Page 46 of The Hardest Part

“Doubt it.” Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, she angled her head to look up at him. “I see you, Kellan Brooks, and I know you’re not an asshole. You’re just scared. Arien loves you,so maybe take your own advice. You can trust that she won’t hurt you. Let her in.”

“I’m tryin’.”

“I know.” Emily turned on the ignition. “Nothin’ worth havin’ comes easy, right?”

“Right.” He sent her off with a knock on the Mustang’s hood. “Happy birthday, Ems.”

The gentle breeze blowing through the trees almost felt too warm. It lifted the ends of her hair, its sweet floral scent perfuming the air as he kissed her. Jake grasped the back of Emily’s thighs, and urging her legs to straddle his waist, he carried her around the corner of the barn. He didn’t need an audience. Hidden from the fire’s light and prying eyes, here in the shadows, he held her against the decaying clapboard, burning to know the feel of her skin beneath his fingers.

A low, sweet sound, the coo of a dove, flowed from Emily’s lips. She pulled on his hair, tethering herself to him, as her legs slipped from his hips. Jake wedged his knee between her thighs to catch her. Damp silk on worn denim.

He kissed his way along her jaw and down her neck, licking the salt from her pulse as he eased the straps from her shoulders. Soft, pliant flesh, embellished by lace, molded to fit in his palm. Jake squeezed, and pushing the offending fabric away, caressed her nipple with his thumb.

With a breathy gasp upon his cheek, she squeaked.

Her fingers gripping the hair at his nape, Emily pressed her weight against his leg that held her. His lips on her skin, he smiled, and dipping his head, Jake took that nipple in hismouth. One hand splayed on her back, the other at her breast, he suckled. He licked, and laved, and sucked, and nipped, while soft coos became whimpers and she rocked herself on his knee, seeking friction.

“You okay, Billy?” It was Arien’s voice, wafting outside, through slats of thin, worn wood.

Fuck.

His brother. Her cousins. Their friends. They were all in there, mere inches separating them, on the other side of the wall.

Still, no one knew they were out here.

Kneading the fleshy pillow of her breast, Jake sucked on her nipple harder.

“Yeah, babes. This too shall pass, right?”

She moaned. Or perhaps groaned. Was there anguish in the sound he heard?

Maybe not.

Because Emily kept on rocking and panting, her fingers holding onto his hair. He hadn’t learned her body yet, the noises she made, or all her tells.

Oh, but I’m going to, dammit.

And he’d learn it well.

Jake would come to know her better than she knew herself.

“One year…”

He focused on Emily, encouraging her to come while tuning out the voices. Her arousal seeped through his jeans. His saliva saturated the lace, her nipple swollen beneath his tongue.

“Jake.” His name spilling from her throat, she sagged, weightless, against his chest.

He held her head on his shoulder, and listening to her breathe, placed a soft kiss on her lips.

“A man who can’t be with the woman he loves is missing a piece of his soul, Arien. I feel like I’m dyin’.”

Her breath catching, Emily stiffened in his arms. “Billy?”

Somewhere in the distance, lightning rolled across the sky. Woodsmoke mingled with the smell of a coming storm.

Jake just held her tighter.

And she raised her head, a tear sliding down her cheek.

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