Page 80 of Jesse
Mate. Partner. Home.
For the first time in days, I didn’t feel fear or fury or dread. I felt whole.
Chapter 21
Beck
One Year Later
I yankedmy shirt over my head and ran my fingers quickly through my hair, barely glancing in the mirror.
The bed caught my eye, and I shook my head. Jesse was still sleeping, sprawled across the mattress like he didn’t have a care in the world.
A year of sharing mornings with him, and I’d stopped bothering to tiptoe around him. The clatter of dishes, the hum of the coffee maker, and the sound of running water failed to wake him at all.
Well, almost all of it.
The mattress creaked as I pressed a knee onto the edge of the bed. Jesse didn’t move.
I climbed over him, moving with deliberate slowness until I straddled his hips. My palms found the warm, bare skin of his stomach, and I couldn’t help but pause.
He was so solid beneath me. My fingers slid upward, tracing the faint ridges of his abs before splaying wide over his chest.
I gave it a gentle squeeze, grinning at how firm it felt under my hands. I could spend hours like this.
I leaned down, brushing my lips against his chest. I kissed my way up to his collarbone, then to the sensitive skin of his neck.
Jesse shifted slightly beneath me but still didn’t wake. My teeth grazed his skin, earning the smallest hitch in his breath.
The faint sheen of sweat from the night before still clung to him, and I licked along his collarbone, savoring the salty tang. My fingers trailed over his shoulders, pausing to knead the muscle there.
I let my hands roam, one tracing the line of his neck while the other drifted back to his shoulder, pressing lightly.
My mark on his nape caught my attention. My fingers brushed over it before I rested my head against his shoulder, breathing him in.
A soft sigh escaped me as I lay there, my head tucked into the crook of his neck.
It was a perfect moment, almost enough to make me forget what I’d come over here to do.
Then I felt his hands shift, slowly gliding up my thighs. They paused at my waist, his thumbs kneading small circles into my hips before sliding lower.
When they settled on my ass and gave it a firm squeeze, I grinned.
Jesse’s voice was groggy, thick with sleep. “You should stop waking me up like this.”
I nuzzled closer to his neck, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “Why? Nothing else works on you.”
I propped myself up, pushing away from Jesse, though the warmth of his skin lingered on mine.
“We really need to get going early today,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “This is the first day of the fair, and if we don’t snag a good spot for our truck, we’ll be stuck in the back.”
Jesse raised a brow, his hand still resting on me, heavy and warm. “And you think waking me up like this is going to make us leave earlier?”
His fingers tightened their grip on my ass, kneading with just enough pressure to make my breath hitch.
“Jesse,” I warned, trying to sound firm, but it was hard when his hips shifted beneath me, grinding up against mine.
My body betrayed me, pressing down before I could stop it. His mouth found the curve of my neck, his lips trailing up to my jaw.
