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He scoffs. “One punch. Come on. You know you want to. I’ll even wear a helmet.”
“I don’t want to.” I’m not conscious of saying the words, but they’re true. I shake my head as Jonah advances on me.
“Punch me in the face, Callie. Do it.” His eyes are burning into me as he stalks forward. I retreat until my back hits the ropes.
“No,” I say.
“Punch. Me.” He bites the words out.
“I can’t,” I sob out.
“I deserve it.” He steps in to me, presses his forehead to mine. I shut my eyes and revel in the feel of his warm body so close to mine. His breaths puff out on my face. I want to breathe him into my lungs and never breathe out. “I’m so, so sorry, Callie. I love you. I will never stop loving you. That mess with Dylan. That was my fault. He won’t bother you again.” He steps back, his eyes swirling black. “Now punch me.”
“What did you mean, he won’t bother me again? What did you do?”
“I agreed to his terms.” Jonah’s face is tight.
“Which were what?” My heart hovers somewhere in my throat while I wait for Jonah’s response.
“I agreed to give up my revenge.” Jonah looks away, his jaw working. “I talked to Christine. She didn’t mind. It’s done. He got away with it.” His shoulders slump. I turn his words over in my head.
“But the photos.”
He gives a sharp shake of his head. “I don’t care about the photos. Losing you was worse than the photos being published.”
“He deserves to pay,” I say fiercely.
“You deserve to be happy more.” Jonah’s mouth hitches up. “Don’t you think so? Don’t you think choosing happiness is better? I want to live in the present, Cal. When I’m with you, I want to see things through your eyes. And keeping you safe is more important than getting back at Dylan.”
“You gave up your revenge, for me?” My voice is incredulous. “You worked for years for that. It was the sole focus of your life.”
He shrugs elegantly, like it cost him nothing, when I know it cost him everything. His gaze burns into mine. “You’re the sole focus of my life, Callie. I know you don’t want to be. And I—” His voice breaks, and my chest cracks along with it. “If you want me to stop, I will. I’ll walk away. I’ll help you but I’ll never make my presence known. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I’ll be there. If you ever want to punch someone, I’ll be the fist that does it. I will never fall for anyone else. If you get married, I’ll hate him, but I’ll still be by your side. I love you.” He whispers the last words. “All I want is to love you.” He shuts his eyes, like it’s too painful to look at me.
“Jonah,” I whisper. My eyes are full of tears, and my words come out sounding shaky. “Jonah. Open your eyes.” He looks at me, and the pain in his gaze nearly brings me to my knees. “I love you. I never stopped.” I step toward him, and he opens his arms to me. I press my face to his chest, the way I want to do every time I see him. But then I step back and look up at his face, because he deserves to hear these words clearly.
“There is no one else for me. I want every piece of you. All the ruthlessness and the ambition. Your sarcasm and your humor. The way you’re secretly a good man, even though you pretend otherwise. I will never stop loving you.”
He crushes me to him. His heart pounds under my cheek. “I thought you’d never come around,” he says. “I was prepared to spend the rest of my life waiting.”
“I know you would have,” I say. “But now, you don’t have to.”
He kisses me, with one hand on my jaw and the other at my back. “Callie,” he whispers. “I want you. I need to feel you. I need to feel that this is real, that you won’t disappear.” He kisses the side of my jaw, bites the lobe of my ear. “I dreamed about you.” His voice is ragged. “I dreamed you took me back. Tell me I’m not going to wake up.”
Oh, Jonah. “It’s not a dream,” I whisper. “I love you, Jonah Crown.”
He kisses me as I finish saying the words, like he wants to drink them in. His mouth is hot and needy, and his hands roam my body like he can’t believe I’m real. He strips off my workout clothes with shaking hands and shucks his own. I’m equally desperate to be skin-to-skin. He sinks to the floor with me on his lap and pushes eager fingers between my legs.
“I need you, Callie,” he says into my neck. He sucks on the skin. “I don’t know how to be anything but myself, but you—” He groans as my hips grind down onto his hard cock. “You make me better.”
“I love you, Jonah.”
My belly is swooping and swirling with need. Every brush of his fingers ratchets me higher, until I think I’m going to come on his fingers with his mouth on my neck.
“Take what you need, sweetheart,” he murmurs. I grab his erection with greedy fingers, loving the hot, smooth skin and the insistent hardness. He huffs a laugh as I line him up and sink down.
“Oh, Callie,” he groans. “Easy there. I won’t last.”
“Good. Don’t.” He fills me inch by glorious inch, with his forehead pressed against mine and our eyes closed to heighten the pleasure. When I finally sink all the way down, he lets out a ragged breath before easing me up. The drag of his cock through me and the press of his stomach against my clit has me shuddering with need.
