Rescued by Love(18)

He wondered what she was doing with the girls. One look at Niko brought back the memory of Addy in his newfound “brother’s” arms. That little nugget sat in his gut like a bowling ball. His leg bounced nervously beneath the table, his fingers itching to hold her again. We’re not a thing. Her comment about Pandora’s box told a different story. Did she really want no strings attached? Everything had changed, and he knew she felt it, too.

Pushing to his feet, he leaned his palms on the table, his eyes skating around it. “Who’s up for crashing the bachelorette party?”

“Hell, yes.” Boone high-fived him. “Man, I love you guys, but I sure as hell would rather have your sister in my arms than sit around drinking and talking shit.”

“Are there any single women at this party?” Cage asked.

“No,” Jake answered without hesitation.

Gage shot him a curious look. “Technically there are.” He turned an intense stare on Cage. “But you don’t want to go there.”

Cage held up his hands. “No worries. Lucky and I’ll go hang out at the bar.” He snickered. “Oh, wait. You’re too young.” He ruffled his younger brother’s hair and bumped fists with Boone.

“Seriously? Y’all are going to ditch me?” Lucky spotted a group of girls walking by the patio. “I’ll catch you losers later. I see a few ladies who are in need of my company. They just don’t know it yet.”

“Behave,” Boone called after him.

Cash said something, but Jake was already too far away to hear him. He jogged across the street and down the road toward the beach. The flames of the girls’ bonfire came into view before his eyes adjusted enough to make them out. As he ran down the beach, he zeroed in on Addy’s slim figure, with curves so perfect she could grace the cover of any magazine and a beautiful face that made him smile and ache at once. She stood at the edge of the water, her dress flapping around her thighs, her hair whipping like a wild mane.

“Jake? Is everything okay?” Trish called out as he jogged by.

“It’s about to be.”

Addy turned at the sound of his voice, and he swept her into his arms and kept on running.

“Jake!” she shrieked. “What are you doing?” She laughed as she tried to push free. Something dug into his chest.

The other girls cheered him on as he slowed to a jog, carrying Addy toward a secluded spot he’d found during his run with Cash. He snagged the pen that was digging into his chest from her hands and shoved it in his pocket.

“I should throw you in this water for denying we’re a thing.” He rocked her in his arms as if he were about to toss her into the waves, and she threw them around his neck, shrieking at the top of her lungs. “What’s the matter? Afraid of a little water, sexy girl?”

“Do it!” Gabriella hollered, and so began a chant from all the other women. “Do it! Do it! Do it!”

“Don’t, don’t, don’t. Please don’t,” she begged.

Jake inhaled the sweet lavender lotion he’d helped her apply to her beautiful naked body just a few hours ago. He could still feel her smooth skin against his hands, could still hear her sweet noises of restraint as she kicked him out the door before she could give in to skipping the party and letting him devour her. Because of that, he hadn’t gotten to walk her to the party, but the time they’d shared had been even better.

“I should toss you in just to show you how much your rules suck.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” She tightened her grip around his neck.

He swung her again, and she shrieked, clinging to him like a monkey to a tree. Perfect. “Are we a thing?”

“Jake!” She buried her face in his neck. “Please don’t. Please?”

He should demand she give in and tell him what he knew was true, but she looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes, sparking the need to take care of her again. The feel of her body against him, her hot little hands on the back of his neck, and her beautiful face within kissing distance had him quickening his pace to get her alone.

“Jake! Put me down! Where are you taking me?” She poked him in the chest. “Hello? Do you hear me? Put me down!”

He shifted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and slapped her on her ass.

“Hey!” she protested with the sexiest laugh he’d ever heard.

“You need a man who can put up with your shit and slap your ass.”

A trail of claps and whistles from his brothers, who had finally made it to the beach, sounded out behind them.

She laughed, and it was music to his ears. He repositioned her, cradling her in his arms, and brushed his lips over hers, laughing when she pressed hers into a defiant line.

He was done.

He was hers.

He debated tossing her in the water just to prove they were playing by his rules this time, but he finally had her back in his arms again. The last thing he wanted to do was let her go.





Chapter Nine





JAKE HADN’T SAID a word in the last ten minutes as he carried Addy down the beach. He’d walked so far the bonfire was a mere spark in the distance, and he showed no signs of stopping. “Do you really think being a Neanderthal is the way to win me over?” Addy asked.

He didn’t answer, just continued walking, staring straight ahead. His pecs danced against her side as he tightened his grip.

“This big, tough, silent thing you have going on is really annoying. You can’t just abscond with me and think I’ll be okay with it.”

He shifted a narrow-eyed stare her way, then looked straight ahead again, his thick brows hooding his vigilante gaze.

“Jake, seriously. At least let me walk.” Not that she wanted to walk, but despite how incredible it felt to be snuggled against him, being carried made her feel ridiculous. She suppressed a smile, watching his body tense up, and she took a moment to study him. There was nothing pretty-boy about Jake. His skin was slightly weathered, as if he spent his days facing harsh winds and blazing sun, which she knew he often did when he was on rescue missions. His features were symmetrical, his jawline chiseled and squared, with an ever-present tan and a coarse dusting of whiskers. Her stomach dipped at the memory of his coarse whiskers against her inner thighs.

He turned up the beach toward a long ridge of large rocks. The lighthouse blinked slowly in the distance, and the languid pace of the fading beam made her realize how fast and hard her heart was pounding. He scaled the boulders without missing a step, expertly cradling her against him.

“Jake?” she asked softly.

He stopped atop a large rock, his gaze dialing down to concern, the wind making his thick hair stand up.

“Where are we going?”

He ground his teeth together again and continued traversing the rocks to a patch of sand and grass just beyond. He knelt, setting her carefully on the ground, and sank down beside her. He pulled his knees up, leaned his forearms on them, and gazed out at the water as if he hadn’t just kidnapped her.

She looked around, digging her toes into the pebbly sand beneath her bare feet. She’d left her sandals with the girls, but she didn’t care. The rocks formed a barrier from the wind sweeping up the sand, blowing only the tips of long tufts of grass. She followed Jake’s gaze to the dim golden haze of the lighthouse reaching into the darkness and reflecting off the inky water. The starless sky was tinted a dusky shade of blue. Sitting there in the dark beside the only man who had ever challenged her, who understood that she needed a man to put up with her shit and spank her ass—and God, did she ever—felt romantic. Even the way he’d kidnapped her was romantic. Either she was losing her mind, or she really was falling for him.

“It’s beautiful here,” she finally said.

He dropped his gaze to the sand, tilting his face toward her. The moon caught his eyes, bringing out a thin ring of green around the edges. She’d never noticed it before. All this time, she’d been too swept up in his alpha hotness to notice. What else had she missed?

“You’re beautiful, Addy.”

She lost her breath at the unexpected compliment spoken so tenderly it sounded strange coming from such a big man. She swallowed hard and couldn’t help studying him again, searching for signs that he was kidding or this was just another wicked flirtation. But what she saw wasn’t either of those things. It was honesty.

He smiled. “Expecting to see someone else?”

“Kinda. Yeah,” she said, glad to have found her voice. “I don’t…”

“You don’t get it? Or…?” He leaned closer and ran his hand up her calf, his gaze turning hungry.

There was the man she knew. The sexually driven, demanding one she expected.

“You are beautiful, Addy, but that’s not why I’m into you.” He cupped her cheek, his eyes moving slowly over her face, the demand in them fading away, throwing her for another loop.

She felt shy as he studied her, causing an avalanche of emotions she was nowhere near prepared for. Her breathing quickened, and her skin prickled with awareness of everything—the chilly air sailing over her skin, his faint musky cologne mixing with the salty scents of the sea, the feel of his rough hand caressing her leg, and the way he was looking at her, which felt far more intimate than anything they’d done to each other in the last twenty-four hours.