Unexpected Consequences by Cara Bristol Page A

such loveliness, his breath caught in his chest. The shade almost matched the color of her glistening sex.
    Transfixed, he watched as her slender fingers moved lightly over her cheeks, tracing the outline of his mark.
    He loved her. He needed her. He needed her to need him. The desire to grab her, to force her to the floor, spank her ass to an even deeper hue, and take her roughly pounded a primitive tom-tom rhythm through his blood. Only a filament-thin thread of sanity restrained him.
    Her white teeth nibbled at her lower lip, something she did unconsciously when she was thinking. Her expression held amazement and desire, the combination of innocence and sexuality so potent, Jared’s resistance crumbled under its force.
    Drawn like a moth to the flame, he stalked toward her. “Melania,” he rasped.
    She squealed, bolting upright. Wide-eyed as a doe in headlights, she stared at him, rooted to the spot. In the soft light of the bedroom lamps, her skin glowed like pearls set on fire. Her jet-black curls cascaded over one delicate shoulder, enticingly hiding one breast. The other presented a naked temptation, its nipple a rosy pebble. Her tiny waist dipped inward, her slim but womanly hips curving into sexy legs. Her mound was sweetly and submissively bare, an accommodation to his preferences.
    He returned his gaze to her face. Her cheekbones were flushed, her lovely eyes telegraphing a silent, secret plea. Hand shaking, Jared curved his palm around her neck and tilted her head slightly so he could look into her eyes. “Are you afraid of me, Melania?” His heart thumped as he waited for her answer.
    Her hazel eyes rounded. She lowered her lashes, then looked at him. She shook her head slightly. “No.” The whispered word made his chest swell with hope.
    “Sweet Melania.” His voice was hoarse.
    She parted her lips as if to speak, but no sound emerged. Unable to resist the invitation, he stroked the line of her lower lip with his thumb. She pursed her soft mouth and kissed it, her pink tongue delicately licking the pad. Jared’s heart contracted, and he lost it.
    He crushed her against his chest and kissed her. He’d expected resistance, rejection, but her tongue danced with his, demanding as well as giving. A wave of relief swept aside all vestiges of doubt, of hesitation, of restraint. He wanted to woo her, take his time pleasuring her, but he was caught in an undertow of sexual hunger. When Melania wrapped her arms around his neck and melded her pliant body to his, his good intentions shattered.
    He grabbed her perfect ass and yanked her hard against his erection. She flinched, but her whimper of discomfort mellowed to a moan of satisfaction, and she teased him with a rotation of her hips.
    He tore his mouth away from hers to press against the shell of her ear. “I need you, sweetheart,” he growled. He nipped the side of her neck, then soothed the hurt with his tongue.
    Lust raged inside him like a caged predator, and he worried what would happen if he let it loose, fearing he wouldn’t be able to offer her the gentleness she needed. He would hurt her, and he wouldn’t be able to protect her from himself. After the spanking, she needed to be cosseted, wooed with gentle persuasion, not overwhelmed by a full-on erotic assault. As every nerve and muscle shouted in protest, he made an effort to extricate himself from her embrace, to lock the predator’s cage before the animal devoured them both.
    Melania would have none of it. She clung to him, curling her hands into his shirt, claiming him as her captive.
    “Easy, sweetheart. Take it slow,” he said, though every cell in his body roared in frustration.
    Her eyes took on a wickedly seductive glint. “Why?”
    With a groan, Jared capitulated to her sweet demand, unable to fight himself and her too. He plundered her mouth like a pillaging raider sacking a village. He drew on her sweetness, unable to get enough, each kiss stoking a craving for more.
    Their hands