Chapter 33
Like Velcro
Alex
Soaked, without a bike, in the middle of the night, I was on the run, shaken and truly scared. Scared that I wouldn't see Jade again. That I wouldn't have a chance to hear her angelic voice, to taste her sweet skin, to look into her mesmerizing eyes.
The phone rang and rang, and finally, Andrei's sleepy voice responded, "This better be good becau—"
"Destroy it all. The whole building. Everything. Go. Now. Blaze it up." I spat out urgent instructions at three in the morning, standing on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere.
A beat of silence passed while he digested my words, and then, “I'll go now." He was fully alert and promptly hung up, leaving me alone in the darkness and vastness of our shitty situation.
I hung up the payphone and finally breathed out, calculating how to get to our nearest warehouse. It would be a few hours’ walk, but…beggars can’t be choosers.
Motivated by pure adrenaline and that one bratty girl who occupied every single thought, I half-jogged, half-walked the distance, catching a break only when I reached the unmarked building.
Fuck, I had made a huge mistake, and at this point, I had no idea if going home was even an option.
I didn’t want to go there anyway—there was only one place I wanted to be.
Jade's home smelled like her—sweet and calming.
I climbed in through the balcony and just stood there, taking it all in.
It was quite tidy except for her work desk, which was littered with files and sticky notes.
Her degrees hung on the wall above the desk, and a bookshelf stood beside it.
I perused the books on the shelf; mostly law, but there were a few others too—some French lit classics, romance, thrillers, and two travel books: Spain and Morocco.
I made a mental note: we’d fly to Spain right after this shitshow was over.
I decided to wait for her to get home from work, and after I showered, I shamelessly made myself at home in her kitchen and prepared dinner from whatever she had in her fridge. Then I took a little nap on her couch, exhausted from a sleepless night.
The keys jingled in the door a little past six, and there she was: my girl. Her hair was down, and she wore a white button-down shirt tucked into a pencil skirt that ended just above her knees. She was the perfect picture of law.
"Oh my God!" Jade shrieked as soon as she saw me lounging on her couch in only a towel. "What?! What’re you doing here?!"
It took two seconds for me to cross the room and wrap my arms around her. God, it had been too long without her—the longest week of my entire life. Every day lasted a century. Every minute without her was empty. Wasted. Lifeless.
I had no capacity to wait. I leaned down and smashed my lips into hers, finally tasting life.
"I—" I breathed her in, "I love you so much." My hands roamed up her back and onto her neck, my mind spinning. “After last night—" Jade’s fingers tangled in my hair and she pulled me in closer, “—I got so scared that I’d never see you again."
"Ah, fuck, you're risking so much—” But I interrupted her, needing to kiss, to touch, to squeeze. To remember that she was mine. “By coming here!"
Our embrace turned frantic, and I wondered why the fuck I hadn’t snuck in earlier. I pushed my tongue inside her mouth, acutely aware of how her fingernails dug into my shoulders.
"I love you, too. What the fuck were you thinking last night?!"
I wasn’t. I couldn’t think when she wasn't around.
“This little fucking pencil skirt?” I lowered my voice and grabbed a fistful. I pulled the material up, watching the way it slid up her thigh. “Should be fucking illegal.”
“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” She baited me with a smile on her face. “Take it off.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I tugged on the zipper of her skirt just as she pushed into my chest, walking me back to her couch. Somewhere along the way, my towel dropped, my dick rock hard already.
Jade did that to me constantly. God, I couldn't think about her without getting hard—it was a fucking problem.
She dropped her gaze and reached for me, but I stopped her hand right before she could grab on. She looked up, her eyes filled with surprise and mild shock. “That’s no way to treat a guest.”
“You’re an intruder,” she snapped back instantly, and fuck, I missed her sharp tongue. “And I get to do whatever I want with those.”
Jade suddenly shoved me back, and I slumped onto the couch, my vision going black for a moment. Standing in front of me, teasing, she unbuttoned her shirt, revealing the white lacy bra underneath. I groaned and reached for her, wanting her on me now—right this fucking second.
But she swayed her hips just out of reach. “Tsk-tsk. Patience.”
I was starved. Parched. Desperate, and my dick was throbbing, but I waited until she dropped the shirt to the ground, appearing all angelic in front of me in such delicate, lacy lingerie.
And it was like time had stopped. The world fell away. It was suddenly dark outside, but Jade glowed. I sat up and she stepped closer, letting me wrap my arms around her and press my lips into her abdomen.
“I missed you,” I sighed into her, afraid to admit this was real. “So much. Don’t leave again.”
Her skin burned underneath my fingers, and Jade straddled me, resting her weight on me, just the way I wanted.
“I missed you, too.” She locked her gaze with mine, letting me see inside her soul. “Don’t do that again,” she requested quietly. “Don’t do scary things like that. I don’t want to lose you.”
I closed my eyes and nodded, pressing my cheek to her chest. We sighed into each other and just stayed there, our arms wrapped around one another, her heartbeat knocking into my lips.
“The bite healed, and I had nothing left from you, Malyshka. I can’t. I can’t live apart. When you’re not with me…” I paused, studying the worry in her eyes. “Everything’s wrong. Like I’m not alive. Like I can’t wake up.”
I breathed in her skin, desperately asking for proof that she was with me and I wasn’t dreaming. Proof that she was in my arms again.
“I’m right here. Look at me.” I did; I lifted my eyes to her jade-green ones, and, just like that first time I’d ever seen her, they were wet with tears.
She pulled in closer then, sinking her teeth into my bottom lip. “I can give you another bite, baby. I can bite harder. So you’re always marked.”
Tender and hesitant, she ground her hips on me—exactly how I remembered it. She kissed my neck—all of her as light as a butterfly.
It was always intoxicating with her. It was always right.
My hand traveled down her gorgeous body, right between her legs, and I moved her thong out of the way, grazing my fingers on her wet pussy. Jade gasped and lifted herself, sinking onto my cock in one swift slide.
We both groaned, letting the feeling overtake us. Her fingernails dug into my shoulders suddenly, mixing pain with that inimitable pleasure I’d only experienced with her.
“Brat,” I growled into her lips and pressed her to me, wanting all of her touching me.
There was a beat of stillness until she whispered…
“Thief.”
I was a thief, and she was my biggest score.
Jade slowed and leaned back, letting me marvel at her little smile right before she picked up speed, and smashed her mouth with mine.
“Why didn’t you come sooner?” Jade pleaded into my lips, taking her time sliding up and down on my cock. “I…” She threw her head back, giving me a heavenly view. “I really…really…”
But I didn’t let her finish. I sucked her into another kiss, one that I never wanted to let go of. One that I hoped could magically solve the clusterfuck we were in the middle of.
“Baby,” I rasped into her lips, the air between us hot and ours. “I’m never letting you go again, you hear me? Never.”
She picked up the pace, and my hands slipped from her waist to cup her cheeks, forcing her to look at me. I wanted to see all the doubt drain from her eyes. I wanted to know that she was sure of my words.
Jade nodded, letting out a broken little moan and resting her forehead against mine. Her hands, previously clawing at my shoulders, softened, her fingers tracing the line of my jaw.
“Promise?” she whispered, her voice shaking.
I pulled her in closer, until there was no air between us. Until she was glued to me, stuck like Velcro—every one of her fibers hooked into mine. I guided her hips on me, unhurried and deep. The way she liked it. I wanted to do everything the way she liked.
“Promise,” I murmured in her ear. “I promise.”
Everything blurred into white noise when we were together. The world didn’t exist when Jade’s body molded with mine.
There was no drug more powerful than this. No adrenaline rush, no person or thing could ever hold my interest again when I had her.
In and out. Fast and slow. We fucked, and we made love.
My girlfriend. My love.