Jackson Read online

  Most of the time.

  “Watch your step,” Jackson said as they descended a steep hill. He tightened his grip on her hand, then reached for her fishing pole. “Just in case you need to grab a tree to keep from falling.”

  “What’ll you do if you need to grab a tree?”

  “I’ll grab you,” he answered with a sexy smile. “And I expect you to dive beneath my body to break the fall. Since you’ll have two free hands and all.”

  “Sure, no problem, as long as you don’t stick me with the fishing pole.” She stepped over a big rock, and when he said, “I’ll stick you, all right, but it won’t be with my fishing pole,” she stumbled, and he caught her in one strong arm and swept her against his chest.

  “You like that idea, huh?” His eyes gleamed with the tease.

  She loved the way he teased without hesitation, even with the proposal looming over them. The idea of losing that, which she knew would happen if she accepted the proposal, if for no other reason than his making an effort to respect the man she was going to marry, had her stomach in knots.

  “I happen to think you have more of a rod than a pole.” She ran her finger down the center of his chest, then pressed a kiss to his Adam’s apple, which she’d always found sexy as hell.

  “Keep that up and we aren’t going to get a lick of fishing done. Then you’ll go hungry tonight.”

  “In all the years we’ve been camping, we haven’t starved yet. I’m not worried.”

  They started down the mountain again, maneuvering between the spruce and pine trees, over fallen limbs, around ditches and rocks. It was so peaceful in the mountains, and the air was definitely cleaner than in the city. There were so many things Laney loved about camping with Jackson, from the scent of the earth to having him all to herself for however many days they chose to stay. But as the land leveled out and the woods thinned, she realized that the best part of camping with Jackson was the feeling that swept over her while they were here. All of the stress of whatever was going on in her life fell away. Worries about work, friends, family; none of it stuck with her the way it did in the city. And she had a feeling it had nothing to do with the city and everything to do with the man she was with, because, like last night when she’d fallen asleep in the safety of his arms, when she was with Jackson, nothing else mattered.

  Except this morning that damn proposal had slipped back in.

  ***

  THEY’D BEEN FISHING all afternoon, and of course Laney had found a boulder to lie on to feed her need for sun worshipping. She lay with a sweet smile on her lips and her shirt tied just below her breasts, exposing her taut stomach. The edges of her dangerously short cutoffs were rolled up even higher. She’d always loved the sun, and as Jackson moved stealthily around her, taking pictures for what very well might be the last time they would be alone on her birthday weekend, his mind tumbled back through the years.

  She’d changed in so many ways since they’d met. When her parents had separated, she’d become harsher, more wary of just about everything and everyone. Except when she was with him. When they were together she’d strip away those thorns and, it seemed to him, breathe for the first time in however long it had been since the last time they’d been together. It bothered him that she had such issues with monogamy, because she was an amazing woman and she’d make an incredible wife for some guy.

  Then again, that was the last thing he wanted for her—which was what made him the selfish bastard he was. He stood on a rock beside the boulder and zoomed in on her profile, trying to ignore the pull in his gut over some guy marrying Laney. Some guy was looking more and more like Bryce.

  Jackson had always loved capturing Laney’s image when she was unaware and at her most innocent, completely unguarded. Just like when they were in bed together. Through the camera lens, she was all he saw, all he felt. All he needed?

  He lowered the camera, chewing on that thought. He stepped closer and ran his finger down her arm.

  She smiled, and without opening her eyes, she said, “Hey, you.”

  He wanted to push the truth away, to make it easier for him to let go and allow Laney to live her life with a man who was ready to settle down. But he couldn’t deny the truth. It wasn’t the camera lens that filtered out the rest of the world. It was her. Even now, with the sounds of the birds overhead and the tree leaves swaying in the breeze, it wasn’t the beauty around them that captivated him.

  It was Laney.

  It had always been Laney.

  And, he had a feeling, it would only ever be Laney.

  Chapter Four

  “I GOT IT!” Laney stood on a rock at the edge of the deep water with the end of the fishing rod pressed against her belly as the tip bent with the weight of the fish.

  Jackson stood a few feet away, smiling and clicking away with his camera.

  “A little help?” she pleaded, straining with the rod.

  With the camera blocking his face and only that smart-ass grin staring back at her, he said, “But you’re so cute.”

  “I’m going to be not so cute and you’re going to be starving if we don’t catch some fish.” She reeled in a few inches of line as Jackson relented and set the camera on top of his backpack.

  He climbed the boulder in two big steps and pressed his body to hers from behind, wrapping his arms around her as he kissed her neck, stealing her ability to focus.

  “Jackson,” she said softly. “That’s…”

  He sank his teeth into the curve of her shoulder, sending a shudder right through her.

  “That’s not helping.” She couldn’t stifle a moan when he moved one hand from around her waist to the fishing pole and slid the other beneath the edge of her shorts, teasing her through her panties.

  “But—oh my—” She loved when he took control, teasing her at the times when it was most unexpected. He rocked his hips, pressing his hard length against her ass as his fingers crept inside her panties and sank into her, masterfully taking her up, up, up...“That feels so good.”

  She reached behind her with one hand just as the fish pulled, tugging her forward on one foot. She lost her balance, sending them both tumbling toward the water. She dropped the rod, he grabbed her, and in the seconds it took to hit the water, he’d positioned himself beneath her, taking the brunt of the fall. Gripping her waist from beneath her, he pushed her up through the surface and she gulped in air. He followed her up, all the while holding on to her and keeping her head above water.

  “You okay?” He searched her eyes. “Are you hurt?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her in close, kicking his legs to keep them afloat.

  “No. You?” she asked.

  Relief swept over his face, and he laughed. “No. Sorry, Laney. I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t thinking.”

  She pressed her lips to his, and his tongue coaxed hers open. She drank in the sweetness of their kiss, and she felt him moving them toward the shore. When his feet touched the riverbed, he held them there, immersed in the cold water from her shoulders down, as he deepened the kiss.

  “The rod…” she reminded him as it floated downstream.

  His eyes went nearly black. “Don’t care.” He tangled one hand in her hair and took her in another punishingly intense kiss.

  “Have to…” He nipped at her lower lip, his hand slipping up the back of her shorts. “Have you. I’m sorry. I just…”

  Her lips burned with the fiery passion of his kisses. Her hands slid over his back, his arms, and finally she clutched at his head. She wanted all of him, fast and hard. His body was hot, the water was cold, and when his fingers found their way inside her again, pleasure radiated through her.

  “Off,” she said against his lips. “Take my shorts off.”

  He made quick work of stripping her bare, holding her with one strong arm against him as he maneuvered out of his own clothes and pushed into her. She couldn’t repress the moan of pleasure that sailed from her lips as he wrapped his big, strong ha
nds around her hips, sliding her along his thick cock over and over again. She matched his urgency with her unsated needs, sucking and nipping at his neck the way she knew he loved—and he satisfied her needs the way he knew no other man ever could.

  “Fuck, Laney—”

  “Tell me,” she pleaded. “You know I love to hear it.”

  “Fuck. You’re so tight, so hot. It’s too electric.” He quickened his efforts, his head tipping back with a groan as he found the pleasure points that sent spears like fireworks through her chest.

  “More,” she begged.

  He tightened his grip, moving into shallower water as he took her breast in his mouth and sucked hard.

  “Ohgodohgod!” Shocks of pain and excruciatingly erotic sensations stroked through her. “More, Jackson. I need more of you.”

  “Fuck. You’re gonna make me come.” He held her still. “Laney…”

  “Don’t come yet,” she begged. “This feels too good.”

  He carried her from the water and laid her beneath him on their blanket, then drove into her. Pinning her knees between his arms and chest, he thrust in deep time and time again.

  “Fuck,” he growled, eyes closed, jaw tense, and glorious body moving in perfect rhythm with hers.

  She loved the feel of his body pounding hard against her, in her, and the pleasure that vibrated through her with every stroke. She rocked her hips as he pressed in hard, and she spiraled over the edge, clawing his back as her insides shattered and pulsed around him. She held on tight to his wet skin while he slowed his efforts and released her legs, then ran his tongue over her taut nipples.

  “Jackson,” she said in a heated breath. “Please…”

  “This might be our last weekend, and I’m not going to hurry through it.” He lifted his eyes to hers and then turned his attention back to her body—but not before she saw the sadness in his gaze.

  She pushed at his chest, fighting to keep her own emotions at bay. “Over,” she said, and he obliged, shifting onto his back while holding tightly to her, keeping their bodies joined.

  She cupped his cheeks and searched his eyes. “No more talking about that. I want this with you. Just us. Now. Here. Got it?”

  He grinned and pulled her into a savagely rough kiss. She held on to his shoulders and rode him hard as he filled his hands with her breasts and loved them with his mouth some more, sending her back over the edge again and again. Just when she was sure her body had nothing left to give, he sat up, shifted her beneath him, and sealed his lips over hers as he loved her slowly to deliciously sweet ecstasy.

  “Close your eyes,” he said before kissing each lid.

  Her body melted against his mouth as he loved his way down it, circling her nipples with his tongue, then squeezing one while he sucked the other, all the while pressing his eager length against her but never entering her, and driving her absolutely out of her mind.

  “I love your body,” he said in a gravelly voice as he inched lower. “You’re trembling.”

  “Need, not cold,” she managed, reaching for him.

  His hands slid down her ribs to her waist and gripped her tight. His strong touch brought her hips off the blanket, begging for his mouth. He read her perfectly as his hot breath stroked over her wet flesh. The first stroke of his tongue sent shivers through her. He licked her inner thighs, so close to her sex she felt every inch of her reaching for him, begging for him. She couldn’t resist reaching down and stroking her clit. His tongue slid punishingly slowly over her fingers.

  “You taste so sweet.” His voice sent her hips up again.

  “Lick me,” she begged.

  His mouth came down on her inner thigh, and he sucked, sending exquisite, teasing prickles through her.

  “Please, Jackson.”

  That brought his fingers to her nipple, squeezing just hard enough to make her whole body quiver. No one had ever been able to read her body, play her body, love her body the way he did. Ever. And she knew no one ever would. He took his time, torturing her, taunting her, every touch sending her deeper into oblivion, carrying her higher, and higher still. Her head flailed from side to side as words streamed from her lips—Please. Now. Fuck me. Too much. Can’t take it.

  He groaned and licked, nipped, and sucked, and finally—Lord, finally—his mouth came down on her where she needed it most. She pulled her hand out from between her legs, and he gripped her wrist.

  “Don’t stop,” he said roughly. “I fucking love watching you touch yourself.”

  Hearing that in a voice full of greed sent her into the clutch of another intense orgasm, and she cried out his name as he slid his fingers inside her.

  “Jack—son—”

  “That’s it, baby. Come for me.”

  In one swift move he came down upon her and thrust into her throbbing sex. He gripped her shoulders, and her whole being flooded with desire as her senses spun out of control. Her hips bucked and her back arched, meeting his hard, muscular chest, as they both succumbed to the power of their passion. She felt every pulse of his release, every beat of his heart. As they hurtled past the point of no return, the only thought Laney could hold on to was the one she’d never been able to escape—Jackson, Jackson, Jackson.

  ***

  JACKSON CAME OUT from under the fog of lust slowly. Despite the heat coursing through every inch of his body, the sheen of sweat he’d earned chilled his skin. He became aware of Laney trembling beneath him. He knew from the way she’d tucked her legs beneath his and folded her arms across her chest that she was seeking warmth. It was always like this with Laney after they’d made love. He was transported, and any other thoughts ceased to exist. The sound of water snapped his mind into action.

  Clothes. Laney needed them. Now.

  He kissed her quickly. “I think our clothes went downstream.” He helped her sit up and wrapped the blanket securely around her, then grabbed her socks and boots from the edge of the water. At least she still had those.

  He crouched in front of her, ignoring the chilly air against his bare skin, and put her socks on her feet, then went to work situating her feet in her boots and lacing up them up.

  “Aren’t you cold?” she asked sweetly. Her hair was tousled, her cheeks still flushed. He loved how she looked after they’d fucked.

  Hell, he loved the way she looked any time of day or night. The longer he stewed over the proposal, the more he was coming to understand just how much he loved the things he’d taken for granted for all these years. And how much he’d miss them if she married Bryce.

  He pushed thoughts of the proposal away and shrugged. “I’m fine. Are you okay with the blanket? I want to walk downstream and see if I can find our clothes.”

  “I’m fine. Sorry about the fishing rod.”

  He leaned forward, one hand beside each of her hips, and kissed her again. “Totally worth it,” he assured her. He stayed there for a moment, looking into the eyes of the best friend he’d ever known, and tried to envision a life without her bursting through his door and demanding sex, or a quart of ice cream, or a night out together. A life where she wasn’t a given, but a gift. A life where she kissed another man as her own and their intimacy no longer existed.

  “Jackson. You’re shaking.” She touched his cheek, bringing him back to the present.

  “I’m fine.” He was totally not fine, but he wasn’t about to lay that on Laney. She had a good, honest man offering her what every woman wanted—a future with one man and probably one day a family.

  He pushed to his feet, unable to comprehend the idea of Laney having children with some other guy. What was wrong with him? Hadn’t he always known their arrangement couldn’t last forever? That one day she’d be swept off her feet and would move on?

  And what was wrong with him that he wasn’t out looking for the same? He’d watched his older brothers, Logan and Heath, fall madly in love with their fiancées, Stormy and Ally, and they were happier than he’d ever imagined anyone could be. Shouldn’t that have flicked
some sort of switch in his brain and made him want the same? He glanced over his shoulder at Laney, and in that moment he knew that even his brothers didn’t have as strong of an impact on him as Laney did.

  No one ever had.

  He shoved his feet into his socks and then pushed them into his boots.

  Laney giggled. He turned at the sound that never failed to make him smile.

  “What?”

  “You look like one of those hot-guy pics on Pinterest.”

  He looked down at his naked body and the leather boots on his feet. Every muscle—and his junk—on display. When he lifted his eyes, he saw Laney had grabbed his camera and was holding it up to her eye.

  “Laney,” he warned, and leaned for the camera.

  She giggled more as her finger went tap, tap, tap, catching every shot as he took the camera from her hands and pulled her in close.

  “Blackmail,” she said with a wicked grin.

  “Except it’s my camera.” He slipped the strap over his neck, wanting desperately to kiss her again, but he knew he needed to start getting used to the idea of Laney being unavailable to him in that way. Might as well start now.

  “Crap. Forgot that part,” she said, crinkling her nose adorably. Her body was still pressed against his. She looked down at his growing erection and said, “No wonder you’re never the one who has to go searching for wood.”

  He scoffed and turned away, shaking his head. She had that effect on him, no matter what the circumstances. He didn’t even try to hide his hard-on as he looked downstream. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. If I don’t find our clothes quickly, I’ll come back. You should sit up on the rock so you’re away from the elements. Don’t try to get back to the campsite by yourself, okay?”

  “Yes, mighty protector.” She reached for his hand as she walked up the boulder. He steadied her and then forced himself to go in search of their clothing.