He looks at me, the white quilt slung low over his bare chest, one arm hooked behind his head, the other over his front. I trace his tattoo down and my mouth dries. My very own pin-up. Only he’s not on my walls, he’s in my bed, and he’s completely naked. Younger me would definitely squeal.
He cocks one sexy brow. ‘You going to stand there all night?’
I wet my lips. ‘No, I’m just taking this in for later recall.’
He laughs softly and rolls onto his side, palming the space next to him. ‘I’ll give you plenty more to remember if you get yourself over here.’
Oh, yes.
Off goes the light and I pad over to him. I can just make out his silhouette in the dark and the excited flutters in my belly feel like they’re trying to escape through my throat.
He lifts the covers to welcome me in, letting them fall around me as I join him. His hands are hot on my skin as they smooth beneath my T and pull me closer. I wriggle into him, my hands against his chest, his hardness pressing into my belly as he cradles me to him.
This feels too good, too nice. I blink up at him in the dark. ‘Thank you for today.’
He lowers his mouth to mine and kisses me gently. ‘You don’t need to thank me. I’ve had a good time.’
I press back off his chest, trying to read his expression even though I can’t. ‘You have?’
I sense his grin. ‘Yes. Why are you so surprised?’
I give a soft laugh. ‘Because my family are full-on. Because you met the entire lot in one day and you’re not...we’re not...’ I can’t even bring myself to say it and his arms tense around me. ‘It’s just a lot.’
He’s quiet and I wish the lights were back on so I could see his face. All I have to go on is the gentle stroking of his fingers against my skin as he continues to hold me.
‘It’s okay; you can admit it.’ I say softly. ‘There aren’t many men who can cope with an all-out family affair, even when they are in a relationship.’
‘I have enjoyed it, Cait. You’re lucky to have such a loving family, and they’re lucky to have you too.’ He presses a kiss to my brow and I breathe it in, the caress, his softness, his words. ‘By being here, I know we’ve made them happy, and that makes it the right thing to do.’
‘But it’s a lie.’
He tightens his hold around me and swallows my words with a kiss so fierce. ‘This isn’t a lie.’
He rolls me under him. ‘And if it makes your family happy, while we’re happy like this...’ he rolls his hips into me to emphasise his point and I whimper as I wrap my legs around him and move to meet him ‘...where’s the harm?’
He’s right—where is the harm? People fall in and out of relationships all the time. And when this is over he’ll just be a boyfriend passing through.
It is fine.
Or it would be if my heart could let him go as easily. My eyes prick and I squeeze them shut.
‘No harm,’ I whisper, throwing my focus into the fiery path he’s creating with his mouth, along my jaw, down my neck, his kisses no longer fierce. They’re soft, teasing, tantalising, as his hard length presses against my knickers and urges my hips to roll.
I lose myself in the sensation of Jackson making love—no, fucking me. Though this doesn’t feel like ‘fucking’, not the kind we’ve done to date. He’s gentle, his hands smoothing over my skin as he encourages me to strip off my T.
‘You are beautiful, Caitlin,’ he murmurs as I rise up and pull it over my head, his hands quick to cover me. ‘Your skin is so soft. I’ve dreamed of you these last four months—the way you taste, the way you feel, the freckles that trail down your front...’ His fingers caress the very same path, teasing at the lines of my bra and making me whimper for more. ‘I love how responsive you are, I love how your nipples tighten for me...’ He tweaks one and kisses me at the same time, swallowing my moan.
‘We have neighbours, remember.’
Oh, God. Mum. Dad. Granny!
‘You think you can keep quiet?’
‘Do you?’ I whisper back. He’s hardly quiet and the truth is I love how vocal he is; I love his growl that seems to stay deep within his throat, I love his dirty talk.
Enough with the ‘love’, Cait.
He started it though—his long list of things he ‘loves’ about me... If only.