Page 19

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

ANNALISE

J aden is quiet on the ride back to his place, and I can’t blame him. I’ve been sending him mixed signals all month. On top of the entire let’s make out for the cameras charade that—let’s be real—isn’t much of a charade at all, I’ve made it clear that I don’t want this thing between us progressing to anything more physical.

Nothing has changed on my end. I don’t want a relationship. More than that, I don’t want Jaden to fall for me because I genuinely care for him and wouldn’t want to hurt him. Yet something about tonight being my last night here has me wanting things I know I shouldn’t.

The house is quiet with Max still celebrating at the bar. He’s responsible for making sure Miranda gets back safely. I’m not sure who is going to miss Michigan more, Miranda or me. She’s grown to love the guys on the team and gets along so well with all of them. I love hanging out with them too, although there’s no question that I’ll miss Jaden the most.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Jaden asks.

“A water is fine, thanks.”

He disappears into the kitchen, and I make my way around the living room, taking it all in. I’ve only been here once and want to remember all the details. I have to admit that for a bachelor pad, Max and Jaden keep a nice home. Everything is clean and nicely decorated. There are framed photos of the team on the walls, the biggest one from their Stanley Cup win last season. If there was ever a photograph that emitted pure joy, it’s that one.

“Here you go.” Jaden hands me a bottle of water.

I point at the championship photo. “I love this one.”

He looks at it, and a contented smile crosses his face. “Yeah, that was the best day.”

“Do you think you’ll get a repeat?”

“I don’t know. We’re sure as hell going to try, and we’ve been playing really good so far this season. But repeats aren’t common. So much can happen in a season. It requires lots of talent, a shit ton of luck, and maybe some divine intervention to win it all.” He smiles and then turns to me, his face going serious. “Anna, what are we doing here?”

I set the bottle of water on the table beside me and wrap my arms around Jaden’s middle. Hugging him, I rest my cheek against his strong chest. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I just wanted to spend my last night here with you.”

“Yeah? In what way?”

I tilt my head up and hold his stare. “Maybe something memorable… to, you know, bookend this amazing month we’ve had.”

“Something memorable?” He raises a brow.

I nod.

“There’s a lot we can do that’d be memorable, Anna. Give me some parameters.”

“I don’t know.” I lie because I definitely know, but I am suddenly too scared to say the words aloud.

He dips his chin. “Okay. Well, tell me this. Did you want to do something memorable with or without clothing on?”

I swallow. “Without.”

The corners of his mouth tilt up into a satisfied grin. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”

“Just for fun, though,” I say. “Nothing for me has changed.”

“I like fun.” He takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilts my face up. Cradling my jaw, he draws his lips to mine, and I release a sigh. Add Jaden’s kisses to the very long list of things I’m going to miss about this place.

The kiss starts out soft. Our lips move against one another in a reverent melody. There’s so much emotion, and it’s hard to process, but it steals my breath with want. He moves one hand around the back of my neck, threading his fingers through my hair, and pulls my mouth closer to his. Sliding his tongue into my mouth, he deepens the kiss—and, oh my lord, how I love when he does it. Kissing has always been a precursor to pleasure, but Jaden’s kisses could be the main event. I moan into his mouth as the cadence of our tongues increase, and I feel desire pulse between my legs.

It might be a mistake, but I want him, just for tonight, and I can’t pretend I don’t.

He circles his arms around my back and lifts me. I wrap my legs around his middle. Our mouths stay connected as he moves us toward his bedroom.

My need grows with an intense urgency as his lips continue to move against mine, sending me spiraling into a haze of lust and desire. He shuts his bedroom door and pushes my back up against the wood. With my hands laced around his neck, I pull his face closer to mine, groaning into his mouth.

Dropping my feet, I pull away and make quick work of removing my clothes while Jaden does the same. His chest and forearms are a tapestry of beautiful art, and I’m dying to ask him about every piece of it. I open my mouth to do just that when he drops his final piece of clothing to the floor, leaving him bare before me, and my words get lost in my throat.

Jaden is a handsome man, for sure. But without clothes, he is a work of art—tall with lean, sculpted muscles. His impressive length stands erect, and my insides melt with lust.

His brown-eyed gaze, all lusty and primal, roams over my naked body. “You sure you want this?” His voice is all low and gravelly.

In response, I drop to my knees, take the base of his cock in my hands and wrap my mouth around him.

“Fuuck, Anna.” He slides his hands over my scalp, fisting my hair as I take him deeper, his tip hitting the back of my throat.

The erotic sounds coming from Jaden and the way he’s moving his hips to fuck my mouth have me vibrating with need. Removing one of my hands from his base, I slide a hand down my torso and between my legs, needing to relieve some of the pressure.

“Oh, hell no.” He pushes away from me and removes my hand. “The only one making you feel good tonight is me.” His voice drops an octave, making him all hoarse—his words a tantalizing promise.

He leads me toward the bed, and when the backs of my legs hit the mattress, he guides me onto it. Legs hanging over the side of the bed, he grasps my knees and opens my legs wide. I prop myself up on my elbows and take in the scene below.

“I have dreamed of this moment more times than I can count.” Now it’s his turn to fall to his knees.

My skin practically vibrates as he kisses up my leg and over my inner thigh. He stops where I want him most. Taking two fingers, he opens me wide for him. The expression he wears as his eyes drink me in, admiring me as if I’m the most exquisite thing he’s ever seen is seared into my mind. My breaths come out in pants, jagged raw breaths as the anticipation of his touch builds.

He inserts one finger and then two—moving them in and out of me. My mouth falls open as a moan of pleasure escapes, and I drop to the bed, my quivering limbs unable to keep me up. My skin flushes, burning with a fiery need, and I release a pained whimper as his mouth circles my bundle of nerves. He starts flicking his tongue in rhythmic movements, and I lose control. My body is engulfed in an inferno of fiery pleasure as it shudders in release. I quiver and cry out as his tongue worships me through one of the most intense orgasms of my life. Put it off to the fact that we’ve had a month of foreplay, the reality that I’ve been depriving my body of this type of pleasure for far too long, or that Jaden Lewis’s mouth is magical, but I’ve never come so hard.

“Oh my God,” I cry as I come down from the high.

My eyes clamped shut as I soak in the aftershocks of pleasure. I hear a condom wrapper in the fuzzy distance. Jaden lifts me, positioning me farther back on the bed. His strong frame hovers over me as his lips find mine. He kisses me senseless, and then his lips are gone. “Anna baby, I’m going to need you to open those eyes.”

I do as instructed.

Jaden has positioned himself between my legs. He pushes my knees to the side, leaving me open to him. He regards me with an intensity that penetrates straight to my core. “Keep your eyes on me. I want to see you when I fuck you.” He positions himself at my entrance and slides in.

Our mouths fall open in unison, and we release a collective moan. He fills me so deeply and fully, and it feels so good. Hands pressed on my thighs, keeping me spread wide, he increases his cadence. Each thrust hits deeper and deeper. My heartbeat quickens, and my lips part to accommodate faster breaths. I feel an inexplicable pull toward him as I’m consumed with the greatest pleasure I’ve known. In the recesses of my mind, whispers of the truth warn me that one time with Jaden will never be enough.

“You. Are. So. Fucking. Beautiful.” Each word is uttered in staccato as he thrusts into me over and over again. He slides the palms of his hands up my body, burning me with their touch until he reaches my breasts. “Perfection,” he says as he tugs at my nipples.

The familiar warmth builds as I chase my release.

“I’m so close,” I whimper in a half sob.

He pounds into me harder, working me higher and higher. Pressing his forearms into the mattress on both sides of my head, he boxes me in with his arms, his mouth hovering a breath away from mine. In a deliciously low and demanding voice that makes my eyes roll and my toes curl, he orders, “Come for me.”

Pleasure tears through every cell in my body as I convulse in a rippling orgasm. Jaden impales me with a final thrust and groans into the lust-filled space as his body shudders along with mine.

“I fucking knew it.” He gasps for breath as he falls atop me. A cocky grin lights up his face, and he presses his forehead to mine. “I knew we’d be perfect.”