Page 136 of Stay with Me

“You have a sweet ass.”

Uh.

“I mean, really. Your ass is fucking sweet, babe,” he went on, and my lashes lifted and my brows pinched. “You are one of those women just born with a nice ass. No amount of workouts can create this ass.”

“That’s correct,” I said after a few seconds. “I think it was Big Macs and tacos that created that ass.”

Jax’s deep laugh pulled at the corners of my lips and then I felt his leg moving over mine, followed by his hot and hard length pressed into said sweet ass. “Then don’t ever stop eating those Big Macs and tacos.”

Immediately, I was wet. Totally. I don’t know if it was the feel of him so close to the softest part of me, or the fact he’d just told me to never stop eating Big Macs and tacos. Either way, I was ready.

“I can do that,” I said, voice throaty. “Eating Big Macs and tacos.”

He dropped a kiss on my shoulder as his knee pushed my thighs apart and his hand slid between his body and mine. “We should be getting up soon.”

I might have grunted something to the negative.

His chuckle danced over my shoulder. “It’s almost ten. I have no idea when your friends are coming over.”

“We have time,” I told him when I had no idea if we did or not.

Jax’s hand made it between my legs, and my hips jerked as his fingers brushed across the dampness. “Damn, honey, you’re fucking insatiable. I love it.”

Oh, my heart did a little happy dance at the use of the wordloveeven though it probably meant nothing.

His hand disappeared and I expected him to roll off and grab a condom, but he didn’t move, and after a few seconds I started to feel those whorls again. Pushing myself up on my elbows, I looked over my shoulder at him.

God, only he could look so freaking, ridiculously sexy after getting only a few hours of sleep, with his hair sticking up everywhere and a rough stubble across his jaw. For a moment, I got kind of lost staring at him and then I realized he was staring at my back. For real. Tension crept into my shoulders, and after what felt like a lifetime, his gaze found mine.

And I said what I needed to say. “I don’t like this.”

His expression tightened. “Why, baby?”

I knew from the way he’d asked, the question was genuine, and for some reason, that created that damn ball in my throat. My arms slid out and I rested my cheek back on the pillow. “It’s ugly,” I whispered.

Jax was quiet as he brushed a few strands of my hair back. “Do you know what I see when I see your back?”

“That it kind of looks like the Appalachian Mountains on a map?” I joked, but it fell flat as an iron.

“No, honey.” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to be honest, okay? I’m not going to sit here and tell you that what I see right now is easy to look at.”

Oh God. My heart dropped and I thought I might hurl.

“But it’s not the reasons you think,” he continued, and then I felt it, his hand over the worst part of my back, and my entire body seemed to have a reflexive curl, but I couldn’t go anywhere, because he was practically lying on me. “When I see your back, what I think about is the pain you had to have experienced. I don’t personally know what it feels like, but I had hot shrapnel rip through my skin, and I’m sure that wasn’t even a ball’s hair worth of what you felt. But when the bomb went off in the desert, I saw soldiers—my friends—catch on fire.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, but his words sparked images I didn’t want to see but needed to.

“And I know that there is no amount of pain meds that really dulls these kinds of burns and you lived through that. That’s what I think about when I see them. And I also think about how these fucking scars shaped your life. How they’ve beaten you down when you still are one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen and these scars don’t even touch that. They aren’t anything compared to your smile or your pretty blue eyes or that sweet ass.”

Oh my God.

He wasn’t done. “You know what else I see? A physical reminder of how fucking strong you are, Calla, how fucking brave you are. That’s what I see when I look at your back. A map of how brave you are, your strength and your courage.”

Oh my God.

Tears pricked at my eyes. That ball of emotion was at my throat again, ready to pour forth and flood the earth.

“And that shit isn’t ugly.” His voice dropped to a whisper.

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