However, since he only had two hands, there was no way he could also restrain her upper body, and Scarlett took immediate advantage of this fact by threading her hands into his hair. She tried in vain to hold his head still, but Jackson was having none of it.
Without warning, one of his hands snaked out and clamped her wrist.
“I can still tie you up, you know,” he reminded her. “So if you keep trying to control this, the restraints are coming out. And given that I build stuff for a living, I’ve got lots of things around here that I could use to tie you up - cable ties, twine, maybe even some chains. Now, come on, babe. Let me make you feel good, hmm? Felt like you were pretty close a few seconds ago. Let’s finish you off now.”
“Ohhh!”
Her torso bowed off the bed as he thrust his fingers in and out of her wetness, moving faster and faster as he instinctively sensed she was close. His tongue flicked back and forth, and over and around her clit before taking the tiny reddened nub between his teeth and sucking hard.
She screamed then, the orgasm barreling through her so powerfully that she couldn’t summon up a single coherent thought to save her life. She was so emotionally wrecked, so physically spent, that she was barely aware when Jackson deftly slid inside her still trembling body.
He dropped a soft kiss on her brow, smiling tenderly as she blinked her eyes open with great difficult.
“Hey, you doing okay?” he teased. “Thought I’d lost you there for a minute. That you’d drifted off or something.”
Scarlett cupped his cheek in her palm. “Or something,” she agreed. “And, yeah, I’d say I was pretty damned okay. Thanks, by the way.”
He kissed her palm. “My pleasure,” he murmured. “I guess it was mutual pleasure, since I got off on it as much as you did. Or at least I will within the next few minutes. If you’re okay with that, of course.”
In response, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her heels pressing into the firm flesh of his ass. “More than okay,” she whispered. “Go for it. You know I’m not some fragile little piece of glass you have to treat carefully. Fuck me like you mean it, Jackson.”
He laughed in response. “I should know by now not to be shocked by anything that comes out of that sassy, sexy mouth of yours, but every so often you surprise me. And believe me, babe, that’s one invitation I’ll never turn down.”
But despite her bold invitation, he took things slowly, savoring the feeling of sheathing himself inside her welcoming warmth a bit at a time.
“You can go harder you know,” she whispered, as he continued to thrust in and out of her with slow, measured movements.
“I know.” He smiled down at her, dropping a kiss on the tip of her nose. “But I prefer it this way right now. That okay with you?”
Scarlett nodded. “Yeah, it’s all good. Hard and fast or slow and easy. You always make it good.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” he teased, just before capturing her lips in a long, slow kiss.
Their lovemaking was tender and slow and sweet this evening, unlike their usual frantic couplings. But Jackson was well aware of how emotional this day had been for her, how meeting the family she hadn’t even known existed until last year had taken something of a toll on her. So he made it a point to be gentle with her, to take exquisite care with her, and the utter beauty of it all caused tears of joy to trickle slowly down her cheeks.
“Everything all right?” he asked afterwards, cuddling her close and then licking one lingering tear from her skin.
“Yeah, “ she nodded, burrowing her face against his chest. “That was just - well, intense in a whole different sort of way. You know what I mean?”
“I do. And I agree. On a normal night I’d have at least a few scratches or bites or bruises,” he told her jokingly. “But in all seriousness, what just happened was pretty damned special. I love you, Scarlett. And I know today was a challenging one for you. I’m just happy to have been able to share it with you, to be here for support.”
Scarlett kissed him softly. “Challenging for sure, but in a good way. And I wouldn’t have had this day, wouldn’t have had the opportunity to finally meet my grandparents and all the others if you hadn’t made it happen. Thank you, Jackson.”
“No need to thank me, babe. Seeing how happy you were today is all the thanks I need. Though it might be nice,” he added teasingly, “if you finally apologized for busting my balls the first time we met.”
She grinned wickedly. “Only the first time?”
Epilogue
Portland, Oregon – Three Years Later
Scarlett glanced up from her drafting table as the front door opened, surging to her feet to meet Jackson halfway.
“Thank God you’re back,” she declared fervently, already reaching for the bag he was carrying. “Another ten minutes and I might have fainted away from hunger.”
He smirked, well used by now to his wife’s often dramatic statements. “Yeah, come to think of it you look awfully pale. But that could just be from not seeing the sun for the last couple of weeks, given how much time you’ve spent in front of that drafting table.”
She gave him a playful swat on the arm, then dug a sandwich out from the bag. She’d unwrapped and taken a huge bite out of the turkey, bacon, and avocado club before taking a single step back to her desk.
“Mmm, you remembered to have them put the chipotle ranch dressing on it,” she mumbled with a mouthful of food. “Thank you.”
Jackson chuckled, then set the bag down on his own desk, along with the drink carrier he’d been balancing in his other hand. “You’re welcome. Though it’s more than worth it to see you digging into that sandwich like a trucker. Oh, and can’t forget your side of potato salad. And I got you an extra large lemonade to wash it all down.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as he set the rest of her lunch down. “You’re the best. If you weren’t the co-owner of this place I’d already be calculating how much of a year-end bonus you deserve.”
“Smart ass,” he retorted with a grin. “Just for that I might not share the giant chocolate chip cookie I bought for dessert.”
Scarlett stuck her tongue out. “Of course you will,” she replied confidently. “You might be a tease but you aren’t mean. And not sharing a cookie from our favorite bakery café would just be cruel.”
“You know me too well, babe. And, yeah, I could never be that mean. But if you were really serious before about how I deserve a bonus - well, I might have some ideas on that subject. Ideas that don’t involve any sort of monetary payment. If you catch my drift, that is,” he added suggestively.
She gave him a little eye roll before taking a long drink of her lemonade. “You’re right,” she remarked drolly. “I do know you too well. Because I know all of your lines by now, Gilmore. And hate to say it but you need to come up with some new ones. Now, let’s eat because I need to show you the progress I’ve made on this new design. And if I don’t say so myself, it’s going to be fucking awesome when it’s built.”