Page 114 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

“Not exactly and you know that.” I don’t know why I tried to reason with him. He was beyond reasoning. I wanted to soothe and comfort him. To remind him we were all safe, but I wasn’t sure how besides tackling him to the floor until he was ready to listen to reason.

“You could’ve died, Jess. What would I have done if you’d died? If things had turned out differently and I didn’t make it on time or Jareth turned out to be an even bigger dick?” He drew in deep painful breaths.

The torment on his face ripped my heart to shreds.

“I know, James. I’m not taking the danger to myself lightly. I was led to believe Lexi was in danger and I could save her. You would’ve done the same thing.” I slowly moved closer to him. With each step I took I watched the wall around him start to crumble. His face softened, and his tense shoulders dipped.

“I couldn’t have lived with myself if you’d gotten hurt.” He let out a ragged breath. “I couldn’t have lived withoutyou. Don’t you understand?” His eyes met mine, pain and despair swirling around the dark orbs.

I reached for him and slid my hands around to his back, stroking my fingers up and down his spine to soothe him. “I do. And you have every right to be mad.”

The old me would have been pissed he was yelling and would have retaliated in kind. But this me, the one that had grown during my time with James, realized this for what it was. He had been worried sick about me and needed the space to express that. And I needed to reassure him that I heard him and that we were okay.

He let out a deep sigh and wrapped his arms around me. “It’s probably futile to ask you to never do that again.”

I smiled. “Probably. It might even be a good idea to show me how to use a gun.”

He grunted.

I decided to take that as a maybe. Shifting in his arms to catch his gaze I asked, “We good?”

“Yeah.” He leaned down to nuzzle my neck, giving a great big inhale as his arms tightened around me.

“So you said something about a shower, big guy?”

He lifted his head, his eyes already darkening in arousal. “I did.”

“I don’t suppose the shower in this place is big enough for two?” I dragged my bottom lip into my mouth.

His eyes followed the movement. “I think it might be.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

He leaned down and cupped my cheeks gently in his hands. When he tilted my head to the side and began to nibble at my lips, they immediately parted, wanting more from him. His mouth moved away and brushed the sensitive spot just below my ear.

I moaned loudly and pressed myself harder against his chest. “I have too many clothes on,” I complained.

He laid a gentle kiss across my forehead.

I pouted as he straightened. “James—” My words were cut off as he lifted me into his arms.

“Shower.” He nuzzled my neck, and peppered kisses down the column of my throat until he reached my collarbone.

Inside the bathroom, he released me, letting me slide down the front of his body. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of this man or how good he made me feel. I shivered as his erection imprinted itself across every inch of my body that it touched.

A warm glow filled me knowing that this magnificent man loved and desired me. My hand reached out to run along his cock, moving up and down until he groaned and cupped his hand over mine to stop me.

His gaze held mine, his eyes wild with desire. In their brown depths I saw the love he felt for me, the promise to be there for me, and to be mine always. “I thought I’d lost you today and I just about lost my fucking mind. I need you, Jess. I need to be inside of you. I need your scent all over my body. I need my scent all over yours.” His voice was thick with emotion.

A delicious shudder moved through my body. “I need that, too.” I wanted him to claim me and wash away everything that had happened today.

He ran his fingers under the hem of my shirt and jerked it up and off, only pausing to run his fingertips over my breasts. “So beautiful,” he murmured.

His hands kneaded them as he leaned in and licked the top of one and then the other, before reaching back to unhook the clasp.

As my bra fell to the floor, I thrust my chest into his, loving the firmness of his body next to mine, the friction teasing my nipples sent shocks of desire zinging through me.

“James, I love you with all of my heart.”

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