My stomach roiled. I couldn’t speak.
“I took her back with me. Got her settled in a new life. I wanted to be named her guardian, but with all the travel I did, it was better for her to stay with my foster parents. I stayed there with her when I was home. And then I heard he was taking a new wife. Thirteen years old.” His hands clenched around mine. “Holly covered for me when I went AWOL. Rowed him out to the middle of the lake and pushed him in. Told him he could confess to the FBI, or he could keep swimming.” His shoulders rose on a deep breath. “He drowned.”
My heart ached for Jeremiah. He had carried theguilt for so long. “But he didn’t have to. Your uncle made a choice.”
“I’m not sorry,” he rasped.
“Neither am I.” I kissed his bowed head.
His gaze snapped to mine, seeking.
I wasn’t a religious person, but I’d seen enough bumper stickers proclaimingJESUS LOVES YOU!to understand the gist of it. We were born in sin and kept right on sinning until we drew our last breath. No oneearneda place in heaven. It was given through grace.
I couldn’t give him absolution. Forgiveness wasn’t mine to give even if I wanted to. I wasn’t the judge and jury of his life. But I could give him something else. The words that had terrified me earlier bloomed in my chest.
I held his face in my hands. His heartbreakingly beautiful face. “Look at me.”
His eyelids fluttered open. He swallowed as our gazes locked.
“I love you, Jeremiah.” And then I said it again. “I love you.”
34
JEREMIAH
Lennon was more than heaven.She was my salvation.
The truth had set me free, and when I kissed her again, it was with the knowledge that this time, I wasn’t going to stop until I had emptied myself inside her.
My heart beat a frantic pace in my chest. Her mouth was hot and open over mine, and I wanted in. Her mouth, her pussy, her enormous fucking heart that brought me back to life. I wanted in everywhere. It terrified me, this all-consuming need to possess her in every way I can.
Normally I hated feeling exposed. Maybe it was how I was raised to believe that bodies were shameful and to be kept covered and out of sight. At the compound, wewore long sleeves and pants even in the high heat of summer. But now, here, with the mountains and river bearing witness, I craved it. I wanted her touch on every inch of my skin. I reached behind me, grabbed hold of my shirt, and tugged it over my head in one swift motion.
Immediately her hands started exploring with feather light touches. Her fingertips traced my collar bones, then sifted through the sparse hair on my pecs. It was such a fucking relief to finally have her hands on me that I almost wept. I kissed the curve of her neck, then sucked gently at her skin as I breathed in her scent. Fresh air, sweat, Lennon.
Her breasts filled my palms to overflowing. I squeezed, learning the shape of them, then dipped my head to kiss one nipple and then the other. Her head tipped back on a quiet moan. It made me greedy for her. I loved the way she pushed into my touch. Those sweet little sounds she made. I rubbed my lips against the stiff bud of her nipple, then bit gently, just enough to make her squirm on my lap. She liked the nip of pain with her pleasure, judging from the way her hand dove into my hair to hold me against her.
My jeans were too tight for me to comfortably be this hard, so I eased her backward onto the sleeping bag and stood. She watched me shuck my jeans, and then with her gaze locked on mine and a small smile hovering on her lips, she slowly flipped open the fly ofher own and wiggled her pants and underwear down her hips and kicked them aside.
Fuck, she was pretty. I could have looked at her all night.
“Get down here before I freeze to death,” she ordered.
I couldn’t let that happen. I lowered myself to my side next to her and pulled the blanket over us. I couldn’t stop touching her. So many fucking curves. Her shoulder, her breasts, the dip of her waist, the flair of her hips. Her skin was so smooth, so soft, that I stroked her again and again like she was a cat.
“Jeremiah,” she purred. She nipped at my earlobe, then wiggled closer. With a little smirk, she playfully walked her fingers over my side and then pressed her palm to my spine. “Come here.”
“Where?” I nuzzled her neck.
She parted her legs and put pressure on my spine. “Here.”
With a laugh, I rolled on top of her, settling my hips between her thighs.
And then I stopped breathing. My cock was nestled along the slick channel between her legs, so hard I could feel it throbbing between us. I couldn’t help but grind myself harder against her, just to ease the ache.
“Oh,fuck.” The word gusted from her lips. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to come before you get inside me.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing. I don’t think I’m going to last very long.”
