- FIVE #3
My eyes immediately moved on, finding Jasper on the other side, asleep facing me. The wind picked up, carrying with it the banshee's scream. I shivered, trying to keep the unease from uncurling in my belly. I just needed some sleep. Without nightmares.
I carefully took my feet, tiptoeing across the clearing, and lowering myself down beside his body.
His warmth made me do a quick, full-body shiver.
I knew I had to touch him for his sleep magic thing to work.
So, taking a deep breath, I moved my hand out to rest on the patch of exposed skin on his neck.
Suddenly, slowly, his arm snaked out and wrapped around my lower back, pulling my upper body closer to him. "I didn't mean to wake you," I whispered.
"Honey, I wasn't sleeping," he said, his voice equally as low as his eyes slowly slid open. My belly did an almost embarrassing little flutter at the word honey and the sweet way it rolled off his lips, uncharacteristically gently.
"I had bad dreams," I admitted, his light eyes seeming almost hypnotic in the dark.
His other hand raised slowly, stroking down the side of my cheek softly. "Not anymore."
"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" I asked, somehow unable to keep the words inside.
"I'm not an asshole, Cece," he said, his hand settling on the side of my neck.
"I'm no one's Prince Charming, but I'm not some bastard who pushes you to walk on hurt feet and snaps at you when you don't understand the shit that is going on around you.
I'm worried about Jade and I'm not happy to have to go onto my parents' property tomorrow. "
"I'm worried about Jade too," I said, understanding how that could make him short.
I had only known her a few months and I was trudging through a freaking new world with two guys I didn't know and a dog who was my protector to get her back.
I couldn't imagine how much that love and dedication would be amplified by knowing her your entire life.
"We're going to get her back," he said fiercely.
"She's not like you. She's so soft."
"She's stronger than you think," he said, his hand tightening on my neck. The banshee screamed and I felt myself shiver again as a pool of dread filled my belly. "Relax," he said, leaning slightly forward and resting his forehead to mine.
"Are you going to do that magic-Windex thing to me again?" I asked, trying to pretend my stomach didn't feel in knots at having him so close. Well, my stomach and... other places.
He let out a small chuckle, the sound a low, sexy, rumbling and the motion of it moved through his body and into my own.
"How about something a little different," he said, a strange promise in his voice that I couldn't place until his head shifted and dipped slightly and I felt his lips press against mine.
Everything that might have been going on in my head was effectively gone in a second.
And, um, well, it was way better than the magic-Windex thing.
Way, way better. My entire body melted against his, my lips parting in effortless invitation.
There was no hesitation in Jasper as his lips pressed harder, claimed mine.
His tongue peeked out and traced my lower lip before slipping inside to toy with mine, drawing out a quiet, breathy moan as my body seemed to vibrate with the need for more.
My hand dug into his shoulder as his shifted back into my hair.
His other pulled my hips tighter against him and I was achingly aware of his hard desire that matched the wetness I felt building between my legs, the tight coil of want and need almost painful in my lower belly.
His tongue retreated, his arm tightened, and he rolled us, him onto his back, me fully over his chest. His hand twisted in my hair, holding me in place as his teeth nipped my lower lip before taking my lips, harder, deeper, until I felt the buzzing electricity of every inch of skin, in every nerve ending.
My hips shifted and his cock pressed against my heat, drawing a moan from my lips.
Beneath me, his body went rigid as his lips lessened then released mine completely.
My heavy eyelids took their sweet time fluttering open and when they did, I found his intense eyes on me, watching, taking in every nuance, and I had no doubt he sensed the overwhelming desire flooding my system, begging for release.
His lips parted as if to say something, then closed again.
Then I was moving, being pulled off to the side of him so that my head was on his chest, but the rest of me just pressed to his side. One hand stayed in my hair, the other held tight at my hips. But there was a certain detachment to it.
"Get some rest, Cece. You're going to need it."
And that, apparently, was that.
Except, for me, it wasn't. For me, I was a swirling mass of confusion, desire, embarrassment, and worry.
Until, of course, I wasn't.
I was just bone-deep exhausted.
My last thought as I drifted off to sleep was that the jerk magic-Windexed my brain after all.
Probably to avoid having to talk to me about the kiss.
To avoid confrontation.
Fucking men.