She broke their connection, gasping for air. “Say I make the rules so I can come,” she begged. “I need to come, Jake. Please?”
“Not a chance.” He slapped the side of her ass, earning another sexy moan and a sinfully hot glare that sent a bolt of lightning to his cock. “Come for me, Addy.”
She shook her head. She was at the edge, her body trembling, her inner muscles tightening despite her resistance. She was as stubborn as stubborn could be, and she was everything he needed.
“Fuck me, baby,” he urged, needing to come but not willing to let go until she did.
“Who’s the boss?” Her cheeks were flushed, her words breathless.
She was so adorably sexy he could barely stand it. She wound her legs around his waist and pressed a muddy palm lightly to his cheek, stroking her thumb over his jaw. Her touch was his Achilles’ heel. Her gaze softened, the love swimming in her eyes drowning the last of his resistance.
“Fuck, baby,” he whispered, and touched his forehead to hers. “Why do I love you so much?”
“Because I’m the thunder to your lightning. Stop talking and make love to me.”
“So bossy,” he whispered as he lowered his mouth to hers.
“You love me bossy.”
“Stop talking,” he said, trying to kiss her.
“Are you telling me what to do?”
He glared at her.
She wrapped her hand around the back of his head, drawing his face closer. “Okay, you win. I’ll come for you.”
“Why do I feel like you won again?”
With a tender hand on his cheek, she said, “Don’t dwell on it,” and as they gave in to their passion, dwelling on it was the last thing on his mind. He had a heart full of pleasure to dole out—and a lifetime of paybacks to look forward to.
Epilogue
ADDY TRACED THE new tattoo on the inside of her wrist. Taken. It had hurt like hell, but the pretty script font and the pain were true symbols of her and Jake’s five months together. Not that their relationship was painful in a hurtful way, but they’d endured the type of pain that comes with the cleansing of one’s soul. She and Jake had no secrets, and the more she opened up to him, the more she learned about herself.
Jake squeezed her hand beneath the dinner table, furtively glancing at her wrist. They’d met his family and Gabriella for dinner after getting their Taken tattoos. His tattoo was bigger, bolder, but she knew it caused the same weighty emotions in him. He knew her so well that when he’d gotten down on one knee last week, she’d been shocked. And when he’d said, “Sexy girl, you are my sun, my moon, and my ever after, will you get a tattoo with me?” she’d burst into tears. Actual. Tears. She’d come a long way, thinking before she spoke, not arguing every time he made a suggestion, and moving into his incredible rooftop apartment. Their life was beautiful and passionate, but she wasn’t ready to jump into the institution that had scared her for so long. But he’d been one step ahead of her on that, too.
He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “You about ready to blow this joint so I can show you how taken you are?”
Was she ever. It was through his patience and insistence that she’d learned to let him in, and the scattered elements of her past had begun to piece together. While she had enjoyed a happy, sheltered childhood, she’d come to realize how deeply she’d feared falling in love. Her parents’ marriage of…comfort? Convenience? Circumstance? She didn’t know how to classify it, but it hadn’t provided the same strong role model of endless love that Jake had grown up with. She’d never acknowledged the fear that had sparked to herself, much less anyone else. But Jake made her feel safe and genuinely, deeply loved. She never believed she needed anyone, but Jake had become her rock, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit she needed him as much as she wanted him. She’d even deleted her Tumblr page and told her parents about Jake. They seemed genuinely pleased for her, and she and Jake were planning a trip to visit them as soon as her parents returned from her father’s latest fashion show in Italy.
“Hey, you two,” Gabriella said. “You are not blowing out of our baby announcement celebration dinner early to go have wild monkey sex.”
“How did you even hear that, Miss Bionic Ears?” Addy teased. She was thrilled for Gabriella and Duke. They’d conceived on their honeymoon, and although she’d shared the news with Addy right away, they’d waited to share the news with the rest of the family until they’d passed their first trimester. Gabriella was cutting back her office hours as soon as the baby was born, and tonight Jake and Addy would reveal their plans, too.
“She didn’t have to hear it,” Andrea said, and mouthed, It’s all in the eyes, as she pointed to her eyes, then winked.
Jake nuzzled against Addy’s neck. “There’s no escaping us, sexy girl. I told you that the night of Duke and Gabby’s wedding.”
“Speaking of weddings,” Siena said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “When are you two taking the plunge?”
Jake squeezed her hand again, flashing the I’ve-got-this look she’d come to adore and rely on.
“We’re secure enough in our relationship not to need rings,” Jake said, lifting their joint hands and revealing their new tattoos.
“Oh my gosh!” Gabriella laughed. “Only you two would do that.”
“I love them,” Siena gushed, reaching for Addy’s hand and inspecting the tattoo more closely. “That must have hurt like crazy.”
“It did,” Addy said as Jake reclaimed her hand and pressed a kiss to her wrist.
“But all things worth their salt come with pain,” Jake said, gazing into her eyes. A silent message of I love yous passed between them. “We do have our own announcement to make.”
“You’re pregnant!” Lizzie said hopefully.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Addy insisted. She hadn’t realized she’d been afraid of mirroring her mother’s hands-off parenting style until she and Jake had begun discussing having a family of their own. He’d seen through her declarations of not being wired to be a mother, and like everything else, he’d gotten to the core of the issue and they’d faced it together, through talking, tears, and love. Addy knew their love was too big and they were too stubborn to let anything scare either of them away. They both wanted a family someday, when the time was right. Or as Jake put it, When Addy finally realized she could never be the type of parent her mother was because her passion ran too deep, and that she’d instill the need for independence in their babies. He was sure they were destined to have adorably stubborn children who tested them at every turn, and she looked forward to it. One day.
“SHE’S NOT PREGNANT,” Jake said. “Jesus, you guys are in such a hurry. I’ve waited my whole life for this woman. I’m in no rush to share her.” Although for a guy who hadn’t wanted any ties or distractions, he was all in with Addy. And when she was finally ready to have children, he was all in for that part of their lives, too. And if they decided down the line that they didn’t want children, that was okay, too. As long as they had each other, their life was complete.
Addy was looking at him so openly lovingly, his heart skidded. He’d experienced so many life-altering moments with her, he’d come to expect them. They hit every morning when he woke up with her in his arms and every evening when she walked in the door after work. And in a million moments like now, when a single glance reminded him of how far they’d come and how many incredible years they had to look forward to. No, he wasn’t in a rush to share her, or to leave her for a single day, which was why he was thrilled with Addy’s decision.
“Dude,” Gage urged. “Are you going to share your news? Sally and I have a plane to catch. We have a meeting early tomorrow for the new community center we’re opening.”
“It’s snowing pretty hard,” Jake pointed out. It was mid-November and they’d been hit with an early winter storm.
“I’m sure the pilot will cancel if it’s unsafe,” Gage assured him.
“Can you share your news, please? Lizzie and I have a wedding to plan,” Blue said.
Their wedding was taking place in just a few weeks, over the holidays. Jake was pretty sure it was already planned to the hilt, which meant Blue wanted to get Lizzie back to their hotel for some smokin’-hot loving. Not that he blamed him. He was dying to get Addy alone, too.
“Or do I have to take you out back and pummel it out of you?” Blue joked.
Jake scoffed. “First, I’d kick your ass, and second…I don’t have a second, so I’d kick your ass again.”
Everyone laughed. Addy leaned in to him and touched his cheek. He’d never get used to the way her touch sparked an avalanche of emotions inside him.
“We all know you’re big and bad,” Addy said, running her finger along his jaw. “So stop chest bumping and tell them.”
“Yeah, big, bad Jake,” Duke teased. “What’s up?”
“Hey, that’s for me to say,” Addy said sternly. “Go rub your wife’s belly or something.”