His sharp inhale said he knew exactly what she meant, but instead of rolling on top of her like she'd hoped, he rolled away from her, leaving her cold.
Her whole body heated straight back up when he took a condom from his nightstand and tore the packet with his teeth.
Her heart thumped steadily as she watched him roll it on.
"I can go on the pill or something."
He gave her a worried look."Do you have a latex allergy or something?"
She let out a short laugh."No, but the thirty seconds it took you to get that on was thirty seconds too long."
He gave her a wry smile."I want to say I'll do practice drills till I have it down to five seconds or less, but..."His eyes darkened and the way he ran his tongue over his full lips before he continued had to be the sexiest thing she'd ever seen."But the thought of being inside you bare...?"He leaned in, nuzzling his lips to her neck and murmuring, "Are you ready for me?"
Her answer was to try to haul him on top of her.He chuckled and obliged, positioning himself between her legs, pushing up on his hands so that he could hold her gaze.
She shook her head, then before he could panic, wrapped her arms around his waist."I'm so ready I might melt, but Jake, I want to feel you."She hugged him tight."Your whole body."
He lowered his chest onto hers."I'm not too heavy?"
"No, you're perfect..."She didn't know how to explain that the weight of him on top of her made her feel like she'd finally found her home.
When he slid one arm underneath her and lifted her up to him, she moaned as he pressed inside her.
"Yes," she breathed before he had the chance to ask any more questions—whatever they might be, her answer was the same.
And then he pushed deeper, and it felt almost impossible.He was so big, so hard.She'd never felt so full.He kept going until he was buried so deep that his hips were flush with hers.He wasn't just inside her—he became a part of her.
Every nerve ending in her body tingled as he gave her a moment to adjust.He felt so tense, like power coiled, waiting to be unleashed, and she needed to feel it.He was still her steady, caring, sweet Jake, but she needed..."Please, Jake."
As if her words released his restraint, he pulled back, and this time there was no gentle slide—only one deep, hard thrust after another.Every time he pulled back, her body wanted to mourn the loss of him but didn't get the chance before he was filling her again.Over and over, driving her higher and higher.Her breasts bounced, the headboard slammed against the wall faster and faster until..."Jake!"She screamed his name as her orgasm crashed over her, pulling her under and somehow lifting her up and carrying her away at the same time.She could only cling to him as he slammed deeper and harder, until her release triggered his and the world faded away as their bodies melded into one.
She clung to him tighter, not wanting to let him go, not wanting to leave the place he'd carried her away to.But they came back down to earth anyway, shaking and panting.He slumped down onto her shoulder and an aftershock raced through her when he kissed her neck.
"Damn, Savvie.I love you."
She squeezed her eyes tight shut and clamped her arms and legs tight around him for one last moment as she breathed, "Love you too, Jake."
Chapter Nineteen
On Sunday morning, Jake slid another pancake onto the stack and then stopped mid-turn at the sound of Savannah’s laughter.It was fast becoming his favorite sound in the whole world.
“What did I do now?”he asked with a smile.
“Nothing bad.I’m not laughing at you.I’m just wondering if you needthatmany pancakes to get your strength back up, and if you do maybe you should eat something a little more nutritious.”
He looked at the stack and realized that he’d automatically made enough to feed himself and Josh.From what he’d seen, Savannah had a healthy appetite — but no way would she eat that many.He gave her a rueful shrug.
“What can I say?I’m just happy.”
She laughed again.“And being happy means you make dozens of pancakes?”she asked, eyebrows raised.
“No.I guess it just means that I don’t pay attention to the little things that don’t matter.”He glanced at the pancakes again.“Although, you know what?That might be wrong, because pancakes do matter.”
He pursed his lips at her when she chuckled.“I know it sounds stupid, but you might agree when I tell you why.See, when I first came to Summer Lake, Uncle Dom was staying here at the house — that was before he met Sadie — and the first weekend I came to visit it was kind of special.On that first Saturday morning, there was me and Uncle Dom, who at the time was this guy who I barely knew, and Dad, who — as weird as it sounds considering that they’re identical twins — barely knew Dom either.But the three of us sat here and ate pancakes together.And…”
He had to swallow around the unexpected lump in his throat when the meaning of what he was doing this morning finally hit him.“See, it felt to me like that was when we became a real family.A new family.The family that I care about.I mean, sure, when I was small I had family with my mom and dad, but they never really liked each other much, and this was different.I knew my dad loved it here in Summer Lake.I was coming to love it here, too.And then we had Uncle Dom as well.So ….”
He patted the spatula on top of the pancake he’d just added to the stack.“These things might just be non-nutritious breakfast to you.But to me, they’re part of feeling like I’m finally getting to build the family I want.”
