to know when to say enough. That’s it, princess.”
I swipe at my eyes. “I’m still mad at you for seeing me cry the first time.”
“But not this time, huh?” He kisses my tearstained cheeks. “You trust me now.”
“No,” I say stubbornly, but it’s obvious I’m lying.
“Yes, you do. You know I’m going to come through.” He pushes back my hair and speaks just above my ear. “And you’re going to be honest with me from now on. You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because if you’d told me the truth, I would have told you there was nothing to worry about.” He runs his open mouth down the cord of my neck. “I own our apartment, Jessie. All the rent money you give me has been going into shoeboxes in my closet. It’s all yours.”
“What?” Rocked by disbelief, I shove at his shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He chuckles. “You never would have accepted a free place to live. It would have obligated you to me.” After a moment, he sobers. “You can do whatever you want with the money, but I want you to think about yourself for once.”
“It seems like you’ve been doing enough thinking about me for the both of us,” I murmur, my body still trembling from the news that I’m financially secure. That my best friend has been looking out for me this whole time, loving me from a distance. A part of me knows his actions are on the crazy side, but I’ve never felt safer or more loved in my entire life. And he’s right, I do trust him. More than that, I think…I’ve been ignoring my feelings for him.
There’s no ignoring them now.
I’m aching to get close as possible, skin to skin. Not only for the sake of pleasure, but because I want to be connected in the one way we haven’t been yet. I want to feel his breath on my neck, his voice in my ear, hear his heartbeat against mine.
I want to care for his needs the way he’s cared for mine.
“Ryan…” My breath comes faster. I’m nervous, but I want him to touch me so badly, I take the leap. “I want to be with you.”
Hope enlivens his face and he searches my eyes, scrutinizing, making sure. Whatever he finds has him whispering a prayer of thanks and hauling me off the table. Striding toward the bedroom…
CHAPTER SIX
Ryan
I’m a man who has been rescued from sea.
My lungs are at full capacity for the first time since I met Jessie.
Oh I wouldn’t change a moment of the last thirteen years for anything, but God, I’ve been half alive without her full trust—and she’s just given it to me. Freely. Against all odds, I’ve earned her confidence and now I’ll obsess her just as she’s obsessed me. Already her body senses the pleasure I can provide, can’t it?
On our way to the bedroom, her legs are wrapped around my hips and she’s working her little pussy all over the aching flesh in my jeans, her mewling noises ringing in my ears. I’m desperate to throw her down, shove my cock inside her as deep as she can take me and blow like a hurricane until I’m empty of this frustration, but I’ll have to live with the pain a while longer. I’ll live with it until she’s not only satisfied, but addicted to my fuck.
I’ve been with no other woman, but just like I’ve honed my body and resources to provide for and protect Jessie, I’ve learned how to please. I’ve watched videos and read enough material to teach a fucking semester on stimulating her female body into an orgasm and I can’t wait to use my knowledge on Jessie—only ever Jessie—for the rest of my life.
I lay her down in the center of the bed and strip off my shirt, triumphant in the way she looks at me, breathless and wide-eyed. I slap my pecs and stomach to show her how rock hard I’ve made them in her honor and she comes to her knees, undoing the fly of my jeans with shaking hands. “I want to see all of you. I want you to…to…”
“What, princess? I can do it all.”
“I guess I just like the dirty way you’ve been speaking to me. I like you…dirty. Like this.”
“Ah, Jessie.” I help her lower the zipper of my jeans. “You have no idea what a filthy motherfucker I’ve been.” She starts to stiffen, but I shake my head. “But only in my imagination and