Chapter 52
M y head in my hands, I stare at the concrete cell floor and mull over what the lawyer said. Bottom line is that I’m seriously screwed.
“Jackson,” a familiar voice calls.
“What do you want?” I glance up at Douglas, who’s standing outside my cell. I frown at him, knowing he’s not here because I’m getting out. The bail hearing isn’t until tomorrow.
“You have a visitor.” Douglas withdraws a key from his belt and unlocks the door. As he steps aside, Peace steps forward.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her, my eyes going wide as I drink her in. She’s not an oasis. She’s too vital. She’s oxygen.
“Visiting you,” she replies, her sarcasm evident.
I almost smile. It’s crazy how seeing her makes me feel better.
She murmurs thanks to Douglas as he holds open the door for her. Stepping underneath his arm, she enters the small solitary cell and startles as the metal clanks behind her.
Yeah, being locked inside is unsettling.
“You have five minutes.” Douglas raps on the bar with his baton.
“You shouldn’t be here.” I get right to that point. She doesn’t belong here. Everything about her is pure and sweet, the opposite of me.
“You shouldn’t be either,” she says softly, her expression firm.
“I don’t know how you figure that.” My lips twist with bitterness. “No one but you is surprised that this is where I am.” My dad had plenty to say on the subject, not hesitating to list all the ways I’ve disappointed him as a son. I didn’t bother defending myself. His low opinion of me was set in stone a long time ago.
“It’s all wrong,” she says definitively as if she attended the private meeting with my lawyer where I confessed everything.
“Meaning what?” I stand, eliminating the space separating us. I know this may very well be the last time I have a chance to be close to her.
“Meaning I know what you did.” She tilts her head to a stubborn angle.
“I doubt it, sweetheart, but it doesn’t matter what you think you know. You should leave.” I say the words, but I don’t mean them. I want her here, want to bask in her warmth and breathe in her familiar rose scent. Her faith in me is a lifeline. It always has been.
“You can’t tell me what to think.” She plants her hands on her curvy hips. Her beautiful eyes are a solid shield of stubbornness,
“I’m very aware you have your own opinions.” Very aware of her. I’m vibrating like a tuning fork with the desire to touch her. Unable to resist, I capture a strand of her silky hair. I tell myself that this will be the final time as I wind it around her ear.
“We’re friends.” Her eyelids flutter with pleasure as I run the pad of my thumb along her delicate jawline.
“Yes.” Encouraged by her responsiveness, I imagine doing more, but it simply isn’t allowed.
“We’ve always been friends.”
She’s right, but I’m unable to maintain friendly thoughts with her so close, so vital, so desirable.
I slide my fingers down her neck. Her skin is addictively soft, and I wonder if she’d shiver if I pressed my mouth to her pulse point. Gliding my hand lower, because of course I can’t stop myself, I skim a caress across the tempting swell of her breasts.
She lets out a moan that I feel in my rapidly swelling cock. My body and my soul burn with the urgency to take this further.
“It’s wrong for me to be your friend.” I force that harsh truth out even as my lips buzz with the desire to touch hers. “It’s always been wrong.”
“I don’t believe—” she begins, and I cut her off.
“I’m bad news. Ask my old man, if you doubt it.”
“I saw your dad.” She frowns as I drop my hand to my side.
“When?” I inquire.
“Earlier when I was at the station,” she replies. “And again at the hospital.”
“How’s Harmony?” I ask, managing to bring my focus to where it should be.
“There’s no change.” Her shoulders sag.
“I’m sorry.” Gazing into her pretty eyes, I have regrets about a lot of things, but above all I want to comfort her. “I know you’re worried about her. Let me hold you.”
She nods once, and I wrap my arms around her.
“I’m scared,” she admits, placing her hands on my chest. I try to remind myself that my goal is to comfort her, but my blood rapidly heats anyway. Tears brimming in her gaze, she tips her head to look at me. “And I’m scared for you too.”
“Don’t worry about me.” I harden my jaw, but I’m unable to resist drawing her even closer. As her breasts brush against my chest, her rose scent washes over me. My heart beats wildly beneath one of her flattened palms.
“Chief Lewis asked me a ton of questions in his office,” she whispers.
“About what?”
“He wanted to see if my story matches yours.” She studies me, her eyes narrowed behind her lenses.
“Did it?” I hold my breath.
“I refused to answer him. I shut him down.” Her fingers ball into fists on my chest. “I demanded to have a lawyer present if he plans to formally question me.”
“That’s pretty badass.” My lips curve.
“Is it?” Her gaze dips to my mouth. “I guess maybe it was.” Her eyes darken. “I couldn’t allow him to use me to trap you.”
She’s protecting me still. Despite all the reasons I shouldn’t allow it, longing rises within me. To hold her and keep her. To never let her go. Surrendering to the desire that’s been there for as long as I can remember, I frame her pretty face and bring her tempting lips to mine.
“Bo.” She gasps as I touch my mouth to hers. “Yes.” She yields, grabbing onto my forearms as I brush my firm lips against her delectable, soft ones. My body ignites like a Roman candle. She’s everything I dreamed she would be. She’s the right side of heaven and the naughty part of hell. Unable to resist taking this further, I plunge my tongue between her parted lips. Greedily, I lap up all the sugary goodness I find. Then I suck on her wet tongue. She is mine. A primal satisfaction shoots through me as I feel the shiver that rolls through her. Knowing she’s into it, into me, my cock hardens. I need more, much, much more from her and walk her backward into the nearest wall.
Winding her hair around my fist, I change my angle, refasten my mouth to hers, and deepen the kiss. I nip and bite her lips, wanting to leave my mark on her. I devour her needy whimper. I gorge on her goodness. I don’t leave a single secret honeyed recess of her mouth unexplored.