“You missin’ me, baby?” I asked, yanking my T-shirt over my head.
“Yeah.”
Jade sat forward and reached for my jeans, unbuttoning them slowly as she looked up at me with those big green eyes and licked her lips. Christ. I’d never wanted anyone or anything more in my life. She pushed my briefs down along with my jeans and there was no denying how badly I wanted her. She ran her fingers down my chest.
“Looks like you missed me too?” She teased when her eyes landed on my raging hard-on. “And I can’t get over how chiseled you are.”
“You know all that training means I can last even longer now.”
“You’ve never had a problem in that area,” she said, as I reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head.
I tipped her back and she arched up so I could peel her leggings from her body.
“Well, I’ve got twelve hours to familiarize myself with your beautiful body. I’m going to make you feel so good you’ll still be thinking about me after I leave,” I said as I settled above her.
“Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?” Her voice was gruff and breathy as she writhed beneath my touch.
“By kissing you here.” I kissed her neck and reached back to unsnap her white lacey bra, tossing it to the side, before cupping her perfect tits in my hands. Slowly. Tasting and savoring her with every kiss.
“Oh my god,” she whispered.
“And here,” I said, moving my mouth down her body and stopping at her breasts. I took my time with each one until she was panting.
“Please, Cruz.” Her words were barely audible.
“You made me wait and now I’m going to take my time with you. Enjoy every inch of this beautiful body,” I said, gripping her hips and holding her still as she squirmed beneath me.
“You’re punishing me?” she whined, and I laughed.
“I’m rewarding you. Trust me.”
I slipped my fingers beneath her panties and slowly pulled them down her legs. I made my way back up, kissing her inner thighs as I moved closer to where I knew she wanted me. I paused to look at her one last time. Her face flushed, eyes heated and full of need, and her lips parted just enough to allow her little pants to release with each breath. I buried my face between her legs, teasing and taunting until she wrapped her fingers in my hair and tugged me closer and I gave her what she needed. She cried out my name, and I savored her sweetness.
Damn, I’d missed her.
This.
Being with her.
I was done taking my time. I pushed up on my knees and reached in my wallet for a condom.
“Someone was feeling confident, huh?” she said, laughing at my secret stash as she pushed up on her elbows.
“Ready and willing, baby. I mean, you said we were taking it slow last month, so I was hopeful things would progress.” I covered myself before leaning over her and kissing her hard. She whimpered and I nearly exploded.
Because it was all worth the wait.
Right here.
Right now.
Chapter Seventeen
Jade
My back rested against Cruz’s chest as we settled in the hot bath. The water absorbing us both like a safe little cocoon where no one else existed but us. I was physically and emotionally drained from this day. I’d thought I’d lost my father, and I’d stopped fighting my need to keep Cruz at a distance.
And wow, had I opened the floodgates.
We’d just spent the last two hours in bed, making up for lost time.
And now, I was all consumed.
Just like that.
Had I ever really stopped? It didn’t feel like it now, as he enveloped me in his arms.
“I missed you,” he whispered, his lips grazing my ear.
I flipped over on my stomach, resting my elbows on his chest. “Missed you more.”
He reached for the necklace hanging around my neck where the promise ring he gave me hung.
“Can we put this back on your finger?” The vulnerability in his eyes nearly broke me.
“Yes,” I said, reaching behind me for the clasp. He held out his hand and caught the chain in his palm. I slipped the ring off and slid it down my finger. Exactly where it belonged. Cruz reached up and dropped the chain on the counter beside the tub before looking down at my finger and smiling.
“That’s where it should be.”
“Yeah. I like looking at it, so this makes it easier.” I laughed.
He pulled back to look at me. “So, anything I need to know about your time with Dick?”
“No. It was nothing.”
“Well, you did kiss the asshole. Nothing more happened?”
I shook my head. “I kissed him twice, and I told you both times. Anything you need to tell me about our time apart?”
“No. I told you. I had the whole broken dick thing going on.” He brushed the hair back from my face, and I rested my cheek beneath his neck.
“It sure seems to be working just fine now.” I laughed, and my body vibrated beneath the water.
“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?”
“A little bit.”
“Well, it only works for you. We’ve established that now. So how do you feel about your dad?”
“I think he’s going to be okay. That was scary though,” I said, as I traced over the script on his arm with my finger.
“It was. He’s fucking tough.”
“Yeah. Thanks for being there. You know—for me and for Dad.”
“Always. You know that.”
“So, what happens now?”
“Meaning?”
“With us?” I pushed up to meet his honey-brown gaze.
“Nothing’s really changed, has it? I mean aside from you pretending to have a fake boyfriend when you got back from Honduras, and then insisting we take it slow these last few weeks. I’ve been all in the whole time.”
“I guess I mean with you back on tour and me swamped with school. I can’t travel as often as I did last year.”
“We’ll make it work. My schedule is a lot better than it used to be, and I can come home more often now. You’ll come out when you can. We only have a few months left. We’ve got this,” he said.
“You’ve got it all figured out, huh?”
“I’ve had plenty of time to think while I waited for you to come to your senses.”