Page 24 of James (Big Northwest #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

PHILLIP

“ I MISSED YOU.” James’s mouth moved against his as he flipped the lock on the door, pressing her back against it. “Why didn’t you just share a room with me?”

He rested his forehead against hers, breathing in the scent of her skin. “You wanted me to just announce to your family that we’ve been sleeping in the same bed?” He huffed out a laugh. “I don’t see that going over well considering they paid me to find you.”

“They paid you to look for me.” Her arms looped tighter at his neck. “You’re the one who paid to find me.” Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the dim light as they met his. “You paid a lot to find me. Nathan showed me the itemization of my case.”

Fucking Nathan. He should have known the ass would rat him out.

He should be pissed. Should fire the fucker.

But…

“It was worth every fucking penny.” He ran his nose alongside hers. “How was your first day back in Shadow Pine?”

“I feel like if I tell you you’ll take back what you said about it being worth every penny.” James deflated a little, her hands moving to toy with the open line of his collar. “It’s nice here, I just…”

It was hard to breathe as he waited for her to finish that thought. “You just, what?”

He’d been pacing his room since coming up here. Trying to convince himself he had to leave like he planned. That he’d done what he promised and now it was time to move on. But he couldn’t imagine a way to move on without her.

That’s what ultimately had him planning to go to her room, pulling open his door to find she’d beat him to the punch. And fuck if that didn’t make him even more sure she should stay with him.

“I just don’t know if I want to stay here forever.” She pushed out her lower lip. “Does that make me a bad sister?”

“Sweetheart, you’ve been the best sister any of them could have ever hoped for.” She’d sent them money. Sacrificed so they would be safe. Suffered to protect them from her mistakes.

He gripped her tighter, holding her steady as he backed away from the door. Her legs still at his waist, he walked to the luxurious king-size bed, angling forward to lay her on it. After kicking off his shoes and shucking his jacket, he stretched out beside her, smoothing out the thick waves of her hair with slow sweeps of his fingers as he soaked up her presence. “Do you really think they expect you to stay?”

James frowned. “Everyone else stays.” Her eyes lifted, moving around the well-appointed room. “What if they want me to do something boring like work here? Or at the bakery?”

“I don’t think your sisters would ever want you to do something you didn’t want to do.” He met her eyes, asking a question he was desperate to know the answer to.

While also dreading it.

“What do you want to do, James?”

She chewed her lower lip, pinching the plush bit of flesh between her teeth in a way that shot straight to his groin. It was distracting as fuck, and right now he needed to keep his train of thought firmly on the rails.

Reaching up, he gently pulled her lip free. “Tell me what you want.”

Her brows pinched, expression hesitant as she stared up at him from where her head rested on the pillow. “I’m afraid.”

Hearing her say those words was like a bucket of cold water to the face. He’d worked so hard to show her she should never be scared of anything when she was with him. “What are you afraid of?”

She took a shaky breath. “I’m afraid you won’t want the same thing I do.” The words rushed out, spilling between them.

He’d sworn to protect her. To keep her safe. And he meant it. “Would it help if I told you what I want?”

Her eyes were wide as she nodded.

“I want you to come back to Chicago.” It was easier to admit than he expected, and once it was out, his mouth kept going. “I want you with me. At work. At home. When I travel.” He curved his hand over her hip, pulling her closer. “In my bed at night.”

James toyed with a button on his shirt. “That doesn’t sound terrible.” She barely smiled. “You have a pretty comfortable bed.” Her long fingers flipped the button free. “But you said we needed to keep things from going too far between us.”

“Sweetheart, I think things went too far when you tried to kill me the first time we met.” Phillip smiled, the memory of her straddling his lap and gripping his neck turning his cock to steel in the blink of an eye.

James scoffed, mouth dropping open. “You could have fucking told me that way before now.” She lunged, pushing him to his back as her lean body flipped on top of his, pinning him to the mattress. “We could have been having sex this whole time.”

“I’m sorry for trying to stay focused on keeping you safe instead of fucking you against every available surface.” He was already doing the math. Figuring out how many hours they had and how many rounds he could physically commit to before the sun came up and they had to face her family.

“You should be sorry.” James already had his shirt most of the way unbuttoned and was tugging it from his pants, wrestling the T-shirt under it loose at the same time. “Why are you wearing so many clothes?” She growled, the sound sexy and cute and just a little scary as she dug her fingers into the cotton knit, looking a whole lot like she was about to rip into it.

“No shredding clothes when we’re traveling.” He shifted, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, one hand braced on her back so she stayed steady.

James moved with him, pivoting on her knee in a graceful sweep. “Does that mean I can rip your clothes off when we’re at home?” She sounded so fucking hopeful. Eager to not only shred his wardrobe but to call his place home.

It was more than he could have hoped for.

“Sure.” He managed to get his arms up as she yanked both layers up his chest, barely saving himself from being hanged by the ribbed neckline as she ripped it over his head. “But no ruining any more suits.”

“Any more?” She tossed his shirts to the floor. “I didn’t ruin the last one.” James smoothed her hands down the center of his chest. “That was all you.”

He caught the hem of the deep green hoodie she’d claimed during their tour of the general store, pulling it up and off. “You’re the one who made me take it off.”

“Get used to it.” She peeled away the tank top still covering her upper half. “I see me making you take your clothes off a lot in our future.”

“I won’t complain about that.” He flipped the hooks of her bra free, sucking in a breath as the cups sagged, baring her tits. “Fuck you’re so damn perfect.” He wrapped both arms around her, bringing one of the delicate mounds to his mouth. He tugged it between his lips, flicking the hardening nub with his tongue as James laced her fingers into his hair, pinning him in place as she rocked against him the same way she had that first night.

And that was going to stop.

Tightening his grip, he pushed up from the bed, pulling his mouth off her nipple with a pop before dumping her onto the mattress.

James yelped, a tumble of blonde hair and long limbs as she bounced a little, looking outraged. “What the f?—”

“Calm down, tiger.” He unbuttoned his pants, shucking them down his legs along with his briefs. “I know your tricks. You’re not grinding on my dick to rub a quick one out.”

James narrowed her eyes at him. “I was being helpful. Making your job easier.”

He flipped open his suitcase and pulled out the brand new pack of condoms tucked inside. “I think I’ve proved I don’t need any help.” Ripping open one end, he caught a strip of rubbers as they fell out. Tossing them onto the bed, he crawled over her, gripping the waistband of her leggings and pulling them—and everything under them—down.

“I’m not quite convinced.” James reached between her thighs, giving her clit a taunting little rub. “Maybe you’ve just been lucky.”

“I’m definitely lucky, but that’s got nothing to do with getting you off.” He grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from where it was trying to do his job. “Hands off, greedy girl.”

The air rushed from James’s lungs, her pupils dilating as her lips parted. “You know you’re the only guy who can boss me around without getting a foot to his nuts.”

“That’s because you know it works in your favor when I boss you around.” He gripped her behind the knees, bringing them up and wide.

“That’s a good point.” James’s blue eyes followed him as he settled between her thighs, lowering his mouth to her body. She sucked in a breath, her head falling back as he flicked his tongue against her hardened nub, teasing it with a light touch. “If you’re just going to tease me, I’ll do it myself.” Her hand tried to snake back to her pussy, but he caught it, holding tight as he lifted his mouth from her.

“If you want to do all the work, I’m happy to let you, but it’ll be on my terms.”

He understood her need for control. The reasons she tried to fight him for the upper hand. And he was fine giving her a little of what she wanted.

Holding her wrist with one hand he gripped her thigh with the other, keeping it pinned to the side of his face as he rolled, taking her along until his back was on the mattress and she was kneeling over him, the flushed pink skin of her pussy hovering over his face. “Much better.”

Palming her ass, he dug his fingers into the soft flesh of her cheeks, urging her to put as much of her weight as she wanted on his face. The threat of possible suffocation was part of the appeal of this particular position. Teetering on the edge of death as he raced to make her come had his dick leaking and his balls pulling tight.

And he thought he’d be happy with a calm woman, living an uneventful life. It was fucking ridiculous.

Like the wild woman she was, James rode his face with abandon, working her hips as she rubbed her clit against his tongue, claiming the climax he willingly offered, riding it out until her body went lax, and slumping off to one side. Her chest heaved as she gulped in air, dragging his attention back to her tits.

Crawling up her body, he pulled one brown nipple into his mouth, groaning a little at how the puckered tip felt under his tongue. He’d been fighting what was between them—not well—and giving in left him struggling to decide what to do to her—with her—first.

But like she did with so many things, James was happy to offer direction. “If you don’t get your dick inside me in the next ten seconds, I’m going to throw you across this room.” Her blue eyes sparked as they met his. “And I can totally do it.”

“Fuck.” He surged forward, catching her lips with his in a searing kiss. Barely breaking it, he said, “Don’t say shit like that unless you’re only looking to get two and a half pumps out of me.”

James hooked one leg at his waist and slapped the chain of condoms against his cheek. “That’s twice as many as I was expecting when you groaned while sucking on my tit, so get to it.”

He snatched away the string of foil packs as they came his way a second time, tearing one free as he pushed up to his knees. “You’re a terror.”

James wiggled her brows at him as he rolled the rubber into place. “And it gets your dick hard, so don’t even pretend that was a complaint.”

“Definitely not a complaint.” She was nothing like the woman he’d been trying to shoehorn into his expectations for the future, but damned if she didn’t fit into them perfectly.

James gripped his face with one hand, her hold distorting his mouth as she pulled it to hers. The pinch of her teeth biting into his lower lip shot straight to his dick as it sank into her body.

He gritted his teeth as the feel of her threatened to overwhelm him. Fisting his hands, he pulled back and sank in a second time, eyes rolling back in his head as her body welcomed his. With her scent in his nose, her taste lingering on his tongue, and her nails digging into his skin, it was too fucking much. He was going to lose this fucking race and there was nothing he could do about it.

He made it to four before his balls pulled tight, dick flexing as the end hit him like a sledgehammer, speeding his already uncoordinated movements as he came, blood racing through his veins and spots clouding his vision.

He should have known this was what would happen. Should have seen it coming.

But he wasn’t a fucking quitter and he didn’t back down from a challenge.

And that’s what James was. Would always be.

Hooking one arm at her waist, he lifted her off the bed, rocking back onto his heels, his cock still impaled in her pussy. “Ride me.”

The position put her perfect tits in his face and gave him the ability to accomplish a lot more at one time. It also allowed James to do what she did best.

Grind on his dick.

“You’re still hard.” She breathed the observation out as she started to move, clinging to his shoulders as she chased her own release.

“Not for long, so don’t waste time.” He gripped the cheek of her ass with one hand and worked the other between their bodies, settling his thumb against her clit, trying to find the magic combination that would set her off.

He wanted to feel her come around him. Even if it wasn’t with him.

Proving she was capable of listening to direction on occasion, James rubbed against him. Over him. Onto him. Making the sexiest fucking sounds he’d heard as his mouth moved from one nipple to the other, flicking them with his tongue and teasing them with his teeth as she moved faster and faster.

When her muscles seized, he let out a sigh of relief, thanking every deity in existence as she clenched around his softening cock.

“Holy crap.” James tipped back, toppling to the mattress, her body sliding off his. “That was hot.” She blinked a few times before focusing on him. “I didn’t know guys could keep going after they came.”

“It’s a secret the twats who only care about their own enjoyment guard with their lives.” He slid off the bed, moving toward the bathroom. “But even if our dick runs out of steam, our mouths still work just fine.”

James gave him a dreamy, satisfied smile. “Careful. You keep saying shit like that I might just fall in love with you.”

He shot her a wink before going into the bathroom to dispose of the spent condom, his body humming. Not just from the sex, but from what she’d just said.

Because getting James to fall in love with him was the plan.

Might have always been.