by C. C. Wood
Only for You
C.C. Wood
Copyright © 2020 by Crystal W. Wilson.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To Michele.
Thank you for reading my stories and helping me make them better.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by C.C. Wood
1
This was not going as planned.
And I hated it when that happened.
See, this was supposed to be the weekend I lost my virginity. Yes, that's right. I was a twenty-five-year-old virgin. You read that correctly.
Having four older brothers who were known around our small town for being full of piss and vinegar meant that I didn't date in high school. Ever. No boy would even talk to me, much less ask me out, for fear of the wrath of the Prescott boys.
Well, I wanted that to change.
I had it planned out. I didn't want a relationship because men were a huge pain in the butt. Again, four older brothers had taught me that. Watching them screw up their relationships throughout my teen years had been extremely informative.
If they weren't taking their girlfriends and later wives for granted, they were cheating, or carousing, or just plain being jerks. It was enough to turn a girl off from romantic relationships.
I knew that not all men were like my brothers, but even they didn't act like that in the beginning. Who would?
I didn't want to waste my time trying to get down to the truth of a man, only to have him prove that he wasn't worth the effort.
Now, don't get me wrong, I loved my brothers dearly. I just didn't want to date anyone like them.
So, losing my virginity would have to be a casual sort of thing. Sure, I could wait until I was ready to deal with dating and everything that came with it, but I had more important things to worry about.
Like grad school.
I was starting my first semester this fall. It would be another eighteen months to two years before I would be done, and I really didn't want to be a twenty-seven-year-old virgin.
I had no idea why that seemed even worse to me, but it did.
Where was a good place for a single woman in a small town to troll for a one-night stand?
Not The Red Boot, the local pub. Or online hookup sites.
That was a guaranteed way for word to get back to your overbearing, butt-head brothers that you were trolling for a quick roll in the hay.
The only chance I would have without having to drive an hour and a half away to a club in Dallas would be my employer's wedding.
I decided to lower the skeeziness factor of picking up a guy at my boss's wedding by arranging a date for the following night or even the following week. I hated to do it but my options were extremely limited and I knew that I wouldn't have time to take care of this issue once the fall semester started.
There were single men from out-of-town coming to celebrate Cam's upcoming nuptials to Brody Murphy, her fiancé. Brody had spent several years living away from our little town of Farley and he had lots of handsome single friends. They were also older than me and likely a great deal more experienced, which meant that my first time might not completely suck.
The problem was Cam's brother, J.J.
Since the moment I'd bumped into him outside the rehearsal dinner, he'd stayed glued to my side. It wasn't necessarily a hardship because I'd known him most of my life due to his friendship with my brother, but he was also throwing a monkey wrench in my one-night-stand plans.
Jackson James McClane had been the star of many of my adolescent fantasies, but I'd grown out of that. Mostly. He'd already graduated high school by the time I was a freshman, but he was the same age as the youngest of my four brothers, Scott, so I saw him constantly at my brother's basketball games in high school.
When I was twelve, I thought he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And he was always nice to me. He picked on his little sister incessantly, but he never picked on me.
When I was thirteen, I went from innocent admiration to full-blown crush. I could barely speak around him. I always felt flushed and hot in his presence. He was still nice to me, but his smile had the power to make my heart race.
And when he came over to our house to spend time with Scott, God, I wasn't sure if I wanted to hide in my room or lurk outside Scott's room just so I could hear his deep voice as he trash-talked my brother while they played video games.
But right now, I wished he were far, far away.
I couldn't sleep with my boss's brother and he was making it impossible for me to find another candidate. Though I doubted he wanted to sleep with me because he didn't seem interested in flirting. Just talking and dancing. On any other day, I would have loved it because I sincerely liked J.J. He was a good guy. Just not the guy I needed for tonight.
It hurt, though, just a little, that he wasn't as attracted to me as I was to him. I understood why. Growing up, I'd always been Scott's little sister. It didn't surprise me that he wouldn't see me as a woman even all these years later.
Unfortunately, J.J.'s refusal to let me get more than a few feet away from him meant that I wasn't able to flirt with any of Brody's friends either.
Not that I had a lot of experience flirting, but I figured maintaining eye contact, listening, smiling, and encroaching on a man's personal space would get the point across.
I couldn't suppress my sigh when J.J. pulled me out onto the dance floor once again, this time for the bridal party's dance with the new couple.
His arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me in close, but not too close. I could feel the heat of his body through his suit, but the only parts of us that touched were our thighs when they brushed together as we moved.
"What was that for?" he murmured next to my ear.
I didn't look at him, just kept my eyes glued to his shoulder as I focused on not stepping on his toes or tripping over my shoes. I didn't often wear heels and it took a lot of concentration to walk in them, let alone dance.
"What was what for?" I asked, absently.
His arm tightened around me just a shade. "That sigh."
"Just hoping I don't injure you," I lied. "It's been a while since I danced with someone."
"You're doing fine," he murmured, his breath warm against my temple.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the toe of my heeled sandal caught on his dress shoe and I stumbled.
J.J. pulled me into his body to steady me and I inhaled sharply. My arm ended up along his shoulder and my hand curved around the opposite side of his neck as I clung to him.
Essentially, he carried me for a couple of steps before I got my balance back and I could feel each and every one of his strong muscles working to hold my weight.
It was then that I realized his shoulders were broader than they had been twelve years ago when I'd first developed a crush on him.
He'd filled out. He no longer looked like a teenage boy, but a man.
My stomach twisted and I felt a twinge between
my thighs. I might not have dated all that much, but I was no stranger to what arousal felt like and I was definitely experiencing it at the moment.
Just the smallest spark.
And it wouldn't take much to fan it into full flames.
Once my feet were beneath me, I kept my firm grip on J.J. and tilted my head back to look up into his face. His eyes were golden brown and gazed into mine without blinking.
"That's exactly what I was afraid of," I murmured.
That familiar flushed feeling crept back in as J.J. and I maintained eye contact. I hadn't intended to start a staring match, but now that I was so close to him, looking into his eyes, I couldn't tear myself away.
When his grip on me loosened, the hand I'd placed on his neck tightened reflexively. I wasn't ready to let him go yet. Not when I could feel almost every inch of him for the first time.
Any plans I'd formulated, any thoughts that I might have had, disappeared in a puff of smoke. There was only his body and mine, the heat that slowly filled me, and the throbbing low in my abdomen.
J.J. stopped leading me around the dance floor then. "You shouldn't look at me like that," he whispered.
I swallowed and licked my lips. "Like what?"
Oh, God, he didn't seem unaffected now. In fact, despite my inexperience with men, I was pretty sure he felt some of the sensations I did.
His gaze never broke from my face. "Like you want to take a bite out of me."
I didn't have the mental capacity to be embarrassed at the moment, I was too distracted by the reactions of my body. "Why not?"
His face suddenly seemed even closer than it had been before. "Because I might take one out of you, too."
My knees were abruptly weak, and I clung to him with both arms now instead of just my left. "And that would be a bad thing?" I asked.
What was wrong with me? I'd already decided J.J. wasn't a good candidate for my first time. He was Cam's brother. Having sex with him was not a good idea. I didn't want this to be awkward when it was over and though he didn't live in Farley any longer, he came to town often enough that it might get weird.
His arm was tight around me now, his hand cupping the opposite side of my ribcage and holding me completely against his body. I didn't have to hold onto him any longer, but I couldn't seem to force my arms to relax.
J.J.'s eyes dropped from mine as he scanned my face until his gaze was pinned to my mouth.
He looked like he was thinking about kissing me.
And, dear God, I wanted him to.
What in the heck was I doing? I had a plan. However, at the moment, I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was.
For the briefest moment, I thought he was going to close the scant space between us and press his mouth to mine, but he closed his eyes and sighed.
I knew then that he was less than a second away from releasing me and setting me away from his body.
I didn't think I could stand it if he did.
So I took advantage of his closed eyes and did what I wanted him to do.
I kissed him.
Not the gentle, hesitant kisses I'd gotten on the few dates I'd had in college once I'd moved away from my family.
Not even the strange, questioning kisses I'd received the first time I'd kissed a boy. Also in college because, again, my brothers.
I tried to take a bite out of him.
Figuratively speaking, of course.
I tugged his lips with mine, sliding my tongue across his mouth until he groaned and opened it. At the first touch of his tongue to mine, I shuddered against him.
The heat within me exploded into an inferno and the low throb in my abdomen became a sharp ache.
I needed something more.
More than a kiss. More than a touch.
I needed everything.
Thank God, he remembered where we were and who was around us because anyone else in the room, in the town, on the entire planet, had ceased to exist to me.
J.J. released my mouth. "We shouldn't do this here."
A bucket of cold water on my head couldn't have broken the haze of lust any faster than his words. I jerked against him and blinked rapidly as my mind ticked through too many thoughts, one right after the other.
Then, came the emotions. First, surprise because judging from the hard length that pressed against my belly, he seemed just as aroused as I was. Then came the hurt, a swift sting that lost its cutting edge but still ached all the same. Finally, humiliation. I had thrown myself at him, practically mauled him, and he was trying to bow out gracefully.
If I cussed, this would be the perfect time for a well-placed f-bomb.
Unfortunately, I made an effort not to swear unless it was absolutely necessary. Some might argue that this moment qualified, but I didn't.
"I—" I closed my mouth and inhaled, a sharp, quick breath. What on earth was I supposed to say? Sorry I acted like a cat in heat? I opened my mouth again but closed it just as quickly.
There was nothing to say.
"Do you want to go somewhere with me?" J.J. asked. "Somewhere we can be alone?"
My brain ceased to function. All that was left were involuntary acts like breathing and hormones. My hormones managed to control my neck muscles enough that I nodded my head.
J.J. smiled, that same beautiful smile I remembered from adolescence and the rapid thud of my heart slowed a little.
He wasn't rejecting me. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
J.J. took my hand and led me toward the back door of the party barn. Neither of us looked around as we snuck out the exit. That corner of the building wasn't as well-lit as the dance floor and the area where the tables were set up for dinner. The shadows hid us well.
As soon as the door shut behind us, J.J. pressed me against the side of the building and kissed me again. It was shorter, but no less affecting, than the first one we shared.
I was breathless when he pulled back this time.
"I have no idea what I'm doing," J.J. said.
I huffed out a light laugh. "Neither do I," I admitted.
I truly didn't. I hadn't planned for this to happen. I never would have dreamed he would kiss me the way he did. That I would feel this way when he touched me.
His hands curved around my waist, molding my body as though he wanted to memorize the shape of it.
"Any thoughts on what we should do next?" he asked.
"I don't know, but it should definitely involve more kissing," I answered.
There was that smile again. Dear God, it could have been used as a weapon. Or a tool to bring about world peace.
"I can do that."
He leaned toward me but stopped when the bar on the exit door creaked as though someone was about to come outside.
"Damn, this isn't much better than the dance floor," he said, shaking his head.
Though it was nine o'clock at night, the rising moon was nearly full. I could make out most of his features, but the pale light cast dark shadows beneath his brow and cheekbones, giving him a slightly sinister look.
I was definitely in trouble though, because that sinister look didn't put me off in the least.
J.J. took a step back. "Having second thoughts?" he asked.
I shook my head and reached for his hand. "No. You?"
"No."
I stared up into his face, and though the shadows hid his eyes, I knew he was looking down at me.
"Come home with me," I murmured.
His fingers tightened around mine. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I don't care. It's what I want."
For the first time in my life, I didn't care about plans. I wasn't thinking about my goals or the steps I needed to take to reach them.
I wanted instant gratification.
I wanted the chaos.
I wanted Jackson James McClane.
Even if it was just for one night.
2
My hands trembled as I drove home. Every few seconds, I would glance in the rearview mi
rror to check and see if J.J.'s headlights were still there.
The tremors that shook my extremities weren't from fear or regret. Yes, I was a bit nervous, but more, I was excited.
I was about to get something I'd always wanted—a night with J.J. McClane.
There were nerves there. I worried that I would do something he didn't like. Or that he would realize I was a virgin and call the whole thing off.
But that was unlikely to happen. It was only in the most technical sense that I was a virgin.
I may not have had sex with a man before, but I had purchased a couple of toys when I'd moved into my own home.
As long as I lived with my parents, I wouldn't have dared. If my brothers had found my discreet vibrator or the extremely life-like dildo I'd purchased, they would have tormented me endlessly and without mercy.
The only thing that might give away my inexperience was how I responded to him. How I touched him.
I didn't have time to ponder it any longer because there was my driveway, up ahead on the left.
I flicked on my blinker and turned into it, following the long, winding gravel drive for nearly a quarter-mile until it stopped at the carport on the side of what was once my grandmother's house but now belonged to me.
I parked the car and shut it off. I stared out the windshield and took a couple of deep breaths before I climbed out. J.J. was getting out of his truck as well and he came around the front of his vehicle toward me.
"I didn't realize your grandmother left you her house," he said.
I shrugged. "I was surprised, too, but my mom and brothers didn't seem to mind, so I moved in when I graduated with my bachelor's." I took my keys out of my clutch. "Follow me."
J.J. was a solid presence behind me as I climbed the two concrete steps on the side of the house that led into the screened porch.