Chapter Thirty-Seven

Jonah

Jonah hadn’t felt this right, this content in years. Watching Evie work the crowd, seeing how happy she was made by the outpouring of support had him wanting to make her happy every day. And if he played his cards right, that could be a reality.

But was he ready for that kind of reality? Evie’s life was as full as a Thanksgiving plate at a buffet, which meant she could call it quits at any moment. Every person in his life had called it quits and it was a gut-hollowing feeling he never wanted to experience again. He should be protecting his heart instead of putting it on a silver platter for her to carve up.

But it was too late for that. Jonah was in too deep to find his way back. He just wasn’t sure how deep Evie’s feelings were. Oh, he knew she liked him, but did she think about him in terms of forever—like he did her?

Did you just say forever, man?

Tension crept up his spine, but he wasn’t sure where it originated from. Was he more afraid that they’d end things after their usefulness for each other came to a close, or that if she did bail he might not be able to come back from the loss?

“Hey,” a sweet voice said as a gentle hand rested on his arm and all that tension evaporated at the feeling of her warm skin on his. Yeah, he had it bad.

“Hey,” he said back, and without even thinking about it he pulled her in for a hug. A long cheek-rested-on-her-head, hands-spanning-as-much-of-her-back-as-possible kind of hug that was filled with equal parts question and promise.

She must have sensed the knot of emotions roiling in his stomach, because she tightened her arms around his back, locking her hands behind and pulling him flush to her so that not even air could penetrate their bond. That simple gesture was all the clarity he needed.

He didn’t know when it happened or how it happened, but he loved her. The heart-and-soul kind of love that tied every string he had around this beautiful woman’s heart. He was hers to save or destroy.

“Jonah?” she whispered, concern in her voice.

“I’m good,” he said. So good he pulled back and gave her a kiss to prove it.

She smiled up at him. “Can you help me in the office? I need to get something really quick,” Evie asked. “I can’t seem to reach it.”

Without letting him respond, which would have been a hell yes, she took his hand and led him through the crowd. They reached the back office and she rested back against the closed door.

“What do you need?” he asked.

He heard the lock engage, and when he turned there was a look in her eyes that made his dick twitch.

“I need to get lucky,” she said. “We don’t have long so this will have to be quick.”

Heart strumming deep in his chest, he stalked toward her like she was prey. “Sunshine, there’s nothing quick about it. It’s going to be slow and long and so hard you’ll collapse while screaming out my name.”

“Screaming might attract attention and I don’t want attention. I just want you.”

“Just you and me?” he asked roughly.

“Just you and me.”

She was killing him.

“Then I change my mind.”

“What?” she whispered, uncertainty quivering in her voice.

“I don’t want this hard. I want to worship you with my hands”—he cupped her cheek—“my tongue”—he gave her a long, languid kiss—“and my mouth,” he whispered against her earlobe and felt her shiver. “I want to show you how you deserve to be cherished.” He kissed down her jawline until they were eye to eye. “And I want to show you I’m the guy who can do that.”

Her gaze never left his, but he could tell his statement scared her.

She swallowed. “What do you want from me?”

“Whatever you have to give.”

“Even if I don’t know what I can commit to yet?”

“I’d rather have ten minutes a week with you than nothing at all.”

She licked her lips. “Okay.”

That tension that had been pressing down between his shoulders released, and he let out a big breath. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now kiss me.”

“I’m going to do more than that.”

It took point-one seconds for him to get his mouth on hers. As promised, he kept it languid and light, one kiss bleeding into the other until he didn’t have a clue as to how much time had passed. All he knew was that when she wrapped her arms around him and pressed that soft body against his he felt like he’d finally come home.

“I like soft but right now I want hard and consuming.”

“Let the consuming commence.”

Jonah gripped her hips and walked her backward until she bumped into the edge of the desk. She put her hands on the ledge as if to boost herself up but he stopped her.

Instead, he spun her so she was pressed with her stomach to the desk and her ass nestled against his dick. “You want hard, then lift up that pretty dress of yours.”

Her answer was to bend over the desk and look at him over her shoulder, which was sexy as hell. Always one to pull his weight, Jonah slid his hands up her thighs, under the hem of her dress, over her globes, until her ass was uncovered and all that was between them was a thin strap of—you guessed it—blue lace.

He ran his thumbs beneath the waistband and debated how he wanted to handle this. “We said ‘Paint the town blue,’ so the lace stays on.” That didn’t mean he wanted them all the way on. Oh no, his little seductress wanted to get dirty, so dirty he’d give.

He pulled the thong down to her ankles, and when she went to step out of them he stopped her. “Leave them there.”

She didn’t move. “Good girl. Now widen your stance until the lace is biting into your skin a little.”

He kicked her feet out to the side and she gasped. “Now it’s time to get lucky.”

Jonah reached around and palmed her, using the heel of his palm to put pressure, then slid one finger inside her and… “Damn, baby, have you been like this the whole time?”

“Ever since I found your note.”

“I’ve been rock hard ever since I saw you in those Gnope panties.” He ran his fingers down her center and she was so slick he became impossibly harder. “Put your hands on the desk.”

Even before her hands made contact, he slid two fingers inside her, and she gasped. He didn’t waste time adding a third and she was so primed it didn’t take long for her to start pushing back against his hand, riding it hard and fast.

“I’m almost there,” she said, sounding surprised at the speed at which he’d driven her to the breaking point. “Yeah. I’m right—”

Jonah pulled out.

“What are you doing?”

“Sunshine, when you come, I’m going to be consuming you.”

While he was talking he pulled a condom from his pocket and undid his pants. He was wrapped in seconds and, with one hand around her waist, the other protectively placed between her and the sharp edge of the desk, he positioned himself and drove forward.

“Fuck,” he groaned.

He didn’t mean to give such a deep first pump but she pushed back right as he was moving forward. When he hit full tilt, she moaned out his name and he stilled.

“Is that too hard?” he asked.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “Not hard enough.”

With a grunt of approval, Jonah pulled back and thrust forward, deeper than he’d ever been. He didn’t just want to consume her, he wanted to own her—body, heart, and soul.

He bucked again and again until her head fell to rest against the desk, allowing him to go even deeper. He was surrounded by her heated scent, her silky curves, and the softness that could only be described as feminine.

He moved in and out, loving how she kept trying to spread her legs farther but her panties were acting as a rope. The image she created was so sexy he was about to get off before her—and that was not acceptable.

Moving his thumb, he found her pleasure button and pressed down hard, then made soothing circular motions. She let out this sexy little sound, so he did it again.

He could feel her tighten around him, coiling and drenching him. His thumb pushed harder, then feather soft, bringing her right to the edge and then backing off. He paid attention to her as she moved, when she moaned, cataloging every little thing she liked, and what she loved.

And she was loving on his erection as if it were hers to conquer.

“I’m there. Oh God, I’m so there,” she said in this raspy voice that did him in.

Her hips moved, raw and hungry, and when she parted her legs even more, he moaned a sigh of rightness. He took a moment to soak her in, breathe her air, taste her skin.

He was as desperate for release as she was, so he picked up the pace, pumping into her and swirling his thumb over her tender spot, going deeper until, just like that, she flew apart around him. Her body trembled with her release and her hips jerked back against him, and he lost it.

He pushed into her so deep that she had to dig her hands into the desk to support herself, and he could hear her thighs slapping against his with every thrust. The sound and the pressure were so right, so perfect, he detonated, moaning her name and pumping into her until he reached his last tremor.

He practically collapsed on top of her, putting his hands out to catch himself, but his chest was flush against her back, both of them slick with sweat. After some long gasps of breath, he straightened and lifted her up and sat her on the desk.

God, she was beautiful. Cheeks flushed, lips wet from his, eyes sex-dazed, and her hair tousled like someone had their fist tangled in it. His fist, he realized with a grin.

Her thong slipped off her feet and fell to the floor. He picked it up and, after refastening his slacks, tucked it into his pocket. She lifted an amused brow.

“I want to know that you’re naked and wet from me when we go back out there. Like our little secret.”

At the word, she went quiet as if it didn’t settle right. It didn’t settle right with him, either. He was tired of their secret. He was tired of pretending that what was happening between them was nothing but a fling.

“What are we doing?” she asked quietly.

He rested his palms on either side of her thighs, bending over so that they were sharing space. “The truth?”

“That’s what we promised each other.”

His eyes fell to her lips and back up. “I think we’re falling in love, sunshine.”

He braced himself for her to throw those walls back up and hide from what he knew was the truth. Afraid that she wasn’t ready to acknowledge it.

She cupped his face between her hands. “I think so, too.”