“You like watching him fuck me?” The breathy question popped out before she could stop it.
Surprise washed over his face, rapidly replaced by a glint of fire and a seductive grin. “Damn right,” he murmured, squeezing his erection with his fist.
Jackson ran his hand over her buttocks, a thoughtful note entering his voice. “You know, I think your ass looks so much prettier when it’s bright pink and trembling after I’ve smacked it.”
She swallowed a laugh when she saw Dylan’s eyebrows shoot up. “Damn, Texas, you’re into spanking?”
Jackson drew his hips back. “Damn right,” he said, mimicking Dylan’s earlier response. “And Mia loves getting spanked, isn’t that right, darlin’?”
He thrust his hips again.
“Yes,” she cried out.
“What other secrets have you been keeping from us?” Dylan’s voice sounded hoarse, and he was pumping his cock furiously as he watched the scene before him.
Rather than answer, Jackson fucked Mia harder, his breaths growing more and more shallow with each stroke.
The angle caused him to hit a spot deep inside her, making every inch of her throb. She was perilously close to toppling over the edge, but she tried to hold off, to milk every ounce of pleasure out of this experience. Since she couldn’t see Jackson’s face, she indulged herself by looking at Dylan. His features were stretched taut, and the sound of his hand jacking his cock matched the slap of Jackson’s flesh against hers as he moved inside her.
“Gonna come soon, Mia,” Dylan mumbled. “But I wanna hear you scream first.”
“Easy peasy,” Jackson drawled, and then he reached around and rubbed her clit in a circular motion that had the desired scream ripping out of her throat.
The orgasm sent her soaring. Black dots flashed in front of her eyes, clearing up just in time to see Dylan lose control. Strands of come splashed the front of his boxers as his gaze locked with hers.
When Jackson groaned and went still, her pussy spasmed against his cock, gripping him firmly as his hot release filled her.
Her cheeks grew warm with embarrassment once the aftereffects of her orgasm retreated. Feeling self-conscious, she wasted no time getting dressed, which was silly considering what had just happened in the living room.
Was it wrong that she’d derived so much pleasure from the experience? The doubts swirling in her mind were familiar—she’d questioned herself this very same way after previous sexual encounters, back when she’d wondered if she suffered from some kind of sexual dysfunction.
Had she traded one deficiency for another, though? Absolute disinterest for depraved perversions?
Her worries eased, however, when Dylan spoke up. “It’s cool if I describe all this to Claire and Aidan, right? Because they’re gonna make me recap it in great detail when I’m screwing them tomorrow.”
A laugh lodged in her throat. Well, if she was a depraved perv, at least she wasn’t the only one in the bunch. Dylan’s reminder that he was routinely sleeping with both a man and a woman was enough to make her realize that in comparison, her sex life was probably still as boring as it used to be.
Jackson put on his pants before wandering over to her with a gentle smile on his face. “You good?”
“I’m good,” she murmured.
“No regrets?” He had to bend over so he could whisper the question in her ear.
Shaking her head, Mia slowly met his eyes. “None.”
11
“You’re panicking. Don’t intentionally ground the ball unless you’re a hundred percent sure that some sneaky defenseman isn’t gonna snatch it up.” Jackson voiced the advice to Mia’s younger brother, who’d screwed up another practice play and was now grumbling with irritation.
The two of them were tossing a football around in the grassy field behind Mia and Danny’s building until Mia got home from her shift at the Sandwich Stop. Jackson had already been on his way when she’d called to say she was running late, but fortunately Danny had been home to let him in. They’d started watching a college game on TV, during which Danny had confessed that he was having trouble making split-second calls under pressure, so Jackson suggested they head outside and go over some plays.
Truth was, he genuinely liked spending time with Mia’s brother, something he’d done a lot of these past two weeks. He’d been in the stands when the Warriors had won another game, then consoled the kid when the team lost their next one. He’d had dinner with the Weldricks on two separate occasions. And he and Mia had even gone to see a movie with Danny and his girlfriend the other night, a romantic comedy that made the girls cry.
Earlier today Jackson was startled to realize that he’d been seeing Mia for more than a month already. It was the first week of October, and he couldn’t believe how fast the time had passed. Not that he was complaining. He loved spending time with Mia. It was all he looked forward to when he was running training missions on the base, and he knew she felt the same way.
The only problem? She continued to refer to their relationship as a “fling”, a label that didn’t sit right with him. This thing between them had moved way beyond a fling for him.
Mia was the one.
Call him crazy or naive, but after a mere five weeks, Jackson knew with bone-deep certainty that Mia was the woman he was meant to be with. She was so dang smart, so incredibly generous. She made him laugh, she challenged him, she rocked his world in bed. If he could wake up to her gorgeous face every morning for the rest of his life, he’d consider himself the luckiest man in the world.
He was in this for the long haul. Like, forever type of shit. And though he desperately wanted Mia to be on the same page, he suspected she wasn’t, and that troubling notion was beginning to keep him awake at night.
Danny’s voice interrupted Jackson’s train of thought. “I didn’t see the sweatshirt.” The boy gestured to the bright red hoodie that sat on the grass twenty yards away, serving as one of their open receivers. “I didn’t think there would be an eligible receiver there when I grounded the ball.”
“Always be aware of your surroundings,” Jackson said sternly. “You’ve gotta keep your eyes open, kid.”
“I know.”
“C’mon, let’s practice ball protection. This time I’ll sack you for real and we’ll see if you can hold on to the pigskin.”
Danny eyed him dubiously. “You planning on coming at me full-strength?”
He chuckled. “Of course not. I’ve got five inches and forty pounds on you. I’d frickin’ kill you.”
They got into position, squatting so Jackson could snap the ball into Danny’s waiting hands. The second Danny straightened up and got ready to throw, Jackson assumed the role of defenseman and launched himself at the boy.
The two of them hit the ground with a loud thud. Jackson’s body landed squarely on the kid, and he immediately redistributed his weight so he wasn’t crushing him to death. Despite the heavy hit, Danny kept a protective grip on the ball, and his green eyes sparkled as he hopped to his feet.
“Nice job,” Jackson said proudly.
“Thanks. Let’s do it again. There’s no way I’m fumbling the ball again like I did during that last game.”
The intensity on the teenager’s face sparked Jackson’s admiration. Mia’s brother had focus and determination, two qualities that Jackson greatly appreciated. He suspected that Danny Weldrick would land a scholarship to any school of his choice—the boy was that serious about going pro, and worked his ass off for it.
After they ran the same drill a few more times, they called it a day and wandered through the field retrieving the various placeholders they’d laid on the grass. Jackson was just picking up the last marker—an empty Gatorade bottle—when Danny approached him with a hesitant look.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
Jackson tucked the bottle under his arm along with the two sweatshirts he’d collected. “Sure.”
“So next week the team is heading up to Irvine for the
weekend,” Danny started. “We play a game on Friday against the Devils, then this charity game on Saturday as a joint fundraiser type of thing.”
“Okay…”
He waited for Mia’s brother to continue, but the kid didn’t say a word. He just stood there fidgeting with the sleeve of his white T-shirt.
“Whatcha waiting for?” Jackson said with a laugh. “Spit it out already.”
Danny’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “’Kay, well…here’s the thing. I—”
He stopped talking when a familiar blue pickup sped into the tenant parking lot.
“So?” Jackson pressed.
The teenager shrugged. “Forget it.”
Clearly Danny didn’t want to talk in front of his sister, who’d just parked the pickup and was hurrying toward them.
“Hey!” she said breathlessly. “I’m so sorry I’m late. Bill and Wendy asked me to stay late and clean out the freezer, and it took a ridiculous amount of time. Did you guys already have dinner?”
“Yup,” Jackson answered. “But we left you a plate in the fridge.”
Her eyes flickered with gratitude. “Thank you. I’m starved.” She glanced at the football in his hands. “Are you two ready to go inside or are you still playing?”
“Nah, we’re all done, sugar.”
The three of them entered the building through the back doors and they’d just reached the third floor landing when Danny’s cell phone chimed.
He quickly checked the screen before looking at his sister. “Braden and the guys are going to this all-ages club in the Gaslamp tonight and they want me to come. Is that cool?”
She narrowed her eyes. “How will you be getting there?”
“Sean’s getting his mom’s car. And you know he’s a good driver—you forced him to take you around the block after he got his learner’s permit,” Danny said with a pointed stare.
“I had to make sure he wasn’t going to kill you!” she protested.
“Anyway, they wanna pick me up in an hour. Can I go?”
It didn’t take long for Mia to cave. “Fine, you can go. But you have to be home by curfew, and if you see one of the bartenders serving minors, I want you to leave the club immediately. Oh, and don’t you dare try to con someone to buy you alcohol or I’ll kill you.”
Danny just laughed and darted toward the stairwell door.
“You know you can’t stop him and his buddies from getting loaded,” Jackson murmured as they trailed after Danny. “Teenage boys are gonna experiment with booze sooner or later.”
“Not on my watch,” she vowed.
He grinned. “Good luck with that.”
Mia instantly disappeared into the kitchen to warm up her dinner while her brother sprinted down the hall to shower and change before his friends showed up. Jackson wandered into the living room and channel-surfed for a bit, then chatted with Mia as she flopped down beside him to eat. She didn’t stay long, though—the second Danny came out of the bathroom, she left to take a shower of her own, leaving Jackson to his own devices.
He felt unbelievably content lying there on Mia’s couch. The apartment had such a homey feel to it, reminding him a lot of his family’s ranch house. You could always feel the love when you walked into his childhood home. At least before the rift that had torn him and Shane apart.
But he refused to let himself dwell on that situation. It was over and done with, couldn’t be changed. What he needed to focus on was the present, and when Mia returned a little while later and curled up beside him, that sense of pure joy only intensified. He stroked her hair, twining one silky strand around his finger, enjoying the steady beating of her heart against his chest.
Danny popped back into the room almost an hour later, took one look at them and made a gagging noise. “Can’t you two cuddle somewhere else?”
Mia snickered. “Says the guy who was making out with Angie on this very couch last night.”
“We wouldn’t have to make out on the couch if you hadn’t enforced your crazy keep-the-bedroom-door-open rule,” her brother retorted.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” she grumbled.
“Yep.” He grabbed his letterman jacket from the armchair. “Later, Jackson,” he said as he headed for the door.
“Goodbye to you too, Daniel!” Mia called out after him.
Jackson couldn’t help but laugh. “You two kill me. Are you ever not bickering?”
“Not really. It’s kind of our thing.” Grinning, she sat up and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Hey, listen, so I wanted to ask you for a favor.”
“I’ll do it,” he said instantly.
A laugh flew out of her mouth. “You haven’t even heard what it is yet!”
“Fine, I’ll humor you. What’s the favor?”
“Danny’s going to Irvine next weekend with the team. The game is on Friday night.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that.”
“Well, you know I usually go to all his games, right? But I just found out I have to work at the sandwich shop on Friday right after I finish up at the park.” She nibbled on her bottom lip in dismay. “I promised myself I wouldn’t miss a single one of his games, but I could really use the money, so I told Wendy I’d work that night.”
He raised himself into a sitting position and touched her cheek in a reassuring caress. He knew how hard Mia worked to support herself and her brother, and he wished she didn’t have to struggle so much. But at the same time, he admired her for it. The woman was so amazing. She’d sacrificed everything for that kid—her privacy, her freedom, her love life. She juggled two jobs in order to take care of him, and no matter how stressed out or tired she was, she was always sitting there in the bleachers every Friday night to cheer her brother on.
“So I was wondering if maybe you could drive up and be there for the game,” she finished. “You wouldn’t have to stay the weekend—the charity game isn’t important. I mean, it is important for whoever they’re raising money for, but Friday’s game is the one that counts for the team’s standings. So…yeah…do you think you’d be able to go in my place?”
“Of course.”
His swift reply brought a big smile to her face. “Really?”
“Absolutely.” He stroked her delicate chin with his thumb. “I consider it my boyfriend-ly duty.”
Her smile instantly faded. “Oh. Um.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“Boyfriend, huh? Is that what you are?”
“We’ve been seeing each other for over a month. What else do you wanna call me?”
“I don’t know.” She gave a helpless shrug, her features lined with discomfort. “I guess I didn’t think about…I mean…nothing’s changed, Jackson. You know that, right?”
“And what does that mean?”
She bit her lip again. “I told you from the start I didn’t want a serious relationship.”
He nodded. “Because you were too busy. But far as I’ve seen, we’re not having any trouble making time for each other.”
“I know. But…look, it’s not only my schedule. I just don’t see a relationship in my future.”
He frowned. “A relationship with me?”
“With anyone.”
Her answer threw him for a loop. He didn’t know what to say to that, and his silence had Mia hurrying on.
“I love having sex with you. I really, really love it,” she said, her green eyes shining earnestly. “And I want to keep seeing you.”
“But?”
“But I don’t believe in forever.” Her voice grew pained. “Relationships don’t last. They always end eventually, and I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t put myself through all that sadness and heartbreak. I love being with you, but I’m always going to keep you at a bit of a distance. I know that’s a shitty thing to say, but I’m honest to a fault, you know that.”
He did know that, and her candid nature was one of his favorite things about her.
What he hadn’t known was jus
t how deeply her mother’s actions had affected Mia. Because clearly this was all about Mia’s mother and her countless divorces. He didn’t need to be a shrink to figure it out, but he was surprised it had taken him this long to connect the dots. It made sense, though. If one of his parents had been married nine times, he’d probably have a skewed view of relationships too.
He wished he could make Mia see that just because her mother hadn’t been in a lasting relationship didn’t mean Mia wouldn’t either, but he wasn’t about to push her. Not now, anyway. She was one of the most strong-willed women he’d ever met, and she spooked faster than the skittish pony he’d ridden as a kid. If he put too much pressure on her, she’d bolt and he’d never see her again, which meant he had to tread lightly from this point on.
“Hey, don’t look so upset,” he said roughly. “I’m not trying to force you into anything. All I’m sayin’ is, we’ve been together for almost six weeks. There’s really no harm in calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend, is there?”
She seemed flustered. “I guess not. But…the future…”
“Let’s not worry about the future, sugar. All that matters is the present. As for the rest, we’ll see where it goes. No pressure, no demands.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“You’re not harboring any grand illusions about falling madly in love with me?”
He supposed now was probably not the best time to tell her he was already halfway there.
So he just shrugged. “Like I said, we’ll see where it goes.”
“Okay.” She paused. “Can we stop talking about all this serious stuff? Let’s do something fun.”
He raised a brow. “What do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. It’s Saturday night—should we go out?”
“And not take advantage of this empty apartment? I don’t think so.”
Without delay, he scooted closer and covered her mouth with his.
She let out a delighted squeak before kissing him back eagerly. Her arms looped around his shoulders, warm fingers stroking the nape of his neck as her tongue met his.
Out of Uniform Box Set: Books 4-6 plus 2 Bonus Novellas Page 72