Part 27 (1/2)

Before she got lost in the ecstasy, Maggie had to hear it. ”Promise me...”

His reply was a breathless whisper in her ear. ”Anything.”

”You forgive me. You want me here. This is for real this time.”

Jase's touch around her only tightened. He turned her around and looked into her eyes. ”I forgive you, Maggie. I love you. I won't let anything happen to us.”

”I love you,” said Maggie.

Jase bent to kiss her with a forceful pa.s.sion Maggie had only dreamed about. He held her in the dark of the bedroom as he explored her mouth with his own in a gently building journey. When he moved down to the soft skin of her neck, Maggie moaned and wrapped her fingers in his hair. Jase took slow time undressing her, and it made her feel like a teenager again, having his hand secreted up her s.h.i.+rt to feel her soft skin. He only left her grasp when he was disarming them both, putting their guns at a safe distance. When he returned from that task, he knelt before her and began to unb.u.t.ton her jeans, planting kisses along the skin at her waistband.

Maggie dropped to the bed with a laugh when he started sliding the denim down her legs. Even this he did slowly, following them down with his face, his beard and lips tickling every inch of her skin before he tossed them to the floor. Jase stood over her for a few moments, simply staring, his gaze devouring her from head to toe. It made Maggie feel like a G.o.ddess. And when he started unbuckling his own pants while staring at her body, it set a fire in her that made her feel like something far less virtuous. She wiggled until she had pulled her own s.h.i.+rt off, and tossed it on the floor.

Jase stood before her in the dim light, fully exposed. With half his body in shadow, he looked like a mythic hero, cut in high contrast and larger than life. She could see now just how much he had been working on his new physique, his bare chest covered in new tattoos that danced along the hard contours of his skin. She felt weak in antic.i.p.ation of touching him again. His c.o.c.k stood, hardened and waiting for her. When she met his eyes, he had the same look of hunger she felt.

Jase made his ascent to her mouth sweetly painful. He stopped to pull off her silk panties with delicate fingers, exposing her center with its small, trimmed tuft of hair. Jase's fingers returned to that spot with a light touch, followed by his hot tongue as he bent to taste her. Maggie moaned and arched her back as she grasped at his head between her legs, unable to contain herself. Every part of her mind and body erupted with pleasure. She could feel the vibrations of Jase's moans against her most sensitive skin.

It had been so long since she had been touched with such love and skill. Soon, she was on the edge of o.r.g.a.s.m. Her fingers tightened in his hair, and his pace kept steady, reading her body signals. When her breaths started coming higher and faster, Jase pushed her wildly off the edge by pus.h.i.+ng two fingers deeply between her hot lips without warning. He filled her up and lapped at her c.l.i.t with his tongue as she came, the ecstasy rolling over her like an ocean wave until all she could feel was light. She twisted on the bed and cried out his name as he held her still with one big hand splayed across her hips, refusing to let up on the pleasure he was giving. Maggie had another two aftershocks before he finally seemed satisfied. While she panted on the bed, he pulled his fingers out from inside her and lifted to hover over her, planting sweet kisses all over her hips and tummy. She could taste herself on his kiss when he lowered his lips to hers for a pa.s.sionate exchange.

Maggie ran her hands all over Jase's hardened body, every tensing muscle and smooth patch of skin. He skillfully removed her bra and pushed it off the bed letting his hands roam her b.r.e.a.s.t.s freely as they made out. She moaned into his mouth and pressed her hips up against his aching hardness.

Jase obliged. With one hand he reached down between them and guided his hard c.o.c.k to her swollen p.u.s.s.y. Then he curved his fingers around hers before he pushed into her completely, making them both gasp and moan. He moved smoothly inside her, her wetness inviting and enveloping his entire shaft. Jase kept a steady rhythm, a slower pace than the last time. Maggie wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him down to kiss her while they made love. Her body slid against his, warm and sweat-sheened, as he filled her up with every thrust.

She could tell by his quickening pace and the bright look in his eyes that Jase was getting close. His thrusts became harder and more desperate, hitting her spot and making Maggie cry out. She dug her nails into his back and tightened her p.u.s.s.y around him, eager to feel each ridge and curve of his c.o.c.k inside of her. Jase moaned at the sensation, grasping at her hands and hair to pull her close as he approached the edge.

Jase pushed his forehead against hers and moaned her name. Maggie cried in pleasure as he started to come, burying his c.o.c.k completely, spilling himself deeply inside of her. She moaned with every last movement of his hips. As he came down from the rush, he planted soft kisses on her lips and chest, brus.h.i.+ng her hair away from her face.

”I love you,” said Jase in a whisper against her sweaty skin.

Maggie nuzzled back against him. ”I love you.”

”This is for real now.” His voice was tired, but determined.

”For real,” she said. ”Forever.”

~ Fourteen ~

Jase made love to Maggie twice more before sleep finally took them both. In between, they did all the things Jase had never let himself believe he would experience again with a woman: the sweet nuzzling, the soft kisses, and the playful teasing that eventually led to one of the two s.e.x sessions. She fell asleep first. He took it as a good sign that he had done his job well. He remembered touching her curls and being amazed that she was real before he drifted off to sleep.

The familiar morning sun woke Jase up first. He realized how happy he was to have fallen asleep in his own bed. He felt weight on his outstretched arm and smiled to himself. He turned to find Maggie tucked up against him, her curls a wild mess around her pale and peaceful face. Jase wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer into him.

Maggie reacted with a soft moan, snuggling into him. She began to lift out of sleep as he held her and kissed the top of her head.

”Good... you're still here.” Maggie's voice came groggy and m.u.f.fled from his chest.

Jase laughed. ”That was your first thought too, huh?”

”Well, not my first,” said Maggie. She pushed back enough to look at him, and he gave her lips a few full kisses. Jase laughed against her lips in surprise when he felt her hand trailing down his flat stomach towards the morning wood hiding beneath the sheets. ”This was definitely my first.”

Jase pulled back and shook his head at her. ”There's just no romance with you, is there? Only s.e.x, that's all I'm good for.”

Maggie went red. She spit out a few fl.u.s.tered noises. ”Give me a break, look at you! Look how stupid hot you are! This is entrapment.”

Jase chuckled. He had almost wiped clean the memories of how much Maggie made him laugh when they were together. The muscles in his face hurt from their unexpected workout. And his ego didn't mind to hear that she was aching for his body, either. He bent to kiss her and rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. ”Take what you want, baby.”

Maggie smiled, delighted at the invitation. ”I thought you'd never ask.” Her low voice in his ear made him s.h.i.+ver. Jase laid back and felt her soft hands as they worked his c.o.c.k for a few minutes-not that he needed it. He was already aching to be inside of her. When she finally lowered herself on top of him, Jase groaned like an animal at the incredible feeling of being wrapped in her heat. Maggie rode him, moaning, alternating between scratching her nails into his chest and sliding her fingers along the lines of the complex ink that stained it. He watched her writhing, sweating, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s bouncing, her fingers curling as his c.o.c.k buried inside her to the hilt. As they both climaxed, Jase grasped her hips in his big hands and helped her rhythm, pus.h.i.+ng himself up deeper inside of her. She came hard on top of him and pulled him over the edge with her. Jase writhed beneath Maggie as he finished.

Maggie collapsed on his chest for a few moments, panting. Then she looked up at him with a wide grin. ”Hi, there.”

”Hey,” he said.

”I still love you,” she said.

He laughed. ”Good, I still love you too.”

Maggie rolled off his body and snuggled up next to him. He turned to face her and wrap an arm around her to hold her close. Their faces nuzzled together on the pillows, exchanging delicate, exploratory kisses.

”You know I even made myself stop dreaming about this,” said Maggie, her voice a whisper. ”In the moment, it made all my pain better. But after it was over, it felt like I was just skinning myself alive.”

Jase's heart ached. He tightened his hold around her and gave her a more pa.s.sionate kiss. He wanted to tell her everything about the darkness he had endured after she left, but he stopped himself. Those days suddenly felt so distant, and he wanted the beautiful woman in his arms to see him as strong. He lightly rubbed his cheek against hers and said instead, ”I know how you feel.”

”I wish I could take every second of it back. Every bit of pain I put you through...” Two stray tears dropped from Maggie's blue eyes and ran down her face.

Jase rubbed the tears off her face with a gentle thumb. ”I wish I could take a lot of things back, too. I wish I had listened to you and stood up to Henry years ago. I know you're not a heartless person, Maggie, and I know you don't believe it, but you're not a coward. I know you wouldn't have left me unless you really felt like you were backed into a corner.”

”If I'm not a coward, then I'm at least an animal stupid enough to keep getting trapped in corners,” said Maggie with a self-effacing smile.

”Don't beat yourself up,” said Jase, running a hand through her hair. ”That's not you, babe. That's just the world. But you never let them corner you, and that's why things will work out. You're a survivor. You'll burn s.h.i.+t down before you get trapped.”

Something sad surfaced in Maggie's eyes. He stroked her hair and waited. She said, ”Henry told me my mom felt like I do. That she felt like she set things on fire, too.” She looked off into the bedroom. ”I know so little about her, but I like the thought that I'm not some black sheep of the Oliver family. I like thinking.... maybe I'm just her daughter, and I'm exactly the way I'm supposed to be. If she had lived, maybe I wouldn't feel this way.”

Jase and Maggie had never been big on family talk. Between her lost mother, and his abusive f.u.c.k of a father, it was no sunny place to visit. But Jase could see on her face that this was different.

He held her head tight and looked in her eyes. ”You're not a black sheep, Maggie. You are an incredible woman. You're unlike any woman I've ever met. I love everything about who you are. If Sara was half the woman you are... then I can understand why Henry married her. And why he still wears his ring after all these years.”

Maggie's face wrinkled as she fought back tears. She threw her arm around Jase's neck and pulled him in to kiss him firmly and deeply. Jase rubbed his hands up and down the soft skin of her back and moaned softly into her kiss.

”I love you,” said Maggie with a shaking voice.

”I love you,” he whispered in return.

Maggie sighed against him. Jase smiled and kissed her forehead. He loved the sight of her soft skin against the pillow, her curls spilling like silk. Her warm body felt amazing against his.