Chapter 25 #3
“Technically, I didn’t do anything.” He ran his palms up and down my thighs as I eyed him curiously.
“I found out my landlord and his wife were waiting for me to move out so they could sell the place. They want to move to South Carolina to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. So, I made him an offer and bought it because I knew you’d be comfortable here versus finding another place until the lake house is rebuilt.
It also meant I could renovate the space into one where you could have a proper soak and relax.
Boden helped oversee the project, Jameson pitched in where he could, and I also hired a crew to get it done quickly. Do you like it?”
“I don’t just like it, I love it.” There was even a white hanging crochet plant holder hung above one end of the tub, holding a new little plant baby. “I know you didn’t have to do this, but the fact that you did—I’m just so blown away by your thoughtfulness. Thank you.”
“Haven’t you figured out by now that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you?”
“Careful, Detective, you’re setting a dangerous precedent by admitting that out loud.”
I loved the way his whiskey-hued eyes always darkened whenever I called him that.
“Nah, I happen to know you’re worth the risk.” His lips found mine, charged with palpable longing and need.
A kiss that ended far too soon for my liking as he groaned and stepped away. I watched as he turned the tub faucet on and waited, testing the water with his fingers until it reached the perfect temperature, then moved to stand between my legs again.
No matter how many different versions of Jaxon I’d seen throughout our lifetime, the one thing that remained constant was the power he had to make the whole outside world go quiet whenever he looked at me.
The warmth in his hazel eyes had always been expressive, showing me his truth like a silent promise—a vow that needed no words to know our souls were tethered in this life and every other to follow.
He made me feel safe, seen, and loved.
A kaleidoscope of butterflies took flight when the tips of his fingers brushed leisurely under my sweater and across my skin. His touch felt like a powerful drug, warm and intense, surrounding me completely as if he had put me under a spell. It was dizzying and dangerously intoxicating.
“Do you have any idea how much I hated it when the nurses came to help you bathe, knowing it should’ve been me?”
“Tell me.” I was breathless with need, hooking a leg around his back, pulling him flush to my core after he removed my sweater and dropped it to the ground.
I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and watched with rapt interest as he reached back over his shoulder and, with one hand, pulled his shirt up over his head, exposing his tattooed chest and chiseled torso that made my panties dampen with arousal.
“It drove me absolutely crazy.” He angled his head and kissed me with eagerness across the collarbone.
Leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake as cool air feathered over the skin he’d left burning.
“The thought of someone who wasn’t me,” he licked his tongue teasingly up the side of my neck, “touching you.” His lips kissed me under the ear.
“Seeing you in ways only meant for my eyes.” He pulled my earlobe between his teeth.
The warmth of his words brushing across my ear was embers thick with desire, cracking with each pull of air into my lungs. I tilted my hips, seeking more pressure, surrendering to all the sensations he evoked within, and let my head fall back, connecting with the mirror.
Jaxon undid my bra and slid the straps down my arms. I arched my back and pinched my nipples.
Not caring or overthinking the moment, just acting out of unadulterated need.
His groans of pleasure only spurred me on, as my heart raced thunderously in my chest. With one hand gripping my hip and the other framing my chin, he slid his thumb across my bottom lip and pulled it down as my jagged breaths filled the space between us.
“It made me absolutely feral. Just like I am now for you—”
“Please, Jaxon, I need you,” I said, reaching for his belt.
We both fumbled as I undid his jeans and slid them and his boxer briefs down over his hips, all the while doing a little shimmy, allowing him better access to tug my leggings and panties from under me and down my legs.
“Let me know if this is too much.” His voice was hoarse as he reached between my legs and began slowly pumping two fingers inside me.
I knew I was embarrassingly wet and could feel my body already on the edge of rapture. The last thing I wanted was for him to hold back. I might not be functioning at one hundred percent, but that didn’t dampen my insatiable desire for the man.
“It won’t be,” I said, curling my fingers around his thick, hardened length that was hot and heavy against my palm. “I want this. I want you.”
“Just promise me.”
“I promise.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth than he gripped me by the hips and repositioned me at the edge of the counter. I continued stroking him, running my thumb slowly over the crown.
“You’re playing with fire, Lils,” he warned, tugging my bottom lip free, which I’d been biting.
“That’s the plan.”
He gripped my wrists and moved them behind my back, holding them firmly in one hand as his other hand lined himself up with my core. The moment he slid inside me, hypnotizing shivers traveled up and down my spine. My head fell back on my shoulders as I cried out in ecstasy.
The euphoria was heaven-sent.
Our connection was a collision, trembling with truth, messy with want.
And our bond was timeless, in this life and every one after.