Page 24

Tapping my chin with one finger, I asked, “Why don’t I believe you?”

“Why don’t I care?” he countered, marching toward me and heating the air around us. “Because I don’t. Believe what you want.”

“I believe you’re being a brat. How about that?” I had to get a rise out of him. I had to make him hear me. I had to be sure he knew he couldn’t brush me aside.

His nostrils flared as he released a trembling breath that told me I was in trouble. There had to be something wrong with me because deep down inside, I almost cheered. Let him be mad. Let him scream the walls down. I could scream just as loud as he could. At least I knew he wasn’t brushing me aside, and that might have been what I craved most.

Though watching him react to getting put in his place was pretty nice too.

“I’d rather be a brat than a coward who runs away whenever things get complicated,” he muttered, his face inches from mine.

I couldn’t think clearly when he was this close, looking at me the way he did. This was also a dangerous direction for the conversation to go in.

He snorted when I backed up a step for everybody’s sake, then followed me. “That’s right. Run. Make sure not to give me an explanation. Wouldn’t want to break with tradition.”

I wanted to tell him. Needed him to understand. It would feel so good, rubbing his nose in the truth. “You know something?” I choked out, remembering Liam and Mom and how they needed me to stay strong. “You are smug, you are childish, you are petty. You don’t deserve an explanation for why I did what I had to do. And you don’t get to keep throwing in my face, either.”

“I wouldn’t.” He took one more step, and I tried to back away, but I had misjudged my position and wound up hitting the doorframe instead of backing into the sitting area. He took advantage, caging me in place with his thick, corded arms. “If there was nothing to throw. You don’t get to come back into my life and fuck with my head like you do without… without…”

His gaze landed on my mouth, melting my resistance before his nostrils flared. A growl sounded in his throat before he lowered his head, filling my world with his spicy cologne and the warmth of his breath.

My breath caught, my heart pounding in the last moment before our lips touched, and an inferno burst to life. Yes, this was it. This was what I needed. His helpless groan made me do the same, my heart racing when he leaned in and pressed his body against mine.

Any doubts in the back of my mind were drowned out by my body singing, screaming, demanding I run my hands over his muscles, exploring him again, reminding myself of the ripples and planes of his body while he kissed me deep, hard, pouring himself into it. Every rough, ragged breath left me melting a little more until I was practically a puddle engulfing him, wrapping my touch-starved body around his. It had been so long.

“I’m tired of fighting this.” I barely heard his words over my ragged breaths while my fingers danced through his hair. His tongue! My God. It ran over my throat before he grunted, “I can’t pretend I don’t want you, Winter. I do. With every part of me, I do.”

All at once, his arms clamped around my body, and Jackson turned me around until he had me backed against the bed. I was tired of finding it, too, and I lay back gladly, wrapping my legs around his hips while he lowered himself over me. Now his hardening dick was lined up with my hot, throbbing pussy. Every movement of his hips pressed him against me, making the tension in my core unbearable before I had taken off a stitch of clothes.

“Oh God,” I moaned as I lifted my hips, eager for more.

“Fuck, you taste so good,” he groaned, his mouth moving over my skin, his hands working the old sweatshirt I threw on today over my head. I pulled my arms free of it and arched my back, letting him work the tank top underneath up over my chest. “Perfect,” he grunted greedily before latching onto one of my nipples and pulling it to a tight point between his lips.

I would come soon if he kept this up. It was all so intense and extreme, like the first time all over again. My body was alive in a way that dance could never make me feel. I had finally found something better than dancing.

“I’ve missed this,” he whispered before switching sides, making me writhe as the tension built and grew, my body desperate for relief. “The way you taste. The way you feel…” As he whispered, his hand slid over my stomach, making my muscles jump and flutter before he worked his fingers under the waistband of my leggings and the thong underneath.

“Yes!” My body soared, or maybe that was my soul taking flight at the touch of his fingers against my heated flesh. His throaty groans matched his breathing, which got quicker as he worked his fingers over my slit.

“Wet,” he growled, his tongue sliding over my neck before his hot breath touched my ear. “So fucking wet. Is that how much you want this? Have you missed this?”

“Oh God,” I sobbed, spreading my legs wider, jerking my hips desperately. “Yes!”

“Show me,” he ordered, dipping into my wetness to find my swollen clit.

Fireworks. They exploded in my head, filling it with gold, silver, and red, all of it sparkling around me as a mind-numbing orgasm tore through me all at once. I didn’t know if Jackson was laughing or panting as I rode it out, my body bucking, my soul shattering.

“That’s right,” he urged through it all, his whispers reaching my awareness through the fog of bliss. “Let go. Come for me. Come for me again.”

I couldn’t help it. It wouldn’t stop. “I… I don’t… can’t take it.” I grabbed hold of his forearm when it was all too much, my nails biting into his skin until he finally eased up and let me catch my breath while he continued kissing, touching, finally pulling his hand from my leggings so he could taste me glistening on his fingers. It was insanely erotic, heating me up when I had just started to cool off, witnessing him wanting me.

“I’m going to need more of that,” he grunted, already sliding down my body and peeling off my pants and thong on the way down. I was helpless, lost in him, lost in the joy of the moment, watching him part my thighs and lowering his nose to inhale my essence. “So sweet,” he whispered before descending on me, running the flat of his tongue between my lips and making me howl.

It was happening again, and there was nothing I could do but hold on as he worked me expertly. Only he had ever been able to do this, grunting and growling as he worshiped me, taking the pleasure of his tongue on my sensitive places and turning it into rapture. The tension grew with every flick of his tongue, every grunt that sent vibrations running through me. I sank into it, letting bliss overtake me, letting him satisfy his appetite for me.

“Yes… yes. Just like that,” I urged, riding his face, eager to come again. “You’re gonna make me… I’m going to… oh, Jackson!” His long, deep growl was what it took to send me screaming over the edge, falling apart again on his tongue this time.

His arms wrapped around my thighs, locking me in place as his face stayed buried, his tongue lapping up every last drop of my release. How did I live so long without this? The sense of being so free, letting go of everything I kept locked in for so long. I could let it all go with him, and he wanted me to. He worked for it.