Page 138 of Lawless

The second our lips brush, his hand returns to my back before sliding down to grab my ass.

I gasp, giving him access to plunge his tongue into my mouth.

Every single muscle in my body relaxes the second he deepens the kiss.

Tilting my head exactly how he wants me, he commands the kiss, taking everything he needs, and giving me everything I’ve been craving.

My time with Mav at the cabin was incredible. It was everything I’ve always wanted to have with him. But there was always a part of me that was missing. Or more so, a part that had been left behind.

Mav knew it too.

And it’s not until this very moment that I discover just how big a hole JD had left, or how big an effect he’d had on my life in such a short time.

My fingers slide into his short hair, my nails raking across his scalp and making him shiver with need beneath me.

Grinding my hips, I tease both of us as he begins to harden against me.

“Missed you, Dove,” he moans into my mouth, “when I woke and you were gone—”

“I didn’t leave you, Julian. Not really,” I say, opening my eyes so that he can see the sincerity in my eyes.

“I know,” he confesses against my lips. “Well, I know that now.” His eyes close as a pained breath rushes over my face. “I’m a mess, Dove. You deserve so much more than what I have to offer you.”

“Bullshit,” I spit, the fierceness in my voice enough to make his eyes pop open again. “You’re everything. You’ve—”

“I love you,” he blurts.

It takes a couple of seconds for his words to register. But when they do, my entire body locks up and my eyes widen.

“Oh shit,” he hisses. “Fuck. Forget I said that. Fuck, I shouldn’t have—”

“Julian, no. Please, don’t take it back.”

With my eyes locked on his, I beg him not to say that he didn’t mean it.

He stares back at me with a whole host of emotions warring behind his eyes.

“I can’t take it back,” he finally says. “Because it’s true.”

I shriek when he suddenly moves us, lowering me to my back and wrapping my legs around his waist before diving for my lips again.

There are so many things I should probably say after that confession, so many things he deserves—needs—to hear after everything he’s been through. But he doesn’t give me the chance.

He kisses me like it’s our first, our last, and all the ones we want to share in the middle all rolled into one.

I don’t notice that the sun climbs higher in the sky, or how the temperature increases around us. The only thing I can focus on is him and how his touch, his kisses, his words make me feel.

Without even trying, he banishes all the pain and fear of my past, of what we’re going to face in the future, and all I can do is hope that I do the same for him. That I make all the dark thoughts in his head quiet down, all the grief he battles with dissipate, even for just a little while.

Eventually, though, it becomes clear that JD is a little more aware of his surroundings than I am when he pulls away from my lips slightly and growls.

“Enjoying the show, bro?”

My heart lurches and my stomach knots with desire as I look over JD’s shoulder to find Reid sitting in one of the single chairs watching us with fire burning in his dark eyes.

“Yeah, not bad.” He mutters.

“How long have you been sitting there?” I ask, breathlessly.