Finding Dandelion (Dearest #2) (33 page)

He doesn’t look away, he doesn’t pause, he doesn’t flinch. “No. No one.” Seeing my expression, it’s his turn to laugh. “Have some faith, Dani.” His eyes pass over me. “What about you? How many people have
you
been with since then?”

I glare at him. “What kind of girl do you think I am that I’d go from nearly having sex with you to jumping in bed with someone else?”

“What about Brady?” he asks, starting to look pissed.

“What about Brady?” Is that really who concerns him?

“Did you sleep with him?” The anger in Jax’s voice is unmistakable, but there’s something else there too. Hurt?

“Come on, Jax. Get serious. He and I aren’t like that. I told you that over Thanksgiving.”

“Yeah, but I saw those pictures of the two of you.”

“That was just a photoshoot.”

“You two looked pretty intimate.” Jax gives me a pointed look. “You were naked, and he was wrapped around you.”

“I was not naked. Just topless. And it was for an art class. Besides, as you should know, looks can be deceiving.” I can’t help but think about that girl in the limo and the breathy way she said his name like she was two seconds from going down on him. The thought of him with her pisses me off, so I say something to turn the tables. “Why? Are you jealous?”

“Fuck, yes, I’m jealous.” Now it’s his turn to glare at me.

I laugh. Yes, to think I’d be with Brady like that makes me laugh. “Jax, I don’t know if you realize it, but you kind of ruined other guys for me, so no, Brady and I are not like that. At all. And anyway, he has a girlfriend. Those photos were for an assignment and nothing more.”

Can I do this? Can I be with Jax when everything about him threatens to destroy me if he changes his mind?

Stronger in the broken places…
I hear the words, like my mother is reminding me to give him a chance. He drove across the country not even knowing that she passed away. Just because he was sorry about what happened. Just because he wanted to see me.

“How did you see the photos?” I ask quietly.

He relaxes a little. “My sister texted them to me to show me I’m a dumbass.”

I feel the wall I’ve built around me start to crumble. Taking a deep breath, I decide to take a chance.

“Remind me to thank her,” I say with a small smile, enjoying the annoyance in his eyes. “So you want to prove yourself to me, huh?”

“More than you know.” He wraps his arms around me again.

“I’m not going to sleep with you.” I stare at him, trying to be convincing. Inside, I’m doing my damnedest to focus on all the reasons it would be prudent to wait.

“I wouldn’t expect you to.” He grins. “Yet.”

It’s tough to ignore the lust that pulses through me at prospect of being with him. “You’re going to have to earn it.”

He growls against me and presses my back against the counter, his hard length wedged against my belly.

“I might die in the process, but I’ll do whatever you want.” He kisses me softly. “Besides, you playing hard to get is hotter than fuck.”

I look down between us and laugh. “I can tell.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

- Dani -

Travis, Jax and I hang out the next day, drinking beer and watching football as I start sorting though some of my mom’s stuff. Travis flies home on New Year’s Eve so he can see  his family. Jax gets him a first-class ticket.

Aside from the big boner he pressed into me the other day, Jax keeps a certain distance. I get the feeling he senses I’m too fragile right now, which is probably true.

While we have a good time hanging out, the elephant in the room gets too big to ignore, especially after he sends Travis home.

“When are you going back?” I ask, unable to avoid it any longer. He does live in Boston after all, a fact I was too willing to ignore on the day of my mother’s funeral.

He twists on the couch so he can face me. “The same day you go back.”

On the TV, the announcer says it’s ten minutes until New Year’s.

“What do you mean?”

He rubs his palm over his jaw. “I brought my SUV to drive you back East, so we could move whatever you wanted. I can store furniture or any other belongings if they don’t fit in your dorm room.”

What? I stiffen in my seat. “I told you I don’t have the money.”

The left corner of his mouth tilts up. “Yeah, you do. The rest of the semester is covered. You’re coming back to Boston when I do.”

My face burns from embarrassment. Does he really want me to say this again? “Jax, I don’t have the money to pay for my second semester.”

“You don’t need money. I covered it.”

My eyes narrow. “You can’t go around paying for everything, Jackson.” I gear up, ready for a fight.

He grins. Why the hell is he smiling? “Fine. Then pay me back when you get the insurance money.”

Huh. The anger starts to deflate in my chest. “So this is a loan?” If I borrow the money, I can keep my promise to my mom and go back to BU.

“If that’s what you want, sure.”

I chew on my lip, trying to keep my emotions in check, and his grin widens. “Why are you smiling?”

“You.”

I quirk up my eyebrow. “What does that mean?” Is he laughing at me?

“It means you’re fucking adorable.”

Ignoring him, I huff. “This has to be a loan, Jax. I’m serious.”

He smirks, and I squeak when he reaches across the couch, dragging me to him. He lies back and pulls me on top of him. “Fine.”

I stare down at him. My hair falls around us as he nudges my knees open with his leg until I’m straddling his thigh.

Jax’s expression burns my cheeks for an entirely different reason. Forgetting my anger, I look down at this gorgeous guy who helped me with my mom’s funeral and is loaning me a buttload of cash so I can go back to school. And he’s lying underneath me, hard as a rock and sexy as sin.

Sweet Jesus, I want him. Remembering the other times we’ve been together only fuels my desire.

In the background, the crowds cheer for the countdown to begin.

“What do you say we ring in the new year together, Dandelion?”

He doesn’t wait for me to respond. Instead, he grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls me closer until I’m pressed against him, belly to belly. Instantly, heat roars between my legs. He rolls his hips until there’s no doubt what’s nestled against my hip.

“I… I thought we were going to go slow.” I can barely speak.

“Ten, nine, eight…”

“We can go as slow and soft as you want, babe.” His lips brush against mine in a feather-light touch. “Or we can go hard and fast,” he says against my mouth as he deepens the kiss.

Oh God. Hard. I’m definitely thinking hard.

“Three, two, one.”

My brain shuts down as my body takes over.

I moan into his mouth and grip his shoulders as his hands run down my back and over my rear. I lift my leg up over his so he’s planted firmly between my thighs, and then I disentangle myself from his arms and sit up.

I don’t know what possesses me, but I want to make him as crazy about me as I am about him. I stare down at him as I slowly rotate my hips, pressing our needy parts together.

“Is this what you want?”

He sucks in a breath. “Fuck, yes, Dani.”

He feels huge and thick against me. I give him a wicked smile as I say, “Happy New Year, Jax,” and climb off him. He looks confused, but then I lean over and whisper in his ear, “I choose hard and fast,” before I race to my room.

His footsteps behind me make me giggle as I run up the stairs. I barely make it through my door when I’m jerked backwards. Laughing, I fall into Jax’s arms as he slams us both up against the wall.

He lifts me up and my legs wrap around his hips. He pushes hard against me and we both gasp as our bodies align.

We kiss, desperate and hungry. His tongue stroking against mine sends pulsing need to my core. His hands are everywhere—my back, my breasts, my thighs—and just when I think I’m going to implode from lust, he stops.

It takes me a second to catch my breath.

“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”

He swallows. “I want you to know you mean more to me than just sex. I can’t get enough of you, Dani. I’ve… I’ve never felt this way. Even with Giselle.”

Before I can process what he just said, his mouth is on mine, and all I know is I’m on fire. He sets me down on the floor one second before he rips off my sweater. I shimmy out of my jeans until I’m standing in a hot pink bra and boy shorts.

I’m ready to collide with him again, but he takes a step back, his eyes traveling slowly over my exposed skin. He looks like he wants to devour me. I give him a coy smile, grab the clasp on my bra and let it tumble off my shoulders.

He groans. “Goddamn. Danielle, you’re gorgeous.”

I shake my hair forward, so it covers my chest, and then I cock my hip and stare back. “Get naked, Jax. Now.”

His clothes are off in a nanosecond so we’re both standing in underwear. His erection is about to poke a hole in his boxers. I reach out and grab him firmly, stroking until he collapses against me with my back to the wall.

I’m contemplating going down on him when he moves my hand away and drops to his knees. He stares up, eyes heavy with desire, his hands tracing invisible patterns on my thighs. And right now, with one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen kneeling before me, looking at me like he wants to eat me whole, I feel totally and utterly worshipped.

I thread my fingers through his hair as he plants his mouth on my breast. He sucks hard, and a desperate gasp leaves my mouth. He tongues my piercing, and I arch my back, reveling in the sensation.

He breaks away briefly to grab hold of my other ring between his teeth. As he stares up at me, I pull him to me, tighter, wanting more.

When I think I might collapse on the floor from the attention he gives my piercings, he dips his finger into the waist of my underwear and tugs them down. We stare at each other, my heart in my throat as my girl parts have a nuclear meltdown.

Then his mouth is on me, pressing a gentle kiss on my thigh. He grabs my ankle and wraps it over his shoulder, completely exposing me. Of course, he takes a long heated look between my legs before his eyes travel up my body. His expression alone threatens to melt me.

When our eyes meet, he growls as he opens his mouth and nips my thigh. Holy shit. I decide right then and there he can bite me any time he wants.

His lips mark a trail of fire as he teases closer and closer until his tongue dips into me. Neither of us look away. And I see it in his eyes. How I mean more. And I hope he sees the same in mine.

I moan loudly, unable to contain it any longer. Gripping his hair, I tilt my head and arch my back, trying to get closer.

Around and around he goes, massaging the most delicate part of me. But then he stops, sinks down lower and presses two fingers into me, and I fall apart, the rush of blood and all sensation to my core unhinging me.

I pulse around him, and I can see him grinning against my skin.

When I finally stop shuddering, he sets my leg down. He must sense my inability to function because he grabs my hips and pulls me to him. Welcoming the warmth of his naked torso, I press a kiss against his muscular chest and breathe him in.

Jax holds me tightly and kisses me on the top of my head. I feel him hard against my belly, and I whisper that it’s his turn.

“Babe, are you sure?” His throat is raspy and deep.

I close my eyes and nod against him. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m
so
sure.”

He moans his approval as he squeezes me tighter. “Can I tell you I’ve been dying to fuck you senseless for the last four months?”

Laughing, I stand on my tiptoes and let my lips linger against his. “Can I tell you I’ve been dying for you to fuck me senseless for the last four months?”

Grinning, he lifts me up and the next thing I know, I’m on my bed and a very naked Jax is crawling toward me like a predator, all hard muscle and chiseled sexiness. He tears open a condom and suits up.

I drop my legs open for him and feel the length of him drag against my sensitive skin. I close my eyes, shivering.

“You feel so good, babe,” he murmurs against my neck.

Up, down, up, down he goes, teasing me with his erection until I’m so racked with lust I could scream.

“Jesus, Jax,” I breathe, dying to feel his full weight pressed against me.

My blood hums in my veins, desperation clawing its way to the surface. He presses gently at my entrance, and I feel like I’ve been waiting for years to be this close to someone I really want, someone I lust for, someone I love.

And just like that I realize it. I love him. Deep down, from the bottom of my soul, love. My other boyfriends were like warm blankets on a cool day. Jax is fire, an inferno that burns me inside and out.