“Yes,” he says like he’s delivering up a prayer. He starts to move faster, punching in harder. My orgasm rumbles on and on, and I wonder if it will ever stop. Kynan’s chest heaves and his eyes squeeze shut for just a brief moment.
He then goes unbelievably still within me and his eyes fly open. They latch onto mine and he groans, “I’m coming, Jos.”
His jaw locks tight and his face looks almost pained, but his words are beautiful as he grits them out. “Coming. So. Fucking. Hard.”
Kynan shudders in my arms and I try to gather him to me. I wrap my legs all the way around his back and lock him in with my ankles. I squeeze and contract my interior muscles and I know he feels it because he groans and shudders even harder. I close my eyes and feel this man orgasming inside of me and I’ve never felt closer to another human being in my life.
Huffing out a breath, Kynan lets his body weight sag onto me and then rolls slightly to his side. His arms gather me close and he pulls me into his chest. I place my ear there and love the music of his galloping heart. I think I’ll write a song about it and memorialize the beat of post orgasmic relief.
“You’re amazing, Jos,” Kynan murmurs. The words are simple but the tone and meaning I hear within them shock me.
I pull my head back, wanting to see his face. He regards me with clear eyes, in no way befuddled with the haze of amazing sex. He nods, as if he understands that I’m questioning this. He puts his face closer to me, and repeats, “More amazing than anything I’ve ever felt in my life.”
And the tears come. He doesn’t get alarmed because I smile through them. As he takes a thumb and wipes one away, I touch his face with my fingertips. I want to tell him I love him, but how can I when this is all so new? He’d think me young and impetuously silly.
So instead I just tell him, “I’m so happy right now. I think this is the best night of my entire life.”
“I’m glad,” he murmurs, putting his palm to the back of my head as a means to hold me close.
We lie in silence for a bit before Kynan tells me, “I can’t stay with you all night. I don’t want Jayce to know.”
I push away from him slightly so I can see his face. “That would be bad,” I agree.
“I’m going to have to resign when we get back. I’ll go see Jerico tomorrow after we land.”
“Oh, God,” I exclaim as guilt floods my body. “No. I don’t want you to lose your job.”
“It’s fine,” he reassures me.
His voice is calm and sure, but I feel wretched. “There has to be some way—”
“Joslyn, I can’t do my job effectively. I can’t treat you like just some client I have to protect. It’s best I resign.”
“I feel awful,” I tell him.
“Don’t,” he says, placing fingers over my lips. “What you and I have here is more important than any job. I’ll land something else quick, so don’t worry, okay?”
I just stare at him.
“Okay?” he repeats.
Finally, I have to nod and he removes his hand from my mouth. He replaces it with his mouth and the kiss isn’t sweet at all. It’s a claiming kiss that lets me know that I belong to him, and past that, nothing else really matters.
Chapter 13
Kynan
I enter the lobby of the Jameson Group offices. We still haven’t hired a receptionist and I doubt we will until we finish up the casino project and start building up our clientele. Until such time, no sense in paying someone to sit out here just to greet the employees coming in.
Making my way to Jerico’s office, I wonder how Joslyn is faring. From the airport, I dropped her and Jayce off at her apartment and then headed straight here. She’s going to be telling her mom about us and I’m going to be resigning. We decided to just get it done with so people can get over the shock, and then hopefully support us.
I merely hope to come away with my friendship with Jerico intact. I’m struggling with the guilt of letting him down and doing exactly what he told me not to do.
The heart, however, wants what it wants, and I’ve realized it’s the most powerful organ in our body. There’s apparently no arguing or reasoning with it.
Jerico’s office isn’t much to write home about. I expect he’ll fill it with nice furniture like that in the lobby to give the impression of an incredibly successful company. It just hasn’t been high on his list, and as of now, he merely has a desk set up in the center of the room. Granted, it’s a nice desk—dark cherry, heavy and masculine. He’s also got a huge leather chair behind it that holds his big frame easily.
He’s sitting in it when I tap on the already open door, reading something on his laptop. Glancing up, he gives me a smile and jerks his head for me to enter.
“How’d everything go in Cunningham Falls?” he asks as I walk toward his desk. There are no chairs for me to sit in.
“Smooth sailing,” I tell him as I assume a military stance in front of him. What I’d really like to do is act all casual and just sort of tuck my hands in the pockets of my utility cargos, but that seems too casual. I know one thing... I will miss this uniform, as it’s pretty badass.
“Great,” he says and then looks back to his laptop. “You should get home and get some rest before you take over the evening shift.”
“Yeah,” I drawl hesitantly and that causes his head to snap up. “About that. There’s a problem with me guarding Joslyn.”
Jerico’s eyebrows draw inward but his voice is merely inquisitive. “What problem?”
“We slept together last night,” I tell him bluntly. Might as well get to the real issue—that would be the one he’d fire me for. “I’m here to resign or you can fire me, but I get that I can’t stay on because of that breach of ethical duty.”
Jerico’s jaw locks tight and he curses at me through gritted teeth. “Fuck, Kynan. I told you to stay away from her.”
“Kind of hard, mate, when I’m guarding her twelve hours a day,” I reply smoothly and he doesn’t appreciate my flippancy.
“You know what I mean,” he grows. “I told you not to fall for her.”
“Also easier said than done when I’m spending so much time with her.”
“Got an answer for everything, don’t you?” His tone has gone cool and detached, and I’m afraid the friendship may have just bitten the dust.
I don’t answer right away, trying to formulate my thoughts so he understands me. “Listen... I know what I did was wrong. I also know that I’m compromised. I’m too biased and that would affect my ability to protect her. I also know this puts you in a totally shitty situation with her mother. So I’m here to offer my sincere apology, mate, as well as my resignation. I truly hope this doesn’t affect our friendship.”
Jerico squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose while muttering, “Jesus fucking Christ, Kynan.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeat. “I know this leaves you in a bad position with Madeline, but I know you can easily assign someone to take my place.”
Jerico opens his eyes, glares at me, and then gives a dismissive wave. “I can handle Madeline. What I can’t handle is your resignation. You’re my number two and my number three doesn’t have nearly the qualifications or inherent abilities to move upward.”
“What are you saying?” I ask him cautiously.
“I’m saying I’m not accepting your resignation,” he snaps. “You can move over to help me manage the casino projects and I’ll reassign someone to cover your shift tonight with Joslyn.”
This was more than I had ever expected. I know Jerico says he can handle Madeline but the truth is, she’s more than likely to fire us for this breach of trust. I’m sure she’s going to think I took advantage of Joslyn, which might partly be true because, let’s face it... I didn’t have to kiss her last night.
I certainly could have chosen not to fuck her.
Wait... strike that.
Not all the military forces in the world could have stopped me from doing that last night, nor co
uld they stop me today. She’s mine and that’s all there is to it.
“Is this thing serious with her?” Jerico asks, and that catches me off guard. I wasn’t prepared to discuss the personal feelings involved.
But this is also Jerico Jameson. I’m incredibly tight with the bloke and we’ve been through some intense, dangerous stuff together that tends to bond you tighter than any regular friendship could. Maybe I misjudged his interest in my happiness outside of the workplace.
I decide to go with straight-up honesty, even it if makes me look like a pussy in his eyes. Up until now, both of us were happy playing the field with no intention of ever settling down.
“I don’t know what this is,” I tell him, lifting my chin just a bit in defiance of any laughter he might decide to throw my way. I’m prepared to punch him if he does anything to diminish it. “But I’ve never felt this before and I don’t want to give it up.”
He surprises me. Instead of ridicule or an incredible lewd joke, his eyes soften and the corners of his mouth tip up. “Then I’m happy for you. Truly.”
I’d hug the guy if that totally wouldn’t cause him to call me a pussy, but I smile back. “Thanks, mate.”
“This is more than just lust, right?” he asks for clarification.
“It was something big before we were even together last night,” I explain and my ears flush with heat. I feel proprietary over Joslyn and sharing our intimate details, even with someone I’m close to like Jerico. I don’t want to cheapen anything about her.
Jerico sighs and leans back in his chair. “When she makes it big and leaves Vegas, you going with her?”
“I have no clue. I don’t think that’s happening any time soon. She still has a few months left on her Vegas contract, and when that’s done, if she leaves I’ll just have to figure things out then.”
He regards me a moment and then mutters, “I should just fire you now because you’ll probably be chasing her in a few months.”
He’s probably not wrong about that.
Jerico nods toward the door. “Go home and get some rest. I’ll start you on the casino project tomorrow and I’ve got to call Madeline.”
“Sure thing,” I say and start to turn away. But then I look back at him. “Thanks, Jerico. Means the world you understanding.”
“Can’t say as I understand it,” he drawls with a smirk. “But I believe and trust in your feelings. It’s all good.”
I nod my thanks and head out the door.
When I reach my car, I grab my phone and check my texts. I was hoping Joslyn would have been done talking to her mom and sent me some type of update. I see nothing but there is a missed call from Rachel Hart.
In moments, I have the voice mail rolling on speaker phone. Hey, dude. Mate. Whatever the hell you Brits say. Just rolled into Vegas for a few weeks and thought I’d look you up. I’m going to do some climbing over at Red Rock Canyon and wanted to see if you were interested. Call me.
I smile as I delete the voice mail.
I’ll call her back later, as Rachel will be in town awhile and I’ll definitely have to hook up with her for a climb.
Rachel is one of those chicks who can just “be one of the guys.” Don’t get me wrong... she’s smokin’ hot, but I’ve not gone there and don’t intend to. We met less than a year ago in Venezuela. I was taking a month off for a long holiday before going to work at my father’s car dealership, and because I’m an adrenaline junkie, I decided to do some base jumping off Angel Falls.
I jumped in a wingsuit and apparently Rachel had been up there and watched me. She came down via parachute, but immediately sought me out and asked me how to do it. She shared the same love of speed and danger as I did.
We’ve kept in touch since then with promises if we were ever in the same corner of the world again, we’d make plans to get our fix together. I wonder if Joslyn would jump out of a plane with me. My guess is probably not, but that makes me adore her all the more. I make a mental note to call Rachel later to make plans, and instead dial Joslyn’s number. I’m anxious to hear how things are going with her mother.
I’m only anxious because Joslyn’s nervous about it. I could give a fuck what Madeline thinks of me personally and I’m pretty sure she’s not going to be happy about this because she doesn’t want Joslyn’s focus anywhere but her career. I can handle any animosity she might throw my way but I’ll be bloody pissed if she takes it out on her daughter.
Joslyn doesn’t answer and I get her voice mail. I don’t bother leaving a message but instead shoot a quick text to her. All went fine with Jerico. He wouldn’t let me resign and I didn’t get fired. Call me after you talk to your mom.
I debate for a moment whether or not to end it on an endearment. This is new territory for me and I don’t want to fail her expectations, but I have no clue what they may be.
To be safe though, I say what’s in my heart. Can’t wait to see you tonight.
We’ve made plans to have an early dinner before she has to leave for her show. We also made tentative plans for her to come to my place after her show. I plan on being there to watch it, and I plan on driving her right back to my place whether Madeline likes it or not. Joslyn and I talked about this and she’s ready to live her life as an adult and out from under her mother’s constant thumb.
She can’t stay all night, though. I told her that we needed to be a little mindful of her mother’s feelings and be a little respectful of that. Still, I’m assuming gradually and over time, Joslyn will just naturally end up at my place permanently, and then it will become “our” place.
Yeah... that has a nice ring to it.
Chapter 14
Joslyn
I hate that I’m nervous as I put the key into the apartment door. Jayce takes up a post in the hallway. He never hangs out in the apartment the way Kynan did, but then again, I never invited him to. There’s something about him that doesn’t inspire the warm and fuzzies.
“Joslyn,” my mother exclaims, and she’s there to greet me as I’m closing the door. She wraps me in a warm hug, which is a rarity these days, and it surprises me so much, it takes me a moment to reciprocate.
My mom, dad, and I were always an openly affectionate family. From as early as I can remember, my mom always had a place for me on her lap. Throughout the years, I never questioned her love or loyalty to me. The affection between us was easy and natural, and yet it started to disappear when I entered show business.
Or rather, when she became my business manager. I came to understand why she changed as I rationalized it was too hard for her to be tough with me on the business side of things and loving to me on the mom side of things.
She had to pick a side, and she chose being a business manager as her primary role. This was okay with me because I couldn’t do any of this without her, and as I got older, I was secure enough to know she loved me without the physical reassurance of hugs.
It feels nice hugging her now, and I squeeze her back extra tight.
“I missed you,” I tell her, because I did. We’ve been together for so long and rarely are apart.
She pulls back from the hug but keeps her hands on my shoulders. She tries to contain it but fails, and the most enthusiastic smile I’ve ever seen graces her face. “You’ll never guess what?”
“What?” I ask with a laugh.
“Ian’s here in Vegas,” she proclaims like a giddy schoolgirl. “He has the contract to represent you, and he says he already has an offer for you that is so big, we’re not going to believe it.”
“Oh,” I say softly, not expecting that at all.
“Oh?” she teases me as her hands drop from my shoulders. She clasps them in front of her chest and practically hops in place with excitement. “Is that all you have to say? Come on, Joslyn... this is it. Your big break. And while I have no idea what kind of offer he’s been given for you, he told me that he was taking us both out to the most expensive restaurant in Vegas for a celebratory meal tonight. We have to meet him at 6PM so
you need to make sure you’re ready to go at 5:30. He’s going to send a car for us.”
My head is spinning with all of this, but the only thing that can come out of my mouth is, “But I have plans tonight.”
The expression on my mom’s face changes into one of blank confusion. “Plans? What plans could be more important, and for that matter, why aren’t you excited about this?”
“I’m just shocked,” I tell her sincerely. “As soon as it sinks in, I’m sure I’ll be jumping up and down with you. But I really can’t do dinner tonight.”
Her face morphs again and now she’s pissed. “What could possibly be more important?”
And now it’s time to tell her my big news, except now I’ve been set up to completely fail. I expected her to be mad and upset over my relationship with Kynan but by telling her I have plans tonight, I’ve set him up as being more important to me than my career or her, and that’s not good at all.
“Mom,” I say as I reach forward to take her hands. They’re ice cold and I give them a squeeze. “I’ve got something to tell you.”
“Oh my God,” she moans as she pulls her hands away and looks at me in horror. “You’re pregnant?”
“What? No. That’s ridiculous.”
She doesn’t look relieved by my adamant denial. There’s no way I can sugar coat this either, so I go all in.
“I’m seeing Kynan McGrath,” I tell her with my spine straight and my chin lifted proudly. “We’re in a relationship. A serious one and well... that’s who I have plans with tonight. They had already been made first, you see, so I can’t cancel. If Ian had called ahead of time or checked—”
“Joslyn Rae Meyers,” she hisses through her teeth. “This is not funny at all.”
I pull myself up and throw my shoulders back, resolved to defend myself and my feelings for Kynan. “I am not saying it to be funny. I think I’m falling in love with him. In fact, I’ve never felt this way before and—”
“Of course you’ve never felt this way before,” she snaps. “You’re nineteen. You know nothing of the world and men and love. Trust me, something better than him will come along one day.”
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