The last person she’d told was Sully and only after they’d dated for several months. Heat crept into her body. Turning away from Jack, she rolled onto her other side and tucked her legs up into her chest. She rubbed the scar that ran down most of her right leg. Jack turned on his side and settled behind her, but their bodies didn’t touch.
“After I woke up in the hospital, they told me my parents had been killed instantly, but Riley held on for a few days.” Way too much reality for a one-nighter, but she couldn’t stop herself.
He kissed the back of her head. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“It was a ten years ago. I get through most days okay. I can think of them now without it hurting so bad that I can’t breathe. Planning my wedding was hard—” Emily choked back a sob.
“I’m so sorry that happened. I couldn’t imagine my life without my family.” He snuggled in closer and gave her a gentle kiss. “Get some sleep.”
Emily stirred in her sleep. A familiar voice sang softly, and she wanted to wrap it around her like a blanket; it warmed her from the inside out.
The room was dark except for the light from Jack’s cell phone that was propped up on the nightstand. Jack sat on the edge of the bed, gently strumming his guitar and singing. He stopped and wrote something in a notebook.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the lyrics. It was a love song. He stopped again to write something down and then crossed something out. Picking up his cell and tapping a few times, he laid it on the bed. Adjusting the guitar, he strummed and sang. Beautiful words. Emily squeezed her eyes shut and fisted her hands so she wouldn’t touch him. She wanted to hear every word. His voice had such a beautiful, silky quality that it calmed her.
He implored the girl to believe they belonged together. If the world disappeared, they’d have each other, and that was all they needed.
Shit. Jack was too attached. This had been a huge mistake. She’d been selfish. Jack wanted more, but she didn’t have more to give; she’d been running on empty the last three weeks.
She’d never had any doubts about Sully. He’d been into her from the first date, but it had taken her longer, way longer. It always did.
This time yesterday, she’d felt like shit. She hadn’t been able to sleep, couldn’t write, TV pissed her off, forget about reading. Until she was tired enough to pass out, every time she closed her eyes, the images of Sully and that little bitch waited. Except for tonight. Emily hadn’t thought of Sully or weddings that much. Just Jack. She was sure that meant something. Probably the hot sex. Damn, she missed the end of the song.
As the last note faded away, Jack didn’t move and his breaths came in hard bursts. His head dropped to his chest, and he rolled his shoulders.
No longer able to not touch him, her hand stroked his back. He didn’t startle. His head came up, and he looked over his shoulder and smiled.
“That’s beautiful.” She felt almost guilty for intruding on his creative space; his beautiful song still hummed through her mind.
“It’s about us,” he said.
Emily had known that in her heart. How could he be so open? Why couldn’t he just… What? Hide from his emotions? Something her therapist had said from ten years ago tried to fight its way to the surface, but she wasn’t in any shape to analyze right now. The last three weeks, she had felt like a walking raw nerve. Emily pushed all thoughts of the past away before they pulled her under. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to surface again.
Jack stood and put the guitar in the case. He crawled onto the bed next to her. She lay on her side with her head on the pillow, the sheet no longer covering her. Emily rolled onto her back to give him a better view. He leaned down and kissed her, not the full-on invasion of his earlier kisses but gentle, the way he might kiss a longtime lover. Her nipples tightened to near painful as he palmed her breasts.
He broke the kiss and trailed kisses down her jaw, neck, and chest until reaching her nipple. Reverently, his tongue laved her until she thought she might pass out. With a final flick of his tongue, he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
She moaned and threaded her fingers into his hair. His hand caressed her other breast, stroking the nipple with his thumb. When he groaned and looked up at her, a shiver tore through her. He licked the underside of her breast, and his hand traveled down her belly until it rested at the apex of her thighs. He dipped two fingers inside as he kissed his way down her rib cage and across her hip until his mouth joined his fingers. Gently, he sucked her clit into his mouth, and she moaned.
“Jaaack.”
He returned to her lips, and she wrapped her hand around his erection and stroked. Now it was his moan that echoed through her ears.
“I want to make love with you,” Jack whispered.
Emily stopped kissing him. His eyes were filled with raw emotion. Shit. “Let’s keep it fun,” she said, not breaking eye contact.
“I want to do everything with you, Em. You’re limiting me to one night.” His lopsided smile undid her. “Please.”
“I don’t want to hurt you. That was never my intention.” She tried to look away, but his hand cupped her face, forcing her to keep eye contact.
“Em, you’ve generously given me one night to make a lifetime of memories. I want making love to be one of them.”
She must be the rottenest person alive to agree to this. In the morning, she would leave, but right now, being with him felt so good. “Okay.”
She moved her hands to his shoulders and guided him onto his back. When he hesitated, she said, “You said make love with you. Lie back and enjoy.”
Jack reached over and turned on the light. Emily scooted to the bottom of the bed while Jack adjusted the pillows behind his head. She’d been wanting to touch him all over since she’d had that eyeful of him in the towel. She placed her hands on the tops of his feet and gently massaged. Moving to his legs, she caressed the tops and sides of each leg, the hair tickling her palms.
Glancing up, Jack appeared to be struggling to keep his eyes open. “Just enjoy the sensations.”
“But, I want to see you.”
Cupping his balls in one hand, she stroked his erection with the other. When she moved to his hips, he grunted in disapproval.
“Patience.” Emily continued her exploration, kissing and stroking him everywhere she could reach. His moans egged her on, and his chest heaved as he drew breath. She licked his abs and then trailed kisses up to his nipple, which she licked and then tugged.
“Oh fuck.” Jack’s lips went slack.
She kissed her way across his chest and up to his neck. Jack’s eyes were half closed, but his grin was full. She kissed his lips, and his grin faded into her. His hands pulled her so she was on top of him, full body contact. When her nipples brushed against his chest hair, jolts of pleasure shot through her.
Emily nibbled his earlobe and whispered, “I need you inside me soon.”
Jack groaned. “Can it be my turn now?”
chapter
FOURTEEN
Jack burned to touch her, to taste her, to be inside her. Emily nodded, and in a flash, he switched their positions. She deserved as good as she gave, so he had to get himself under control. He kissed her lips, dipping his tongue in, tangling with hers for only a few moments before withdrawing. He tried to slow things down, but his dick jerked; he wanted to go for a dip, too.
Reluctantly, Jack climbed off, as he needed a few minutes to regain some control. The temptation to just take her overwhelmed him. If he gave into it, he’d come like a clumsy teenager. Emily’s beautiful hazel eyes sparkled for him. “Roll onto your stomach.” His tone was tight, but Emily did as he asked. “Get comfortable.”
Jack couldn’t remember a woman ever touching him so thoroughly. Sure, his junk got plenty of attention, and so did his chest and abs, but never the way Emily had touched him. After a few deep breaths, he massaged her shoulders and back. Her skin was so soft. Jack couldn’t just use his hands. Straddling h
er body, he caressed her shoulders while kissing her neck. Her moan of approval ratcheted up his own arousal. He shifted down so he could touch more of her.
When he looked down and saw his dick nestled between her cheeks, his temperature rose several degrees. A few strokes and he’d come on her back. Jack forced himself to keep moving, kneading her ass firmly but gently. Leaning down, he kissed each cheek. As much as he’d like to linger, he wasn’t doing himself any favors. He slipped his hand between her thighs and stroked her a few times. She was so warm, wet, and inviting. She clenched her muscles around his fingers, which drew a groan from him.
He kept moving, kissing her thighs and lingering at the dip behind her knees. When his hands wandered around her calf, his fingers grazed over her scar, and she gasped and lifted her head, so Jack quickly moved his hand. After a few seconds, she settled back down, but her legs were still tense. Sweeping his hands up her body, he lay next to her on his side, and Emily adjusted to face him.
She had the most gorgeous flush. He watched her as her gaze trailed down his body to his hard cock. She wrapped her fingers around him and stroked as her eyes locked on his. Damn, the girl knew how to handle the equipment—a firm grip and the perfect pace.
“Jack, please,” she moaned.
Without breaking eye contact, he reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a condom. Within seconds he was over her, his dick resting between her lips. He kissed her while coating himself in her juices. He was about to claim her when she smiled into the kiss and giggled.
“What?” Jack asked.
Her eyes glittered. “Is Jack your real first name?”
Had she just asked him his name? “What?”
Emily repeated, “Is Jack your real first name?”
“Yes, Jack William McBride. It says so on my birth certificate. Why?”
Her lips broke into a huge, wicked grin. “You’re about to be a real-life Jack-in-the-box.”
It took a few seconds for his lust-clouded brain to register what she’d said. His laugh started deep in his belly. He loved that dirty mouth of hers. He fucking loved…her.
The realization hit him so hard he couldn’t breathe. As soon as the thought registered in his brain, he knew the truth of it; he was falling in love with her. Something tight in his chest loosened, and a warmth spread throughout his body. The dull ache he’d grown accustomed to vanished.
Oh fuck. He couldn’t tell her because she’d think him certifiable. Emily was far too practical to understand. Besides, she was in no condition to accept or return love. He’d do well to remember that.
“Jack, is everything okay?”
His eyes shot open. Her eyes were filled with concern. Jack forced a neutral smile and pushed fully inside her. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, holding you feels so fucking good. I got caught up in the sensations.” It wasn’t a lie; it just wasn’t the reason he hadn’t been moving.
Certain his eyes would give him away, he closed them. He took her lips in a soft, hungry kiss as he moved inside her, and they both moaned.
Her nails bit into his back, and her legs hooked around his calves.
He buried his face in the crook of her neck, kissing and licking. With every thrust, she tightened around him. She panted, trying to get enough air. He cupped her face as he kissed her lips. If he’d more time… His eyes flew open. He had to change her mind. Jack couldn’t let her walk out of here, out of his life, in a few hours.
“Jack, something has to be wrong. First, you’re squeezing your eyes closed so tightly you looked like you were in pain, and now they flew open in a panic. Am I doing something wrong?”
He stopped moving and rested his forehead against hers. “No, Em. You’re doing everything right.”
“Then what? Do you have a cramp or something?”
“No. Everything’s great.” Jack smiled like an idiot. Come on, man, dial it down, or she won’t believe you. He tried to stop smiling, but couldn’t, so he moved to her shoulder and nipped at it gently with his teeth. Mine. She arched into him.
“Jack, please tell me what’s wrong. Now you’re smiling like a crazy person. You’re scaring me.”
Emily’s pleading tone was his undoing, and before he could think of anything else to say, he blurted out the truth. “Em, I’m falling in love with you.”
Shit.
J
If Emily had been thinking straight, or at all, she wouldn’t have asked. Why couldn’t she keep her big mouth shut? Now it was out there, and she had to say something, but she had no idea what. He didn’t expect her to feel the same, did he?
She’d spent the last three weeks going over every detail of her relationship with Sully. She’d come to resent all the compromises she’d made and all the allowances she gave trying to see the best in him. Not that she was perfect by any means, but it was one of his shortcomings. Things he didn’t understand—like her need to write stories—were dismissed. Why had she put up with that? How did she get back on this topic? She was having the best night of her life. Oh, right, Jack said he was falling in love with her. A frustrated groan escaped her lips.
“You probably think I’m nuts.”
Emily’s eyes focused on him. She smiled and touched her lips to his. “I think you’re impulsive, relentless, and spoiled. Let’s finish what we started. Oh, and Jack”—Emily paused for effect—“seriously, missionary?”
“It’s more intimate this way, baby.” His blue eyes, darker than normal, shimmered with emotion.
Emily swallowed the lump in her throat.
Keeping his gaze locked on hers, he moved, pulling out and then slowly sliding back in until he filled her. With each thrust, her muscles gripped him. With their bodies locked together, she felt his heart pounding in his chest. Or was it hers? Emily closed her eyes. She had to; she couldn’t keep looking at the raw emotion in his.
He ducked his head and took her nipple in his mouth, suckling her, while his hand reached between them, and he stroked her clit. Every muscle in her body tightened as she arched off the bed, and as she screamed out her climax, Jack kissed her, swallowing her cries, as he growled out his own release. He collapsed on her, but only for a moment, before he rolled off, disposed of the condom, and pulled her on top of him. Emily felt his heartbeat beating in time with hers.
“You think I’m spoiled?”
“You’re clearly used to getting your own way. Does any woman ever say no to you?” She tried to raise her head but couldn’t; her mind and body were exhausted.
“As a matter of fact, I met this amazing girl last night. Beautiful, sexy, intelligent, funny as hell, with a dirty mouth that drives me wild. She said no, repeatedly.”
“Mmm. Sounds like a head case, Jack. You should move on to the next girl.” She yawned and snuggled into him.
“Maybe she’s just hurting so bad she can’t tell a good guy when she meets him.”
Emily mustered her strength and lifted her head to meet Jack’s eyes. “I see a good guy right now. You’re all the things on the pro list and more. Under different circumstances, at a different time, if you had a different life…” Emily didn’t finish the sentence. What was the point? None of those things were.
“You’re still leaving even though you know we’re good together?”
“I needed to cut loose tonight, although I didn’t know that’s what I needed until I met you. You’ve been fun.” Emily wasn’t a no strings kind of girl, but for the first time in her life, she wished she was.
“Not all guys cheat.”
“I know.” She tried to move off him, but Jack tightened his hold.
“Since I left home ten years ago, I’ve had three serious relationships, that’s six and a half years in monogamy. At least, I was. My first serious girlfriend cheated on me. Of the remaining three and a half years, I’ve slept alone plenty of nights. I’m having the best time I’ve ever had, and I don’t want it to end. I want to see you again.”
Emily sighed, wanting
to just pass out. “Jack, you agreed to one night, and I’m leaving in the morning. That was our deal. I needed to bust out tonight, but I’m not the girl you think I am, and you don’t really know me at all.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Maybe if I had been wilder in bed…”
“That fucker cheating on you wasn’t your fault. That’s on him.”
Emily rolled off him and onto her back, covering her eyes with her arm. “I hate that this is making me crazy, and I know it’s not my fault. But I also don’t understand what happened. We were happy. If his feelings changed, why didn’t he break up with me? Something must’ve happened.”
“Nothing you could’ve done is justification for cheating.”
“I know that, but—”
“But nothing.” Jack turned on his side. “Spend time with me this week.”
“No.”
“You won’t even consider it?”
“There’s nothing to consider. We agreed.”
He growled, “I lied. You shut me down at every turn. Did you expect me to walk away from the offer of a lifetime? And I think you knew I was lying. You wanted me as much as I wanted you. Why can’t you admit we have something special? It’s okay to admit you don’t want this to end in the morning.”
“Jack, it has to end.”
“Why?”
“Because three weeks ago, I was supposed to get married”—Emily choked on a sob—“and now I’m not. Please drop it.”
Jack’s anger bubbled over. “Or what, you’ll leave now?”
“I don’t want to leave now. Please, can’t we enjoy the time that’s left?”
Jack heaved a sigh. Kissing the top of her head, he whispered, “Em, I’m not giving up.”
“I know.”
chapter
FIFTEEN
Jack awoke to Emily cursing softly as she moved about the room. Bet she stubbed her toe. That had to hurt. The room was mostly shadows since it wasn’t even six a.m. yet. Jack sat up and adjusted the pillows behind him and leaned back. “Sneaking out?” he asked, as she walked back into the bedroom.
With You: A Rock Star Romance (Rocked in Love Book 1) Page 13