Page 33 of Choosing Jenny
“That is cina waste and you know it, Jenny,” Tiger called me out. “I saw you get upset when he was hugging Silence.”
Mal turned to me, surprised. “You were?”
I held my hand up to quiet them down. “It wasn’t like that. I’ve just never seen you greet anyone the way you did her.”
“I thought she was dead!” Mal’s voice cracked with frustration. “She’s like my little sister, and pardon me for being happy she’s alive!”
“I understand that now,” I said calmly. “But in the moment, it was a lot to take.”
“We told you she was alive,” Tiger said, folding his arms over his chest. “Why didn’t you believe us?”
Mal jammed his hands through his hair. “It’s different to see someone in person, Tiger. You know that.”
“Fine, whatever.” Tiger looked away, jaw tight.
“How could you ever think I’d cheat on you and Jenny with Rex?” Mal asked, sounding hurt.
“I don’t know what to think when it comes to Rex, because I don’t trusthim.”
“Tiger,” I said gently, sitting on the bed next to him and hoping I could salvage the night considering how shockingly aroused my body felt. “Mal and I have romantic histories. I have exes, he has exes—”
“Have any of your exes come back to life, flirted up a storm in front of your current partners, and basically declared that they were going to ruin your relationship?”
I placed a hand on his thigh and he stiffened. “Well, no—”
“Then you have no idea what this is like for me, do you?” he snapped irritably.
My own annoyance was piqued, and I did my best to tamp it down so I could discuss this with Tiger in a reasonable manner. “Accepting your partners’ past is a mature part of any relationship. We—”
“So, now I’m not only insecure, but I’m also immature, too?” He stood up and stomped to the door. “Maybe you should find yourself someone a little moremature.” Then he slammed the door behind himself.
I started to follow, my heart aching for Tiger, but Mal grabbed my wrist and stopped me.
“Leave him be,” he said quietly.
“But he’s so upset,” I said, hating to see Tiger so unsettled about Mal. “He’s not used to these kinds of relationship dynamics, and if I just talk to him—”
“You’ll what? Explain away his feelings?” Mal’s tone was gentle but firm. He stepped closer, the look in his eyes filled with wisdom and understanding. “Tiger is younger than us. He’s never been in a relationship before us, and let’s face it, between you and me, we’ve brought a lot of headache and heartache to him already. He needs to sort through this on his own.”
“I…” I didn’t have an argument against that. “It just feels wrong to leave him alone right now.”
“That’s because you love him.” Mal’s expression softened even further. “I’m fighting the same urge. I want to go to him. To fix this. But there’s nothing I can say to prove myself to him. Either he will believe and trust me, or he won’t. I can’t make that choice for him. Gods, if only I could…”
“I know what you mean.”
“Do you?” He exhaled a slow, deep breath, his brows pulled together. “Because that thing with Silence—”
“I had an irrational, fleeting moment, Mal. I know better.” I sighed, and admitted, “I’ve just never seen you so happy to seesomeone. That’s what got me. You’ve never had that look on your face when you’ve seen me.”
“Because you and Tiger are a different kind of family to me, Jen.” He cupped my face in his big, warm hands and held my gaze. “Please don’t ever think you are anything less than everything to me.”
His sweet words set my body on fire for him. I lifted up on my toes and kissed him, slowly and deeply, pressing myself against the heat of him. He groaned into my mouth, his fingers sliding from my cheeks to the back of my neck, anchoring me to him.
He broke the kiss to press his lips to my jaw. “You’re shaking,” he murmured.
“That’s because I need you.”
In one fluid motion, he lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bed. He laid me down with care, then joined me, his mouth already trailing along my neck as our clothes vanished between our desperate touches. My pussy ached for him. His cock, hard and insistent, brushed against my thigh, driving me wild.
