The Christmas He Loved Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 2)

“I don’t belong to anyone but me, Jake. I can give myself to someone, but that doesn’t mean they own me. Jesse didn’t own me. You can’t own a person.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said stubbornly.

“But it’s what you said. Jesse and I shared a moment in time, but that moment is gone and nothing we can do will bring it back.”

Jake jerked his head at her words, an angry sound gurgling in his throat, but she ignored it and whispered. “He’s not coming back, and that doesn’t mean I’m going to forget about him, or that I didn’t love him. He’ll always live in my heart, but I need to move on. I have to move on.”

A heartbeat passed between them.

“I want to give myself to you, but I want to do it for me. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

His breathing changed, the rhythm faster, but he remained silent, his dark eyes glistening in the candlelight.

Raine pressed her mouth to the base of his neck and kissed the pulse that beat there. She inhaled his earthy scent and leaned into him as her insides liquefied, leaving her so weak that if not for Jake, surely she would have melted into a puddle of hot, churning need.

“I don’t just want you, Jake.” She licked her lips and tilted her head up so that she could see his face. She put it out there, three simple words that said so much more. “I need you.”

His eyes regarded her intently as his hands slowly crept to her shoulders, and she knew how conflicted he was. This was Jake—a man of honor. Was she asking too much of him? Was it selfish for her to want him as much as she did? Would he run away again?

Then another thought crossed her mind, and Raine’s fingers flew to her mouth in horror. Her cheeks heated with shame and she looked at the floor, suddenly defeated and ashamed and…so sad. So incredibly sad.

Maybe she’d read this all wrong. Maybe he didn’t want her the way she wanted him. Maybe he…

“Oh no, Jake. I’m sorry. I thought you…I thought you wanted me.” She shuddered and took a step back. Or she would have, but his hands were still on her shoulders, and he cupped her chin gently, fo

rcing her to look up at him.

“Raine.”

She shook her head, not wanting to look up at him. Hot tears stung the corners of her eyes, and she wouldn’t cry in front of Jake.

“Raine,” he said again, and something in his voice pulled her gaze upward.

His brown eyes looked almost black, and for a moment something so fierce and raw reflected in their depths that her mouth went dry and she gasped. His right hand slid into her hair, cupping the back of her head, while the other slipped to her jaw.

She couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to.

Her heart took off, nearly beating out of her chest, and her nipples, already hardened, strained against her thin T-shirt.

He leaned down, his mouth only a whisper from hers, and spoke. “I want you.”

Something burst inside her. Something hot. Something that ached and throbbed and spread throughout her body.

Someone whimpered. Was that her? Was she that pathetic? That starved for touch?

Raine closed her eyes, but that was the wrong thing to do. Images danced there. Erotic pictures of Jake. Of his hands traveling over her body and his mouth gliding across her stomach, her breasts, and her…

“If we do this, everything changes. It won’t be like before, because I’m not going anywhere.” His voice was hoarse, rough like sandpaper. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say? Things could get complicated.”

“I don’t care,” she whispered.

He wanted her.

“Because I need someone strong enough to go the full nine yards with me. I need you to bring me back to life.”

“You’re fucking killing me,” Jake said roughly, his mouth creeping over to her neck and nuzzling her there.

“Sorry. Now kiss me.”