Chapter 26
Just Live It With Me
Shadow
Seven Years Ago
Hovering in the shadows of the hallway in Jessica’s home, I watch her like a stalker as she exits the music room dressed in a hoodie and yoga pants. Memories of last night return. I can still feel her warm body against mine when we danced, the feel of her when she captured my lips with hers.
That’s all I could think about, until my meeting with Anders. Seeing her again, catching her scent of lavender and honey, just makes me want her lips on mine again. Everything Anders said, his warnings, disappear.
I grab her from behind and pin her against the wall with my body.
With one hand against the wall above our heads, the other caresses her face.
Taking advantage of her surprised gasp, I crash my mouth over hers, slipping my tongue into her delicate mouth, pulling back only slightly to suck on her full bottom lip.
She makes a small breathy sound as I deepen the kiss, moaning softly into her mouth, loving the way she responds to me.
Electricity rushes up my spine as she touches my face.
My heart races, and I feel so alive. She moans again. Goddess, I could kiss her forever.
“Don’t do that, Princess, or I won’t stop.”
“Then don’t. I thought about kissing you all day,” she whispers against my lips. She gasps as we land in a supine position on a soft surface. Her head lifts, and I nibble on her neck.
“Where are we?” she murmurs.
Between kisses, I answer, “My apartment in my territory.” I lick and suck her bottom lip. She pushes me, and I reposition myself to stare down at her. She glances around curiously. “What is it?” I grab her chin to make her look at me.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“Because all I could think about was kissing you, and I couldn’t continue to kiss you in your home.
” I lean down and kiss her again, but she breaks away, worry etched on her face.
I nuzzle her ear, gently sucking on her earlobe.
“Talk to me. Tell me what’s in that head of yours. I can’t hear your thoughts.”
She doesn’t answer me. I push myself up, holding my weight so I don’t crush her beneath me, lying on my couch. She licks her lips, and I nearly moan from her innocent gesture. I kiss her forehead.
“Princess?”
She meets my gaze and reaches up to wipe below my lip with her thumb. “How many women have you brought here?”
I frown, confused by her question. “None.”
“So, you go to their places?”
“No.”
Her brows fuse together. “You don’t have to lie, Shadow. I’m young, but I’m not st—”
I kiss her before she can finish her statement. “I never brought a woman here, and I don’t go to their places,” I explain.
“So, you’re into agoraphilia?” The crease between her brows deepens.
I laugh. “What? Agoraphilia?”
“Yeah, you like to have sex—”
I kiss her lips. “I know what it means, and the answer is no. Where is this coming from?”
She starts to play with the collar of my shirt. “I’m not experienced like the women you're probably used to.”
I kiss her forehead and pull her up with me in a sitting position. “There are no other women, Jessica. Last night, you gave me my first kiss.”
She pushes at my chest. “Shut up.”
I grab her wrists and drag her on top of me, so she straddles my hips. Sliding my hand up the nape of her neck into her hair, I pull her closer. “You are the only girl I have ever kissed.” I kiss her jaw. “There’s never been anyone but you.”
“Not even sex?”
I chuckle. “The closest I have ever come to sex was watching porn with my brothers.” She giggles and shakes her head.
“My brothers thought it would be funny to see if they could get a rise out of me, literally. I remember just sitting there, watching horrible scene reenactments and a couple having intercourse. I think I might have fallen asleep.”
She throws her head back as she laughs—music to my ears. My hands slide over both sides of her face, and I taste her sweet smile. I don’t ever want to stop kissing her.
“That must have been horrible,” she says, still giggling after breaking our kiss.
I shrug.
“Seriously, I have to hear the twins’ thoughts after they go out with their friends, and sometimes I even see replays of what they did in my head. It’s horrible.”
I laugh.
“It is! It takes days to get that shit out of my head.” She shudders. “Gross.”
I wrap my arms around her, tilting my chin up to look at her.
“I never really understood,” I confess. “Until now, but it’s still different for me. I don’t want to have sex just to have it. I care about you.”
She peers down, searching my face.
“There were so many moments when I wanted to hold your hand, move the hair from your face, touch you. I never wanted to do that before, with anyone.” I tuck her hair behind her ear. “Just you.”
“I don’t understand,” she says, playing with the buttons on my shirt.
“What’s there to understand? I’m infatuated with you.”
She scoffs. “Look at you! You could be a model on the cover of one of those magazines my mother reads. Successful lawyer and most eligible bachelor…” She paws the air above our heads to accentuate her point.
I bring her hand to my lips. “You will never see me on the cover of any magazine. I hate being the center of attention, and I don’t like people in my business.”
She tsks, “My point is women must fall all over themselves to be with you.”
They do—it irritates me—but I keep that to myself. “I never noticed.”
“Why me?”
I think because we’re bonded. She’s my true mate—more than that, my soulmate. I could tell her so many things. My reasons are endless. But I’m afraid to scare her away, and we have time. “Why not?” I ask her instead.
She refuses to meet my eye. “Look at me. I’m the ugliest girl you have probably ever seen,” she mutters so low I can barely hear.
What the hell? Can she not see how beautiful she is? Girls—women—would kill to have her body, her face. They spend hours trying to mimic her natural beauty. I palm both sides of her face. “The fuck you are.” She pulls away, so I release her. “Don’t ever say that to me again.”
She shakes her head. “I’ve seen the girls at the college. They’re beautiful. I also see the way they stare at you as we walk by.”
I pull on the strings of her hoodie to draw her back close to me.
“Did you see those fucking pricks, staring at you with their little hard-ons poking through their pants at the college, at the museum, and especially at the concert? I nearly ripped off a few fuckers’ heads.
If not for the twins, sticking you in the middle and giving fuck-off vibes, I would have. ”
She shifts to get off me, but I wrap my arm around her waist, holding her in place. I lower my forehead to hers and try to rein in my anger. She caresses my face, calming the fury building inside of me.
“I don’t want anyone else. I know that I have to be careful—this will have to be a secret for now—but all I want is you.
You’re the light to my dark. You make me feel alive.
I would do anything to make you happy and keep you safe.
I promise you there is no one else, and there never will be anyone else but you.
Don’t question it. Just live it with me. ”
She leans in closer and places her beautiful lips over mine.