Yours Forever (Reign 3)

But when I saw Jack’s hot glare out of the corner of my eye, I turned to face him and scooted just an inch closer.

“And you,” I said with a hint of reprimand. “You challenge me, yet forget what I hold over you.” I slowly reached beneath his button up, my fingers skimming along his hard torso and it took all my will to keep from pushing him down and tearing his shirt off.

“You hold much over me,” he whispered, and I couldn’t let the raw softness of his voice melt me. Couldn’t give in.

“I miss touching you like this.” Slowly my hand trailed from his chest, down his stomach. “The way your muscles tightened every time your hips moved was my undoing…” My mouth hovered close to his, just as my hand reached his side. “But, what I miss most…is this—”

I pinched his side and Jack jolted, and a small, quick laugh broke the sound barrier.

I backed away and he just growled at me, looking beyond pissed off. Cal, however, looked shocked and elated.

“Holy shit, you’re fucking ticklish?” Cal said to Jack.

“No,” Jack snapped.

“Even I didn’t know that!” Cal chuckled and winked at me. “Nice work.”

“I’m not fucking ticklish,” Jack said.

My eyes shot wide and a huge smile couldn’t help but split my face, because he was hiding his own amusement.

“Aw, don’t be sad,” Cal said. “The tickle monster isn’t real. You’ll be okay.”

Jack muttered a curse and just shook his head. “He’ll never shut up about this now, you know that, right?” he said to me.

I shrugged and laughed. “I was just being honest. Like you asked.”

“So, you get to touch us, but we can’t touch you?” Jack asked.

“Yep. Unless you’d like to amend those rules, then I don’t have to touch you either.”

Both of them answered in unison, “No.”

It shouldn’t make me as happy as it did, but…it did. I wasn’t looking to hang control over their heads, just trying to survive this time with them without destroying their friendship or what was left of any kind of soul I had. Because I wanted them so much it was starting to physically hurt. And they wanted me back. So, the struggle lay within myself to stick to this arrangement.

“I warned you,” I said.

Jack leaned in and in a deadly sexy tone, whispered, “But, you made the rules. You’ll pay for that little stunt, baby. I promise you that.”

And that made a whole new memory flash to mind, when thinking of that last time Jack punished me. His hand slapping my ass was one of the best experiences of my life. And I so badly wanted to take him up on his threat.

No, no touching.

Jack finished off his cocoa, then looked at Cal. “She’s got some spark.”

“Yeah, she does,” Cal said.

Between the naughty thoughts, sexy smiles, and even sexier glares, I was having a hard time seeing, thinking, or even feeling straight.

“It’s past midnight,” Cal said, glancing at his watch. Jack nodded and got up and walked down the hall.

Did I miss something? I looked at Cal, who had a big grin on his face. Those dimples making crazy things happen to my heart. Jack came back into the room with two gifts and set them in front of me.

“It’s officially Christmas,” Jack said, and resumed his seat on the other side of me. I looked at the two packages in front of me. One was wrapped in white paper with silver flecks on it, the other was in red glossy paper.

“You didn’t need to do this,” I said, looking between the two of them. I wished I had gotten them something, but everything had been crazy. Yet, somehow, they managed this for me.

“Don’t go getting all sad until you open them,” Cal said, reaching out to touch my shoulder, only to drop his hand before he did. Respecting the no touching rule. Only I felt awful for drafting such a rule, especially when I wanted his touch.