The Set Up (75 page)

I really don’t care.

His fingertips circle my pussy beneath the cool water.

Warmed by him, I’m thinking of the temperature, but I am thinking about where we are. I try to mutter a protest, but not really that hard. “Someone could see us. We should go back to the house.”

He nudges my legs apart. “No one is going to see us out here in the dark.”

He’s right. No one is.

Then he’s unzipping his pants and I’m panting at the thought.

Unable to wait, I reach for him. Take his full, thick, warm cock in my hand before his zipper is completely down. I pull it out. Stroke it. Hold it. Caress it.

I want to feel him like this forever.

“I need to be inside you.” His breath comes a little short. “Wrap your arms around me.”

I do.

“Now your legs.”

I do that too.

And then he pushes in me. Hard and fast. His fingers digging into my flesh as he holds me and fills me.

Fireworks continue to light up the sky, but it’s Jasper who’s lighting me up.

“Oh, fuck, I missed this.” His words blow hot over my skin.

I push into him. He pushes into me. The water laps around us, but Jasper has us. I slide up his body a little; the change in angle allows him to go deeper.

So deep.

Groaning, he moves faster, faster still.

In and out.

Back and forth.

His head is buried in my neck, sucking, licking, tasting me.

I lick my lips.

He finds his way back to my mouth.

Our rhythm doesn’t falter.

I kiss him, my tongue flicking against his lips.

Jasper kisses me harder, gasping and panting.

With our lips still touching, our eyes meet and hold.

Jasper quickens his pace.

Harder.

Faster.

My eyes flutter closed with the satisfaction of him completely filling me. And then I start to shake, breathing hard, unable to catch my breath.

“Charlotte, open your eyes,” Jasper demands hoarsely.

I do.

Jasper’s body surges, his cock thrusts.

I hold his fierce gaze.

He thrusts even deeper. “I want to see your face when you come,” he whispers.

He continues to slide in and out of me.

I move against his thrusts, my heart speeding out of control.

“You feel amazing,” he grunts against my lips.

“So do you.” I hold his demanding gaze and see him completely naked. I don’t mean his state of dress. I mean there are no walls up. He’s here with me. All here.

I hope after I tell him about the baby, that doesn’t change.

“Charlotte.” His grip on me tightens. His eyes blaze into mine.

“Jasper,” I whimper. That slow, steady pressure I have come to yearn for starts to build.

“Fuck.” He starts moving at lightning speed.

I’m tipping over the edge. The feeling so quick, so intense, I pull his hair hard just to hold on, and he gasps.

The air around us feels like it’s crackling. I cry out his name, my fingers digging into his skin as I clench around his driving cock.

“Oh, fuck, oh fuck,” he shudders as he finds his own release.

Slowly, he lets go of me and I slide down his body.

He slips out of me and I feel a loss.

Our eyes still connected, I look at all of him. His mouth is wet. His hair is wet. His clothes are wet. But his eyes are bright.

Bliss shivers down my spine.

His smile teases my lips into a soft kiss. Ever so gently he takes my face in his hands, and then tilts it to look at him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whisper, without an ounce of hesitation.

Triumph lights up his face.

I should tell him now.

I don’t.

I’ll tell him in the morning.

SINGLE LANE

Jasper

IN THE EARLY
morning light, I breathe in her goodness. Swim in her warmth. Get lost in her perfect little body tucked up close to mine.

Life.

Love.

It surrounds me in a way it never has.

I brush my fingers through her mounds of curly blond hair, which in the silhouette of the morning light, looks like a halo.

She’s an angel.

My angel.

Sent to save me from myself.

I love this girl.

I am in love with Charlotte Lane, the girl next door.

And she’s in love with me.

A soft snore slips through her parted lips as she sinks closer into the security of my hold. That little sound lights up every one of my nerves.

Unable to control myself, I press my hard body against her soft one and hold her close.

Feels so good.

I am in love with this girl.

And I’m never going to let her go.

She burrows further against my chest.

Unable to control myself, I slowly slip my hand down her side. I’m surprised when my breath catches.

The way she impacts me still gets me.

I rest my hand on her hip.

Beneath my touch, Charlotte continues to slumber in the depths of sleep.

Unable to control myself, I bury my nose in her hair and stay one with her.

Ring. Ring.

Fuck, the sound of my cell ringing on the table beside us is hard to ignore.

I manage.

Disturbed by the sound, Charlotte sighs and mumbles those cute, muddled sounds.

I nip at her ear, coaxing her from sleep. “Baby,” I whisper low. I need to talk to her. Talk through all the crazy shit she told me when we came back to the room last night.

Hank behind the plant explosion is insane.

It’s a hard pill to swallow.

The question is, can we trust that Allison is telling the truth?

In my arms, Charlotte slowly rolls over to face me. Her eyes blink open. The intense blue taking my breath away again.

“Morning,” I grin.

A slow smile curves her perfect mouth. “Morning.”

I’m hopeless against that look. My chest tightening, I lean over and brush my lips against her soft, full ones.

“Mmm . . .” she moans.

Yeah, mmm is right
.

The sound of her cell ringing is hard to ignore.

Struggling to pull myself away, I blindly reach behind me and grab a phone. It’s mine. I check the caller log. It was Will who called me a few seconds ago. I reach again to grab Charlotte’s phone and see Will’s name flashing.

Soft fingertips flutter against my jaw. “Answer it.”

“You sure?”

She shakes her head and moves across the bed.

I watch her. The way she moves.

The phone stops ringing.

Affection flows through my veins.

My phone starts ringing.

Standing up, she glances over her shoulder. “You should answer that.”

I reach across the bed for her and pull her down. “I will but you need to stay right here.”

She rolls over and points to the phone.

I hit accept. “Hey,” I answer.

“There you are,” Will greets.

My eyes sizzle down Charlotte’s body. “Yep. Here I am.”

“Jasper, I’m sorry, but you need to get back here.”

Ever the drama queen.

Charlotte moves closer to me. I sweep my mouth across hers before getting back to the phone call.

“What’s up, Will?”

“Whitney came across some information in Alex’s office about Drew’s father.”

I furrow my brows. “What kind of information?”

“Something that by association could harm our ability to not only recruit, but retain investors greatly.”

I am just dipping my tongue in the sweetness of Charlotte’s mouth when I bolt upright. “You think Alex is behind all of this?”

Charlotte’s eyes grow wide at my question.

“I don’t know, Jasper, but it sure as shit seems that way.”

I take her hand and lace my fingers through it, feeling like shit that I have to abandon our weekend. “We’ll be back as soon as we can,” I tell Will. “Before I do anything though, we need to figure out if it’s true. It makes no sense. Why would he want to sabotage the factory when he’s using it to grandstand his campaign?”

“I don’t know, Jasper, man, but something isn’t right. This shit about Drew’s father, it’s bad.”

“Has it been published?”

“No, it’s just in note form. Someone’s trying really hard to dig up dirt.”

I kiss Charlotte’s hand. “What does it say?”

“That Drew’s father is a member of the Army of God.”

I drop Charlotte’s hand and stand up. “Shit, a domestic terrorist group? Is it true?”

“Drew doesn’t know. He says he remembers his father having a tattoo on his arm that he thinks could have been their symbol, but he doesn’t know. And he doesn’t want to know.”

I pace the room. “Shit, fuck, shit.”

“Listen, Jasper, I think we got ahead of this, but we need to put an end to whatever is going on.”

I look at Charlotte who is heading into the bathroom. She looks a little pale. “Yeah, we do, and fast. Okay, let me see about getting that chopper out here to take us back to Detroit. I’ll call you when I’m close to landing.”

“Yeah, I’ll come get you both. See you soon,” he says and hangs up.

The bathroom door is closed. I rap on it.

“Just a minute,” she tells me.

I try to turn the knob, but it’s locked.

She cracks it open.

“I’m going to call for a ride,” I tell her.

“What about my car?”

In the midst of all this shit, I can’t help but laugh. “Sweetheart, I’m calling a towing company to haul it to the junkyard.”

She sighs. “Yes, I guess you’re right.”

I just nod, not in the mood to act triumphant.

After that, we both get ready quickly and when I look over at her, she still looks a little peaked.

I hate this for her.

For us.

She glances at the box of her father’s things that is sitting on the small table in the corner unopened.

I grab it. “We’ll open it together as soon as we get this thing with Drew figured out.”

She closes her eyes slowly.

“Hey,” I say lifting her chin. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she whispers softly and her eyes remain closed.

“You okay?

Her eyes open and she gives me a nod.

I can’t help but feel she isn’t.

REDUCED SPEED AHEAD