My head falls back against the pillow. Sparks dance behind my eyelids. The stubble on his face scrapes my inner thigh… and my body rises and falls once more.
“I can’t take it,” I gasp, trying to push his head away, but I’m too weak from the orgasms.
“But you taste so good.” He pulls out his fingers and licks them, like they’re covered in frosting, and he has to get every bit of it off.
“What about you?” I ask. “If you show me what to do, I’ll—”
He rises above me, shucking off boxers and stretching out beside me, before joining our hands together. “Up and down, and over the head,” he instructs.
“Like this?” I push his hand away and follow the pattern he’d set.
“Hell, yes.”
In no time at all, he’s the one groaning and shaking. It’s his head falling on the pillow, his body bowing, and when I kiss his lips, he goes over the edge.
***
I’m lying in bed with Jackson, drowsy and satisfied.
We haven’t gone any further than what we did earlier. In fact, he hasn’t touched me like that again, but I’m so content right now that I feel like a lazy, fat cat sunning itself. Only Jackson’s the sun warming me and instead of the ground, I’m in a bed softer than marshmallows.
“I’ve been thinking,” he begins, and I look up at him. He places my glasses on my nose and carefully pushes them into place. “Better?”
“This close, I can see everything without them.” I take off the glasses and hand them to him. He sets them to the side and then cocks his head.
“Can you?”
Nodding, I lay my head on his chest again, tracing the outline of one of his tattoos—a skull—that rests on his lower abdomen.
“Tell me more about your really,” I lower my voice, “deep thoughts.”
He digs his fingers into my side and I snort with laughter, wriggling away from him. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.” He pulls me back, hooking a finger under my chin and lifting until we’re eye to eye. “Earlier… we were a bit reckless.”
“You want more than a bit reckless?” I ask, my voice all breathless.
“More than you know, but—”
“Then we’ll be married, and the only way to undo it is a divorce.”
He gives me this look, and I’m half afraid he’ll get up and leave, but it had to be said. I have to know. Pushing me away while simultaneously asking me to stay makes my heart hurt and my head spin.
“Saying that doesn’t mean I don’t want to stay married to you. It’s just the truth of our situation,” I add. “Less messy is better. If we both commit to this, then we both have to be all in, not constantly worrying if the other shoe will drop. I can’t live like that, because I’ve been living like that since I was a little girl.”
His fierce look melts away, and I think he finally understand what I’ve been trying to say all along. We can’t be reckless anymore. We have to be careful and consider all our options.
He joins our hands together, lifting them up in the air. I notice that he still has on the wedding ring I’d given him, but I’m too much of a coward to mention it.
I’d actually bought Jackson’s ring from the guy who’d performed the ceremony. It’s made of gunmetal and maybe it’s not as nice as the one he had given me, but I willingly bought it, knowing it would take a huge chunk out of the money I saved up. But if Jackson could be reckless, then so could I.
“So you wouldn’t be opposed to making this a real honeymoon?”
Of course he goes right to that, but honestly, what man wouldn’t? “No. I want to have sex.”
Throwing back his head, he laughs. “I ask, you answer, just like always.”
“Why waste time beating around the bush?”
Lowering our hands, he kisses my knuckles. “I figured you want some time to be courted properly.”
“Courted?”
“Wooed.” He lets go of my hand and rises above me. “Any southern man worth his salt should woo his lady. And you’re my lady.” His head dips and my heart speeds up. “My sexy wife.” There’s nothing between us, but my panties. My soaking wet panties. “Do you know what the best part of sex is?”
“Orgasms,” I say with the authority of someone who just had her first. That’s me, orgasm expert.
He laughs, sensual and low this time. “Okay, so the second best part.”
“I’ve never had sex.” One of his brows raise and I bite my lip, thinking of his fingers inside of me, his mouth on my most intimate parts. Yeah, we had sex, sorta. “I’ve never had sex-sex?”