by P. Jameson
“No, nothing. Thanks.”
He sucked in a breath and unfolded himself from the stool. “Okay, then. Ready to go?”
Not waiting for her answer, he took her hand and pulled her toward the door. But this was moving too fast. She needed to breathe. She needed to feel him.
“Can we… can we dance first?”
He stopped, turning to give her a smirk so full of anguish that it turned his face all wrong. “Are you asking?”
Vada nodded, pressing her lips together to keep from spilling all her feelings out on the floor of the bar.
Jase pulled her close, lowering his mouth to her ear. “Don’t you know by now I would do anything you asked, woman?”
She hoped that was true because by the end of this night, she was going to ask him to be hers, forever.
He started swaying with her, moving her body against his own like he did that first night and all those needy feelings came rushing back to her. His scent, the feel of his hands, the way he touched her tenderly and passionately at the same time. She needed it all. Every bit of him.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d see you tonight,” he murmured, his cheek brushing hers as they danced. “Wasn’t sure if you’d come.”
“I almost didn’t.” He stiffened. “But not for the reasons you probably think.”
Jase pulled back to look at her. “Enlighten me.”
“I will,” she promised, “but not yet.”
Frowning, he turned her in a circle so that her back was to his front, and she felt his already growing erection against her backside. “You’re going to let me break the curse,” he whispered in her ear.
“Yes.”
“Then what is it?”
“You’ll see.” She guided his hand to her hips and swayed against him. She felt him loosen up, felt his sadness ease away as the music and the magic their bodies made offered a distraction.
When the song was over, they didn’t stop dancing. The need to keep going just as they were was a strong force between them. But eventually, the music stopped for the last time and Jase’s lips at her neck murmured, “Are you ready to finish this, my mermaid?”
Finding his eyes, she told him the truth. “I will never be ready to finish this.”
In a flash, the pain returned to his expression, and he sighed. “Don’t make sweet promises you can’t keep.”
This time when he pulled her toward the door, she didn’t stop him. Whatever happened now, was in the hands of the gods.
***
Jase was damn near drunk off Vada’s scent just from the ride to his house. The smell of her would be in his truck for a few days afterward. It would help when all this was over. And fuck, he probably wouldn’t change his sheets for a while either.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it being over.
He couldn’t waste these moments despairing. He would love her while he could, for as long as he could, as long as she’d let him. Then he would handle his bleeding heart.
He led her inside his cabin, pushing the door shut behind them. “What happens when the curse is broken?” he asked. “How will we know?”
“I’ll feel it. And… you’ll be marked.”
“Marked?”
She nodded, looking almost as miserable as he was. “It will match mine. Colorful scales on your lower back.”
“Oh.” He didn’t know how he felt about carrying around that memory of her.
“No one can see it,” she said quietly. “No one but us.”
“Oh.” It didn’t matter. The idea of being naked with anyone else made his mouth taste like sawdust.
“Jase—”
“Let me see you.” His name on her lips was so sad, he couldn’t let her finish. What if she changed her mind. What if she wouldn’t let him help her.
But she hesitated.
“Tonight, you are mine, right? Tonight… you’re still mine.”
“Yes.”
“Then show me. Let me see you.”
Pressing her lips together, she reached for the bottom of her shirt, pulling it up until her tits popped free. The sight of her made him hard as stone.
When it was over her head, she let it drop to the ground, and then shimmied out of her jeans to stand naked before him.
Jase tugged his own shirt over his head in one smooth motion. Damn, he wanted her bad. And it was more than just physical. He needed that connection he’d been missing since the night they first danced. The one that lived in the vicinity of his heart and caused him pain when she wasn’t around. He needed inside her. Body and soul.
As much as he wanted to drag this out into eternity, he didn’t know if he could.
“Come here.”
Vada came to stand in front of him, her hands twitching like they wanted to touch him.
Reaching forward, he grazed his fingertips over her delicate collarbone and down the valley of her breasts. “You’re so beautiful,” he breathed, not even caring how broken his voice sounded.
“So are you,” she said, pressing her palm to his chest. “In here. Where it counts the most.”
Tilting her head for his kiss, he went in slow, savoring like he did that first night. Damn, he was glad he’d done that. Because those memories kept him sane while they were apart.
He kissed her softly, but when her tongue slipped between his lips, he lost control, walking her backward toward the couch.
No, he wanted her in the bedroom.
Shit.
But they fell in a tangle onto the sofa, legs entwining as he tried to get his pants off without breaking their kiss. He only managed to get them past his ass because as soon as his cock broke free, it was searching for home.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Too fast.
His brain was trying to slow down, but his body had other ideas. He was lost in her, kissing every spare bit of flesh his lips and tongue could find. And her hands kneading his shoulders, raking down his back, gripping his ass… there was no stopping this. They were like two sticks rubbing together except instead of a spark, they were going to make an explosion.
Her soft hand guided his dick to her opening and she shifted her hips to get the angle right.
Goddamn it.
He tried to pull back, but instead, his body surged forward, and in one swift move he was buried inside his mate, her walls squeezing him to the peak of pleasure.
Vada moaned, throwing her head back against the leather seat of the sofa, and he bent to suck on the skin of her neck. He wanted to leave a mark too. It wouldn’t last like his would, but it’d be something to remind her of him for a few days.
“Jase… Jase…” This time his name didn’t hold sadness. Just pleasure. He could do this.
“Say it again,” he snarled against her hot skin.
“Jase,” she moaned. “Mine. My rekkr.”
He thrusted his hips, going as deep as he could. “What does it mean, rekkr?”
“Brave…” Vada writhed beneath him, her body already tightening for climax. “Warrior. My… warrior. Brave… man.” She ended with a pleasured scream that hit the ceilings and bounced back to echo through him.
No. Not yet.
“Vada, I…” He couldn’t say it again. He’d already told her. Now he just had to feel it. Feel it and let it hurt.
As she came on him for the second time, he followed her over the edge, feeling everything as raw as he did at the waterfall. Throwing his head back, he cracked out a groan that was pure misery. Pure pleasure. It was both mixed into one and he never wanted to forget what it felt like.
Because it felt like the end, but the beginning.
It felt like both freedom and a binding.
It felt like the past melding with the future. Good and bad, together.
He slowed to a stop, collapsing on her heaving chest, and trying not to crush her.
Don’t go, don’t leave. Tears rushed to his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.
“Is it broken?” he asked, barely breathing through
his despair. It was over. He could feel it. Shit.
“Yes.” How could she sound so happy when he was dying inside? Her hand went to his hair, fingers threading between the short locks. “The curse is broken. You did it, rekkr. We’re free.” He could hear her smile. Hear it even though he wasn’t looking.
He wasn’t okay. Shit, he wasn’t okay at all.
He pulled away, jerking his pants up. Didn’t even get them off before he went crazy.
Fuck.
He put his head in his hands, trying to pull his shit together.
“I love you.”
It was too quiet. It was her voice but it was too quiet. He’d probably imagined it.
“You can go now,” he pushed out. She needed to leave. Now, before he fell apart and begged her to stay. He’d promised to let her go. He wouldn’t break a promise.
She sat up, kneeling behind him on the couch. He flinched when her fingers ran down his spine, stopping just above his ass. “It’s perfect,” she whispered.
“What is?”
“Your mark.” That smile was still in her voice, and he couldn’t stand it. Not now. Any other time but now.
“Vada, go.”
“Go where?”
He stood, just to get her to stop touching him. Her hands felt too good.
“You’re free, and I promised to let you go. So go. Please.”
He heard her feet padding along the floor as she came closer and he braced for her touch. Except it never came. She stepped in front of him, and somehow, he met her gaze.
Her icy eyes sparkled with hope and it gave him pause. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it himself, but it was there. Hope.
She grinned softly, taking his cheeks in her palms.
“You’re right. I am free. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“Vada, baby…” If she was playing with him… if she wasn’t sure…
“Finally, for once, the past is reconciled and I feel like I can do anything I want,” she said, her cheek filling with so much happiness that she reminded him of a chipmunk. Some sexy, naked chipmunk. Fuck, what was wrong with him?
Jase blew out a sigh, not ready to believe it yet.
“You hear me? Anything I want. And I want the same things you do. I want a future where we hold hands on Main Street. And our kids dance in puddles. Remember? I want that, and I want it with you. I love you.”
“You…”
“Love you,” she whispered. “You said it yesterday but you weren’t ready to hear it back. Now, the curse is broken and there is nothing stopping us. I love you.”
She loved him. She… she wasn’t leaving. They weren’t finished
They were… they were beginning.
Jase choked back a sob of relief, imaging how bad Huran would mock him if he did something like that.
“You’re mine?” He breathed the question, just in case he’d heard her all wrong.
“Forever,” she confirmed. Vada wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to drop a tender kiss on his lips. “All yours, rekkr.”
He hugged her close, tipping her forward so she had to lean on him. “I want to wreck you after all that. Woman, I was… I was losing my shit. I… I…” Again, satisfaction threatened to pull him under with a good cry. Then how would he hold his head up in public. He might as well give Huran his balls on a silver platter.
Jase cleared his throat.
“I like the idea of you wrecking me,” Vada murmured, grinning. “We have a lot to make up for.”
“Damn right we do, baby.”
And then he kissed her.
A forever kind of kiss, for the forever kind of love he’d been seeking.
******
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About the Author
P. Jameson likes to spend her time daydreaming, and then rearranging those dreams into heartstring-pulling stories of trial and triumph. Paranormal is her jam, so you’re sure to find said stories full of hot alpha males of the supernatural variety. She lives next door to the great Rocky Mountains with her husband and kids, who provide her with plenty of writing fodder.
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