Game

by Ashley Love

  He leaned on the porch rail and sighed deeply, filling his lungs with the evening air. The breeze carried the scent of pine and...pears? His head snapped up and he turned to see Cassie walking toward him. She came to stand next to him and he just stared at her, frozen like an idiot. When he didn't speak she smiled hesitantly, then out of nowhere leaned in and kissed him.

  The second her lips touched his he came back to life. They were warm and so soft and only pressed against his for a second before she pulled back and looked at him nervously. Without a second thought Jax pressed her against the railing and took her lips with his. He clasped her face in his hands and slid his tongue it into her warm mouth, meeting hers with a soft groan of satisfaction. She melted into him, clinging to his chest, tangling their tongues together in a wet, sloppy dance that had them both panting for breath.

  "Cassie," he whispered against her lips, but couldn't say more before he had to press them to hers again just to assure himself that he could. She opened to him with no resistance, her hands slipping around the back of his neck and threading up into his hair, messing up his ponytail and sending a chill down his spine.

  God, he'd missed her even more than he thought. They way her body felt against his, it was all he could do not to push her skirt up and take her right there on the porch. Fortunately his good sense won out and he settled for palming her ass and pulling her tight against his body. Eventually he released her lips and pulled back enough that he could look down into her face. His heart pounded while he watched her eyes flutter open and her lips curve up into a smile.

  "That didn't feel like a game."

  "No." His laugh was hesitant, since he wasn't sure whether that meant she approved or disapproved, but she'd kissed him first. That had to mean something, right? Either way, there was no turning back now. He had to speak his mind. "No more games. I should have told you that morning, but I was too chicken shit. I was afraid to be the one to say I wanted more, but I do. I want you, Cassie. I want us."

  She made a noise in her throat that sounded suspiciously like a sob, but her hands were still tangled in his hair and she pulled him down to kiss her again so he couldn't see her face. When she let go he saw the tears on her cheeks and his heart kicked up in panic.

  "Oh no baby, don't do that. Please don't cry." The words tumbled out in a rush as he wiped her face with his shirt cuffs. "It's okay, I understand. I'm not trying to push you into something you don't want. I just needed to say it—"

  "Would you shut up? And stop that." She sniffed and pulled his hands away from her face impatiently. "You're gonna ruin your new shirt."

  Her touch turned gentle, her hands sliding into his so he could clasp them tightly as her eyes slid down his chest. He could see the desire in them and for a split second he considered offering to go back to their original deal. If he couldn't have all of her at least he could have that much, but before it had even formed as a complete thought he discarded it. He'd go crazy torturing himself that way and probably drive her crazy, too.

  Her eyes came back up to meet his and she smiled that sweet smile that always made his heart skip a beat. "Of course I want that, why else would I be here?"

  He sagged against her in relief, wrapping his arms tight around her waist and burying his face in her neck. After he got his pounding heart under control he couldn't help but tease her. "Because you just can't enough of my sweet, sweet lovin'?"

  "Nice. Way to ruin the touching moment." She pushed his shoulders away in exasperation, but he could see the laughter in her eyes.

  "I'll show you a touching moment." He grinned and grabbed her hips, leaning into her while he pulled her close. She groaned and rolled her eyes at his bad pun, but didn't stop him from taking another kiss. Its intensity was in stark contrast to his teasing words, and when he pulled away several minutes later he wasn't smiling. "Stay with me tonight."

  She bit her lower lip and he suppressed the urge to pull it from between her teeth with his thumb. Aaron did the same thing when he was thinking and he didn't want to interrupt her if she was trying to work out a way she could stay the night.

  "I want to go home and visit with my parents a little while first, but I think it'll be okay. It will be a little weird telling them where I'm going, but I guess I'm going to have to tell them about us eventually, right?"

  "As far as I'm concerned you can tell the whole world. I'm done sneaking around. You want me to come with you? We can tell them together."

  "Really? Are you up for that?"

  "Of course. You don't think they'll mind, do you?"

  Cass laughed. "No, I'm pretty sure Mom will be thrilled. You know she loves you. Now Dad...I don't know. I guess any reaction would be an improvement over getting clocked in the jaw and he's not likely to do that, but he won't like me spending the night with you."

  Their conversation was interrupted by Aaron sticking his head out the door. "If you two can keep your hands off each other long enough I'm going to come out and say hello."

  Cass rolled her eyes and Jax laughed as Aaron walked toward them. Jax held his hand out and Aaron clasped it firmly for just a moment before tugging him into a tight hug.

  "Hey, bro. Good to see you," Aaron said quietly.

  "You too, man. Thanks for coming."

  "So you guys kissed and made up, huh?" Aaron asked with a wink at Cassie that made her blush deeply.

  "Yeah," Jax said, trying not to feel awkward about sliding his arm around Cassie's waist and pulling her close. "Looks like your sister's decided to overlook my many flaws and give me a chance."

  "Well, if you're ever thinking of doing something that might hurt her, just remind yourself who knocked you on your ass—"

  "Shut up, Aaron," Cass snapped, unamused by his little jibe.

  "Excuse me? Was that a thank you, little sister?"

  "Go away."

  "You're welcome," Aaron said with a wide grin, before turning to look at the commotion going on inside. "Oh hey, I think the bride and groom are about to leave."

  They went in and gave hugs all around, then lined up to throw birdseed at the couple as they climbed into John's enormous pickup truck, which was decorated with inflated condoms and shoe polish on the windows. After everyone left, Cass and Aaron helped Jax clean up and packed up some of the leftover party food to take home to their parents.

  As Cass expected, her mother was excited to find out they were seeing each other and gave Jax a huge hug. Her father seemed surprised, but unconcerned until they were about to leave and Cass went to change out of her wedding clothes and grab her overnight bag.

  Jax hovered near the door talking to Aaron and tried to pretend like he didn't notice the glare aimed his way. Eventually Mrs. Carson laid a hand on her husband's shoulder and murmured something to him. With a final glare over his shoulder they disappeared into the living room together.

  "Should I go talk to him? I feel like I should say something."

  "Not a good idea at the moment, bro. Trust me on this one. Let me talk to him first."

  "Alright." Jax still felt unsure, but a second later Cass came back down the stairs ready to go and the expectant smile on her face wiped his mind clean of any other thoughts.

  "I'll be back in the morning," she called toward the living room and received an annoyed grunt from her father in reply. She made a face at Aaron as she slipped out the door. "Good thing he doesn't own a gun," she murmured under her breath.

  "He'll get over it. It's not easy getting used to the idea that someone you still think of as a little girl is really a grown woman."

  The moment could have turned awkward, but Aaron quickly said goodbye and closed the door and Jax took Cassie's hand and led her down the walk, relieved to finally be alone with her again.

  When they got back to his house he pulled her to him and held her for a long moment, enjoying just having her in his arms.

  "Have I told you how much I missed you?"

  "Not in so many words, but I got the impression."

 
He pulled back to look her in the eye. "I wanted to call you so many times, but..." He trailed off and just shrugged, unable to find the words to say what he felt.

  "I know. I missed you too." She ran one finger along his jaw and pressed her lips to his briefly.

  He sighed and rested his forehead against hers. "This isn't going to be easy. We'll hardly ever see each other living so far apart."

  "Are you backing out already?" Her little smirk didn't hide the nervousness in her eyes.

  He shook his head, twirling a strand of her hair around his fingers. "Absolutely not. I just don't want you to feel like you're missing out. If you feel like this is too much too soon—"

  "Are you kidding? Too soon? I've been waiting on this since I was thirteen." He made an effort at a smile, but she saw through him and her own smile faded. "I'm not saying it won't be hard, but I want to give it a shot, don't you?"

  "Of course, I just—"

  "Good, that's settled. Let's not talk about it anymore tonight, okay? I just want to enjoy being with you." Her fingers smoothing the frown lines on his forehead brought him back to the present and when he looked at her face she was smiling. "Don't think so hard."

  He couldn't help returning her smile, remembering when he'd said those words to her not too long ago. There was a lot more he felt like they needed to talk about, but he supposed it could wait a little while longer.

  "Maybe you could help distract me."

  Her grin widened and she pressed her lips to his once again, running her fingers through his hair. Jax closed his eyes and gave in to the kiss, letting himself relax in her arms. When she pulled back a few minutes later her eyes were dark and her breath was short. She took his hand and led him down the stairs to his basement room. Or what used to be his basement room.

  She stopped short at the bottom, looking around in surprise. The posters and pin-ups were gone. Some of his stuff was still there, but disassembled, ready for him to load it in his truck to take back to his cabin the next day. There were a few boxes of things here and there, but mostly the room was empty.

  "What happened to your room?"

  "John's moving in and Mom wanted the space down here. I think she's going to turn it into a sewing room or something."

  "Oh. Well, thank goodness the bed's still here," she said, turning to him with a mischievous smile.

  "Oh really? And why is that?"

  "My plans for the evening rely heavily on that bed."

  "Interesting. I'd like to hear more about these plans."

  "Why don't I just show you?"

  She pulled her t-shirt off over her head and reached for him, unbuttoning his dress shirt as she placed little tickling kisses on his neck. He couldn't keep his hands off her and reached behind her to unfasten her bra so he could get down to business.

  "Sorry I'm not wearing anything fancy tonight. I left all that stuff at school. I didn't know I'd need it."

  "Mm, you don't need it, babe." He circled her nipples with his thumbs, watching as they crinkled and hardened into points, his mouth watering with the need to suck and nibble on them.

  "I thought you liked the lacy stuff."

  He dragged his eyes from her breasts and met her gaze. "Of course I liked it. But you certainly don't need it. You look just as sexy in that little white cotton one." He looked back down at the nipples that he was now rolling gently between his thumb and index finger, a grin stealing across his face. "Or without one at all." She gasped as he pinched tighter, her hands stilling on his last button. "You know how you looked sexiest?"

  "Hm?" she breathed, her eyes closed as he continued to play with her nipples. He bent slightly to kiss along her jaw and smiled as she pressed herself closer to him.

  "When you were wearing just my t-shirt and it was so thin I could see these through the fabric." He pinched at her nipples again and she moaned into his ear, nipping sharply at his lobe. "And your ass was peeking out the bottom with your gorgeous legs on display."

  "Well if that's all it takes to get you going I'm gonna save a ton of money on my wardrobe." She looked up at him with a smile, then got a thoughtful look on her face. "Wait a minute, the only time I ever wore your t-shirt was—"

  "I know." He shook his head and tried to look sheepish. "I was sitting there on your floor, pissed as hell, worried about you, head throbbing so hard I could barely see straight, and I still couldn't stop checking out your ass. Thank God Aaron can't read minds because he would have beat me to a pulp if he'd known what I was thinking."

  Her jaw dropped and she slapped him weakly on the chest. "I might have beat you to a pulp myself. I thought you had a concussion. I was scared to death, not to mention feeling insanely guilty for putting you in that position with Aaron, and you were just sitting there admiring the view?"

  "No babe," he said, grabbing her hand as she drew back to hit him again. "None of that was your fault. I put myself in that position. I knew what I was risking and I went ahead and did it anyway."

  She relaxed against him and laced her fingers with his where he held her wrist. "Would you do it differently if you could go back?"

  He knew what she was really asking. He'd told her that morning that he regretted what they had done; that he never should have started it. She wanted to know if he still felt that way. He shook his head slowly.

  "I wish I'd realized sooner how I really felt about you. And I wish I hadn't been such a coward once I did realize it. But no, I wouldn't do it differently."

  "Me either," she said quietly. He watched as a grin crept slowly across her face and she looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. "It was pretty hot sneaking around like that. I mean, it's not something I'd want to do for a long time, but..."

  He smiled back and shook his head. "Naughty girl. You got all turned on thinking we might get caught, didn't you?"

  She bit her lip and nodded and he just couldn't help himself. He slapped her ass. She jumped, but this time her sharp intake of breath was one of excitement, not surprise.

  "You're giving me all kinds of ideas, babe."

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah," he murmured against her lips before kissing her again. It was still a little bit of a thrill every time she let him kiss her and suck her pouty little bottom lip into his mouth so he savored the feeling, knowing it wouldn't last forever.

  Without pulling her lips from his she walked him backwards until she got to the bed and pulled his shirt back off his shoulders. They had to part, briefly, so he could pull his t-shirt over his head, but they came immediately back together like two opposing magnets and tumbled onto the bed.

  Giggling like kids, they wriggled their way into a comfortable spot on Jax's old twin bed without ever breaking their kiss. Her hands roamed his tan chest and shoulders, occasionally flicking and pinching at his nipples while he took a backseat and let her explore his body. One hand drifted down to trace the outline of his dick through his jeans and she giggled when it jumped under her hand.

  Damn, she was cute.

  Finally, she was the one who pulled back, her hand still on his cock, pressing harder now as she looked up at him with a mischievous smile.

  "Can we try something I've always wondered about?"

  "Absolutely." With her hand where it was he would have said yes to pretty much anything she asked him at the moment. He couldn't help the disappointed groan he made when she moved it away.

  "Really? You don't even want to know what it is first?"

  "Nope. I already told you, you can't shock me."

  "You should be careful saying things like that. I might take it as a challenge."

  "Please do, I'd love to see what you'd come up with. But first tell me what you wanted to try." He tried not to smile as her face flushed red, but he couldn't keep his amusement entirely under wraps.

  "Stop laughing at me," she said, her eyes narrowing. She sounded irritated, but he could see the laughter in her eyes.

  "I'm not laughing, you just look so damn cute when you get all embarrassed like that.
" He kissed the tip of her nose, the only part of her face that wasn't red at that point. "What if I don't look at you? Would that make it easier?"

  He kissed his way down her neck, his fingers forging the path, tracing light circles around her puckered nipples. He could feel goose bumps under his tongue as he teased her until her back arched and she pushed her nipple into his mouth. He sucked hard, rolling the tip around with his tongue, enjoying the noises she was making.

  "Tell me now," he whispered as he moved to give the other breast the same attention.

  Her voice came out all husky, like it always did when she was turned on. Just the sound of it would have made him hard, but the words that came out of her mouth didn't hurt.

  "I want...mmm...I want you to go down on me—"

  She gasped as he nipped hard at her nipple and her words melted into unintelligible moans.

  "It sounds good so far. Tell me the rest," he said as he started to slide slowly down her body, taking time to place soft kisses on the cute little freckles scattered across the pale skin of her stomach. She stayed silent as he moved lower, circling her belly button with his tongue. "Come on, Cassie. You want me to eat your pussy and..."

  She laughed, but he felt the shiver that ran through her body at his words and her laugh faded as he unbuttoned her jeans.

  "I want you to do it while I'm...returning the favor."

  "Mm, yes. We can definitely do that."

  He sat up long enough to pull off her jeans, then returned to his soft kisses, drifting lower and lower, her heady scent drawing him in. When he finally dragged his tongue slowly along her slit he moaned at the taste of her. Her legs fell open and her hand tangled in his hair as she writhed under his mouth, pulling him closer, wordlessly demanding more. He closed his lips around her clit and sucked gently as her hips rose up off the bed.

  "Oh God, Jax..."

  Damn he'd missed this. Her taste and the sounds she made and the feel of her moving under him, just all of it. How had he gone this long without having her again? His tongue lashed at the hardening nub and he felt her legs start to tremble against his shoulders.