Chapter 34
Jason
I carefully manoeuvre the truck beneath the pines, pulling up into the clearing and then killing the engine in front of the cabin.
There hasn’t been any more snowfall since the last load, and there isn’t any predicted to happen during the night, so I’m fine with leaving the truck outside until the morning. Besides, I’ll be back to it in no more than six hours, and this vehicle has withstood temperatures that are way colder than this.
Our drive back from Pine Hills was really fucking romantic, with barely any traffic on the road down the mountain meaning that I could take my hand off the wheel a couple of times – squeezing Sunday’s thighs or caressing her nape while she massaged my biceps, making me chuckle.
Because, even though Riley made her jaw drop at the bar, there’s no way that I’m letting him ruin her night. I’m going to do everything in my power to make her feel better.
As soon as our seatbelts are off, I’m reaching over and hauling her forwards, feeling smile-creases dimple my cheeks as she gets onto her knees and wraps her arms around me.
“Don’t get me too excited,” I murmur as I hunch down to kiss her gently, grunting when her other hand slips up my shirt, my jaw tensing as everything stiffens.
I grip her wrist, restraining her from going further, and give her two more slow kisses, knowing that if she tempts me while we’re in the truck then this night won’t make it past the backseat.
She laughs shyly as I kiss her cheeks, my stubble rasping against her soft skin, and then I’m reluctantly pulling myself away from her and breathing heavily as I step out of the truck.
I close the door and round the hood, laughing quietly when I see how patiently she’s waiting for me, and then she’s beaming up at me like pure sunshine when I pull open her door and reach inside to get her.
My eyes drop to her bare thighs – the flannel that I’d given her to wear on the ride back discarded on the dash because I turned the heating on – and then they trail down to her arched feet, her pretty heels sparkling in the light of the warm-tone sconces at the front of the house.
Then I lift my eyes back to hers, my chest swelling as she peeks up at me.
“You were really strong tonight,” I tell her quietly. “I’m pissed that you had to go through that, but you handled it so well.”
She drops her eyes and shakes her head. “It’s nothing. I should have expected it.”
I crouch further down so that I’m more at her eye-level. “No, baby, you shouldn’t. No-one should have to expect that from a friend.”
She breathes out a shaky sigh, brushing her fingertips over the hem of her baby blue dress.
“Maybe,” she rasps back to me. “I mean, he was a pretty close friend.”
I watch her for a long moment and then lower my voice, asking, “Best friend?”
And her gaze flicks up to mine, her lips twisting to the side as she fights back her smile.
“You mean, was Riley my best friend?” she whispers, making my blood pump faster as we watch each other.
I clear my throat and rub one of my palms down the side of my quad in agitation. “Yeah.”
She makes me sweat it for about ten seconds before sitting up on her knees again and pulling me closer.
My hands splay across her shoulder blades and the narrow width of her waist, instantly gathering her against my chest as she smiles up at me, cute as a button.
“Not my best friend,” she whispers finally, and my body starts feeling heavy, my muscles swelling.
“Yeah?” I ask huskily. “Who was your best friend then, baby?”
The tip of her nose nudges mine, and the breadth of my chest swells as I breathe deeper.
“You know who my best friend is, Jason,” she whispers gently, her lips almost touching mine.
And then in the next second she’s squealing, delighted laughter screaming out of her as I haul her out of the truck. I toss her over my shoulder and grip her waist, grinning because this is the second time that I’ve got her in a fireman’s hold.
“Jason!” she exclaims, the heat of her soft body getting me high, and raw hunger spreads through my chest as I slam the passenger door shut behind us.
“Don’t want you ruining your heels in the snow,” I tell her, chuckling as she laughs against me, and working my key into the lock.
The second that we’re inside I flick on the warm sconces, and then I’m turning us one-eighty so that I can slide the locks while I kick off my boots.
“What about my shoes?” Sunday asks tauntingly, bending one knee so precisely that her tall heel almost scrapes my jaw.
I smirk and shove her leg down, delivering her a firm spank as I stride for the stairs.
She yelps and giggles against me. Yeah, I knew she’d like that.
“They can stay on,” I tell her, taking the steps two at a time. Then I add a rough, “For now.”
“Jason,” she giggles, and I can’t help but smile, too.
Then my phone is vibrating in my back pocket, most likely because it’s just reconnected to the home wireless after no signal on the mountain roads, and I huff out a laugh as Sunday fights my hands for it, those claws that she was referring to in the bar giving it to me real good as I pry the cell from her grasp.
And then, just to fuck with her, I pass it right back to her.
“Read ’em to me, baby.”
She gives me another taunting brush with her heel against my jaw, and I chuckle as I push it away, giving her another spank on the ass as I carry her toward our bedroom.
“Beckett, Beckett, Knox, Madden, Beckett–” she reads off, scrolling down the screen of messages as I flick on the sconces in the bedroom.
There are two lights set high up on the wall that are facing the bed, and they cast the room in a warm glow that looks dark and intimate against the wood panelling.
“All work,” she murmurs quietly, undeniably sounding a little relieved, and I give her behind a reassuring rub, so that she knows she never needs to worry about that kind of shit with me.
“It’s only ever work, sweetheart,” I rumble, letting her slip my cell into my free hand.
And then I toss it straight across the room, smirking to myself as Sunday howls with laughter.
It lands on the loveseat in the corner as I kick the door shut behind us, and I haul Sunday down from my shoulder and start backing her up toward the bed.
“Will you have to be up super early again for work tomorrow morning?” she asks breathlessly, already knowing the answer to that question but maybe trying to see if she can change the fact.
I nod as I envelop her perfect waist in both of my hands, and then I let my palms roam upwards until I’m holding her shoulders and pulling her toward me.
“I can change the shift times if you want,” I tell her, my voice deep and hoarse. “Could get up at six instead of half-five, but I’ll be back a little later.”
She shakes her head as she leashes her fingers through my hair, making my abdomen clench tight as she tugs me a little rougher than I expected her to.
“No, no, I want you back home as early as possible,” she rasps, and a dimple tightens in my cheek at the fact that she just called my place ‘home’.
“I liked that thing that you said in the bar tonight,” I tell her, letting her tug my shirt halfway up my abs and run her fingertips over my muscles.
And when her fingers travel a little higher, scraping my pecs, my biceps start flexing.
“Which thing?” she asks huskily, entranced by the sight of her skin against mine, my tan stomach looking even darker in the low light of the bedroom.
I clear my throat and caress her waist, trying to maintain control as my voice lowers even further.
“The part where you said you were thinking of moving to Phoenix Falls.”
She nods her head, her long lashes fluttering, and I rub my palms up her back, holding her tighter.
“I meant it,” she whispers. “I’m thinking about not going back to Nashville.”
“You don’t have to rush into any decisions,” I murmur, “but I fucking love the sound of that.”
And she smiles shyly before reaching upwards, and I instantly dip down to meet her lips, kissing her gently.
I groan quietly as she strokes my pecs, my shirt shoved all the way up to the bottom of my throat, and I pull away with a rough sound so that I can rip it off and toss it toward the dresser.
And then I’m hauling her body back up against my bare skin, kissing her hard and hungrily as I run my hands all over her dress.
“How do I take this off, baby?” I rumble, my fingers clumsy as I search for a fastening. Not sure if I’m looking for a button, a zipper, or if it’s just the kind of dress that you have to rip clean off.
“There’s no fastening,” she whispers back to me, and my head spins because, yeah, guess that means that it’s the kind you have to rip.
I rub one of the straps between my fingers, frowning because I might accidentally tear this thing in two, but then Sunday’s delicate hands envelop mine and I hold her eyes as she shows me how to do it.
We move slowly, rolling down the straps, until we’re easing them off her shoulders, and then I’m working the bodice down with it, my heart beating faster as more of her body becomes exposed.
Once I’ve rolled the dress over her hips it falls away into a puddle of satin, and then I’m dragging my rough palms up her thighs, chest pumping hard as I look up at her.
“You looked beautiful tonight,” I murmur gruffly, before leaning in to press a kiss over the lace of her panties. Baby blue panties that match her bra and the dress discarded around her ankles.
“Thank you,” she whispers breathlessly, making me smirk as I heave myself to my feet, and then she’s laughing nervously as we start kissing again, her fingertips scorching a trail down my lower abdomen.
I run my hands around the backs of her shoulders, massaging her gently as I start slowly stroking her tongue with mine, and then they’re travelling lower, down to her behind, and squeezing possessively when we start grinding.
Sunday whimpers quietly and arches her neck back, keeping her arms around my shoulders as I suck her throat, and then I’m thrusting faster as she pants against me, grunting roughly as I grip her close.
“You drive me crazy,” I rumble against her, kissing my way up her cheeks until I’m towering over her.
And then I’m pushing her soft curls back from her face, heart clenching tight at the way that she’s smiling shyly up at me. Like she has no idea how crazy she gets me, and she’s just as grateful about this as I am.
“How crazy?” she teases, and I chuckle quietly before gently spinning her, holding her back flush against my chest as I envelop her hips with my hands and make us sway.
“Crazy enough to start grinding on you like this when we’re out in public,” I murmur, thinking about the start of our night when we got lost in each other on the dancefloor.
I keep one hand wrapped over her hip and move the other one to take her chin, turning her face toward mine so that I can lean down and kiss her lips.
She reaches back with one of her arms, dragging me down so that I’m closer, and then I’m eating her up with unrestrained hunger, my hardened cock letting her know exactly what I want.
And from the way that she whimpers against me, she wants the exact same thing, too.
I squeeze my palm around her throat, kissing her deeper as one of her hands covers mine, and then she’s pushing my palm down from its position on her hip until it’s sliding beneath the lace of her panties.
“Fuck,” I rasp gruffly, my large fingers brushing against her heat, and then my mouth is back on hers, kissing hard and no longer in control.
I groan into her mouth as she tries to work my belt free, but with her back against my chest the position makes it almost impossible.
So I pull away from her mouth and tear off her bra with a growl, tossing the shredded lace onto the floor as I grip her waist and shove her up onto the bed.
She crawls forward on her hands and knees, making the thick ridge in my pants throb, and I unleash the tongue of the belt from the buckle as she finally settles herself near the pillows, turning over so that I can see the soft curves of her chest.
I kick off my pants, underwear, and socks, not tearing my eyes away from her as I open the top drawer of the bedside cabinet, knowing that I’ll be able to find the large box of condoms by feel in less than a second.
But as I pull out the box something else catches on the tips of my digits, and the metallic scrape against the drawer captures Sunday’s attention, making her lean forward and peek inside.
And then she’s looking up at me with those big bright eyes that had me wrapped around her little finger since we started high school, and I drop the box of condoms onto the bed for a moment, knowing that she wants a closer look at what she’s just seen inside.
“It’s not important, baby,” I murmur pre-emptively, before tucking my middle finger beneath the chain and pulling out the dog-tags from when I was in active service.
But I can almost see Sunday’s heart stuttering in her chest, a whole whirlwind of emotions playing in her irises as she gets up onto her knees for a better look.
And I just hold them between us, gauging her expression as she delicately touches them, feeling my abs clench painfully at how fucking gentle she’s always been.
It actually makes me breathe out a laugh and then Sunday’s smiling shyly up at me.
And then I’m dropping the dog-tags back into the drawer and hauling her body against mine, the heat from my chest instantly searing into her as I run my palms up and down her back.
“I’m sorry, I’m a little sentimental,” she rasps, casting another side-long look toward the chain in the drawer.
But I just hold her closer and dip my free hand back in the cabinet, roaming around at the back until I find what it is that I’m looking for.
And as soon as I hold them up for her it takes her about seven seconds of blinking before her jaw finally drops.
And then her eyes are flashing to mine, shock and awe flaming in her irises.
“You kept them?” she gasps.
“Yeah, I kept them,” I murmur, letting her gently thumb through the small stack of letters, all from my first year of deployment, when Sunday had written to me pretty much every single month. Back when she’d considered the idea of us keeping in touch, even though she knew that she couldn’t be with me romantically while I was serving.
But by the end of the year we both knew that it was too painful, having this long-distance friendship where Sunday was still concerned every single day. Everything was still too fresh for her to consider being with a guy in the military.
And while I’m not sentimental about most things, I cherished those letters for almost two fucking decades.
I ease them gently out of her hands, dropping them back into the drawer beside the tags and closing it, and then I’m kissing her slowly as I heave my body onto the mattress, reaching behind my back to work off her heels without my tongue ever leaving her mouth.
Each of her pretty stilettos fall to the sheets as I pull them off, and I push them to the floor as I range my quads between her thighs. The wooden bedframe creaks beneath my weight as I settle myself up onto my haunches, and I pull her skimpy panties down her thighs, breathing hard when she’s finally bare.
I rub my palms around her thighs and then reach over to grab a condom, tearing it open and rolling it on before tossing the wrapper and pulling the sheet around us.
I prop one elbow beside her cheek, my biceps bulging as I settle my weight on it, and then I’m kissing her slowly as she holds me closer, my heart beating fast as she strokes my pecs.
“Jason,” she whispers, that pretty blush still staining her cheeks, and the bed groans louder as I shift my quads, ranging myself into position so that I can thrust inside of her.
“Spread your legs, baby,” I rumble, rasping my stubble up her throat, and then my chest heaves as I get myself into position, pushing slowly and bottoming out.
“ Jason ,” she whimpers, and I envelop her hip with my palm, pumping again.
“Sweetheart,” I rumble against her, biting back a growl as the headboard hits the wall.
The wooden bedframe creaks as it takes our weight, and I steel my jaw as I thrust again, unable to stop myself from caressing her waist as I roll my hips, my breathing heavy. And then my large palms roam down to her butt cheeks, gripping them firm when I pump harder.
She pants breathlessly, her nails digging into my shoulders, and I grunt hard before crushing my mouth down on hers.
“It’s so thick,” she whispers up to me, and I drop my head to her temple, groaning quietly. The bed creaks faster, the headboard thumping the wall, and I roam my palm up her back, holding her tighter.
“Baby,” I rumble, pistoning hard as she starts to whimper, and then I’m shoving my hand above the pillow so that she doesn’t hit her head off the board. The frame rebounds off the wall, making the bed jerk as I keep going.
“Fuck,” I rasp. “Gonna need to nail the bedframe to the floor.”
“Oh my God,” Sunday whimpers, and I groan as I thrust again, her soft body driving me crazy as I pump faster between her thighs.
“Jason, I’m there,” she pants breathlessly, and I all but growl as I lose myself inside of her, clutching her tight against my abdomen as she squeezes my biceps, letting go.
“ Jason ,” she whimpers, and my breathing comes heavier, my shoulders swelling.
“Gonna come,” I rumble back to her, and she looks up into my eyes with a nod.
The headboard thumps against the wall, my sac slaps against her behind, and then I’m groaning as I reach my peak, making her breathless as I thrust her through it.
I keep her wrapped tight in my forearms, my broad chest heavy on hers as our heartbeats pound, and then she’s stroking up my pecs as I kiss her neck, my quad muscles flexing as I slowly withdraw.
I exhale roughly and toss the condom, before cupping her jaw in my palm and kissing her slow. She brushes a soft curl from her face as she clutches my body against hers, and I kiss my way down her throat until I’m rubbing my stubble over her breasts.
I slide my tan palms around her waist, caressing her gently.
And then I’m hovering over her again, breathing hard as I watch her.
“I can go again,” I rumble simply, gauging her expression to see if she wants the same thing.
And from the way that she tries to hide that gorgeous smile, tugging my mouth back to hers in less than a second…
I chuckle quietly and she giggles breathlessly as I roll us over.
Yeah, no doubt about it. We both want the same thing.