Knowing that I’d been right didn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling. My Chloe had been hurt and back then I’d had no way to help her.
“Then, as we got older,” she continued, “I convinced myself that everything you said and did to get my attention was done because you wanted to get back at me for all the times I acted like a stuck-up bitch.”
I’d been trying to tread slowly, but in that moment the need to have a hold on her was so strong I couldn’t ignore it. She sucked in a surprised breath as I lifted her onto my lap, but she didn’t fight it at all. Instead, once I had her situated, she relaxed against me and burrowed her face against the space where my neck met my shoulders. Realizing that she was breathing me in, I wrapped my arms around her and smiled.
“I never thought you were a bitch, Chlo. Mostly I just thought you hated me—at least until Aria got a hold of me.”
“I’ve never hated you, Jackson. I took my jealousy and abandonment issues out on you. I’m so very, very sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
She sat up and cupped either side of my face with her hands as she looked into my eyes. “Yes, I do. I’d owe you an apology no matter what, but now that I know what we are to each other it’s even more important. By being an idiot I made us both miserable. My goal from here on out is to make up for it.”
As she spoke she shifted on my lap. I’d been on the edge of having a full erection all night, but once she was on my lap staring into my eyes, all bets were off. The corners of her mouth turned up as she let out a husky laugh.
“Is that a hammer in your pocket?” she asked cheekily.
As she spoke, she moved her body against me suggestively. Goddamn, I thought, Chloe Holland might actually be the death of me. What a fucking way to go, though.
“Something like that,” I answered huskily.
All thought flew out of my head as she repositioned herself so she was straddling me.
“Remember the last time we kissed?”
My hands settled against the sides of her waist as I nodded. “Of course I remember. In addition to that being the last kiss I had, I’m not likely to forget anything that’s happened with you.”
She stilled, her smile growing wide as she looked at me. “You haven’t, um, done anything else with any other girls?”
I cocked a brow and gave her a wry look. “My heart beats for you, Chlo. No one else has ever gotten so much as a second glance from me.”
Her eyes twinkled as she nibbled at her lower lip. A faint blush spread across her cheeks as she tilted her head. “So… you’re a virgin too?”
Her use of the word too made me smile. I’d been ninety-nine percent sure that was the case, but having it confirmed did not suck.
“Like Aria told you, I’m your devoted. It’s only you for me, baby.”
6
Chloe
Knowing that Jax had waited for me melted my heart. It killed me that I’d once worried he wouldn’t have staying power if something happened between us. It was clear that I’d worried for nothing.
“Hey,” Jax said as he gently squeezed his hands at my waist. “We’re not looking back anymore. Forward only from here on out. We’re together now and there’s no fucking way I’m letting you go.”
“So we’re a thing now?”
“Truth?” he asked.
My eyes widened a bit as I nodded. “Yes.”
His hands moved from my waist to trail up my back. “We were always a thing, honey. Now we’re just acknowledging it out loud.”
I shivered when he slid one of his hands up my neck and used it to pull me closer. When our lips were almost touching, he spoke. “I’m going to enjoy kissing the hell out of you as often as humanly possible.”
My noise of agreement was lost when his tongue traced my lower lip. When he finished, he used the hand at my neck to keep me where he wanted me as he set his lips against mine. A jolt of electricity went through me as our tongues met. In that moment I was truly at home. My entire being seemed to let out a sigh of contented relief as we kissed. We fit together so perfectly, just as we had the first two times we kissed.
The heat and hardness of him beneath me was too good to ignore. He groaned as I moved on top of him, desperate to be closer. When he pulled back, I leaned forward to kiss him again.
“God, baby,” he growled before he kissed me.
I was only aware that we’d moved when I felt the leather cushions of his couch beneath me. He kept his left hand at my throat where his thumb rubbed back and forth against my pulse. The right hand he used to hitch my thigh up and the heat of his palm against my skin caused me to shiver. I gripped his waist and held on as he kissed me stupid. We were so desperate for contact that we were continuously rubbing up against one another, the friction making things hotter.