“Hi,” I squeak, and a feral smile lifts one corner of his mouth.
“Let’s get something clear, city girl,” he husks. “Touching you would one hundred fucking percent be for me, too.”
“Oh.” I mean, put like that…
His hungry gaze falls to my mouth and his nostrils flare. “But there’s something else you should know, too.”
“O-okay.”
“You don’t owe me anything. I do what I do because that kid is my life.”
“I know, but—”
He presses a firm finger against my lips. “I’m not done yet.”
I gulp and nod, as heat spreads through my body like a slow-burning wildfire.
“One thousand four hundred and seventy-four days, Hayden. That’s how long I’ve waited for you.” His nose brushes mine as his fingers dig deeper into my hips and his breath dances against my face. “I do what I do for him, but I do it for you, too.”
Holy crap. A wave of emotion rises hard and fast in my throat and I choke on a sob.
His face twists for a second, but quickly falls fierce again. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but I promise you this…
“He had his chance and now I want mine.”
JESSE
She throws her arms around my neck as her sweet lips press against mine in the first kiss we’ve shared in what feels like forever. She tastes like red wine and five years’ worth of pent-up need that I’m more than happy to alleviate.
“Jesse.” My name is a whisper on those sugared lips as her hands slide into my hair and wind tight. “I never knew,” she sighs, and I’m not sure what she means, but I don’t care. All that matters is us, right here, right now, in this moment.
“I’ve missed you.” I pull her against me, desperate for as much of her as I can get. “I saw you every two weeks, but I fucking missed you.”
She nods as a tear slips down her cheek. “I know and I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head and then kiss the apology away. I’ve lived in the past for too long and I’m done with it. I don’t care about what happened before, I only give a shit about where we go from here.
“I want to feel you closer,” I rasp, reaching for the hem of her sweatshirt. I want her skin against mine. I want to feel her heartbeat… “Can I?”
“Mmm hmm.” She nods and breaks the kiss just long enough to lift her arms so I can pull the sweatshirt over her head. As soon as it’s gone, she’s back again, her wine-soaked tongue teasing against mine before she detours to my jaw and ear and back again.
I fucking love that she’s as eager for me as I am for her. That she went out of her way for me tonight and now she’s giving me this.
Groaning against her lips, my hands slide up her rib cage and stop beneath the curve of her breasts in what I can only describe as the thinnest, laciest bra I’ve ever seen.
I pull away to get a better look and, holy shit, her nipples are right fucking there, all dark and peaked beneath the pale, pointless lace.
My dick, which has been hard since the second she touched my hair, throbs at the same time saliva begins to pool in my mouth. I knew her body had changed, but I had no idea she could be even prettier than I remembered.
Breathing a little faster, I glance up to find her biting the corner of her mouth, her lashes lowered over dark, hungry eyes.
“Touch me,” she whispers, dragging her fingers across one of those mouthwatering nipples and gasping in response to her own touch.
A feral growl rolls up from my gut and I reclaim her mouth as my greedy hands replace hers. Thumbs stroking over those pretty peaks, my palms seek their fill, making her shudder against me.
She’s so fucking soft. Fuller than I remember, but I already knew that. I watched her body change through her pregnancy and, though I’d only seen her a few times for the ultrasounds she invited me to, her body became an obsession. I loved admiring her from a distance, knowing it was my baby that made her blossom the way she did. I love even more that she’s letting me touch her now.
“Jesse,” she whimpers again, and it’s all the invitation I need. I tug down the lace, lean in, and claim one of her nipples with my tongue and my lips and my teeth, sucking and nibbling until her hips lift from the couch and pulse against my chest, still planted between her legs. I can feel the heat from her pussy against my skin and my dick throbs in response.
I switch to the other breast as her head falls back and she moans, her fingers abrading my scalp as her entire body shakes with greedy desire. It’s a signal I not only memorized, but anticipated, because it’s always meant one thing…
She’s ready for more.
“Hayden.” Her swollen peak slips from my mouth as I reach up, tug the band from her bun, and slide my fingers into her hair. “Baby, look at me.”
Her heavy eyes open slowly, as if waking from a dream. While I love that she’s in my arms and, as far as I’m concerned, exactly where she’s supposed to be, I don’t want to do something she’s going to hate me for—or worse, hate herself for—in the morning.
“We do this and there’s no going back.” I press my lips to hers. “I need you to tell me this is what you want.”
Her hands curling around my jaw and she returns the kiss, the urgency from earlier replaced by the slow, sensual confidence I was hoping for. She wants this, but I need more than her mouth on mine.
“Say it, Hayden.”
“I want you,” she husks, and it’s everything and all I need.
I ease her back on the couch, one knee between her legs as she goes for my fly. My dick twitches behind the zipper, anxious for her hands, because it’s been so fucking long—
“Daddy, what ya doin’?”
“Oh, my God!” Hayden’s hands jerk from my crotch to her tits, eyes wide with terror.
“Uhh…” Fuck. “Hold on a second, little man. Stay right there, okay?” I shove the blankets aside until I find Hayden’s shirt and then mine. While she uses hers like a blanket, I tug mine on and turn to find Jett standing between the kitchen and living room with John Deere tucked beneath his arm.
“I have to go potty,” he says sheepishly, one little foot twisting into the other as he glances from me to Hayden. Thankfully, I think I blocked enough of her half-naked body to spare him the trauma of seeing something he probably hasn’t seen since he was an infant.
“Ah, yep. I can help you with that.” Straightening my shirt, I grab his hand and lead him back toward the hall.
By the time he’s finished and tucked back into bed, Hayden is in the kitchen, fully dressed, and picking at her nails. The TV is off, too, and uncertainty churns in my gut.
“Sorry about that.” I pace into the room slowly, hands tucked into my pockets. I already know I’m going to end up rubbing one out at home alone, but what happens between now and then I’m not sure about. Is she going to tell me it was a mistake? That we let things go too far?
“It’s not your fault,” she says quietly, glancing up with a timid but playful smile that is, by far, the prettiest I’ve seen all night.
Thank fucking God.
I keep walking until my arms are around her again and her face is buried in my shirt. “That was close. But I don’t think he saw anything.”