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“You wanted to talk to me.” Jessa changes the subject, and I let it go for now.
“I was thinking about Travis and your parents. I know you mentioned visiting them a few times.” She pinches her lips together in a thin line. It’s a sore subject. She’s never been able to pay her respects, and Logan listed their cemetery among the places she can never return to in order to remain hidden. “I thought we might talk about bringing their ashes here.”
“What?” Her eyes quickly fill with tears, and at first I wonder if I’ve stepped out of line before she adds, “You would do that for me?”
I puff an incredulous breath through my lips. “It’s like you don’t know who you’re talking to. I would do anything for you.” When she doesn’t continue the conversation, I fill it with what I was thinking about when I woke up this morning. “I wasn’t sure if your parents had specific wishes about resting there.”
She shakes her head. “No. They had no remaining family. Their lawyer picked that place.” Her eyes flit between mine. “Can you really do that?”
I shrug. “We’ll keep their plot where it is to keep up appearances. It will just be empty. I can put a couple of the guys on it.” I point over to the new apple saplings we planted near the water when we first arrived. “I thought you might like to work with me on a sanctuary in their memory.”
She glances at where I’m pointing. It’s only when she clears her throat that I realize she averted her gaze to hide her tears. “It’s coming up on the anniversary of my death. I’d like to bring them here—I meanhome.” She chokes on the word.
Family meant everything to Jessa. I know it still does.
I stretch my arm around her and pull her into me.
We sit like that, nestled in silence and enjoying our coffee for a while.
I’m right where I want to be, and I’m in no hurry.
I suffered ten years without her. I want the rest of our time together to go by as slowly as possible.
With a deep sigh, Jessa leans forward and sets her empty mug on the table in front of us. Then she lifts the blanket and slides her leg over mine, straddling my lap and wrapping the knit blanket around us.
I set my mug on the side table and shift in my seat, grinding my hips into her as I adjust my position. Her mouth opens on a silentoh, and she combs her fingers up the back of my neck before scratching her nails into my hair and along my scalp.
My eyes roll up at her gentle touch, and I groan. “You know, we can always go paddleboarding tomorrow.”
Her breath is warm against my face as she leans forward, licking along my lower lip.
She knows she’s on borrowed time when she teases me like this.
Slipping my hands under the blanket, I tense my abdomen to lift us off the couch, and she groans against my mouth. “I want to stay out here.”
When I relax into the seat, she reaches between us, rubbing the length of my erection over my shorts before hooking her fingers into the waistband and freeing me. I lift my hips to help her out, but I refuse to stand and break our contact, so my underwear rests tight around my upper thighs.
The sun is warm on my face, and I tug the blanket off, dropping it onto the deck. “We’ll stay out here, but you’re not in charge of how this is going to go.”
The slight tick at the corner of her mouth tells me she likes the thought of that.
Reaching between us, I drag my knuckles over her panties, pausing when I’m met with her wet warmth. My eyes flash to hers, and her cheeks flush.
She knows I know she’s ready for me.
I tip my head back, watching her intimately as she hovers above me. “Kiss me.”
She bites her bottom lip, then licks along the plump flesh to moisten her mouth for me before leaning in.
As she presses her mouth against mine, I reach behind her, drawing my fingers along her ass, then between her legs to pull her panties to the side.
We groan in stereo as I line her up against my length and grip her hips, sliding her all of the way down.
“Jack.” She whispers my name on a desperate breath as she looks deep into my eyes.
I sometimes wonder if the realization is hitting her all over again. We are here, she is safe, and we are together. It’s how I always feel in this moment.
We are the sum of two souls that have been shattered, only to find our way back to each other.
