29. Chapter 29
Jake
We’d managed to pull apart for long enough to remember our food would be cold. Now, that full, satisfied, relaxed feeling settled over me. I’d never done anything like this with a woman before, and I had the fleeting thought that I probably wouldn’t want to do this with anyone but her.
The sky stretched out above us like it didn’t have an end. Stars scattered over a dark blue abyss, but I could only imagine that pale, washed?green color you get from glass tumbled in saltwater and sun.
I’d turned my head at some point, drawn by something that had nothing to do with constellations or open space, and there she was, laid out beside me in the back of my truck like she belonged there. The stars were doing their best, but they didn’t come close to touching me the way she did.
“It’s kind of insane,” she said, her voice filled with awe. “How big the sky is.”
She’d turned her head back to me, and those eyes were on mine, short-circuiting my brain.
“What?” she asked. “Do I have food on my face?”
Shaking my head in answer, I let my gaze move at a torturous pace, taking her in with heat warming my gaze. Now that she was looking back, I reveled in the shape of her mouth, the way her hair had fallen around her face, the way she was right there, within reach.
“You’re missing it,” she said, shifting a little closer.
“Yeah,” I said. “I know.”
I wasn’t missing anything, not where she was concerned.
Our eyes were magnets, but so were our bodies, and one taste of her wasn’t enough; I knew that the moment I got close to her in the booth earlier.
I also knew that there was no part of me that wanted to rush this.
Time was something she rarely got, and right now, she was spending it with me, so I’d soak up every second she’d give me.
“Did you ever wish on stars when you were younger?” she asked, turning back to gaze upward.
I let my eyes follow the line of her profile, the gentle slope of her nose, the way her lips parted. “Not really,” I said. “Did you?”
“Yeah,” she breathed. “All the time. I used to whisper my hopes and dreams to them.”
I wanted to hear them all, wanted to gather every one of those whispered wishes, hold them in my hands, show her they didn’t have to live in the dark anymore.
“What did you wish for?”
She let out a breath, the kind that carried a smile and a wince at the same time. “You’re gonna think I’m dumb.”
“I’d never think that,” I said honestly. “What if I tell you something first?”
She turned her head, one eyebrow lifting. “You said you didn’t wish on stars.”
“I could start right now.”
Her hair had fallen across her cheek, and she didn’t push it away. “Okay.”
Breathing in her sweet scent, I dug deep into my mind. “I wish that I had more nights like this growing up.”
“Under the stars?” she asked.
I shook my head, pushing that strand of hair behind her ear. “Nights that I didn’t want to end.”
“I like that,” she murmured.
“I like that I get one with you.” It wasn’t a line. It was simply the truth.
Her shoulders eased as she released a breath. “Okay,” she said, settling back onto her spine, our arms brushing. “Then I guess I can tell you mine.”
I turned my head toward her, waiting.
“I used to wish I’d be the best rugby player in the world.
” A small smile tugged at her mouth. “Better than Nate, even. And I’d marry someone I loved, and we’d have this ridiculous festival?style wedding in the woods…
and babies.” She frowned up at the sky, voice softening. “It all felt so simple back then.”
“Did you think you’d have the husband and kids with Derek?” I asked.
She didn’t even hesitate. “No.” Lips pursed, she shook her head. “That makes it sound like I didn’t care about him—I did. I do. But we were always temporary.”
She went quiet then, her fingers brushing the blanket between us, like she was smoothing out a crease she couldn’t see.
I wanted to ask what could happen if he ever decided to pursue her, but I also didn’t want the answer.
I wanted her all to myself. The idea that there was this guy who got to share that part of her as a mother made my jaw clench, which was totally irrational since we didn’t have the same connection.
We were building something different…I hoped we were anyway.
“I think I wanted the idea of a family more than I wanted it with him. And that’s not fair to any of us.”
I understood that sentiment of life changing in ways you never thought it would.
I turned onto my side to face her. “What do you wish for now?”
Closing her eyes, she inhaled a deep breath. “I want Cai to be happy. And I want to be happy, too.”
Happiness rumbled my chest with my enthusiastic heart. “Are you happy right now?”
I hadn’t meant to be so candid, but I didn’t want to take it back either.
She smiled at the sky, then looked at me again, and I held her gaze in mine, making sure to absorb the moment, hoping that I knew the answer. “I am.”
Butterflies swarmed inside my chest. I tried to play it cool, but how could I do that when the most beautiful woman in the world was within my reach telling me she was happy with me?
My hand came up to her jaw, my thumb brushing along her skin.
I pulled myself upward, leaning over her, and I kissed her.
There was no easing into my desire for her, just the immediate pull of her mouth against mine, the way she responded like she’d been waiting for it too, her hands gripping me, dragging me closer.
My dick was already thick and needy, but with the way she hiked her leg over mine, tugging me against her, looking for some friction, I wanted to give that to her so badly.
“Fuck,” I breathed against her lips.
I shifted over her fully, pressing her back into the truck bed, my hand sliding from her jaw down to her side, gripping her thigh as it wrapped around my hip because I needed something to anchor me. Everything else felt like it was tipping too fast.
She opened her hips, and let out a breathy moan, grinding her jean-clad pussy into me. It sent a jolt so fierce, I had to break the kiss just to catch my breath, my forehead dropping briefly against hers.
“Is this okay?” I asked, even though my mouth was already finding hers again. I was possessed and couldn’t stay away long enough to hear the answer properly.
She nodded, but it was enough.
My dick strained against my jeans as I moved with more certainty, each thrust torture and bliss.
The stars were gone, the night, the quiet, all of it, because all I could hear was our breathing.
All I could imagine was her pussy taking all of me, and all I could focus on was the way we fit together.
I wanted to give her relief, give us both relief, but somewhere distant in my mind, I was also aware that we were outside in a public parking lot, and she deserved better than that, especially for our first time.
“Wait,” I said, pulling back, lifting my hips away. “Let me take you home.”
Her eyebrows pinched as she cleared her throat and licked away my kisses, eyes darting around. “Oh, okay, yeah, it’s late, and—”
“Let me take you back to my place,” I interrupted, not letting her think anything bad. “So I can make you come in private.”
Her jaw dropped as she stared at me, frozen. Lifting my hand, I pushed her mouth closed, smiling down at her, loving the thoughts she wore all over her face.
“I, uh, I thought you were shutting this down,” she said shyly.
I shook my head, eyes on hers. “I would never. You deserve more than public foreplay.”
Her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she shrugged a little, those eyes darting around, and my excitement spiked.
“Wait.” My voice dipped as I curled my hips back into her, not letting her escape. “Do you want to stay out here?”
Lust blurred my vision and thought process as her cheeks darkened again.
Her eyes flicked past me for a second, like she was aware of the empty lot, the open space, and I swear her pupils dilated. My sweet, sexy woman.
“I—” she started, then huffed a quiet breath, her shoulders lifting in another small shrug.
“Oh fuck, you do,” I groaned, dropping my head into her neck and inhaling. “I don’t think you understand what that does to me.”
Nails found the back of my head, dragging against skin. “I might have some idea.”
Pulling back before I lost it all, I watched her and how she subtly moved her body beneath me. She wanted it; I knew that much. And now that I knew she maybe had an exhibitionist kink, I could work with that.
I nodded once, sealing it in place, even though every part of me was still pulling in the opposite direction.
“Okay,” I said to myself out loud.
But when I went to put space between us and move toward the driver’s side, her hand caught my shirt, stopping me just long enough to drag me back in. Her kiss wasn’t rushed, but it wasn’t controlled either.
It sat somewhere in between, warm and lingering, her mouth pressing to mine, taking something with her before we walked away from this.
“Get in the truck,” I murmured over her mouth, my voice rough. “Before I forget every good intention I just had.”
She smiled, breathless, a little wrecked in a way that matched exactly how I felt.
I cleared up the trash as she found her seat back inside the truck, giving myself a moment to calm down, and bracing my hands on the tailgate, letting the ocean breeze fill my lungs.
I knew I wanted her. I knew she wanted me. But wanting wasn’t the problem—not losing my head over her was.
Reminding myself that this wasn’t the moment to rush anything was my only saving grace. She wasn’t something to grab at; she was someone I cared about, someone I didn’t want to mess up with impatience or heat.
By the time I slid into the driver’s seat beside her, my pulse had finally stopped trying to sprint out of my body.
“You okay?”
“All good,” I said, though my voice was still uneven. “I’m taking you back to my place, okay? I have an idea.”