Page 67 of Redemption

“Jackson,” I pleaded. I didn’t know if I wanted him to release me or never let go.

He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He looked ready to pounce, but then he sobered. “You sure this is what you want?”

It wasn’t about what I wanted, but about what I could give. One night. A chance for closure, once and for all.

“Yes.”

He closed his eyes. “Say it again.”

I furrowed my brow. “What?”

He slowly opened his eyes once more. “My name. Say it again.” He kissed the spot behind my ear.

“Jackson,” I said on a sigh.

His eyes were locked on mine, scanning them as if seeking permission. Whatever he saw must have satisfied him, for in the next moment, he brushed his lips against mine. Gentle. Reverent. Tentative.

Even so, it was a claiming. This man dominated me like he always had.

I whimpered at the feel of his hands on me. It was like coming home. It was…everything.

I tugged at his shorts. I didn’t care that we were out in the open. That anyone could’ve seen us if they’d happened to sail by, which I doubted. We were well and truly alone.

He wore a glazed expression. “God, look at you.” He cupped me, bending forward to nip at my breasts through the thin material of my silk tank. I gasped at his touch, at the way he made me feel. In his arms, I came alive.

“You are so fucking incredible,” he rasped, the words sending butterflies skittering through me.

Jackson looked at me as if I was the answer to all his prayers. The object of all his desires. He made me feel wanted, seen, cherished.

My body was on fire from his touch. All rational thought gone.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I want…” I swallowed hard. There were so many things I wanted. “You.”

It was the first time I’d claimed something for myself in years, and it felt good.

He dragged his thumb down my lips. “God, Sloan,” he groaned.

I parted my lips, and he pushed his finger inside my mouth. Filling me. Reminding me of just how good he could make me feel.

I sucked, swirling my tongue around his thumb. Licking the salt from his finger like I wanted to lick the come from his cock. My legs quivered, desire pooling in my core.

He lifted me so my legs were wrapped around his waist. Oh god…his cock. It was hard and insistent, and I wanted him inside me now.

“Fuck, I missed you.” He buried his face in my neck, and a sense of rightness washed over me.

His familiar smell. The comfort of being in his arms. The words he said were exactly what I’d needed to hear.

Closure. I reminded myself. But it was difficult to remember my end goal when he set me down on the bench, his gaze tender as he kneeled before me. His eyes scanning me as if to memorize every freckle, every birthmark, every everything.

He kissed me, savoring me as if I were the most decadent treat. There was no rush. Nothing was hurried about his movements. He was just as lost to this moment as I was.

“Let me taste you,” he said, kissing his way up my legs. He peeled off my silk sleep shorts. Then he wrapped his hands around my thighs, hauling me toward him.

I swallowed hard and pushed away my fears. It had been a long time since I’d had a man go down on me. And none of them had ever compared to Jackson. He was always so…intense. And the filthy words he said, the way…

He pressed a kiss to my inner thigh, his lips soft. My skin was incredibly sensitive to his touch, and I nearly jolted off the bench.

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