26. Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-six

Clara

Jake cupped my face and lowered his hips between my thighs. "We had a good day, didn't we?"

"We did." My eyelids fluttered closed. I didn't know how he expected me to have a conversation when he was naked on top of me like this. I slid my feet up his thighs, and his cock slipped lower, nestling at my seam.

He groaned, rocking slightly. "What are you trying to do, mama?"

"The same thing you were trying to do when you got in this position."

"Not the same thing." He pecked my nose. "I just want to talk to you for a minute and tell you I liked hanging here with you and your girl."

That opened my eyes and flipped my heart. We'd had a regular day. Nellie went full speed, showing Jake her favorite park, every corner of the yard, her treasured dolly. We ran errands and ate lunch and dinner together. Jake listened in on our bedtime stories and made lion and dragon sound effects when they were needed.

It was a regular day.

A really, really good one.

"Are you sure you weren't bored?"

He chuffed. "When would I have gotten bored? Don't think I sat down for more than a few minutes other than mealtimes."

Laughing, I shoved my face in his neck. "She did have you running, didn't she?"

"Yep."

One word, but there was so much meaning behind it. He liked the way Nellie had kept him running. Had enjoyed it. While that made me immeasurably happy, it also frightened me. Days like today would be too easy to get used to. And I couldn't do that. Nellie and I were a unit. Jake was a guest star in our little life. We were excited to have him here, but it wasn't a permanent position.

"Sage must've trained you well."

"You say that like she doesn't keep me running now." He rubbed his nose along mine. "Thank you for opening your world to me."

I looped my arms around his neck. "I like having you here. Especially this part—in my bed, leaving your scent on my pillows."

He peered down at me. "You like smelling me after I'm gone?"

"Why wouldn't I? You smell delicious."

Head cocking, he smirked. "Then why am I the one always tempted to eat you alive?"

My thighs tried to clamp together, but with him wedged between them, I only succeeded in drawing him closer. His cock brushed my clit, making me arch toward him.

"Jake, I want you inside me."

"That's gonna happen." He rubbed his length back and forth over my clit, getting so close to where I needed him. "Let me grab a condom."

He made quick work of it, expertly rolling the latex over his erection. I liked watching him handle himself, rough and efficient. Then his hands were on me again, and there was nothing efficient about it. He took his time running his palms down the length of my thighs before slipping them under my ass and yanking me into him.

"Come here, sweetness," he rumbled, lining up his cock with my entrance.

The first stretch of being breached never failed to take my breath away. He slid into me slowly, pushing past my flexing walls until he found home and stilled, as deep as he could get. We sighed together.

"Christ, do you feel good." This guttural utterance spilled from his mouth like he couldn't hold it back. He moved slowly, barely pulling out before he shoved back in.

"It feels incredible to me too." I trailed my fingers along his biceps to clutch his shoulders and raised my head to kiss his chin. "Maybe we can ditch the condoms once you get tested. I would love to have you raw inside me."

His head dropped, and his exhale was shaky as he rolled his forehead along mine. "Clara…it's not about that."

"Okay." He was stopping, and I didn't want him to. We'd talk about this later. "That's okay. I don't care. Just fuck me, Jake."

He hesitated briefly before he groaned and started moving. Kissing me. Fucking me until neither of us could breathe. He let me draw in some air, then went after me again, his tongue deep in my mouth, cock even deeper in my pussy.

We clung and clawed at one another, rolling around the bed like we were fighting. He gave me the top, then took it back, driving my body into the mattress. Like he was trying to reach a point I wasn't even aware existed but he was determined to find. I held on and gave back, our skin slapping and sliding.

He wrung me out—out of orgasms and energy. I almost lost my voice from crying out his name and pleading with him for more, less—everything. Finally, he collapsed beside me. Once he got rid of the condom, I curled into him in a space between bliss and sleep.

Then he spoke softly. "I always wear a condom, Clara. After one accidental pregnancy, I don't want to risk another."

I lifted my head from the crook of his shoulder so I could look at him as we spoke. "That makes sense. I have an IUD, though. The chances of a pregnancy are really slim. Less than one percent. But I understand if you're not comfortable."

His brow furrowed. "You think I want anything between us?"

"I don't know." I rubbed the center of his sweaty chest. "But, so you know, I was tested after I had Nellie, and I haven't been with anyone since. If you think you might want to forego a condom, get tested, and we—"

"Got a clean bill of health at my physical last year. A month or two after we met the first time." He tugged on the end of my hair. "You really want to go bare with me?"

"God yes." I kissed his pec. "If you want it, too, get a recent test and we can talk about it more—or skip the talking and go straight to the fucking."

His grin was halfhearted, and his brow was still furrowed. "Told you I'm in the clear."

"Well…yeah, last year you were. Since then…" I trailed off, having no desire to say he'd obviously been with other women and we couldn't be too careful.

"Since then…what?" He sat up and tugged me with him, situating me on his lap so we were face to face. "Clara, you're the only woman I've been with for over a year."

"What?" I breathed. "How?"

"You were there that first night. You felt it too, didn't you?"

I knew what he meant. I wasn't experienced outside of my ex-husband, but what happened between us was nothing short of electric. It was why I returned to The Tavern again and again. Two strangers shouldn't have lit the bed on fire the way we had. To me, my hours with Jake in that hotel room had been something special. The universe's reward for going through hell and surviving it. I hadn't realized he'd felt even close to the same way.

"I felt it, Jake. I just assumed…since it was so long between our meetings and neither of us really knew if there even would be another meeting…"

"I knew you'd be back." He rubbed his thumb along my bottom lip. "It's why I paid the bartender to call me as soon as you walked in the door. Lucky me, you only showed up on nights I was free to hightail it there."

I pulled back in shock. "You what ?"

He shrugged. "You think I wanted to leave seeing you again to chance? I sure as hell didn't. You wouldn't give me your number, so bribing the bartender was my master plan. Look how that worked out."

I thought back to the times he showed up at The Tavern and swept me away. He'd always gotten there after me. I'd sat at the bar long enough to have a drink or two, a little over an hour.

The amount of time it took to drive from his house to the bar—if he was breaking a few speeding laws.

"You're serious," I said aloud as I realized this inside my head. "You bribed the bartender."

"Yeah, mama. I want something, I take it."

I licked my lips. "For a year, I was the only one you wanted."

"Mmm." He tenderly tucked my hair behind my ear. "And that remains true."

His touch and honest declaration warmed me from my chest outward, reaching the top of my head to the tip of my toes. I wasn't a young woman. I'd been married and divorced. I had a child and the scars to show for it. I'd worked my ass off to get where I was in my career. Generally, I'd made peace with where I was in my life, content with what I had and never dwelling on what I didn't. But now, I had this —a man who had wanted me for a whole year despite not knowing if or when he'd see me again. He'd wanted me so badly, he'd bribed and broken laws to have me. It was nearly impossible to believe, but it made so much sense; it had to be the truth.

"For me as well," I whispered.

"Glad you agree. Even more glad you walked into my garage."

My mouth curved. "I think we like each other."

He smiled back at me and dug his fingers into my hair. "You're just now figuring that out? I like the hell out of you, Clara Rossi."

There wasn't much else that needed to be said after that. Jake rolled us onto the mattress and gathered me close. He'd done everything he'd promised me today—feeding me, talking to me, making me smile, then ended the day by tucking me in under the covers.

It was perfect.

A beautiful, lovely day.

Even so, my quiet yet persistent inner voice couldn't help reminding me not to get used to any of this.