Chapter 34
CHAPTER 34
MEYER
Jackson takes my hand, leading me out of the bathroom. I follow willingly as my heart gallops in anticipation. He may have just gotten me off, but I still crave him. Still want more.
Beside the bed, Jackson pulls me against him, and then he’s drawing my mouth to his. The kiss is quick, but it curls my toes and sends a lick of heat through my core. The orgasm in the tub was nice, but that need is building again, and I need him.
He pulls away, and I look up at him in confusion. He sits on the bed, leaning back against the pillows, and then he beckons me toward him.
“Come here,” he says.
My limbs are moving before my brain even has time to catch up. I climb onto the bed and settle myself on his lap. My fingers thread through the hair at his nape while his hands anchor to my hips.
Desire hums in my veins. Jackson Vaughan has very quickly become an addiction, one I can’t see myself tiring of anytime soon.
When he kisses me, I lose myself in him. My hips bear down, grinding against his cock. He moans low in his throat as his tongue volleys with mine.
We’re both breathless when we pull away. Still, Jackson trails a line of kisses along my neck, and I tip my head, allowing him better access. I shiver when his teeth scrape against my collarbone.
“You’re really taking your sweet time,” I say.
The smile he gives me is crooked. “I’m trying to savour this. Unless you have a better suggestion?”
I nod. “I do. Fuck now, savour later.”
Jackson laughs. “A compelling argument.”
My thighs squeeze his hips as I grind against him again. I’m not sure how he’s able to hold this much restraint after he stopped himself from coming when I was on my knees in the bathroom.
“Hands on the headboard, baby.”
A thrill travels my body at the order. Still, I can’t make it too easy for him. It would be against my nature.
“And if I refuse?”
He shrugs. “You’re sitting on my face either way. I just figured you’d appreciate having something to hold on to.”
My surprise hardly has time to register before Jackson slides down the bed, maneuvering until I hover, straddled over his face. I quickly take hold of the headboard, heeding his advice. But then he grabs my hips and pulls me down further, and I let out a squeak of surprise.
The first sweep of his tongue sends a jolt through me. If I wasn’t already on my knees, it would have sent them buckling. My fingers dig into the headboard.
The feel of his tongue on me, inside me, is the most overwhelming sensation. My knees crowd his ears as I try not to put all my weight on him, but fuck , he makes it hard. Especially when he adds his fingers into the mix, inserting one inside me as he sucks on my clit.
“ Jackson ,” I moan.
“Yes, baby?”
I’m getting close, but I don’t want to finish this way. Right now, I want him. This yearning won’t be sated until I have him inside me.
“Jackson, please .”
“Please what?” he taunts.
“I want you inside me,” I reply, not caring about his smug tone. “I need you.”
Something in my voice must convince him because he removes his finger from inside me, and then he slides up against the headboard, half sitting.
I rest back on his thighs as I reach between us, taking his cock in hand. His fingers dig into my hips as I stroke him. He is impossibly hard in my grasp, and when wetness beads at the tip, I swipe it away with my thumb. Then I bring my thumb to my mouth, and Jackson watches, enraptured, as I lick the wetness away.
“Sometimes, I can’t believe you’re real,” he says in awe. The words slip out under his breath, almost like he didn’t mean to utter them.
My lips part as I struggle for a reply. Jackson shakes his head, and then with purpose, he takes hold of my chin, tugging me into him so he can claim my mouth.
Our lips part with a groan. His or mine, I’m not sure. Maybe both. And then he eases me onto my back, my head resting at the foot of the bed.
Leaning over, he grabs a condom from the bedside table and rolls it on before he settles himself between my thighs.
My eyes lock on his, and I’m drowning. But if this is sinking, then I never want to float. Something has changed between us. Some kind of gravitational shift that leaves me breathless for an entirely different reason than the weight of his body on mine.
“You are so fucking beautiful, Meyer,” he says. The look of devotion in his gaze makes me want to weep.
I have never had someone look at me this way. Like I am both the beginning and the end of their deepest desire. My first instinct is to push him away, but I’m tired of enforcing that wall. Fucking tired .
So I let it fall.
Trailing a finger down his chest, relishing his answering shiver, I say, “You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.”
“You’re so good at stroking my ego.”
I arch a brow. “Just your ego?”
My finger has trailed all the way down his stomach now, so I reach down, taking hold of his cock and positioning it at my entrance. I think I’ve waited long enough.
“No, baby,” he replies. My lips part on a gasp as he thrusts forward, pushing himself partially inside. “I love the way it feels when you’re wrapped around my cock.”
Then he thrusts again, filling me completely. The slide of his hips is slow and sensual. Unlike the other times we’ve slept together, this isn’t rushed. And I don’t want it to be.
Warmth spreads through me. With one arm braced on the mattress beside my head, he reaches between us with his other hand, finding my clit.
“ Jackson .”
My orgasm rocks through me, and I clench around him. My thighs quiver, but he keeps up his pace, drawing out the aftershocks of my pleasure. And then with one final thrust, he’s tumbling after me.
His head falls to the crook of my neck, where he places a light kiss. We stay like that, his body over mine, his dick inside me, for a few moments. I find myself running my fingers through his hair as I work to catch my breath.
Jackson heads to the bathroom to dispose of the condom, and when he comes back, he has a cloth in hand. I sigh as the warmth hits my skin where he cleans up our mess. I know I should get up to use the bathroom, but my limbs don’t want to move.
I’ve never been one to cuddle after sex. Yet one round in a bed with Jackson has me burrowing under the covers, resting my cheek against his naked chest as he draws patterns on my back with his fingers.
I think that’s why I’ve avoided having sex in a bedroom with him—I knew once I did, it wouldn’t just be fast and dirty fucking to scratch an itch anymore. I knew it would be something real.
I’ve never truly had real before. It’s as scary as it is exciting.
I want to say something. I should say something. I owe it to myself to address these feelings, even if he doesn’t feel the same. But he does . I know it. I can’t be alone in this.
It takes me a good few minutes, but I eventually work up the courage to speak.
“This doesn’t seem very casual anymore,” I whisper.
His quiet sigh ruffles my hair. “Baby, I don’t think it ever was,” he replies.
I shift in his arms so I can face him. Half lying on my stomach, I regard him with something akin to hope.
“We’ve both been pretty damn good at lying to ourselves,” he continues. “This isn’t just sex. If you say it is, then you just haven’t been paying attention.”
Jackson lazily trails a hand down my bare back. The contact makes me shiver.
“Oh, yeah?” I challenge. “What should I have been paying attention to?”
His hand retraces its trail up my spine until it rests at the back of my head, fingers tangling in the strands of hair at my nape. Strangely, I again feel like weeping at the tender way he caresses me.
“The way I admire your uncanny ability to connect with everyone you meet. Even when you don’t want to.” He sends me a pointed look. “And I love the way your pretty blue eyes look when you first wake up. The way your cheeks flush when you’re mad, but even more so when you’re shy about something. Your smart mouth, even though half the time it’s used against me.”
“If I didn’t know any better…” My heart hammers so hard, I can feel it in my throat. Be brave . “It sounds like you’re trying to be my boyfriend, Vaughan. ”
“If the fact that I can’t fucking get enough of you hasn’t clued you in, let me be clear,” he says. “I want you, Meyer Ellison. However you’ll have me.”
My lips part. “What?”
“Let me date you.”
“You want to…date me?”
“Is that so hard to believe?”
It used to be. But I realize now that every moment I’ve spent with Jackson has culminated into this.
“No,” I reply, biting at my lower lip. “You’re sure?”
He laughs, pinching my waist. I swat his hand. “Yes, Meyer, I’m sure.”
Slowly, I nod. “Okay. I just—” I suck in a deep breath. “Please don’t break my heart.”
My whispered plea settles between us, and Jackson’s gaze turns even softer.
“Never,” he vows.
I believe him. It’s strange, feeling this secure. I haven’t felt that in a long time, if ever. But everything feels settled when I’m with him. Like I can fully be myself and he won’t leave.
He’s seen a lot of ugly parts of me and he’s still here. It’s a powerful thing to see the worst sides of someone and still stick around to inspire them to be their best.
“My turn to say nice things about you,” I declare.
He mocks me with a gasp. “Meyer Ellison, being nice to me? Never thought I’d live to see the day.”
“You might not still,” I warn, but I can’t help my laugh.
His answering grin is blinding. It makes him look so handsome, I can’t resist leaning over and kissing him once more .
“You are so incredibly nerdy when it comes to data. I roll my eyes, but I think it’s hot. So are your suits. I love your rational brain, the way it competes with my hotheadedness,” I admit. “I love the way you challenge me to step outside my comfort zone and try different things with the inn. You match my sense of humour.” I pause as I draw in a deep breath. “Mostly, I just love the way you didn’t give up on me.”
I know I’m difficult. I’m not easy to crack open. Letting someone in enough to trust them isn’t a quick task. But, as always, Jackson has been patient.
He shakes his head. “Once I got here, that never even crossed my mind.” His gaze roves mine, searching. “So we’re doing this?” he asks.
I nod. “I think so.”
I let out a gasp when I’m rolled onto my back, and Jackson hovers over me. I throw my arms over his shoulders and tug him closer. Our lips collide.
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the future, not knowing if the person that has been terrorizing us will leave us alone, but with Jackson by my side, I feel like I can conquer anything.