I thought he’d leave after that, but he followed me inside instead. When I heard his footsteps on the floorboards behind me, I whirled around, forehead creasing. “Jax, I barely drank anything,” I said hotly. “I’m pretty sure I can make it up the stairs by myself.”
“You sure about that?” He took a step toward me, closing the distance between us. It was impossible to miss the way he was staring at my lips.
I swallowed hard. “Yes,” I said. “I’m fi—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Jax grabbed my hips and pulled me close until our bodies were flush. Then his mouth was on mine, lips parting instantly, fingers gripping me so hard it hurt.
A shiver of pleasure rippled through my traitorous body, and my eyes closed as I tilted my head upward to kiss him back.
Wait.
I abruptly broke away, chest heaving. “No,” I muttered, pushing Jax away. “Don’t do that.”
He stared down at me, expression serious. “Why?”
“Because… you can’t.”
“Tell me why,” he said, cupping my chin in one hand. It was obviously supposed to be a tender, romantic gesture, but it ignited a powder keg of anger inside me instead.
“Because you don’t get to kiss me after everything you’ve done to me, okay?” I stepped back, vehemently shaking my head. “I still… I hate you! You can’t just walk up to me and try to… we shouldn’t…”
I was panting and stuttering wildly, jumbled words mirroring my chaotic thoughts. I could barely convince myself that I still hated Jax. There was no way I could convincehim.
“I’ve said I’m sorry, Kinsey,” he said. His voice had gone husky. “For everything.”
“I know you have. And I know you’ve helped me too. A lot.” My heart was pounding so hard it hurt. “But that doesn’t erase everything else that’s happened. Everything you said and did before. I can’t…” I swallowed thickly and shook my head again. “I can’t just get over it and forgive you for all of that.”
“You don’t have to forgive me.” Jax reached for my hips again, pulling me back to him. “Just forget for a while.”
His words were like a spell. The weight of what I’d been holding back from him for weeks finally hit me—wanting him so badly my body ached even when I hated his guts, trying not to think about him even though my mind kept chanting ‘Jax, Jax, Jax’, beating myself up for all of it because I knew it wouldn’t change no matter what. It was always there, the truth of my feelings, but I hadn’t allowed myself to look before now because I was scared.
I was still scared, but not enough to say no. Not anymore.
I rose on my tiptoes and tilted my head up, tangling my fingers in Jax’s thick, dark hair. His lips crashed down on mine again, and I kissed him back hungrily, lifting the hem of his shirt to press my palms over his abdomen.
Delicious heat twisted between my legs. I pulled away, breathing hard. “Um… I think I actually do need some help getting upstairs,” I said.
His eyes flashed. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The word was barely out of my mouth before Jax was kissing me again. He pressed his thumbs to my cheekbones, framing my face with his hands as he dragged his lips from my mouth to my jaw to my neck. Then his hands moved lower, trailing down my body until they reached my ass. He squeezed me and picked me up, still kissing me, and carried me upstairs.
“Door… the end… there,” I managed to gasp out between kisses as he strode down the hall with me clinging to him.
He understood the assignment and pushed the correct door open, big hands roughly gripping my ass as he stepped over the threshold. He tossed me on the bed like I weighed nothing and yanked his shirt off, staring down at me like an apex predator.
Breathing urgently, I sat halfway up and fumbled with the zip at the back of my dress as Jax stepped out of his pants and boxers. The sight of him naked awakened a feral hunger in me; a hunger that cried out to be fed.
Now.
Crawling onto the bed, Jax slipped a hand between my legs. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he muttered against my ear.
I almost broke my neck nodding. “Yes.”
Jax moved down, planting kisses all over my body. His hands yanked my underwear down as he went, and then his mouth was on my clit. Soon my own mouth was dropping open in a long, satisfied moan. I fisted his hair with my hands as he lapped at me, already feeling the first flutters of an orgasm.
He waited until I was shivering and gasping before he came back up and aligned himself on top of me. I spread my thighs wider, letting out desperate little mewls as he slowly guided himself inside me. My body tensed up for a moment when he pressed himself deeper, but I bit my lip and forced myself to breathe through it. “God,” he groaned against my ear. “You feel fucking amazing.”