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Samuel wrapped his arms around her.
“Me, too,” he whispered. “When Kelsey texted us… I’m so mad at you. Don’t you realize your life is precious, too? What am I supposed to do if you…?”
Jessica squeezed her arms around him as the first tremor shook her.
Tonight could have ended badly. So very badly. She was lucky her self-defense classes had stuck. She was lucky Oliver hadn’t been paying close attention. She was lucky Kelsey, and the guys were so near. Without them, without everything lining up perfectly, tonight could have had a much different ending.
How long would their good luck hold out?
Chapter Fifteen
Monday. Hotel, London, UK.
Samuel clutched Jessica close. His heart was still hammering away at his ribs to the point it felt like it might burst out. He tightened his grip, though he knew he shouldn’t. She was still healing. Still fragile.
He’d been prepared for a knockdown, drag-out fight over this. For her to dig her heels in and tell him results were worth any cost. Because that sounded like a Jessica sort of thing to say.
He hadn’t been prepared for her fear. For her to realize just how close this had come to being a complete and total disaster.
Her legs wrapped around him, as if he were the one who needed to be held prisoner.
“Don’t do that. Not ever again, understand? We talk these things out together or they don’t happen. Agreed?”
She was only quiet for a moment before whispering, “Okay.”
Samuel knew she could very well change her mind once the height of emotions had passed. In her current state, he shouldn’t ask such a thing of her. But he needed those words and even the grain of a hope that she might change. Asking her to stop taking risks was too much. That would be like a duck giving up swimming. But at the very least, she could have someone watching her back. Someone there for her. And he wanted that to be him. For however long she’d let him.
Jessica cupped his face and tipped his chin up. Her brow had a little wrinkle marring it, and her eyes were watery and sad.
This wasn’t what they’d agreed to, but damn it, he couldn’t separate how he felt no matter what they’d said.
She kissed him this time, tender, soft little kisses she trailed over his mouth. He let his eyes close and his soul exist in this one moment where they were okay.
Samuel rose to his feet, with Jessica wrapped around him.
“What are you laughing at?” he asked.
She pressed her face to his neck and nipped his skin. “I might have thought on several occasions about climbing you like a tree…”
His body warmed and his cock hardened.
“Is that so?” he muttered.
She sighed. “Sorry, not supposed to say things like that, am I?”
Samuel kissed her. He didn’t give a fuck about what they’d said when. Right now, he needed her.
Jessica’s mouth was soft against his. He thrust his tongue past her lips, teasing and tasting her. She moaned and slid her fingers around to press to the back of his head while her legs locked around him.
They weren’t supposed to do this. But what they were doing already wasn’t working. He didn’t want to waste time regretting when she was right fucking here.
Samuel took a few steps to the exterior wall and pressed Jessica’s back to it. She arched into him while her hands slid over his face and neck. He kept kissing her, needing that connection.
When had he become so fixated on her? How had this happened?
It hadn’t come about because of one thing or another. It had begun slowly and grown, despite his attempts not to care for her.
She bit his lower lip as she shifted her hips, grinding against him.