Chapter 20 - Jackson #3
Biting my bottom lip, I shake my head once. “You’re trying to tell me you want to go into your freshman year of college married?”
“You’re damn right I do. I’d love nothing more than to introduce you to everyone as my wife.”
“Your wife?” I repeat in disbelief.
“Yes.”
“Well are you gonna ask me something then?”
Jax lets out a low chuckle while grabbing something out of the chest pocket of his T-shirt. When he opens his hand, a small bunch of grass is wound into a small circle. And the moment his beautiful, sea glass eyes meet mine, I know my answer before he even asks.
“Like you said, we’re young. And to anyone else, we may look like fools. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that I love you with my whole heart and I want to start a life with you. So, Taevin Gray, will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”
Those beautiful songbirds only he can awaken take flight in my stomach again.
“Yes,” I whisper, blinking away the happy tears threatening to spill down my cheeks.
“Yes?” he questions in disbelief.
“Yes!” I reply a little louder this time.
He lifts me into his arms and spins me around. “You’ll marry me?” he questions again, and I can’t help but giggle.
“You’re crazy for asking, but I’m crazy enough to agree. Yes, I’ll marry you, Jackson!”
Pulling me in for a kiss, my lips quiver against his.
When I break the kiss, I rest my forehead against his and rub my thumb up and down his cheek.
He grabs hold of my hand and slips the makeshift ring onto my finger.
I press my lips to his and I can’t stop the smile that lights up my face even as I kiss him with everything I have.
Holy hell! This can’t be real life.
Jax finally breaks our kiss, and sets me back on the tailgate, spreading my legs so he can stand between them. With his head nuzzled against my neck, he breathes me in and asks, “So, when are we making this official, wifey?”
I can’t help but chuckle. “Well, I suppose it depends if we’re really eloping or telling our parents. I’m not going to lie . . . I’d prefer we elope and tell them at, like, Christmas break when we come home or something.”
“I agree.”
I quirk a brow. “Really? It’s that easy?”
“I mean, I don’t have the best example of a healthy marriage. But from what I’ve heard, there’s this saying, ‘happy wife, happy life,’ and I plan to live by that.”
I push his shoulders back. “In that case, I think we should celebrate.”
Jax gives me the sexiest smirk. “Oh yeah?”
“Yep.”
Wrapping his arms around my waist, he tugs at my hips so I’m barely resting on the edge of the tailgate. “And how do you wanna do that?”
A shy smile eclipses my face before I bite my bottom lip. “Make love to me under the stars?”
“Couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate. Sit back,” he tells me, nodding to the pile of pillows we were snuggling in earlier.
Once we’re both in the bed of the truck, Jax kneels beside me as he helps me pull my tank top over my head before slowly inching off my shorts.
The way he’s looking at me and touching me—with gentleness and reverence—liquifies my stomach.
And when his lips connect with mine, his tongue swiping inside for a taste, I become desperate to feel his skin on mine.
Trailing my fingers beneath the hem of his shirt, I lift it up his torso, only breaking the kiss so he can pull it over his head. While he does, I don’t waste a moment as I unbuckle his belt and push his shorts and boxers off his hips.
“Need you,” I whisper, wrapping one arm around his neck and the other around his waist so I can pull him on top of me.
“You have me. Always.” Jax carefully lowers himself on top of me, my flesh burning where his touches mine. Goosebumps erupt across my skin, and my nipples pebble.
I kiss him again, though this one is brief, ending with my tugging his lower lip between my teeth. “I need you inside of me, Jax. Now.” I punctuate my demand by gliding up and down his length.
When his tip slides inside of me momentarily, we both still. The silence is broken when Jax lets out a groan of frustration, hanging his head until his forehead rests against my chest.
“Shit! I don’t have a condom. I left them at the cabin.”
My mind whirls as I try to come up with a solution that gets me what I ultimately want. Which is him inside of me as soon as possible. “The glove compartment?” I question.
“It’s not my truck.”
I worry my lip between my teeth and shrug as if I’m not about to ask something cringy. “Think your brother would have any?”
He shakes his head. “Bennett just got this, and he’s not exactly the kind of guy who hooks up in his truck.”
“Okay, well I’m on the pill so we could go without . . .” My eyes widen at the same time as my lips fold shut so I won’t blurt any other ridiculous suggestions.
His head drops again and he lets out a low groan that makes my stomach flip. “Baby, don’t play with me right now.”
My cheeks heat with embarrassment as I silently curse myself for suggesting the ludicrous idea in the first place. “I’m not, but I understand if you don’t want to take the risk of going without.”
“Taevin . . .” he groans my name like it’s a prayer and he’s begging for mercy.
He lifts his head and our gazes lock. “It’s not a matter of want.
Of course, I want to. I just—” Jax pauses, licking his lips before a pained look eclipses his face.
“I’ve never gone without one before. I just want to keep you safe, baby. ”
“We’ve both been tested and I’ve been on the pill for months now. If it makes you feel better, you could pull out.”
Jax looks me over, scrutinizing whether or not I’m sure about this. “Would you be okay if I didn’t pull out?”
God, that might be the sexiest thing he’s ever asked me.
I lick my lips, desperate to end this conversation and have him do just that. “I’d be more than okay with that—in fact, I think it’s the only way we should celebrate our engagement.”
A deep moan vibrates from his throat as he pushes further inside me. “Fuck, Tae. Fuck! This feels too good.”
Once he’s fully seated, his dick twitches inside me, and without the barrier between us I feel everything. I’m so worked up I nearly come just from him entering me and that small movement.
He stills inside of me, breathing deeply as we tremble against one another.
“Please, Jax,” I gasp without even really knowing what I’m pleading him to do.
“Want me to move?” he asks just as he pulls nearly all the way out and then slowly slides back in.
“Yes,” I moan, raking my nails down his back as I lock my legs around his hips.
My eyes roll to the back of my head when he pistons deeper and then rolls his hips against my clit in the most glorious way.
“Baby, I’ve never—it’s never been—ah, you’re so wet. So tight.” His gibberish confessions match my nonsensical thoughts.
“Don’t stop. Please!” I’m fully aware I’m begging him at this point, but I’m on the very brink of my orgasm and if he breaks this rhythm I think I’ll die of disappointment.
“Never,” he rasps into the crook of my neck, and then I’m coming.
My orgasm pulls me under into a sea of ecstasy that is only made infinitely better when Jackson drives deeper and groans, his cock pulsing as he releases inside me.
I rake my fingers through his hair as he presses soft kisses down my neck and across each collarbone. When I open my eyes, I smile up at the sky full of stars and sigh in contentment as Jax rolls us over and pulls me into his arms.
“I love you, Taevin. No matter what our future holds, I promise you I’ll never stop.”