Fighting the Inevitable (30 page)

“
I can smell you, Millie,” he whispered. “I can smell how much
you want this.” His voice was so deep and husky, so sensual that
she could only stare at him in shock, as she felt the liquid heat
pool between her legs. Oh God, he could smell her arousal? He was
just saying that to knock her off balance. Wasn’t he? He couldn’t
really smell her? Her face flushed scarlet, and she moaned as
he leaned closer, his hot breath sliding down the side of her face
and down to her neck.

“
Peaches and cream,” he murmured, “and that wonderful musky
aroma of a woman in heat. What a heady combination.” His lips
whispered across her neck, and she moaned again and swayed towards
him. Her movement seemed to strike something within him, because he
was suddenly pressing his big powerful body against hers, and his
lips were crushing hers hard as his hot tongue sought entrance into
her mouth.

Fuck, she
tasted so amazing, so hot and sweet and tangy. Jared ravished her
mouth, as he pressed her body hard against the wall. The first
taste of his mate was so heady he thought he was going to lose
control. His Millie. His woman. “You are mine, Millie. You were
mine from the very first second I saw you, and
you always will be mine. There’s no point fighting
it, baby. Just surrender to the inevitable.”

“
No,” Millie gasped, tearing her mouth from his and pushing at
his hard chest. His certainty infuriated her. His blatant
possessiveness made her want to deny him. She wasn’t some kind of
possession for him to own. This exact thing was what had sent her
running from him in the first place. His lips were sucking at
her neck, and she pushed against his chest again.

“
Jared, stop!”

He groaned
his displeasure and raised his passion-filled face to look down at
her. “Why?” His voice was thick with desire. “You know you want me,
Millie, and I want you too. I want you so badly I
can’t sleep at nights. You’re all I think about.”

“
So I want you,” she admitted, but her tone was anything but
loving. It sounded as if she was angry about it. “What sane woman
wouldn’t want you, Jared? You’re gorgeous, have a great body, and
you’re sexy as hell. You’re also arrogant, cocky and way too sure
of yourself. Just because I want you doesn’t mean I’m going to act
on it.” She wriggled out of his arms, as he gaped open mouthed at
her. She pulled her robe securely around her body and headed into
the kitchen.

“
Millie…” Jared sighed and ran his hands through his hair in
frustration. Maybe, he was going about this in the wrong way. He
watched her across the room as she calmly made herself a cup of
coffee, pointedly not making him a cup. “Do you want to take it
slower?” he asked, as he crossed into the kitchen area. “I was
willing to take it slower, go on dates and stuff, but you wouldn’t
answer my calls.”

“
Jared, you’re not getting the message,” she answered with a
more than a hint of irritation in her eyes. She pointed from
him to her and back again. “I. Don’t. Want. This. I don’t know how
to be any plainer with you about it. I don’t care how attracted I
find you. I do not want to be with you.”

He folded his
arms over his chest and frowned at her, his displeasure etched
plainly across his face. “I’m sorry to hear that, Millie. I’m also
sorry to tell you I don’t give a damn about it either. You are
mine, and there is nothing you can do to change it.”

Millie stared
at him open mouthed and contemplated throwing her mug at his
head, and then decided it would be a waste of a perfectly good cup
of coffee. She sipped at the bitter liquid and rolled her eyes.
“Are you listening to yourself?” she finally said, her tone icy.
“Does that Neanderthal type behaviour normally work for you with
women? I can assure you, it is not going to work with
me.”

Jared grinned
a very wicked grin, before he stepped closer to her. “Usually women
can’t wait to get into my bed,” he told her with all the confidence
of an Alpha male who was used to getting what he wanted. “They’re
usually very disappointed when I kick them out of my bed, too.” She
didn’t like hearing that. He could see the spark of jealousy in her
eyes, which she quickly tried to hide.

“
You are fucking unbelievable,” Millie cursed
him.

He frowned.
“Did you want me to lie to you?” Honesty meant everything to him
but he had to consider that his mate might need something else from
him. “I will, if you really want me to, but I’d much rather tell
you the truth, Millie. I’ve had a lot of women. I have a very
healthy sexual appetite, and I like to indulge it. I’m not going to
apologise for my past. I’ve loved every moment of it, and so have
my women.”

Millie
blinked at him in total disbelief. The arrogant ass was standing in
her kitchen telling her about all the other women he’d been with?
He really thought this was the right way to go about getting her
into bed? Was he completely insane, or just so cocksure of himself
he truly believed she was ready to be just another woman
in his long line of women?

“
You seriously need to work on your pickup lines, Hanlon,” she
laughed, harshly.

He frowned
and pursed his lips, running a hand through his hair. “This
isn’t a pickup line, Millie; I’m just telling you how it is.” Jared
sighed. “How it used to be,” he amended with a rueful smile.
“I haven’t been with another woman, since the day we met. Oh,
I did try once, but the moment I closed my eyes all I could see was
your beautiful face, those stunning cobalt eyes, your soft black
curls tumbling around your head. You’re the only one I want
now.”

Millie was
surprised to feel a hint of satisfaction he hadn’t been with
anyone. She didn’t know why she believed him when he said it.
Yet, she did. He had told her honestly about his previous
lifestyle, even though it didn’t say much about his character. If
he was honest about that, then he must be honest about what he’d
said since then. Still, she wasn’t giving in to the arrogant
ass.

“
I’m so sorry to hear about your impotency issues, Jared,” she
said with a saccharine sweet smile on her face. “You do know you
can talk to your doctor about it or buy some
Viagra?”

His face
turned thunderous for a moment, and then he threw back his head and
burst out laughing. She watched warily, as he laughed
until tears rolled down his face. Laughter was not the reaction she
had been expecting, and it made her feel a little
uneasy.

He finally
stopped laughing and wiped at his face, his deep blue eyes glinting
with humour. “Or, I could just fuck you, Millie,” he said,
suavely, as the humour died from his expression and hot lust
appeared in its place. “I’d much prefer that option.”

Jared knew he
was being totally outrageous with her, but he couldn’t help
himself. She had one hell of a mouth on her, and he was enjoying
their battle of wills. He had almost let her get the upper hand
there for a moment, but he’d managed to deftly turn it around
on her. Her shocked expression was priceless to look at, and he
prepared himself for getting slapped or something thrown at him.
She looked like the type to throw things when she got
pissed.

“
I want you to get out of my apartment, right now,” Millie
hissed furiously at him. “How dare you walk in here, treat me like
I’m a piece of meat, and then talk to me like that. You have no
fucking respect for women at all, do you, Hanlon?” She was livid at
him and close to bashing him on the head with something hard. She
didn’t care what it was, as long as it wiped the smug smile off his
face.

“
On the contrary, I have a lot of respect for women,” he
smiled, wickedly. “Especially, when they’re lying beneath me
moaning my name in ecstasy, as I ravish their beautiful bodies.” He
saw immediately he’d pushed her too far when her face turned red
with anger, and she picked up her coffee mug and threw it at
him. He ducked in time, and it hit the wall behind him and
shattered.

“
Get out!” she screamed at him, but he ignored her, closing
the final distance between them and catching her in his embrace, as
she struggled furiously against him. He pinned her against the
kitchen counter and let her struggle, keeping a firm grip on her,
but only just hard enough to make sure she couldn’t hurt him or
herself with her struggles.

“
Shhhh, baby,” he whispered, soothingly. “I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t have teased you like that. Take some deep breaths, and
try to calm down. I don’t want you to hurt
yourself.”

“
Let go of me,” she cried mutinously, as she felt his hardness
pressing against her, and her own body starting to react to his
closeness. Dear God, she seriously couldn’t be finding this macho
crap a turn on! “You arrogant fucking ass. Who do you think you
are?”

He silenced
her with a hard kiss, fisting a hand into her hair to hold her
still, so he could ravish her soft lips with his. She fought
against him, but he kept up the pressure on her mouth, nipping at
her bottom lip, until she finally opened up to him and he could
slide his tongue into her moist heat and taste her thoroughly. Her
struggles started to decrease, and then, she was kissing him back
with a passion that startled him at first.

Her sudden
capitulation was unexpected, and he still held her tightly just in
case it was a ruse, so she could knee him in the groin or
something. She was a feisty one, and he wouldn’t put it past her to
do just that. She moaned deeply and the hot scent of her arousal
assaulted his nostrils, and he knew she was lost in his kisses as
much as he was, and he growled and deepened the kiss further, his
tongue duelling erotically with hers.

He finally
lifted his head and looked down into her passion-filled face. She
took his breath away, she was so goddamned beautiful. Her cheeks
were flushed with colour, and her lips were swollen and puffy. Her
cobalt eyes fluttered opened, and they were dazed and so
sexy looking. He smiled slowly and ran his fingers through her
gorgeous curls.

“
Who do I think I am?” he sighed, softly. “I’m yours, Millie,
don’t you know that? I’m yours, just as much as you are mine. There
is no other woman for me now I’ve met you. You’re all I think
about, all I dream about. I’m yours, baby. All you have to do is
let me in.”

“
Jared,” she groaned, closing her eyes and trying to get away
from the heated look in his. His body was so hard against hers, his
words sounded so sincere. He scared the living daylights out of
her. She just knew if she surrendered to him, her life would never
be the same again.

“
Millie, don’t fight it,” he whispered against her lips.
“Don’t think, baby, just feel.”

His mouth
slanted across hers and liquid fire shot through her veins.
His tongue licked along her bottom lip and then slowly over her top
lip. She was moaning into his mouth, as he teased her slowly and
relentlessly. She wanted, no, she needed to feel his tongue in her
mouth. Hands that had previously tried to push him away were now
pulling him closer, as she stood on her tiptoes and thrust her
tongue into his mouth.

He growled,
and his mouth became more demanding. His tongue duelling with hers,
as his hands moved beneath her pyjama top and slowly began to make
their way up to her aching breasts, which were swollen and
desperate for his touch. He cupped the soft orbs, almost
reverently, before his thumbs rubbed over her hard nipples, and she
cried out in pleasure, his mouth sucking in the sound, as she
pressed against him.

It was as if
she had given him the green light to continue. She had, hadn’t she?
He was suddenly scooping her up into his powerful arms and striding
from the kitchen. She’d left her bedroom door open, and he could
see the mussed up bed, so he had  fair idea this were her room
and not Rhianna’s. He laid her on the bed and followed her down,
not wanting to break the kiss to give her the opportunity to over
think things.

Millie could
feel her bed beneath her, feel Jared’s body pressing against hers,
and she knew she should stop this now, but his kisses were like a
drug, sweeping her under his potent spell. She wanted this so
badly. There was no point in denying it. She’d wanted Jared Hanlon
the moment she’d met him, and her reaction to him had scared her
witless.

It just
seemed so inevitable that they would end up like this, no matter
how hard she tried to avoid it. He was stripping off her pyjamas
with strong, confident hands. The hands of a man who had stripped
many women in his life. That thought made her feel a strong wave of
jealousy and also very vulnerable at the same time, and
she stilled under him.

“
Millie?” he said thickly, raising his head to look into her
eyes, his expression heated and yet concerned at the same time.
“What’s wrong, baby? If you really don’t want this right now, tell
me before I reach the point of no return.” He would die, if she
said no to him. He just knew he would. He wanted her so badly, but
she had to want him back.

His
expression was so genuine she knew he meant every word. Despite his
caveman tactics to get into her bed, there was uncertainty in his
eyes, concern for her well-being. All the overt sexuality hid
something so astounding she hadn’t noticed it until now because she
was too busy fighting against him. There was honest need in Jared’s
eyes. This was more than sex for him, she could see that but her
insecurity needed to hear the words.