28. Chapter 28
Seren
Jake consumed me. His tongue delved into my mouth and over my lips with a skill I wasn’t sure I’d ever match, and instead of trying, I let myself feel it, let myself get pulled under by the tide of him.
It had been so long since someone had kissed me, I’d forgotten what it felt like to be ignited from within.
He kissed me like I was his only water source in a desert, drinking deeply and pulling every single part of me into him somehow.
I pressed closer, chasing more of him before I’d even finished taking the last.
My hand slid higher, brushing the side of his neck, feeling the heat there, the pulse under my fingertips, and it grounded me just enough to remind me I wasn’t imagining this, that this was real and happening and very quickly getting out of my control. But I couldn’t find the will to stop it.
He adjusted his grip at my jaw, flexing gently, just enough to keep me exactly where he wanted me.
I pulled back, just barely, lips brushing instead of sealed, my breathing ragged. Somewhere in front of us, there was another flash, and I blinked, remembering where we were.
“No, you’re right,” he said gruffly. “Awful.”
“Totally mediocre.” I nodded with a dopey smile.
“We definitely shouldn’t do that again.”
“Not even if we really want to.”
We grinned at each other, floating on the cloud we’d just been on.
The man could kiss like no other. He’d transported me to another world where the air wasn’t oxygen but fireflies buzzing all around me, lifting me up until I felt so high I couldn’t even see the ground. I was sure he took a part of my soul with that kiss, and I was scared I’d never get it back.
“Uh, are you guys ever coming out of there?” a voice called from beyond the curtain.
“Oh shit,” I whispered with a snort. Jake followed as I rose to my feet, cupping my face in his hands, pressing one more bruising kiss to my mouth.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, not looking even a morsel apologetic. “I needed that.”
Not wanted that. Needed it. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor before we exited the booth.
I pressed a finger to my lips, feeling them tingle where his had just been, my body slow to catch up to the fact that we weren’t the only two people in the world.
I hadn’t counted on kissing him to feel so right, so good. So much of everything I couldn’t seem to make sense of in my mind.
“Come on,” he said, his voice still a little rough around the edges as he pulled the curtain back.
The flush on my face would give us away, I was sure of it.
Or maybe it was the neon sign I’d adopted on my forehead that read ‘I just kissed this man in here.’ However, I couldn’t find it in me to care that there was a gaggle of teenagers waiting in line while Jake collected the pictures I’d forgotten about.
My heart fluttered a little as I looked over his shoulder, wrapping my hand in his, and he pointed to the first one.
“Mmm.” He hummed, eyes fixed. “Look at this one.”
The photo was just before the kiss, our eyes completely locked, the tension between us clear as day. I swallowed, my pulse moving through me in an erratic dance that represented the hunger in his eyes, and mine.
“Well.” I cleared my throat. “That’ll be great to show our kids what Mom and Dad look like when they want to eat each other.” Oh god, here I was, casually tossing the line back at him as if my heart hadn’t done a full somersault the first time he’d said it.
He choked on a laugh, and I rested my chin on his shoulder, looking up at him with a smile I felt in my chest too. But when his laugh faded, he turned to look down at me. His eyes dilated, his grip on my hand tightening.
“I definitely want to eat you,” he said deeply. “And I will, make no mistake.”
I shivered at his promise as it wracked through my nervous system like a tornado. I was sure that anything sexual with him would leave my body much the same…Completely at his mercy. Heat pooled low in my stomach. “God…” I whispered, barely there, my lips parting on a breath.
He tapped his chest. “Jake, but I could definitely take you to heaven, baby. Just say the word.”
My nose almost brushed against his as I tilted my head just slightly, close enough now that it felt like the smallest movement would tip us over into something else entirely.
Something I wasn’t used to being. That reckless little devil on my shoulder was so on board for whatever this could be with him.
The angel too, matter of fact. I wanted Jake, and whatever that looked like later, I knew my mind and body were both on board.
Tonight, I was taking something for myself.
His hand squeezed mine twice before he pulled back just enough to put a sliver of space between us. Not far, but just enough that I could breathe without feeling like I was about to make a very questionable life choice in the middle of a roller rink.
“As much as I’d love to act on all the dirty things racing around my mind,” he said, his voice still rough, still sitting low in a way that made my stomach flip, “I’m gonna do this right.”
I blinked, my brain taking a second to catch up.
He tipped his head toward the exit, already tugging me with him, like he’d made the decision and that was that. “I’m buying you dinner first.”
A laugh slipped out of me, surprised and a little breathless as I let him pull me along. “Dinner?” Also, first? My brain was untamable at this point.
“Yeah,” he said, glancing back at me with the same look that had gotten us into this mess in the first place. “Don’t look so shocked. I’ve got manners.”
“You just told me you had dirty thoughts about me,” I pointed out.
“And I stand by that,” he shot back easily. “But I’m still feeding you first.”
I giggled, the sound almost foreign to me. I liked this version of myself; I’d forgotten about her. The flirting, the teasing, the heart-beating-out-of-my-chest-because-a-guy-kissed-me version. I wished she showed up more. “Such a gentleman.”
He led me straight to his car, opened the door for me with a little mock bow that made me laugh again, and waited until I buckled my seat belt. His stare lingered, heavy and a little too focused, his hand dragging down his face like he needed a second to pull himself together.
“I love hearing you laugh.” He winked before closing the door.
I sank back into the seat, smiling to myself the whole ten-minute ride.
I leaned forward as the glowing sign came into view of my favorite burger place in California. “You’re taking me to Grab & Go? I love this place.”
He glanced at me, all easy confidence, like he’d known that was exactly the reaction he’d get. “Nate might’ve told me this place was a favorite of yours.”
“You spoke to him?”
“Earlier tonight, yeah.”
“And he gave that information up to help?” I figured he was okay with this, but I didn’t ever think he’d give Jake tips.
“Yeah.”
I huffed out a noise of disbelief and acceptance wrapped into one.
I remember the night I’d told him I was pregnant, he brought me to one of these near Mom and Dad’s house.
I didn’t make a big deal of telling him, but when he found out, he hugged me for the longest time, and our burgers and fries went cold.
I knew it was his way of saying he had my back.
The line moved forward, and we ordered way too much food for two people.
Jake looped us around the block toward an ocean-view parking lot.
“Wait here,” he said, already unbuckling before I could ask anything.
I watched him through the side-view mirror as he moved to the back of his truck, pulling it open and shifting things around.
He came around seconds later, opening my door. “C’mere.”
It was a soft demand that sent a thrill through my entire body. He took the bags of food, and I grabbed the drinks, following him to the back of the truck.
I stopped short when I saw it. The bed of his truck was set up with layered soft blankets and a couple of pillows tucked against the cab.
“Jake…” My breath caught in my chest. No one had ever been this thoughtful.
He scrubbed the back of his neck as he looked at what he’d done. “It’s okay, right?”
Moving closer, I placed the drinks down on the bed as my hands tingled with the need to touch and soothe him.
I slid my hands over his biceps to his shoulders, then up to his neck, my thumbs brushing just under his jaw, feeling the heat of his skin, the tension there.
“No one’s ever done something like this for me before,” I admitted.
“Yeah?” he murmured.
I nodded, my fingers still resting against him, not pulling away, not wanting to. “Yeah.”
Lifting onto my toes, I pressed a quick kiss to his lips, the two of us groaning when we realized it wasn’t enough.
His hand came up to my waist before I’d even fully settled back onto my heels, and he was lifting me, hands firm at my hips, turning us in one smooth motion until I was on the truck bed and he was standing between my legs.
My arms remained linked around his neck and shoulders, disappointment reeling through me because my legs were dangling and not around him, too. Wow, my body screamed for him as much as my mind did.
Holding on, my fingers curled deeper into his shoulders, pulling him closer without overthinking, my chest rising unevenly as the space between us disappeared. The air felt different out here. Cooler against my skin, but it didn’t touch the heat building between us.
As though he knew what my body wanted, he said, “Wrap those strong legs around me and let me kiss you again, mama.” It wasn’t a question, not quite a demand either, and I moaned in response.
“Please,” I breathed out desperately.
His mouth met mine, and everything else dropped away.