Irreplaceable (Underneath it All Series: Book Three) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (7 page)

"Let's pack that too."

Sadie was leaning against the door jamb of one of the bedrooms, watching me.

"That's quite a family you've got there," I whistled, plucking the picture off the wall and tucking it into the bag at my feet.

"They're alright," she winked, something unreadable dancing in her emerald green eyes.

I reached for the bag handle. "Ready to-"

"Let's leave them here for now." She disappeared into the room and emerged with her bag and a plaid blanket. She dropped her bag beside mine and cocked her head toward the front of the house. She draped the blanket around her shoulders. ”I want to show you something in the backyard."

The minute my feet touched the ground, I was transported back in time. Even in the pitch black darkness and my heart swimming in my chest I couldn't help but remember nights just like this. Nights when I snuck out of bed, ready for an adventure.

The escape was part of the thrill. Creeping out of the bedroom, one step at a time. Making sure that the parents door was closed and the noises that filled the midnight silence were snores and slumber. My excuses were at the ready; I was thirsty, and was headed towards the fridge. I was even prepared to go full on bullshit and claim that I couldn't sleep because I was so amped about homework or a test and wanted to make my ‘parents’ proud. I didn't need either lie and once I'd snuck out the back door and quietly shut out the rest of the world, I finally relaxed.

In the twilight, I didn't need to be tough. I wasn't Jackson Colt, smart ass foster kid with a chip on my shoulder. I was just a kid with a dream. It should have magnified my loneliness to be in the dark when the rest of the world was sleeping, but I curled up in the grass and stared up at the stars and I did something I'd never shared with a soul...I made a wish. I wished that some way, somehow, I'd find a family. I wished for happiness.

With Sadie's hand in mine, stars twinkling above our heads, my heart lodged in my throat, I realized something.

I'd wished for Sadie.

I had no idea where we were headed and I didn't care. I just enjoyed the ride. I smiled as she came to a hard stop, a giggle floating from her lips to my ears. That sound was something I wanted to protect. That sound was happiness.

Freedom.

Love.

I could barely make her out, her body all shadows and soft curves. When she let go of my hand, I waited and closed my eyes until she returned to me, both hands climbing up the sides of my body and uniting when she reached my neck. She roped her arms around me and moved closer, her body pressed tightly against mine.

"It would be so easy to live in the dark, Jax," she murmured. "To tell you stories of all the bad shit that's happened in this house. But I don't want to live in the dark. I want to let go." She leaned her forehead against my chest. "I want to breathe in your scent. Savor the feel of your body. I don’t wanna run from what happens to me when you're around anymore."

My pulse galloped as I rounded her waist and pulled her closer still. "What happens when I'm around?"

She waited a few moments, gathering courage. I swore I could feel her heart thumping to the same beat as my own.

"I can't help but hope. I can see a light in the dark. I see that I'm ready to let you in. That all the broken parts of me, and all the broken parts of you, can come together and build something whole." I felt her ball the front of my t-shirt, like she was done fighting. Like she was ready to take a leap into the unknown. "I want to build something with you."

I had every reason to be skeptical. Every reason to run. The past had taught me that I knew better than to hope. To count on love. But I was so swept up in Sadie, so ready to let go myself that I didn't waste a second more with fear.

I wrapped my arms around her, her body warm and trembling beneath the blanket. I said the words that screamed in my heart.

"I love you, Sadie."

The world paused after I dropped the bomb and I waited for a rush of nerves, or to feel her touch change, but I quickly pushed away the doubt.

No more doubt, no more caution, no more doling out pieces of yourself.

When her touch turned to something carnal, it was clear that she was overcome with another word that started with an L.

Her hand dropped to my belt. The lust crashed into me and we had no words. We needed no words as our fingers flew over buttons and pulled off shirts and unclasped bras. We were naked beneath the stars and I saw the pale outline of the woman I loved, glowing like the moon.

Her lips were on my chest, alive with a million kisses that touched every hurt in me and my hands gripped her, clutched her, wanting my touch to show her that she'd never be alone again.

We lowered ourselves to the grass, to the cold dirt. A flash of playfulness cut through me when I felt her hand shoot to my groin and wrap around my cock.

"You see what you do to me?" It barely took a stroke before I pulsed in her hand, as hard as the earth beneath us.

My answer was her hand gripping mine and tugging me towards her. I moaned when I felt the curve of her pussy, soft and wet before I even plunged my fingers inside.

"You see what you do to
me
?" she answered and even in the darkness, I knew she was smiling. Soon, those lips would part in a different way as she howled with pleasure.

Our frenzy, our lust, made everything else melt away. Our bodies touching was so much more than how we'd met. What had started out as an escape had become a journey that was about being found.

She was sprawled on the ground beneath me, legs spread. Waiting.

I took my time, ignoring the rush of blood to the solid bulge I fisted, dying to be inside her. I paused just inside her warmth, swirling the tip in her desire. Savoring the moans and the gentle rock of her hips against me.

I plunged into her and the stars seemed to glow a little brighter and I could see, feel,
everything
. The rhythm of our hearts beating as one. The pants of lust, of forever as I pushed her body and my body closer to ecstasy. The slice of pain as her nails clawed at my ass, pulling me deeper inside.

The building pressure.

The coming wave of oblivion.

We howled together, nothing existing outside of us as we exploded as one.

I dropped to the ground beside her and she nestled in close, her arm draped lazily around me. No one had ever moved me the way she moved me. Turned sex into something so much more than two bodies seeking out their needs and parting once they scratched that carnal itch.

"I never saw myself as particularly romantic," she mused, drawing circles on my skin with her fingertips, "But my heart literally skipped a beat when you said you loved me."

I clucked my tongue. "It happens to the best of us, Red."

The circles stopped, quickly replaced by a pinch. "You're one of a kind, Jackson." She twisted her head and pressed a kiss against my flesh. "I think I'll keep you around." She slid her body, bare and supple, up a bit until her lips brushed my jaw and cut a hot path to my ear. "I love you too."

My heart skipped a few beats of its own and I wrapped my body around her body, inhaling all the good that had been given to me.

I was home.

~

Thank you for taking the time to read Irreplaceable (Underneath It All: Book Three). Please consider leaving a review. xoxo, AC

A
va Claire is a sucker for Alpha males and happily ever afters. When not putting pen to paper or glued to her e-reader, Ava likes road tripping, karaoke, vintage fashion, and fantasizing about her favorite book boyfriends.

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