No Regrets (Bomar Boys #1) (29 page)

“Don’t care. Let them look. We’re together.” She tipped up one eyebrow with a smirk, “Unless you’re embarrassed to be seen with me.”

He groaned, “Of course not, I just thought…”

“Stop thinking. It’ll give that pretty head of yours a migraine.” She winked playfully and was pleased to see some of the tension fade from his face, “I’m back, for good. I’m done hiding. I love you and I don’t care what anyone thinks about that.”

Cash studied her face for a long moment, his blue eyes going soft, “I love you too.”

“Prove it. Kiss me. Show them I’m yours and you’re…”

He pressed his mouth to hers, cutting off her words with a groan. It wasn’t a soft, gentle kiss like the ones he’d given her when she left him this morning. He’d been relaxed then and he was the opposite of relaxed now. Something had happened to put him on edge and it was clear in the way he stamped his mouth against hers, used his teeth to tug on her bottom lip and then delved his tongue deep. She met him with just as much passion, wrapping her body tighter around his, meeting him stroke for stroke. She poured all of her love into the kiss, forgot about everyone watching them and simply held him close when he pulled away.

“Damn it Jem…” He panted, tangling one hand in her hair and dragging her forehead down to his so they were eye to eye, “If you were wearing a dress I’d be inside you already with no thought to where we are right now.”

She bit her lip to stifle a moan, “Hmm, I’ll think about that next time I pick my clothes for the day.”

“Tease.” He managed a small smile but it didn’t reach his eyes, “I’ve gone without you so long I don’t think I’ll ever be able to keep my hands off you.”

“I know how you feel.”

“I’m not going to take you in front of a crowd of gossipy Settlers though so you better hop down.”

She pouted, “If you insist.”

He kissed her again, softer this time as she slipped back to the ground, “I just realized why you’re here. You’re having lunch with your mom. Shit, she probably just saw me manhandling you didn’t she?”

“Probably.” She giggled at the pained look that crossed his handsome face, “She sent me out here to invite you to join us.”

“Really?” His eyebrows winged up, “I’m sure she’s rethinking that after what she just witnessed.”

“Come inside and find out with me?”

“Wish I could.” He shook his head, his tension returning, “But I can’t stay. I have some things I need to take care of.”

She frowned, “What kind of things?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Hey, you can talk to me. You know that right?” She reached for his hand, lacing their fingers.

They had to talk to each other. Not just about the good things but about the hard parts too. They both had issues but they couldn’t deal with all of it alone anymore. If they were going to work this time, they had to talk, she knew that.

“It’s Colt. He went off with Lincoln this morning and I haven’t been able to reach him.” He blew out a breath, “I asked Bent to meet me to see if he knew what they were up to. It wasn’t a conversation for the phone.”

Jemma winced at his explanation. So, not Royce then. Bentley had been the one with Cash. But that wasn’t the important part. That was the fact that Colt had gone off with his cousin, a known criminal, to do God only knew what since Bentley hadn’t wanted to tell Cash about it over a phone, where the conversation could be recorded and used against them. She didn’t like the sound of that, at all.

“You’re worried about him.”

“Yeah.” He gave a short nod, “I’m sure he’s fine. He can take care of himself, but he didn’t tell me where he was going or what he was doing and…”

“You’re worried. I get it.” She shifted closer, squeezing his hand, “Have you tried Sky? She seems to know an awful lot about Colt these days.”

“No. I haven’t. She doesn’t talk to me so…”

“I’ll call her and see if she knows anything.”

Cash pulled her close, “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

She tiptoed up and brushed a kiss over his lips. He kissed her back momentarily. It was a softer kiss than before, but there was no less possessiveness in the way he branded her lips in front of the world. She dropped back to her feet when her calves strained and the soft look in his eyes made her heart hurt.

“Go and finish lunch with your mom. I’ll see you tonight?”

She nodded quickly, “Of course.”

He smirked as he released her and stepped back, “Oh, and Jem?”

“Huh?” She couldn’t help but grin back at him when he looked as cocky and demanding as he did right then.

“Change into a dress before you come over.”

And with that, he shot her a hot, wanting look before turning and walking away. She grinned as his sexy ass walked away from her. That ass belonged to her just as much as hers belonged to him. They loved each other and they were going to make it work this time. She didn’t doubt it for a minute. He’d been hurting, worried about his twin, but he hadn’t tried to shield her from that part of his life this time. He’d opened up to her and later, she was going to open up for him.

Her smile was unstoppable as her life began to come back together right before her very eyes.

Colt came home safely. No bruises marring his face or knuckles. He’d laughed off Cash and his worries, told him to chill out and all but refused to give him any more details about what he had been doing all day. His only explanation had been that he was doing what needed to be done and that if it had been dangerous he’d have asked for help. Cash wasn’t sure he believed that but he’d decided to do what his brother asked and let it go for the time being.

He had good things in his life to focus on. He had Jemma. Just running into her earlier had managed to break through the bad mood that talking to Colt had given him. He’d still been worried about his brother but instead of letting it overtake his entire life, he’d been able to smile and joke with her.

She was so damn good for him.

It felt like the past five years of his life had been lived in a holding pattern. Every day had been the same. He’d worked and taken care of his family and he’d lived with the constant dread of being dragged down the rabbit hole into the dark world his family inhabited.

But today had been different.

He’d woken up happy. Happy! He couldn’t remember the last time he could have said that. He’d made love to the woman of his dreams. He’d kissed her and touched her and claimed her body. He’d claimed her future. And the idea that even now she might be carrying his child did something weird to his insides, twisted him up and gave him a sick, excited sort of feeling he’d never experienced before.

Jemma was going to be his. Forever. They were going to build something together. A life together. And if all he had to do to get that, get her and keep her, was cut his father out of his life once and for all, then so be it.

It felt good. It felt right. And he owed all of it to Jemma coming back into his life.

The knock on the door made him smile and he leapt up to go and open it. He’d been waiting for this moment since he walked away from her earlier. He hadn’t been able to get the image of her out of his head, hadn’t tried all that hard either. Jemma rushing towards him, leaping into his arms and kissing him right there on main street in front of God and all the gossipy people of Old Settlers had made him feel worthy for the first time in his life.

He jerked the door open and felt all of the air rush out of his chest. He’d seen Jemma in a lot of ways over the last month but he hadn’t seen her dressed up, all dolled up like seeing him was a special occasion. Until now.

Her hair was in big, loose curls that fell down over her slim, bare shoulders. She was wearing makeup, dark liner that played up her intense hazel eyes. Her lips were painted a bright pink that matched her dress and a grin he couldn’t stop stretched his lips.

She’d changed into a dress. Just like he told her to. It was a pretty little sundress. Thin straps, barely visible against her shoulders held it tight to her full breasts and it flared out around her hips leaving her legs bare. And easily accessible.

“Damn, you look…” He trailed off with a groan when she bit into her lip and looked up at him from under her lashes.

“What?” She teased, “Beautiful? Hot? Sexy? What’s wrong, Cash? Cat got your tongue?”

He grabbed her wrist and hauled her inside. She let out a little squeal when he knocked the door shut behind her and then pushed her against it. He pinned her in place with his body and took her mouth. Kissing her with everything that he couldn’t say and she responded in kind, pressing right back against him, tangling her tongue with his and whimpering when he pulled back for a breath of air.

“Mine. You look like mine.” He breathed against her jaw as he skated kisses towards her ear.

“I am.” She breathed out on a soft whimper, tangling her hands in his hair and trying to pull his mouth back to hers.

He captured her wrists and pulled her hands away. He pinned them over her head and held her there with one firm grip. He used his other to stroke down her body, cup her breasts and he groaned as she arched into him, as his thumb caressed back and forth over her already hard nipple.

“You’re not wearing a bra.” He groaned, nipping at her lips again.

“Nope.” She licked the spot he’d teased and then him, “Go lower, find out what else I didn’t bother with.”

He sucked in a shuddery breath as he pulled back enough to look at her. Her eyes were dilated, wide and glassy with desire. Her cheeks were flushed a beautiful shade of pink that matched her lipstick, which he’d smeared. Her lips were swollen from his rough kiss but they tipped up into a smile as he did what she wanted and trailed his hand lower, beneath the hem of her dress.

He encountered nothing but smooth, warm skin and he groaned again, “You’re not wearing any panties.”

She smiled in response and shifted her hips as he cupped her. She was wet. So damn wet and ready for him. His mind fractured, fighting between taking her fast and hard right there at that moment or teasing her for coming to him like this with every intention of driving him crazy.

“I don’t know whether to give you what you’re asking for because you were sweet enough to give me easy access to what’s mine.” He slid his finger over her clit, teasing as it swelled beneath his touch and making her gasp before he slid lower, slipping slowly inside of her and pumping once before stopping, “Or punish you for going out in that short skirt without panties where anyone could see what belongs to me with one strong blow of the wind.”

“Either.” She answered breathlessly, her hips arching, her voice breathless, “Give it to me or punish me, I just need you. It’s been too long.”

He kissed her again and she made that tiny, needy sound that threatened his control. It had been too long. After years apart, the past few hours had been torture. He slipped his tongue between her lips and she met him. She twined her tongue against his and when she sucked gently he groaned.

He loved the way she reacted to him. He always had. From the first time he’d touched her and she’d flushed that beautiful pink, he’d been addicted to her. The way she looked, the way she tasted, the way she responded to him, she was built for him.

As their kiss edged out of control, he pumped his fingers against her again causing her entire body to shudder. So damn responsive. He thumbed her swollen bud as he slid deep and curled his fingers, hitting that spot that made her break the kiss to cry out his name and send pride and possessiveness coursing through his veins.

“Cash! Oh God, yes.”

She twisted in his arms, arching into him but her movement pulled at the restraint he’d put on her wrists and he was jerked back to reality. He had her pinned to the wall. Helpless. And he recoiled as the memories shot through him, pulling back, he would have stumbled if she hadn’t reacted so fast and caught him by the shirt, not letting him get too far.

He’d held her pinned to the wall just like those other bastards.

Jemma’s lips pursed, her eyes searching his face and finding what he couldn’t hide. He knew because her entire expression softened. She held tight to his shirt, drawing him back towards her with a shake of her head.

“What’s wrong?” Her eyes darted over his face.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hold you down, I…”

“Cash.” She cut him off with a concerned expression that twisted his guts, “It’s okay.”

“No. It’s not. I didn’t mean to hold you down like that. I’m sorry.” He sucked in a much-needed gulp of air and expelled it shakily, “Let’s go to bed. I want you in my bed where you belong.”

“No.”

“Jem…”

“No. Not this time.” She kept shaking her head, biting her lip as she slid her hands up and around his neck, “You weren’t hurting me. You weren’t holding me against my will. I was right where I wanted to be.”

He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the beautiful image she made, the temptation to touch her too much to resist as he gently cupped her cheek and tried to explain what she already seemed to understand, “I don’t want to scare you.”

“I wasn’t scared. I was turned on.” She turned her head and planted a kiss against his palm, “I still am.”

“You’ve been through so much…”

“And I’m working to get past it. Help me. Get past it with me. I want you. Please.”

He dropped his forehead to hers, “Let’s go to bed and I’ll make you forget anyone else has ever touched you.”

“No. Here. Now. Just like this. Fuck me against the door like I know you want to, Cash.” She tilted her head, pressing light kisses against his jaw, whispering against his mouth, “Fuck me like you love me.”

She kissed him, soft and sweet but it was tinged in a desperation that made him growl deep in his throat. His heart was throbbing in his chest and sweat had begun to dot his forehead and back, making his shirt stick to him. She wanted him like this as badly as he wanted her and he wanted to give her what she needed.

He didn’t know if he could this time, if he could shut out those terrible memories and focus on the present. But he would try, for her, because she was everything to him.

He kissed her back lightly, “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“You tell me if you want to stop.”

She cupped his cheek tenderly, “Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop talking to me or touching me or loving me.”

He nodded and slid his hand back under her short skirt, “I love you so much.”

“Love you too.” She bit her lip and looked up at him from under her lashes, “I’m yours, Cash. I trust you. Now take what you need and give me what I want.”

He broke at the blatant permission. She’d hadn’t asked or begged. She’d demanded. She wanted him to take her right here and now, against the door, as fast and frantic as he’d been about to moments before his subconscious and its dark, twisted memories overwhelmed him. He beat them back and focused on this moment with the woman he loved.

He kissed her hard, forcing his tongue between her lips and earning a surprised mewl. She met him a moment later, opening and tilting her head to give him deeper access. He sucked on her tongue and she scratched him as her fingers sought the bottom of his shirt, pushing it up.

Breaking free of the kiss, he let her go long enough to help her pull it up and over his head. She bit her lip, her eyes glazing again as she looked at him in that way he’d come to crave. She ran her nails down his chest to his pants and he groaned when she went straight for the snap of his jeans.

He knocked her hands away once she had him unbuttoned, “Not yet.”

“But…”

“You want this? I’ll give it to you. But I want something too.” He dropped to his knees and heard her gasp, “I haven’t tasted you yet, haven’t gotten to lick your sweet folds and feel you come apart with my head buried between your thighs. I want to feel you come on my tongue Jem.”

“I… Oh God…” Her voice broke, her head thumping back against the door as he ran his fingers up the back of her legs. “That dirty mouth of yours gets me so hot.”

He chuckled as he followed the path with his mouth, planting kisses against her knee and then up her thigh. She opened up for him with a breathy moan. He could scent her arousal, feel it on her thighs and ran his tongue up the length of her, dragging her knee over his shoulder to open her up to him completely, and then he put his mouth on her.

Heaven. Of course she tasted like heaven. Because that’s what she was, his heaven.

He used one palm against her hip to hold her steady as he loved her with his mouth. The other he brought back into play, sliding his fingers through her folds and then pushing deep at the same time he flicked her swollen clitoris with his tongue. She clenched around him, a needy moan escaping and he knew she was close. He wanted to make her come like this, to know that he made her feel this much, this deep.

Speeding the tempo, he pushed her towards the edge fast. Her sex clenching and her hips arching into him. Words tumbled from her lips, pleas for more, everything, for him to stop, gibberish and love and need all flowing together until he felt her entire body lock in place.

He growled as Jemma screamed his name and the orgasm rushed through her. Her legs trembled and she wrapped her hands in his hair. He didn’t know if she was trying to pull him away or hold him close but he didn’t move. He just kept licking her, slowing his rhythm, easing her through it as her climax waned and she sagged against him.

Pride coursed through him when he finally pulled back enough to look up at her. Her head was back against the door. Her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth open in a pant. Her chest heaved as she sucked in air and he wished right then, at that moment, that he’d gotten her naked so that he could see that beautiful pink flush down the smooth line of her body.

There were so many things he’d never had the chance to do with her. He’d only had her that one time years ago and he’d ruined it only minutes later. Last night he’d taken her over and over in bed, him on top, her on top, fast and slow, rough and gentle. But he’d just gotten his first taste of her and he knew he’d never get enough to satisfy that new addiction.

He wanted to do everything with her… and he would.

Her hands finally eased in his hair, stroking back softly, soothing the sting she’d caused with her tight grip, “Oh… Cash… that was…”