Lifeline
“It’s okay,” I whisper, knowing he needs to hear my consent. “I love you.”
Dominance flares in his eyes, then his hands are the only thing keeping me from falling back as he slams into me, his mouth taking mine in a hungry kiss.
‘God, O’Brien,’ my soul sighs.
Clinging to each other, we share our first kiss that’s just for us. There’s no keeping our cover, no putting on a show. It’s just us. Our love. Our bond that’s been through the flames of hell and survived.
His teeth tugs at my lips, then his tongue thrusts into my mouth, his head tilting to the side. An achingly sweet sensation spreads through my heart and abdomen. My hands move up the nape of his neck, my fingers relishing in the feel of the short strands of his hair.
We gasp at the same time from the intensity, our breaths mingling. My mind’s crystal clear, not wanting to miss a second of his mouth on mine.
“Fuck,” he groans against me, then the kiss becomes pure desperation. We devour each other, our tongues tasting, our teeth branding, our breaths chaotic and hot.
It’s so overwhelming, a tear escapes, sparkling with a million dreams, neverending hope, and unconditional love.
O’Brien slows the kiss, his lips caressing mine with adoration, then he pulls back, his eyes searching my face.
Catching the tear with the pad of his thumb, his eyes are filled with undying love. “You’re my entire fucking world, Julie.”
His words reach down into the darkness, and picking up my battered soul, he brings me back into the light.
“I wish…” I have to swallow hard on the emotion that’s so powerful it’s almost impossible to believe it’s real, “I wish you could look inside me and see how much I love you.”
His features tighten as if he’s in physical pain. “Baby, I’m sorry I was so fucking blind.” He nudges his forehead against mine. “But I know. Christ, I know how much you love me.”
“How?” I whisper, our breaths caressing each other.
“In your darkest hour, you still only saw me. I should’ve known then. Fuck, I was so stupid.”
My body trembles from his words, my heart constricting. “I wouldn’t have survived without you.”
He lightly shakes his head. “You would’ve. You’re so fucking strong.”
His features tighten even more, something clearly wrong, and it has me framing his jaw and asking, “What is it? Talk to me.”
“It hurt so fucking much to just stand there. I heard what you said, but it… it still fucking guts me.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I press a tender kiss to his mouth. “Thank you for being strong for me, for being my safe haven.”
His palms brush over my temples and cheeks, his eyes filling with wonder. “My lifeline. My fucking sanity.” We’re so caught up in each other the world could end, and we wouldn’t know. “I can’t live without you, JJ.” He shakes his head as if the idea alone is too devastating. “I can lose everything but you.”
“Same,” I whisper, entranced by him. “Same, O’Brien.”
O’Brien
We spend hours whispering our devotion to each other, amazement hitting me every couple of minutes that this fucking angelic creature is mine.
JJ’s phone ringing breaks the spell we’re under and seeing Lindsay’s name flashing on the screen, I swipe up the device before JJ can and answer, “Hey, Lindsay.”
“Ahh… Daniel?” She sounds stunned out of her mind.
“Yeah.” I clear my throat and pull JJ against my chest, taking a deep breath of her. “Sorry for being such an asshole.”
“Oh, yeah…” she pauses for a moment, “I’m so going to punch you when I see you.”
“I understand.” The corner of my mouth curves up. “I’m stealing your sister for the rest of the day and tonight. Want to come over to my place for dinner tomorrow night?”
“Sure. Text me the address.” I hear her taking a deep breath, then she asks, “Did you and JJ talk about everything?”
“We did. We’ve cleared the air.”
“Is she okay?” The smile around my mouth grows.
I pull back and look at JJ’s face, taking in the light in her eyes. “Yeah, she’s okay.”
“Are you okay?” Lindsay asks.
“I’m better than okay.” I let out a chuckle. “I love your sister, she loves me, everything’s good.”
“Oh. My. God!” she screeches in my ear. “Send me the address. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The call ends, and I’m met with a grin from JJ. “I heard the shrieking.” She starts to fiddle with the fabric of my t-shirt. “Thank you.”
Lifting my hand to her chin, I nudge her face up until our eyes lock. Needing to check something so I know where JJ’s at, my tone is suggestive as I murmur, “So, now that the I love yous are said and the misunderstandings are cleared out of the way…” Nervousness washes over her features, telling me what I needed to know – it’s going to take a while before JJ’s ready for sex. Wanting to set her at ease, I continue, “what do you want to eat?”