Chapter 31
Thirty-One
XANDER
After a couple hours of beating Stone’s ass at video games and then another few hours of hammering out new music with him and Tobias, I’m just zoning out in the back of the bus. I’ve pushed Jade far enough today. Staying back here gives her time to breathe.
I’m skimming an article online when the door slides open.
When I lift my eyes, I find Jade entering the room.
I let my eyes trail from her face slowly down her body.
She’s wearing a pair of athletic leggings and a matching top and zip hoodie.
The material hugs her skin in the most sinfully sexy way.
“I’ve been thinking,” she says as she crosses to me.
“About?”
She takes my phone from my hand and sets it aside. “What you said last night.”
Her hands reach behind me and grab the back of the couch. My eyes widen as she slides one knee down next to my hip and then the other. She settles her weight on my lap, pussy tantalizingly close to my dick, which is now wide awake and joining the party beneath my jeans.
“Really?” My eyes flutter closed when her nails scratch along my scalp. “You seemed pretty pissed earlier.”
“Oh, I was.” She shifts her weight, dragging her center right over the bulge in my pants. “I still am, truth be told.” Her lips graze my jaw. “Especially when I realized you stole the batteries out of my vibrator.”
I smirk and tilt my head, giving her access to my neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’d never deny you the pleasure you seek.”
She presses her tits against my chest and rocks over me again. “Liar.” Her teeth dig into the skin of my neck.
I wrap my hands around her hips, adding my strength to the force of her grinding over me.
My cock throbs against the metal of my zipper.
She drops her hands from my hair and leans back.
All the blood in my body races to my dick as she pulls the zipper of her hoodie down slowly.
Inch by perfect inch of her beautiful chest is revealed.
What I thought was a top underneath is nothing more than a flimsy bralette.
Her nipples strain against the fabric. I tear my eyes from them up to her face as I drag my thumb over one of the piqued tips. She bites down on her lip to stifle a moan.
“I would have killed for that last night,” she whispers.
“Is that so?” I yank one side of the bralette down to expose a dusky pink nub begging to be sucked.
She nods and whimpers when I lean forward and draw the peak into my mouth. Her hips begin their rocking again. A slow, sexy grind that makes me want to tear off her clothes and sink inside her. Her little breathless moans make me absolutely feral for her.
“Yeah,” she whimpers. “I couldn’t get my clothes off fast enough last night. I was so ready to run my toy over my clit and slip it inside me. When it wouldn’t turn on, I wanted to die.” She pulls my face away from her breasts. “Or at least kill you for turning me into such a needy mess.”
Her lips cover mine. My tongue dives into her mouth. Every little sound that leaves her makes me want to flip her over and strip her bare. My dick pulses with a need so profound I can barely think straight.
“So what did you do when the toy wouldn’t work?” I ask, breaking the kiss because I’m about two seconds from blowing and that won’t do.
“The only thing I could,” she says against my neck. Her teeth nip my earlobe before she continues. “I ran my hand down my body to between my legs. My pussy was still wet and needy from your mouth.”
“Fuck,” I groan. The mental image of her splayed out naked on the bed slams into my mind.
The way her tits would move as she rode her own hand.
All her gorgeous red hair spilling over the pillows.
I could come just thinking about it. “Do you think you’re just as wet now?
” My fingers slip inside her pants. I need to feel that slick heat for myself.
“Maybe more,” she breathes against the side of my mouth, peppering kisses along the stubble shading my jaw.
Just as I slide my fingers to the top of her slit, she grabs my wrist and halts my progress. “Not yet. I want to tell you more.”
A choked laugh comes from my throat. “I don’t know if I can handle it, but don’t let that stop you, sweetheart. Tell me all about how you eased that ache I left.”
“I circled my clit, over and over until my toes were cramping from the pleasure, but I couldn’t come.” The speed of her hips rocking over me increases.
My cock is horrifyingly close to erupting, but it feels too good to stop her. I can’t wait to peel these leggings down and slide inside her. She’s going to feel so good clamping around me as she comes.
“I needed more, something inside me.” Her voice is so breathy in my ear I could die right now. “So I slipped one finger in.” She’s dry humping me now like we used to do. “It wasn’t enough, so I added another.”
Holy fuck, why did we ever stop doing this? I’m going to make it part of daily life, fifteen minutes of dirty talk and dry humping every day.
“Was that enough?” I pull the straps of her bra over her shoulders and free both of her tits. They’re lifted higher than usual from the force of the bra pushed beneath them. I take one in my mouth and pinch the other nipple.
“No, two aren’t enough to fill the void your cock leaves. I had to use three.” She gasps as I bite down on the stiff peak. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet and needy for anyone in my life. All I wanted was your cock. I could practically feel you sliding in and out of me instead of my fingers.”
My dick surges, cum spilling from the tip as she rocks on top of me. I moan against her skin, lost in the mix of fantasy and reality. She stills over me and tilts my head back as I sit in a daze.
“Actually, I lied.” Her voice is back to its normal tone.
“I took a cold shower and plotted how to get you back.” She shifts off my lap and stands, putting her breasts back into her top like it’s business as usual.
I watch confused as fuck as she grabs her hoodie and slides it back over her shoulders, zipping it up nonchalantly and walking toward the door.
She turns and gives me a wicked smile looking pointedly down at the wet stain spreading across my crotch. “Who’s a mess now?”
I watch her leave in stunned silence. Once she’s out of ear shot, I cover my face and laugh. Well fucking played, Freckles.
Well.
Fucking.
Played.
“Xander,” Darren calls my name as I walk down the quiet hotel hallway. “I need to talk to you. Let me drop my bag off, and I’ll be down.”
“Sure thing.”
Instead of letting my room door close behind me, I use the bar lock to keep it propped open for him. It’s not two minutes before he’s pushing my door open and walking in. In his hand is a small box. He tosses it to me.
“For your cheek swab.”
My stomach drops. I highly doubt the kid is mine, but there is a slim chance of failure after a vasectomy. I tear open the box and pull the directions out. The last thing I want to do is fuck up taking the sample.
If she’s my baby, I’d want to know. To be a part of her life. Not that I know a single fucking thing about kids being an only child. Obviously, no one I’m close to has a baby. None of us even have pets. Jade is probably the closest to caring for living things, and she just has houseplants.
Fuck.
Jade.
I scrub a hand over my face. Blood roars in my ears as I begin to spiral. The words on the page blur together. I feel a hand squeeze my shoulder, but it doesn’t stop the downward trajectory of my thoughts.
The scent of jasmine fills my nostrils, and a blurry figure crouches in front of me. Red hair and soft hands that cover mine and squeeze. I blink until Jade’s face comes clearly into view.
“There you are,” she says while her thumbs run in soothing strokes along my palms. “I’ve got him,” she tells Darren.
He says something, but I tune it out. She’s all I can focus on. She’s all that I need.
“Yeah, I’ll bring it down to you,” she reassures him. Once the door thuds closed, she turns her attention back to me. “Look at me.”
My eyes move to her face.
“It’s going to be okay.” She pushes to her feet and sits beside me, lifting the directions. “Let’s see how to do this.”
“She can’t be mine.”
“I believe you.”
My head snaps to the side. “You do?”
She nods without looking up from the paper in her hands. “I do. This seems simple enough. All we have to do is swab both cheeks with both swabs for twenty seconds. You need to sign the consent form.”
I take the form from her and sit down, noticing she’s already filled out all the information for me. She must have done that while I was panicking. It’s comforting to know that, regardless of what’s happening between us, she has my back like this. I read through everything and sign my name.
She walks over to me with the two cotton swabs and a small envelope. “Set the time on your phone for twenty seconds.”
I do as she says.
“Open wide.” She hits the start button as soon as I open my mouth, and she starts swabbing.
I feel her twirling the swabs on my right cheek. We repeat the process on the other side. The entire time I don’t take my gaze from her face. She’s focused on collecting the sample, a slight line formed between her eyebrows. I wish I knew what she was thinking.
She pulls the swabs from my mouth when the timer goes off. My eyes drift to her hands as she seals it up.
“Good boy.” She pats my cheek like a dog.
I grab her hand before she can pull it away. The set of her shoulders eases as she looks down at me. I turn my head and press my lips to her palm.
“Thank you.”
Her thumb sweeps over my cheekbone. “You’re welcome.”
She tries to pull away, but I wrap my arms around waist and pull her down into my lap. She stiffens at first but then melts into me. Her arms come around my shoulders as I relax back in the chair.
Neither of us say anything as we sit in each other’s arms. Stone texts me, but I ignore it. Darren texts her. She ignores it.
We both need this moment. Regardless of everything else happening in our lives, at the end of the day, she’s my person. I won’t stop until I’m hers.
“Freckles?”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t be a dad. I can’t even keep a plant alive.”
“That’s not true. You have a bird of paradise in your living room.”
“It’s fake.”
“Really?” She sits up straight like that’s the most surprising thing she’s heard. “It’s a good one, had me fooled.”
I smile half-heartedly at her attempt to lighten the mood.
“Hey.” She takes my face in both her hands. “It’ll be okay, either way.”
I shake my head and tighten my arms around her. “I’m just getting you back.”
She drags a deep breath in and then leans forward, pressing her forehead to mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
Her breath feathers over my lips. “Promise.”
This time when she begins to stand, I let her. I watch her gather everything, and she slides her key into her pocket. She takes all the trash with her, so it’s not connected to my room and my business doesn’t end up sold to some tabloid.
When she’s gone, I stand and walk over to the bed. I fall back on it and stare at the ceiling until it’s time for sound check. I don’t need to look to know it’s Tobias knocking on my door. He always pounds on the wood with a beat that’s all his. Probably a drummer thing.
Sure enough, he’s standing there in all his tattooed and pierced glory, his hair up in a knot on his head. “Ready?”
“Always.”
Stone joins us, falling in step on my other side. “You good?”
“Yeah.” I hit the elevator call button. “It just hit me all at once. Having the test in front of me.”
“I get that. It’ll all work out though.” The elevator doors slide open and he steps behind me. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to be an uncle.”
“You are an uncle.” I look at him sideways.
“Yeah, but an uncle to my boys’ kids.” He wraps his arms around both Tobias’s and my neck, pulling us into a group hug. “I love you guys.”
Tobias shakes him off. “Jesus, what did Hazel do to you?” He jokingly shudders.
“Made me into the best version of myself.”
He’s wrong. He was already on the way there, she just shined a spotlight on it.