She laughs softly, staring down at us. “You do not play fair at all.”
“When it comes to you, I won’t.” I rise, moving closer while Muskoka stays at my feet. “I want to see where this goes. Can you forgive me?”
Her mouth twitches, eyes search mine. “Well, as far as getting me to see that you’re serious about all this, I’d say you’re off to a really good start.”
“Just a start?” I ask, wondering what else I could possibly do to prove myself.
She presses her soft body against mine, resting her hands on my chest, and grins. “I think you need to take me back to your place before I make my final decision.”
I don’t need to hear more, understanding completely.
With a grin, I take her hand and whistle for Muskoka to follow, determined like hell to make this woman a permanent fixture in my life. Because for all that’s felt wrong these past days, when my hand squeezes hers, suddenly everything feels right again.
Mallory
When I enter Jackson’s condo, I smile at the warmth of his space. Panoramic views of downtown Los Angeles fill my vision. I’ve been to Liam’s condo a couple times, and there are some similarities. Their living spaces make my and Aria’s condo look like a closet in comparison. But where Liam’s condo is cool, Jackson’s is warm. Lots of chrome on the tables and light fixtures keep things modern but every other thing in this room has an earthy feel. Now that I know about Muskoka, I guess that makes sense. This space feels like he re-created his love of the outdoors and brought those elements inside. From the earth-toned stones on the fireplace against the far wall to the dark gray hardwood floors leading from the doorway to the open-concept living room to the kitchen table behind the soft gray leather couches to the chef’s kitchen on the right.
I turn and watch Jackson unhook the leash from Muskoka’s collar. Then the ball of fluff, clearly at home, trots down the three stairs toward his bed in front of the fireplace. I follow him, squatting down and giving him a head scratch. There are toys scattered around. A lot of toys. A big water bowl and a food bowl with a ridiculous amount of food are in my line of vision in the kitchen. “You are one lucky boy,” I tell Muskoka, kissing him on the head.
I’d never bonded to a dog as much as I had with Muskoka. He just had this unforgettable thing about him. And as far as grand gestures go, Jackson couldn’t have found a better one. Not because he adopted Muskoka, because truthfully, I would probably be annoyed that Jackson would use a dog to get to me. But he had won me over because he did one better. He cared for Muskoka, truly and meaningfully, doing all he could to make sure Muskoka was happy. He gave him a good home.
That means something to me.
He was trying to do better and make amends.
That means something, too.
As complicated as things were between Liam and Jackson, with me and Jackson it was very simple. I didn’t want the angry Jackson. But this kind, thoughtful, and sweet Jackson, I want. Madly. Deeply.
I give Muskoka another big kiss on the head, and he hastily shuts his eyes, obviously tired from the long day of playing. I feel Jackson’s presence behind me, and I turn, finding his gaze intensely on me, stripping my clothes right off my body.
My breath hitches and I lift my hands. “Doggy hands.” I know I need a minute to gather my thoughts. I feel oddly nervous, and I don’t know what to do with myself. Things have changed with him, I feel that. He’s decided about me. About us. And butterflies dance in my belly at the idea, too.
I move to the large kitchen with white cabinets and dark gray counters, stopping at the kitchen sink. I turn the water onto warm, but that heat is incomparable to what boils through me when Jackson slides his arms around my waist. He begins washing his hands with mine, and all those nerves wash away. This feels right. He feels right. We feel right together.
The thickness of his strong body presses against mine, letting me feel how hard he is. I lean my head back against his shoulder and moan at how amazing it is to have him close again. He turns off the faucet and spins me in his arms. “Best we see about ensuring you decide I’m worthy of you,” he states.
“Yes, you surely do have some proving to do,” I barely manage through my raging lust.
He gives me that sexy smile before he captures my mouth. His thumbs are under my chin and he’s tipping my head back, deepening the kiss. His tongue swirls with mine. His kiss is rough, wild. I’m lost just that easily. That’s what he does to me. But then all I know is I need him naked. I need to feel him. Every inch of him.
I reach for his shirt, and he has it off a second later. I reach for his shorts but he brushes away my hands and removes them himself. He kisses my neck now, licking, teasing me until I’m moaning. He pushes my cotton shirt up over my bra, and then pulls my bra down, exposing my breasts. I am his plaything as he slides his mouth over me from my neck to my nipples, all the way back up again. He keeps on just like that until I’m circling my hips with every kiss he gives, hungry for so much more.
With rough hands, he spins me around again, and he’s reaching for my shorts, yanking the fabric down, along with my panties. I lean back against him, wiggling against his dick, wanting him deep inside me, when he reaches for my cotton shirt. He flips it over my head, but the shirt never falls down my arms or lands on the floor.
He nips at my neck, licking his way up to my ear before he murmurs, “Let’s have a little fun, shall we?”
When he leans away, I slowly feel my shirt tighten and tighten around my upper arms, until I realize he’s bound me. I’m not sure how he’s done it exactly. All I know is there is no way I’m getting out of this.
He steps away then and smacks my bum. I wiggle, teasing him. He slaps again. Harder this time. When I stop moving, he chuckles deeply. “I like the way you wiggle against me, Mallory. Keep going.”
I glance over my shoulder and smile. “Like this?” I wiggle my bum in the sexiest way I know how.
His grunt is my reward.
Another slap and then he’s backing away. I turn just as I see him grab a condom he must have tossed onto the counter. He rips the wrapper open with his teeth and then he’s rolling the latex over his hard-on. I glance at him, this man who surprised me and then surprised me again. His muscular frame looks even more muscular with the intensity he’s obviously suffering.
I am soaking up the eye candy in the seconds before he’s behind me again, his hands threading into my hair. He angles my head back, arching my spine in the same second his cock finds my slit and slides in all the way to the hilt. His other hand is on my breast, cupping me, and he’s riding me hard and fast. Each thrust forward slaps his pelvis against my ass, and it’s rough and wild and feral. This doesn’t feel like sex. This doesn’t feel like it’s only about pleasure. This feels like ownership.
His hand moves to my neck, while the other slaps my bum, again and again before he’s gripping my hips, taking me hard. Mind-boggling thrusting of his hips steals away my thoughts. Pleasure is overcoming me, and I’m moaning and screaming and shivering into the sensations he’s delivering.
I scream out my happiness with his violent thrust upward that sends me on tiptoes, and then he withdraws. I exhale, trembling with the force of what he’s doing to me. Then I glance over my shoulder, finding him walking backward next to his kitchen island.
He slowly sinks to the floor and crooks a finger at me. “Come here, sweetheart.” I approach him and settle my feet next to his hips, ready to sink down onto his dick, when he arches an eyebrow. “No, Mallory, I want to taste you.”
Heat flushes through me, wild and wicked. I take the few steps until his face is near my sex.
When I go to tilt my head back, he says, “Eyes on me.”
I shiver at the heat in the depths of his when he leans forward and licks my clit with the flat of his tongue. It’s gentle. It’s teasing. It makes me crazy. His gorgeous face is between my thighs, his gaze locking onto mine. I want to touch him; the bindings won’t let me. I’m throbbing,
aching, and I can tell he’s not doing this to get me off. He wants me to burn for him. He wants me desperate.
And I’m there.
When my legs begin to tremble, he has me in his arms again, and I’m squatting above his cock. He angles me perfectly until I’m poised at his cock, and then I’m sinking down onto him, swallowing him up. Our moans echo each other. He holds my weight with his hands under my bum, slowly waiting until my body accepts him.
That’s obviously as gentle as he plans to be. In the very next second, he pumps up into me. I lower my hips, bringing myself closer to him, wanting him deep, needing all of him inside of me. I can’t look away from the intensity in his eyes. The way he owns me when he looks at me like this. It’s passion. It’s freedom. It’s all the things I’ve been missing in my life. And there’s hope there when he stares at me. Hope that I can give him things he didn’t have either.
I want to make him happy. I want us to be happy.
He’s glancing from my breasts, which are arched out toward him due to the bindings around my arms, then his gaze flicks to my face. Over and over again, his grunts slide over me in a wicked burn, making me climb higher and higher. And as my inner walls begin to tighten, his gaze changes, becoming hard. His jaw tightens. Eyes burn with lust, widening with his pleasure. His dick turns to steel inside of me, and he’s rocking up into me with a force that brings my orgasm so quick, my eyes shut of their own accord.
I sense myself free-falling into him but I control nothing. My muscles tighten to pain, my breath struggling as my body peaks higher. When he roars his release, he takes me over the cliff alongside him, my inner muscles pulsating against his throbbing cock while waves of pleasure drown me.
Until there is nothing…just us.
For many, many minutes.
When reality returns, I discover that I’m slumped over him, my head on his chest, a breathless mess of satisfaction. His skin is sweaty beneath mine. The strength and heat of him is all that I need now.
Though apparently he possesses strength I don’t since he cups my face, lifting my gaze to his. “I’m awaiting your answer, Mallory.” His expression is as serious as I’ve ever seen it.
I’m momentarily brainless. “Answer about what?”
He arches a brow as his reply.
That arrogant look fills in the missing pieces, and my brain starts to work again. “Yes, Jackson, you have certainly won your case,” I say with a soft laugh. “To be perfectly honest with you, I can’t exactly remember what my original thought was, but it no longer applies anyway. I want you. All of you. All the time.” Because that’s how simple this all is. This Jackson, the man free from his anger, is the Jackson I met in Muskoka, and it’s the Jackson I wholeheartedly want in my life. “Is that enough of a confirmation that I want to give this a real shot, too?”
Jackson’s mouth parts but Muskoka pushes his way into us, licking the tip of my nose. Without my arms to defend myself, I squeal and turn my head from side to side but there is no avoiding him.
Jackson chuckles, grips my arms, and rises up to sitting, pushing Muskoka off me. Once I’m straddling his waist, he cups my face, his eyes warming in ways I’ve never seen before. “We’re doing this then? Us, we’re together now?”
I lean into his strong hold, oddly sensing that I’m staring into my future but how can anyone be sure? “We are most definitely together.”
Life is so full of surprises. Some good. Some bad.
As I stare into Jackson’s gorgeous eyes, I realize he’s the best surprise of all.
Epilogue
Jackson
SIXTEEN MONTHS LATER…
“Muskoka,” Mallory calls.
I stay back, leaning against a tree, watching her as white and brown fluff comes charging toward her out of the forest. His mouth is open, tongue out and wagging. Behind the Alaskan shepherd is a six-month-old husky, Daisy, named after Mallory’s favorite flower.
With that puppy’s appearance, Mallory gives a visibly relieved sigh.
“Stop worrying about her,” I call.
Mallory glances over her shoulder then and smiles. “She’s a baby still, and she refuses to listen.”
I whistle and Daisy beelines straight toward me. She happily sits at my feet, tail wagging. With a grin, I arch my brow.
Mallory sighs, rolling her eyes. “Or I should say she doesn’t listen to me.”
I chuckle. “Muskoka will keep an eye on her.” I watch the beauty approaching me and add, “Besides, she can’t get in too much trouble here.”
“I guess you’re right.” Mallory stops in front of me and shrugs. “But she’s already cost us fifteen hundred dollars because of her love of eating socks. I don’t want her falling off a rock or something.”
It’s true the dog has been expensive so far, but there is no price that I wouldn’t pay for that look I’d seen on Mallory’s face when I brought the dog home on our first anniversary. “I have a feeling she’s going to cost more than that in the years to come.”
“Probably.” Mallory laughs softly and glances down at Daisy, who’s staring at me, awaiting my next command. “You are such a traitor,” she jokes. “Have you forgotten you’re supposed to be my puppy?”
I laugh, taking Mallory’s hand, pulling her closer.
She leans against me and adds, “You know, I’m beginning to feel like they both love you more.”
“Nothing can possibly love anything more than the way that I love you.” I wrap my arms around her, capturing a kiss. I pour all the heat I can into the kiss, stealing away those thoughts.
I keep up the kiss until she’s melting beneath my touch. Only then do I break away, finding her cheeks flushed and eyes dilated. I reach for her hand and kiss the ring I’d placed there a month ago. “Or have you forgotten how much I love you already?” I had proposed right here in Muskoka, on the rock overlooking my mother’s cottage.
“I do know how much you love me,” she whispers. “And I love you right back.” She stands on her tiptoes, sliding her hands around my neck and bringing my mouth back down to hers.
I dip my head again and pull her close, deepening the kiss until she gives me that sexy wiggle she does, showing me how much she wants me to own her. It never grows old for me. I want her just as much. The craving for her, even after sixteen months, still burns wickedly hot.
I press my cock against her, thinking a quickie in the forest sounds fun, when she suddenly gasps and breaks away. “Did you hear that?” she asks, eyebrows drawn.
“Hear what?”
A piercing scream echoes across the lake, followed by “Help,” making me understand exactly what she meant. I grab her hand and spin, running back to the cabin, the dogs on our heels. The fear in that voice is clear-cut. I’m on immediate alert now.
By the time we reach the dock next to the cabin, I slow, seeing exactly what the problem is. At the end of the dock, Liam is on his knees, Aria resting against him, her one hand in his, the other on her very round belly. Her face is bright red, her brows pinched tight, sweat beading on her forehead.
Liam’s eyes are frantic. “She’s gone into labor.”
“Yes, I see that.” As far as I knew Aria wasn’t due for another couple of weeks. That’s why they made the trip out for this long weekend. “Let’s get her in the boat,” I offer, moving forward. “We can take her to the hospice.”
Liam shakes his head. “We can’t.”
I stare at him in slight horror, realizing the situation we face, when he adds, “We don’t have time. She won’t release my hand to help her.” He cringes when Aria screams and squeezes his hand.
“I’m scared. Oh, my God,” Aria sobs, her eyes open during an obvious break in her contractions. “It’s happening. Liam! This is too fast.” She glances at Mallory, her eyes wild. “I thought they were just Braxton Hicks then it went to this.” She screams again, and birds scatter from the trees. “Oh, my God, what do we do?”
“Shh…” Liam murmurs. “You’re fine. We’re fine.�
�
His voice is calm, though his expression, which she can’t see, is anything but. I glance from Mallory to Aria to Liam. It’s there my gaze stops. For all we’ve been through, and for all the slow steps we’ve taken this last year, we’re back to the spot where there is nothing between us but friendship.
He bleeds emotion when he says, “Help me.”
That’s when I spring into action. I roll up my sleeves and step forward, calling out to Mallory. “Call the hospice, Mallory, tell them to come immedaitely. Get blankets. Hurry.”
She grabs my arm and gasps, “What are you going to do?”
I glance over my shoulder and grin. “I’m going to deliver a baby.”
She gives me that smile that I love so much before she turns and punches forward toward the cabin, where it all started for us. Where my life changed forever.
When I kneel in front of Aria, I know that our adventures, both mine and Mallory’s, and Liam’s and Aria’s, are only just beginning. And that the years to come will be spent, just like this.
Together.
For my readers.
Acknowledgments
Much love to my family; my readers; my editor, Sue; my publisher, Gina; my agent, Jessica; my assistant, Michelle; the kickass authors in my sprint group; and the entire Loveswept team. This book couldn’t have happened without all of you.
BY STACEY KENNEDY
Club Sin
Claimed
Bared
Desired
Freed
Tamed
Commanded
Mine
Magic & Mayhem
Witches Be Burned
Dirty Little Secrets
Bound Beneath His Pain
Tied to His Betrayal
Restrained Under His Duty
Cuffed by His Charm
Bought by the Boss Page 18