“Good.” She smiles and her face goes soft, softer than I have ever seen it, and I know right then, with her chest against mine, me still buried deep inside of her, our smell surrounding us, I know I’m in love with her. So fucking in love that I want to wrap her up in cotton so nothing can ever happen to her. How the hell are you supposed to survive, when the part of you that you need to live is walking around outside your body?

“Jax?”

“Yeah, baby?” I ask, focusing on her and running my fingers through her hair.

“You got a weird look on your face,” she whispers, studying me.

“Just thinking,” I tell her softly. I know I’m going to keep pushing us forward, but I don’t want to scare her away by letting her know I love her. I need to find a way to get her addicted to me. I need to make her crave me so the thought of not being with me scares her more than any fear of the future does.

“What about?” she asks, sounding unsure.

“You. How perfect you are and how much I want this,” I tell her a half-truth, kissing her forehead.

“I want this too,” she whispers, and I search her face, seeing something deep in her eyes I hadn’t noticed before, but I think it’s always been there. Swallowing, I pull her up my body then roll her to her back.

“I gotta take care of this condom.”

“Okay.” She nods as I pull the sheet from the bottom of the bed and place it over her. Going to the bathroom, I take off the condom and notice a small smear of blood, which reminds me that Ellie is mine, and only mine, bringing the caveman beast inside of me to the surface. Tossing the condom in the trash, I start the bath then go back into the room.

“Come on, let’s take a bath,” I tell her, pulling her from the bed and carrying her into the bathroom. Stepping into the large tub with her in my arms, I settle her between my legs and run my hands over her as the water fills. Hearing her stomach growl in the quiet room, I tilt her head back so I can see her face.

“You still haven’t fed me,” she says shyly.

“What do you want to eat?” I ask, running my thumb across her bottom lip.

“Pancakes with chocolate chips,” she says, rolling to her stomach so her breasts are in line with my cock, which hardens instantly. Looking down between her tits, her lower lip is pulled between her teeth and her eyes lift slowly to meet mine. The image of her with her hair down, the ends wet from the bath, her skin still glowing from her resent orgasm, and her eyes full of heat, gazing at me with lust, is an image I will use often when I can’t take her to bed. Then she shocks me. Her head dips and her tongue touches the head of my cock, licking off the drop of precum that seeped out of the end.

“Oh, fuck,” I hear myself groan. “Baby,” I breathe as she sits back, her tits rising above the water. Her hand attempts to wrap around me, and she timidly pumps, and then her mouth covers the head and her tongue swirls the tip. Wrapping my hands around the edge of the tub, I try to keep still. I don’t want to slam down her throat or grab onto her hair. I don’t even know if she understands what she’s doing.

Her eyes meet mine as her hand pumps, each stroke killing me slowly. As her mouth lowers, taking me deeper into the depth of her mouth, I flex my muscles, knowing she is going to be the death of me. Her unsure innocence is making it hard to keep my hands locked on the tub.

Feeling myself hit the back of her throat, hearing her gag almost has me coming. “Ellie, fuck, baby. Oh, God.” My toes curl and her hand moves faster, like she knows I’m close. “I’m gonna come, baby,” I tell her, and her mouth leaves my cock, but her hand pumps. Wrapping my hand over hers, I help her bring me off and use my other hand to pull her forward, covering her tits with my come. “You’re gonna kill me,” I confess, pulling her to rest against my chest, leaning my head back and closing my eyes, trying to catch my breath.

Feeling myself shaking, I open one eye and dip my chin, seeing Ellie has her mouth covered and her body is quaking with silent laughter.

“Sorry,” she giggles when her eyes meet mine.

“You think it’s funny that you’re gonna kill me?” I ask, and her laughter quiets down and she smiles, shaking her head. “We need to shower,” I say, standing and taking her with me.

“Are you mad?” she asks from behind me as I start the shower.

“No, baby.” I push her into the shower then move her against the wall, hearing her gasp as her skin touches the cold tile. “Let’s see if you’re still laughing when I’m done,” I say, and dropping to my knees and tossing her leg over my shoulder.

Chapter 8

Ellie

“Here, babe.”

Glaring at the shirt held out to me, I take it anyways, making sure to tug it with force from Jax’s grip, then pull it over my head.

Hearing him chuckle, I pull my long wet hair out of the collar of the shirt and narrow my eyes on him, which only seems to make his smile bigger.

“What?” he asks, pulling up a pair of sweats that are loose and hang low on his hips, showing off the well-defined V of his waist.

“It’s not funny,” I growl when he begins to laugh louder.

“Baby, I’m not laughing at you.”

“You’re totally laughing at me,” I say, looking around with wide, dramatic eyes, pointing out there is absolutely no one else in the room, or even the house, with us. “And who does that to someone? Who uses sex torture as a way of hearing what you want to hear?” I ask him, feeling my cheeks heat up at just the thought of what happened in the shower.

“Sex torture?” He laughs louder, and I feel a smile on my lips from the sound of it. When his eyes come to me again, I school my features.

“Sex torture, that thing you did when you…when you didn’t let me orgasm until I told you what you wanted to hear.”

“You’re adorable.”

“I’m not adorable.” I roll my eyes, picking up my towel from the end of the bed.

“You are. Now, are you ready to go have pancakes?” he asks, taking the towel out of my hand and tossing it toward the bathroom on the ground, making me frown.

“I was going to hang tha—”

He cuts me off, lowering his mouth over mine in a brutal kiss that causes my legs to become weak. When his mouth leaves mine and I finally get my eyes open, I find him looking down at me with a very smug smile.

“Now…are you ready for pancakes?” he asks again.

“You’re annoying,” I tell him, taking a step back and turning toward the door, making a point to stomp down the hall and down the stairs. I notice on the way that something looks different, but I can’t figure out what it is. When we reach the kitchen, Jax lifts me onto the counter and starts pulling out the ingredients to make pancakes.

“What happened here?” he asks, stopping in front of me. I absently feel him run his fingers over the skin of my knee, but my eyes are glued to his abs and the outline of his hard-on under his sweats.

“Baby.”

“Hmm?” I mumble in a daze, feeling a tingle in my core.

“What happened to your knees? Did I do that?” he asks, sounding concerned, and my eyes move to focus on his fingers that are once more running over one knee then the other. Seeing the bruise; it’s not huge, but it’s noticeable.

“Mellissa tripped me when I was walking past her at the salon.” I shrug, trying not to make a big deal out of it. She already ruined my dinner. I won’t allow her to ruin our night.

“What the fuck?” he rumbles as I shake my head, pressing my hand against his chest.

“She’s jealous and evil. Honestly, I can’t believe you dated her,” I tell him, moving my hand up to his jaw and running my fingers over it, gaining his gaze.

“We dated in high school,” he explains.

“You still dated her. I can’t imagine she was any different back then.”

“You’re right. She’s always been the same.”