Dark, lust-filled eyes stared up at me for one breathtaking moment.
Then without warning, he jerked the lace and silk down my thighs and gave me a gentle nudge onto the bed.
From his knees on the floor he loved me. His lips taunted my inner thighs and left me gripping the covers of a bed that smelled of him. Molten heat flooded through me from my core to my face, leaving my skin tingling.
I begged wordlessly as I thrashed. Jordan’s tongue and lips moved ever closer to something I could scarcely believe I wanted. Yet, I wanted it so badly I ached for it.
When he claimed me in the most intimate way possible, I came undone. Mine was an instantaneous and complete surrender. He tossed me over the edge with a maddening mix of his tongue and his lips. I writhed on the bed as I screamed his name. I rushed headlong into my own release…but still, he didn’t stop.
His body didn’t move to cover mine until I could do nothing but tremble and gasp for breath. With his finger and thumb, he turned my chin so that I looked straight at him as he hovered above me. I gasped again as he slipped inside me, his eyes never leaving mine. I clung to him as if he was my salvation. In many ways, in that moment, he was.
It was a long time after he collapsed on top of me before either of us moved. Even then, it was Jordan that rolled off me and went to get a towel.
He cleaned us both up before I wrapped myself in
the clean sheets that still managed to smell like him. I was wrapped in his warmth and strength, pure happiness engulfed me. Even with all the heartache, all the pain, this life of ours was worth it.
“Make-up sex is the best.” Contented and cat-like, I stretched against him.
“Then feel free to get mad at me every day, so we can do this every night.” He nipped my ear.
The thought of Jordan touching me every night was almost too exciting to comprehend. Speechless, I chewed on my lip.
“Stay,” he said softly. “Stay here with me, every night. If Devin dying taught me anything”—he held me close—“it’s that life is too short to wait around for what you want. I want you here, every morning when I wake up and every night when I close my eyes. We can have a home, not just a house. I want you…us.”
On that, I couldn’t disagree. It was scary, for sure, but it was the life I’d always dreamed of. There would be bumps in the road, but they’d all be worth it. I intertwined my fingers with his as I answered. “Okay.”
We fell asleep, my body spooned against his. I’d had everything I wanted and had it snatched from me. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.
When I woke, the sun had risen high in the sky and Jordan wasn’t in bed. It was only a few days before the second running of SKS. If he wasn’t in bed and the house was quiet, odds were he was in the shop, working on his car.
I ran toothpaste across my teeth with my finger and pulled my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head. It wasn’t my most attractive look, but it would work enough for me to hang out in the shop.
The evening before, I’d been too busy to notice the domestic state of Jordan’s house, my house too, now. Contrary to how it usually appeared, it was in complete disarray. From the mess, I figured he’d been working on at least a two-day drunk, maybe more.
With a crack of my neck, I set about putting things to rights. I picked up the living room and threw out the beer bottles and pizza boxes. I started the laundry since I was picking up more than he’d put away in a while. My mother would be proud to see me mopping and scrubbing.
A small red car at the shop caught my eye when I started to wash the dishes. It took me a minute to place it, but the small sedan belonged to my sister-in-law. My brother bought it for her not long after they were married. It was the car she’d begged for, then complained about the color of the interior.
My brother hated that car. He would borrow Breanna’s truck before he’d drive it.
Wendy was in the shop with Jordan. I had no idea why she was there, but I didn’t like it. It was a quick walk from the back of the house. I was building up an angry head of steam with each step and was bordering on a jealous rage by the time I took the last one.
The side door was open so that I could stand beside it and listen without being seen. I found, too, that I could see them both clearly in the reflection of the wheel that glistened by the door.
Wendy was dolled up in heels and a short skirt. The red top fit snugly to her body, accentuating an ample bosom and leaving little to the imagination. The clothing choice, heavy makeup, and teased hair made her look sad…not sexy as she’d intended.
“How can you say no?”
I bit my lip as she trailed her finger down the chest that I’d dug my nails into not long ago. I’d never been jealous, it was a new emotion for me. There was no other way to describe the heated tension beneath my skin. The new emotion warmed my cheeks.
Mentally I cheered when he swiped her hand away from his chest. “You’re married to my best friend, Wendy.”
She snorted. “My marriage is a sham.”
“Too bad Aiden doesn’t know that.” He turned from her and started slinging tools around in the tool box with such force it was obvious she was pissing him off.
“Poor, pitiful Aiden, he has all this and never did know what to do with it.” She pressed herself up against his back and ran her hands down his front. “But you would, Jordan.”