Chapter 14
14
J ackson pulled up to his house just as Mia pulled up to hers. She parked her car and stalked toward his place, carrying the two coffees. He couldn’t help himself and chuckled.
She glared. “What’s so funny?”
“You’re still packing those coffees around.”
“Well, you haven’t taken yours out of my hand yet, so I’m not sure what you expect. I should have given it to Ethan. He would have at least appreciated it.”
Jackson rolled his eyes and unlocked his door, letting her inside. Kittens immediately greeted them. Jackson went upstairs, kittens following him, and sat on the couch. Mia sat down beside him, setting the coffees on the coffee table.
“Why don’t you want the coffee I got you? You’re being awfully ungrateful,” Mia said, picking Blitz up and stroking his head.
“Did you get it, or did Jeff?”
Mia looked at him in confusion before it suddenly cleared. “You saw me with Jeff this morning.”
“Ding, ding, ding.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why are you being such a man-child? There’s this thing called communication.”
“Why are you throwing insults left and right?”
“Considering you’ve been a brat since I saw you, I think you deserve it.”
“There you go again.”
Mia set the kitten down and threw her hands in the air. “Jackson, what is your problem? I went to Brewbirds to get you coffee, since I knew you had a rough night with the kittens. I saw Jeff, so I spoke with him about us.”
“You saw Jeff, so you spoke with him… about us?” His voice started out in a mimicking tone, but then changed to confusion as he gestured between the two of them.
“Yes!” Mia tossed her hands in the air and stood up, pacing across the room while gesturing wildly. “I thought it was clear I want to be with you. Especially after our little…” She motioned toward the couch. “Session on the couch.”
“But you were holding his hand.” He realized how stupid it sounded now, but it looked intimate. Despite always priding himself on using common sense when it came to everything, somehow all clear thoughts went out the window where Mia was concerned. He had gotten possessive far too quickly.
“He took my hand to tell me he understood I wanted to be with you and give it a chance. Jeff told me he could see the way you look at me and that you love me. He knew no one stood a chance against you. Did it ever occur to you to just ask me about it? Do you honestly believe that after loving you and wanting to be yours since we were kids, I would just change my mind overnight?”
She loved him? He knew that. Deep down, he had always known that. Of course, he knew she did as friends, but he had known that it was beyond that for a very long time.
Everyone around them insisted they were meant to be together and they would eventually realize it. He insisted it wasn’t true, but now he realized how far in denial he had been. He wanted her, and seeing her with Jimmy and then with Jeff was the eye opener he needed.
She was making sure Jeff knew she wanted to be with Jackson. She was trying to do right by them, and Jackson took it all wrong. He stood and strode toward her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into him.
“What are yo?—”
He silenced her with his mouth. Her body was rigid at first, but immediately relaxed into him, her lips moving with his.
“I’m sorry,” he said once he pulled back. He rested his forehead against hers. “I completely read it all wrong.”
“Obviously.”
He chuckled. “I just got jealous. I thought you wanted him, and all rational thought was lost.”
Mia wrapped her arms around his waist. “You need to talk to me rather than doing the brooding thing.”
“I’m just not used to feeling this way. I didn’t realize how much I wanted you.”
She smiled shyly.
He captured her lips with his again. “I love you, Mia Thompson. I always have. As friends and now as more. I’m just sorry it took me so long to realize it.”
“I’m glad you finally did.”
“Me too.” He dipped his head and kissed her again. If he had known kissing someone could feel like this, he wouldn’t have hesitated to kiss her sooner.
His hands moved up her back before moving back down and along the thin strip of skin that was exposed between her pants and shirt. She shivered at his touch, and he smiled against her lips.
“Was that a good shiver?” he murmured.
She nodded. “Very good.”
He slipped his hand under her shirt and laid it flat against her back. Heat radiated off her skin, and she buried her face against his chest.
“You’re so warm.”
“I think it’s just our connection.”
He moved his hand up her back and over her bra strap, her shirt riding up with his hand until his palm flattened between her shoulder blades. Her skin was so soft. He loved touching other women in the past, but this felt different. It was an addiction. The more skin he touched, the more he wanted to touch.
He couldn’t get enough.
“Do you have to get to work?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Someone else is covering for me.”
“Good.” He hooked his hands under her ass and hauled her up into his arms. Her legs immediately circled his waist.
Jackson carried Mia down the hallway toward his bedroom. He shut the door behind them, hoping no kittens made it into the room before they did. The last thing he needed was another cock block.
Gently, he laid her down on the bed before crawling over her. His hand skimmed up her side, and she sucked in a breath.
“Did you ever think this day would come?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. Never in a million years.”
“Me neither. Is this okay?” His hand paused at the side of her breast, his thumb lightly grazing the bottom of her bra.
“Yes,” she said breathily.
His thumb brushed over the bottom again before moving up and sliding over her nipple. It was a tight bud, and he let out a groan. His blood rushed south, and he could feel himself growing with every stroke of her body… even if there was a cloth barrier.
“Mia, I’m not sure how long I’ll last.”
She gripped his hips and dipped her fingers into the waistband of his pants. “But we just started.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, but you’re driving me wild already, and I haven’t even seen you naked.”
“Let’s remedy that.”
He stared down at her, not quite believing his ears. His Mia wasn’t as innocent as he always pictured. It was one thing to tell each other when they had sex. It was a whole other thing to say what they were like in bed. That was something they never discussed.
She tugged his pants down and he helped her move them off his hips until they were kicked aside. Then she grabbed her own pants. The sight was comical as she shimmied beneath him while lying on the bed. But he didn’t laugh. His eyes had zeroed in on every inch of skin she was baring to him in that moment.
In no time at all, yet it felt like an eternity, both of them were naked. His eyes hungrily roamed over her, but he knew she was looking at him just as much. Eagerly, he dipped his head and pulled her nipple into his mouth.
She gasped and drove her fingers through his hair. Her hips rose and pressed against his hardened length. He groaned against her chest. Jackson moved to her other nipple, licking and sucking, biting and tugging. The cries leaving her mouth were everything. They had him moving at a faster pace, yet wanting to torture her at the same time.
She tugged his hair almost painfully. “Jackson, please. I need you. I need to feel you.”
“I want to please you first.”
“I’m pleased. I promise. I just need to feel you.”
He chuckled and pulled back from her chest. He leaned over to his nightstand and pulled out a condom, rolling it down his shaft.
Mia gripped him at the base of his cock and gave him a squeeze. “I always wondered how big you are.”
He laughed. “Did I live up to your expectations?”
He positioned himself at her entrance and looked up into her eyes. He slowly pushed inside her, and her mouth dropped open.
“More than,” she said.
He pushed further in and dropped his head to her chest when he was halfway. He was about to explode right there, but he didn’t want it to end yet. Her body clenched his, and he half wondered if she was a virgin. Although she had told him in the past she had slept with someone. Now he wondered if it had been true.
“Mia, this isn’t your first time, right?”
Her hips rose, pushing him in further. “No,” she gasped. “You know that.”
He groaned and worked himself in until he bottomed out. Her chest heaved beneath him and her body contracted around him.
“You’re so tight.”
“Thank you.”
He laughed, which made her laugh and her body contract around him again. His laugh immediately stopped, and he gripped the bed sheets.
“Oh, my God. I’m going to come if you keep laughing.”
Her laugh died off, but amusement still lit her features. “Come if you need to. The good thing is we can do it again.”
How did he not know Mia was like this? How did he not know she was the woman of his dreams all along? The time that had been wasted…
He pulled back and roughly pushed back inside her. She cried out, gripping his arms.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, holding still again.
“No. No. Punish me. Go harder.”
Those words unleashed something inside him. He let go, thrusting harder and harder inside of her, chasing his release. It came far sooner than he was proud of, but the rush pulsing through his body was unlike anything he had ever felt. He groaned and continued to move until every last drop had been pulled from his body.
It was then he realized she was also coming, her body contracting tightly around him and her hips wildly bucking.
“Fuck, yes,” she cried out.
The ecstasy on her face had him watching her with smugness. He did that. He made his best friend, the love of his life, come as hard as he had.
When they both came to rest, he dropped onto the bed beside her.
“Wow,” he said, his chest heaving.
“Yeah.”
“Think it’ll always be that way?”
She rolled up on her side and rested her head on her hand. “I guess we’ll find out.”
And find out they did.