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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

D oug was digging his damn grave. It was already more than six feet deep, but he couldn’t stop himself from giving in to Jenn’s request, even if his life depended on it.

He’d dreamed about having her naked and under him for so long that a part of him wondered if he was still asleep while his mind played tricks on him.

Had his dreams become reality? Part of him hoped so.

The horny part that craved her since she kissed him all those months ago.

Oh, who the fuck was he kidding? He fought his attraction to her for far longer than that.

And it definitely wasn’t just the horny part of him that wanted her. It was his heart, mind, and soul too.

Maybe she was right. Perhaps it was time to stop battling the inevitable.

He tried to date other women over the past few years, but being with them never felt right. He shamefully admitted to himself that he replaced some of those women with Jenn in his mind while having sex with them—a confession he would never reveal to anyone in his lifetime.

Lying atop Jenn, with them both nude from the waist up, was a fantasy come true.

Her body had matured further over the past few years, and she couldn’t be mistaken for a teenager anymore.

But it was her expression and blue eyes that lured him in.

She was no longer the naive nineteen-year-old she’d been when they first met, still grieving her parents’ deaths and having her world uprooted by moving from Virginia to Florida to live with her godfather two years earlier.

Doug’s assignment back then was to guard her with his own life.

An assignment he failed at. Thankfully, she survived.

However, she didn’t look at him as if he were a failure.

Nor did she gaze upon him with the hero-worship he tried to convince himself of.

No, none of that was in her eyes. Instead, passion, desire, need, and God help him, love swirled in their depths.

Her emotions were unmistakable, and they were for nobody but him.

Was he worthy of her? He doubted it. Could he resist her? Right then, absolutely not.

He let her pull him down until their lips met, and she parted hers for him. A surge of electric energy raced through him, and his mind and body snapped.

Gone was his control.

Gone was the catastrophic situation they’d found themselves in.

Gone was every reason why kissing her was a bad idea.

Gone was everything and everyone but her.

He gave himself over to her, yet took control in return.

Plunging his tongue into her mouth, he mapped out every part he could reach while tangling with her own tongue. She spread her legs, letting him drop onto the bed and settle between them. His cock strained against the zipper of his pants, wanting to be free to thrust inside her.

He moved from her mouth to her jawline, down to her neck, and even further to her chest, licking, nibbling, and kissing every bit of skin along the way.

Despite all they’d been through, she still tasted sweet, like a combination of sunshine and the most incredible dessert he’d ever tried.

He cupped her breasts, learning their weight and texture.

Her skin was warm, soft, and inviting, a contradiction to the world just outside the cabin.

Shifting down the bed, he drew one of her breasts into his mouth, strumming the taut peak with his tongue.

She let out an encouraging cry of pleasure and arched her back, urging him on.

Her hands on his shoulders curled inward, her nails clawing him.

That only turned him on even more. He didn’t care if she drew blood or left marks.

Nothing could stop him from devouring her right then, except a lack of consent on her part.

If she got scared or decided it was a mistake or that he went too far too fast, he would stop immediately.

He’d never taken what wasn’t freely and consensually offered to him by a woman before, and he wouldn’t start now.

He switched to her other breast, giving it the same attention as the first. She gasped and wriggled beneath him, cradling his torso with her thighs. “Doug! Oh, God! I don’t want you to stop, but I want you naked. Please. I want us both naked.”

Now that he was in the moment, he wanted that, too, loving the thought of having nothing between them to inhibit skin-to-skin contact.

Going up on his knees, he grasped the waistband of her black bikini underwear, pulling them down her long legs as he climbed off the end of the bed.

Dropping them to the floor, he couldn’t stop staring at the beautiful creature before him, spread out like a feast. As his gaze roamed her body, taking in every freckle, birthmark, and inch of perfection, his cock throbbed with need, demanding release from its confinement.

He quickly shed his pants and boxer briefs, and his ego got a boost as her eyes widened at the sight of his thick cock standing erect, which was hard as steel and weeping with pre-cum.

Circling the bed, he retrieved a condom from his wallet, setting it aside, then lowered the brightness of the lantern so it wasn’t blinding, yet they could still see each other.

He wanted to inspect every part of her body and watch her reactions as his fingers and tongue learned where and how she liked to be touched.

Climbing onto the mattress, he stretched out so his chest, abdomen, and pelvis were flush against her side.

Desire flooded him, and his mind and body fought between needing to get inside her as fast as possible and wanting to take time to savor every moment with her.

Who knew what the future would bring, after everything they’d been through—both in the last eighteen hours and over the past four years.

As his splayed hand roved her torso, he leaned down and kissed her lips, which immediately opened for him.

Their tongues danced in a mating ritual as old as time.

He played with her nipples, pinching and plucking them before his hand traveled south.

The scent of her arousal hung in the air, and he lifted his head to inhale deeply through his nose, drawing it in.

Jenn’s fingertips traced his tattoo again as she explored his chest. She gasped and her hips bucked when he brushed his fingers over her swollen clit. He gave it some attention before dipping lower to find her soaked for him. He teased her slowly, not entering her because a thought occurred to him.

“Sweetheart, have you done this before, or are you a virgin?” He really didn’t want to know the answer if it was the former, but he needed to know if he had to be extra gentle because her hymen was intact.

She shook her head, and her gaze dropped to his chest as if she were embarrassed. “No, I’m not. I’ve only been with one other guy, though. We dated for a few months during our first year of college, but decided we were better off as friends. I haven’t had sex with anyone else since.”

He doubted that it was due to a lack of effort on the part of other men. Surely, she’d dated some even if she hadn’t slept with them.

Tamping down his jealousy for the asshole who took her virginity—even if they remained friends, the guy was still an asshole in Doug’s mind—he smiled at her before kissing her nose. “Okay. But you have to tell me if I’m going too fast or if you don’t like something I do, all right?”

“Yes. I’ve learned a lot from my aunts and uncles about how communicating during sex is important.”

A groan erupted from his throat. “Um, can we not mention them, especially your uncles, while we’re naked?”

She giggled. “Noted.”

Part of Jenn was apprehensive about being able to please Doug sexually.

He undoubtedly had far more experience than her, and she worried she wouldn’t compare to the other women he’d been with.

She still couldn’t believe she’d begged him to make love to her and that he’d given in.

That was the most shocking part. But as she stared into his eyes, she didn’t just see the desire to have sex.

Raw passion and hunger swirled in their depths.

What she felt was reflected there. He wasn’t in bed with her to scratch an itch or out of pity for what she’d been through since yesterday morning.

He wanted her. Craved her. Of that she was certain.

No man had ever looked at her like he did right then.

It was how she wished he would look at her for what seemed like forever.

She’d heard her aunts use the words cherished and adored when referring to how their husbands made them feel, and now she knew what they meant.

This was what it was like to be the sole focus of someone you were in love with.

She just hoped that in the morning, he wouldn’t have any regrets.

Doug dipped his head, taking her breast into his mouth again and teasing the nipple as his fingers parted her labia and one slid inside.

She was slick, making it easy for him. His touch ramped up her desire, and she licked and nibbled on his shoulder as her hands roamed across his body wherever they could reach.

She inhaled sharply, then moaned when he added a second finger to the first and bit down lightly on her nipple. Sex with Cole had never been this good, and they were just getting started. Her body was already on a trek toward utopia, climbing higher and higher, in search of the ultimate reward.