Page 117 of The Souls We Claim

So I don’t confuse them with gripping me.

“Jesus,” I mutter as Ari looks up at me. Tears run down her cheeks.

I should have promised to never make her cry again, but I can’t help but revel in the gift my girl is giving me right now.

In the quiet, this might be one of the most intimate moments between the two of us. Then I think of the night she bathed me, when she made the experience just about my needs.

Finding someone to love for the rest of your life is a one-in-a-million endeavor. And yet my forever is kneeling right in front of me in the midst of danger, making sure I’m okay.

I’m not sure I could love anyone harder than I do Ari in this moment.

I allow myself to forget what is happening outside the front door and slip deep into this moment. Sensations coalesce with feelings of loving and being loved.

The warmth of her mouth, the tenderness of her tongue, eases and excites me in a way I find difficult to put into words. I have a momentary flicker of frustration when I feel my orgasm build, wanting this moment to last forever.

“I’m gonna come, Ari.” My words are raw. “You need to move if you don’t want me to send it down your throat.”

But she doesn’t move. Just looks up at me with those wide fucking eyes of hers.

“Ari. Fuck,” I cry out on a bark, coming hard down her throat.

It feels so fucking good, I forget why we’re here.

Shit, I can barely remember my own name as she swallows everything I give her, then begins to lick me down gently.

When my cock lies in an exhausted heap, I lift her into my lap and kiss her. I taste myself on her lips, and it’s hot as fuck.

“Normally last longer, but that throat of yours sucked the cum out of me, I swear,” I admit.

“Close your eyes for a minute. I’ll watch your phone. If you get a message from Switch or Bates, I’ll wake you.”

I shake my head. “I need to be alert if they message.”

“Okay.” Ari climbs off my lap and walks behind the sofa. “You check your messages and do whatever you have to do, and I’ll do this.”

I’m just opening my messages when Ari’s fingers dig into the tense muscles beneath my T-shirt. Holding my weapon all day, the tension that comes with that, makes my shoulders ache, and her hands soothe.

“Fuck that feels good.” My phone sits in my palm, but I don’t look at it. I simply let my head hang forward so Ari can get her fingers right into the areas where I am stiffest.

And she’s still massaging me when I fall fast asleep.

35

ARIANNE

Jax starts with a soft snore, then eases back into sleep.

It’s been an hour since he dozed off. Thirty minutes since I finished massaging all the tight knots out of his shoulders.

I’m no masseuse, but I know enough to give him some relief.

I’ve also checked his phone.

Jax might be mad when he wakes, but I didn’t wake him when the first of two messages came in from King. It simply said Vex had found a foster sister who lived in Hackensack, New Jersey, a little over an hour from Asbury Park.

The second one I look at now.

Niro and Cat know what to do.