Jackson's Girl: Being His Duology

by Charlie R. Love

  He smiled, and my heart nearly gave out. Without a thought, I threw myself at him, wrapping myself to him. Jackson caught me. He was sweaty and bloody, but he was standing, strong and sure, and he held me in his arms firmly, to let me know he was okay.

  “Jackson,” I whispered against his neck.

  His arms tightened around me. “Let’s go home?”

  I nodded eagerly.

  I waved to Grant and let Jackson lead me out the building. Aiden hollered out something I didn’t catch, but Jackson did and gave him a thumbs up without turning around.

  Everywhere we walked, I could feel eyes on us. I ignored them and moved in closer to Jackson.

  The night air was chilly and no longer comfortable.

  Jackson pulled me in a little closer to him and brought me to his car, not far from where Grant had parked. He opened the door for me and buckled me in.

  I wiped some of the blood off his lips with my thumb. “You’re bleeding,” I said.

  “I don’t even feel it.”

  I shook my head. “I wished you didn’t let him hit you.”

  He shot me an amusing smile. “You say it like I let him hit me on purpose.”

  “Aiden said you enjoy taunting them.”

  He shook his head. “Aiden has a big mouth.” I bit my lips to keep from saying anything. He cupped my cheek. “I’m fine, really. You just see. This will heal up in no time.”

  “Okay. Is the fight over now?”

  Jackson shook his head. “Mine is. There are at least five more after me.”

  “Really? How come I didn’t see the other fighters?”

  “They were on the upper level of the building.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  Jackson shrugged. “Usually, I’m the last one to go on. But I told Aiden I wanted to fight first tonight. I wanted to get home to you. Little did I know, you would sneak in over here.”

  I smiled. “Well, now we’re together again. Take me home, Jackson.”

  He nodded, his fingers twiddling at the hem of my shirt. “I’d kissed you right now if I wasn’t so dirty.”

  I cupped my hand at the back of his head. “I don’t mind.” I tried to pull him in, but he resisted.

  “I do. I can’t kiss you and dirty you up, baby. Let me get clean first.”

  “Fine. Hurry up and drive us home. I need you.” I said the last part huskily.

  He smirked. “I think I got you addicted.”

  “I’m addicted to you.”

  His smile widened. “Good.” And then he stood up and walked over to the driver seat.

  We drove home in comfortable silence, though I was still reeling over what I saw. Violence had never excited me. If I could, I much rather go the rest of my life without witnessing anything to the degree of violence I saw tonight. But I was glad I came.

  I was glad to be a part of this with Jackson, though I didn’t plan on coming back.

  I held onto his hand, careful with the broken skin around his knuckles.

  Jackson had the car’s radio turned on, a soft voice came out of the speakers. I never let go of his hand during the whole ride home and fell asleep that way.

  23

  Past: Emily

  It was past midnight when Jackson pulled into his grandparent’s house. He carried me in his arms, and walked up the pathway leading to the front door, only stopping briefly and for me to unlock the door before he headed straight for the bedroom.

  My stomach tightened in anticipation the closer we got to the bedroom, but Jackson didn’t deposit me on the bed.

  He brought me into the bathroom instead.

  I stared at him, confused.

  He smirked as he placed my toothbrush in my hand. “Get ready for bed, Emily.” Bending down, he gave me a chaste kiss on my cheek. “I’m going to shower and washed away all the sweat and dirt. I’ll join you in bed soon.”

  “Okay,” I said softly.

  He smiled and walked to the bathtub. He pulled the shower curtain closed, and I heard him remove his clothes.

  I grew hot.

  He opened the curtain just enough that his hand fitted through and threw his clothes on the floor.

  When he turned on the shower, I turned on the faucet and set on brushing my teeth. But I was done in three minutes and Jackson was still in the shower, and I was still hot.

  And I didn’t want to go back to bed alone.

  Fuck it.

  I stripped off my clothes and slowly walked toward the shower.

  I heard him hum softly to himself, and couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at the corners of my lips.

  Without another thought, I opened the curtain and joined Jackson in the shower. He seemed surprised to see me, but from the looks of it, I would say he was happy as well. Or at least, a part of him was happy to see me.

  I wrapped my arms around his waist until there wasn’t a single inch that separate the upper part of our bodies and I hid my face in his chest.

  Even with the warm water cascading around us, goosebumps still rose across my skin. It didn’t take Jackson long before he wrapped those strong arms around me.

  “Tell me how far you want to go, Emily,” he said softly into my ears.

  All the way, I didn’t say.

  I wished I was brave enough to say it though.

  “Just… as far as we’ve been going,” I answered. “If that’s okay.”

  “Of course it is. It will even be okay if you don’t want to do anything but let me hold you.”

  I nodded. I knew that.

  “Touch me, Jackson,” I whispered.

  He bent down and kissed me, adding in a gentle bite of his teeth until I opened up to him. His tongue entered inside me as his hand begun to move.

  First upwards to my breast, where he cupped it and tested the weight in his hand before he squeezed. I moaned in his mouth, and that encouraged his touch to grow bolder.

  His fingers plucked at my nipple until it became hard beneath his touch and I moved in closer to him, begging for more.

  He grew harder, grew bigger against my stomach.

  “Jackson,” I said when he broke away from the kiss and moved his lips across my jaw.

  I closed my eyes against the sensation he set, both my hands on his biceps, holding on, especially when his hand left my breast and headed south.

  “Spread your legs for me, baby.”

  I did as he instructed, spreading them as far out as the tub allowed.

  His hand continued its downward path, across one hip to the next, and lower down still…

  The first swiped of his fingers between my thigh nearly sent me off my feet.

  My hands on his arms tightened when he moved that hand in circles around my opening but not quite entering me.

  I moaned out loud when he moved his hand a little faster, a little harder, bringing me toward the edge, but not quite there.

  I grew frustrated. “Jackson.”

  “Shh, I got you. Just hang onto me, baby. And I’ll make you feel good. I’ll make you feel hot.” I closed my eyes at the sensation he evoked, wanting it to end, yet wanting him to prolong the feeling as long as possible. “Jesus, Emily. You’re so tight.”

  My muscle clenched.

  And he kept moving.

  He bent down and took one of my nipples into his mouth and sucked, adding a little bit of teeth every now and then. Meanwhile, his finger never lost momentum.

  “Jackson!” I shouted when I came.

  When I opened my eyes, everything came back into the focus. The sound of the shower running, soft ambers eyes trained on me, and where Jackson still had his finger.

  It was the last thought that almost set me off.

  I looked down at where he touched me. When I looked back to him, he shot me a tensed smile. I didn’t think Jackson could get any hotter, but watching the tight strain around his muscle as he tried to hold onto his flimsy control was more than I could take.

  I moved my hand and grabbed him. Jackson pulled h
is finger out of me and placed both hands on my hips. For balance?

  I wasn’t sure.

  It didn’t stop me as I moved my hand, fascinated with how his body reacts with even the softest touch from me.

  When I grabbed onto him a little tighter, so did his hold on my hips.

  I moved up and down faster.

  I wanted to see him lose control.

  So I kept my eyes on him as I continued to pleasure him, much as he had done for me. Jackson closed his eyes and moved his head back, and with a shout, he came, all over the bathtub and all over me.

  We were both breathing noticeably harder, and we were both smiling.

  Jackson’s eyes were tender as he grabbed the shampoo off the rack and squirted some in his hand.

  Wordlessly, he moved in closer to me and begun to wash my hair, running the shampoo through the long strand.

  I didn’t say anything.

  I let him bathed me.

  I had never been cared for like this.

  His touch was gentle, reverent, as he washed my hair, my body. There wasn’t a single inch on my body that Jackson didn’t worship, even my feet. He knelt down in front of me and placed my hands on his shoulders for balance while he washed my feet.

  Afterward, he quickly washed himself off, refusing to let me do so. “Maybe next time,” he said, pushing my hands away gently. “I can see how exhausted you are. Let me get clean up, and we can go to bed. Deal?”

  I smiled. “Deal.”

  He turned off the water and wrapped me in a fluffy white towel that nearly dwarfed me whole.

  Jackson wrapped one around his hips.

  I was wrong.

  It was this image of him in nothing but a white towel, hanging low off his hips that was the most beautiful thing I’d ever witness.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he said.

  “Like what?” I asked innocently, drying my hair with a hand towel.

  Jackson took it from me and dried my hair himself. “Like how you are looking at me right now. You keep looking at me like that, and we’ll never get any sleep.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to sleep,” I said, just as I yawned.

  He raised an eyebrow as if to say, Really?

  I giggled. “Okay, so maybe I’m a little tired.”

  “Sleep it is then.”

  He walked us into the master bedroom and left me by the bed while he rummaged through the walk-in closet.

  He came back moments later, wearing boxers short, and carrying a black t-shirt in one hand, and in the other…

  “Oh, God.” I quickly yanked my panties out of his hand, and he laughed.

  “Of all the things we’ve done, and you’re still shy?” he asked. I didn’t say anything. I grabbed the shirt out of his hand as well, and walked into the closet, closing the door behind.

  It didn’t take me long to change. When I came back out, Jackson was lying on his side of the bed—the side away from the wall—a picture of calm. Though his eyes tracked my every move.

  I closed the bedroom door and turned off the lights, making my way to him.

  I climbed over his body to get in, but he didn’t let me get very far.

  He pulled me in close until I was practically lying on top of him, as he ran his fingers through my still wet hair.

  “Sleep, baby.”

  “Good night,” I said softly.

  I could hear the amusement in his voice when he responded, “Goodnight.”

  “I love you.”

  The amusement was gone. “I love you, too.”

  24

  Past: Emily

  I woke up to smiling amber eyes just as the sun was rising.

  “Morning,” Jackson said.

  I cleared my throat. “Good morning.”

  I took in Jackson’s appearance. From the looks of it, he had been up for a while. Though he was still shirtless and wasn’t quite dressed for the day, his eyes were clear, and there was a cup of coffee in his hand.

  “Can I have some of that?” I asked pointing to the cup.

  “Sure. I didn’t know you drink coffee,” he said, handing the warm cup over to me.

  “I don’t,” I said and took a sip. I grimaced. Jackson liked to drink his coffee black.

  He smiled. “Then why are you drinking it now?”

  “Because you drink it every morning. I wanted to know what it tastes like. You’re obviously addicted.” I moved the cup to my chest. The warm steam felt nice against my skin. “I don’t like it.”

  He laughed. “Sweetheart, I’m not addicted to coffee.”

  “No?”

  He shook his head. “There’s only one taste I’m addicted to.”

  I smiled, seeing where he was going with this. “Oh, yeah? What is it?”

  “The taste of your lips.”

  I laughed at the cheesy line while his eyes crinkled at the corner in amusement. “Jackson Wright, are you trying to seduce me?”

  “Is it working?”

  I set the cup down on the bedside table and pulled Jackson down to me. He didn’t resist, letting me do with him as I wished. “I was seduced by you the moment you first carried me up in your arms.”

  He grimaced. “You mean when I knocked you down and had to carry you to the nurse?”

  I laughed. “Yes.”

  “I’m just glad you got were a few scratches.” I smiled. I didn’t tell him how my back was sore a few days after because it took most of the impact when we went down.

  “All healed up. Not even a scar.”

  He traced my lips with his finger. “You’re so delicate in my arms. I can’t imagine anyone hurting you. I can’t imagine myself hurting you.”

  “You would never,” I said. And I knew that to be the truth.

  “What do you want to do today?”

  I pouted. “I have work tonight.”

  “Do you not want to go?”

  “Hmmm. I’m just feeling especially lazy today. And with how late we got in last night, I just want to sleep in and enjoy the day.” I shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’ll get over it.”

  Jackson was quieted for a moment or two. I looked over to him.

  “What if you didn’t have to go to work.”

  “I need to work, silly. I can’t just fiddle with thumbs all day.” And that was beside the point. I needed to work. Or at least, I needed the income. College was the one thing on my mind before Jackson.

  To me, it seemed like my only link to get out of this place. Because then, I could actually make something of myself.

  Paying for it was a different story.

  And I was realistic. I knew the money I would make from months I have left before graduation and the months in the summer wouldn’t amount to much. But it would be enough for me to live off of while I try to survive on my own.

  But then Jackson came into the picture.

  To have him love me was a blessing because I knew he would take care of me.

  But for how long?

  The logical part of my brain would not leave me alone. It warned me to proceed with caution because I didn’t know how long I had with Jackson.

  He claimed to love me until he died. I told him the same.

  Everything in me told me we were just two naïve kids who didn’t know a thing in the world. Because he could still leave me, and then where would I be?

  “I can take care of you,” he said quietly.

  I shook my head. I guessed that was where we differ. Jackson planned on forever and ever. He was so sure we would last. But he didn’t know the unpredictability of life.

  I knew how fleeting life was. I knew how temporary, and at the end of it all, everybody leaves. It was the cold, hard truth ingrained in me at the innocent age of seven when I walked in my parent’s bedroom and found my mother’s dead body on their queen size bed.

  “Do you think we’ll ever grow old together?” I asked.

  He nodded without hesitation. “I think we can and we will. With you by my side, I don’t see how there
could ever be any problem we can’t fix.”

  “You think we’ll actually be together that long?”

  His eyes turned soft. “You sound skeptical. I understand. I’ll make it my life’s mission to get you to believe.”

  “Believe?”

  He nodded. “Believe in me and that I’ll never leave you.”

  “How could you be so sure?”

  “Because I can’t imagine loving anyone but you.”

  “You don’t know that. Life happens.” I said.

  He smiled and gave me a gentle kiss. He didn’t take it any further, and his eyes stayed open the whole time. I knew because mine were opened as well.

  “I’ll love you until the day I die. In fact, I think I’ll die an old man, sleeping next to you.”

  My smile turned teasing. “How do you know I won’t die first?”

  “Because the man is always the first to go. And I can’t contemplate living in a world you’re not in.”

  I shook my head, my expression gentle. “Jackson, that’s naïve.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. But I don’t want to build a life with you where I’m always preparing for the worse.”

  I looked down, avoiding his eyes. “Like what I’m doing?”

  He titled my chin up until I was looking at him. “That’s okay. Soon enough, you’ll see it’s just you and me.”

  I was quiet for a moment, unsure of how I should respond. Then I smiled and said, “Well, until then, I still need to work.”

  Jackson looked like he wanted to say more, but didn’t. He smiled back at me, though not a very big one and said, “Okay, since I only get a half a day with you to myself, we better not waste another minute. Why don’t you go get ready for the day, and I’ll go downstairs and cook something for us to eat?”

  He was about to get up when I stopped him. “Why don’t you help me get ready?” I said quietly, my face red. Though I kept my eyes on him, never looking away. Jackson seemed surprised by my request, but then he was smiling, a radiant smile.

  “Emily, you are going to be the death of me.”