Shadow Whispers Read online

  From asphalt to wood.

  She staggered backward, pulling from Jared’s embrace. She looked around herself, mouth agape at the small but neat lounge room she stood in. “What the…”

  Jared closed the distance between them, sliding his palms up her arms to bury his fingers in the tumble of hair at her nape. “I have to protect you, Tess.” Stormy-sea eyes bored into hers and his hips pressed hers again. “I want to protect you.”

  Squirming heat twisted in Tess’s pussy as his rigid cock nudged her crotch through the coarse material of their clothes. Lust rolled through her. Lust and anger. “I can protect myself, thank you,” she snapped, ignoring her body’s perfidious response. “And just what the hell are you protecting me from? How the hell did I get here? Just what the fuck is going on in this town?” She tried to jerk her head away from Jared’s grasp but his long, strong fingers tangled in her hair held her still.

  “Tess,” Jared said, moving his hands to cup her jaw. He gazed into her eyes. “Trust me.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, infuriated disbelief crackling through her veins. Trust? He asked her to trust him? A complete stranger? After everything she’d been through she’d never trust a living soul a—

  …incandescent white light surrounds him, a glow so pure and blinding it bleaches the very air. He cradles her in his strong arms, holding her to his body, his stare—twin orbs of blazing blue fire—locked on the furious black wraith radiating obsessive death before them. She presses into his body, terror devouring her as the black wraith moves toward them, reaching for them, reaching for…

  Tess hissed in a sharp breath. Eyebrows drawn into a deep frown, she stared Jared squarely in the eyes. “Who are you?”

  For an answer, he placed his lips to hers once more.

  And she let him.

  With almost reverent care, he touched the corner of her mouth with the tip of his tongue, as if who she was lay waiting for him in that tiny, sensitive dip.

  She pulled in a short breath, nostrils filling with a scent utterly intoxicating: rain in the bush, spring growth and potent male musk. A soft groan of mystified bliss escaped her—slipped through her parted lips to be caught by Jared’s tasting mouth. His tongue traced the full curve of her lower lip, dipping in to touch her teeth, nipping down with his own. Each contact sent a scorching bolt of wet tension into Tess’s pussy. Each teasing flick and bite made her heart hammer and her blood sing.

  Tongue now at the other side of her mouth, Jared placed the softest kiss at its corner, his strong nose brushing her cheek as he nuzzled the slight dimple there. With infinite patience, he moved to her top lip, pulling at it with gentle nips. His fingers rested on her temples, their feather-light pressure an exquisite tickle that made her skin tingle and her pussy contract.

  Tess sucked in a hitching breath, eyelids fluttering closed as she gave herself over to the sensual onslaught.

  Onslaught? If this is an attack, I surrender…

  The heady thought made her heart thump. What was she doing? She was one of New York’s most powerful journalists. A woman capable of destroying a politico’s career with just a word. Yet here she stood—in a strange house with a strange man—surrendering to the sensations he created in her.

  Jared’s tongue flicked at hers and a pulsing swell of liquid heat flushed between her thighs. Tess sighed. Willing and complete surrender.

  She opened her mouth, tangling her tongue around his.

  His taste filled her, as fresh and distinctly unique as his scent. She reached up, fisting her hands in the silken honey strands of his hair, pulling his head harder into the kiss. Their teeth clicked together and she heard a low moan rumble in Jared’s chest, felt his cock twitch as she drove her tongue deeper past his lips.

  Her sex contracted in wet, gripping pulses and she returned his moan. Oh God, she was horny. She’d denied her body physical contact, physical pleasure for so long, petrified of letting anyone past her defences again, that she didn’t think she was capable of this kind of burning, intense response anymore. She’d let a dream-lover consume her and convinced herself it was enough.

  But it wasn’t enough. Somewhere along the line, reality had cracked and the truth shone through like a blinding light. She had no idea who he was, no idea what the fuck was going on, but she did know—beyond question—she wanted Jared Pierce’s cock pumping into her. Wanted to impale herself on its impressive girth and ride him until her body shuddered in ecstasy and nothing filled her head except pure, base, and thoughtless pleasure.

  She felt giddy. Deprived of oxygen in the most wonderful way. Jared’s tongue mated with hers, forceful and fierce. His hands fisted in her hair, the strands tugging on her scalp with exquisite tension. She’d never experienced pleasure from pain before, but oh, God, the way her pussy gushed with liquid heat every time his fists tightened…

  She slid her hands around his torso, pressing her palms flat between the solid angles of his shoulder blades, pulling him—if it was at all possible—closer. The jutting shaft of steel straining at the fly of his jeans ground against the curve of her mons, an undeniable testament to his desire. His erection felt huge, even contained by the snug denim. What would it feel like released, its massive, engorged length free of constraints? What would it feel like in her hand?

  Tess’s head swam again at the intoxicating thought, wanton lust flooding her sex. Her pussy constricted, pulses of eager pleasure throbbing in harmony with her heartbeat. She squirmed, wanting to slide her hands down his torso to his fly. Fuck, the need to hold his thick pole in her grip made her head not only swim, but her whole body tingle and thrum. This raw, base hunger overwhelming her senses should scare her, hell should terrify her, as should the fact she was now here in her house, and no longer outside Kangaroo Creek’s Post Office, but fear was blessedly absent from her thoughts. Whoever Jared Pierce was, she felt safe with him. Safe and on fire.

  Dragging her mouth from his lips, Tess’s explored the square line of his jaw, the salty tang of sweat slicking his skin tasting like ambrosia, before nibbling her way to his ear to capture the lobe with her teeth.

  He moaned, his Adam’s apple rising and falling in rapid succession. His hands slid from her hair, down her back to cup and squeeze her backside, long, sure fingers slipping into her pockets. “Almighty.”

  His harsh growl sent a shiver through her body. Her pussy fluttered again, her nipples pinching into aching tips. She flicked her tongue into his ear, rolling her hips against his as she raked her nails down his back, around the narrow plane of his waist and up to his chest. His heart thumped beneath her palm. Each pounding, powerful beat flooded her sex with hot, wet desire.

  “What have you done to me?” she whispered, amazement resounding in her voice. “We just met today, and yet, I feel like I’ve felt this beating heart,” she rubbed the middle of his chest, stare locked on his, “every day of my life.” Passion battled with a squirming sense of uncertainty. She narrowed her eyes, struggling with the urge to let herself be washed away by not only the pleasure rolling through her but the inexplicable situation. How had she gotten from town to here? How? “What have you done to me? How did we get here?” She paused, her pulse wild, her pussy throbbing. “And how can I be so addicted to your body already?”

  “Oh, fuck, Tess,” Jared groaned, the words hoarse and somehow choked. His grip on her ass grew tighter, pulling her even closer to his burning hardness. “Almighty, I feel the same way.”

  She lifted her head, staring into his eyes. Her ragged breath caught at the inferno blazing there and she shook her head. “Who are you, Jared Pierce?”

  His nostrils flared, his jaw bunching. “Yours.”

  The answer filled Tess’s being with concentrated rapture.

  She slipped her hands down his stomach, revelling in the sculpted perfection of his abs under her fingertips a heady moment before tugging the hem of his shirt free of his jeans. Unable to break eye contact, she slipped her hands under his shirt, pressing her palms t
o the velvet heat of his flesh.

  Jared hissed in a sharp breath, his muscles coiling tight, his eyes flaring with a knowing light. Remaining perfectly motionless, he stared at her, gazing into her face as she slowly, slowly, slid her hands up his stomach, over the steely curve of his chest until her fingers brushed the rock-hard points of his nipples and the matching bars piercing each one.

  Liquid bliss poured into her constricting pussy at the contact. She gasped, holding her hands still, letting the wicked feel of his smooth, hard chest, his small, pebbled nipples, the cool metal bars in each roll through her. It felt so right. He felt so right. Barely moving, she explored each nipple with her fingers, charting every tiny bump and pucker of his areolas with such devotion she knew she’d remember their sublime texture for the rest of her life. Catching her bottom lip with her teeth, she fixed him with a direct gaze. “Take off your shirt.”

  He did as she requested, tossing it aside a heartbeat before she took his nipples between thumb and forefinger, pinching once, twice.

  Jared’s eyelids closed and he let out a low sound, a growl of capitulation so ripe with pleasure, Tess almost came there and then. “I’ve wanted to feel your hands on my body from the moment I saw you,” he stated, eyes still closed.

  “And my lips?” she whispered, the words trembling with the thump of her heart. “Have you wanted to feel my lips on your body as well?”

  Jared opened his eyes and gazed at her. “Yes.”

  Without hesitation—really, what was there to be hesitant about?—Tess bent down and claimed one rock-hard nipple with her mouth.

  “Fuck, Tess!”

  His cry punched the silence of the deepening dusk, his hands burying into the heavy curtain of her hair to press her head to his chest. She smiled around his nipple and tongued the bar piercing its shape. His cock smashed hard into her mons, his hands balled fists in her hair. He gave the long tangled strands a savage tug and a jolt of pleasure shot through her, straight down into her gripping cunt.

  “Fuck, Tess…” The repeated words were a drawn-out moan that made her pulse triple. The hands in her hair tugged again, holding her head to his chest in a physical direction she eagerly obeyed.

  She flicked her tongue over his nipple in in tiny jerks, echoing the grinding motion of his hips. Unable to deny herself any longer, Tess dragged her hands from his exquisite chest down the muscled planes of his stomach, seeking the growing bulge trapped beneath the denim of his jeans. A damp circle pressed against her palm, warm and spreading over the coarse material. She dragged in a slow breath, the heat from the pre-cum squeezing from the swollen head of his cock saying more than words ever could.

  What words would you have him say? You’ve fallen in lust with a complete stranger. Nothing is making sense anyway.

  She flexed her fingers, letting her nails dig small crescents into his warm flesh for a split second before seeking the two tiny bars in each nipple again. Pussy growing more sodden with each heartbeat, she gave them both a little tug.

  Jared’s body snapped into a sudden bow, his cock ramming against her mons and his head thrown back as a sharp hiss filled the air. “Almighty, yes.”

  Tess tugged on the nipple bars again, harder this time, wet rapture gushing to her sex as Jared bucked into her again. His cock was so hard, a solid pole bruising her tender flesh with each grinding jab. Before he could reclaim her mouth with his, she dropped her lips to his chest, closing them around one rock-hard little nub and catching the tiny metal bar pierced there between her teeth once more.

  “Fuck, Tess.”

  His cry punched the silence of the room, his hands burying into the heavy curtain of her hair to hold her head to his chest.

  She smiled around his nipple and bit it gently. His cock smashed harder into her mons, his hands balled fists in her hair. He gave the long, tangled strands a savage tug and a jolt of pleasure shot through her, straight down into her gripping sex.

  Lips hot and wet, she dragged her mouth from one nipple, across Jared’s smooth, sculpted chest to the other, all the while letting her fingers caress his rigid cock through his jeans. Jared groaned, fisting her hair in a painful grip, and her pussy contracted. Making sense isn’t important, Darcy. Not when just a sound from his throat makes you almost come.

  The tiny nipple-bar clicked against her teeth as she sucked on the tight nub of flesh and another groan—lower, baser—rumbled up through Jared’s chest. “Tess…” His cock jerked under her palm. “God Almighty, can this be happening?”

  Blood roaring, heart pounding and pussy sodden, Tess lifted her head, gazing at him with lidded eyes. “Yes. It can.” She curled her fingers into the waistband of his jeans and yanked his button fly open. Instantly his cock sprung free; long, thick; and commanding. She wrapped her fingers around its length and gave it a not-so gentle squeeze. “Now stop talking to God and fuck me.”

  Jared stared into her dark brown eyes, seeing himself in their melted-chocolate depths. Every nerve, sinew, and fiber of his body seemed charged. Raw energy devoured him. He’d never felt this alive, even when he was. And you never will again, Jared.

  Tess’s hand worked his cock, stroking it with fingers that alternated between feather-light kisses and almost brutal tugs. His balls, swollen and heavy, rubbed against the coarse stitching of his jeans’ crotch, eager for release and attention.

  Almighty, he desired this woman. If he had his life again, knowing what he knew now—his wife’s deception, her death, his own end, and an eternity in Hell to pay for both—he wouldn’t change a thing. Not if it meant losing this—this one moment of forbidden, stolen passion.

  He’d watched Tess for so long, had felt her pain, loneliness, and self-hate in a way only a Watcher could. Watching, observing, aware of everything she felt, everything she craved, everything she feared…and incapable of doing anything but lingering in the shadows. At this very second however, with her hands on his body and her breath in his lungs, not one of the wretched emotions that so owned her churned within her soul. All she felt was pure, elemental pleasure.

  And he would sacrifice a thousand lifetimes to keep that so.

  Dragging his hands down her back, he grabbed her ass, the toned muscles flexing under his palms as she quivered. “Please, Jared.” She closed her fingers firmer around his aching cock. “Please fuck me now. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

  Her words—a husky plea—scorched his condemned soul, making his body scream for fulfilment and his balls scream for release. Sucking in a sharp breath, he yanked her hips to his, trapping her hands and his cock between their bodies. “No.” He dropped his head and nipped at her bottom lip, tasting her sweetness before nuzzling a slow line along her jaw to the perfect shell of her ear. “This has to last forever, Tess.”

  A ragged sigh fell from her lips. “I’m an impatient woman, Jared,” she whispered, rolling her hips until his balls felt like they were going to burst. “We don’t have to take our time. I’m not planning on going anywhere soon.”

  Aching remorse tore through Jared’s veins at her statement. No, but I am.

  The thought spurred him into action. Hell waited for him, but for the moment, Tess was his existence. With a low growl, he grabbed the front V of her shirt and tore it apart. “God, Tess…” Hands trembling, he brushed his palms down the full outer curve of each breast. The desire to sink his fingers into their heavy weight, to knead their perfection with his hands as his mouth suckled each pink nipple, pummelled him. He shot Tess a quick look from behind his hair, blood roaring in his veins. “You are truly beautiful.”

  A slow smile played with Tess’s lips. “Thank you, Jared.” Her answer seemed almost dismissive, but her life force burned with rapture. It folded around him, a scorching energy that permeated his existence and made him burn.

  Unable to deny himself a second longer, Jared dropped his head and took one lush, erect nipple in his mouth. The nub of flesh pinched tighter as his tongue laved it through the delicate lace of her bra, straining
against the material and his teeth. Tess moaned, her breasts growing firm and full in his hands, her fingers massaging his cock in wicked harmony with his sucking mouth. The rhythmic pulse sent sizzling bolts of sensation around his body, into his balls, up his spine, across his chest. God Almighty, he was in trouble.

  Teeth nipping at one lacy covered peak, Jared revealed the other with impatient fingers, pulling the bra’s cup aside until nothing but warm, soft flesh filled his palm. Tess’s responding gasp echoed in the silent room and her hands left his cock to bury in his hair. “Christ, Jared. I don’t know who you are, but right at this very moment, I don’t care.” Her voice was throaty, thick with pleasure. Her nails dug into his scalp with each gnawing suck he took of her nipple, holding him to her breast. “I don’t care one little bit.”

  Jared’s cock twitched at the statement and he lifted his head, slowly straightening until he looked down into her up-turned face. Dark eyes glowed with smoldering passion as she gazed at him, her heat scalding his jutting, rigid organ even through the material of her shorts. Impatient, demanding lust tore through him. Fuck lasting forever. He couldn’t control himself any longer.

  Without a word, he grabbed her ass and hauled her feet from the floor.

  In two steps they were against the closest wall.

  He rammed her back against it, driving his hips forward with the force until his cock screamed in denied greed and pain. Never before had he wanted to sink its length so powerfully into a woman’s cunt. In another life he’d loved and desired his wife, but the raw hunger controlling him now, hunger for the woman in his arms—in his soul—made those emotions seem like a schoolyard crush.

  Tess stood against the wall, lips parted, breath ragged, as he raked his hands down her torso and yanked her fly open. The musky scent of desire filled his nose. Tess’s desire. He pulled it deeply into his lungs, savoring it, drawing strength from it. Her blazing life force had called to him what felt like eons ago, but her potent, undeniable desire now commanded him. Owned him.