She stopped for a second to clear her throat. The memory of that call, of the love her aunt extended to her, still made Aja so raw on the inside. “I told her I was born and lived all my life in Brooklyn, New York. She told me that Brooklyn might be where I was born and lived, but home was where family was, and my family was in Texas waiting on me. I knew she was speaking the truth, so I packed up my life and came back to Restoration Ranch with a plan to restore, revive, and renew both this land and my life, determined to find my second chance here.
“Seneca Daniels and Brooklyn Osborn came here with the same intentions. They faced far greater obstacles than I ever could have. But even though the deck has been consistently stacked against them, they took a chance on me and my offer of a new beginning and tapped into the healing power of this land to remake themselves.
“And so tonight it is my honor to celebrate these two women and the journey they’ve embarked on. Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses for Seneca and Brooklyn, two women who have fought for their own piece of happiness. They’re proof second chances work.”
The small group cheered, and Aja smiled as she caught sight of the glimmer of unshed tears in Seneca’s and Brooklyn’s eyes. She motioned for them to come up and speak. Seneca begged off, shaking her head and wiping at her eyes. Brooklyn stepped next to Aja, hugged her tightly, and turned back to their guests. “You want to say something, Brooklyn?”
The woman lifted her half-filled champagne glass toward the crowd and said, “Yeah. Let’s eat.”
Laughter rose into the air, and Aja shook her head at Brooklyn’s quintessential response, then ushered her guests inside the house to the waiting chafing dishes. Folks quickly fell in line, heaping the offerings onto their plates and finding a space to enjoy their selections.
Aja found herself in line, plating enough food for two, when Jackson’s strong hand settled on the small of her back. “Our plans still on?”
“Yeah, but if I don’t fix plates for us now, it will all be gone. And as excited as I am to sneak away with you, I’m not missing Aunt Jo’s steamed cabbage for anyone.”
“All right, make it quick.”
His impatience made her chuckle. “You’re the one who’d better be quick. We only have a few minutes.”
His eyes widened with excitement. “More than enough for what I have in mind. Now, let me wrap these plates up and stick them in the fridge. I’ve got plans for you, Ms. Everett.”
He took the plates out of her hands and headed toward the counter next to the fridge, giving her the opportunity to get an eyeful of his muscled body as he walked away. Whatever plans he had in mind for her, Aja knew one thing—she was in so much trouble, and she liked it.
Chapter 37
I should really be ashamed of myself.
The thought lingered for a moment in the back of her mind. It was true. She had guests upstairs, two of whom were her aunt and uncle. But instead of being a gracious hostess, she was bent over the top of her aunt’s deep freezer with her skirt jacked around her waist, and Jackson slamming inside her dripping body so good it was impossible for her to feel any genuine guilt about her behavior.
“God, I’m almost there.” This was the second time she’d uttered those words in the short time they’d been locked away in the basement. The first time Jackson had been on his back while she was riding him, milking every inch of pleasure his smooth length offered her.
Determined to live out his fantasy of bending her over the nearest sturdy object and hiking her skirt over her bare ass, Jackson had taken advantage of her momentary postorgasm weakness, and she found herself holding on to the freezer for purchase while he buried himself so deep, her legs were shaking.
She didn’t know if he recognized she was so gone, so lost in the ecstasy he brought her that she could hardly stand on her own two feet. But he paused for a moment and hooked his hand behind her knee, causing it to instinctively bend. He lifted her leg and placed it atop the freezer, then bottomed out inside her again, even deeper than before.
“Come on, woman. Give me what I want, or I swear we’ll be here until someone from upstairs comes looking for us.”
She bit her lip and moaned as quietly as she could. The way he had every nerve in her body on edge, lit with the blazing fire of her desire, she was tempted to hold out on climaxing for as long as she could. Guests be damned, the way her sex molded to his, the way she burned from the inside out as he touched her in the most intimate places, being discovered by people milling about in her home was a reasonable price for satisfaction.
She fought the orgasm trying to take root. She wasn’t ready for this to be over yet. But Jackson must have sensed her refusal to let go because he slid his hand down the pad of her abdomen until his fingers slid between her folds and he caressed her clit with his fingertips.
Whatever restraint she thought she had bled away, and she fell to the power of her climax. It grabbed at every muscle she had, forcing her to bear down to keep from falling to pieces.
“That’s it, baby girl. Ride it out.” He kept pounding into her, kept her riding the crest of her peak, extending it until it triggered another orgasm, one that made her cry out. He leaned in to her, placing a hand over her mouth, muffling the tortured sounds climbing out of her throat.
He pummeled into her until she was spent and her bones became soft and malleable, unable to hold her up. And when her moan turned into an almost sob, his rhythm faltered. The tip of his cock was wedged so deep inside her, straddling the line between pleasure and pain as his release pulsed into the latex barrier separating them. He grabbed on to her breasts, squeezing them as he buried his mouth in the curve of her neck and smothered the powerful roar his orgasm tore from him.
He dislodged himself and sprawled over the freezer as she did. “I swear to God, the next time we do that, I want nothing between us. If my doctor doesn’t send me my damn test results soon, I’m liable to shoot him.”
She offered a weak chuckle as a response. It was a task breathing and attempting to concentrate on actual words at the same time. Speaking would’ve required more mental power than she had at the moment.
Since they’d become an official item last week, they’d come to a decision they wanted no barriers between them. All that remained for them to cross that line were Jackson’s test results. Aja’s had come in yesterday. She was already on birth control, so as soon as his doctor gave him a clean bill of health, they were ditching the condoms.
It probably should’ve panicked her. But if she knew anything about Jackson Dean, it was that he was a man of his word. She trusted him, and that was important. But the most remarkable thing was they trusted each other and were taking this step together.
It was a big change for both of them. He was moving beyond his past, and she was finally ready to get over hers too.
It was happening. Slowly but surely, it was happening.
