by Mj Fields
I shrug.
He throws his thumb over his shoulder. “Don’t bullshit me. Evidence points to the fact you’re sore.”
I look over his shoulder and see a smattering of a bloodstain. “Let me—”
“Fuck no.” He stops me by getting up and leading me to the bathroom. “I’m gonna take care of you.”
“Yeah, well, I can take care of my mess—”
Hands on my face, his lips on mine, he kisses me silent, breathless. Then he pulls my head to his chest with one hand
While he holds me there, he runs the faucet. “I needed you the first time you rolled your damn eyes at me. I loved you before I knew what it truly was or that ‘anyway’ would be such a gift. You’ll be mine, Tessa Ross, forever, and”—I feel a hot, wet cloth between my legs—“I will take care of you. But, baby, you gotta let me.”
Shocked and, yes, tearing up, I raise my eyes to him.
“Are you okay?”
I nod. “I’m okay.”
“Hurt?”
“If it didn’t hurt, it would be happening again right now.” I blush.
He presses a kiss to my forehead. “I love you.”
Chapter Twenty Nine
She’s in the shower, and she’s all mine. I feel it to my soul. This is it.
I grab a picture of Tommy and I from the championship game and tell it—him, “Would have taken your spot, wherever it landed me, but because I’m here, I’ll do you proud.” Tears burn my yes. “I found it, Tommy. I found home.” I hold the picture to my chest for a moment then set it down and turn to the bed and commence to stripping it.
When I step into the shower a few minutes later, she looks over her shoulder. “You’re going to shower with me?”
“If it’s all right with you?”
She smiles. “Yes, I would love that. I just don’t think round two can happen. Not yet.” Tessa sticks out her bottom lip.
“Wouldn’t ask that much of you,” I turn her so she is facing me then step her back into the water, where I rub the suds into her insanely thick hair. “Not yet, anyway.”
She grabs my body wash and squirts it in her hand then works those fingers all over my body, and when I’m wringing conditioner from her hair, she’s suds’ing up … my cock.
Hard, so damn hard, I stay the course and, well, so does she.
When I tell her, “All set, baby,” she rinses me off then steps up to me, my dick nudging her hot, trim belly.
“Sit.”
My ass hits the built-in bench, and she wastes no time straddling me.
“Baby, condom,” I remind her at the same time as she winces when I’m not even tip in. “You’re relentless, but let’s give it some time.”
The fuck did I just say?
I’m rewarded for my sudden attack of consciousness by her sinking to her knees, wrapping her hand around my throbbing erection and stroking me, just once, before running her tongue over the tip of my cock.
“Fuck,” I hiss, taking her hair in my hand and guiding her down again.
Mouth wide open, blue eyes hungry, she takes me deep, so deep.
“That’s it, baby,” I groan, guiding her head.
Her eyes, her fucking eyes, basking in my praise, Tessa moves up and down faster.
“That’s it, baby. It won’t break. Suck me as hard as you want.”
“Fucking Heisman award winner of head,” slips out, and I hope like hell she doesn’t hear me. If she did, I wouldn’t be able to tell, as she goes at it, bobbing faster and faster, sucking harder, licking, nearly swallowing me, taking me almost all the way … almost.
When I feel my balls tighten, I pull her head back, grab the washcloth, and jet off in it.
She stands while I try to get my shit together, but this … this is my baby, my Tessa, and there is no exit strategy.
No end play. She’s it.
While wrapping my head around all that, she grabs the top of my hair firmly yet gently and leans my head against the tile wall. “I’ve wanted to do that to you for a very long time.” Then she steps out. I repeat: She. Steps. Out.
Amusements in her voice, she says, “Orally fixated since childhood. My father had to take away my pacifiers and … Oh no, what time is it? My dad, Lucas! I’m going to be in so much trouble.”
I step out and grab the towel off the rack. “I think we should just tell him the truth. You’ll probably be grounded for a while, but I can sneak in every night.”
She smiles. “Not funny, and put some clothes on.” She turns around and mumbles, “You are so freaking hot.”
“What was that?” I grab her and turn her around.
“Nothing.” Tessa looks down, trying not to laugh.
“Oh no, tell me,” I insist, pulling her against me.
“You already heard me.” She grins.
“Nope, say it.”
She grabs both sides of my face and yells, “You are so freaking hot!”
“And you, Tessa, are absolutely stunning. I love you baby.” I yank her towel off and pull her closer. “Round two?”
“Yes, please.”
“So, you’re good with your dad—”
“Shit.” She pushes me away.
“And we need to check in on Jade, too.”
“Phone?” she asks.
I grab it off the dresser and hand it to her.
“Call Alex first, baby. I spoke to him last night.”
“You better have a plan,” I hear Alex on the other end.
“Hey, it’s me. I got messed up at camp and—”
“I’ll cover for you. Get home. You going to make it to church?” Alex asks her.
“I don’t think so, Alex,” she whispers.
“All right, your butt better be home and sick in bed when we get back. By the way, is he alive? Which one of you struck first?” Alex asks.
“I did, of course. We are both fine.” Tessa laughs as she looks at me and shrugs.
I scramble to get her some clothes, and when I hand her a pair of underwear, she scrunches up her nose.
“Why the face?”
“I’ve never worn dirty underwear.”
“Don’t wear any. I want it that way from now on.” I smack her ass. “Please.”
“What about when I wear skirts?” She chuckles like it’s a joke. It’s not.
“Especially then.” I kiss her head then throw her one of my ’Cuse tees and help her put on her bra. On.
Before I have my way with them, I turn and walk away. “That is never going to get old.”
“Lucas, your mom?” she asks nervously.
“She’s away.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, baby, she’s fucking sorry,” I huff when I walk in my closet and get her some sweats.
When I turn back, she’s giving me that look.
“Tessa, I have to tell you; I really get upset when you look at me like that.”
“First of all, we’re not going to fight already, are we?” she asks. “And second, Lucas, that’s not pity; that’s concern. It’s because I love you, and you’re going to have to get used to it. I’ll always get upset when I know something hurts you. You told me not to let you mess this up, and Lucas, I promise not to withhold sex if—”
Panicked, I ask, “Withhold sex?”
“That’s what you were referring to, and I’m telling you, don’t hand me a sword of sorts and not expect me to use it if you’re messing us up by not sharing your pain, as well as your seriously beautiful dick.” She looks up from my dick. “We good?”
I nod. “Yes, baby, we are so good.”
Stepping into the sweats, she says, “Okay, so tell me what happened, please.” She lets go, and they fall down.
I grin. “I don’t think they fit.”
She grabs a hair tie off the floor—hers, of course—and cinches them. “See? Perfect.”
“I saw and, yes, you are.” I hug her.
“Are you going to tell me?” she asks. “Or am I going to have to start withholding�
��”
“Pretty sure she was fucked up when she came to the hospital. Then I was too fucked up to even remember that I thought that. Called her out on it.”
She hugs me tightly. It feels good.
“I took her to Tully Hill again.”
“Lucas, I’m sorry.”
“Thanks, Tessa.”
She smiles. “It would be a lot of fun having you across the hall now.”
“Yeah, but Jade will be there.”
“Yep, and you will be there every night until bedtime.” Her face pinkens. “I mean, if you want to be.”
“Tessa, as messed up as everything was, I loved being there every day, and every night. I have some interesting memories that I will have to tell you about.”
“Will you come stay with us?” She smiles so damn brightly that I almost say yes. “I’m sure my dad wouldn’t mind.”
“Tessa, think about that. Do you want your dad to know my mom isn’t here?”
Her eyes twinkle. “Oh, maybe not.”
“Jade.”
Her call to Jade is brief. Jade assures her that she’ll be home later.
Me? I wish she never went to Tommy’s house.
In the vehicle, I notice her looking out the window, brows furrowed.
I reach over and pull her seat belt across her, telling her, “Tessa, if you’re worried about my mom, don’t. I’m fine. And now I have you back, and I feel like all this, baby … all this is going to be okay.”
“I love you so much. I don’t want to think that you’re alone here every night. Not after losing him.”
To lighten the mood, I ask, “Would you prefer otherwise?”
She smacks me. “Yes, I’m moving in.”
“Okay, how do you think your parents will handle that?”
“I don’t know.” She considers it. I see it, and it makes me so fucking happy.
“Would you really move in with me?”
She laughs. “I was trying to freak you out.”
“I think you did, at first, but now … I want you to.” I laugh. “I want to live together.”
“What’s so funny?” she asks, smiling.
“Well, I have no doubt that I love you, because I have never felt this way. All those feelings, killing myself staying away from you and trying to make you hate me. All that crazy stuff. Now I just picture it, and I want you with me every day. I want to wake up with you and go to bed with you, and look at the way you react to … I don’t know, everything, including dirty underwear.”
“When I can make that decision, we will. Is that a deal?”
“Yes, it is.” I kiss her hand.
“Lucas, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course. But me first?”
“Shoot,” she says as I buckle and throw the vehicle in drive.
“How far did things go with Ben?”
Her eyes widen. “How upset are you going to get with me?”
“I won’t as long as you tell the truth.”
“Do you promise?” she asks, swallowing hard.
“You’re freaking me out.” And she is. “I saw the show. Very cute, by the way.”
“Okay, well, did you hear what I said to him in the end about what I was going to do to him on the way home?” she whispers then huffs and turns toward me in her seat. “Oh, wait, you had that chick pinned against the wall with your tongue lodged down her throat and hands all over her boobs.”
“I heard everything you said, Tessa.” I swallow hard. “So, did you?”
“Well, did she before that when you walked outside with her?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“And did you return the favor?”
Almost offended, I tell her, “No, I don’t do that.”
“Um …”
“Until this morning.”
“Seriously?”
“And I was right. I knew you would be delicious.”
“Well, why haven’t you before?” she asked curiously.
“I told you, all about me. Plus, I don’t want to catch anything.” I grin.
“Well, what about me?” she asks, and I laugh. “So, does that mean that won’t happen again?”
“Oh no, I’ve found a new favorite snack—s’mores, baby.”
“So, how many other people since Sadi?”
“None, Tessa.” At the stop sign, I look at her. “None. Okay, spill it.”
She tells me about her almost BJ and getting pulled over.
“Ha! Even the law says that wasn’t supposed to happen. He was into you.”
“But I love you.”
“You better. Anything else?”
“Well, he touched my boobs.”
“I know.”
“You heard us?”
“Another not so nice moment,” I tell her. “I also heard you stick up for me that night.”
“I love you,” she assures me, but I already know that.
“Tessa, do you care about him?”
“Yes, I do. But not like you. It’s different. He’ll be my friend probably forever. Are you okay with that?”
“Do I need to worry?”
“Not at all. With both Ben and Toby, I just wanted to feel the way I felt with you. And I felt deeply for Toby. I did love him—do. He made me feel safe, loved. With Ben, he was fun, and I felt like he adored me. But, with you, from the first time I saw you look at me, I felt … naked … I know that’s the wrong way to explain it, but I knew you saw something I didn’t know was there. I had a dream about you. I knew—know—I love you, and that I always will. It scares me, but I feel drawn to you.”
“I can tell when you walk in a room, Tessa, without even seeing you,” I whisper my truth.
“I don’t just feel like I love you; I feel like I need you,” Tessa whispers hers.
“Mmm … Tessa, you’re amazing.” I lick my lips.
“Seriously? Dead puppies?” she gasps. “Even now that we … you know?”
“Oh, even more so now.”
She grins. “Good.”
“When will they be home from church?” I ask, pulling into one of the old barn’s open bays.
“In about half an hour? What—”
“Perfect.” I throw it in park, open the door, and jump out. Then I open the hatch, grab a blanket, and hurry, grabbing her hand. “This way.”
“Okay?” She laughs.
Inside the barn, I throw the blanket on a hay bale, same exact spot Benji interrupted us, and motion for her to sit.
“Lucas, I’m a little … Okay, a lot sore.” She blushes.
“None of that. Just want to finish what I started the other day. Please, baby?” I push out my bottom lip in a pout.
Her eyes light up, and I playfully push her back then drop to my knees. I jack down her … well, my sweats, and then I eat her like I’ll never eat again.
She smells like my soap and tastes like more. Above all that, she’s so fucking responsive and doesn’t try to hide from me or cover up. Confidence like hers? Sexy.
I make her come twice, and then give her a third before promising to come back later and leave her to nap.
Chapter Thirty
I wake up to Jade’s voice and dive out of bed and run downstairs.
She looks exhausted as I hug her.
She steps back and looks me up and down. “Wow, you look better.”
“I’m feeling much better. Go for a walk with me?”
Before she answers, I’m putting on my sneakers.
“Sure, your dad got Chinese. Are you hungry?”
“No, not yet. Come on.” I drop down and help her put her shoes on. Then I yank her out the door.
“What’s going on?” she asks, sounding concerned.
I change the subject. “Tell me about your night.”
“It was nice. They’re hurting as much as I am. His mom is very excited about the baby and seems like she wants to be very involved. She asks a lot of questions, like what my plans are for after the baby is born. Are you still in this with
me?”
“Yes.” I nod and try not to smile as I tell her something I consider we should do. “I actually thought that maybe we could do courses over the summer. It would make next year easier. I think we should look into it. I mean, if you could go for part-time, you’d have more time with your little boy.”
“You keep saying a little boy,” Jade says. “Why?”
“I had a nightmare about an accident with four people, and most of the time, there was a baby boy. For the longest time, I thought it was Lucas’s baby, but I still had the dream after. I’m sorry, Jade. Does that upset you?”
“No, but why are we walking toward the barn? We head to the falls when you’re contemplating.”
“That made you upset?” I ask.
We sit on a hay bale, but not the hay bale, and both look out the back as the sun starts to bid us goodnight.
“Tommy told me about the dreams.”
I take her hand.
“Lucas told him. Do you know he used to turn off …?” She stops and shakes her head. “No, sorry, I don’t want to upset you.”
“No way, Jade. Spill it.” I smile softly at her.
“Fine. When he was living here, he turned off your alarm on purpose just so he could hold you and kiss you.” She covers her face. “I shouldn’t have told you.”
I hug her, and she buries her head in my neck. I see headlights pull in as she says I’m sorry a million times.
Lucas.
He turns off his vehicle and looks toward us, flowers in hand. His smile falls when he sees Jade like this.
I point to the flowers then to Jade. He nods.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry—”
“Jade, I am fine.” I smile and push her hair back. “Not mad, not upset.”
Lucas says, “Hello, Jade.” Then he hands her the flowers.
I stand, and so does Jade.
“So, Lucas, Jade tells me—”
“Tessa, don’t,” Jade whispers.
I continue, “That when you stayed here, you used to turn off my alarm when I had those dreams just so you could come in my room and shove your tongue down my throat.”
“Oh yeah? What else did she tell you?” Lucas chuckles and smiles at her, and she palms her face. “Jade, who told you that?”
“Tommy.”