Sexual Games [The Heroes of Silver Springs 8] (Siren Publishing Classic) (32 page)

He almost lost her. All these years, he had never allowed himself to think about that, to worry about it. It was hitting him now, though, pounding at him until his heart felt like a punching bag, heavy with the knowledge of how close it had been and bruised from the repeated blows that it likely wasn’t the last time they would find themselves in a similar situation. Only next time, it might be far worse, and he didn’t know the hell to handle it.

She gave him fifteen minutes before he heard her come sashaying back into the living room.

“You okay, Slick?”

“Yeah.” Jackson straightened, moved to the stove, and stirred the chicken soup. The pot simmering was far more than the two of them could eat alone, but Terri and Thaddeus would be back at some point, and he fully expected Cameron to show up any minute, too.

“Mind if I turn on some music? It’s too quiet in here.”

“No, go ahead.” He heard the television power on, caught traces of words as she flipped through the channels before settling on the Music Choice station that played modern-day rock. Though he preferred classical or classic rock himself, he recognized the fast beat tempo of Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer” as it streamed through the television speakers.

“I love this song.”

Jackson heard her singing along, her voice growing louder as she came up behind him. When he turned, she grabbed his hands and started to pull him into the living room.

“Mal.” He used her name as a warning.

She sang along with the song, her body swaying sexily to the beat, her eyes gleaming with wicked temptation a she spun around to face him. “The tie is already gone, handsome.”

“So is my rhythm. I can’t dance.” But, damn, the effect of watching her went straight to his cock. His shaft thickened, his balls tightening as his senses went into overload.

“Everybody can dance.” She dropped his hands, pressed her swaying body to his, and gripped his hips. “Follow my lead.”

Jackson splayed his hand on the small of her back and moved his hips.

Mallory beamed up at him. “That’s it.”

Jackson reached his free hand behind her, molding her ass with his palm, and watched as intense lust filled her eyes. She arched her lower body into him, extended a leg around his, and ground her pussy against his thigh.

“Sweet Jesus,” he growled as he moved with her, the heat between them building to boiling temperatures.

A wicked smile tilted her lips. “Thought you didn’t know how to dance, Slick.”

“I’m a fast learner.”
At some things.
Apparently, he still hadn’t learned this woman had the power to destroy him.

Her hands moved from his hips, skimmed up his back, and sent icy slivers of hunger raining through his body.

Jackson dipped his head, catching her mouth in a kiss that drove him to the brink of insanity. Her tongue tangled with his, dancing, demanding, and he felt himself go over the edge. He dropped his other hand to her ass and squeezed as he pulled her more firmly against him. Whips of heat slashed at his cock. The need to be inside her sopping pussy controlled his movements and mind.

Absently, he heard the song play out, segueing into Nickelback’s “Never Gonna Be Alone.” He licked the inside of her mouth, dragged his tongue down her pallet, and nipped her bottom lip as he eased back.

She gazed up at him through heavy-lidded eyes filled with so many emotions it took his breath away. “Truth or dare?” she asked softly.

Jackson stared at her, mesmerized by the challenge that took over her eyes. “I don’t know.” Either one could spell trouble for him right now.

“Then I’ll choose for you. Truth.” She lifted a hand to the side of his face and skimmed the backs of her fingers down his cheek. “What happened? Why does it seem like you’re the one who is running scared now?”

“That’s two questions.”

“Combine them together as one.”

Jackson took a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes. “I nearly lost you,” he finally answered through the tightness in his throat.

Her hand slipped to his nape, her fingers toying with the back of his hair. “You could’ve lost me plenty of times over the years. Maybe not in the same way, but I wouldn’t have been yours.”

He understood what she meant. She could’ve given up her game, could’ve stopped trying to get him in bed, and taken on any number of boyfriends. He knew she had been with other men. She’d had her flings, but none of those men ever got close enough to her to stake a claim.

“You would’ve still been in this world.”

She nodded slowly, her gaze never leaving his. “A world where you would have still wanted me. Your turn.”

She was right. He would never stop wanting her. “Truth or dare?”

A sinfully sensuous smile unfolded on her lips. “While I can’t wait to get to the dare portion of this game, I’ll go for truth this time.”

“Where did the fear go?”

“Apparently into you. Here’s the question that pushed it out. What is the difference between us loving one another, spending our lives together, then waiting to reunite in Heaven and loving one another, but not being together out of fear we might lose one another? The answer I got is that, either way, we risk ending up alone, but we get time, hopefully many years, to enjoy our lives together before that day comes.”

Great answer.
It was the one he had always had in his head, too. He simply lost track of it somewhere in the last twenty-four hours. “Do you love me?”

“You didn’t ask truth or dare.”

“I’m not playing anymore.”

“Yes, I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

Her eyes glistened with tears, but he didn’t think they were ones of sadness. He sensed they were more from relief, from finally letting go of everything she had fought so hard to keep bottled inside for so many years, from surrendering at last.

“I
will
always love you,” she whispered.

* * * *

Jackson kissed her, and for the first time in her life, she felt truly free. Every piece of her life snapped together in a perfect puzzle that predicted a long, happy life with the man she loved. And, okay, that last part might be wishful thinking, but she would wish and think on it gratefully for the rest of her life.

He broke the kiss far too soon, and she nearly protested before she saw the devious glint in his eyes.

“I dare you to strip for me.”

Mallory lifted a brow and ran her tongue teasingly over her bottom lip. “Are we playing again?”

“We are, but this game is all about dares. Are you up for it?”

Mallory stepped back, immediately missing the warmth of his body against hers. She waited a beat, listening to the more upbeat song now playing on the television, and felt the tempo move through her. Locking her gaze with his, she let her body go. She swayed in a sensual ripple of her body that began at her feet and traveled up. She hooked her fingers in the hem of the T-shirt she had found in his drawer and slowly pulled it up, purposely revealing a scant inch of flesh at a time.

He gulped, the muscles in his neck tight as his gaze dropped to her hands, climbing up her body as the shirt did. His focus stopped on her breasts, and she smiled as she pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. She hadn’t bothered to put on her panties after her shower, hoping they would soon end up right here.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said, his voice husky and thick with arousal.

Mallory covered her breasts with her hands, rolled her nipples gently between her thumbs and forefingers, and bit back a laugh when she saw him take a half step forward before he stopped himself.

Enjoying the fact that he was so obviously on the brink of losing all control, Mallory flattened her hands beneath her breasts and dragged her fingers down her body. She widened her stance, arrowed one hand to her pussy, and used her thumb and middle finger to spread her pussy lips, touching her clit with the tip of her forefinger.

Jackson made a sound of pure torture and intense need. “Christ.”

“Want to take over for me?”

He answered by closing the distance between them, catching her waist, and spinning her around. He pulled her back against him, one hand instantly finding her breast while the other cupped her pussy.

“You like teasing me, don’t you?” His heated words fanned the sensitized flesh on the side of her neck.

Mallory grinned even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “I’ve always liked teasing you. That’s one thing that isn’t going to change, my love.” She felt his eyelashes flutter on her neck and knew he had closed his eyes on that.

“Say it again,” he told her softly.

“What? My love?” Mallory reached a hand behind her and found his nape.

“Yes.” His hand on her breast began a gentle, tantalizing massage that had her head falling back on his shoulder.

She angled her head so she could look at him. “How about I say I love you instead?”

“I could hear you say that every second for the rest of our lives.”

“I dare you to move that hand.”

He squeezed her breast. “It’s already moving.”

Mallory grinned. “Wrong hand, wise guy.”

“Oh, you mean this one?” His hand on her pussy glided up, and then he slipped a finger between her pussy lips, grazed it over her clit, and pressed at her sopping opening with the tip.

“That one,” Mallory groaned, rotating her hips in an effort to draw that finger inside her. Her hips bucked at the first thrust of that wide digit into her flaming channel. Her hand fisted in the back of his hair, an uncontrollable shiver racing through her body as he plunged, adding a second finger and stealing her breath. Passion grew razor-sharp claws as he held her tightly against him, finger-fucking her and applying a gentle pressure to her clit with his thumb.

“Jackson.” Her head rolled involuntarily on his shoulder as rapturous sensations sizzled through her.

“I dare you to come for me.” He pinched her nipple, stretched his arm farther over her chest to reach her other breast, and delivered the same stupendous assault to that nipple. Between her legs, his fingers thrust in and out of her pussy in a rapid rhythm that sent juices streaming down her inner thighs. “I dare you to come apart in my arms.”

She couldn’t have resisted the challenge if she had wanted to. The third finger he added to the other two did her in. Pleasure tore through her, streamed out of her in waves of cum and sounds of ecstasy that had her body jerking in his arms.

“God, that’s amazing. I want to feel you do it again.” His fingers eased out of her pussy, smearing her wetness over her upper thigh and hip as he moved both of his hands to her waist. His cock pressed against her lower back, hard, thick and insistent, and she wanted it inside her now.

She reached behind her back, pushing her hands between their bodies, and groped to unfasten his belt. She growled in frustration, narrowing her eyes at him when he had the nerve to laugh at her.

“I dare you to undo those.”

He shook his head. “Uh-uh, in this game, I’m the one who gets to issue the dares.”

“That’s not fair.” But she managed on her own anyway, finally releasing the buckle of his belt along with the button beneath and sliding down the zipper. She delved a hand inside his briefs and giggled when his eyes rolled back in his head as she curled her fingers around his stiff shaft. “What’s the matter, handsome?”

“I think my game is backfiring on me.”

“That’s the trouble with daring people.” She stroked his cock as she spoke, applying just enough pressure to draw a low-throated groan from his lips. “Sometimes you just don’t know how it will turn out.”

“I do.” He turned her, seemed to hesitate for a nanosecond before making up his mind, then walked her toward the coffee table. “I can’t make it to the bedroom, Mal. I’ve got to be inside you now.” One hand moved to her shoulder and slowly slid down her back as he eased her forward.

Mallory released his cock, flattening her hands on the coffee table as he bent her over it. The surprise of the position he was putting her in heightened the anticipation coursing in a white-hot rush of need through her system. He
was
out of control. She had expected him to insist they take this portion of their game to the bedroom, to want to go slow, to need to be face-to-face. He didn’t do any of that. Stuffy, restrained Jackson Graham had lost it enough to make love to her right there in the middle of his living room, from behind, and apparently had no intentions of taking it slow.

She bent her head, watching between her wide-spread legs as the head of his cock moved toward the opening of her pussy. The sight taunted a plea out of her. “Jackson, please. I need you inside me.”

He didn’t make her ask again. With a firm grip on her hips, he guided his cock into her pussy in a single thrust that sank him all the way in.

Pleasure ripped through Mallory, the orgasm from mere moments ago already a thing of the past as he started to pump. He rolled his hips on the inward thrusts, reaching parts of her cunt she hadn’t known existed. She slid her hands forward, curling her fingers around the edge of the coffee table and holding on tight.