Jet driveslike his life depended on getting us back to his home as fast as humanly possible. He comes around and helps me out of the truck. My legs feel like Jell-O at the flurry of events that unfolded—first that very public, very much life-giving kiss that renewed my soul on an intimate level. It’s as if I were dead and Jet resurrected my weary bones by infusing me with his affection. But that jackhole who took our picture and the thought of what he plans to do with it shakes me to the core. I’m as happy as I am sad by the twists and turns this evening has taken.
He whisks us inside and locks the door, keeps the house dark in the event we were followed by any morons with a zoom lens.
“Jet, I—”
He touches his finger to my lips and shakes his head ever so slightly. His eyes illuminate in the moonlight, giving him a sexy alien appeal that makes my body tingle inside and out.
“When I saw you at the Black Bear, almost a year ago to the day, I thought there’s a girl I’d like to know.” His lips curl up at the sides, and his eyes remain locked on mine with laser precision. “When you came into the shop with your friends, I couldn’t believe I’d get to touch you, let alone maybe get to know you.”
“I guess that didn’t quite work out.” I give a nervous laugh. “I’m terrified of needles.”
He shakes his head. “I was so glad to see you at that bar time and time again. After a long day at work, I wasn’t really heading there to hang out with friends. It was you I wanted to see.”
I bite down hard on my lip in an effort to keep the tears at bay. I’m not sure why Jet feels compelled to tell me all of this, but I’m drinking down every last bit as if it were life-giving water.
His brows knit, and his expression grows pained. “Daisy, I’m not sure how many people have ever told you this, but you are special.”
A lone fat tear sears its way down my cheek.
Jet wipes it away with his finger, only to be met with another. “You’re beautiful—smart, funny—”
“You’re going to get laid, Madden.” I slip my hand up his shirt, and he winces at my touch. “No need to lay it on so thick.”
“No, I mean it.” He leans in and lands the sweetest kiss to the tip of my nose—first one I’ve ever received in that exact spot, and it sends a thousand butterflies loose in my stomach. “I’m not just telling you that because I’m trying to get laid, or because I think you’re nice.” His chest rises and falls as if he’s suddenly angry with himself or prematurely repentant of what comes next. “I’m telling you that because I’m falling hard for you. I want you here, in my life, in my bed, every single day. For so long you’ve been the bright spot, something in me craved to get to know you better, but I fought it.”
“I fought it, too.” It’s true. Jet was the one who made my heart beat faster, and I was so dead on doing this life thing alone I made myself believe he made my skin crawl. I’m the best at lying to myself when need be. Sometimes the lies you tell yourself are simply there to protect you from what you fear most, and, in my case, that would have been rejection. I’ve been rejected by just about everyone else in my life. Why not this big, beautiful man?
I cup his cheeks with my palms and pull him close to me, covering his mouth with mine in a greedy fashion that screams starvation more than it does anything else.
A deep groan rides through his chest, and I feel the echo right down to my marrow. Jet and I pull off our clothes at a hundred miles an hour, ripping and tearing, shoes flying and crashing all around the room. He lands me against the door, arms up and vulnerable as he lashes my mouth with his ferocious kisses. Jet and I engage in a strange dance that involves walls and tables, knocking into the television, stumbling into the bathroom a moment before our wild dizzying kiss leads us straight into his bedroom. He fumbles with a condom a moment before rolling it on, all while keeping his eyes glued to mine.
“Come here.” He pulls me over to him, his eyes dancing over each of mine as if trying to read what I might be feeling.
“I want this,” I confess, running my finger over his lips. “You and I kind of work, you know? But I get it. You’re a free agent, and you like to keep your prospects open. I just want you to know I’m okay with that, too. I’m not here to box you into anything.”
Geez. Is there a quicker way to kill a hard-on than talking to a guy about your relationship status right after he rolled one on?
A dark rumble of a laugh pumps through him, and I ride the wave his body provides.
“I’m not looking for other prospects. I already have the one I never thought I’d get, never thought I deserved, lying over my body.” He pulls one of my curls and wraps it around his finger. “I’m content with having one woman in my life, and that’s you.” He swallows hard. “I’ve never done that before.” His eyes close as if a horrible confession were begging to rip right out of his throat. “I can’t lose sight of Lucky. It’s just she and I in this world, and I need to make sure—”
Now it’s my finger pressed against his lips. “Shh.” I shake my head. “I would never let you take your eyes off that little spitfire for a minute.”
We share a quiet laugh.
“In fact, I’ll be your eyes when you can’t see her. I’m at Briggs, remember? I want to be there for both Ava and Lucky. I kind of like the big sister role. Sometimes I think if I would have had a sister myself, things might have turned out differently for me.”
Jet closes his eyes again briefly as if absorbing my words. “Thank you.” He gently lands me onto my back and loves me with a kiss that shows his appreciation more than words could ever do. Jet pins my hands over my head and runs kisses up and down the underbelly of my arms. He buries a kiss in the hollow of my neck before landing a sweet kiss to each of the girls. Then he’s inside me, slow and steady, his chest riding up and down over my line of vision. Those cut striations of sheer muscle glide over me as I try to keep track of them.
A deep moan evicts from my throat as he gives way to those last final few thrusts. His chest pounds so hard I don’t think he could have stopped if the house were on fire—I don’t think I’d want him to. Jet lets out a hearty groan that reverberates right down to my nexus and sends my toes curling just feeling him throb deep inside me.
“I was greedy. Sorry.” He presses a kiss to my lips, keeping his body inside me as long as he can.
A bubbling laugh comes from me as I thread my fingers through the back of his hair, and just as some sarcastic quip is about to fly from my lips, his pale eyes settle on mine, erasing any trace of banter that begs to stream from me.
“I’m greedy for you, too.” I swallow down the fear I had in letting those words free in the world. “I’ve never felt like this before.” My shoulders cinch to my ears.
“Like what?” His lips rise on one side as if he’s trying to charm the words from me.
