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Up in the guest room, Brandon heard Groz’s voice downstairs a few moments before the front door opened and his friend’s heavy treads went down the porch steps.
He sighed and stretched back out on the bed. He appreciated that Groz, Mia, Hadleigh and Noah had come by, but he was way too exhausted to socialize, and just wanted to be alone with Jaia.
The bedroom door opened. Jaia stepped in wearing a robe that Kerrigan must have loaned her, her dark, blow-dried hair tousled around her shoulders. She still looked a little pale and drawn, but so damn beautiful. And seeing the points of her nipples outlined beneath that thin silky fabric had him turning hard as stone in his sleep pants.
He reached out a hand. She took it and he tugged her onto the bed. She crawled into his lap and wound her arms around his neck.
“Doing okay, sweetheart?” he murmured, setting his chin on the top of her head.
She tucked her face into the curve of his neck and wrapped her arms around him, her shoulders jerking.
Ah, shit. Honestly, he was surprised she’d held on this long. He’d expected this way earlier. She had this thing where she thought everyone expected her not to show emotion. But she could with him. He never wanted her to feel like she had to hide anything from him.
“It’s all right,” he soothed, squeezing her tight. Her shoulders jerked again, a tiny sob coming free. “I’m here.”
She let the tears loose, leaning into him while she cried. His own eyes stung. He closed them, held her and didn’t say a word. It was better that she was letting all this out, but every sound of her pain sliced him up inside.
Gradually she calmed. Tiny little shudders sped through her as her breathing slowed. She wiped her face and lifted her head to look at him.
Brandon stared back, trapped by the look in those liquid dark eyes. Jaia’s gaze dropped to his lips. She leaned slowly toward him, the longing and pain on her face making his heart thud. “Come here,” he murmured, wanting to take care of her.
She hiked up the robe around her thighs and straddled his lap. He grabbed her hips, his fingers flexing, squeezing the soft flesh while his blood pumped hot and urgent. Her dark eyes searched his for a long moment, then she leaned forward, one hand coming up to hold the back of his head as her lips closed over his.
He growled low in his throat, a tidal wave of desire pushing the surprise away. He’d expected her to just want to cuddle and sleep, but the way she poured herself into the kiss said she wanted something else entirely.
He rolled them, reversing their positions and settling his hips between her thighs. She whimpered softly, her legs locking around his as she held his head and kissed him with a frantic urgency that set him on fire.
He let his body take over, feeding off the need he could feel pulsing from her. The opposing urges to both soothe and claim her warred inside him, overriding everything else.
He wanted to be inside her. Bury himself inside her heat and stay there. Give her so much pleasure she forgot all the fear and terror she’d faced today.
The silken robe parted like a sigh and settled around her naked body. He drew back, coming up on his knees to look at her. All that smooth, bronze skin and tight, dark nipples bared to his gaze.
“So beautiful, baby,” he whispered, letting his fingers trail down between her breasts, skimming the backs of them over the inner curves.
She arched into his touch, pulling his head toward her. He obliged, bracing his weight on his forearms to cradle a breast in his hand and take the hard nipple into his mouth. Jaia shuddered and groaned his name, moving restlessly beneath him.
He let himself get lost in her. Get drunk on the feel and scent and taste of her, her utterly sensual reactions sending heat flooding straight to his gut. His hands closed around her hips, holding her in place while he slid down to the dark triangle of hair marking his destination.
Settling in, he ran his tongue up the length of her slick folds, tasting her response, her breathless moan making his cock ache. He lavished attention on her, lapping and stroking and sucking, sliding his tongue inside her warmth before circling the swollen bud of her clit. He wanted her lost. Not concentrating on anything other than pleasure, letting him take care of her.
She panted, her nails digging into his scalp. “Hurry, I’m close,” she whispered urgently.
He sucked ever so gently at her clit for one more moment, wringing a desperate sound from her before lifting up and practically diving across the bed for the condoms in his nightstand. He stripped off his pants and sheathed himself, sucking in a sharp breath when she reached out to wrap her hand around his throbbing length.
Curling his hand around hers, he squeezed tight and moved back into the cradle of her thighs, rubbing the head of his erection along her folds. Spreading the wetness and teasing her clit until she clutched at his back and pulled him.
“Now, now,” she gasped out.
Yes. He braced his weight on one hand, using the other to guide him into her.
Jaia gazed up at him with heavy-lidded eyes. He pushed deeper, his fingers stroking her clit. Warmth enveloped him, her body squeezing him, pulling him deeper.
Possessiveness streaked through him, fast and hot. She was his. All his.
Her eyes slid closed, an expression of pure bliss etched on her face as her neck arched, her legs winding around him. “Oh, Brandon,” she gasped out.
He couldn’t answer. He was beyond words, lost in pure sensation, hungrily watching her face while he buried himself in her slick heat. Her core rippled around him, her breathing growing shallower.
His. All his in this moment, and he was going to make this so good for her that she would never forget it.
His heart thundered in his ears as he began to move. Firm, steady strokes, his thumb now gliding along the edge of her clit, back and forth in a sweeping motion with every thrust. Jaia moved with him, lifting into every stroke, the hushed sounds of pleasure she made sending fire streaking up his spine.
His control was starting to fray, the forerunners of ecstasy tightening his muscles when her hands shifted around to the front of his shoulders and pushed. His eyes popped open, and he froze, afraid he’d hurt her somehow.
But she was still breathing fast, her expression tight with strain. “Let me on top. I need—”
He flipped them, gripped her hips and let her settle on top of him. Jaia sat up tall and tossed her hair over her shoulders.
The view took his breath away. In the soft moonlight coming through the window, she was pure, erotic fantasy come to life as she planted her hands on his chest and began to rock.
Smooth, sexy undulations that made her quiver and moan, her breasts bobbing gently as she used the length of his cock for her pleasure, angling her pelvis at the end of each glide to rub her clit against his body.
Sweat slicked his spine. He could barely breathe, helpless to do anything but hold on to her while she rode him, milking pleasure out of him with every single movement.
She gasped and quivered, those incredible dark eyes opening a fraction to lock on him. And the look on her face, the raw, erotic enjoyment had him swelling, ready to burst.
With a soft whimper she threw her head back, her body arching in a long, lovely line and sunk her teeth into her lower lip to stifle the sob of ecstasy as she started to come. Her hips jerked, riding him fast and hard.
His vision blotted out. He clamped his hands around her soft flesh and thrust deep, taking over from beneath until he joined her, and an intense explosion of pure white blotted out everything but the sensation of his own release.
Jaia sighed and melted on top of him, her weight draped across the length of his body. He wrapped both arms around her and held on tight, his heart still thundering away against his ribs.
God damn, it had never been like this for him. He’d never felt this kind of emotional link with anyone else. Couldn’t imagine letting her walk away because he could envision a future with her.
Jaia hummed and cuddled closer, tucking her face into his neck, her breath brushing over his overheated skin.
He shifted her enough to slowly ease from her heat, then tugged the covers over them and held her to him, wrecked. He wanted more. More time with her, more chances to explore this incredible, stunningly brave woman who had crashed so unexpectedly into his life.
Most of all, he didn’t want to let her go. Couldn’t even think about it without his heart clenching in agony.
“Tired?” he murmured, gliding a hand up and down her bare back.
“Way past tired.”
He was too, yet his mind kept churning. “What will you do now?” he murmured, running his fingers through her long, soft hair.
She smelled like soap and shampoo, all traces of salt water washed away. He knew she needed sleep, but he was already thinking about reaching for her in the middle of the night, waking her with kisses and caresses and bringing her right to the edge before burying himself inside her again.
“I don’t know. I need to go back to Tampa, I guess, and figure things out. Look for a new job. Maybe sell my place. Not sure.” She sighed, tracing her fingers over his chest.
She’d already told him she had nothing to go back to there. No one to go back to, except for her book club friends. “Then stay here.”
She stilled in surprise, then pushed up onto an elbow to peer down at him. “Here?”
He wrapped his arms around her and rolled her on top of him. “Right here. With me.”
It was fast but he didn’t care. It felt right. This felt right.
“With your background you’ll have no trouble finding another job. You could find one close to here, or even work remotely. I’m taking the paramedic position here. We could get a place together.”
A startled smile spread across her face. “You want me to stay with you? Even after everything I put you through?”
He cradled the side of her face in one hand. “You didn’t put me through anything. And yes. Stay.” He searched her eyes. “Stay here and build something new with me.”
JAIA STILLED, HIS words sliding deep inside her, hitting the most vulnerable place in her heart.
She was tempted. So very tempted to blurt out yes and take him up on his offer. But she had to be practical now. Neither of them was thinking clearly at this point. Once all the drama and tension died away, maybe he wouldn’t find her so interesting anymore.
“We barely know each other.”
He leaned back and lifted an eyebrow at her. “Are you kidding me? After everything we’ve been through, we know more than most married people know about each other after ten years. If we can get through that and still like each other, we can get through anything.”
She smiled, unable to help it. They’d both already seen each other at their worst, and how the other reacted under extreme stress. “You might decide I’m totally boring in real life,” she said, cringing inwardly at the intense vulnerability of laying herself emotionally bare.
He snorted. “No way in hell. With the pace and stress of my job and training and all the other baggage I’m carrying around right now, I want someone calm and quiet to come home to at the end of the day. And you said before there’s nothing holding you in Tampa.”
It was true. She had no job to go back to, no one waiting for her. Only a handful of friends and an empty house full of memories too painful to look at. “I’m about to be out of a job.” If the company didn’t automatically fire her for stealing the files and bugging Robert’s office and car, she would quit. Either way, she was done.
“Crimson Point Security is looking for good people. They’re expanding fast, and Kerrigan was telling me just the other day—well, last week, I guess—that her boss needs an executive assistant.” The look in his eyes was soft. Adoring. “And I just happen to know of a kickass EA who might be perfect for the job.”
That made her smile. “Do you?”
He nodded. “I’ll go back with you and help you get everything settled,” he offered. “You can either rent out your place or put it up for sale and come back here with me.”
She laughed. “You mean, move in with you? Right away?”
“Yes,” he said, the sincerity on his face wiping her smile away. “I want to come home to you and fall asleep with you next to me. Preferably naked.”
She swallowed, her throat tightening. The deep-seated fear was still there, lurking inside her, warning her not to give in. Not to let herself fall for him because it was too big a risk on top of everything else she’d survived—especially since he was in the military—and would only lead to more pain if things didn’t work out.
But she was so damn sick of being afraid. Sick of being alone, and Brandon meant too much for her to just walk away from him and what they might have together. Life was full of risks. She had to take another one if she wanted to start fully living again.
“All right,” she said, shocking herself, but saying the words brought an incredible feeling of freedom.
His grin flashed white in the moonlight. “Yeah?” He groaned and crushed her to him, burying his face in her hair. “Good. We can start looking at places in the morning.”
She laid her head in the hollow of his shoulder, tucking her face back into his neck. Brandon had earned her complete trust. As well as her heart. “I’d like that.”
