She smirks up to me, obviously surprised by my reaction, and then lays her head back on my chest. “Jason is his name,” she starts talking and I involuntarily tense just from hearing his name. The thought of some other guy’s hands on her kills me.

“So, we’d been going out for some time when he asked me to take the pictures. I agreed, thinking they would be between the two of us. And they were, until a month or so later. We were at a party and I ran into an old boyfriend. It was nothing. I was just catching up with him. I think his girlfriend was actually at the party as well. But Jason was always jealous, never wanting me to show any attention to anyone but him. We’d been fighting a lot recently about his jealousy. When I hugged the old boyfriend goodbye, Jason lost it from across the room. It started with bottles and cans being thrown against the wall, but quickly escalated to furniture being turned over. His friends tried to stop him, but his rage was so intense it scared me. I begged him to stop, and even told him I loved him.” She stops talking and anger hits my veins. I hate the fact that she told someone else she loved them. A selfish part of me hoped she’d never said those words to anyone else.

“Anyway, he didn’t care. His friends eventually got him to leave the party and I hitched a ride with a friend. The next morning when I woke up, my phone was maxed to capacity with texts and voice messages. Within hours, the whole town knew what had happened. Social media can be as fast as lightning when the gossip’s juicy,” she finishes.

“Anything else?” I ask. I can’t help the feeling in my gut that she’s still holding something back.

“I hid out for a semester and then transferred to Western in the fall.” The hesitation in her voice tells me there’s more to it, but I don’t want to push her too hard for fear she’ll retreat from me.

“I’m sorry, Jessa,” I say and she squeezes my hand tightly. I hug her and kiss the top of her head. “That guy’s a jackass.” I can’t even say his name. “He took advantage of you. You did nothing wrong.”

“Doesn’t it bother you? Weren’t you mad when you saw the pictures?”

“Yes,” I honestly answer. “What bothered me most was thinking about you doing those things with someone else, not that you allowed him to take pictures. Don’t get me wrong, it pisses me off that so many dipshits saw you without clothes on, but it changes nothing for me,” I wholeheartedly admit.

She turns around and looks at me with a serious expression on her face. “What I have to say next might,” she says, staring right into my eyes. “After it happened, I tried…I tried to kill myself,” she reveals and instantly sits up, taking her touch with her.

I nod my head, trying to think of the right thing to say. She’s kind of throwing me for a loop here and hitting a little too close to home, although the circumstances were very different. I look at her and the apprehension that fills her face is too much for me to take. The thought that she could have never entered my life becomes unimaginable to me. I want her to know how I feel, even if it’ll be the end of me.

“I’m glad you didn’t succeed,” I say, squeezing her tight against my body.

“Why?” she murmurs into my chest. I pull her back, holding her arms in my hands.

“Because I would’ve never fallen in love,” I finally divulge, and her body crashes into me. “You did get what I just said, right?” I shyly ask, not missing the fact that she said nothing back.

Picking up her head, she giggles and says, “I love you too, Grant.” And just like that, our feelings are laid out on the table or in our case the bathtub. I can’t fight it any longer; I just pray like hell it doesn’t end like it always has for me.

“God, I love you.” I kiss her on the lips, bringing her on top of me.

“Show me,” she requests.

“I fully intend to. Jessa, tonight I’m in charge. You’re mine now, and I want to cherish you like the goddess you are to me. Are you okay with that?”

She nods her head, smirking up at me. I stand up and step out of the tub, grabbing a towel from the shelf. I hold it out for Jessa and she steps into it as I wrap it around her body before grabbing one for myself. After I walk us out of the bathroom, I lay her down on the bed, following closely behind. I slowly move my lips over hers, gently kissing her before nibbling on her bottom lip. I trace my hands up and down her ribcage, making her shiver slightly. She places her hands on the back of my head, working her fingers through my hair. Letting my lips travel to her chin, along her jawline, and up to her ear, I whisper, “You’re beautiful,” and she arches her back into me in response. Taking a short break from sucking and nibbling on her neck, I let my tongue lick its way down to her breasts. Wrapping my mouth around her peaked nipple, I suck it into my mouth before I find her other nipple and mimic what I did to the first.

The moans and whimpers escaping her mouth are making it a struggle to keep up the slow pace, but she deserves for someone to worship her body. I give her butterfly kisses down her stomach, letting my fingers lead the way. Her whole body shakes when my tongue flicks over her clit. Sitting up, I admire her body and notice that the nervous look on her face is one she’s never possessed before. It strikes me that she’s self-conscious about being this intimate.

“Turn over,” I instruct her and she grins before rolling over onto her stomach.

My fingertips lightly move across her back and her sides and I kiss the tattoo on the back of her neck, now understanding the meaning of the inscription. I move my fingers to the side of her breast, teasing her, while my lips and tongue trace over her shoulder blades before moving down along her spine. She whimpers when I end at her ass. Bringing both my hands slowly down her body, I place my fingers around her hips, propping her up to her knees. I gently move my finger along her slit before I insert my middle finger, feeling how ready she already is. I pull my finger out, massaging the wetness around her clit and folds.

“More, Grant, please,” she begs, and I insert my pointer finger along with the middle finger. She moans loudly and unable to take it slow any longer, I turn her over. Her hands grab my ass, ready to pull my cock into her, but I hold off. Just as the tip of my dick touches her opening, I admire her below me and then I gently thrust into her.

Moving my hips in small circles, I lay on top of her, kissing her thoroughly. We don’t say anything dirty to each other or use rough hands. It’s the most intimate I’ve ever been with someone. I pray this doesn’t end badly, because I could stay like this for the rest of my life and be content. Soon she starts bucking a little faster against me, and I respond by thrusting harder into her. Before I realize it, she’s breathlessly repeating my name and I’m murmuring how much I love her against her neck. We both find our release a few seconds apart and I fall next to her, bringing her to my chest and beginning to rub small circles on her back.

“Thanks, Grant,” she says, and I place my finger under her chin so she’s looking at me.

“For what?” I ask.

“For doing that…going slow. It made me feel desirable and wanted,” she says, her eyes filled with hope and love. A wide grin spreads across my face and I’m happy that I made her feel the way she deserves to feel.

“Baby, you’re sexy as hell and desirable…I would’ve thought you’d have figured that out over the past month since I haven’t been able to keep my hands off you,” I say, trying to convince her.

“I’ve never been like that with someone before.” She nuzzles even closer to my neck, kissing it lightly.

“Get used to it. I’m not going anywhere.” The selfish bastard in me is ecstatic that I was able to be her first at something.

Jessa

“I’m starving…you want one of Mrs. Fletcher’s muffins?” Grant asks.