Telling his dick to stay down, Hunter continued. “My mom and dad will love you, I guarantee it, but if they don’t, so what? They won’t be the ones living with you. We’d see them on holidays or other special occasions.”
Jodi nipped his earlobe. “I’ll make them like me.”
He gave a rough laugh. “You’re not listening to me. You won’t have to make them. They’ll react to you the same way Memphis did.”
“Meaning if you care about me, they will, too?”
“Yes.”
“And you care about me.”
She sounded very soft and sweet, but with Jodi, he could never be sure. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Three seconds of tense silence passed—before her arms clamped tight around his neck. Pressing her face to his shoulder, she took a gentle bite of his muscle and said, “Omigod, I’m falling with you, and I didn’t even know what to call it.”
Just that easily, his anger disappeared. “Chicken. You wanted me to go first.” She laughed and tried to topple him to the mattress, but Hunter resisted, and instead, he pulled her around and into his lap to cradle her close. “So you’re falling, huh?”
Her beautiful eyes glimmered with emotion, with love and laughter. “You make me feel things I can’t identify. It throws me off balance, scares me a little and makes me want...more?” She held her breath.
Yes. More. Only with Jodi. “I like the sound of that.”
All too serious, and a little anxious, she asked, “Are you sure?”
“Positive, because I feel the same.”
To avoid eye contact, she became very interested in his chest. “You want me to change.”
“You want me to change.”
Her head shot up. “No, I don’t.”
“Jodi, I tracked a woman into the mountain because I thought she might need me. I stayed with her ten fucking hours—with a dead man’s blood on me because she wanted to hold my hand. I carried Turbo out of a muddy field when he was little more than a bag of bones with a nasty skin condition, disgusting drool and a barker that didn’t work right—then I babied him back to health. Until I moved here and isolated myself, helping others was part of who I am. Yet you want me to sit back and watch you face danger alone.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to do it alone.”
“No, you just want to call all the shots.” He lifted her chin. “That’s not who I am. It’s not who you are either. I’m offering you a compromise.”
“Could I...?” She stroked her fingers through his chest hair. “What if I promise to do my best?”
“Your best will always be good enough for me.”
“I might mess up sometimes. My temper snaps and I go into a mode...”
“I’ve noticed.” To soften that, he kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re not perfect, honey, but then, neither am I.”
“You’re so darn close, though.”
Hunter couldn’t help but grin at her forlorn tone. Even with all the trouble, his life was looking good, because Jodi was in it. He dropped back on the bed with her and started to turn, but she straight-armed him.
“No you don’t. I have a ground rule of my own.” She took his hands and pressed them to his sides, then sat beside him, her legs tucked under her, her gaze all over his body. “I get to have a turn. No more overwhelming me until I’ve gotten to explore you a little.”
Disbelieving, he asked, “That’s your ground rule?”
“The first one.”
“Oh, good,” he said, deadpan. “There’s more.” Hunter stacked his hands behind his head and enjoyed how she looked at him. When her small hand suddenly wrapped around his erection, he forgot his amusement.
“Second one. Even if you get mad, you don’t get to walk away.”
“Agreed, as long as that rule applies to you, too.” Her fingers lightly explored along his length before she gripped him a little more firmly.
“Last one. You have to tell me if you need or want something. I’m not a mind reader.”
God love her, she really was amazing. For the next ten minutes, Hunter gave her detailed instructions, and she followed each one without hesitation, including enthusiastically using her mouth on him.
He didn’t last long before he dragged her up and over his body with the final instruction to ride him. Neither of them could hold off for long, and after her release, she gently dropped to the bed beside him, saying, “You can do cleanup again. I’m beat.”
By the time he took care of it and came to stand at the side of the bed, Jodi was sound asleep. For a while, he just looked at her, marveling that she’d come into his life when he’d thought he needed only time alone, and instead...he’d needed her.
Telling her he was falling in love was a giant lie. He was totally, irrevocably in love with her. For him, there was no pulling back.
As quietly as possible, he turned out the lamp and got into bed beside her. When he reached for her, she helped, snuggling in close with a murmured, “’Bout time,” and then fading to sleep again.
He didn’t think Jodi slept soundly very often, but for the next hour, she didn’t stir and he gradually drifted off to sleep, too. A few times through the night, he awoke. Once when she turned over in her sleep, yet even then, she wiggled her rump against him, ensuring they stayed physically close. Another time, she abruptly sat up and looked around. Hunter opened his eyes and listened, heard the house was quiet, saw the yard dim and said, “It’s okay.”
She turned to him, waited a second or two, and then collapsed half over his chest and went back to sleep.
Oddly enough, so did he.
Each time he stirred awake, what hit him was that he could go back to sleep—and so could Jodi. The connection between them was enough to remove the worst of the insomnia.
An hour before dawn, a light tap sounded at his door and he heard Memphis whisper, “Hunter?”
Shit. Knowing Memphis wouldn’t intrude without a damn good reason, Hunter tried to slip silently from the bed. He didn’t make it.
Bleary-eyed and confused, Jodi sat up. Her hair was everywhere, and she folded her arms around her naked breasts. “Memphis?”
“Yeah, it’s just my brother. Go back to sleep.”
She looked at the clock, rubbed her eyes and said, “I slept.”
“I know.” The room was dark, heavy with shadows, but he saw her leaving the bed.