Page 43

Chapter

Twenty-Two

She loved him.

She loved him .

Alannah loved him.

Jake couldn’t quite believe that it could be true.

That voice in the back of his mind kept reminding him that Alannah would be dead right now if it wasn't for her own quick thinking. Although she didn't seem to see it the same way.

Maybe if she could see past it, he could learn to as well.

The hands he clutched like a lifeline—because that was exactly what they felt like to him—trembled slightly, and Jake realized Alannah was looking at him with something close to panic in her eyes. Fear and regret as well.

It was then that he realized he hadn't said the words back.

Instead, he’d just been sitting there staring at her like she’d suddenly grown two heads.

To him that was because she was so impossibly amazing, he could hardly believe that he was lucky enough to have been blessed with having her in his life, but Alannah was no doubt convincing herself that he didn't feel the same way.

Leaning in, he crushed his lips to hers. His hands moved, one to cup the back of her neck so he could ravish her mouth, and his other curled around her back, tugging her toward the edge of the couch so she was balanced half on it and half against him.

When he finally pulled back to take a gulp of air, he found Alannah’s golden-brown eyes searching his.

“Jake?”

That she didn't trust him hurt a little, but he had no one to blame but himself. If he hadn't panicked and fled the hospital that afternoon, so afraid of failing her and losing her that he’d almost lost her anyway, then she wouldn't have a single doubt about him.

“I love you too, sunshine,” he said the words he knew she needed to hear, and that maybe he needed to as well.

While he knew his dad had loved him and Jax, he never said the words to them, and as two little boys who had lost their mom, they’d needed that from him.

The relatives who had cared for them when his dad was away hadn't loved him, if they had, they wouldn't have made him and Jax feel like burdens.

His stepbrothers and Cassandra loved him, but it wasn't like they went around saying those words to each other, they all just knew that they were family.

Hearing those heavenly words fall from the lips of the woman who was the center of his world was an almost magical experience.

“You do? You're sure?” she asked, tentative hope lighting her eyes.

At least he’d had a mom for the first six years of his life who never missed an opportunity to tell him and his brother how much she loved them, so while it had been a long time since someone had said it to him, for Alannah this was all brand new.

Her parents had never told her they loved her because they didn't. And the men she’d dated over the years, desperate to find someone who could love her the way she deserved hadn't loved her even if they might have said the words.

Right here and now, Jake vowed that never again would Alannah doubt that she was worthy of love.

Framing her face with his hands, he held it still, so she had no choice but to meet his gaze and read the sincerity in his eyes.

“Twenty-eight years ago, I found you crying in your backyard and I made you a promise. I promised that no one would ever hurt you again. I know you told me I haven’t, but I can't help but feel I’ve failed in that vow.

I won't fail in the one I'm making to you today.

I love you, Alannah Johansen, more than I thought I was capable of loving another person.

I'm not the easiest guy to get along with, and yet you never seem to mind.

You accept me, faults and all, and I can't imagine not having you in my life.”

Tears trickled down her cheeks, but since she was smiling, he assumed they were happy tears. Catching them with the pads of his thumbs, he leaned in and held his lips a millimeter from hers.

“Never again will you doubt your worth. You're everything anyone could ever want and you're mine. If you don’t want forever, sunshine, then now is the time to back out.” Just because he’d panicked earlier didn't mean he wasn't one hundred percent ready to commit to a future.

“Forever?” Her voice wavered, but her smile grew bigger.

“I think it was written in stone from that first moment, we just had to work through our personal issues enough to see it.”

“Forever,” she said again, and this time she closed the small distance between them and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I want forever, too.”

Warmth rushed through his system knowing that they wanted the same thing, that they had the same goals, hopes, and dreams. That didn't mean everything would be easy, Alannah had a lot of trauma she was going to have to work through, but they’d do it together. As a team.

“So what did you have planned for tonight?” he asked, as much as he’d love to ravish her delectable body, if she was too tired, he’d be content to just curl up at her side and hold her while she slept.

“Shower, food, bed.”

“Hmm, as long as you’re willing to be flexible on the meal, I think we can make that happen.” Nipping lightly at her bottom lip, he scooped her into his arms and stood, heading for the bedroom.

Alannah giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “How flexible do I have to be?”

“Flexible enough to let me feast on you,” he said, trailing a line of kisses from her temple, down her cheek to her jaw.

A shiver rocketed through her and desire darkened her golden eyes. “Do I get to feast on you, too?”

A groan tumbled from his lips as it felt like every drop of blood in his body congregated in one particular appendage. “If you want to, baby girl.”

“I want to.” The tip of her tongue darted out and ran along her bottom lip, making him groan again.

In the master bathroom, Jake set her on her feet.

“Strip,” he ordered as he leaned into her walk-in shower to turn on the water and get it heating.

Any other time, he’d love nothing more than to take his time and tease her as he stripped her out of her clothes, but today he just needed to have her shaking in his arms as wave after wave of pleasure cascaded through her system.

By the time he’d removed his own clothes, Alannah was standing before him, gloriously naked.

There were bruises still marring her skin, and the gash on her back from the explosion was an angry red color, even though it looked clean and not infected.

But despite all of that, she looked perfect, and she was his.

“Mine,” he murmured as he backed her into the shower.

“Yours,” she readily agreed.

Nodding his approval, he positioned her under the warm spray and grabbed a bottle of her shampoo.

Pouring a generous amount into the palm of his hand, he set the bottle down on the shelf and proceeded to wash her hair.

He took his time, massaging her scalp, then working the soap down her long locks.

“Close your eyes, baby girl,” he ordered as he shifted her slightly so he could rinse out the shampoo.

When the suds were all gone, he grabbed the conditioner and again squeezed a generous amount onto his palm. Making sure he got every single strand of hair coated, he then worked the comb through the tangles until it could move smoothly without catching on any knots.

Again, he rinsed her hair, and the smile she gave him, the warmth and appreciation in it, the love, had his heart swelling in his chest. Taking care of his girl felt wonderful, even if it was only in small ways.

Loofah and body wash were next, and Alannah stood there and let him work his way down her body, starting with her arms and shoulders, and finishing with him sitting on the tiles before her as he washed each dainty little toe.

With his girl fresh and clean and taken care of, it was time for feasting.

Curling his fingers into the soft globes of her backside, Jake pulled her closer. Nudging her feet apart, he spread her legs and settled his between them, leaving her spread open and ready for him.

“Hands on my shoulders,” he ordered.

When her small hands settled on his shoulders, he dragged his tongue along her center, savoring the taste. Teasing her entrance he then closed his lips around her bundle of nerves and sucked hard.

Alannah gasped, her hands tightening their grip on him, and he hummed his approval, making her hips thrust against his mouth.

“Uh-uh, baby girl, I'm in charge here,” he warned. “You’ll come when I'm ready for you to come, and you’ll come as many times as I want you to. Understand?”

Giving a shaky nod, her eyes dark with arousal, she stood still and he leaned in again, taking a deep breath and inhaling her scent.

Then he was on her, licking, nipping, and sucking, alternating between thrusting his tongue inside her and lavishing attention on her bud until she was writhing in his hold, pleas falling from her lips.

“Now, sunshine,” he ordered, then scraped his teeth lightly across her bundle of nerves and she fell apart.

It was only his grip on her hips that kept her standing, and she was leaning heavily against his shoulders as she rode out the wave of pleasure. As soon as he could feel her coming down from her high, he started up all over again.

“Jake, I can't,” she said, trying to pull away from him.

“What did I tell you?” he asked, swatting at her backside.

“Th-that you're in ch-charge here,” she stammered, subconsciously rocking her hips closer to his mouth, seeking more of his touch.

“That’s right, baby girl.” Smoothing his hand over the cheek he’d just tapped, he gripped her hips once again and buried his mouth between her legs.

Suckling on her bud had her coming apart again, her cries filling the steamy shower, and making him impossibly hard.

But it wasn't enough.

“One more,” he told her, and again her hips rocked toward him even as she shook her head. “One more,” he repeated, then his tongue was thrusting into her at an almost frantic pace as he shifted his hold on her hips so he could take her bundle of nerves between his thumbs.