Chapter 32
Sunday
I cup my palms beneath the hot-tub, filling them with steaming water, before caressing them slowly down Jason’s chest, exposed from where he’s sitting half-submerged against the side.
The top part of his muscled abdomen, along with his tan chest and broad shoulders, is on full display for me above the water. And one arm is draped casually along the edge of the tub while he keeps his other large palm wrapped securely around my hip.
His chest heaves as he watches me, his fingers occasionally getting tangled up in the sides of my panties.
After we finally left the outdoor shower earlier this afternoon, Jason made us a slow dinner and then we came back out to enjoy the stars.
And now it’s raining gently, barely a sprinkle against the thick white snow, but it’s a sign that the winter’s ending and that, in less than a month, it’ll be spring in Phoenix Falls.
Jason’s big palm roams up my waist, his warm hand caressing me gently before he cups my cheek. And then he’s getting to his feet so that he can hunch down and kiss me, his movements so tender as I wrap my arms around his shoulders.
I laugh shyly as he presses stubbled kisses down my cheeks, and then he’s gathering me against his chest as he sits down so that I’m straddling him.
I’m wearing my underwear because I don’t have a bikini, and Jason can’t stop slipping his big fingers down the back of my panties, his muscular hips shifting beneath me every five seconds.
And I can’t help but giggle because I love how hard he tries to be a gentleman with me.
“I have to tell you something,” I admit, lifting my hands off of him so that I can re-tie my ponytail, and he splays his palms on my lower back, nodding up at me as I fix my hair.
“Yeah,” he rumbles. “You can tell me anything, baby.”
“So, you know how I told you all that stuff about Riley?” I ask, breathing out a laugh when his expression becomes dangerously neutral.
“Oh, don’t give me your military look, Major ,” I tease huskily, and then in the next second I’m screaming with delight, slapping at his biceps as he squeezes my thighs. And he sucks hungrily at my neck, his stubble scraping me in a gentle warning.
“You probably shouldn’t call me that,” he rumbles, keeping one possessive hand down the back of my panties.
“Why not?” I ask gently, raking my fingers back through his hair.
“Because I was in command of a lot of people when that was my title. It was my job to protect them, but I also had authority over them.” He caresses his large palm down my thigh and he murmurs, “It’s a big power imbalance, baby.”
I swallow nervously, my breathing quickening, as I whisper, “I trust you with everything, Jason.”
He sucks in a rough inhale, his expression still composed, but his chest is pumping as fast as mine as he brings my mouth to his, so he can kiss me.
He grunts quietly as his tongue meets mine, and he rocks me rhythmically over his hardened groin.
“Wait, wait,” I laugh breathlessly, pulling back before we get carried away, knowing how quickly a romantic moment with Jason can turn into something that’s earth-shatteringly hot and heavy. “I need to tell you what I was going to say.”
His forearms flex as he grips my hips but he exhales quietly, nodding calmly.
“It’s just… Riley travelled all this way and he was a good friend to me in Nashville. So while he’s in town I was thinking that we could…”
I trail off, swallowing nervously, but when I glance up at Jason there’s no anger there – there’s only patience.
And even though I can tell that he doesn’t exactly love what I’m saying, he’s still being supportive, despite it all.
“Yeah?” he prompts, his voice gruff as he pulls me closer.
“Well, he’s not staying for long, but he thought that we could hang out. Tomorrow night, at a bar. Somewhere close by, just the three of us.”
Jason’s eyebrow arches. “The three of us?”
I stroke my fingers over his chest, my cheeks flaming red as he watches me carefully. “Well, I obviously don’t want you to not be there,” I mumble.
And then I hear his quiet chuckle, the hint of a smile playing on his handsome mouth.
I scowl up at him, feeling vulnerable. “What?” I rasp.
He brushes his large palm against my flushed cheek, the warm water from the tub spilling down my neck and over my breasts.
“You sure that you want me to be there?” he asks gruffly, his expression sincere.
I nod and wrap my arms around him. “Of course I want you to be there. I mean, I know that Riley knows that it isn’t a date, but I wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea, just in case.”
“I think he understood pretty clear when he stopped by this morning.”
“Really?” I ask in surprise, trying to remember Riley’s expression when he saw us standing together. But mainly I was too distracted by how hot Jason looked as he splayed his hand over my back to pay Riley a moment of attention as I stood between them.
Possessiveness flickers in Jason’s eyes as he caresses his large palm around my waist.
“He’s a guy, Sunday. He knows.”
“Oh,” I say slowly, draping my arms casually over his heaving shoulders. “Well, then I guess that you don’t have to come, and you can leave me with Riley, if you want to.”
Jason’s biceps ripple as he tugs me closer, almost growling as he asks, “Which bar are we going to?”
I stroke my fingers up his coarse stubble, unable to fight back my smile as I whisper, “You can pick.”
He looks away for a moment, thinking, and then he dries his hand on the towel at the edge of the tub so that he can stroke my hair.
“We’ll head to Pine Hills. They’ve got a place up there. Kind of a diner-meets-country-bar, and it’s small, but you’ll like it.”
“Will Riley?” I ask, because I can’t help but poke the bear, and then I’m yelping with laughter as Jason squeezes my ass, his big hands rough beneath the steaming water.
“Baby, I don’t give a fuck what that guy likes,” he says gruffly.
“Have you been there before?” I ask gently, as I stroke his stubble. “Is that one of the places that you… used to go to?”
And Jason narrows his eyes slightly, unable to decipher what I’m really asking him.
“Huh?”
“When you used to come home from deployment. Is that one of the bars you used to… frequent.”
He searches my eyes for a long moment before asking, “What’re you trying to say to me, baby?”
I cover my face with my hands and groan, my cheeks heating up with embarrassment.
“Your friend Beckett?” I admit, my voice rasping with shyness. “He said that when you were home, you didn’t… do stuff in town.”
Jason slips his hands around my wrists, easing them gently from my pink cheeks, and then he brushes a water droplet from my lashes, watching me carefully as he works out what I’m saying.
Oh God, I’m going to have to repeat that ridiculous bro-code saying to him, aren’t I?
So I just shake my head, laugh nervously, and go for it.
“He said that you don’t, um… he said that you don’t… pee where you eat.”
I mean, it’s not exactly what he said but it’s close enough.
And Jason blinks at me for a long moment before asking quietly, “Did he now?”
“And he also said that he doesn’t abide by that rule,” I add.
Jason’s eyebrow rises. “I bet he did.”
“So, was that one of your places? The bar in Pine Hills?” I ask nervously.
But Jason exhales quietly and wraps his fist around my ponytail, dropping his forehead down to mine, nothing but honesty in his deep voice.
“I didn’t get intimate with anyone who was that close to home, sweetheart. You don’t have anything to worry about. I would never do that to you.”
“Okay,” I whisper back to him, squeezing my hands over his large pecs as he kisses me.
“You know how I feel about you,” he pants. “You know how I’ve always felt about you.”
I shake my head and clutch him closer. “You don’t need to say it.”
Because I know the three words that are on the tip of his tongue.
But I need to finalise my move from Nashville before we finally say them.
“Let me,” he rumbles. “I’ve been wanting to say those three words to you since you were seventeen.”
“Not yet,” I whisper, and I press my lips gently to his, his broad chest heaving as we kiss soft and slow. And I roll my lower body slowly over his strong hips until he’s gripping the edge of the hot-tub, groaning my name as he lets go.