Page 79 of Wed to You

Chapter Fourteen

Chelsea’s musclesfelt like noodles. Her thighs burned from riding him so hard, so fast. Her lungs burned with the effort to pull in oxygen. But, great day, did she feel good. She’d always known Jagger would satisfy her, but she hadn’t imagined how intense it would be.

She started to roll off him.

“Where you going?” His eyes were closed as his breath continued to come in sharp gasps.

“I’m lying on your lungs. It makes it harder to breathe.”

“I don’t need to breathe.” His arm wrapped around her back, holding her in place. One blue eye peeked open. “I feel like I ran a marathon.”

“Me too.” She wanted to ask him if he’d ever felt like that with any other women, but held her tongue. She didn’t want to reveal her insecurity. Plus, he was sensitive about his past.

She shifted just enough that she could look down and see the colorful phoenix emblazed on his side. She ran her fingers over the wings. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks.”

“How long have you had it?”

He took in a deep breath, but she couldn’t be sure whether it was part of the aftermath of sex or he didn’t want to talk about his tattoo. “About eighteen months.”

She thought back to where he might have been at that time. He’d only been in Charlotte Tavern for a year, but she knew he’d moved there after his had grandfather died and he’d become Kaden’s guardian. He’d changed his life completely. Earlier in the night, he’d gotten angry at her for continuing to think of him as playboy Jagger. His words came back to her. “I’m not that man anymore.”

She lifted her gaze from where she traced the fire from which the phoenix was rising. “You’re a new man. The phoenix is a symbol of rebirth.”

He shrugged and again she was left wondering why he seemed hesitant to talk about it. He sighed. “You’re going to find this hard to believe since my past was about partying, but I’ve always towed the Talbot line. I did what I was told, and lived the wild lifestyle of the other men in my family. Then I walked away from that. It makes my father nuts.”

“You’re such a rebel.”

His lips twitched upward. “Yes, moving to a sleepy Southern town to play father to a five year old is rebellious.”

“In your case it is.”

“The tattoo I did on a whim. A symbol of leaving that life for a new one. Or maybe it was my last hurrah. I drank a little too much that night. What about you? What have you done that was rebellious?”

She was going to say marrying him was her big rebellion, but was afraid he might misinterpret her. “I just had sex on a dining table.”

He grinned. “Did you like it?”

“It wasn’t bad.”

He growled. “Wasn’t bad?” He grabbed her and rolled until she was underneath him. “I have some work to do then.” He ran his stubbled cheek along her collarbone. “I think you said you like my stubble on your skin.”

Chelsea’s heart rate shot up at his devilish tone.

“I wonder if you’d like it along here.” He dragged his cheek lower and lower.

“Great day,” she gasped.

“It’s gonna be.” He moved down her abdomen. “Open for me, Chelsea.”

She did. And it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was deliciously, mind-blowingly perfect.

Chelsea studiedherself in the bathroom mirror. As morning afters went, this one was a doozy. Her hips were sore and she had love marks on her collarbone and inner thighs. Little red splotches marked her skin where he used his stubble to arouse her. She lifted her gaze to her face and couldn’t stop a nervous laugh from escaping. She was shamelessly naughty herself, wondering if Jagger had love bites from her.

“Chels? You okay in there?”

“Yes.” She re-tied her robe then reached over to open the door. As he came in, she picked up her brush to wrangle her mess of waves into order.

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