Her melancholy must have shown on her face because Jai got up with a big sigh only to lower himself down beside her, her bent knees curving around his
back. “Ari, the reason I loved my job was because I was looking for acceptance. I know that now.”
Drawn by his proximity, addicted to it even, Ari sat up so their bodies were turned into one another. “So you’re really okay about being here?”
He reached out to touch her cheek gently, and as if mesmerized by the feel of her, he forgot what he was about to say, his eyes following the rough tips of his fingers as they trailed a line down her cheek, across her neck, along her collarbone, before slowly drawing to a stop on her sternum. By now Ari’s
breathing was erratic, her chest rising and falling, willing his fingers to slip further down. Her eyes were glued to his face, waiting for his next move.
Finally, he blinked, clearing his throat as he came back to himself. But his eyes were a little brighter than before as he raised them from her chest to meet her gaze.
“Why are you asking me this again?” his voice was deeper, rumbling. “I told you when you asked me the first time to come with you that I’d do anything
to protect you.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t miss your life before.”
“You’re right,” he agreed. “I liked my job. But I was indifferent to my life. And you changed that.”
She couldn’t help but smile at his meaningful look, butterflies beating their wings inside her chest instead of her belly. “You know what else has
changed?”
“What’s that?”
“You’re a lot more loquacious.”
Jai laughed, a soft rough sound that thrilled her. “Loquacious is a good word.”
“It is a good word. That’s exactly what I was thinking when I read it in a book last night. I was, like, I do not use that word enough. So I decided I was going to use it in a sentence today.”
He chuckled again, but the look in his eyes had grown more serious. “You’re so adorably weird, you know that.”
“Good idea to add the adorable part.”
Jai cocked his head to the side as if he were thinking deeply on the matter. “Yeah. It was. I think I’m getting good at this boyfriend crap.”
Ari burst out laughing, shaking her head. “Oh, I think you may need to work on it a little more. Boyfriend crap?”
They shared amused smiles until eventually a comfortable silence crept over them as they gazed at one another.
“I suppose we better get going,” Jai eventually said softly.
But Ari didn’t want to leave, and she didn’t think he did either.
Instead of replying to that, Ari reached out to run her fingers over the scruff on his cheeks. “You need to shave,” she whispered, loving the feel of his bristly whiskers against her skin. It was weird, but she wanted to kiss him right then just to feel the burn of those whiskers scraping against her skin. Like he would be marking her as his somehow.
Jai had grown still under her touch, his eyes darkening in a way Ari had come to recognize. It matched her own excited hunger. Needing to be closer to
him, she slid along the mat until they were pressed together and then she slowly curled her arm up around his neck, bringing her left cheek to his right as she nuzzled him like a cat, his two day beard abrading her soft skin.
Jai’s breathing sounded shallow in her ear as she felt his arm slip around her back, his fingers kneading her muscles. She turned her head, inhaling him, before pressing her lips to his cheek, a hot sensual press of her mouth to the corner of his. There was nothing innocent about that kiss and Jai’s hold on her tightened.
“I miss you,” she breathed deeply.
“Ari…” Jai groaned, but before he could respond she pulled back, biting her lip in anticipation. “What?” he asked, his fingers brushing lazy patterns on her spine.
“Take your shirt off,” she ordered gently, her voice low and husky. She liked how it sounded—hoped it would be enough to convince him to give into her