Page 37 of One Drink

Nausea washed over me, and my head spun. He couldn’t leave. If he did, he wouldn’t come back. This would be it. The moment I lost Jake forever. I felt like I was falling, but Jake was by my side, lifting me into his arms before I hit the floor. The strength of his touch opened the dam on my emotions, and a flood of tears fell from my eyes. With a gentle touch, he pressed a finger beneath my chin and lifted my eyes to his. “What don’t you know how to do?”

His hardened gaze softened, and my will to cling onto to the lifetime of pain my father caused crumbled.

“Love you.” The words were barely a whisper.

He dropped his forehead to mine and wrapped his hand around my neck. The heat from his touch made me tingle all over. “Let me help you.” He breathed.

I clenched my fists into his shirt and leaned into him. “But you deserve so much better than me.”

He cupped his free hand to my cheek and lightly grazed his lips across mine. The lightness of his touch had me trembling in his arms. “There is no one better than you.”

His touch, his kiss, his words shattered the hardened shell I’d built around my heart. And I cried. I buried my face in his chest, my tears soaking his shirt. We stood there—his arms snaked around me, holding me close—until my tears dried up.

I lifted my head and searched his eyes. His pain was replaced with hope—hope that I could give him what he needed. Could I? I’d been so wrong about him. About so many things. I should have listened to him. “I’m sorry. I should have given you a chance to explain.”

“I should’ve told your dad to fuck off. If you’d heard the things he said to me you’d know how hard it was for me to remain calm. I just wanted him to shut up without causing a scene.”

I squeezed my eyes tightly closed and dropped my head onto his shoulder. Chances were high, I’d had similar conversations with my dad. And on more than one occasion, I’d placated my dad by telling him what he wanted to hear just to get him to stop talking. It was not beyond reason that Jake would do the same thing.

His lips brushed against my ear and he whispered. “Say it, and I’ll stay.”

The air around me felt heavy and his arms tightened his hold on me, pressing my chest into his. His hand wrapped under the line of my jaw and his gaze delved deep, probing deep into my injured soul. I’d never felt so vulnerable, so exposed. But I knew he’d catch me. Jake proved to me he would never let me fall. I exhaled and said, “I love you.”

His lips crashed into mine.

Unlike last time, his kiss was punishing, demanding. Through his lips, I felt his anger, his pain, and his love. And I wanted more.

No, I needed more.

A powerful heat welled up within me, pressing against the fortified walls I’d built around my heart to keep out everything I didn’t want to feel. I’d spent a lifetime protecting my heart from love and everything I thought came along with it.

But I was wrong.

The love I felt for Jake wasn’t the prison my father painted in my mind. His love and my acceptance of it freed me from the shackles I’d hung onto for so many years, and I was ready to give him whatever he needed.

He pulled back and searched my eyes. The intensity of his gaze caused me to drop my head, not wanting him to see my flaws and weakness.

“Look at me.” It was a command, but it was gentle and kind. I couldn’t refuse him and shifted my eyes to his. “Don’t do that. Don’t ever hide from me.”

I nodded. I didn’t deserve the love and forgiveness I saw in his eyes. I’d behaved so badly, yet he was here, holding me.

I didn’t know what to say. There were no words good enough to express how sorry I was or how wrong I’d been.

His jaw clenched and unclenched as he stared down at me. A myriad of emotions played over his face. Anger, hurt, lust, need, love, acceptance. He wrapped a hand around my neck and held me tight. “You don’t need to say anything. I only need to know you love me back.”

“I do.” I choked on my tears as my emotions consumed me. “I am in love with you, Jake. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to admit it.”

His pale gray eyes darkened, and a naked lust sparked between us. I shivered at the promise in his eyes, a promise that he wasn’t going to hold back, not anymore.

He brought his lips back to mine with such focus and hunger that I had to fight to keep up. Before I had a chance to catch my breath, he’d picked me up and carried me to my bed. He tossed me down on my back and stared down at me with burning desire and determination.

I helped him strip me of my clothes before he discarded his own. It wasn’t slow and sensual, but fast and frenzied, as if our clothes would burn our skin if we didn’t get rid of them as quickly as possible.

His naked body hovered over me. There was so much fire and heat in his stare, and the potency of it made it impossible to tear my eyes away. I was his prey, and he had no intention of letting me go. But I also had no intention of slipping away. Not this time, not ever again.

He hadn’t even touched me yet, and my body was already ready for him. He slowly moved against me, creating just enough friction with his hardened length, and I moaned.

I slipped my hand around his cock and stroked it before rubbing his tip right where I liked it most.