Page 13 of Savage Temptation (Savage Reign #2)

EMILIA

L ess than fifteen minutes later I step out of Jagger’s office shower feeling human again. He left me to wash, but it wasn’t easy to get him out of the door.

I towel off and do the best I can for my hair. I step out of the bathroom to find Jagger left a set of freshly laundered clothes on the edge of his desk. I rifle through to find gray sweatpants, a white T-shirt and a pair of socks.

I slip the T-shirt on and leave the other items for later, padding barefoot to the front of the lounge. I find Jagger sitting at a table close to the stage, a bourbon bottle open and two glasses in front of him. His glass is already halfway empty.

“Hi, handsome.” I take the glass from his hand and slip over his lap. He easily takes my weight and wraps his free arm around my waist.

“Hey, beautiful. Feel better?” His voice is rough, and it moves over my senses much like his callused fingers do to my body. With the same effect, too. Both make me want to fall into his love and never come up for air.

The bourbon burns across my tongue, sweet as caramel and sharp as old secrets, leaving a smoky warmth that settles deep in my chest.

He rests his palms on my bare thighs and his grin turns wicked when he realizes I don’t have anything underneath my borrowed shirt.

I scoot off his lap, batting his teasing fingers away. “Behave, lover boy.” While I showered, he’s turned on a few more lights over the back of the bar and a couple on the opposite side near the stage. Perfect.

“I spent a lot of nights on that stage playing that piano. I sang my heart out for the crowds that packed this place every single weekend. I was on top of the world back then.”

I walk toward the stage.

“And now?”

There’s that smokey, rough voice again.

I slip a look back at Jagger.

“Right now, I feel like I own it. I have you. You could have easily turned me away, but you didn’t. You are all I need in this world.”

Jagger pushes to his feet and walks slowly to me. He dips his head and presses kisses down the slope of my neck. “I told you the love I have for you is endless. It’s buried deep within my soul and no one will ever take that away from you or me.”

I pull his words into me and let them take root. I slowly turn in Jagger’s arms and press a slow, languid kiss over his lips. “Have a seat. I have something for you.”

Storm

T his is fucking heaven. I’ve missed this woman for years. I searched everywhere for her and when there was nowhere else to look, I had no choice but to stop.

I stopped living, loving and merely existed. I didn’t truly take a deep breath again until tonight when this lovely creature burst back into my life wide-eyed and trouble on her heels.

Somehow she found her way back to me and I will do anything to keep her at my side.

It’s fucking wild she was in my city for three damn weeks and I never knew it.

This Oliver asshole has balls of steel and no understanding of how love works.

I can only assume he thinks I forgot about the girl who ran away.

Never.

My eyes roam over smooth curves as Emilia walks to the stage. There’s not a more beautiful woman in this fucking world, wet hair and all.

“This song is for you, my love. I didn’t know if I would ever get a chance to sing this for you. Now I can.” She settles her weight on the piano bench and those delicate fingers I’ve kissed one hundred times caress over the bone-white keys.

Emilia’s sweet dulcet voice carries over the empty lounge and steals all other thoughts from me.

It’s just her and me. No patrons. No past to think about. Nothing I need to protect her from. At least, not in this single, precious moment.

I lean back, letting the bourbon bite my tongue, but the heat in my chest isn’t from the whiskey.

It’s her. Her voice. Her story, the forgiveness laced through every note. I soak up every damn sound, let it wind around my heart like barbed wire and silk. Both cut me open, but both keep me tethered to this moment, too.

Her voice shivers, softly at first, then gains strength. I hear the ache in every word, the hope, and the apology wrapped in longing.

She looks at me, into the core of my being, and there are tears shining in her eyes, glimmering even from across the room.

That old ache stirs in my chest, the kind that comes from loving someone you thought you’d lost for good.

Her lips tremble, but she doesn’t falter.

Her words are laced with all the hopes of a second chance this world rarely gives.

She’s wearing my clean white T-shirt. It hangs softly on her curves, sleeves loose where her arms are too small for the fabric.

It’s a fucking brand on her now, a warning to any bastard out there who dares to hurt her again.

I’d paint the walls red for her. Leave bodies in my wake before I ever let anyone lay a hand on her.

Her voice soars for the last chorus, throaty and pure. It took courage to walk up there and show me the depth of her true emotions. My hands stilled from the powerful sight.

I set the bourbon down quietly. Its taste is nothing compared to the fire she puts inside me.

I cross the space between us slow, steady, boots echoing on the lounge’s wooden floor.

Her voice trembles for the last line, and the way she looks at me when I come to stand at her side will forever haunt my dreams. I know it’s just the two of us on this earth.

Her and me. The Savages could fade from my life, but from this moment forward it will always be Emilia and me.

She tenderly finishes and the final chord lingers between us.

As the sweet sound fades, I reach for her.

I place strong hands around her waist as I pull her up from the bench.

She gasps, laughing through her tears as I lift her and gently set her down on the closed lid of the grand piano where she belongs, which is at the center of the music and the heart of my world.

I claim her lips, all fierce longing and trembling relief, pouring every ounce of love and regret and devotion I’ve got left into her.

She’s the only thing I want, the only thing I dream about, the only thing I’d kill for.

Her hands twine in my hair and she melts against my mouth, I know she’s right here, finally.

I slowly press a hand on her chest and watch as she lies back. All that beautiful auburn hair spills over the dark, glossy wood.

I take the hem of her shirt and slowly push it up the length of her abdomen, to reveal the most beautiful sight in my world.

“Emilia.” I step between her legs, wedging them apart gently.

She gasps softly and takes yet another piece of my soul. She has no idea just how deeply I love her.

Pressing my open palms over her trembling waist, I lean in and kiss the inside of her thigh.

She’s always been beautiful. Always, but the last five years have made her even more so.

It’s not a point that crosses my radar a lot, but the years between our ages isn’t something to shrug a shoulder at.

Fifteen years is a lot to many people, but she doesn’t seem to notice my rugged features and creases.

I press another kiss over the inside of her other thigh and get the same sexy gasp. Fingers stream through my hair.

I run the tip of my tongue over her seam and get a gasp of approval next. The sweetness of her arousal is fucking crack to my senses.

“Jagger.” Her moan is throaty and grips me by the balls.

“Who do you belong to, baby?”

I spread her open until I can see the pretty pink nub tucked between her folds. My lips trail over her slickness as I slip a hand under her knee. I bring her leg up and spread her wider so I can greedily take more of her.

“Yours, Jagger.”

She arches and writhes over the piano as I bite, lick, and tease her flesh all in that order.

“Show me all of you, beautiful. Pull that shirt up and show me everything I own.”

Fuck me. I haven’t forgotten a single detail about my woman.

I know how much she loves me to lick her slow at first and tease her into submission.

My cock is rock hard, but I want to take my time and give her all the pleasure we’ve missed out on over the years. We have all the time in the world now.

“Tell me again, baby.”

“Yours, Jagger. I’m yours and only yours. It’s always been that way.”

Fire blazes through my veins. Something primal rears up and roars inside of me.

My lips are slick with her taste, but it’s never enough.

It’s been years since I touched her like this, and still, my body remembers every desperate plea and shattered gasp she ever gave me.

Jesus Christ, save me from myself. I love her sweetness and now that I’ve had another taste, I’m addicted again.

I drag my tongue through her seam, draw circles, claim her and coax out more of those broken little sounds that are meant for my ears alone.

She trembles, her whole body shuddering beneath my hands on the piano lid.

Soft light glows off her bare skin, highlighting the rise and fall of her chest, the delicate tremor of muscle under my palms. She’s trying to stay quiet, biting her lip, but I want the entire world to hear the way she breaks so sweetly for me.

“Look at me,” I order softly, my voice rough with heat and reverence. Her eyes flutter open, all glassy emeralds, pupils blown wide with need and forgiveness. She’s my whole fucking world, right here, legs hooked over my shoulders and hair fanned out like a red halo.

“Mine.”

I nuzzle against her center, greedier now. My name on her lips is a sin. The music of her pleasure fills the empty lounge, blending with the thundering in my chest. “You feel so damn good,” I murmur, “So fucking perfect. My good girl.”

“All yours.”

I tongue her clit faster and harder, getting the gasp from her that makes my cock harder.

“Take the shirt off. I want to see all of you.”

She claws at the shirt, obeying me, baring her breasts as she arches up in offering.

I don’t hesitate taking what belongs to me.

I catch a perfect nipple between my teeth, drawing it slow and rolling my tongue over the tip, savoring the way she gasps and bucks.

My hands trail greedily up her sides, memorizing every curve all over again, letting my callused fingers leave red imprints on creamy skin.

When I finally can’t take any more, I pop the button of my jeans, hissing as I free my swollen shaft.

I wrap my fingers around my throbbing cock, aching for her.

I spread her open and groan at the sight of her tight opening spread over the head of my cock.

I push in one delicious inch at a time and love how her channel grips me tightly.

She tenses, her lips parting, cheeks stained pink with the same longing that is deep inside me. I know because we are tethered together. Now and forever.

“Ready for all of me, baby?” My voice is a rough whisper and a growl at the same time.

“Yes, Jagger. Please,” she begs, and it’s like coming home again.

I push in slowly, her heat and slickness enveloping me, stealing the last scraps of my self-control. I grab her wrists and pull her to me, taking all of her weight into my arms. She wraps her legs around my middle and I help her ride me slow and steady.

I bite out a groan, pressing my forehead to hers, noses brushing. She wraps her arms around my neck, clutching me close as if she can anchor us both through any storm we face here on out.

We move in unison, bodies finding a rhythm older than any grief we have suffered and sweeter than music.

Every thrust is a prayer, every gasp she gives me is a sweet promise that we will never part again.

The world could burn down around us and I wouldn’t notice, not with her locked around me, whispering my name, running her hands down my back, urging me faster, deeper, harder.

I give my woman what she needs.

Her pussy tightens around my cock. “Come for me, baby. Let me feel your pleasure.”

I grip her ass, my fingers digging into her soft flesh. I stare at her in amazement as her head falls back and her mouth opens. A scream of pleasure rips from her and hot juices spill over my cock.

I watch her fall apart for me, her body shuddering, knees clamping tight around my waist as pleasure wracks through her.

“That’s it, baby. That’s my girl,” I whisper, undone by the raw beauty of her surrender.

I chase her over that edge, following her into my own climax, letting go, spilling into her with a growl ripped straight from my soul.

My head falls back from the intense pleasure coursing through me. I possess her. And I know for damn sure we are both tempting fate with the possibility of her getting pregnant. Neither of us cared to use protection and I can only hope and pray she tells me in a few weeks we are expecting.

She screams and gasps, riding out her release. There will never be a day that I look at this piano and see anything other than her beauty and think about this night.

I hold her to me, cradling her in my arms, lips brushing her temple as we both float back down. I walk us to the back of the lounge for a second warm shower. I lower her slowly and hold her until she has her balance before turning on warm water.

No words are needed. We touch and kiss as I wash her. Afterward, I dry her off with a fresh towel from the stash I keep here for the all nighters I pull.

I tip her chin up and press my lips to hers. “I love you.” My words are soft, but true. She threads her fingers through my hair, kisses my forehead, and for the first time in years, I believe in soulmates. In second chances. In us.