After taking a pull on my beer, I sighed. “Why does it seem that everything has been tied up into a neat and tidy bow?”
“Who says it hasn’t?”
“Shouldn’t there be more angst and drama?” I asked, sighing.
“Not necessarily. Sometimes it just happens, no drama necessary.”
“That only happens in fiction,” I said, looking down at my hands. “And I don’t believe in happily ever after.”
“Well, sometimes, Pres, it’s not about what you believe. It’s just the way that things are.”
For some god-awful reason, that broke me. The sobs started and I couldn’t stop them. The next thing I knew, Gavin had taken my beer bottle, set it on the table with his, and pulled me against him. He simply held me while I cried myself out, letting all of the pain and the desperation seep out through my tears. I hated that Gavin was right. I was my own worst enemy and I didn’t know what to do about that.
After my conversation with Gavin, when I’d finally managed to pull myself together, I had hugged him, then slipped to my bedroom, needing time to sort out my thoughts. I’d spent half an hour reorganizing my closet just so I’d have something to do, thinking about all the things that had happened as of late, but most importantly, about how I’d reacted to those things.
Gavin was right. Since my dad had died—hell, probably long before then—I’d been closing myself off. The thing that had happened with Adrian had been icing on the cake. And I’d used that as my force field.
Somehow, I’d managed to shut myself down even when I didn’t want to.
Like with Jake.
Something had been off with him tonight, and I knew I was the one to blame for that. From the day I’d met him, I’d wondered what his motives were, suspected he wasn’t on the up-and-up. But then, in the passing weeks, I’d realized he was a good guy. Even accepting that, I’d managed to keep distance between us, and I had to accept responsibility for my actions.
Still, I hadn’t been able to stick around knowing that he was angry with me. I’d seen it on his face, felt it in the way he’d nailed me to the couch. It had been phenomenal sex—angry sex was that way—no doubt about that, but it had been fueled by a different emotion than the other times. He’d been taking what he needed from me, the same as I’d done to him.
Which I completely deserved.
And that had been the reason I’d snuck out.
As for why I’d grabbed his notebook before I left, I wasn’t quite sure. He’d asked me to read the book, so I figured I owed him that much.
Only I wasn’t in the mood to read. So, after taking a shower and towel drying my hair, I went to the easel, picked up the charcoal pencils, and continued to work on the piece I’d started at the cabin.
It was a picture of Jake sitting out on the porch, lost in thought as he tapped his pen against his lip. I’d watched him like that for what seemed like hours, trapped somewhere inside his head, and I had never found him sexier than I had in those moments.
Oddly enough, it was translating into art, and I knew it was one of the best pieces I’d ever done, so I blocked everything out and focused on drawing.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Jake
Because the urge to write had hit me, I knew I couldn’t ignore it. And I knew exactly where the story was going as I grabbed a spare legal pad, since Presley had taken the notebook, then slipped into my office, ready to hash out this thing with Kora and Donovan.
Perhaps I was ready to hash out the thing between Presley and me, but instead I decided to do something productive. If and when she ever wanted to figure out a way to fix this thing between us, I’d have to let her do that. She continued to confuse me with her actions, the back-and-forth, the disappearing acts. I wasn’t even sure what to expect from her anymore.
What had happened tonight… I knew that for the first time, instead of reality resembling fiction, it was the other way around. Perhaps I hadn’t known it before, but Kora and Donovan … what was happening between them … it was a lot like what was happening with me and Presley.
Without wanting to dwell on it a second longer, I put my pen to the paper and started to write.
Compromise?
Kora definitely didn’t like the sound of that.
What was there to compromise about? He was a man, she was a woman, the sex pleasure they’d indulged in earlier had been great off the charts, and she was more than willing to go another round with him.
But she damn sure didn’t intend to give him more than that.
Damn it. I needed her to give him more than that. Needed Kora to let go of everything and realize that this was right where she wanted to be.
Donovan’s hand cupped her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek, and Kora couldn’t look away, seeing a wealth of emotion in his eyes. Or was that just lust?
Yeah. That was what it had to be, because there was no way that Donovan could feel anything more for her than that. Hell, he didn’t even know her.
“Kora…”
Lifting an eyebrow, she realized she was leaning into his hand, still meeting his gaze.
“Show me your bedroom.”
It wasn’t a request, it was a command, and she should’ve come up with a snide remark, something along the lines of not in this lifetime. Nope. That wasn’t what she did, because her traitorous body had tuned out her heart and was climbing off of him and leading the way before she could think better of it.
When they reached the door, Kora turned to face him, looking up at his incredibly handsome face.
“One night,” she whispered. “That’s all I’ve got in me.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said with a sexy smirk. “But for now, tonight is all I’m focused on.”
Kora released the breath she’d been holding, secretly happy that he was still fighting her on this, because she knew if she allowed herself to think long and hard, one night with him was going to break her. Especially if he walked out tomorrow and she never saw him again.
Donovan took her hand and led her into the room, flipping off the overhead light and turning on the lamp beside her bed.
“Why do we need the light?” she questioned, suddenly feeling self-conscious. When they’d been in the closet, there had been light, but they’d also both been dressed, so her modesty hadn’t been in question.
Now, Donovan would see her naked.
“Relax, Kora,” he said softly. “Come here.”
Donovan took a seat on her bed and she fought the urge to laugh. He looked so out of place with the roses and frilly pillows. But she wasn’t thinking about laughing when he pulled her close, her thighs bracketed by his as she stood in front of him.
When his big hands slid up over her legs hips, she braced herself by putting her hands on his shoulders, her eyes locked with his.
“Do you even know how beautiful you are?” he asked, but she could tell he wasn’t looking for an answer.
Still, the sincerity in his tone made her relax a little.
“I want to make love to you, Kora.”
I sat up, taking a deep breath. Donovan had the fucking patience of a saint, and for a moment, I envied him for knowing what he wanted, for going after it. He wasn’t allowing Kora to run from him.
She found herself shaking her head, but that didn’t seem to deter Donovan. Perhaps because she was gripping clutching his shoulders, moving closer to him while his warm hands moved beneath her shirt, gripping her waist, his thumbs circling gently over her skin.
That was when she realized he was waiting for her to give him the green light. Although he was certainly cocky and self-assured, he wasn’t going to push himself on her. And why that made her want to devour him whole, she didn’t know and she didn’t want to think about.
“Tell me, Kora. Tell me you want it, too.”
He was still staring up at her, his eyes intense but his hands gentle. He was holding back, and she got the feeling he’d been holding back all day. What would happen if he unleash
ed himself? If he took her the way his eyes promised that he wanted to?
Kora nodded, giving in.
“Say it,” he urged, his hands tightening ever so slightly as they moved higher, his fingertips brushing the undersides of her breasts.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I want you to make love to me.”
I swallowed hard, staring at the words, remembering how I’d wanted to hear Presley say those words, only she always held herself back, not giving me what I was hoping for. And I couldn’t help but wonder why.
And then it hit me.
No sooner than the words were out of her mouth did Kora realize the answer to her question. When Donovan unleashed the beast within, made love to her in a way she’d never known before … Kora realized her heart wouldn’t survive it.
And she only hoped that was an answer she could live with.
At the moment, I didn’t need to think about what was going through Donovan’s head because I was so caught up I already had it all mapped out. Every single thing I wanted to say to Presley was filling my head, intent to be put down on paper, only through Donovan’s eyes.
I hunched over the desk and continued to write.
Donovan couldn’t even count the number of women he’d been with fucked in his lifetime, but he knew exactly how many women he’d made love to.
None.
Until Kora.
She would be the first.
And how he knew this was something more than sex for the sake of sex, pleasure for the sake of pleasure, he wasn’t sure. But he did. He felt it somewhere deep inside him, and for some reason, it didn’t scare him, though he suspected that it should have.
Keeping his hands right where they were, he instructed Kora to unbutton her shirt. He watched her fingers work each button free, revealing smooth skin and a plain white cotton bra that he found sexier than any lace number could have been.
Once she’d worked the shirt off, allowing it to slide down her arms and fall to the floor, he allowed himself a moment to drink her in.
“Now the bra.”
She hesitated only briefly, and when she did, he met her eyes again, wanting to maintain that connection, to let her know that this was her show. He would make love to her the way she needed, but she was in control, whether she realized it or not.
She reached back with one hand, then the bra loosened before she slowly allowed it to drop to the floor with her shirt.
The rumble that started in his chest was involuntary. She was so fucking beautiful. All soft and smooth.
Since he was eye level with her breasts, he didn’t have to move much before he brushed one dusky pink nipple with his tongue, his eyes still locked with hers. When she let out an appreciative sigh, he pulled her closer, wrapping his lips around her nipple, sucking her into his mouth while inhaling the fresh scent of her skin.
And when her hands slid up to cup the back of his head, holding him to her, he gave her exactly what she needed, never rushing. Savoring. It was what he’d been thinking about since the second she had walked into that banquet hall.
While he continued to lavish her breasts with attention, he slid his fingers into the waistband of her leggings, pushing them down over her hips until she was wiggling out of them.
“Donovan.” Her body spasmed jerked and he held on tight as her legs buckled beneath her.
Only then did he pull her onto the bed with him, lying back and bringing her down over him. Cupping Cradling the back of her head with his hand, he pulled her down for his kiss, slipping his tongue past her lips, into her mouth. She tangled her tongue with his, searching hesitantly at first, but then she grew more confident, and Donovan knew she was right there with him.
Despite her reluctance hesitance, he knew Kora wanted this, wanted him.
“Too many clothes,” she muttered, pulling her mouth from his as she sat up, straddling his hips.
“What do we do about that?” he asked, still watching her.
When Kora gripped the hem of his shirt, lifting it, he sat up, allowing her to pull it over his head. But before she could free the button on his jeans, he pulled her back down, kissing her again as he rolled them so that her soft body was beneath him.
Though he hadn’t intended for it to work that way, the new position allowed her to unbutton his fly, then lower his zipper before sliding her hand inside and freeing his cock. He moaned into her mouth when her fingers curled around his dick, gliding up and down slowly, as though she was memorizing him with her touch.
It didn’t take long before she’d caused his blood pressure to spike, and he knew it was time to press pause, at least as far as he was concerned. He wanted to taste her—every inch—then he wanted to hear her cry out his name as he made her come with his mouth.
Somehow he managed to free himself from her grip as he worked his mouth down her jaw, her chest, once again giving attention to her breasts, which he realized she liked. But he didn’t linger for long, instead continuing down her body, pressing kisses over her belly, then over the smooth skin below her navel as he pulled her panties down.
He couldn’t wait; the desire to taste her had become a need that had to be sated. Bending down, he inhaled the musky scent of her sex before gliding his tongue through her slick folds. Her fingers instantly latched into his hair, sending shards of electricity trickling down his spine.
He looked up the lean line of her body, meeting her gaze as she watched him. He shouldered his way between her thighs, opening her to him as he worked his tongue along her slit, to the tight entrance to her body. He teased her for long minutes, thrusting his tongue inside, then working her clit as she began to pant and moan, her body bucking, her hands tightening in his hair as she said his name over and over again. Wrapping his lips around her clit, he flicked his tongue over the bundle of nerves until she went completely rigid and screamed his name as she came.
Crawling up over her once more, he lowered his mouth to hers, allowing her to taste herself on his lips, loving the way she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly to her as she practically molded herself against him. He noticed that her body fit his perfectly.
“Need to feel you inside me,” she whispered. “Please, Donovan.”
“My pleasure, love.” And it definitely would be.
Damn it, Presley. My thoughts instantly drifted back to her and all that shit that was going on between us. I needed an outlet and knew that I had to tie this thing up with Donovan and Kora, because like it or not, I’d never put so much of myself on paper, but this … this was all me.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Jake
As I flipped the page, I knew this was the final chapter. These two people had gotten where they needed to be. What happened next would seal the deal for them, tie them together, transform them from two souls into one. And yes, I knew it was happily ever after, a foreign concept to some, but it was the way things worked.
At least in my story.
Kora knew that this was moving in the wrong direction, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Donovan knew how to play her body like a fiddle finely tuned instrument. The way he touched her, the way he looked at her… he had officially torn down the walls that she’d purposely erected to keep her heart from getting in this position in the first place.
Only she wasn’t running away from him.
Here she was, and she was falling.
One day.
One fucking day.
Hell, not even that, and she feared she was falling in love with this man.
That didn’t happen, though, right? There was no such thing as love at first sight. She was confusing lust for love. It’d happened to others before; she knew that much. But it didn’t happen to her. Life hadn’t been that good to her, and she’d come to expect the disappointment.
“Kora,” Donovan whispered, his lips brushing hers ever so lightly as his weight returned above her. “Need to feel you. Want to be inside you again.”
Yes. She needed to feel him, too. Now mo
re than ever.
As he entered her, she closed her eyes and held on tight, loving the way he filled her so completely. This wasn’t as it had been in the storage closet. They weren’t fucking for the sake of fucking, and maybe they should’ve been.
No, this was more, and she wasn’t sure she could handle this man.
“Stay with me, Kora.”
His breath fanned her face, and she opened her eyes to see him looking staring down at her, an emotion in his eyes that she couldn’t name.
“Let me love you.”
Holy shit. I hadn’t seen that coming, but now that I thought about it, it made perfect sense. This was no longer solely about two bodies coming together. It was more than that.
God, yes. She could let him love her. She needed him to love her.
Kora forced her eyes to remain open as he slid deeper into her body, staring into those intriguing emerald pools, letting him see what she was feeling because she didn’t know any other way to do this.
“Yes, baby,” he crooned. “Watch me.”
She swallowed hard as he pushed inside, withdrawing slowly, then thrusting forward once again. He continued, never increasing the pace. She felt every inch of him inside her, hard and perfect, brushing against nerve endings she hadn’t known existed. But more than that, she felt something else inside, but this was in her chest. As though the pieces of her heart were mending even though she knew that wasn’t possible.
Still, she wanted to believe that it could happen. That there could be one person out there in the world meant just for her and it didn’t require endless hours of conversation before the true depth of emotion would be revealed.
“Ah, baby.” Donovan stroked her cheek and she realized a tear had slipped free. “I won’t hurt you. Never hurt you.”
The hot ball of emotion lodged in her throat, and she pulled him closer, burying her face in his neck as she allowed her body to revel in the pleasure, to feel the warmth of his skin, the insistent beating of his pulse.
“Too much,” she whispered. “You make me feel too much.”
“I know, love,” he said. “I feel it, too.”
Inked on Paper Page 33
