Jagged Edge

“Holy shit, Jase…” Raine slams into me once more, then again, forcing a whimper from me, and stills, buried deep in my ass, groaning deep in his chest, his cock pulsing inside me.

Holy shit is correct.

Crazy shit.

The kind of crazy that changes your world.

I wake up in the dark.

I’m lying on my back, my heart pounding, sweat cooling on my skin and soaking my pillow, but the dream… it has already faded.

Good thing, too. The only dreams I care about remembering feature Raine between my legs or over me, shoving pleasure into me until I have no choice but to take it.

The images flashing through my mind aren’t all dreams, though. Last night… That was so fucking good. And to top it all, Raine is right there, beside me, one leg slung over mine, one hand resting on my hip.

I take a moment to study him in the faint light from the dawning sky outside the window—the floppy dark hair on his forehead, the thick dark brows, the long lashes and parted lips, the stubble on his jaw, the dark band inked on his arm.

So many dark things about him, and that makes me think of his past. He made it through just fine. Sure, he has nightmares sometimes. We have that in common. But he didn’t end up on the street like me. He’s not afraid. He isn’t selling his body, his soul, to survive.

He had help. His brother. And now his friends. I bet they made all the difference. People he could rely on, people who made sure he didn’t sink. If I had friends like that, a family… would things have ended up differently for me?

I wonder if Jesse Lee came looking for me. Since I changed my usual haunts and sent everyone away, I have no way of knowing whether he came by or not, and I haven’t seen Ocean ever since Raine told me about their suspicions about me.

But I have Raine. Right? He said that… not in so many words, but he implied it and… What if I talked to him, told him everything?

Yeah, and put him in danger. Put his friends and family in danger. Ruin him.

Panic squeezes my chest, and it’s all I can do not to bolt upright and run away. All the reasons why I shouldn’t have come here return to screw with my mind. I should go now.

And of course Raine chooses this moment to wake up. Why make this easier, right?

Those long lashes lift. Lower. Lift again. “Mff,” he says.

Man, he has no fucking right to be so cute and sexy so early in the day.

Also, I guess that was code for good morning.

And a cue for me to leave. “Hey.” I brace my elbows on the mattress and start to sit up. “I’m just gonna—”

“Wait, wait, wait.” The hand on my hip slides over my stomach and holds me down like a steel cable. He lifts up on one elbow, props his head on his hand and looks down at me. “Where do you think you’re going? The sun’s not even up yet.”

“Raine—”

“We need to talk.”

That sounds like a distorted echo of my earlier thoughts. “No, we don’t.”

In a blink, he climbs on top of me and has me pinned to the bed, his mouth an inch from mine. “No? How about ki

ssing, then?”

I don’t reply, but I don’t have to. My traitorous body reacts, or maybe it was primed all along from sleeping beside him, his scent, his presence getting me hard so fast my head spins.

His mouth brushes over mine, and his tongue parts my lips. He kisses me deeply, his hard-on rubbing over my stiffening dick, and I can’t remember why I was about to go. He places his arms on either side of my face and kisses me until I can’t remember my own name, until my pulse throbs in my cock and balls.

When he finally lifts his head, leaving my mouth burning and my whole body straining against him, he says, “Be with me.”

I lick my lips. “I am.”