Always Series Box Set

by Becs, Lindsay

  Travis gives me a bro hug, patting me on the back, and although he just watched me maul his daughter, he seems happy to see me. I get hugs and welcome homes from everyone else until I get to Ollie, who watches me for a second.

  I put my hands up in surrender, which makes Bex laugh as she smacks her husband. “I never want to see that shit again. I thought it was bad enough with Tate and Benton, but with Penny… I can’t handle that.”

  Tatum rolls her eyes at him. “Why are you always such a little girl? Get over it. Your sisters are going to kiss boys.” She says it like they are all still in high school, and it makes everyone laugh. “Don’t listen to him. Love her right,” she tells me with a wink. And now this feels awkward.

  “Come on, let’s go and let them spend some time together,” Tilly says, thankfully breaking the awkward silence. I give her a small smile and head nod letting her know I appreciate it. “I’ll have dinner ready about six. You two come when you’re ready.”

  I give my aunt who raised me another hug before we all make our way out. Penny walks out with her arms snaked around my waist. We don’t say anything until we’re both inside her car.

  “I’m sorry about all of them. They all wanted to be here,” she confesses.

  “It’s alright. I just didn’t realize they were there until you had your tongue down my throat.”

  “Oh, my tongue,” she sasses. “I’m pretty sure you consented just fine.”

  Leaning over, I kiss her lips again, softer this time. “I’m going to consent to a lot of things while I’m here,” I whisper in her ear and watch her cheeks blush.

  We chit-chat a little bit about everything on the forty-minute drive from the airport to my house. Once home, I take my bags up to the loft. Sitting on the bed, I look around and notice all of Penny’s little things that are around. I smile seeing how she’s made this her place, too. This is home in so many ways, but having Penny here is what really seals the deal.

  I look up from where I’m sitting at the foot of the bed and see Penny at the top of the stairs.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I’m basically living here.”

  My brow creases in confusion as to why she’d ever think that. “I was just thinking about how much I loved seeing all your little things around here,” I say, standing to walk to her.

  Cupping her face in my hands, I stare into those blue eyes that I’ve missed. I give her a wicked grin before I take her mouth with mine. We pick up right where we left off at the airport. Picking her up, she wraps her legs around me, and I sit with her on my lap on the bed.

  “Damn, Penny, I want you so bad right now, but I want to take my time with you. I want to savor you and love you. And I don’t want to have to see your whole family right after.”

  She laughs into my neck at the last part. “Yeah, that’s probably smart. Tate would know and blast it to everyone.”

  “I was almost scared of Ollie for a second earlier,” I admit with wide eyes.

  “Don’t worry, Bex keeps him in check,” she says, kissing me again. “But dinner is just Tilly and my dad and us. Still, better not push Dad, either.”

  We get familiar with one another again and lie in bed with Bear, talking for a little bit before we drive to have dinner with my aunt and her dad. I have two weeks at home, and I intend to make the most of every damn minute.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Penny

  When we walk into the house, it smells amazing, and with Tilly cooking, it’s bound to be something incredible. Jesse goes straight back to the kitchen to give her a hug and spend some time with her before we eat.

  I watch as he easily walks and slings an arm around her shoulders. She beams up at him as she shuts off the pot on the stove. I giggle when I see her smack his hand with a spoon when he tried to dip a finger in to steal a taste.

  “It’s almost like watching the opposite of us, huh?” my dad says from the couch next to where I’m standing.

  I smile, shaking my head at them, and sit next to my dad, leaning into his side. I curl up to him like I did as a little girl. His arm instantly wraps around me and kisses the top of my head.

  “It’s so strange how life happened, you know? You were young and raising me on your own. Tilly moved in next door, not far off from your age, and without warning was raising Jesse on her own. We’ve been a mashed together family.”

  He takes a second to think about what I said, I’m sure. “I used to be annoyed by the similarities between us.”

  I sit up in surprise to look at my dad. “Really?”

  He snorts a laugh, “Yeah, selfishly, I didn’t like that I had to compete for your time with a ten-year-old boy. And sometimes the fact that Tilly filled in areas that should have been saved for your mom used to make me angry.”

  “Oh, Daddy,” I sigh, sad that he felt that way.

  “I know it was stupid, but it took time before I saw them as a good thing. Now, I can’t imagine what we would have done without them.”

  “Like when Tatum wasn’t here and I started crying for no reason,” I chuckle, “you sent me to Tilly to ask for help. I remember she told me that I was becoming a woman and you would freak out about it a lot more as time went on. She gave me a bar of chocolate and started talking to me about how my body was changing.” I stop and laugh harder thinking about it. “I came back home and you asked what was wrong.”

  “You shrugged your shoulder and told me your horn-mones were changing and that chocolate helps,” he smiles

  “The next day you had stocked the cupboard with every kind of chocolate they had at the store,” I tell him, wiping tears from my eyes from laughing.

  “I didn’t know what to do with that! Your mom did all that with Tatum, and it wasn’t really my place with her anyway. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, LP. I was never more scared of my own kid as I was in that moment,” he admits.

  “You did just fine, old man,” I reassure him, patting his leg.

  “I couldn’t have done too bad. You are pretty amazing.” He smiles at me. “I’m really proud of the woman you have become. I know your mom would be, too.”

  I wipe tears from my eyes for a different reason now. “Thank you, Dad.”

  He kisses me on the head again. “Love you, Penny.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Tilly tells us dinner is ready. We spend the rest of the night eating and talking about all the ways Tilly and my dad helped each other raise Jesse and me through the years. All the times neither of us had any idea how much we had freaked them out.

  By the time Jesse and I hug them goodbye for the night, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. These are my favorite kind of days.

  When we walk outside, instead of walking to my car, Jesse pulls me toward my dad’s truck.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Driving to the field so we can catch lightning bugs.” He smiles at me.

  “It’s freezing out!” I yell at how crazy he is.

  “You want to go back home?” he asks. Home. Yes, I think I am ready to go home.

  I slowly nod my head. “Yes. Is that alright?”

  He assures me it’s fine and that after living in places that are hot year-round, he almost forgot about how cold it is here. We drive back to his house, and as soon as we walk inside, he starts a fire in the fireplace.

  I go to the kitchen and come back to him holding two glasses of wine and then panic because I don’t even know if he likes wine. He must read my thought written on my face.

  “This is good. Thank you.” He smirks.

  We sit sipping our wine while the light of the fire dances around us, warming our already heating bodies even more.

  “Nugget,” he starts but pauses, gulping the last of his wine and setting the glass down on the side table.

  I don’t know what he’s going to say or do, but I have a feeling I shouldn’t have a glass in my hand. I take one last sip and place my own glass on the coffee table in front of us. The chink of the glass hitting t
he table is the only sound in the room, apart from the crackling of the fire and my heart pounding in my chest.

  His hand goes to the side of my face as his thumb runs back and forth on my jaw. It’s a soft, sweet movement that has me melting into him. My eyes slowly close, getting lost in his simple touch.

  I feel his breath ghost across my lips. “I want to make you mine,” he says with his mouth barely touching mine.

  I open my eyes to look into his as I answer his plea. “Kiss me like I deserve. Kiss me with all the love and passion you have to give me.”

  And he does. He kisses me slowly, seducing my lips. His tongue slides against mine in a tantalizing way that has my whole body tingling and wanting more. He lifts me to straddle his lap and I comply, liking the feeling of being pressed against him.

  My hands, which were in his hair, slide to his sides and under his shirt, my fingers running over the dips and ripples of his toned and muscled body. He must want me to feel him as much as I do, because he fists the back of his shirt, pulling it off. My eyes gaze down, and I notice he’s even more muscular than the last time I saw him.

  “Someone’s been working out.” I grin, running my hands down his chest.

  “Maybe a little,” he chuckles.

  He takes my hands in his and kisses me again. Raising my arms above my head, he slides his hands down my sides until he reaches the hem of my shirt. He pulls it up and over my head, tossing it with his on the floor. I reach behind me to unclasp my bra, pulling it from my body and letting it join the other pieces of our discarded clothing.

  His eyes burn into my flesh as they blaze with desire. His hands come back up my sides and his thumbs brush over my hardened nipples. It feels so good to have his hands on me again. My eyes instantly close. When his mouth hits my body, I release a moan, arching further into his touch.

  My body is vibrating with so many feelings and sensations running through me. I don’t know what I’m doing, or what to expect really, but I know that I like whatever it is he’s doing and don’t want it to stop.

  “I love you,” I hear him say quietly against my skin. I freeze, looking down at him. His eyes meet mine, vulnerable and searching, looking for a mirror of emotion in me.

  Taking his face in my hands, I look him in the eyes as I speak the truth that I’ve known since I was seven years old. “I love you, too.”

  “It was always you, Penny. You’ve always been it for me. I just didn’t know how to do this before.”

  “Well, I think you knew how to do this,” I sass him.

  “Brat.” He smiles before kissing me again.

  “I love you, Jesse Jones. It was always you for me, too. You’re my home.”

  “And you’re mine.”

  He kisses me, showing me even more love and passion than he has already. Every time I think he couldn’t do anymore, he does. My heart beats only for him and always will.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jesse

  I love her. I’ve always loved her. It’s always been her. And I finally told her.

  Now, I’m going to show her.

  I pick her up and carry her upstairs to the bed. I’m not doing this on a couch. Not our first time. Not her first time.

  Laying her down, I kiss her again and again before I stand up and retrieve a couple condoms from my nightstand, tossing them onto the bed next to her.

  I cover her body with mine again, needing to feel her against me, kissing her more and more. I kiss down her body and eventually peel off her jeans, taking her thong with them. I still fucking love that she wears them.

  I know she’s nervous. I’m trying to be as gentle and slow with her as I can, but truth is, I’m dying to slide between her legs. But I also want to savor every second and take my time with her. I want to love her. Make love to her.

  I open her legs and take in her glistening pussy that’s waiting for me. She’s watching me with intensity. Running my finger through her wet center, my eyes lock with hers. She’s fighting hard to keep them open. I push my finger inside of her and her eyes go big at first from the intrusion, but then her lips part and she lets out a moan of pure pleasure. I slide my finger in and out a few times, and when I can’t stand it any longer, I lean forward and kiss her there. My finger continues to move in and out at a slow pace, working her up as my tongue licks and flicks her clit. She arches her back, and when I latch on and suck, she cries out as she tips over with her legs holding my head like a vice.

  “Holy shit,” she gasps, making me laugh.

  “Good?”

  “Um, yeah.”

  I laugh again as I kiss up her stomach. “We can stop if you want.”

  “No way. I want to see you. I want to see it. Show me,” she says, way more eager than I thought she’d be. She sits up on her elbows, not seeming nervous or shy at all at the moment. I love that she’s this way instead of trying to cover up and hide.

  I lean up and kiss her lips, making her taste herself on me before I sit back. I stand up and pull off my jeans. Her eyes are fused to the outline of my cock in my boxer briefs. “You ready? He wants to meet you,” I tease.

  She smiles and nods, not taking her eyes off me. I slowly lower my boxers as I watch her face. I love that I’m the first one she’s seen like this, been with this way. This is mine. She is mine.

  “Can I touch it?” she asks, biting her lips.

  “Fuck yes. Please touch it.”

  She sits up then onto her knees in front of me. I can’t help but want to kiss her again as we both kneel on the bed, naked. I’m lost in kissing her, and then she runs her hand down my shaft, making me groan into her mouth. I pull back and watch as she tentatively strokes me up and down.

  “OK, enough of that,” I say, flipping her onto her back.

  She giggles as I climb on top of her. But they soon die when I run my cock through the wetness between her legs. “Jesse…” she sighs my name and I grow harder, if that’s possible.

  Reaching for a condom, I roll it on and search her face to make sure she’s ready for this. She nods with a sweet smile. With one hand by her head bracing myself, I guide my cock to her entrance. I kiss her swollen lips as I begin to push inside of her, excruciatingly slow.

  Arching her back, she lets out a groan that I can’t decipher as pain or pleasure as she squeezes her eyes shut. I push past the barrier, taking her innocence as mine and kiss her again. Once I’m seated fully inside her, I pause, waiting for her to look at me. She opens her eyes as a single tear falls from each, and it kills me.

  “I’m sorry, Nugget.” My voice breaks as I rest my head to hers.

  “I’m not,” she whispers, cupping my face and kissing me again.

  I slowly begin to rock my hips, pulling in and out. She’s so fucking tight, and I can hardly hold back any more than I already am. But I’d never do anything to hurt her. Sliding a hand between our bodies, I begin to rub circles on her clit as I thrust in and out, trying to ease her discomfort.

  It seems to work when I hear her moan, and this time it sounds like the most delicious pleasure. I keep going, and right as I’m about to come, I feel her pussy clamp down on me. Holy shit! She’s going to come with me on our first time! She begins to quiver under me, gripping my cock and pulling me over into my own orgasm. I groan into her neck as she screams my name into the room around us.

  We’re both panting, hearts racing. I slowly slide out of her and discard the condom quickly before I lie back down and pull her to me, holding her close.

  “You OK?”

  “I’m better than OK. I’m fantastic!”

  I laugh and kiss her bare shoulder. She turns her head back to look at me. I take her mouth with mine again. I can’t seem to stay away from it or from her.

  We lie like that for a while, wrapped in each other. The light from the dying fire below us still dances slightly on the ceiling.

  “I love you, Nugget,” I whisper into her fiery red hair.

  “I love you, too, Jesse.”

  Pulling
her against me, I wrap around her, as we’ve done for over a decade. “Thank you for loving me,” I tell her, kissing her shoulder again. And finishing the sentence for the first time out loud.

  * * *

  I wake up the next morning to the smell of coffee brewing. As much as I enjoy coffee ready for me when I first wake up, I miss her lying in bed next to me. I sit up, ready to join her, when I hear her coming up the stairs.

  I smile, taking in her messy bedhead hair. She’s wearing my T-shirt from last night, that she must have found downstairs this morning, and is carrying two steaming cups of coffee.

  “Morning, beautiful,” I say as my eyes linger on her legs.

  “Morning, handsome,” she answers, handing me a cup and kissing my lips. She climbs back in bed with me and we sit side by side, leaning against the headboard as we sip our morning coffee.

  “You feel alright this morning?”

  “I’m fine.” She smiles. “Ready to go again whenever you are,” she adds into her cup.

  I huff a laugh of surprise, looking at her blushing cheeks. “That can be arranged,” I reply smugly, taking another sip.

  “Things are different,” she says quietly, placing her cup down before looking up at me. “I’m glad they are, but there’s like a weird awkwardness now that I don’t know how to get around.”

  Damn, she’s sweet. I love that she’s being honest. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little bit the same. I still wouldn’t change anything, though. This is us and what was always meant to be. It’s evident we both see that.

  I put my coffee on the side table and reach for her hand, pulling her against my chest and kissing the crown of her head. “It’s still us, Nugget. It’s just us naked now.”

  She giggles into my chest, and when she looks up at me, I see the pink on her cheeks. “I like you naked,” she admits, biting her lip.