Breaking off the kiss, still holding her against him, he leaned over and reached inside her side table. Thank God. Condoms.
“I want to be inside you and feel you come all over me.”
“I want to be with you.” Her confession was barely a whisper, and it with was an obvious effort to lift her eyes from his hard and heavy arousal.
“You’re beautiful, too.”
He unzipped her skirt and it fell off her body. All that was left was the scrap of black lace.
“I don’t usually…get off during,” she said, blushing.
“Don’t worry. If you don’t come with me deep inside you, I’ll try something else.” He wanted her to get off on him, though. A lot. He wanted her sweating, and moaning, and
his
, and if one thing didn’t work, they’d go to the next. “I’ll make sure you love every minute of it.”
He slid his hands over her bottom, cupping her ass. Stepping between her legs, he said, “Put your arms around my neck.” His muscles bunched as he lowered them to the bed.
He licked from her belly button with the dragon ring right up her torso to her breasts, sucking and biting each one. Up to her throat, and to her mouth for another soul-shattering kiss. She was so wet, just how he wanted her, slick, swollen, her most primal response all in readiness for him—all because he was touching her.
“
Jared
,” she whispered, her mouth moving over his face, leaving a trail of kisses. “
Oh, Jared
.” Her voice was soft, as he teased and tantalized her with his fingers. He rose up and sheathed himself with the condom.
When he entered her, she cried out, her hips bucking up off the bed. Her head twisted on the mattress with a sweet, shuddering sigh as if she, too, was coming home.
He thrust, and she clung to him. She was warm and loving, and whispering in his ear—soft words and his name, over and over, like a litany of her most secret desires.
It was erotic and arousing and he was so turned on he couldn’t stop. Her hands were all over him, his hands hot on her bare bottom and hot between her legs, taking her higher and higher with each of his thrusts. She was going to come for him. He could feel it in the tightening of her legs around his waist, in the arch of her back, in the straining grasp of her hands on his upper arms. She was reaching…reaching, her breath coming in short, ragged pants. When her release hit, it swamped him like a riptide, dragging him under on a wave of intense, searing pleasure as she contracted around him. He jerked against her, deepening their contact, burying himself to the hilt inside her, and he came, endlessly, pouring into her until he was drained.
He reached between her legs, well aware that a woman could come again and again. Her breathing told him she was on the verge. She cried out, her body bowing off the bed and into him. He captured her mouth as she sobbed out her pleasure. But he wasn’t done as the pulses of her most recent orgasm vibrated against his fingers.
He found her mouth and took it with a long, lazy, devouring kiss, his heart racing like a freight train, his breath coming hard, the soft, ambient ripples of her orgasm playing over him like the sweetest torture.
Easing her down against the bed, he pressed a kiss to her hot, moist skin. Then he kissed her neck, and her cheek, and her eyebrows. She was beautiful, so beautiful, her body hot beneath his, still pulsing with the pleasure he’d given her.
Poe stirred, and he quieted her with another kiss.
“Hush,” he murmured, stroking her with his hands, long, gentle sweeps from her waist and up over her breasts. “Don’t move. Not yet.”
Her lashes rose, revealing the gaze of a slumberous, satisfied woman, and heat coiled in his groin.
God, he wanted her all over again.
He loved the way she smelled, the way she tasted. Her skin was so soft, silken, everything he’d ever dreamed it would be.
He was growing hard again and he switched out the condom for a fresh one. He slipped back inside her and she groaned, long and deep.
Perfect, she was so perfect, like silk around him. He rolled to his back and let her set the pace, and this time the vixen took it slow, which in no way lessened the intensity. He was ready to howl, and when she came, he didn’t stop. He grabbed her hips, flipped her onto her back and kept pumping into her, letting her ride her high for as long as they both could take it.
Gee-ZUS! He collapsed on his side when it was over. He kept one arm around her, holding her to him.
“Jared,” she said, softly smiling at him, an utterly lazy, satisfied smile that appeared to take all the effort she could muster, and he grinned back. What fun she was, he thought, sliding his hand over her hip and rolling her onto her stomach.
“A skull with a pretty pink bow,” he said softly. What incredible fun, the kind of deep-down, frisson-up-your spine kind of fun he hadn’t had in a long time—or maybe never, not like this.
His hand stilled in its absent caress of the smooth silk of her ass, his gaze sliding over her. She was so lovely.
Slowly, he drew his fingertips along the curve of her spine. He didn’t think he’d ever used the word lovely in his life, but she was lovely, so lovely it made his chest tight.
“Poe.” He whispered her name, and she turned her head and opened her eyes, a drift of dark lashes rising, and the tightness of his chest got worse. Those cobalt blue eyes were gorgeous.
He was going down hard, but the landing was incredibly soft. Her eyes darkened as he watched, her mouth parted, and he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The rest of his body had given out, but his mouth still worked fine.
And, here he was, undercover without her knowledge. This wasn’t the way to start any kind of relationship. That knowledge ricocheted around in his head like a stray bullet.
How would Poe react when she found out the truth?
This wasn’t going to be enough. Nothing they did would ever be enough. No wonder he was a little desperate. He was never going to get his fill of her.
Never.
It was a doubled-edged sword. He couldn’t tell her he was undercover because he made a promise to Harper, but he also was reluctant to tell her because at this point he was afraid of losing her.
Forever.
Poe was still awash in pleasure, drowning in it. What that man could do with his mouth, his fingers, and the part of him that made him oh-so-male was nothing short of miraculous. She’d never gotten off with a man inside.
It stunned her how much Jared wanted her, passionately, his kisses desperate and demanding, his hands all over her, his breathing ragged. No rules and nobody in control. And, to top it all off, this was practically forbidden. There were so many rational reasons for not doing it, for avoiding the complications. Even now her mind reeled with the step she’d taken. The realization added a dark thrill to the whole heart-stopping experience of having Jared make love to her. The feel of him in her mouth, the taste of him, were intoxicating, dizzying.
He set her on fire with his kiss, made her gasp, and every inch of her wanted more. It was crazy. Crazy and hot and utterly sexual in a way she’d thought she would never know except in her fantasies—but the reality of it—God! The reality of it was so much more intense, the silkiness of his hair sliding through her fingers, the rough edge of his jaw beneath her palm, the strength of his arms wrapped around her.
In her fantasies, everything was safe. She was in charge. With him, nothing was safe. The pure physical energy of him was a force to be reckoned with. He was powerful, dangerous, and unpredictably seductive.
His hands played with the skin of her back, flowing over her butt and back up. When she opened her eyes, his were closed as if in rapture.
She drank in his face, flowing over his features. Reaching out, she rubbed her thumb over the softness of his lips and he smiled.
“We’re screwed,” he said.
“Yes, we did, and I think we were quite good at it. Here’s where stiff really paid off.”
He chuckled, the sound rich and deep in his chest and opened his eyes. “You know this complicates things.”
His voice was deep and sure, and just hearing it made her feel all funny inside.
She sobered. “I know, but I don’t care right now.”
He slid across the bed, his half-lidded gaze focusing on her with an intensity of a pit bull.
“Do you know,” she said, slipping her arm around his waist, “your accent gets really pronounced when you’re turned on?”
“It does? I sound like a hick?”
“A sexy, molten-hot hick.”
“I’ll take that.”
“It’s probably because your mind is on something else and you’ve lost that focus to maintain your…”
“Diphthongs?”
She giggled.
“God, Poe, I love that sound.”
“Yes, your diphthongs.”
She must be out of her ever-loving mind. In fact, she was sure of it. Maybe she’d snapped from the pressure and completely gone bonkers. The threats and her mother’s impending foreclosure were extremely distressing, and yet…
One hour with him had been the most emotionally involving, sexually intimate experience she’d ever had. God, she’d been so clueless. She’d had no idea what she was missing.
She drew her hand up over his hip and then his waist, and she paused. A patch of his skin felt thick and rough. “What happened?” she asked, her voice hushed as she peered over his side and saw the ragged scar low on his waist and up his back . Her heart almost stopped. She might not be a people doctor, but she knew a bad wound when she saw one. She wondered how he had survived.
“I don’t really like to talk about it.”
“Afghanistan?”
He nodded.
“Maybe someday you’ll trust me with the story.”
Her hand came down on his firm ass and he jerked and laughed.
“What was that for?”
“To get your attention. I’ve showed you my tattoos. Let me see yours.”
He looked away, his moss-green eyes evasive.
“What? You don’t have any tattoos?”
“No.”
“How is that possible? You were in the military. In the
Marines.
Weren’t you ever drunk enough? Don’t tell me you didn’t drink.”
He gave her an amused, are-you-kidding sidelong glance. “Come on. In Texas? I’ve had moonshine that would peel the paint off the side of a barn.”
“Okay, so you weren’t a wild boy.”
“I raised some hell, but the ranch took up a lot of my time.”
“So have you always wanted to get one, but didn’t.”
“Actually, I’ve thought about it, but never took the plunge.”
“Well I know the place.”
“It’s too early to drink.”
“We’ve gotten ourselves in enough trouble already without adding alcohol to the mix.”
“Then where?”
“The Ink Club. I know the owner.”
“Right, something I should think about, but if I decide to do it, I’ll let you know.”
“All right.”
He took her hand, rubbing the underside of her wrist.
“I think I know what’s wrong with Daisy.”
“What?”
“I think she misses my ex-girlfriend.”
“You think that’s why she’s depressed.”
“She’d had her since she was a puppy.”
“That would do it.”
“So, what are we going to do? I don’t want her to be depressed.”
“Would you be open to talking to Callie? She’s so good with dogs, I bet she’d have really good suggestions. And, Daisy really seems to like my friend Brooke’s treats. I can get plenty of those.”
“Yes, when can we go?”
“I’ll call her right now and see if she’s available. She should be at her training center.”
She flipped onto her back while she listened to the phone ring and met Jared’s gaze. His eyes darkened as they roamed over her breasts. Her nipples tightened.
“It’s your dime,” Callie said with her innate perkiness.
“Callie, it’s Poe.” He straddled her and she gasped.
“Hey, hon, what’s up?”
“Jared and I need to see you right away. When would you have the time?” Her voice came out strangled as the heat of Jared’s rock hard cock brushed against her stomach.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said trying to keep her voice and her breathing even while also trying not to drown in Jared’s very dark, very intense eyes. He folded down on top of her, cupping her face, the lean hardness of his torso and chest pressing against her belly and flattening her breasts, her nipples sensitive to the press of his burning hot skin.
“Is Jared there with you?”
She closed her eyes, gathering her strength. Was he ever. She was enveloped in the steely strength of his arms and body, trapped beneath him, as close as a man can get. “Yes, he’s here.”
With a wicked, wicked grin, he slowly ran his thumb over her lips, very gently from one side to the other, and against every rational thought in her head, the rest of the world began to recede.
“How about half an hour?”
Callie’s voice was a buzz in her ear.
“Poe?”
“Huh? Oh, half an hour. That sounds great.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yes, just distracted by a really bad dog.”
He gave her a wry look and another one of those knee-melting grins.
“Is this about Daisy?”
“Yes, it’s about Daisy.”
“I’d be happy to help.”
“Thanks, you’re the best.”
“You better make that an hour,” Jared whispered, sending heat and goose bumps over her skin. After protection, he pushed her legs open with his knee, his other hand coming up to her waist and sliding around to cup her bottom. He tilted her pelvis up to his, fusing her closer to his groin, until she could feel the long, hard length of him pressed intimately to her sex.
“Make that an hour,” she said hastily and added. “I’ll see you then.”
Jared took the phone out of her hand and disconnected the call.
His mouth came down on hers, hard, and yet sweetly.
“You drive me to distraction, Poe,” he whispered, relenting just a little, before kissing her again. Some of his heat washed into her then, the heat from his pelvis, the soft, wet heat of his tongue sliding along her lips, asking for entrance. She gasped, just the slightest gasp, and he said, “
Yes
, that sound turns me on.” Pressing his tongue into her mouth, making her tremble, making her weak and wanton, filling her with the undeniable awareness that Jared could teach a master class in kissing.
She ran her hands through his hair, down the back of his neck and across his wide shoulders.
When he released her mouth, she said, “You are a rake.”
He chuckled and she lost herself as he resumed the double assault on her senses.
#
It was an hour and fifteen minutes later that Poe and Jared entered Sit Happens. Callie was in her office on the phone, but she waved when she saw them.
Finishing up her call, she pushed open the glass door and walked rapidly to the reception area.
When she reached them, Callie hugged her and smiled at Jared.
“Here’s the dog rescuer in the flesh.” She reached out her hand and Jared shook it.
“Awww shucks, ma’am, couldn’t let anything happen to that little critter.”
Callie laughed. “I think I like you.”
As was her practice, Callie didn’t greet Daisy, touch her, or make eye contact.
“So what can I do for you?”
“I gave Daisy an exam and she’s perfectly healthy. Jared thinks she’s depressed. What can we do to get her out of the doldrums?”
“I have several suggestions. Why don’t you bring her inside and we’ll get started. No, don’t pick her up. Just walk away.”
“She normally just lies there.”
“That’s fine. Let her.”
Jared dropped the leash and looked back at her like a mommy leaving her newborn behind.
Poe grasped his hand for comfort and support. He smiled down at her. And, the two hours they’d spent in bed came back at her like a rush of a locomotive.
“Okay, so she won’t walk well on the leash?”
“No. And she spends a lot of time lying down.”
“She’s two, right?”
“Yes.”
When Daisy bayed, Callie grabbed his arm. “Don’t respond to her. She’s learned to vocalize when she wants to be carried. She’s not a puppy anymore, and she has to learn who is boss. That’s you, Jared. You have to be firm and lead. Dogs really aren’t all that complicated. She reacts to stimuli around her, just like any animal does. If she’s conditioned to be a certain way, that’s the way she’ll act.”
He nodded. “I had no idea. So, it’s more about patience.”
“It’s about being more stubborn than she is. You’ve got to wait her out. Don’t look now, but she’s on her way over.”
Daisy got to Jared and looked up at him.
“Now you can praise her.”
He squatted down and sent his hand over her silky head. “Good girl, Daisy. You’re so clever.”
“Always keep your voice upbeat when praising her and firm when giving her commands. Now I’m going to try a couple of things to see how quickly she can be trained.
“Daisy, sit.”
Daisy reacted to her name by swinging her head toward Callie.
Callie moved forward and pushed her little butt down. Callie pulled a treat out of a bag she had on her hip. Daisy stayed where she was. She gave her the treat and pulled her back to all fours.
“Daisy, sit.” Daisy did the grumbling, murmuring in her chest, but Callie was a rock and didn’t respond. “Sit, girl.” Daisy complied. Callie fed her a treat and said enthusiastically, “Good, girl! She’s such a smart doggie!” She looked at Jared. So she’s got the basics down. Let’s try teaching her with hand signals.
She worked with her for about fifteen minutes and finally when Callie straightened and gave her the hand signal to sit without voice, she did so without hesitation. Callie praised her vigorously, then gave her another treat.
“She’s pretty smart. I think I can work with her. I’d also like to suggest additional stimulation. Walks, of course. Work with her until she’s walking on her own. No more free rides.”
He nodded.
“Basset hounds are hunting dogs. They are trackers. I would suggest that you two work as a team and go to the park where there’s fresh air and a stimulating environment. Give her the scent of one of you, then stay ahead of Daisy as she follows your scent. Try to throw her off if you can. It’ll only help her to reacquaint herself with what she loves to do, and that is tracking.
“Jared. Why don’t you take her over there and teach her to shake with voice, then hand signal. If you get ambitious, you can try to get her to spin.”
“She already knows how to shake.”
“Okay, then try a hand signal. Then get her to turn in a circle if you can.”
“All right. Thank you for this, Callie.”
“Sure.”
When Jared walked away Callie turned to her. “Okay, what’s going on with you?”
“What?”
“Don’t act all innocent with me. You look…sated. And when you look at him…well let’s say it’s not a platonic look. I can tell when someone is getting nookie while on the phone.”