I felt ridiculous and rejected. It wasn’t your fault, it was mine, Jax. You’ve never done anything to deserve that, and you’ve never given me a reason not to trust you. I’m really sorry. I hope you can forgive me, eventually. It would kill me if my past baggage screws up what we have now.”
His reaction was lightning fast, and I found myself on my back looking up at him before I could blink.
My heart was racing as his eyes locked with mine from his position above me. Jax’s chest was heaving like he’d run a marathon, his body covering mine, and his hands holding my wrists to the bed like he was afraid I’d run away.
The expression on his face was intense, and his eyes were wild as he growled, “I should have grabbed your beautiful ass the second you came into my bedroom. The only fucking reason I didn’t is because it was hard to figure out if you were really standing there offering yourself to me. Jesus Christ, Harlow! That’s been a fantasy of mine for over two years now. It sure as hell wasn’t something I thought would ever play out in reality. I don’t know how you can doubt how beautiful you are, but I’d like to kill the bastard who made you feel otherwise.”
My heart somersaulted as I realized just how pissed off Jax was on my behalf. He wasn’t angry because I’d melted down on him. He was upset because another man had hurt me. “I think my confidence was shaken and I never got all of it back. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I panicked, even though my rational mind knows that you’re attracted to me. It was my self-esteem that temporarily crumbled because of what happened in the past.”
“I get it,” Jax said gruffly. “But I never want there to be a time when you doubt how much I want you again, Harlow. Maybe I should have made myself perfectly clear a long time ago. Does it help to know that every damn time you walk into a room, my dick gets hard? Guaranteed. Does it help to know that every damn fantasy I have while I’m getting myself off is about you, and has been for a long time? Hell, no other woman can even get my cock hard anymore. Does it help to know that the last week has been both heaven and hell for me? There’s nothing I want more than to be with you, but I wasn’t sure you were ready for more, for a guy who will never get enough of you. Because I promise you, once this starts, you’re fucking mine. I will not be able to let you go. If you run away, I’ll come after you. So you better make damn sure I’m what you want.”
Jax’s fierceness probably should have terrified the hell out of me, but it didn’t. I tugged at my wrists, and he let me go immediately. I took his face between my hands, and stroked my thumbs over his jawline as I answered, “You’re everything I want. Why do you think I tried to seduce you? I guess for a few moments, I felt like I was looking at my fantasy, too, and it scared the hell out of me. I crave you, Jax. Every cell in my body craves…you. If I can’t get closer to you, it’s going to kill me.”
I didn’t think he really had any idea that he was every woman’s fantasy. Billionaire…or not. Montgomery…or not. He was so incredibly hot that I doubted any woman could resist him. I knew I couldn’t now that I knew the man beneath that mysterious exterior.
Jax didn’t just want my body. He wanted…me. All of me. He needed the same intimacy between the two of us that I did. And that knowledge set me free.
I wasn’t afraid of the caveman possessiveness inside him. I relished it because I knew it wasn’t coming from a place of selfishness or from any kind of need to control me. It was his overwhelming desire to keep me happy and safe.
“Fuck it!” he growled. “That’s the only out you’re getting, sweetheart.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, savoring the feel of his heated skin. “I don’t want an out—”
He cut my words off with his mouth, and I moaned against his lips in relief.
God, it felt like I’d waited forever for this man, and I reveled in the passionate kiss that