Page 113 of Stay with Me

“He’s not going to get near you.” Jax drew back, his eyes meeting mine. “You can trust in that. Neither will Isaiah.”

I wanted to believe that. I almost believed that, because he said it in such a way that it came across as if he could control such things.

He dipped his forehead to mine. “Sucks about dinner.”

My lips twitched and I said hoarsely, “Yeah, I was really looking forward to that steak.”

“There’s always tomorrow. Hell, there’s always next Sunday.”

I closed my eyes, liking the sound of planning that far out. It was only a week, but a week was a lot of time. The next thing just sort of burst out there. “That’s the second time I’ve seen a dead body.”

“Babe ...”

“Not my brothers. Their coffins were closed, and I didn’t ... I didn’t see them bringing them out of the house. But I’ve seen a dead body before.” I paused, drawing in a shaky breath. “A bunch of people were partying with Mom. This guy, I guess he overdosed or something, and everyone else was too messed up to realize it. I’d come into the living room and he was lying facedown, not moving or breathing.”

Jax’s chest rose against mine. “Shit, baby, I don’t know what to say. You should’ve never seen something like that.”

“I don’t want to see any more dead bodies.”

A gap of silence stretched out between us. “It’s not something you ever get used to,” he admitted. “I saw it a lot in the sandbox—the desert. Sometimes it was insurgents, other times it was innocent civilians caught in the crossfire and ...”

“And sometimes it was your friends?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I never forgetanyof their faces.”

I bit down on my lip hard. I totally got what he was saying. There were some things that you could never forget.

There was so much going on in my head. Mack. Mom. Dead bodies with bullet wounds in their forehead. Clyde rubbing his chest, obviously worried and stressed over everything. Glorious steak dinners that never happened. Coming back here. Leaving here. The way Jax had held me this morning with my back pressed against his front.

I didn’t want to think anymore.

Lifting my gaze, I met his. “I don’t want to think.”

Jax didn’t question or comment on this. There was a flare of something hot and heady in his eyes, and then he dipped his mouth to mine, and he kissed me sweetly—the kind of kiss that went beyond the heavy and sensual ones. It meant something, and I seemed to open up to it, really feeling it, believing in it.

And that was pretty damn spectacular.

When the kiss did run hotter, my mouth opened to his and the moment our tongues touched, his hands dropped to my hips. He pulled me against him, and I could feel him pressing against my belly. I remembered this morning, my hand around him, his powerful body shaking with release. Those memories scorched my skin, but it was nothing compared to the kisses he trailed across my jaw, to my ear and below, over my throat. My head tipped back as my fingers delved into his soft hair.

“You’re not going to think,” he told me in between those wicked nips. “Not for one fucking second.”

“Good,” I said.

He chuckled against my throat as his hands slid off my hips and quickly made their way under my dress. I really liked where this was heading, especially when he hooked his fingers under the band of my panties.

They hit the floor in a nanosecond.

“Ready for this?” he asked.

I nodded as I opened my eyes.

He grinned, kissed me quickly, and then gripped my hips. He lifted me right off the floor and placed me on the kitchen counter.

Yep.

My bare ass was on the kitchen counter.

And that was all kinds of inappropriately hot.

---