Burnout (Jack 'Em Up Book 0) (12 page)

“I’m not done talking to you.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m done listening.”

His grip tightened, burning his fingerprints into my flesh. “You stay away from her, Son. That little heifer is just slummin’ it with you and that’ll only cause trouble. No split-tail is worth that.”

Lava hot shame flowed through me, slow and thorough. It crept into every crevice of my soul and began to eat away at the light that Delilah had planted.

I yanked my arm away, fighting mad, but not willing to go there with him now. He was obviously drunk—though when wasn’t he lately? “You don’t talk about her like that. You know nothing.
Nothing
.” I shoved my finger into his chest, pressing until he flinched. “You don’t get to talk about her. Don’t even speak her name.”

I hurdled past him and slammed back out the front door, letting the unseasonably cold, frozen night beat my exposed skin with pelts of sleet. I jogged to my Camaro and sped off, my father’s words chasing me no matter how fast I drove.

I ended up in Delilah’s neighborhood, as if her beauty was a beacon in my darkness. I parked across the street from her house and glanced down at my phone, contemplating texting her.

But she beat me to it.
Thanks for the ice cream xoxo

You’re welcome.
I sent it, then added,
Goodnight sweetheart xo

A few moments passed as I watched her bedroom window, wondering what she was doing. What she was wearing. Remembering how she smelled.

Is something wrong?
she finally texted back.

How did she know me so well?
Why?

You never call me sweetheart

A smile broke through my frown.
OK. Goodnight Princess

A dim light came on in her room and I held my breath. My phone rang. “Hello?”

“What’s wrong, Blake?”

I sighed. “Nothing.”

“Why won’t you tell me?”

I saw her move behind her curtains and my heart yearned to go to her. “Just a bad night with my dad.”

“Oh.” She paused a moment and disappeared from the window. “What happened?”

I couldn’t tell her. I didn’t want her to know my father had spoken about her like that. “We just fought. Same stuff, different day. Don’t worry about it.”

“Still. I’m sorry.” Her voice got soft and dreamy. “I wish I could see you. You sound so sad, I want to hold you.”

My heart lurched. “You can.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look out your window, Princess.”

A second later, the blinds shifted and her little face peered out. I still had my headlights on, so I knew she could see my idling car. “Oh,” she said again. “You came here?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I dunno.” But I did. I just needed to be in her stratosphere to erase some of the pain.

“I’m coming out,” she said.

“No.”

“What? Why not?”

“It’s freezing out here, Princess. Stay in your warm bed. I’ll go home so you can sleep.”

The line went silent. “Come up here.” Her voice was nearly a whisper, laced with uncertainty.

I hesitated. “No, it’s okay—”

“Blake.”

“What?”

“Please.”

Breath clogged in a hard knot in my throat. I’d never been in her yard, much less her house. I only knew the way and which bedroom was hers because she’d told me once, and her home was as fancy and grand as I’d imagined. Just as out of my league as I knew it would be. I shouldn’t go up. It was asking for more than trouble. It was a heartbreak waiting to happen. Still, I couldn’t stay away from her, no matter how hard I tried.

I killed the engine and cut the lights. I heard her soft intake of breath in the quiet. I stepped out of the car and peered up at her window. I could feel her eyes on me. Sweet, assessing. I shivered a bit in the cold air, wishing I’d thought to grab my jacket when I left.

“You look cold,” she said. “Hurry up.”

I swallowed. “Where should I go?”

Movement shuffled on the other end. “Go to the side door by the garage. I’ll let you in.”

I headed that way, my feet crunching on the gravel, then the nearly frozen grass. She was waiting for me when I got there. By unspoken agreement, we hung up at the same time and she quietly flipped the locks and cracked the door open. She ushered me inside. “Follow me,” she whispered.

I trailed her through a big open kitchen, a silent living room, and up a large staircase. Even in the dark, I could tell her house was decorated with professional precision. It screamed money, prestige. With her little hand gripping mine, she led me down a hallway until we reached the room with a small lamp still burning.

She yanked me inside and closed the door, locking it behind us.

I let my gaze sweep over her bedroom, overcome by her essence as it wrapped around my bruised heart. Her rumpled, soft-looking bed, made with cream and baby blue sheets that matched her eyes. Delicate little porcelain figures decorated a shelf next to her closet, which was propped open, a pile of clothes on the floor.

I finally faced her, unsure what to say. What to do. I felt so out of place, my hands were sweating. “Nice house,” I finally whispered.

Shrugging, she studied me, as if to gauge my feelings. “It’s okay. Personally, I think it’s a bit much. But my mom’s all about appearances as the county judge.”

She seemed to sense my growing apprehension. Gently, she cupped my face and leaned up on tiptoe to kiss me. The fighting anger from earlier vanished as reassurance and comfort washed through me. Her hands moved around my waist as she hugged me close.

“You’re freezing.” She snuggled closer, as if to warm me.

I shrugged and let myself sink into her. This, I realized, was why I’d come. She was my dream that had come true.

We stood like that for a long time. Her sweetness surrounded me, a bubble of peace enclosing us. Finally, she peeked up into my face. “You all right?”

“I am now.”

Her gaze lassoed mine and I couldn’t look away. She didn’t have to call me a liar, I knew she didn’t believe me. Slowly, so slowly it seemed like a dream, her fingers found their way under the edge of my T-shirt to caress my back.

I didn’t move, just held her tight as she worked her way around to my stomach. My chest.

She peered up into my face. Silent. Neither of us spoke as she trailed her hands down to my jeans. I sucked in a breath when she unsnapped the top button. Her eyes sought mine again, as if for reassurance.

I leaned down and kissed her with all the love I had. I poured it into her, hoping against hope that she could feel it.

She drew my shirt off and tossed it across the room, letting herself touch my pecs and trace my biceps.

“Dee . . .”

“Sssshhh.” She placed a finger to my mouth. A smile was flirting with her lips as she bent and kissed my chest.

God.

My hands found themselves in the thickness of her hair, then down to her throat. I placed my lips to her pulse and gently bit.

She sucked in a breath then drew back and pulled off her nightgown to stand before me in nothing but little pink panties.

She reached for me and our fingers interlaced, then she guided my hand to her breast. Her eyes were begging me. And I didn’t want to let her down. I didn’t want to deny either of us. Not a minute longer.

I dropped to my knees, my hands on her hips. I pressed a kiss to her hipbone, right where delicate lace ended and flesh began. I traced my hands up her thighs to cup her bottom, feeling her quiver under my touch.

I looked up and found her staring down at me, nothing but tenderness in her eyes.

And it broke me.

I dipped my head to her belly, searching deep in my heart to find a way to make this perfect for her. Yes, I’d been with other girls, but none of them held a candle to Delilah. I wanted to make love for the first time in my life.

Her fingers slipped into my hair. “Blake?”

I glanced up.

“I love you.”

Heat pricked my eyes. No. She could not love me.

Nothing like I loved her.

I couldn’t speak. I would not ruin this moment.

Instead, I stood and led her to the bed to show her how I felt.

Delilah

B
lake loved me. He didn’t have to say it. I knew it, as sure as I knew my name. It was crystal clear in the way he touched me. In every warm caress he placed on my flesh. The way he gazed into my eyes like he couldn’t believe I was real.

I crawled up the bed to lie on my back and held my hands out for him. He shucked his jeans and joined me in only black boxer briefs, his warm skin sliding along mine. God, he felt so good.

He sifted his fingers through my hair, tangling some locks around his calloused knuckles. I could tell he was trying to hide it, but he was nervous. I suppressed a smile . . . I’d never seen Blake be anything less than bold and take-charge. Like a mini hurricane was always roaring through him.

Yes, I wanted to lose my virginity to him, but I also wanted to comfort him. Give him something of myself I hadn’t given to anyone else. He was so deep under my skin, it felt like I was being gnawed at all the time. I needed him to calm the raging ache inside me.

I wrapped him in my arms, letting my hands roam his warm, taut back. Down his waist.

He groaned into my mouth as he kissed me, heat flaring between us like a living flame. I shifted to my side and wrapped my leg around his hip, feeling his hardness pressing into me. It was a foreign sensation, but I embraced it.

He rocked against me gently, as if giving me a chance to get used to him. To how this would be between us. I stared into his dark eyes when he broke the kiss and cupped my jaw.

I wanted to tell him a thousand times that I loved him. Reassure him. Instead, I dipped in and kissed his Adam’s apple, his collarbone. Traced my tongue up the cords of his throat to behind his ear. As heat spiraled up through me, I pressed my chest toward his, seeking his touch.

He obliged, his hot hand on my breast feeding the flames. Now it was my turn to moan and writhe against him, my body going on autopilot, like it knew what to do. I simply had to follow its lead.

He slowed me when I wanted to rush, gentled the roar just under my skin as he bathed me with kisses. My eyes, my chin, my belly. Shifting me to my back, he slowly drew my panties down my legs then stared up at me, an aching tenderness in his eyes.

Again, I held my hands out to him and he slid on top of me, his boxers gone, so we were 100 % skin-to-skin. His hot, dark gaze held mine, his hand caressing down my shoulder. “I want to do this,” he whispered. “More than you know . . . but, I just realized I didn’t bring any protection.”

Love unfurled through me in a new, overwhelming tidal wave. “It’s okay,” I said, not letting go of his shoulders. “I’m on the pill.”

His brow furrowed. “You are?”

I smiled and kissed his nose. “Yeah. I got myself on it after that night . . .”

The shift in his expression told me he remembered, perhaps regretted, turning me down when I’d practically begged him that night by the beach. But this was so much more perfect.

“I’ve never . . .” his voice drifted off.

“You’ve always had a condom?” I forced myself to ask, hating the thought of him with other girls.

He nodded.

“Then we’re good, right?”

His gaze dipped to my lips then back up. “We’re good, Princess. If you’re sure.”

I arched my hips against his, rubbing my soft parts against his wonderfully hard ones. Yes, I was more than sure. And I was stupidly happy that, in at least one way, I’d be his first, too.

I gasped as he pressed into me as gently as he could. He took his time, entering me with a tenderness that brought tears to my eyes.

He stilled above me when he was all the way in. “You okay?”

I nodded, holding his gaze. Yes, it stung a little, but I wasn’t about to let that get in the way of this. Still, he didn’t move. I could only guess to give me a chance to get accustomed to him filling me. The ache eased a bit and I wiggled experimentally. Okay, still sore.