by C. R. Jane
“Don’t stop.”
Two fingers plunged into me once, twice, his tongue flicked and rolled again and again, and he launched me beyond the brink. I exploded, screaming out in awe as the crescendo hit violently. Waves of pleasure crashed through my entire body, and I bowed into him once more. His mouth and fingers continued moving on me, in me, pushing my orgasm on and on. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I tugged his hair, pulling him up to me. Diving into his mouth, I tasted myself on his tongue, relishing the feel of his lips stroking over mine. Without thought, I grabbed his bottom lip between my teeth, sucking on it, mimicking what he just did to me. Drinking in his low moan, I spurred him on for more.
“What do you want, little angel?”
“I want you.”
“What do you need?” he taunted again.
“You, it’s always you,” I cried softly, pulling him to me.
In one swift move, he slid into me, our eyes locked together, and he took in my breath, hovering over my open mouth to take me in again and again. My hips met his in slow motion as I felt every inch of him inside of me, a full tormenting stretch. His name fell so easily from my lips, a whispered shadow in the darkened room. Dipping his head, he took my nipple into his mouth, sucking on it. Not to draw pleasure from pain, as I’d found he was so good at doing, but an easy pull to draw out a sweet pulse that I felt not just in my breast, but between my legs as well. Burying his head in the crook of my shoulder, he traded between his own hushed moans to sharing sweetness in my ear.
“So beautiful… Want you to feel everything… Do you feel that?”
It was beautiful. Everything about this night with him was beautiful. And I did feel every brush of his chest against mine, his warm breath as it rushed my skin, calling each nerve to attention. Each of his heartbeats was intensified, and his pounding pulse had a direct line to mine. It seemed they needed to thrum together. But more than that, I felt the need to keep him next to me, to have more moments like this one. To let him in, give him more of me, maybe even everything, so there was a possibility of a forever made up of him and me.
He placed his hands on either side of my face, cradling me like I was something precious. His breath, his body, we became one, and I began to make love with Jackson Parker—sweet, beautiful, passionate love.
I felt it all. I felt all of him. My hips moved, rounding gently at first, pulling him in and out at a taunting, tortuous pace.
The joy in this moment was almost more than I could bear. It was so fucking, achingly sweet. My thoughts scattered, frayed with unbridled tension, and I dissolved around him, mind and body surrendering to this mystifying connection between us that I was starting to believe was unbreakable.
“So good, little angel. You feel so good wrapped around me,” he breathed into my mouth, just before licking and claiming me with a long kiss. His tongue mimicked the rock and sway of his hips, deep, deeper still with each push forward. I took in every sound he made and sucked on his lips, and then the rough bristle of his chin and down his neck, savoring the sweet sheen of sweat that coated his chest, making it slide onto mine.
Straightening his arms, Jackson looked down, into my eyes and then along every line of my chest as it rose and fell beneath him.
I love you, he said, but no sound came with the words. I lived and died with those words, holding them tight inside of me until they became a part of me. Forever and ever.
His muscles flexed with the long glide of his hips. Moving in and out, his pace picked up, and he threw his head back on a groan.
“Fuck, Everly, I need you to come with me, baby.” He gripped my legs, bringing them up so they were bent at the knee, leaving me wide open to welcome in some unknown and raw place. He was hitting the heart of me, literally and figuratively. He found me and was making me feel everything.
I’d wanted to not feel anything when I’d come over tonight. This was going the opposite of that.
“Jackson.” His name was a benediction falling from my tongue.
He growled, rough and jagged. What should have been sweet sent a flood of heat between my thighs as he entered me again. He groaned as he pulled out.
“Mine, so good, so fucking tight, perfect,” became the soundtrack to the slow build of my orgasm, along with the pounding rhythm of his hips.
When I was stretched so thin, ready to break into a million pieces, I bit his shoulder so he would feel every ounce of pleasure I could give him.
Raking my nails down his back, I sunk them into the flexed muscles of his ass.
Shattering under his falling weight, I screamed his name and let go of everything but him, vaguely hearing his cry as he joined me.
We were one; we were us.
My breath shattered. He rolled over, and I splayed out onto his chest. His hands wrapped into my hair, holding me tight as our bodies calmed. Eventually, he pulled my lips to his, kissing me gently, looking at me like he couldn’t believe his luck that I was here. We breathed into each other, sated.
“I think I’m doomed to love you even after I die,” he whispered to me in the dark, the only time he ever seemed to give me his secrets.
“But maybe after death, it won’t hurt so much to do it,” I responded.
And we stayed like that, neither one of us moving, until morning.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“I’m the birthday bitch,” Lane screeched loudly as she held up the bottle of champagne she’d been nursing exclusively for the last hour and danced on top of the tabletop of the club we’d come to in the city. Since I refused to attend any more school functions, because they were all starting to become dangerous to my health…and possibly my life, we’d skipped celebrating her birthday at the frats and had come to a club that one of her friends had connections with.
Hence the table service in a booth right near the dance floor.
I’d never seen Lane relax like this, and it made me a bit jealous of my best friend. What would It be like to feel that carefree for once? I tried to remember if I’d ever felt like that in my life. Maybe before my dad had killed himself, before my parents had started fighting over money.
But certainly not since then.
Besides Lane’s good mood, the night was also looking up because there were no guys in our little group. I hadn’t talked to Jackson since leaving his house two days earlier, although he’d tried to call and text me. Everything had been blissfully Caiden free, and I’d told Landry that I needed some time.
Maybe that was what I needed, some completely man-free time. I’d done it for the two years prior to coming to Rutherford Academy, and I’d never had to worry about being pushed down stairs, grabbed in a haunted house, or trapped in a shower with a snake.
Except as soon as the thought of taking a break from Jackson permanently popped in my head, I knew I couldn’t do it. The other night had been special… More than special, it had been life-changing. Who knew all it took to stoke the obsession in my blood for Jackson was for him to throw in a little bit of the “L” word while looking deeply in my eyes?
Ugh. I was hopeless.
“Stop thinking about Jackson Parker,” Lane screamed in my face drunkenly. “We need to dance.”
Lane grinded in my lap, giving me my own personal lap dance, and I giggled while blushing like crazy.
“No,” Lane suddenly groaned, and I groaned right along with her when I saw what she was looking at. A bunch of the hockey team had just walked through the doors of the club, led by Landry of course.
I had a hard time believing that his presence here was random.
I took a moment to observe him before he saw me. One of the hostesses was bringing them to a table near ours, and it was only a moment until he saw me.
Landry looked good tonight. He was wearing a forest green button up shirt and dark blue jeans. The green of his shirt made his hair and eyes pop, even in the dim lighting of the club. His hair was perfectly styled, and he was garnering stares as he walked with the team.
He’d taken th
e news that I wanted to cool off better than I’d expected, but I wasn’t holding out that we could ever be “just friends” again. I watched as girls began to flock to the team as soon as they were seated, but Landry didn’t do anything to encourage any of them. And the girls hovering around were gorgeous.
I pulled my eyes off Landry and snorted when I saw that Lane had found a brown-haired hottie and dragged him to our table, making him do shots that I’m sure she’d also made him pay for.
Black caught my gaze.
I frowned as a familiar looking head disappeared into the crowd beyond where I’d been watching Lane.
A head that looked like it belonged to Caiden.
I stood up, trying to look through the crowd and see if it was him, or if I was just imagining things. My heart threatened to fly away in my chest.
Of course, standing up put me in the direct sight of the hockey team’s table…and Landry.
“Everly,” called Landry, and I winced, before schooling my face and turning towards him with what I hoped looked like a pleased smile.
“Landry!” I exclaimed, trying to sound surprised. “What are you guys doing here? Don’t you usually party at your frat?”
Landry had the decency to blush in embarrassment. “Krystal kind of told one of my teammates that you guys would be here, and I kind of convinced the team to come here tonight…hoping that you would talk to me.”
My heart softened at his admission. Honesty was prized in my life, and Landry was always full of it.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I told him, surprised that I actually meant it.
He opened his mouth to say something, and then a pair of arms was hugging both of our arms like an octopus. Lane’s head peeked in between us.
“Landry! Are you here for my birthday?” she called loudly, and Landry shot me an amused look. Lane drunk was kind of awesome.
“Happy birthday, Laney.”
Her face brightened. “You have to take shots with me for my birthday. Everly babe, you’re behind.”
I groaned but sat back down at the table, with Landry’s hand burning hot on my lower back as he sat down too.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. You have to pay for them,” Lane sang with a snort before curling up with laughter. Landry and I laughed right along with her.
Landry signaled the eager waitress, who did her best to flirt with him while he ordered some lemon drop shots.
They were delivered to the table quickly, and I winced as I shot one down and then another.
The last one tipped me over the edge. I was officially drunk, I decided, as the room seemed to glimmer in front of me. I grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down, calling it quits for a while until I got my feet back under me.
“Have I told you how much I love you and how pretty you are?” Lane asked drunkenly, stroking my face messily.
I was only faintly aware of Landry’s arm now stroking the skin peeking out from under my black fringed halter top. “She is really pretty, isn’t she, Laney girl,” Landry agreed as his fingers dipped under the bottom of my tank.
More shots arrived at the table. “From those guys over there,” the waitress said, pointing to Landry’s team.
“I can’t do anymore,” I groaned.
“One more. One more. One more,” Lane chanted.
“One more,” I agreed as I chugged another glass of water for good measure before taking the shot.
“Did this come right from the bar?” I asked the waitress suddenly, a weird itch sliding up my spine.
“Brought them here myself,” she said before hustling away.
Landry handed me one of the shots. “To Lane,” he announced.
“To Lane!” our group shouted as we threw back the shots.
Lane was dancing a hairsbreadth away from me, a blond hottie from the hockey team practically humping her from behind. Landry was behind me, his hands stroking across my stomach as he moved to the greatest song I’d ever heard. His arms had me caged against his body, and I wasn’t complaining. Warmth spun across my skin as he pressed against me, two strong hands gliding over me.
I’d taken that last shot, and it must have done the trick, because I’d never felt better in my entire life. I was lost to the sensations, blissed out beyond measure. I felt Landry’s hard length behind me, and nothing had ever felt so good. The room was spinning around me, a kaleidoscope of flashing lights that echoed the beat of the song.
My hands slid up his neck, into his gorgeous russet-colored hair. My whole body throbbed with need. The chemistry between Landry and I felt otherworldly, and I wanted him so fucking bad.
Landry trailed his lips along my jaw, and I moaned at the sensation. “Want to get out of here, sweetheart?”
“Mmmh,” I moaned, my eyes half-lidded as I pushed to get closer to him.
I groaned when he stopped moving and began to walk me off the dance floor. I stumbled, almost falling, and he scooped me up in his arms and carried me the rest of the way.
“You feel so good,” I whispered throatily as he dragged his lips along my skin while he began to walk us somewhere.
There was a gnawing pressure in the back of my mind, like I was supposed to be remembering something, but I just couldn’t reach it.
Crisp air rushed across my face, and the cool air felt like heaven against my overheated body.
“Landry,” I whispered, brushing my lips against his hand. He shivered beneath my touch. His skin was so soft. How did he get it so soft? I just wanted to rub myself against it, over and over again.
“You can rub yourself on me as much as you want, forever in fact, sweetheart,” he growled.
I giggled. I must have said that out loud.
“Yes, you did,” he said in an amused voice.
He shifted my weight, and I was faintly aware of his car door opening again. And then that gnawing sensation that I was forgetting something important hit me again.
I was laid down on something smooth and soft, and I rubbed against it, mumbling softly to myself about how tired I was.
“You’re not going to sleep yet, Everly. I’ve got plans for you,” said Landry as an engine rumbled to life around me.
“So tired,” I responded, stroking the seat idly beneath my fingertips, trying to trace how I got here. I hadn’t been that drunk, right? I’d had one, three, five shots?
The whole night was blurring together so much, but this cushion was so soft.
Just like Landry’s skin as he massaged down my back, grabbing my ass and making me moan and grind into the cushion.
My body was on fire. I was on fire. I needed water.
“I need water.”
“Soon, sweetheart.” Landry’s voice drifted to me.
The lull of the engine began to soothe me to sleep, until Landry slapped my ass, making me yelp in surprise.
“Stay awake, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. I hated when he called me that. Someone else called me something better. What was that again?
Little angel.
That’s right.
Jackson. I wished Jackson was here.
Landry’s hands felt so good though.
I heard a low growl, and then the vehicle we were in came to a sudden stop.
I didn’t have a seatbelt on, and I flew forward off the front bench of the passenger seat, my body hitting the dash hard.
“Owww.”
I was yanked back on to the seat, and a knee pressed between my legs until I had no choice but to spread them. Landry was above me, a fierce look on his face.
“Stop saying his name,” he spit at me.
“Whose name?” I asked, confused. Something warm and wet slid down the front of my face, dripping into my eye. I reached up and looked at my hand in confusion when it came back with red stuff all over it.
That was mean of Landry to put ketchup on my head.
He suddenly pressed a punishing kiss on my lips, and it hurt. But my skin was on fire. Everything on my body needed to be touched, or soothe
d, or fucked.
I didn’t even know what I wanted.
“I’m going to fuck him out of your head, so you’ll never mention his name again,” Landry snarled, still talking for some reason about some mysterious person.
I felt him fumbling with the top of my jeans, and then the button was popped open.
What was Landry doing? Did I want him to do it? Landry was so handsome.
“That’s right sweetheart. I’m so handsome. And you’re so fucking beautiful. And you’re mine. You’re going to be mine.”
Sweetheart. There was that word again.
Jackson.
Landry pulled my pants down, and I tried to remember why this was a bad idea and how I got here, but nothing seemed clear. It was like my brain had been stuffed with cotton.
And I was tired, so fucking tired.
I moaned in distress as he began to pull on my thong and then softly stroked a part of me that no one had ever touched besides Jackson.
Jackson.
What was happening?
I began to struggle underneath Landry, trying to tell him that he needed to stop, that I didn’t want this, even though my body was completely arguing otherwise. Because every stroke of his hand felt so fucking good.
But that sensation in my head, the one that told me that something was wrong…it just kept growing, and even though everything felt amazing, I knew it wasn’t supposed to be Landry who was doing it.
“Please,” I cried softly. It felt like I was wading through butter. Was my body actually struggling, or was I just imagining it?
“I’ll make you feel so good,” Landry promised, sounding out of breath.
I started to go numb, like I was drifting above my body and watching as it happened to me.
The door behind Landry was suddenly ripped open, and Landry was torn off my body. I laid there, unable to move, but I could hear the sounds of fists hitting flesh and harsh yells.
It seemed to last forever.
And then a concerned, familiar face appeared above me, and a tear trailed down my cheek because I couldn’t move anymore, I couldn’t even move my lips to speak.
