Pure Wicked: A Wicked Lovers Novella (1001 Dark Nights)

by Black, Shayla

  “So…you don’t have to be downstairs again right away?” He sent her a smile rife with seduction.

  Bristol hesitated, then pulled her phone from her pocket and dashed off a text. A ding came moments later. Then she met his stare with a challenge of her own. “Jayla says all is quiet for now, so I could probably stay another minute or two.”

  He prowled closer, unbuttoning his pants and lowering his zipper. “How about an hour or two?”

  She stood her ground, her gaze dipping down to where he peeled away his jeans. “I don’t know if I’ve forgiven you yet.”

  “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you do,” Jesse murmured across her cheek as he grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and shoved it up. Before he’d whisked it over her head, he’d worked the clasp of her bra open, then peeled them both off at once. The second the garments cleared her body, he covered her lips with his own and sank inside her velvety mouth, stealing inside to claim her.

  They’d spoken a lot of words to one another. She’d heard him…for the most part. But now he wanted them to communicate in a way he felt certain she’d understand completely.

  “Shoes off,” he insisted.

  Then he set to work at the fastenings of her pants while drowning in the taste of her kiss. As he slid them down her hips, she kicked her tennis shoes aside and wriggled her hips until the denim fell to her ankles and she stood before him in nothing but a tiny pair of white lace panties.

  Jesse smiled as he released the messy pile of her brown hair shimmering atop her head. As the waves cascaded around her shoulders, heat settled in his belly. Blood rushed to his cock. Yeah, this woman did it for him, excited him in ways he hadn’t known a woman could. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be a better person—enough to do the hard work to improve himself, not use her for some quick fix to normalcy and improved self-esteem, the way he’d tried with Kimber years ago. He intended to be a better man for Bristol. He intended to keep her beside him, wake up every morning to her smile.

  Heavy realizations. But Jesse couldn’t remember a time he’d felt clearer or more certain.

  “Now lose the underwear,” he demanded. “Slide them down your hips slowly and let me see what I’m craving.”

  She cocked her head. “What if I don’t take orders from you?”

  Oh, now she was challenging him. He just smiled. “I can take what I want.”

  “I dare you,” she breathed.

  He understood what she was playing at. If she gave in too easily now, it would bend her pride. Instead, she challenged him to take her body and push the issue of her surrender.

  Game on.

  Jesse anchored his hands around the fragile undergarment at her hip and pulled. The seam unraveled for him—precisely like he intended she would under his touch.

  When she stood naked before him, she shivered. He watched the shallow rise and fall of her breast, the movement of her hard nipples as the midday sun slanted through her window. Her fair skin looked luminous and golden. No spray tan for her. No chemicals that made her reek or look like an Oompa Loompa. Bristol was classic and alabaster, appearing untouchable.

  But he definitely intended to touch her—and more. She wasn’t leaving this bed until she knew she belonged with him.

  Jesse bent and lifted her against his body, following her down to the mattress. He didn’t give her an opportunity to wriggle away, simply anchored his hips between her thighs and pinned her down. She felt so small beneath him, and he braced an elbow near her head to take some of his weight off her.

  She met his stare. Those leafy green eyes of hers were a sight he’d never get tired of.

  “Jesse,” she whispered.

  The uncertainty on her face broke his heart. “Close your eyes. Yeah,” he commended as she did. “Take a deep breath. That’s it.” He bent to whisper in her ear. “Any doubts you have we’ll talk out later. Right now, I want to worship you.”

  Bristol gave a low moan. Against him, she trembled. Then so slowly it made him sweat, she opened her eyes, her arms, and finally her heart to him. Given his past, he probably didn’t deserve her, but he intended to do everything possible to make her glad she’d chosen him.

  She clung to his shoulders, and Jesse brushed the hair from her face and worked his lips up her neck. “Feel how good we are together.”

  With a little shiver, she nodded. He fanned a hand over her breast, his thumb brushing her taut nipple. She arched into his touch and thrashed under him. He swallowed the sound with his kiss, aligning their bodies until he was flush against her, not merely covering but enveloping her. Jesse wanted to take all of her, make sure she knew that she was his. A sizzle shot up his spine when he thought about the pleasure of making love to her. But more than anything, he simply ached to feel her close.

  Yeah, he had it bad. Never in a million years had he thought he would fall hard and fast for a down-to-earth baker. On paper, she wasn’t his usual—not loud or flashy or sexually aggressive. Yet everything about her shy sparkplug of a personality fascinated him. Almost from the first, he’d felt as if some invisible wire attached them, tugging him closer and closer to Bristol. Until her, he hadn’t really known that sort of pull was possible.

  Jesse positioned her arms above her head, splayed on the mattress, then eased his hands up her silky flesh from elbows to palms, finally curling his fingers around her wrists. He anchored her to the bed and buried his nose in the cinnamon musk of her neck, closing his eyes as the light brown silk of her hair caressed his shoulder and teased his senses.

  Beneath him, she softened, a gasp escaping her throat as she tossed her head back, as if the pleasure somehow surprised her. Jesse took the opportunity to drag his lips up her oh-so-soft skin before working his way to her mouth and dominating the sweet bow with a slanting, possessive kiss.

  Endless. Timeless. The joining of their mouths went on. All the things that made Bristol unique piled on top of his senses.

  She responded without artifice, exactly as she had the first time he’d taken her to bed. Her glimmering green eyes stared up at him, soft with raw emotion, as he skated one palm down the lush under curve of her pert breasts, her small waist, the feminine flare of her hips. True, she had the same basic parts and curves as every other woman he’d fucked, but she alone made him feel this electric gravity when they touched. When he was near her, his head buzzed, his dick engorged, and his heart chugged.

  Jesse didn’t see how he could possibly give her up.

  Needing to inhale more of her, he made his way down her body, claiming the sweet expanse of her skin as he descended past her delicate collarbones, the swells of her breasts, her tight nipples begging for his tongue. He took them all, gliding his lips over the sensitive flesh before teasing with his tongue, nipping with his teeth.

  Beneath him, she wriggled and moaned in arousal. The sweet music filled his ears. The melody he’d been writing for her played in his head, and the bridge that had stumped him last night suddenly rolled across his imagination. It sounded like a more sensual rhythm than he’d been chasing yet so perfect. So her.

  The notes played a soundtrack in his head as he dipped down again to nibble at her hipbones and drag his lips over the slight curve of her belly. Jesse even liked that she wasn’t perfect and didn’t have the sort of personal training regime that made him feel as if he was cozying up to a bodybuilder rather than a woman.

  “Spread your legs,” he murmured as he caressed her mound, using his thumbs to open her folds for him.

  Bristol’s breath hitched. She hesitated before slowly revealing everything he desired to his ravenous stare.

  Jesse hissed. She was already wet and swollen. He glanced up her body, into her eyes. They were glassy and unfocused. Her cheeks looked flushed. The sight of her arousal slammed him in the chest. He’d fucked politician’s daughters and porn stars. But he’d never been with a woman he wanted to please this badly.

  He dragged his fingers through her wet flesh, focusing on the l
ittle bud hardening more with every circle of his practiced fingers. “You’re pretty.”

  After breathing in her velvet scent, he dragged his tongue through the wet groove of her sex, lingering exactly where she would be sensitive, igniting nerve endings he knew would drive her wild.

  Beneath him, she thrashed, swinging her head from side to side. He knew she wasn’t negating the pleasure as much as she was trying to assimilate it. He often felt the same way as soon as she put her hands on him.

  “You’re sweet,” he muttered in between strokes of his reverent tongue.

  Bristol murmured an incoherent sound and dug her heels into the mattress. Her hips lifted restlessly. Her body writhed. Jesse didn’t stop, didn’t let up. When she began panting, he slid his palms up her body and rubbed the turgid points of her nipples between his thumb and forefingers.

  When her body tightened and her skin flushed, he knew she rushed toward climax. Her heavy breathing turned to keening wails.

  “And you’re mine.” He slid up her body, his thumb still working her clit as it hardened to stone. “Aren’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Say my name,” he demanded. “I want to hear you scream it as you come.”

  “Jesse.” Her voice broke as she strained toward the pleasure.

  It was one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever seen.

  But he wanted to be with Bristol, inside her and a part of her, share ecstasy with her. The two of them together. Now. Always.

  The melody he’d been writing for her turned louder in his head. As he reached for a condom and rolled it on, lyrics began pelting his brain. Words they’d spoken to one another. Words they hadn’t yet exchanged but he hoped like hell they would. Words of reverence. Promises. Vows.

  She cried out in protest because he’d lifted his hand from her moments before bliss crashed over her, but he had something better. Thank goodness she was close because seeing her unabashed, honest pleasure was undoing him fast as fuck.

  “Take me,” he growled, sliding between her taut thighs.

  Bristol eased them open as he shoved them wide. In seconds, he’d aligned his cock with her slick channel and tunneled in.

  Sensation rained down on him. Bristol felt hot and tight, yeah. But so much more. Receptive and giving. Alive. Perfect. She was everything to Jesse, and he couldn’t believe that he’d found her mere days ago. In the first hour, he’d known that she was different. By the end of the first night, he’d suspected she was truly special. Now he felt an urge all the way to his soul to make her his.

  Gripping her thighs, he plunged in to the hilt. A sizzle shuddered down her spine. He plastered his hands flat on the bed and tried to make his way deeper, crawl all the way inside her. He rocked against Bristol as she whimpered in his ear.

  “Jesse…” Her high-pitched voice sounded desperate, and that did all kinds of things to him.

  He lowered himself to his elbows and slanted his lips over hers, slipping inside her mouth as he thrust deeper. He synched up both motions, making love to her mouth as he did her body. And god, she made love back to him, clutching at his shoulders, her thighs clinging to his hips, her female flesh gripping him so tightly that every move he made incited friction that ignited pleasure.

  The music spun in his head, their rapid breaths and hearts mingling in a thumping backbeat that drove him up higher. The taste of her sweetness spilled onto his tongue. The rest of her body fit against him as if she’d been molded to be his. Somewhere in the back of his head, Jesse realized he was being more fucking poetic about a female than he ever been in his life.

  But he finally understood why people had been writing songs about love for millennia. It wasn’t just a jolt that rattled him. It was a mammoth force tearing through his every preconceived notion about the meaning of life, about devotion. The feeling was dense and enormous. It sat on his chest like a weight. Yet the thought of sharing his tomorrows with her freed him. He could breathe when he was lost inside her. In fact, Jesse began to wonder if he could ever really breathe again without her.

  Her nails dug into his back now. She broke their kiss and looked up at him with worry and wonder and tears as he sank into her again and again. Damn if he didn’t feel answering tears in his eyes. Damn if this didn’t feel like forever.

  Bliss overtook her face as her mouth gaped open. She clenched around his shuttling cock. Her body tensed. Her lids fluttered shut and she raced toward the pinnacle.

  Jesse wanted to fall over the edge with her.

  He ramped up his pace. “Say my name.”

  “Yes. Yes! Jesse!” she cried to the rafters.

  Bristol bucked underneath him, her sex pulsing and clutching, clinging as he rode her through the mewling orgasm. But his own desire roared to the fore, smashing his defenses like a freight train. As the climax hit, it shocked then flattened him. He felt crushed. Yet he soared. And he clutched her as if he’d never let go again. With the sound of her cry ringing in his ears and the music he’d been crafting for her lilting in his head, he groaned long and low as he released, relinquishing way more than his desire.

  He gave her his heart.

  As the last wave of pleasure settled, Jesse caught his breath and looked into her eyes. He had no doubt that she was the thing that had been missing from his life. She was the one who would hold his hands for the rest of their days.

  He dragged in a ragged breath. “Bristol Alexa Reece, I love you.”

  “Really?” She bit her lip, her lashes fluttering against her rosy cheeks.

  “Yeah. This isn’t merely some post-orgasm glow. I know the difference. I enjoy being with you. I’d rather be with you than everyone else.” He shook his head. “Hell, I’m writing a song for you, about you. I haven’t done that in years. You amaze me. You inspire me.”

  Bristol’s face tightened. Her mouth turned down. Tears flowed. “I love you, too.” Then she laughed. “God, we sound crazy.”

  “I’m about to sound crazier.” He swallowed. “Marry me.”

  Chapter Seven

  “He proposed!” Bristol squealed as she rushed downstairs to relieve Jayla of her temporary duty, anxious to bend her bestie’s ear.

  “Hayden? Because if he did, I’m gonna kill that jerk.” Jayla finished putting some cash in the register, then turned to look at her. “Never mind. Hayden didn’t do that to you.” She grinned. “He couldn’t do that. Jamie did, I’ll bet. Girl, you look more like he propositioned you. And you accepted—thoroughly.”

  Bristol flushed. “That’s not important.”

  “Orgasms are always important.”

  She looked around the restaurant to make sure no one else was nearby. “Jamie isn’t Jamie. He’s… You should sit down.” She dragged a gaping Jayla to the nearest table and all but shoved her in a chair.

  “What the hell? Who is he?”

  “Jesse McCall.”

  Jayla looked blank for a second, then she scowled as if Bristol had lost her mind. “You’re sure.”

  “Completely. When I figured it out, he fessed up.”

  “You’re saying the world-famous singer bailed you out at Bubba Oink’s Bone Yard and pretended to be your boyfriend, then went home with you and rocked your world before he proposed?”

  When Jayla said it like that, the notion sounded absolutely crazy. Some of Bristol’s excitement deflated.

  “Yes.”

  “After knowing you for only a few days? And you mean he proposed marriage, right? Not some crazy three-way like he used to have.”

  “Marriage.” She winced. “Yes.”

  “And what did you say?” Jayla leveled her with an insistent stare.

  “I haven’t answered him yet.” She bit her lip. “It sounds ridiculous. Romantic, even. But I want to say yes.”

  “But you didn’t. Something stopped you. There’s a reason.”

  “I don’t know. On the one hand, it feels sudden. But…when I’m with Jesse, I’m so happy. He’s not the guy we see in the press. He’s change
d.”

  Jayla shot her a skeptical scowl. “They all say that. Why does he want to marry you?”

  “He says he loves me. I-I think I love him, too. I realize we haven’t known one another long and I still need to learn tons about him but…he’s a better man than Hayden. In some ways, he even reminds me of Daddy.”

  Her best friend took her hand. “What would you do about this place?”

  That had been one of her hesitations. “I don’t know.”

  “Would you go on the road with him, like another one of his groupies?”

  Now Jayla’s voice sounded soft. It held notes of pity that made Bristol cringe. “I don’t know. I guess we could figure it out. He says he’s sober and wants to change his life—and he wants me at the center.”

  “Or more likely he wants to change his image. Girl…” Jayla squeezed her fingers. “An international star says he loves you and wants to marry you after a few days and you’re not suspicious? C’mon, now… He’s in a tough spot. His album is doing well but he’s getting skewered in the press. The late-night hosts have made him into a punch line. What better way to convince people that he’s changed than to tie the knot with a pretty little country girl who bakes sweets for a living? If he did, the whole narration about his character would change overnight. Right now, the story is party monger and manwhore sinks to a new low. But if he married you, suddenly they’d talk about how, after learning some hard lessons, he’d discovered an uplifting love in the face of tragedy. He’d be a role model.” She snorted. “A freaking hero.”

  Everything Jayla said was true—and Bristol didn’t want to hear it. “He wouldn’t do that.”

  But did she know him well enough to say that for sure? How far would a man with a career as big as his go to save it?

  “I’m not pointing this out to hurt you. I’m only saying it because I love you. Hayden mostly hurt your pride, but I think you’ve really fallen for Jesse. He could tear out your heart. Be really careful.”

  The message Bristol heard was that she couldn’t possibly be interesting enough to keep a man like McCall, who jet-setted around the world and slept with beautiful people. She bit her lip, fearing Jayla was right. Everything had seemed so clear and real and natural when she’d been with Jesse, discussing their future. He adored her lack of worldly ways.