Jackson grimaced. “The reason why it wasn’t quite as bad as it might have been last night is because my brothers and their families weren’t there. My brothers are total assholes, while my sisters-in-law are stuck-up, pretentious bitches. Unfortunately, their kids are at an age now where they seem to be taking after their parents. There’s a reason why Hannah is my favorite niece. She’s the only one who isn’t a royal pain in the ass.”
“You won’t miss them when you leave Phoenix, then?” she asked in concern.
“Hannah for sure. My mom, too. She’s a little on the pretentious side and lets my dad boss her around way too much, but she’s not mean spirited or a bitch like Laura. As for missing my father and brothers the answer is a big old nope. I’ve been wanting to get out from under their control for years now, was real close to making the move when Hannah got sick. And, well, I just couldn’t leave her, you know? Especially knowing what a basket case my sister becomes when the going gets tough, and that Neil would have his hands full tending to Laura as well as Hannah. But now - well, there’s not much keeping me here, to be honest. A lot of my old friends from high school have moved out of state, except for Riley. And knowing him, he’ll probably find a way to follow us wherever we wind up settling.”
Scarlett gave a little shudder. She’d met Jackson’s fun loving, hard drinking pal a couple of weeks ago when Riley had accompanied him on a weekend visit to Berkeley. Since the cat had finally been let out of the bag in regards to Jackson and Scarlett being a couple, he had finally considered it safe to introduce her to the gossipy Riley. And while Scarlett liked the guy well enough, she wasn’t crazy about the idea of him being a semi-permanent fixture in their lives. He reminded her way too much of some of the losers she’d dated during her first couple of years of college - the ones who drank too much and smoked a few too many joints and who changed bed partners like some people changed their shoes. At least Riley had a good job and a family he mostly got along with, but she suspected his alcohol problem was a lot more serious than even Jackson realized. After all, she’d grown up with an alcoholic, had spent time in foster and group homes with recovering addicts, and seemed to have a sixth sense about identifying people with those types of problems.
“God, I hope not!” she shuddered. “I mean, he’s a lot of fun, but I can just see him barging in on us at all hours. He reminds me of a couple of my old roommates - you know, the ones who’d always eat my food, leave dirty dishes piled up in the sink, and were stoned out of their minds for days at a time. And while I realize Riley wouldn’t actually live with us - cause that just ain’t gonna happen ever - the last thing we need is to have him hanging around all the time. He needs to seriously grow up, Jackson. Maybe without you to lean on he’ll finally do something about that.”
“You’re right,” agreed Jackson. “Plus, I don’t really see him getting motivated enough to leave town. Riley doesn’t like change, and he’s got a pretty cushy job right now, plus a new girlfriend. And since he’s never lived anywhere but Arizona I don’t see him making the move to someplace cool and rainy like Portland. Or worse, to where it snows like Denver or Milwaukee. Florida, now - well, that might tempt him.”
“That settles it then,” she declared. “Turning that particular offer down if it materializes.”
He chuckled, nuzzling his face against the side of her neck as he hugged her tightly. “I’ve got another offer to make you,” he teased huskily. “One that only involves us moving as far away as the bedroom.”
Deliberately she slid a palm down his chest to where he was already hard and throbbing, smiling in satisfaction as he hissed loudly.
“Honey, I’ll take this offer anytime, anywhere,” she purred. “In the snow and rain and heat and - oh!”
He picked her up without warning, carrying her the short distance into the bedroom like she weighed practically nothing. He half laid, half tossed her onto the bed, and had already whipped his black ribbed Henley shirt off before she could catch her breath.
“If you’re still interested in that offer I just made you,” he rasped, his hands unbuckling his belt, “you should start getting naked. Pronto.”
Scarlett grinned, even as she began to shimmy out of her skinny jeans. “Ooh, I like it when you get all manly and domineering! Sometimes, that is. Lucky for you I’m kinda feeling in the mood for some dominance tonight.”
He tossed aside his jeans and boots, then crawled onto the bed next to her. “Good. Though it isn’t a choice you get to make. And since you’re taking way too fucking long to get naked I’ll just finish the job for you.”
She yelped as he practically tore her black lace thong from her body, then just as quickly divested her of her sweater and bra. But any further sounds of protest she might have been tempted to make were swallowed up by the fierceness of his kiss. He threaded a hand into her curls, holding her head still as he practically ravaged her mouth with his tongue. She tried desperately to loop her arms around his neck in an effort to pull him close against her, but he evaded her efforts stubbornly.
When he finally lifted his mouth from her now swollen, bruised lips, it was to take both of her hands and place them firmly on the mattress on either side of her body.
“Keep these right here,” he warned ominously. “No touching unless I say so.”
She scowled, trying to wrench her wrists free of his iron grip. “What happens if I disobey?” she taunted.
Jackson gave her an unholy grin, lowering his head to bite down on her earlobe, chuckling when she squirmed in reaction.
“What happens to all naughty girls,” he told her in a falsely cheerful tone. “First they get spanked, and then, if they continue to disobey, they get tied up. Or maybe in reverse order. And if you think I’m not being serious here, well - how lucky are you feeling tonight?”
She stuck her tongue out at him, before rather dramatically spreading her arms wide, as though offering herself up as a sacrifice.
“Go ahead then, you brute,” she replied, trying to stifle a grin. “Ravish me. Have your wicked way with me.”
“Well, since you insist.”
Her back arched up off the bed as he swiftly lowered his head to her breasts and took a nipple between his teeth, sucking hard. When he repeated this action on the other side, she was obliged to clutch fistfuls of the bedcovers rather than wrap her arms around his neck instead. He was aggressive and bold as he continued his sensual assault on her body, his caresses and kisses more forceful and demanding than was usual for him, but there was still no mistaking the underlying tenderness in his lovemaking. And despite the hunger and dominance he exhibited as he kissed and caressed his way down her body, Jackson also seemed to be in no rush to bring things to their inevitable conclusion.
He kissed his way down her body, pausing to swirl his tongue around her already sensitized clit, and then kept going. He spread her legs apart before draping them over his shoulders, opening her up wide. His big hands pinned her hips to the mattress as she began to thrash wildly to and fro in response to the slow, deliberately arousing licks of his tongue along the seam of her vagina. She whimpered loudly as he deftly inserted one and then two fingers deep inside her opening, thrusting in as far as he could reach before slowly slipping back out. She was soaking wet within seconds, and when he whisked his thumb over her clit she screamed in reaction, her head twisting side to side in frustration. She wanted - needed - to move her hips desperately, to thrust against his clever lips and tongue and fingers that were quickly bringing her to a boiling point. But his hands were like manacles as they kept her lower body immobilized.