Unwrapping Jade

by Melanie Shawn

  Without taking his mouth away from my sensitive nipples, Hayden slid the flat of his palm down the length of my belly and slipped his fingers in between my legs. He rubbed them up and down along the length of my seam, spreading my juices all over my lips, which were plump and sensitive with arousal.

  Every single time his touch came even slightly close to my pleasure button, the unseen electrodes firing in my muscles doubled in speed and intensity. I felt like a marionette on a string with my movements controlled by an outside force. My arms shot above my head, my back arched forcefully, my hips rolled and pushed into his hands of their own accord.

  Finally, he pushed two fingers inside of me and moved them in a sensuous rhythm while using his thumb to stimulate my hard, sensitive nub. Through all of this, he kept flicking my distended nipples with the hard tip of his tongue. The combination of all of that stimuli and the swirling mixture of sensations they sent flying through my body was too much to take.

  Without warning, everything inside of me exploded in a bone-crushing climax. My belly muscles contracted, my inner walls clamped down on his hand, and my back arched even further, driving my breasts deeper into his mouth.

  My entire body spasmed as the release exploded in me. I gasped a silent cry as my head jerked up and my stomach contracted.

  I rode out that climax until the end, reveling in the animalistic lust flowing through my veins until all that was left was my heavy breathing, sweat cooling on my skin, and the vague sensation of Hayden’s hand resting on my hip while his other one stroked my hair.

  When I was finally able to open my eyes, all of that animalistic energy was gone and I was floating in a pool of pure, gushy emotion. My eyes filled with tears as they met his. I was overwhelmed by all of the strong feelings buffeting me from every angle.

  I put my hand to the side of his face and he leaned into it, closing his eyes as he did.

  “I love you,” I whispered, both because it was the truth and because I was so completely wrung out that the only words I could manage at the moment were the simplest distillation of that truth. “God, I love you so much.”

  Chapter 27

  Hayden

  “Love doesn’t mean life is going to be easy, it just means it will be more interesting.”

  ~ Nora O’Sullivan

  There was nothing sexier than the look on Jade’s face as she orgasmed, wave after wave of pleasure rushing over her, every bit of it showing on her expressive face.

  I was kneeling next to her naked body on the bed, giving her every bit of that pleasure I saw played out over her features. I was in a unique position to experience it as both a participant and an observer. It was new to me, not something I’d ever done before. But it was sure as hell going to be something I would do again. And again. And again.

  Jade and I were going to be together forever. I hadn’t been sure before but now I was. It seemed too good to be true but the girl next door was the girl of my dreams. My soulmate. My everything. And she loved me back.

  This night had gone so differently than I’d imagined it would’ve. I’d come over here prepared to grovel. In the truck on the way over, I’d told myself to keep my patience and persist no matter what it took. I’d given myself a pep talk, pumping myself up for a marathon of apologies and promises. It would all be worth it, I assured myself, as long as she forgave me.

  And then I hadn’t had to do any of it. Instead, as soon as she flung open the door, my whole world had changed for the better. The heavens opened up and beams of sunlight came shining down on me. Like I was the chosen one. And I was, come to think of it. Jade had chosen me, and I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.

  And now, as she opened her eyes, caressed my face, and whispered that she loved me, I knew that I was the luckiest bastard in the whole state of Texas.

  “Jade,” I spoke her name with the reverence it deserved as I stroked my thumb over her cheek, “I love you. So much. You’re it for me. Always have been. I can’t explain how much I love you but right now I’d like to show you.”

  Her eyes flared and she drew in her breath sharply. “Yes. Hayden, yes. Right now. Please. Show don’t tell”

  A smile curled on my lips as I bent down and kissed her, hard and long. Anything that was in my heart that I hadn’t managed to spit out with words, I wanted to get across to her with that kiss. There was nothing more to hold back from her. My heart was an open book, and it was filled with so much love for her, so much passion. I didn’t know if words alone would ever be enough to describe it.

  I stood to take my clothes off, suddenly seized by a powerful need to be just as naked as she was. I needed to feel her skin against mine. I wanted to be as close to her as possible. The idea of being separated by anything, even clothes, was suddenly more than I could take.

  As soon as I rose, disconnecting our mouths and bodies from each other, she sat up on the edge of the bed, following my body’s upward trajectory. She must’ve read my mind because she lifted her hands to help me undress. Her fingers were trembling and fumbling as they quickly moved over all of the various buttons, zippers, and buckles.

  When I was finally naked, she took me in her mouth, lovingly caressing my cock with her lips and tongue. It felt so good. Like she was making love to me with her mouth. The warmth and friction against my throbbing dick gave me twice as much pleasure knowing that this wasn’t just physical, but so much more.

  I brushed her hair back from her face in order to have a better view. It was so erotic, the sight of my shaft disappearing between her lips again and again as she moved her head up and down. It brought out a primal, caveman impulse in me.

  It felt so good in fact, that my eyelids kept trying to squeeze themselves shut from the sheer pleasure of it, but I fought hard to keep them open. I didn’t want to miss even one second of this incredible show.

  As her speed increased, she looked up and locked eyes with me, and my arousal shot through the roof. Her shiny hair shook as she moved, the glossy waves brushing against her shoulders in beautiful curling movements while her breasts bounced to the rhythm. It all combined to create a sensual image forever frozen in my memory.

  I was so focused on how I felt and how good it looked that I almost missed all of the telltale signs building up in my body. I was about to shoot my load right down the back of her throat. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let her think that every single time she put me in her mouth it was going to end with me filling that sweet, pretty mouth with my cum. I wanted her to know that her pleasure was the most important thing to me.

  As quickly as I could make my lust-heavy muscles move, I bent down and put my hands under her arms, lifting her up as quickly as I could. I slid my arm underneath her knees and picked her up and climbed onto the bed on my knees and moved to the middle, laying her down against the pillows as gently as possible.

  Then, a terrible thought occurred to me.

  Fuck.

  I dropped my forehead into my palm and mumbled, “Dammit, I can’t believe I did this.”

  Her brow wrinkled and she tilted her head to the side. “Did what? What’s the matter?”

  I gave a beleaguered sigh. “Protection,” I admitted. “I don’t have any.”

  She smiled beautifully. “Not a problem. Top drawer of the nightstand.” She pointed to guide me.

  I looked at the nightstand drawer, conflicting thoughts beating each other up inside my brain. As happy as I was not to be heading down to the drugstore, I definitely didn’t like the idea of her keeping condoms in her nightstand. I knew it was just the prehistoric Neanderthal in me, but that didn’t change that it was there.

  Apparently my expression gave me away, because she laughed and reached up to pat my chest. “And don’t worry about the expiration dates,” she teased. “They’re brand new. I bought them day you came back to town.”

  I turned to face her, the implication hitting me full force. “And you couldn’t have put me out of my misery sooner”

  She s
hook her head. “Hell, no. I was pissed as hell at you. I didn’t plan on this happening but I’m not stupid either. You’re like pure Spanish fly to me. I wanted to be prepared and safe.”

  I winked. “So, you were planning it, basically.”

  Her jaw dropped and eyes flared, my cockiness sending her straight into spitfire mode. It was simultaneously the most adorable and sexiest look on her…which was why I had deliberately provoked it.

  I leaned down and covered her mouth with mine, kissing away her amused indignation until nothing was left in either of us but pure arousal. Reaching into the drawer of her nightstand, I pulled out one of the condoms and made quick work of unwrapping it and sliding it on my erection.

  Then I knelt between her legs and ran my hands up her inner thigh and pushed them further apart, exposing her beautiful slick wetness to my eyes. She was so gorgeous. So wet, so ready.

  “Jade.” Her name came out in a whispery rasp.

  “Hayden, please,” she begged. “I want you inside me. It’s time to show, not tell.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I grabbed my shaft and positioned it at her entrance and then I slowly dove into her waiting wetness. Her inner walls clenched around me, creating a tight envelope for my demanding erection. I moved slowly at first. Building the momentum and speed with each push in and pull out. Her body felt like it was vacuum sealed around my pulsing hardness. With every thrust, I stretched her tighter, and she gave a cry of release and pleasure every single time I pounded into her.

  “Yes, yes,” she gasped, digging her fingernails into the back of my shoulders. I liked the little twinges of pain it sent shooting across my skin, contrasting with the smooth pleasure that the rest of her body was making me feel.

  She dug her heels into the mattress and thrust her hips upward to meet me, her back arching and chest flushing suddenly. Every muscle in her body clamped down on me, and I knew that I had sent her rocketing up into outer space yet again. So I followed along, joining her on that stellar space ride. We spun out together, seeing stars the whole time.

  It seemed to go on forever, and I liked that just fine. I never wanted it to end. When it finally did, though, I collapsed on the bed and pulled her with me, loving the way that she snuggled into the nook where my neck met my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me.

  I believed it now, that we would really be together forever. Not just because I wanted to, but because I truly believed it, with my whole heart. Because it was real. I loved Jade, and she loved me. Forever.

  Epilogue

  Jade

  “Life is like a cup of tea, it’s all in how you make it.”

  ~ Nora O’Sullivan

  “Thanks for not going with overalls.” I yawned as I patted Coop’s arm and escorted him to the back holding area of the ballroom to await the silent auction announcements.

  This morning he’d texted me a picture of himself in denim overalls, shirtless, with one of the straps hanging down and a piece of hay sticking out of his teeth with the caption reading: I’m ready for the ball.

  I hadn’t really believed that he’d show up like that, but it was Coop. He was a wild card. Needless to say relief washed over me when he showed up wearing a stylish black suit and tie.

  He held the door open for me. “You look tired.”

  “Thanks, Coop.”

  “You look gorgeous, don’t get me wrong. But you just look tired.”

  I was tired.

  The past few weeks had been exhausting. In the best way possible. My days were long and busy. I’d been waking up before sunrise and not going to sleep until well after sunset. My business had started booming in a very short amount of time. I’d acquired five new clients and hired two part-time employees to keep up with the workload. That accounted for why my days were nonstop. And my nights had been just as taxing, in the best way possible.

  As far as my nights…well, Hayden and I were making up for lost time. We’d spent every night together since he’d hijacked my date with Cooper. Our activities didn’t include a lot of sleeping, we probably averaged only a couple hours a night.

  Except the last two nights. His actor-cousin, Kyle Austen Reed, had invited Hayden to come and speak about Hero Rescue at a charity golf tournament he was hosting. So Hayden had flown to California two days ago.

  I would’ve gone with him but the event was this afternoon and I wouldn’t have made it back in time for the gala. The past two nights I’d thought I would catch up on sleep, but there were so many last minute details to take care of, I’d barely shut my eyes.

  I couldn’t think about that now, though. I had work to do. Miranda, one of my new employees, handed me the envelopes for the MC. I knew that she was smart and capable, but the control freak in me had to check her work. Maybe someday I would be able to delegate tasks and live in the peace that they’d be handled correctly, but I wasn’t there yet.

  “Jade.”

  Coop’s voice was serious, a tone I wasn’t used to hearing from him, and my stomach dropped as I lifted my head, ready for a problem. “What?”

  “Who is that?”

  I followed his gaze to the far corner of the room where Vanessa was chatting with Pete, her mixer, who waiting to go onstage for the auction portion. I was fairly certain that Coop wasn’t inquiring about the heavyset thirty-year-old man so I said, “That’s Vanessa. You know, my college roommate. You’ve met her, haven’t you?”

  “No.” He spoke with a certainty that left no room for argument.

  My mind did a mental data search for the keywords “Coop” and “Vanessa,” but I couldn’t think of a time that their paths had crossed. I was sure that they must’ve. But for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with one. Coop went to college out of state and when he came back to Texas, Vanessa had been on a semester abroad.

  “You’re right. I don’t think you have. Come on, you have to meet her.” Excitement bubbled inside of me in anticipation of these two very important people in my life meeting for the first time.

  I started to move in their direction but quickly realized that Coop wasn’t following me.

  I turned my head and saw that he was standing stock still, staring across the room like he was in a trance. “Coop? You don’t want to meet her?”

  “No…Yes…No…” Coop was flustered.

  My eyes widened at what I was witnessing. I’d never seen Coop unsure of himself. Then it hit me. He liked her.

  “No!” My finger pointed right at his chest. “No, Coop. Not Vanessa.”

  “Why not?” The challenge in his eyes made me immediately regret my disapproval. Telling Coop no just made him want to do whatever it was more.

  I decided to plead with the human side of him. “She’s sweet, Coop. Really sweet. She doesn’t play games. She’s not like the girls that you…date.”

  “I know.” His eyes met mine and they were filled with so much certainty and intensity it took me back.

  “How do you know? You don’t know her.”

  “Maybe not. But I know me.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  He didn’t answer, but I could see the wheels turning in his head. And I didn’t like it.

  His eyes cut to the table where I’d been reviewing the envelopes for the auction. “Do you have my envelope?”

  “What?”

  “My envelope.” He was scanning the table. “How high is the bid?”

  I grabbed his envelope so he couldn’t do something crazy. “Why?”

  “How high is it?”

  I knew the answer. His was the first I’d checked. “I can’t tell you that.”

  “How high is it, Jade?”

  His serious tone was back. “It’s fifteen hundred.”

  “Good.” He got out his wallet, pulled out his credit card, and started filling out a bid slip. “I’m bidding two thousand.”

  “You’re bidding on yourself?” He wasn’t making any sense.

  “Yes. I’m anonymously bidding on
myself and gifting myself to Vanessa.”

  “I don’t think that’s legal.”

  “Are the bid police going to arrest me?” He continued writing and when he finished, he handed the slip to me. “What’s the point of an auction? To raise money. This is five hundred more than you had a minute ago.”

  Not sure I was doing the right thing, I replaced the original bid with Coop’s. “Are you sure you don’t want to just meet her?”

  “I’ll meet her.” The grin on his face was the same one I’d seen before every basketball championship and baseball playoff that he’d played in and subsequently dominated. It was the grin of a conqueror, but this time his sights were set on one of my best friends.

  “Don’t hurt her.” I knew that my admonishment was useless and he wouldn’t take me seriously, but I made it anyway.

  “I won’t.”

  Before I could come close to processing the exchange that we’d just had, I was pulled aside for a catering emergency. The next half hour passed in a blur as I put out some small, theoretical fires and I lost track of Coop.

  When I was finally able to take a breath again, I saw that he was lined up with all of the other bachelors as they prepared to go on stage.

  I tried to get his attention but was sidetracked once again when the doors opened and Brent walked in with someone I wasn’t expecting to see. Hayden.

  Brent gestured toward me and Hayden thanked him before heading in my direction. Brent lifted his hand in a friendly wave as he went back out to the main ballroom. Always a gentleman. I’d declined another date with him, and after he’d heard my final podcast recounting the date that I was supposed to go on with Cooper but ended up being with Hayden, he’d known why. He sent me flowers to congratulate me on reuniting with my first love and he wished me all the happiness in the world.

  I felt my jaw drop as I watched the man I loved walk toward me in a tux, looking like James Bond if he was being played by Charlie Hunnam.