“All these years, I’d tell ya this or that about my work, and you’d just say ‘Oh that’s nice, Lauren. Glad you’re keepin’ busy.’ Made me think you didn’t want to know all of me.” That’s what I was thinking, but what I didn’t realize was I had said that out loud, quietly, in a hushed tone while I was staring off as usual.
“Lauren,” my mama answered me. “When you have four beautiful girls, smart ones, but there’s one with a talent that’s beyond the others, beyond full understanding even, sometimes a parent thinks it’s best to push for normal instead of pushing that child toward her talent. Because a parent gets scared where that kind of talent can lead.”
I must have looked perplexed because she went on and I couldn’t help but notice how my daddy had tightened his arm around her, silently having her back, encouraging her forward. I liked seeing that in the midst of everything going on.
“Baby, there’re not too many stories about artists ending up happily married, well fed and understood by their community.” She sighed, her eyelids heavy, tired, looking her age probably for the first time in her life. “I wanted normal for you, and yes, I wanted you to have a version of my life. Because the forty-plus years I’ve had with your daddy, with you girls, have been the happiest of my life. And any mother wants her babies to have that. I was afraid if you followed your talent as far as you could go with it, you’d end up with a great body of work but miserable with everything else. I couldn’t bear that.” She took a deep breath, and I was speechless, realizing there was so much I hadn’t understood, so much I had misinterpreted through the years.
I could only nod my head, because my lips were pressed together hard. I felt Jackson slink his arm around my shoulder and gently kiss the top of my head.
My father cleared his throat a couple of times, rubbing the back of his neck, something he only did when he was uncomfortable with a situation. This li’l scene certainly qualified, I am sure. Then he settled his gaze onto Jackson.
“Think I’ve made it clear tonight that I’ve always had a different sort of man in mind for my daughter.”
I looked over to see my man’s reaction, only to find his expression impassive as he just took in what was being said to him. I admired that because I could already feel the anger bubbling in my blood, but I was waiting to hear the rest of what Daddy had to say.
“I’ll admit that a tattooed, motorcycle-driving bar owner who has friends who look like they just came from some kind of gang fight threw me…”
Oh crap. Here we go again.
“At first.”
Huh?
“I made a judgment.” My daddy chewed the side of his lip. “Based on the fact that, at the end of the day, I’m a traditional Southerner. A bubba. A cracker, even. Say what you will!” His voice was rising, but he wasn’t mad at anyone. Well, except for himself. “I saw your clothes and that hair of yours, which needs a cut, and I thought that’s all I needed to know.” He took a small step over toward Jackson and me, placing his hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “Son, I was wrong.”
Any leftover tension in Jackson’s body visibly relaxed, and I gave his side a squeeze.
“All a daddy wants at the end of the day is to know that the man his daughter chooses has her back and would get in anyone’s face who would mess with her happiness.” His eyes cut to me. “Even in the face of an aging fool.”
He took his hand off Jackson’s shoulder and gave me his usual lopsided smile, the one I’ve seen ever since I could remember. My heart melted and my bottom lip quivered because it had been a long time since I had seen that look from my daddy.
“Jackson’s a good man,” he told me, something I already knew but was still happy as hell to hear from him. “He good to you?”
I blinked back the tears, which still clouded my vision, but somehow I kept it together.
“Jackson’s amazing,” I replied, unable to hold back the twitch of a smile on my face. “He’s nothing I expected and everything I wanted.” Jackson turned me to him, his expression all warm and soft. Looking from my father to my man, I whispered, “And maybe everything I needed too.”
Jackson and I held each other’s stares for what seemed like a long time. It felt like we hadn’t just made a statement to my parents, but to one another as well.
It felt like vows had been spoken.
Without losing his fix on me, Jackson asked my folks, “Mr. and Mrs. Renwick, where are ya plannin’ on staying tonight?”
My mama was next to my daddy, with her arm around his middle. “Lauren usually insists we take her room and she stays on the couch. However, we can get a hotel room if you two want some, uh, privacy.”
“Better idea.” Jackson pulled me so his front was now warming my back. He snaked his arm around and held me by the shoulders, and I gave him my weight. “You two take Lauren’s place and I’ll take her back with me. Then you’ll come over for breakfast.”
“He makes the best omelets.” I cradled Jackson’s arm. “I’ll leave the directions before we go. Whaddaya say?”
My parents looked at each other in that way that communicated that they were having a whole conversation without speaking a word. It was now my mama’s turn to give a hint of a smile.
“A man who stands up for my daughter and who knows how to entertain? Better watch out now, Mr. Sullivan,” my mama teased. “Someone may mistake you for a Southern gentleman.”
The next morning was the best brunch I’ve ever had. The night before with Jackson was even better.
Chapter Six
Rule #5: Don’t say I love you first.
Say I love you first. Say it loud, say it proud.
Another four weeks later
“Anything I want?”
I cocked my head to the side and my bangs fell across one of my eyes. I had a playful smirk on my mouth, and I bit my bottom lip when he reached over to brush the hair away.
“It’s your birthday, Jax, so yeah. Anything you want. Whatever you want to do to me. I want you to take it.”
His eyes darkened and the mood in the room immediately became electric. I knew he’d like the sexy get-up I was wearing: tight, black sheer corset so you could see hints of my nipples and torso through the fabric, stockings clasped to a garter belt and five-inch, patent-leather heels that made my legs and ass look off-the-hook, sex-kitten hot. I knew, though, that for a man like Jackson, my man, what got him off was undoing my layers, pushing my limits, not what I put on. So even with the racy lingerie, he and I both knew that wasn’t his only present.
I was leaning my body against the doorjamb and he was dressed only in a towel around his hips, exposing his cut chest, all his ridges and smoothness on display for me. He had just gotten out of the shower after a run, and watching the setting sun’s rays shimmer against his lusciously dark and damp hair, his golden skin with his beautiful ink, my breath caught and I knew I’d never get my fill of the sight of him. Not even close.
He hadn’t expected me like this. His family was supposed to be coming over soon, the whole brood bringing over a potluck supper for our celebration. However, I called his ma and arranged for them to come two hours later, all so I could dress up and serve myself up as his personal sex toy. An early birthday present.
The surprise on his face only lasted a moment or two, and then his features sharpened, making him look like a predatory panther preparing to strike. He sauntered over to the edge of the bed and sat down, his eyes never leaving me. He leaned back, propping himself up by his elbows. He may had been playing it cool, but I could tell from the firm set of his jaw, the way the veins in his neck pulsed, that Jackson was anything but relaxed. He was primed, and his intensity radiated off of him in waves.
With a growl he uttered, “Get on your knees, Lauren.”
My mouth opened in surprise, because I could see, fuck I could feel, his breathing escalate and his blood race hard to his length
ening cock under his towel.
“Do it. Don’t think,” he ordered me, reading my mind without effort.
Slowly, I dropped to my knees and rested my bottom against my calves. I was now in a submissive position and while we had never played like that before, I had read enough deliciously dirty erotic stories to know the drill. So I presented my hands, palms up, on the fronts of my thighs and cast my gaze downward.
“I didn’t tell you to avoid my eyes, Lauren. Look up at me.”
I did as he asked, him still on the edge of the bed, in a towel, leaning back on his elbows.
“Good. Now crawl over to me. And do it slow.”
I took a deep breath and placed my hands on the floor, which felt cool under my hot skin. My eyes found his. They were burning into me, like molten heat, with the blues of his eyes barely visible because his pupils were so dilated from arousal. I saw his length stretch under his towel, reaching long and wide while his gorgeous chest rose and lowered with his own erratic breath. It sent a thrill through me to know he was just as turned on as I was at that moment.
I began my crawl over to him, swaying my hips and bottom with each glide of my body. The floor beneath me was solid wood and hurt some as I made my way across its surface, but I pushed aside the pressure I felt at my knees and focused on the wet heat pooling between my legs.
As I got closer to where he was, he leaned forward so his hands were now resting on his knees, his arms locked as his damp hair fell forward. When I got to him, I stopped and gazed upward while he looked down at me by his feet. Waiting for his instructions.
Our positions made me feel little—not insignificant, more like a small thing being enveloped by a force bigger than itself. With his eyes boring down into me, Jackson leaned farther in.
“You trust me, baby?”
The question put me on alert because no one asked about trust unless boundaries were going to be tested. Maybe crossed. We hadn’t been together long—a few months—but in that time, Jackson had managed to break through so many of my barriers, and I knew, right then and there, he was about to ask me to disintegrate another one.
“Yes, I trust you. Probably more than anyone.”
“Good. We’ll start with your mouth before I take what I really want. Get up here and suck me off.”
I sat up and placed both my hands on his knees, staring up at him as he leaned back again on his elbows. I had a direct line of sight up the center of him, from his beautiful face down his sculpted chest, over his ridged abs, to a thin trail of hair leading down to the rest still covered by the towel.
“Unwrap me babe,” he muttered in a low hum, his breathing heaving his chest up and down.
I reached over to where he had tucked the towel, just above his hips, and loosened the ends. Then I fanned them out, like I was unwrapping a present. A hint of his clean-from-the-shower scent rose up and my mouth watered with the need to taste his skin, inhale him into me. His cock immediately sprang forth, fully erect, looking strained. The veins running down the length of him were thick and the color was almost purple from the rush of blood flowing. I scored his inner thighs with my fingernails, slowly moving upward, as I brought my face right to the underside of his dick. I nuzzled there, feeling his balls contract as my lips danced feather light over his satiny hot skin. I widened my tongue and licked his shaft over and over, until I finally made a firm O and sucked the tip of his cock, pulling him deep into my warm mouth, into my throat.
“Oh shit, baby. Fuck, that’s good,” he moaned above me, his eyes searing me as I looked up at him, with his dick still in my mouth. He especially loved it when I glided my tongue right under the head while using my fist to stroke him hard. Jackson’s gaze on me was hooded, his lips parted with groans getting deeper, more guttural as his pleasure intensified. I loved that I could do this to such a virile man, make him lose his mind with just my mouth and hands.
“You like my cock, Lauren? Want me to fuck that hot mouth of yours?”
I whimpered my reply, taking him in deeper into my throat, making my eyes water and my body burn. All I wanted to do was pleasure his cock, to make him beg me to come.
I could tell he was getting close because his moans grew louder and he was starting to thrust his hips forward while holding my head in place. I would usually hate such a maneuver but with Jackson it was seriously fucking hot, and I wanted him to shoot his seed into my mouth.
“You want me to come for you? Want me to lose it for you, right now?” He pumped his cock quick and hard into my mouth.
But then he grasped my hair and commanded me to stop. Removing his cock from my mouth, he rubbed his thumb over my swollen lips.
“This is one seriously hot-as-fuck mouth, but I want something else for my birthday.” He moved aside and pulled me up, my arms still quivering from pumping his shaft. He was completely naked in front of me, like a beautiful golden god, meant for fucking, meant for pleasure.
“Lie facedown in the center of the bed, babe. And close your eyes. I’ll be right back.”
I crawled to the center, just as he asked, and snagged a pillow for under my head, closing my eyes. I heard him walk around the room, opening a couple of drawers.
Then, nothing. It was eerily quiet for several minutes and I wasn’t sure if I should say something or not. The longer I waited, the thicker the air became, to the point that even though I trusted him, I was completely on edge.
“Keep your face and arms down and hoist your ass high for me.”
His voice was somehow deeper, darker. Jackson could be gentle and make love. He could also get rough when we fucked, but either one was always still my man. The tenor in his words now made him sound like someone else, someone I didn’t know.
It was totally turning me on.
Suddenly, he grabbed my panties and ripped them off of me in one swoop. The cool air hit my fevered flesh, especially over my exposed sex, which was soaked with my juices. I was primed and ready for him to drill my pussy with his cock, but he had other ideas.
He took two of his fingers and teased me between my legs. “It’s time you were completely mine, Lauren. That’s what I’m takin’ for my birthday. All of you.”
I stilled, knowing that meant he wasn’t just going to fuck me. He was going to take me in a way no one else ever had before. And I was nervous, my breath becoming erratic while I closed my eyes.
“I-I’m scared, Jax.”
He rubbed my back with the palm of his hand and then leaned his body over mine, shushing me quietly, as if I were a child needing consoling. “’S’okay, baby…I got you. I won’t hurt you. Would never hurt you.”
I opened my eyes and turned to see his face over my shoulder. He was still my Jackson, but another side, more feral, primal, was there too. And he needed this from me, my total surrender under his hand.
I could only nod, my throat constricted with nerves and uncertainty, even though I knew I could trust him. Then his fingertip stroked my puckered opening, rubbing it gently and then a rush of cool liquid came forth. His finger, then two, inserted the lube into my back entrance, coating it and making it slick for what he wanted to do to me.
“Can’t wait to take this ass,” he said hoarsely. “Can’t wait to own all of you.”
His body left mine and he positioned himself behind me, widening my stance and bending me further down. I had never been so exposed and open to someone, like a supplicant presenting herself for show. Then I could hear him lubing his dick with one hand, while continuing to finger my ass with the other. He filled me plenty with just his fingers and so I couldn’t imagine how his huge cock was going to penetrate such a delicate opening. With my cheek pressed down on the bed, my heart quickened and my blood roared in my ears. My mouth got dry when his fingers left me because I knew what was coming and was still unsure if I was ready for it.
“Breathe for me, baby,” he purred, spreading my ass che
eks. “Yeah, that’s good. Now push out a little and flower for me.”
Just as I did as Jackson instructed, one of his hands found my clit and start rubbing it in beautiful circles, feeding waves of pleasure through my core. I moaned into the bed and released even more tension from my body.
“That’s good, baby, that’s so goddamn beautiful,” he whispered. Then, slowly, he pushed the head of his cock through the tight rim. I stretched for him and he took his time. It didn’t hurt and so I found myself opening up even more to him, making him growl his pleasure. He slid in deep and an ecstatic cry escaped me. He grabbed my hips and sank his shaft into my back entrance, all the way in, until his balls smacked against my core. He was stretching me even further, the pressure intense, the feeling exquisite.
I clenched around him, which made him hum and vibrate while digging his fingernails into my flesh. He started pumping into me, sliding back and forth fully so that the head of his cock rubbed against the sensitive nerves inside. He slowly increased his speed while playing with my clit. I was gone over the feeling, gone over him, and couldn’t help but rock my hips to meet his thrusts.
“Oh God, Jax! Fuck, it’s so good. It’s too good!” I cried out, meeting him thrust for thrust, fisting the sheets under me. Jackson was still working me between my legs while pounding into me with everything he had.
“Can’t get enough. Never get enough.” He grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked it just enough to hurt and turned my face towards his. “Want your mouth, baby.” I opened for him and he slammed his lips onto mine, sucking me in deep while still pounding my ass.
Then, without breaking our kiss, he rolled us over to lie on our sides, pressing his front against my back, grabbing my breast in one hand and still playing with my clit with the other. All the while, taking my ass, taking all of me for himself. His pace quickened even more, lightning fast, filling me up in every way, and my pleasure skyrocketed, my ass clenching around his cock. I closed my eyes and white light flashed behind my eyelids, then stars, and my orgasm tore through me and him all at once.
Rule Breaker Page 10
