“Like I said, I didn’t know what you’d like.”

“When?” I asked quickly.

“What?”

“When did you buy all this?”

“The day after I met you.”

I stalled for a moment. I didn’t know what to think, or how to react, but shock seemed to be the typical reaction. He may not have given me his information, but he’d known after the night we’d met me that he wanted me, not just for a night, but for a morning?

Yet he didn’t push it. He was patient. Controlled. But then sideswiped me with little details that showed his plan of seduction…or maybe it was wishful thinking? Either way, no one had ever taken an interest in me like he did. And no one had ever considered my comfort or desires like he did.

“What has you frowning?” he asked, glancing at the options on the table. “Did I forget one?”

“No.” I smiled and scooted out of my chair, hitting my knees before him so I could be as close to eye level as possible. Resting my palms on his thighs I looked at him. “You surprise me.”

He laughed! I’d never heard him laugh before, and it was so amazing that I wanted to record it and play it over and over. The deep chuckle was so sexy, and the way it made all those hard stomach muscles flex was an added bonus.

“You are the one who surprises me.”

He cupped my face and kissed me softly. Something very real, very scorching notched into place. Like a piece of my soul I’d lost that night so many years ago was mending. Being replaced and healed by the kindness and new experiences Jack was giving me.

He cared.

His methods kept me on my toes. His needs definitely had a story behind them, a story I wanted to know

about. Jack was my single interest. But, at the end of the day, he thought of me, showed up, and cared.

And I found myself giving up a lot for that. Whether it was control, trust, or maybe more, I was giving it happily to him. Pushing past the walls that once held me like a vise was freeing. Trusting him to guide me through this next chapter of my life—show me what certain feelings meant—was wonderful. Feelings like appreciation. Warmth. Kindness. Heat. Lust.

It was all wrapped into a big ball that had my body flickering with the need to get my mouth on him however I could, while my chest ached to understand him. To know him.

“Jack?” I whispered against his lips. He leaned back and looked at me, his thumb brushing along the corner of my mouth.

“Yes?”

“Will you tell me something about yourself?”

His thumb stopped its gentle stroke. “Like what?”

“Anything you’re willing to share. A secret? A happy memory?”

He leaned back in his chair. I kept my hands on the tops of his thighs, and then it hit me, I was on my knees, asking him to indulge me. Asking for a piece of him.

And I waited, praying he’d give it. Because a piece was something I could work with. A sign that this was going somewhere on a deeper level than just sex. We were going somewhere.

“Okay,” he said with a long breath. “Here’s something: I love the sound of bare feet on hardwood floors. The way the wood creaks a little with each movement.” A smiled played over his face when he said this, and he looked past me, as if recalling a happy moment. “You know someone is coming for you when you hear a sound like that.”

I smiled back and rubbed his thighs a little with encouragement. I’d never thought about the sounds of footsteps on the floor before. But for Jack, it was obviously something good. Something I wanted to hear more about, because his usually hard, controlled façade was currently casual.

“Who do you hope is coming for you when you hear it?”

As soon as I asked, I steeled myself for his answer. He could say an ex-lover. The love of his life. A woman he once knew—

“My mother.” He placed one hand over mine. “When I was young, we had this little house on the outskirts of Denver. Wasn’t much—a one bedroom. We couldn’t afford anything bigger. But she made it a home. She gave me the bedroom and slept on the couch.” He shook his head, a vicious look plaguing his face, like he was mad at himself for that. “I would lay in bed and hear her walking around. Cleaning the house at night after she’d already worked a long shift. But I knew she was there. And the boards creaked and it was actually soothing to fall asleep to.”

He scoffed, then looked at me. “Sorry you asked now, huh?”

Tags: Joya Ryan Reign Erotic
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