by Alisha Rai
Sadia tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and shoved back her seat. “Okay, we don’t have much time. Let me get my journal from the car and we can get started.”
The table fell into a discussion of various wedding planning, but Jackson sat back, food dancing in his head.
Chocolate and rich flavors and dramatic surprises. That’s what he would give Livvy.
“Are you still thinking about the menu?”
Jackson turned away from the passenger window. He blinked at her, which told her that yes, indeed, he’d been fixated on the wedding menu.
Sadia grinned and returned her gaze to the road. “What’s the main entrée going to be?”
“Roast lamb. I’m still working on the vegetarian option.” He glanced into the backseat, where Kareem was fast asleep. “Something less adventurous for the kids, too.”
“Sounds like you have it figured out.”
“Did you know about the announcement?”
“I had a feeling. Livvy had told me she and Nicholas hadn’t wanted to get married until the families could at least break bread together.”
“She jumped on it first chance she could get.”
“They’ve waited so long. I don’t blame them.”
“Me neither.”
She removed her hand from the steering wheel to capture his. “You’re okay with it, then?”
“Yes. I want Livvy happy.”
“Me too.”
“It won’t solve all of their problems.”
“There’s no such thing as being problem-free. You can really only hope for someone who’s able to share your problems with you.”
His fingers tightened around hers.
They pulled into their driveway. Jackson lived inside the main house now, and slept in her bedroom. He’d broached the idea of a fresh start with a new house, but Sadia hadn’t wanted to make too many dramatic changes yet in her son’s life. She was seeing a therapist regularly now, one she actually liked, to manage grief and her panic attacks, and he’d agreed with that call.
She didn’t feel guilty about Jackson moving in, though. The Paul she’d fallen in love with and adored would have been fine with it.
She knew it wasn’t totally healthy that she’d separated Paul’s actions with the fire from the man she’d married, but it had been the only way she knew how to process what he’d done. Someday she’d be able to be as at peace with her late husband as Jackson was, but it would take her a bit more time. It helped that she could talk about it with Jackson and Livvy.
Not Tani. Her mother-in-law had given her a warning look the one time Sadia had attempted to broach the subject. The woman was older and frailer than Sadia, but it had been enough to intimidate Sadia into silence.
Money aside, no wonder that witness had shut up.
Jackson carried Kareem inside and put him to bed while she went to their bedroom. She shimmied out of her dress and hung it up carefully, and then went to the vanity to remove her earrings.
Jackson entered the room quietly, closed the door, and locked it. He came to stand behind her. His hands slipped around her body and cradled her breasts, slipping the cups of her bra down to get to the flesh. “You said you would reward me if I was good.”
She couldn’t look away from their reflection. Those long, elegant fingers manipulated her nipples, pressing and pinching until they were long and puffy.
She pressed back against him. “You were very good.”
“Tell me what you want,” he murmured against her sensitive ear.
“I want to watch you fuck me.”
His smile was sharp. He released her to remove his shirt, and then his jeans as well. She braced her hands on the table, her breath coming faster, though he hadn’t touched her yet.
He ran his palms up her side and pulled her back so her body was arched. His cock brushed against her thigh, the wetness of his pre cum dragging a trail across her leg. She’d gone on birth control and they’d both gotten tested months ago. It hadn’t taken Jackson much convincing to ditch the condoms.
He pressed inside her, high and deep, and she groaned. God, he felt so good, thick and long. She wanted him to fuck her forever.
The table wobbled as his hips picked up speed and she lifted her head to watch his face in the mirror. His high cheekbones were flushed red, his muscular stomach clenching as he hammered inside her. He switched his attention between his body penetrating hers and her face and jiggling breasts. “Stop.” Her voice was a sharp crack in the otherwise silent room.
His nostrils flared, but he stilled immediately, his cock still half inside her.
“Pull out.”
He made a tortured sound, but did as she commanded.
Her legs were too wobbly. She managed to turn around and perched on the vanity, hands braced on either side of her. She lifted her leg, feeling no self-consciousness as she placed it on the chair, opening herself up to his gaze.
His eyes were locked on her pussy. Every muscle in his body was tensed, his cock wet and hard, sticking straight up. It must have been painful, but he didn’t touch it. His hands were clenched at his sides.
“You wanted a reward,” she purred. A part of her watched aghast. Sometimes she didn’t know who she was when she was with Jackson like this, alone. Not a mother, not a widow. Just a woman.
With a man who would do whatever she liked.
“I do,” he growled. His tongue touched the corner of his mouth.
“If you give me a very good orgasm, I’ll let you come.”
He dropped to his knees before she could finish speaking, but she’d let that infraction pass. His tongue slicked up and down her vulva, and found her clit. She bit her lip to keep from crying out when he sucked it hard.
Two fingers found her opening and he finger fucked her while he played. He knew her body now, and it didn’t take her long at all to convulse around him.
She was still recovering when he gathered her close, his hard cock rubbing against her wetness. “Now?” His tone was frantic. “Let me fuck you now.”
She gave a slight nod, and it was enough. He picked her up like she weighed nothing and tossed her on the bed. She opened her legs and her arms and he was on top of her, his cock driving inside her. Her orgasm taken care of, he was selfish and greedy, pounding into her hard enough to move her up the bed, her pillows cushioning her from the headboard. His mouth covered hers and he groaned. His muscles tightened and released beneath her palms, the wetness between her legs telling her he’d found his pleasure.
He panted into her neck. She stroked his hair as both their bodies cooled. Soon, she’d draw the covers over them both and they’d sleep, but right now, this was nice.
He rolled away and drew her to his side so she could cuddle him as she liked. She traced her fingers over the rose he’d gotten for her, the leaves for Livvy, the geometric tribal design in memory of his father. She shifted over to trace the Japanese phrase he’d gotten because it reminded him of his grandpa Sam.
She’d asked if he was planning on anything else. For Paul or his mother. He’d looked thoughtful and disappeared the next afternoon. When he returned, printed letters had been inked next to the rose.
I am the man I am now because of you.
He released a deep, shuddering sigh. “I want to get married, Sadia,” he said.
She snuggled closer. The thought of marriage should make her panic, but there was no fear here. “Not yet. Let’s let Livvy and Nicholas have the spotlight for a while.”
“Our wedding wouldn’t have a spotlight.”
He sounded so worried she kissed his arm. “No, but I’d want my family to come. And yours.” She wasn’t eloping again. “What I meant was, I don’t want to pull attention from your sister right now.”
He mulled that over. “But soon, right?”
“Yes. Very soon.”
“I love you.”
She looked up at him. At his dark eyes, his steady strength. She didn’t differentiate anymore between love and
in love, not when it came to Jackson. She felt both. “I love you, too.”
“Always.”
There was no guarantee of a future or even a tomorrow, but that was okay. She would take this love for as long as she could have it. She stretched up and sighed into his lips. “Always.”
Announcement to Hurts to Love You
Don’t miss the next Forbidden Hearts novel!
HURTS TO LOVE YOU
Coming Spring 2018!
About the Author
ALISHA RAI pens award-winning, sexy, contemporary romances and is the first author to have an indie-published book appear on The Washington Post’s annual Best Books list. She spends most of her time dreaming up sexy heroes and heroines, traveling, and tweeting. To find out more about her books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit www.alisharai.com.
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By Alisha Rai
The Forbidden Hearts Series
Hate to Want You
Wrong to Need You
Coming Soon
Hurts to Love You
The Pleasure Series
Glutton for Pleasure
Serving Pleasure
The Campbell Siblings Series
A Gentleman in the Street
The Right Man for the Job
The Bedroom Games Series
Play With Me
Risk & Reward
Bet On Me
The Karimi Siblings
Falling For Him
Waiting For Her
The Fantasy Series
Be My Fantasy
Stay My Fantasy
Single Titles
Hot as Hades
Cabin Fever
Night Whispers
Never Have I Ever
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from Hurts to Love You copyright © 2018 by Alisha Rai.
wrong to need you. Copyright © 2017 by Alisha Rai. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition DECEMBER 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-256674-4
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-256675-1
Cover design by Nadine Badalaty
Cover photograph by Michael Frost
Cover image © bioraven/Shutterstock (tattoo)
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HarperCollins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
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