Wild Sexy Hurt (Wild Sexy 3)

I’m not sure how long I stood there, watching and waiting as the sea soothed my nerves and the cool breeze sank into my bones. I didn’t hear the car, only the faint sound of my phone ringing from back inside the house. Just as I turned away from the water, I saw Jason round the corner of the house. He took two steps toward the porch then stopped when he saw me standing on the beach.

I stood still, frozen in place as my heart lurched and my body thrilled in response to his presence. For what seemed like an eternity, we just looked at each other across the distance of our separation. I had no idea how to reach across, but Jason did. He had never been a man to stand on ceremony, not when he knew what he wanted. He strode toward me, every step purposeful, and without a word, he took me in his arms.

I melted into the warmth and strength of his body, knowing without a doubt that there in his arms was where I belonged. They were tight around me, his strong biceps tense as he crushed me gently to his chest. I closed my eyes, giving myself up to him. He was what I wanted, and it was futile to fight it. I didn’t want to, not anymore.

He held me for a long time, his lips in my hair and his hands on my back. After a while, he stepped back and cupped my cheeks in his hands as his eyes roved my face. There was a probing question in his gaze, and I replied by lifting my face up to his. His lips captured mine, warm and tender, lighting a spark inside of me that brought me burning back to life.

I sank my fingers into the silky waves of his hair and opened myself to him. He tasted me, his tongue probing deep into my mouth, each lick against my tongue stoking the flame of surrender burning through me.

When he broke the kiss, I was trembling, and tears hung heavy in my eyes. “Jason,” I whispered his name, my voice breaking.

“Shhh.” His voice warmed my senses. “You’re cold,” he murmured, bringing my hands to his chest.

“You’re warm,” I replied with a small laugh. I was almost giddy with happiness and shaky from the riot of emotions storming in my mind.

He chuckled, and I stared at his face, overwhelmed by how much I’d missed the sound of his amusement.

“Daphne,” he whispered my name softly and then he gathered me into his arms again, his body shaking as he held me tight against himself. “Let’s get you inside,” he murmured, lifting me into his arms as if I weighed nothing. I didn’t protest as he carried me back into the house and set me down in the living room.

He dwarfed the space, his powerful frame and magnetic presence making the room seem to orbit around him. Already, he owned the place just by being inside.

I let my eyes roam over him, the way I hadn’t been able to in the past weeks. He was wearing a sweater and jeans. In the casual attire, he should have looked less commanding, less sexy, but that wasn’t the case at all. He was a god, and nothing could ever take that away.

“Nice place,” he commented, glancing around the room.

“Mhmm.” I took a step back from him, almost panicked at how easily I had surrendered to him. He’d hurt me, made me cry. I needed him, but I also needed to get some sort of handle on my feelings.

“How did you get here so fast?” I asked.

“Desperation.” He laughed, and his gray eyes held mine. “I caught a ride on a chopper then drove as fast as I could.”

I stared at him. “A chopper? It’s not as if I was going anywhere.”

He took a step toward me, his eyes boring into mine. “You were already gone, Daphne.”

And now, I was his again. I tore my eyes away from his. It didn’t matter that I had already forgiven him, that I was powerless to hold on to my rejection of him. I still needed an explanation, a reason to take the final step into trusting him again.

“I listened to your messages,” I told him. Every single heart-tearing, agonizing one of them.

He exhaled audibly. “When?”

“Just before you called.”

“Every day…every day, I hoped you would finally give me a chance…” He paused. “It was torture knowing you hated me so much you didn’t even want to listen to what I had to say.”

“I didn’t feel like I could trust you.”

“You can.”

“I want to,” I said breathles

sly. “I want to believe everything you said that night.”

“You can. This is not about sex for me. I want to be with you, and it consumes me how much I want us to be together, in every way it’s possible to be.”

I swallowed, my chest swelling with all my emotions and desires, but still, I held myself back. He sensed my hesitation, and he drew in a deep breath.

“It was a joke, Daphne. I had zero intentions of seducing Amy’s roommate, whoever she was. I made a joke and forgot about it as soon as the conversation was over, and then…I met you, and I could no more stay away from you then I could tell my heart to stop beating.”