Having said the words, she felt vulnerable, defenseless. But Jared’s reassurance was in his nonverbal communication, wrapping her in his protection with every stroke of his tongue. His hands threaded through her hair, holding her mouth exactly where he wanted it and kissing her until she was breathless.
Finally, he released her mouth and buried his face in her hair, his powerful arms holding her tightly against him. “I need you, Mara. I need you so damn much that I can hardly breathe. Don’t leave me. Please don’t ever leave me.”
Her heart wrenched with pain, his agonized voice shooting a burning ache through her soul. Everyone he’d ever cared about had left him and betrayed him. If he was feeling as raw as she was right now, he had to be in hell. “I won’t. Not ever.” And she meant it. He’d have to pry her off him to get rid of her now, unless he didn’t want her around anymore. She wanted to be with him forever, help him heal all of his wounds. She wanted him to finally be happy.
“If you do leave, I’ll find you,” he growled.
Mara smiled against his chest at his sudden arrogance. He was a conundrum . . . again. But he was getting easier to unravel. Hot and cold. Demanding and kind. Dominant and vulnerable. She loved every single stubborn part of this man she was clinging to at the moment, because she was starting to understand every one of his reactions. His strength of character was incredible. Though he may have buried the sensitive part of himself for protection, it was still there. It showed in just about everything he did, even though he tried to hide it, tried to bury it forever.
“How hard would you look?” she asked him teasingly.
“I’d follow your beautiful ass to the ends of the earth,” he vowed fiercely. “Now that I know that you love me, you’re never getting rid of me.”
Like she’d ever want to? Highly unlikely.
She shivered at his declaration. When Jared was possessive and dominant, he gripped and jerked an answering carnal response from her that she couldn’t deny.
The jarring ring of Jared’s cell phone interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced up at the clock. “The family dinner,” she reminded Jared reluctantly. “It’s probably Emily. We’re late.”
“You think I give a shit right now?” His lips skimmed over the vulnerable skin of her neck.
“Yes,” Mara answered with a feigned calm she wasn’t feeling at the moment. “Hope and Jason are there. You haven’t seen them yet.” Hope and Jason Sutherland had flown in this evening for the wedding tomorrow. Mara knew Jared hadn’t seen Hope in a while. “Answer the phone and tell them we’re coming.”
Jared let go of Mara with an irritated sigh. “I wish we were coming at home right now,” he grumbled unhappily, pulling the phone out of his pocket once Mara had slid off his lap.
She tried to stifle her laughter as Jared reluctantly answered the phone.
The evening dinner at Grady’s home was casual, almost everybody in jeans . . . except for Evan, of course. He was dressed in his usual pristine suit and tie. The moment she saw Evan at the gathering, Mara swore she was going to buy the man a pair of jeans.
Emily had barbecued for the get-together, and Sarah had opted to keep the guests to just the Sinclair siblings and their significant others. Evan was leaving right after the wedding reception; Dante and Sarah were sneaking away for a week to honeymoon since Dante would be starting his new job as a detective for the Amesport Police Department right after they returned. Since Hope was pregnant and suffering severe morning sickness, Jason was taking her with him back to New York so he could finish his commitments there as soon as possible. Mara could tell by the way Jason looked at Hope that he wasn’t letting his pregnant wife out of his sight. All the family was ecstatic over Hope’s announcement that she and Jason were planning on making Amesport their permanent home in a few months. Her husband had to wrap up some things in New York and they’d be free to move their home base to Amesport permanently.
Mara didn’t miss the satisfied light in Jared’s eyes as Hope stood in the family room after dinner and made her official announcement.
Sitting next to him on the couch, she leaned in closer and whispered, “That’s been your plan all along, wasn’t it? You built a house for every one of your siblings here on the Peninsula to bring your family back together again.” Mara knew it was true as certainly as she knew she loved Jared. He hadn’t come here and built homes for all of his siblings after the accident just because he was bored, or because he’d wanted to escape from the pain of losing his friend and girlfriend. Jared had yearned to have his siblings back in the same area, together after years of being scattered across the country, and in Evan’s case, across the world. Mara’s heart skittered, aching for a man so lonely that he had come to where Grady had already made his permanent home and had meticulously used his architectural skills to carefully construct what he hoped would become more than just a vacation home for each of his siblings. For years, the plan hadn’t worked, all of his siblings single and busy with their own lives. Now, he was going to have Hope, Grady, and Dante all in the same location, something Mara was pretty certain had been Jared’s secret longing all along.
“I didn’t admit it at the time, but I think that was what I really wanted,” he answered in a husky whisper near her ear. “It’s hard to believe it’s actually happening. There’s only Evan now.”
Mara’s heart skipped a beat. Did that mean Jared was planning on staying in Amesport forever? That his home on the Peninsula would be his permanent residence? Obviously he’d have to travel at times. He had projects all over the world. But was he planning on spending the majority of his time here in Maine?