“There ya go,” Jack growled, kneading my lower back. “Told ya I was good at cracking backs.”
“I’ll admit I’m surprised,” I laughed. “Thank you.”
“Let’s stand you up nice and easy.” Jack lined his front up with my back, slipping his arms around my chest and middle. He helped me get upright, and it shifted our bodies. In what I believe was a genuine accident, his hand grazed over my breast and a shiver passed through me.
I’m proud of myself. I didn’t moan. But I did sigh—the kind of sigh you let out when someone’s working you over.
“Sorry,” Jack murmured in my ear. But he didn’t let me go. He pulled me tighter to his front. His nose moved behind my ear, his breath feathering down my neck. We stayed that way: my neck bared to him and our bodies locked together. “I want to give you everything, Mara.”
“Except love,” I breathed.
“But what if you don’t really need love like you think you do?”
I snorted. “That’s perhaps the saddest and most twisted thing I’ve ever heard.”
His voice was soft and husky. “What if I just took care of you?”
There was only silence. The beat of my heart rushing in my ears. The tick of the clock I needed to not forget to put in a box.
On a shallow breath, I asked, “Take care of me how?”
“You want me to show you?” Jack’s fingers traveled across the elastic waistband of my sweatpants, sliding between eachruched bump. That allowed his thumb to caress the soft skin of my belly. That tiny bit of contact—and being sealed in his arms—was enough to make wetness start to pool in my underwear.God, I don’t even have hot underwear on, again.The softest kiss stroked my neck, my whole body twitching at the contact. “Or do you want me to let you go?”
Love is great. Love is a must. And I would work hard to convince Jack that love could happen for us.
But being touched is also a must. So is being worshipped and kissed. So is hands in hair and tongues and lips in secret places. So is the intimacy of someone paying dedicated attention to you and your pleasure.
The last fraying strand of my resolve snapped. Who cared about love right then? I wanted to be touched. “Show me.”
In one smooth move, one hand traveled up my sweatshirt and the other dove into my pants. A single finger parted me, slipping right through with how wet he’d gotten me. “Look at this, sweetheart. I got you all hot and bothered. Your body’s begging for me.”
I moved my hips against his finger. “I think it was you begging to taste me last time we did this.”
“You’re not making me beg for it today,” he said.
“We’ll see about that.”
Jack spun me around and crouched to pull my sweatpants and underwear down, helping me step out of them.
“Did you want me to leave the sandals on?” I teased.
He rolled his eyes. “Fuck no.”
“But I need arch support!” I protested, just to see what he’d do. He was so easy to rile up. He lived under the illusion that he was in charge when he absolutely was not. With a snarl, he slipped his hands under my naked ass, gripping so hard I almost caved to telling him it hurt.
In a flurry of kisses, he turned and plopped me on the countertop. He tried to peel my sweatshirt off, but ended up just tugging at the hem and gesturing upward. “Off.”
With a grin, I stripped it off, dropping it on the floor. Jack wasted no time pulling the neckline of my sports bra down, ripping my breast out of its holding spot, and sucking intensely. I rolled my hips, craving relief.
“Needy, aren’t you?”
“I can wait,” I sighed.
“Liar,” he breathed, nibbling along my collarbone.
“I bet you can’t wait,” I challenged him.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “No. It’s you.” His shoulders created a canyon when he dipped his head to suck my clit. I writhed into his mouth, taken aback with him going right for it. He popped back up, gripping my chin. “Open your mouth.”
