“I didn’t know about the clause until he died. He knew I didn’t have much of a family growing up and always talked about how his childhood and how happy he was growing up coming to this house in the summer.”
Her eyes began to mist over and I powered on.
“I was with him when he passed and in his last breath he made me promise to take care of you. To fix the house. To make you safe. I didn’t expect…I didn’t expect this.”
I waited for a question. A comment. A slap. But she stared at me.
I had faced burning buildings. Gunfire. Kidnapping. But nothing scared the shit out of me like the silence I was holding in my arms.
20
Olivia
I wished I had been drunk or could pinch myself into an awakened state. Clearly, I was delusional. I had just had the most fucking amazing sex of my life. The man of my dreams had walked out of nowhere, declaring his love for me, but the perfect dream was an illusion. Some kind of psychosis I had conjured in my loneliness.
Maybe if I held my hand over the frying pan I would wake up. I stood from Jake’s lap and walked toward the stove.
“What are you doing?” He rushed over, drawing me back from the frying pan.
I looked into his eyes. Those deep pools of blue that mesmerized me.
“I have to wake myself up,” I replied.
“You’re awake. I promise.” He gripped my shoulders.
“I can’t be. You just told me that the only reason you’re here is because Elliot’s dying wish was for you to make me safe. And you told the Rangers I was pregnant and that’s the only way you can stay. Which was also orchestrated by my brother.” I blinked.
“We were meant to be together. I want you forever. That would have been true regardless of any terms or promises.” He placed my palms flat against his chest. I felt the smooth planes, warm under my hands.
A million questions swam in my head. But I almost didn’t need his answers. The pieces began to fall in place.
“Ok,” I whispered.
I wanted to take a step back. I needed to take a breath and process it, but my hands were against his chest and I didn’t want to break the connection we had. I could feel the steady beats of his heart.
All I could think about was for the past month how I felt without him. The emptiness almost swallowed me whole. I cried at night, wondering if was alive. I moaned for him in my sleep. I buried his memory, trying to protect myself.
If I took a step back all that pain would come back. Instead I pressed my palms firmly, reveling in the feel of his flesh. He was here. Alive. Hot. And mine.
It didn’t matter who he was. I didn’t care that there was another side to him. The only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to live without Jake Crane.
Instead I reached for the zipper on his jeans, sliding the tab down. His eyes shot to mine. I raked my teeth over my lip.
“Take me,” I whispered. I pushed herself on the kitchen island, dragging my T-shirt over my head. I threw it on the floor.
Jake stood between my legs. His head lowering to my breast. He pinched my nipple between his fingers until I groaned, then he pulled it into his mouth, soothing the pain with his warm tongue.
My head reeled back as I pushed his head tighter to my chest. He had to know I would give him everything. My body was his. My breasts were his to suck. My nipples hardened under his touch and I whimpered when he moved to the other side.
He clamped over the hard peak, sucking forcefully. I felt the rush between my legs. He could make me come like this. The tightening in my core was relentless with each flick of his tongue.
My hands fisted against the back of his head. He drew a long, slow lick over my nipple, before he reached for my panties. Why did I even bother to put these on when I wandered downstairs?
“You want me to fuck you right here?” He dragged them over my hips, then pushed my knees wide, so I was on display for him. He growled, his chest vibrating. He licked his lips, staring at my exposed heat.
“Yes, right here. Right now,” I whimpered. “I need this to be real. I want to feel how alive we are together.” It felt right to offer myself to him this way. To show him my body was his. It had been. There was no denying it.
Jake’s jeans fell to the floor and he stepped out of them, kicking them to the side.