Jasper backs me up until I’m bumping into the bed and falling backward. When I’m sprawled out on it, he kicks my legs apart and crawls over me. It’s almost impossible to breathe with his heavy body draped over mine, but it’s perfect, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
He nuzzles my throat, his breath hot against my already overheated skin.
“You’ve been here three times this week, Arlo,” he murmurs near my ear.
“Are you complaining?”
He shakes his head. “Not at all. Just starting to worry about you.”
I guess I hadn’t realized how I’ve relied on him to drag me back from the abyss on the bad days. And today was a real fucking bad day. “Worried you won’t be able to get it up? I know it’s hard to keep up with someone so much younger.”
He huffs a laugh, then grinds his very hard cock against my thigh. “You think that’s gonna be a problem?”
No. It’s not a problem. Hasn’t been since day one, and probably won’t be for many, many years to come. I give myself a mental shake. We can’t be doing this in years. We just can’t be. I’m not sure my heart would survive, for one. And for two, I’ve gotta get Salem and Nora. That has to be my main priority.
Before I have time to spiral, Jasper slots his lips over mine. My breath catches, and I tangle my fingers in his hair, dragging him closer and melting into his kiss.
He explores my mouth like he hasn’t done it a hundred times over. Like this isn’t a game we’ve already played. Like he doesn’t already know every inch of me. I love it and I hate it and I can’t live without it, but I really fucking need to figure out how.
I didn’t think sex was anything special until I had it with him. I’m not sure if it’s because, unlike my bumbling ex-boyfriends, he’s older and more experienced, or if it’s just because it’shim,and that makes it all better.
His tongue sinks past my lips, then he’s retreating and climbing off me. “Get in the bed and wait for me. I have to grab lube.” At my confused face, he grins. “We used up the bedroom lube last time you were here. I’ve gotta go grab some from the bathroom.”
When he disappears into the bathroom, I adjust, lying in the center of the bed.
He’s not gone long, and when he steps into the room, my eyes snap in his direction. He’s gloriously naked, miles of tan skin on display, his hard cock bobbing between thick thighs with each step he takes toward me.
I could live and breathe for those thighs. Could have my head squeezed between them, popped like a balloon, and thank him for it. He’s just so fucking hot, and his thighs are something all their own.
Opening the cap of the small bottle of lube, he climbs up beside me, grabbing my leg and pushing it back toward my chest. His gaze on my body feels like a caress as he slicks his fingers.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Arlo,” he whispers. “Every time you share yourself with me this way, I can’t believe it.”
I whimper, my body burning hot at the praise. I might not have a lot going for me, but I do have my looks, and something about being under the perusal of Jasper Tate makes me feel all squirmy inside.
“You ready for my fingers, baby boy?”
Like always, his nickname for me makes me all shivery and weak. It doesn’t matter how strong I am outside this room, outside this bed; when Jasper sinks his fingers into me, crooning outbaby boylike it’s a prayer directly to God, I’m putty. Weak and pliant and fucking needy.
He reduces me to nothing but whimpers and moans and the burning, aching want to have him fill me. To fall apart on his cock. To be his in every way.
It’s a shame we so rarely get what we want.
Chapter 2
Jasper
Theysaydrowningissilent. You slip underwater. Maybe you fight. You kick. You thrash. You try and try and try to surface. But you don’t. You can’t.
And finally, finally, you’re forced to inhale.
Your body gives up before your mind does. It decides it knows what’s best for you. It’s so desperate for air that it will take anything it can get. It doesn’t understand that your conscious mind knows a few things your instincts don’t.
It doesn’t know that you’re not surrounded by air.
It doesn’t know that the next breath will kill you.
That’s what being in love with Arlo is like.
