by Mia Carson
“You are,” he whispered. “Elevator’s this way.”
She followed where he led, her sudden need to kiss him until the groaned filling her with each passing second. When they were finally alone inside the elevator and the doors closed, Jack yanked her into his arms, his lips slanting over hers in a way that weakened her knees. The only thing holding her up was the strength in his arms. She buried her hands in his hair as they fought for control over the kiss. Jack groaned and pushed her back against the wall, hoisting her up until her legs wrapped around his waist and her skirt rode up her thighs. His hand burned against her bare skin, and her vision blurred.
Everything they could have been together, a torch of burning heat, consumed Danny—tearing her inside and out because she’d missed this so much. All sense of this simply being a one-night stand with the man she ran away from disappeared and was replaced with a carnal need to possess him and have him take her, body and soul.
When the doors opened, he set her down and tugged her behind him to a door at the end of the hall. His breathing was ragged as he pulled out his wallet and cursed when he fumbled for the keycard to the door. Laughing, Danny took it from him and slid it home, opening the door the second the light turned green. He reached inside for the light, but Danny’s patience had died in the elevator. She grabbed the front of his t-shirt and dragged him into the room with her. He kicked the door shut as his hands grasped her hips, grinding against her as he pushed her up against the closest wall.
Her heels fell to the floor with a quiet thud as Jack lifted her, and her legs wrapped immediately around his waist again, drawing him even closer to her. Her fingers traced the tattoos covering his arms, the bit of moonlight from the open drapes allowing her to see a few details here and there. His lips burned across her skin as his tongue followed the line of her neck.
But suddenly, Danny didn’t feel it. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the dim light, and she clearly saw the tattoo. “Jack,” she whispered, her fingers digging into his arm. “Is this… is this of our first night together?”
He pulled back and glanced at his right arm. “You didn’t notice it earlier?”
“I was a little busy dealing with everything else,” she whispered as she stared at the tattoo of colors stretching across his arm down from his shoulder. It had been expertly done, and only someone who knew about that night would understand the symbolism.
Jack set her on her feet as she lifted up the sleeve of his t-shirt to see the entire picture. He leaned over to flip on the light. Danny stared at every beautiful detail, and it was as if time stood still. The scene started on his upper arm, a moonlit sky surrounded by stars, flowing down into a leafless tree with roots and branches stretching out. A truck was parked beneath it, protected by the branches, and in the bed, two pairs of feet stuck out from beneath a blanket. Shattered and whole hearts intertwined with the roots as it faded into the field Danny had come to know so well.
She couldn’t look in his eyes but shifted so she could see his other arm. All the times she’d seen him on TV, she’d never noticed this arm wasn’t complete. The top showed two roses twisted together, and it looked like something was supposed to be spilling from them as they tipped, but there was nothing there yet.
“You tattooed our first night together,” she whispered in stunned awe, heart clenching in her chest. “And this one?”
He shrugged, his gaze narrowed on her face. “I hadn’t decided yet where to go with that one.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because, Danny,” he said, his hands sliding up her arms to hold her, “when you ran, you broke my heart, but you didn’t shatter it. You’re still in there, and no matter what the hell I did, I couldn’t get you out of it. The booze, the other girls… They don’t even come close to numbing the ache you left there.”
“Jack,” she whispered, brows drawn together with her need to be with him. He leaned in, and when his lips met hers, she felt the anger in him, but beneath that was the love for her that mirrored her love for him. “I’m sorry. I had to.”
He kissed her again, his mouth moving languidly with hers as his hands reached up to cup her face. Tears slipped from her eyes, and he wiped them away with his thumbs. It was all wrong. Everything had turned out wrong, but she still couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth.
“I forgive you,” he breathed. “For whatever reason you left me, I forgive you. You’re here with me now, Danny, and I’m going to be honest.” His eyes found hers, and the need in them made her gasp. “I don’t just want one night.”
Not sure why she was doing it when she should’ve been trying to bolt out the door, she warned, “I don’t either.”
His mouth fell on hers, but this time, the passion quickly consumed Danny. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he moved them farther into the room towards the bed. It had been so long since she’d been in his arms. Everything tightened within her, crying out to be filled again by the man she loved. His hands lifted her shirt up over her head and tossed it aside. She gripped his hair as he lowered his head to the mounds of her breasts, his stubble scratching and tickling at the same time as he moved across them. Danny’s eyes rolled back, her body quickly swept away on the tidal wave of raw, unbridled need to be possessed by this man.
As he slid one bra strap down, followed by the other, she shivered. Since having Jenna, her breasts had grown, and Jack muttered in appreciation, his tongue making lazy circles on the sensitive flesh while his hands quickly undid the clasp at her back. He leaned back only long enough to remove the clothing and admire the fullness of her chest before his hand cupped one of her breasts and his mouth closed, tight and warm, over her other nipple.
“Jesus,” she whispered, her head falling back, her legs squeezing together at the throbbing between her legs.
He sucked, drawing until the nipple was so hard it almost hurt before switching to the other one. Her back arched as he pulled even harder with his mouth, his hips grinding against hers so she could feel his hardened erection press against her. To feel him again, so close to where he had once buried himself deep within her, tore a moan from her throat, and she pressed his head even closer to her chest. His tongue licked the hard points, kissing around her breasts as his hands slid lower to her skirt, finding the zipper in the back and, far too slowly, pulling it down.
“You know how many nights I’ve dreamt about this?” he whispered raggedly, his dilated, intense gaze locking onto hers while his warm hands tugged at her skirt. It moved over her hips and he followed it down, sinking to his knees in front of her. “God, Danny. Is this even real?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered, “but don’t stop.”
She lifted one foot and then the other as he pulled her skirt away and his hands smoothed up her legs, starting at her calves, each finger pressing and massaging her muscles on their way up. His mouth nipped her thigh, and her thighs quivered in response. It worsened when his fingers looped in her panties and tugged the last bit of clothing down her body. It was as if they were back in the bed of his truck for the first time and she let him see all of her. Nothing held back. Just Jack and Danny, fully exposed.
His breath was warm against her red curls, and when his hand gently spread her legs enough to move against her wet folds, dripping with their need for him, she groaned in anticipation. Her inner muscles clenched to take him deep inside her, but his fingers teased, running and pressing against those delicate bits of flesh. Danny sucked in a breath when his tongue flicked out against her wetness, tasting her.
“It hasn’t changed,” he groaned. “After all these years, you still taste the same.”
She wanted to ask how he could remember something like that, but his hands tightened at her hips and he kissed between her legs as if it were her mouth. Danny lost all sense of control, crying out as his tongue thrust deep within her, demanding that she give him everything. When her knees shook, he stopped only long enough to turn around and lay her back on the bed, tugging her
towards the end so he could resume his agonizing torture.
Every flick of his tongue pushed her closer to the edge until she gripped the bed covers so hard her knuckles turned white. His thumb and finger played with her clit like her nipple, tugging and squeezing without mercy, forcing a gasping cry from her throat. His tongue was fire, stoking the flames deep within her, and when two of his fingers suddenly replaced it, she tightened around them, holding them inside her.
“You’re so tight,” he muttered, clearly amazed, his fingers moving in a slow, steady rhythm, gliding along more than just her body.
“It’s been a while,” she replied before his fingers twisted and found that spot deep within her. She cursed, her back arching off the bed. Her head lifted enough to meet his hungry gaze, his eyes ablaze with wonder. He always looked at her like that when he made her scream and cry out, beg him for more and never to stop.
“How long is a while?”
“Years,” she gasped, laying her head back against the bed until he pulled his fingers out and thrust them in harder, his teeth nipping her inner thigh as his thumb massaged her clit.
It was too much. He pulled so much out of her as he poured himself in. Danny’s body twisted and turned as he drove her into a writhing moment of ecstasy, her body shaking with unrelenting need, completely at his mercy. This was what she had needed and hadn’t found in eight years. Her body cried for it, dripping still as he pulled out and rose to his feet. As her body tried to piece itself back together, she sat up and reached for his jeans.
“Take your shirt off,” she demanded.
He did without hesitation as she undid his button and zipper and shoved his jeans down with his boxers as fast as she could. He started to say something, but his length bobbed in front of her face. She licked her lips and closed her mouth over his tip.
He groaned deeply within his chest as his hands reached out, running through her hair. Her tongue licked down his length, nipping the throbbing vein on the side. His head fell back, and his hips bucked. Just like he could still pleasure her as if they’d never been parted, she was going to pull him out and tear him apart before she let him be fully put back together. Her lips smoothed down his length, taking as much of him as she could inside her mouth before she pulled back, sucking hard the whole way. When she released him, a drop of pre-cum rested on his tip, and as he lowered his gaze to hers, she licked it off, tasting him and relishing every second.
He stood before her, all hard muscles and tattooed skin, his gaze shifting from predator to prey with every passing second. Danny wanted him more than she ever wanted anything in her life, more than she wanted him the first time in the bed of his truck with the moon as their only witness.
She lowered her mouth to him again, her hands cupping his hips, her nails digging into his skin. She kissed him, lathering him and driving him to be even harder in her mouth before he pulled her away. Together, they fell on the bed. He lay beneath her, and she quickly straddled him, hovering over his erection. When she lowered her body too slowly for him, Jack grabbed her hips and with one hard thrust, was inside to the hilt. She shuddered at the fullness she’d missed for so long, her eyes rolling back as her body adjusted to his size.
“Danny?”
“I’m fine,” she whispered, her eyes fluttering open as her hips moved.
He sighed with relief and pushed up each time she came down. She wanted it to be slow so she could feel every bit of him moving inside her, gliding in and out of her warmth and stoking that fire even hotter. She reached for his hand and pulled it up, sucking his finger into her mouth.
His jaw clenched, and his hips bucked harder beneath her. He grew within her, and she timed her sucking with his thrusts, driving them both to panting with want. Her inner muscles tightened, holding him longer each time he pulled out, and suddenly, he rolled them over, not even pulling out fully, and when he thrust in again, Danny gasped.
“Don’t stop,” she whimpered. “Jack, please, don’t stop.”
“Never,” he grunted and drove even harder into her, holding her to him with one arm wrapped tightly behind her.
He didn’t hold back, and she didn’t want him to. Her hands gripped his shoulders as her legs wrapped around his waist, moving to meet him each time he entered her again and again until he groaned her name, his body shaking within her as warmth spilled between them. Her own muscles shook uncontrollably a second after, working to keep him deep inside her as they rode out the orgasm together.
Jack pulled out slowly, causing more tremors through Danny’s body. He laid beside her, and she rolled to face him, their bodies pressed together, and for that brief moment, she could imagine it was eight years ago. Before she got pregnant.
“Better than I remember it,” he whispered and brushed his lips gently against hers.
The scent of her on him again, tasting her saltiness on his lips, put her libido on high alert. “Better?”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “But you know, the night is young.”
She grinned and pressed herself against his body, her skin screaming to be close to his. “It is. Let me text my stepsister, tell her I’m not coming home tonight. Then I think we can do even better than that. Don’t you?”
His brow furrowed as she texted quickly. When he kissed her again afterwards, she knew how much he had missed her. It was a slow kiss, doing more than exploring the depths of her mouth. It searched for her soul, maybe to see if a part of him was still attached to her as she was to him. But Jack had never left her, no matter how hard she tried to force him away. He remained deeply seated, and now that he was back in her life, she knew she would never be rid of the man who had loved her all those years ago.
His hands traced the curves of her face, his thumb brushing gently against her lips, and he grew again hard between them. Danny’s eyes stared deeply into his, wondering what he was thinking about her and wondering if he would regret this in the morning.
But the moon was out and surrounded by stars. It wasn’t morning yet, and until it was, she wasn’t going to worry. Tonight, she was going to be Jack’s woman as she had always been, like she always should have remained.
CHAPTER 7
It was early, but Jack was wide awake. In a few hours, he would have to get on a plane and fly home to Texas, leaving Danny in New Orleans. Leaving her behind. Again. She was sound asleep, curled against his chest as hers rose and fell gently. His fingers trailed down the slope of her breast then lower to her waist and hip before going back up again.
He swore last night was a dream after they had conquered each other’s bodies for the second time, him driving her to new heights and wondering if the ecstasy of being in her arms again would ever end. Her body was more beautiful than it had been before, even after childbirth, but he saw the new worries in her face when they’d talked a little as she’d fallen asleep. He wanted to know more about Jenna, about their lives, but he hadn’t wanted to pry. Hadn’t wanted to hear that she’d slept with another man and had his child.
His anger overwhelmed him when he pictured it, but another idea popped into his mind. It was crazy and there was no telling if she’d go for it. What was there to lose, though, if he asked her? Maybe it would give him a chance to put aside the bitterness he clung to for what she did.
Maybe she’d open up and tell him the damn truth.
If she went for it, it could be good for both of them. The man he’d become when he hit the pros was not who he wanted to be anymore. Danny had been his life. And God, did he want her to be his life once more.
Danny stirred beside him, and her eyes fluttered open, a lazy, satisfied grin spreading across her lips as she stretched. “Morning.”
“Morning, yourself,” he said as he brushed her red locks from her forehead. “Sleep all right?”
“Yeah, I think so,” she muttered through a yawn.
“Good. You still snore,” he said with a laugh.
“I never snored,” she muttered and smacked his arm gently. “You’re wors
e than me.”
Jack raised a brow, remembering the few times they’d been able to stay together after a night of lovemaking. Sleeping with her in his arms then had always made his heart pound, knowing she trusted him so. Last night, she’d done it again, which gave him the slightest hope that she would consider his idea.
“You’re thinking,” she observed. “What are you thinking about?”
“Wondering if the adventurous side of you is still in there,” he mused with narrowed eyes.
She sat up, letting the sheet pool at her waist. “I had a child, Jack. I didn’t turn into Betty Homemaker.”
He shrugged. “You never know. I missed out on a lot, Danny, and people change.”
“You’re right,” she said, “but I haven’t, not as much as you think. So, what’s this adventure you want me to go on?”
“I’m leaving in a few hours for Texas,” he said. “I was going to leave you behind once, and I wound up losing you, missing eight years of what we could’ve had together.” The little girl who could’ve been mine. He gritted his teeth as he took her hand. “Come with me. I have plenty of room for you and Jenna.”
Her smile fell, but she didn’t pull her hand back, so Jack’s hopes weren’t shattered yet.
“Come with you? Just like that? I thought you were pissed at me,” she pointed out.
Jack straightened. “I am, but this could be a chance for me to get over it.”
He saw the calculating look in her eyes and knew she was thinking of a reason to say no.
“I know you have your job and Jenna will have to go back to school once winter break ends, but Danny, I found you after all these years. What are the odds of that happening in the middle of a busy street in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve?” He kissed her gently, resting his forehead against hers. “If I leave you now, I don’t know if we’ll get that lucky a second time.”