16. Jagger
JAGGER
“ F uck, I gotta go. Stay if you want. There’s food. Or you can leave. it’s up to you. But don’t let my damn cat out.” Luke and my buddies deserve an explanation, but the woman in my bedroom needs one more urgently.
“I’m out of here. Think Lyric did what we all wanted to do. I hope you’re done with this dumbass bullshit. We need you and want you here. Clearly, she does, too. You want a rush of adrenaline, go fuck your woman. Check your phone when you come up for air.”
“Later.” I slap Luke on the back. None of us stay mad at each other for long, and it’s not like I have a right to be.
I did something dangerous. This shit is on me.
Luke does the same to my shoulder, and I wait until he walks out the door.
I turn the lock, not wanting another fucking interruption.
Lyric and I have a lot to talk about. My eyes look for Shadow.
She’s curled up on her bed, ignorant to the shit going on around her, too busy sleeping.
I’m not sure which animal has it better, a dog or a cat.
They both seem to live the good life and have not a single care in the world except to eat, sleep, and demand attention when they want it.
I kept my eye on Lyric’s back the entire time she was running away from me, the thought burning in my gut that she’s leaving me.
The only bright side to this shit storm is her running into my bedroom instead of for her keys, hopping in her truck, and driving away.
I would have really lost my mind, and the only thing I’d have left to do is chase after her.
I’m more than ready to talk this shit out with her, especially with the bomb she dropped before Luke did me more than dirty. He saw a vehicle in my driveway and knew I wasn’t alone. I’ll put this away for now, but there will come a time and a place when he’ll get what he deserves.
“Lyric.” I open the bedroom door. The room is pitch black.
I never opened the curtains or made the bed this morning.
A certain woman called me, and I had shit to do, breakfast to make, so cleaning in here didn’t take priority.
She sits straight up and flings the covers off her face, then throws a pillow my way, aiming for my face.
It pisses her off even more when I catch it.
She has never been more beautiful even pissed off, tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes red, and hair tousled every which way.
“Jagger Steele, how could you do something so stupid? I’ve buried every single person I’ve loved, minus you and Naomi.
It hurt, it still hurts, years and months later.
My parents will never see me walk down the aisle, they will never grow old together, and not because they went and lived their life to the fullest but because of a disease.
One that there isn’t cure for. And you’re out there being reckless and careless.
Well, I refuse to lose you, too!” Her voice rises with each sentence.
She’s up on her knees now, shuffling closer, throwing her arms around in the air, and all I can do is watch. “And another thing.”
“You love me,” I interrupt, done watching my woman get riled up when I can settle her down if she lets me get a word in edgewise.
“Yes, you big Viking god, though you’re acting like a dummy right about now.
I’ve always loved you. It might have been put on the back burner because somewhere in this epic stupid universe where I’m sure it was my dad trying to protect what he thought was my young na?ve heart, or who knows, maybe it was part of his early-onset dementia,” she rambles without so much as taking a breath.
Pretty sure the only way I’m going to shut her up is by taking her mouth.
“Come here, gorgeous.” If I get on the bed with her, we’ll be doing a whole lot more than kissing, and we still have too much shit to talk about.
“I think I’m fine right where I’m at. Why don’t you come to me?” She crosses her arms over her chest and blows out an exasperated breath. Annoyance is getting to her because she’s not getting her way.
“Fine, I’ll stay here, and you can stay there. I’ll say what needs to be said, then we’re stripping out of our clothes, and I’m going to show you how much I love you.” Her chest rises and falls. My cock twitches at the notion of us getting naked and burying myself inside of her .
“Jagger.” She’s breaking down. Too bad she laid out the rules, because this time, I’ll follow them.
“Nope, you could have come to me or at least met me in the middle. I’ve listened to you.
Now I need you to hear what I’ve got to say.
Came back from my last trip unsettled. I’d already made a few changes, ones that we don’t need to discuss because it’s my past and that’s where it belongs.
I scared myself with that last one, told myself I’d be done.
It didn’t fulfil me like it used to, realized there was a reason.
You. Jude had news about you, and instead of doing the smart thing and going after you, I ran the fuck away.
” I’m not explaining to her that terror twisted in my gut and made my hands shake.
Lyric would probably take the lamp off the nightstand, aim it at my head, and either hit me upside my stubborn head or throw it at a wall when I undoubtedly ducked to miss being hit with it.
“Oh, well, okay.” Her arms uncross and come down, no longer carrying the anger she once did.
I maneuvered her bra off while we were on the couch, when she complained the wire was digging into her side.
A quick flip of the clasp from my hands, and her doing that thing women do, pulling it through her shirt sleeve, and she flung it onto the floor.
An action that’s coming in handy now as I watch her nipples harden to tight peaks.
Lyric’s eyes drift down the length of my chest and land on my thickening cock.
“Luke is right. I can take the hot rod out to the drag strip and have fun there, in a safe environment.” I hate like hell I have to bring another man’s name into this conversation, especially in the bedroom and while she’s in bed.
“You still have the same one?” She’d been around me enough times to see me working on the car my father and I built. Back then, I’d told her what the plans were. Fucking life pulled us apart, and she never got to see the finished project.
“Yeah, it’s in the garage. I’ll show it to you. After.” I’ll also be taking her on the hood of the car. She can either be bent over the hood or spread out on top, or both.
“After what?” There’s no more sadness. She’s not distraught. Lyric never could hold a grudge, not like I can. Though, the way she keeps bringing up her dad and the letters, I may need to keep a pulse on how she’s feeling.
“Children.”
“Jagger, I’m sorry. I can’t, and I’ve thought about this for a long time. Years, really, so if this is the end, please just let me know, and I’ll head back to my place.” She worries her bottom lip with her teeth.
“Get that right out of your head. A child doesn’t make a family.
It doesn’t make a happily ever after. I’m with you, and I’m staying with you because I love you.
Time goes by and you change your mind, that’s cool, but if not, that’s fine, too.
You haven’t met everyone yet, but once you do, they’ll be your family, too.
Plus, Mom and Dad are yours as well. I’m pretty sure they like you more than me anyways.
” She lets out a soft laugh at my statement, probably because she knows I’m right.
I’m damn tired of holding back, so I shuck my shorts off, climb into bed, and cradle her face with my hands. I should have stripped her down, too, then her shirt and shorts wouldn’t be in my way. Then again, taking off her panties is half the fun .
“I won’t change my mind.” When her hands cover mine, I figure she’ll try and pull them away. She doesn’t. They grip mine, clinging to me. “I’ve taken care of everyone. There’ve been no vacations, no traveling, no being worry free to go about my day, and I need that as much as I need you.”
“Then it’s a good thing I like to travel and can take as many vacation days as needed.” I lower my head, and her eyes close, giving in to me.
“I don’t, not yet at least.” That makes me pause.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I still need to find a job. The house needs to be finished, and I’d like to pad my savings account without touching my inheritance.” I’m not even the least bit surprised she’s got goals. This woman has been through hell and back, yet she comes up swinging.
“Alright, whenever you’re ready, we’ll go.
Now, since we’re done arguing, it’s time for me to show you just how sorry I am for upsetting you.
” I press my lips to hers, tongue sliding along the seam.
When she moans, that’s all it takes. My hands slide from her cheeks, roaming down her back and gripping her ass.
Lyric’s flat on her back, helping me rip off her shirt.
Once I see she has it over her head, I move down the length of her body.
She arches her back, helping me take her shorts off.
“Motherfucking fuck, these should be illegal,” I say, burying my head between her legs and sucking the white lace into my mouth right over her cunt.
“Jagger,” she cries out my name, hands going to the back of my head, pushing me deep, lifting her legs and placing her thighs over my shoulders.
I wrench her panties to the side and suck her clit into my mouth with deep and heavy pulls while I slide two fingers into her slick heat.
She’s already wet, more than willing, except she’s anything but ready.
I’ll have to be careful with her, but there’s no way I’m not going to sink my dick inside her.
She needs this, and fuck me, I need it, too.
“Jagger, please get inside me. You can use your mouth next time, but please, I want you. Your eyes on mine, please.” She begs twice in one sentence, and as much as I want to finish what I’m doing between her hot-as-fuck thighs, what Lyric wants, Lyric will get.
I sit up, wrench her panties off, lock my arms beneath her legs, wedge my hips, and lift her up until I’m where I need to be.
“You want me, you know what to do, gorgeous.” Her hand engulfs my length. I look down at what she’s doing. She’s smearing her wetness on the head, priming us both, and when she wiggles her hips down, I let her legs go. My forearms are planted in the mattress as I move in and out of her heat.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how big you are.” She loops her arms around my neck, fingers clenching my hair, encouraging me to lower my head to hers.
“The way you tighten around me, I doubt you will, either. Swear it doesn’t matter what I do to get you ready or how wet you are, you’re still snug as fuck.
” I kiss the tip of her nose before moving lower.
Our lips meet, gentle, without a hurry in the world, nothing but quiet longing for one another.
The soft breath she lets out has my tongue meeting hers, savoring the woman beneath me.
I roll my hips in deep, deliberate movements, each thrust grazing her clit, a slow slide of our bodies sensually dancing with one another.
It doesn’t take long for her to go off. Priming her with my tongue and fingers did wonders, and I’ve already realized she’s addicted to my mouth any way she can have it.
“Jagger.” Her voice shatters through the empty room, and her head tips back, fingers pulling at the strands of my hair. I thrust in and out of her a few more times before staying locked inside her as I come.
“Lyric.” I drop my head, she wraps her arms around my back, and I flip us so I’m on my back and she’s on her side in order not to crush her with my weight. Her leg hitches over my hip, and I can feel our combined wetness coating my skin. It’s hot as fuck, making me want to take her again.
“Do you remember that pact we made before I left that day?” she asks a few minutes later. We’re still trying to catch our breath. Lyric’s lying on my chest, fingers moving up and down my skin, and I’m slowly drifting in and out of a snoozing state.
“I remember it.” Her mom had to rip her out of my arms. She’d been crying and begging not to leave Whispering Oaks. That she hated her dad’s job and how it always tore their family apart.
“The pact?” She lifts her head up, eyes on mine and looking sexy as fuck with her lips swollen, cheeks red, and eyes soft. It makes my cock hard all over again.
“Yeah, gorgeous. I remember it.” My hand comes away from the back of my head, and I lift my pinky finger up.
She takes mine with hers, locking them together.
Lyric had been distraught. No, that doesn’t even touch the surface.
She’d been hysterical and devastated. The worry on her face, anxious as fuck that I’d forget her.
Looking back at everything that happened, I guess she had reason to.
“We don’t have to keep it.” She licks her lips, wetting them. Her nose scrunches up in that way when she’s either troubled or doesn’t want to discuss a topic. In one swift movement, I flip us until she’s on her back, and I’m hovering over her.
“We’re keeping it. I planned on marrying you anyways,” I tell her. In one last ditch effort, she asked me to pinky promise that if neither of us were married by the time we were forty, we’d marry each other.
“Jagger.” Her hand goes to her mouth, and there’s a quiver in her tone. While I have no problem holding her through the tears, I think she’s done enough of that for today.
“You won’t have to wait till you’re forty, either, but I can promise you one thing, you’ll be surprised. I’ll pick out your ring, and when I do propose, only the two of us will be there.”
“Kiss me, please,” she pleads.
“You don’t ever have to beg for that, Lili.
” Our mouths meet, and we both get what we want.
The only thing I won’t give her is my cock again.
She was tight earlier, and even though she tried to hide the wince when I first slid inside, her fingers kept at her clit, and I took her nice and slow, exactly like she needed.