Pierce My Heart (Women of Willowbrook Book 1) (40 page)

But for Jake to know that someone voluntarily left their kid and signed away every right, never to see them grow up and become the person they were meant to be, or have a family of their own, when I know he would give up almost everything for just one more day with his?

Oh, yeah. I get it.

“Baby,” I whisper, my hands sliding up from his shoulders to his cheeks as I lean down and lay my forehead against his.

His jaw clenches.

I feel a tear slip from my eye, and then another, and another, until Jake hauls me into his lap sideways and starts swiping at them with his thumb.

“Can’t keep up, sweetheart,” he mutters, and a strangled noise leaves my throat as I hold back a crazed laugh.

It would be like him to worry about
me
in a situation that’s about him.

“Is that what last night was about?” I ask.

He pauses before he nods and keeps swiping.

I nod back.

“Fuck, Annie. I just don’t get that shit.”

“I don’t either, but maybe she thought she was doing right by Camilla. Trying to give her a better life without the problems she had. At least Camilla’s got Manny and, by extension, all of us.”

“Us?” he echoes, looking at me strangely.

“Yeah, baby,
us
. All the people that care about him, including you. And with you comes me, just like with me comes you,” I answer, with more bravado than I feel.

“Fucking finally,” he mutters, shoving my face into his neck as he kisses the top of my head.

I smile into his neck and tighten my arms around him, just holding on as I enjoy the feeling of being wrapped up in the man I love.

A thought strikes and I pull back.

“Why was Manny so upset with Evan?”

“Because he was being a dumb fuck.”

“What?” I sputter.

“Man thought he was doing her a favor, cutting her off so she didn’t have to deal with all the shit coming his way,” he says, running his hand softly down my back as he watches me get worked up. “Problem was he couldn’t do it, not all the way. Got to the point he was juggling his time in a way he didn’t like. He made the choice to push her away again.

“That’s
bullshit
. Evan had the right to know.”

“Babe—”

“No,” I snap. “I know they might not have been serious, but they were for Evan. Evan doesn’t date,
ever
. She rarely sees a guy more than a handful of times before she scrapes them off. Says she’s too young to be tied down, wants to live her life free and wild while she can, but things were different for her with Manny. She wanted
more
. Evan had the right to choose. She would’ve stuck by his side,” I say vehemently, not realizing how hard I’m breathing until I’ve finished.

“Sweetheart, he knows that,” Jake says softly.

“What?”

Jake drops to his back and rolls us; me on my back and him laying lengthwise down my side, elbow to the bed with his head in his hand while the other tangles in my hair.

“He knows what she wanted. Knows she would’ve stuck by him, and that’s why he did what he did. He knew it was the only way to put distance between them while he worked through his shit. I knew the scene they’d had didn’t go down well, but I have no fucking clue what that shit outside was.”

“Scene?”

His brows pull down.

“You don’t know?”

I shake my head.

“Part of the reason yesterday was so shitty for Man. Your girl caught sight of him on the street when he was on his way to talk to some people about the papers. She ignored him at first, but Man couldn’t hack it and threw out some bullshit in anger, and then Evan threw down, right there in the street.”

“That sounds like Evan,” I mutter, holding back my eye roll at her ability to cause scenes anywhere.

Though, this one sounded deserving (hence the held back eye roll).

“Shit got intense and Manny refused to give a reason. I’m guessing she was here to bitch to you, and maybe at me—”

“Manny, and definitely Camilla, being here threw her for a loop,” I finish, feeling awful.

Jake doesn’t say anything, just continues to slide his fingers through my hair, giving me comfort.

“I’ve never seen her like that before,” I say quietly. “And it’s not like Evan,
at all
, to keep things like this bottled up. I don’t get it.”

“Sorry, sweetheart. Not sure what to tell you except to be there for her when she’s ready to need you, and she will,” he says just as quietly.

I turn my head to look at him and then roll my body into his chest, pushing him onto his back as I snuggle against him.

“Love you, baby,” I say softly, trying to put all my love into those three words as I lay a kiss over his heart.

His arms wrap around me tight. “Love you too, Annie.”

A moment of silence passes as we lay there, each in our own thoughts.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“For what?”

I tilt my head back and look into his eyes.

“Your parents. Having bad memories brought up. My shit this morning and all the other shit I put us through. But mostly, for your parents and them not being able to see the amazing man you grew up to be, the beautiful family of your own you’ll have, or the even more amazing father you’ll be.”

His jaw clenches the same time his arms spasm around me, both going so tight. But, they’re only half the reason I lose my breath. The other being the look on his face.

A look of pure pain and absolute love.

Pain at the loss he’s had and still feels, but love for me and everything we’ll have.

He ignored the first and decided to prove the second.

*              *              *

Jake was moving slow, tortuously slow, inside of me.

I’m on my back, both my legs tight to his hips as he surges over me, our hands locked together and shoved into the bed bedside my head as we feel one another.

He drops to his forearms as he brings our hands closer to my head, bringing us even tighter together, his pace still slow.

“Baby,” I groan, asking for more.

The fire in his eyes competing with the love and possessiveness as he looks down at me. Instead of speeding up and giving into it, he dips lower and kisses me hard, open-mouthed, and fierce, yet tenderly. An insane combination that does even more insane things to my senses. One that shouldn’t have been possible, but one that Jake pulls off flawlessly.

“Move in with me,” he says suddenly against my lips.

My head jerks back as I try to catch his eyes.

“What?” I ask breathlessly.

He brings one set of our hands up, laying a soft kiss to my knuckles all the while keeping his slow, torturous rhythm.

My whole body tightens at the look on his face and he groans in response, dropping our hands back to the bed as his movements speed up.

“Move in with me, sweetheart. Make this a home again.
Our
home,” he breathes against my lips.

Shit, I’m going to cry. While he’s
inside
me.

“Can’t we talk about this after?” I plead.

He shakes his head and grinds his hips against me, pulling a moan from my throat as he circles them.

“Isn’t it too fast?” I husk out, my tongue connecting with his lips as I lick my own nervously at everything rolling through me.

Again, he shakes his head, his teeth nipping my bottom lip.

“Jake—” I start, but cut myself off with a whimper when he throws more power behind his thrusts, pushing me higher.

“You love me, sweetheart?” he asks, staring into my eyes as he glides in and out.

“Of course,” I reply, locking my ankles around him.

“You want a future with me?”

Faster thrusts.

“Uh huh,” I moan.

“You wanna help me make that beautiful family?”

My eyes widen, my stomach dips, and my heart thunders in my chest at what he’s asking.

“So much,” I whisper.

I watch his eyes flare then soften before he takes my mouth in another heated kiss, branding me with his tongue, teeth, and lips.

My core starts to tighten around him as he pounds into me, my body getting closer and closer to the edge all the while I try to focus on him and his words.

“Move in with me, Annie,” he demands softly, nothing but love (and desire) shining in his eyes.

I fly straight over the edge, never stopping.

“Yes.
God, yes
,” I moan out, my entire body pulsing and throbbing around him.

“
Fuck, Annie
,” he groans, throwing his head back as he powers through my tightening core and comes.

Jake collapses on top of me before rolling to his back, bringing me with him so I’m sprawled across his chest.

Propping myself on my shaky arms, I look at him and ask, “Did you just use sex to get me to agree to move in with you?”

He grins smugly at me.

“Yup.”

I raise my brow at this lack of shame.

He almost seems…proud.

“But it was you who told me you wanted to have my babies,” he returns, his grin turning into a soft smile.

“I did no such thing,” I argue with wide eyes, my belly churning with nerves and excitement at the idea.

His brows snap together.

“You saying you don’t?” he asks.

“Well…no,” I answer hesitantly, but honestly.

“So you do,” he states.

“Well…yes,” I answer, again hesitantly, but honestly. “But
I
didn’t tell you.
You
asked.”

His eyes twinkle as his smile returns.

“My bad, sweetheart,” he mutters.

I cast my gaze downward, focusing on his chest as I take a breath.

“I do, you know,” I whisper, looking back up at him. “Want to.”

His smile disappears as he looks into my eyes.

“Say it,” he growls.

“I want to move in with you.”

“Anna,” he warns.

Another deep breath.

“I want to help you make that beautiful family, Jake.”

Leaning forward, his hand slides along my cheek as he captures my lips in a soft, heart-achingly sweet kiss.

“Fuck. I love you, Anna,” he breathes, resting his forehead against mine.

I smile, my heart near bursting as I whisper, “I love you too, Jake.”

*              *              *

I was so lost in Jake that I didn’t realize…

All I could feel was the light.

One of the Best

Anna

We’re sprawled out in bed in our normal post-coital positions. Jake, flat on his back, fingers sifting through my hair, and me, head to his chest with my arm and thigh splayed across his stomach and legs.

Usually my fingers were scratching and tugging their way through the patch of hair on his chest, but my eyes are on the diamond he slipped on my finger the night before.

A night that he reminded me was five months (to the day) from the first time we kissed, right before he laid another hot and heavy one on me.

It isn’t until just then that I remember the words he said to me that first time.

And it was, baby. A really fucking great kiss. One of the best.

‘One of the best’ being the words he repeated last night.

One
of the best?

I feel my hackles rise.

Exactly
who
was the best, then?

“Jay?” I call.

“Right here, Annie,” he mutters, his fingers never pausing in their movements.

“Who’s your best kiss?”

This time his fingers stop moving, but only to grab hold (gently) and twist my head so he can look at me.

“What?” he asks, his forehead creased in confusion.

“I asked who your best kiss was?” I reiterate.

“You.”

I slide my arm underneath me as the hand on his chest starts making random patterns. “You don’t have to lie to me, Jay,” I assure him, thinking he thought he’d upset me.

Which it will, knowing I’m not his best when he’s by far mine, but I don’t want him to lie to spare my feelings.

His eyebrows draw together. “I’m not, sweetheart. Where’s this shit coming from?”

I give him a half shrug and focus on my fingers. “I didn’t remember till last night when you repeated it. That first time you kissed me you said it was “one of the best”, which I can understand since it
was
our first kiss and I was out of practice since I hadn’t kissed anyone in a while—” A growl leaves his throat at my mention of kissing other men, interrupting me, but I ignore it “—but you said it again last night, after you kissed me. So, I wanna know. Who was your best kiss?”

A moment of silence passes before I realize his body is shaking underneath mine.

My eyes fly up and catch his right before he throws his head back and starts laughing, loudly.

“Jake,” I snap, smacking his chest. “This shit isn’t funny, I’m being serious.”

His shoves his underneath my arms and I find myself dragged up his body, my thighs parting to fall on either side of his while he holds me to his chest and continues to laugh.

When I manage to pinch his side, his body jerks and he rights his head, meeting my glare.

“Sweetheart—”

“Don’t you ‘sweetheart’ me, Jacob Taylor.” I bring my left hand up, knuckles out. “This ring means we’re together through thick and thin. Whatever shit life throws at us we handle it,
together
. Whatever fights we have we work through them,
together
. Whatever life we make we do it, you guessed it,
together
,” I rant, dropping my hand to his chest with a smack. “It means love, partnership, wiping the drool from your mouth when you're eighty-five and you can’t do it yourself, and a whole bunch of other shit. Honesty being one of the main. I just want you to be honest with me, Jake. That’s all I’m asking.”

I watch a myriad of expressions cross his face before he settles on his normal four: amusement, tenderness, possessiveness, and love.

“I’m being honest with you, sweetheart.”

I open my mouth to argue, but he puts his finger to my lips and shakes his head.

“You had your say, let me have mine, yeah?”

Begrudgingly, I nod my head and it earns me a smile as his hands settle on my hips.

“It was funny because for you to think for even a second you’re not the best I’ve had, in
everything
, is whacked. Fuck, Annie, I knew I loved you the moment I watched your gorgeous ass strut my way. That first time I kissed you and said ‘one of the best’, did you forget there was more than just
one
kiss?”

When he doesn’t continue, I figure he’s waiting for an answer. And, since I had actually forgotten (the first was so long and yummy it kind of took all the attention), I nod meekly.

“It took one kiss for me to know there’d never be better. Took two kisses for me to realize every kiss after that would be one of the best I’d ever have. Took three to know I’d be
your
last kiss. Last night when I said it, knowing you just agreed to be mine forever, fuck yeah that kiss was one of the best. Same as every kiss I’ve ever had with you. Bottom line, babe? Every kiss I have with you is one of the best kisses I’ll ever have. No one better, bar none.”

Shit.

Well, don’t I suck?

I face-plant in his chest when the tears start sliding down my cheeks.

“I suck,” I mutter, the words muffled from my tears and his chest.

“You don’t suck, sweetheart,” he chuckles softly and slides his hands up my back, one going into my hair to pull my head back while the other starts wiping away my tears.

“I do. I accused you of lying, shoved my gorgeous ring in your handsome face and got up on my high horse. And what do you do? Explain why those four words are almost as good, if not as good, as those three words. So, yeah. I suck.”

“Like it when you suck, baby,” he says low, his fingers clenching in my hair.

My gaze flies to his in shock, and I see the heat that’s rolled in, along with the amusement.

I feel my lips twitch with a smile.

“You’re not funny,” I mumble, sitting up as I dash the rest of my tears away before settling my hands on his chest.

“I am,” he argues.

“Not.”

“Am,” he says with a squeeze of my hips, his fingers digging into a ticklish spot.

My body jolts, unintentionally grinding against him as I try to escape the ticklish feeling. His eyes grow hotter as his fingers dig in again, eliciting the same reaction from me, but this time with laughter. The heat in his eyes lessens as the tenderness grows, repeating the action one more time before I cry mercy.

I bend down, crossing my arms on his chest so I can lay my chin down and look up at him. “I’m sorry.”

His fingers went back to sifting through my hair while his other hand caresses my back. “No worries,” he says with a smile, giving the ends of my hair a small tug.

I sigh and close my eyes, relaxing into his touch.

“Love you, Anna.”

My eyes pop back open and I gaze into his with a wide smile on my face.

Doesn’t matter how many times I hear those words, I’ll
never
grow tired of them.

“I love you, Jake.”

*              *              *