Tempted (16 page)

“
Are you kidding? Without you I’d have never discovered who I really am. I would never have climbed out of that hole I’d buried myself in.”

“
It almost seems we were made for each other.”

He gave her a light squeeze and kissed the top of her head. “My own personal little piece of heaven. Someone up there must really like me.”

“
Someone down here does too,” she said, gazing up at him with a sly grin.

His eyebrows shot up. “Sarah!” he exclaimed, shocked. “Are you
flirting
? And is that a manicure? Someone learned how to be a woman pretty quickly, huh?”

She responded by pressing her lips to his. With a groan he opened his mouth and tasted her for the first time in months. It had seemed like an eternity, and now Sarah was starving, craving everything that his kiss promised. Her hands clutched at his shoulders as her tongue caressed his eagerly, anxious for more of him, more of what he had already taught her.

“
Jackson,” she whispered when he yanked his mouth away. “I want to learn the rest. I want…”

Her eyes filled in the blanks for him and he nodded, his eyes glazed over with passion. “I know,” he said, his voice thick with desire. “I want to teach you. But I want to do things right for you, Sarah. I want to ask you something first.”

“
What’s that?”

He pulled away, forcing her to drop her arms from around his neck. He dug into his pocket and produced a square black box. “I would have been here sooner but I had to take a trip to Vivian’s house first.”

“
What for?”

“
This.”

He opened the box and extended it to her, revealing an antique engagement ring. Sarah gasped as she eyed the recently polished gold band and solitary, square emerald flanked by diamonds.

“
It has been passed down by the Bennett men for generations. It was my mother’s before my parents split up. Now it’s yours. That is, if you will accept it.”

He took the ring from the box and tilted it to the side. “Look.”

Sarah squinted and faintly made out the Guardian’s crest etched on the gold band inside. She smiled.

“
I love it.”

“
And I love you. Will you marry me, Sarah?”

Those pesky tears filled her eyes for what had to be the hundredth time that week. She nodded, knowing that if she spoke the only sound that would come out would be a sob. Jackson slid the ring onto her finger and pulled her in for another kiss.

They spent the evening snuggled on her couch, planning the rest of their lives. Sarah stared at the emerald on her hand dreamily and thought about the life that lay ahead of them. She wasn’t sure how old her new body was, but she estimated about thirty. The time they had left would have seemed short in her angelic life. But as she rested her head on Jackson’s shoulder, she realized that walking the earth alone for centuries had absolutely nothing on this.

Chapter 20: The Learning

“
Thank God we’re finally home!”

“
Seriously, I never thought we’d get to slip away.”

Sarah removed her white high-heeled sandals and collapsed onto the bed with a relieved sigh. Her tulle skirt billowed out around her. Jackson loosened his tie and eyed his wife with pride. She made a beautiful bride, with her curled, upswept hair dotted with flowers, and strapless wedding gown. Vivian had chosen the ensemble down to the last detail. She’d even selected his tux, complete with white jacket and black ascot tie.

For four long weeks they’d waited for this day. When Vivian learned of their engagement, she refused to accompany them to the justice of the peace for a simple ceremony. She declared that she would not be a part of their joining unless they threw a wedding. She appointed herself planner, and since Sarah hadn’t the slightest idea how to go about planning a wedding, she gladly handed the reigns over to Vivian.

Four weeks later, they were married in the ballroom of a hotel neither of them could afford to stay at, in front of guests that Jackson knew from his childhood, with a few of his battle buddies thrown into the mix. Reniel stood as his best man.

In the time between Jackson’s proposal and the wedding, the two had gone about finding a new place to live, one that would be big enough for them plus little Jack and Mason. It seemed that Rochelle’s health was not going to improve and she’d been checked into hospice for her end of life care. Sarah was nervous about taking on her stepmother duties, but Jackson assured her that she would do fine.

Sarah watched as Jackson walked toward her, his fingers working at the buttons down the front of his crisp white shirt. Her palms were damp as she twisted at the skirt of her gown. Her heart was racing, her skin was tingling, and he hadn’t even touched her yet.

“
Relax,” he said gently, bringing his hands to her bare shoulders. “What happened to the flirty girl who wanted to learn?”

His smile pushed away her reservations and she giggled. “She’s still here, just a little less flirty and a lot more nervous.”

“
We won’t do anything before you’re ready, okay?”

She nodded, standing when he grabbed her hand and tugged. Her eyes traveled down the length of bare, mahogany skin exposed by his open shirt. She wanted to touch him, but kept her fingers wrapped around the tulle at her sides. She would let him guide her.

He motioned for her to turn around, and she obeyed, giving him her back. For a moment, there was nothing but silence as she felt his eyes traveling over the back of her neck and over her bare shoulders. Then his fingers were at the zipper running along her spine. Her wedding gown fell into a pool at her feet, and she stood there wearing only a corset, panties, and the petticoat that Vivian had insisted upon.

Jackson’s lips found the curve where her neck met her shoulder in a lingering kiss, and his hands rested at her hips. His front met her back, and she realized that at some point he had completely removed his shirt. Her head fell back against him as he left a trail of kisses across one shoulder, pausing at the back of her neck for a spine tingling nip before moving onto the other.

With a speed that left Sarah breathless, he had the drawstring of her petticoat untied. It too fell to the floor with her dress. She stiffened, very aware of the fact that she was almost completely naked. He turned her to face him, his hands sliding over her shoulders and down her arms in a spine-tingling caress. As his fingers intertwined with hers, he captured her mouth, running his tongue slowly across the lower lip. He’d never kissed her more thoroughly; he nipped and tasted and prodded with his tongue until she thought she would melt from the dizzying sensations he was creating.

He pushed her gently back to the bed. She sat, sliding back across the cool comforter and toward the pillows resting on the headboard. She watched, her eyes wide, as he removed his last few pieces of clothing.

Her cheeks and neck flamed hot, but she could not look away from the beauty in front of her. Smooth, supple skin, like coffee laced with lots of cream, blanketed muscles that created ripples and valleys along his chest and torso. Dark hair sprinkled across his chest and tapered in over his abdomen until it reached…her eyes felt as if they were bulging from her head, they were so wide when they came to rest on his swollen member.

As he walked toward her, she shuddered in anticipation. That beautiful man would very shortly be on her, in her, around her. She clenched her legs together at the fluttering that had begun low in her belly, and was now spreading to her feminine core.

He knelt on the bed and grasped her ankles firmly, pulling her gently until she was lying on her back. He kissed her again, his mouth trailing from her lips down to her neck as he worked at the ribbon on the front of her corset. As he pulled the uncomfortable undergarment aside and stared down at her body she felt herself blushing again. She wished her breasts were bigger and that her waist was smaller. She wished her legs were just a little bit longer.

As if he sensed the direction of her thoughts, he grasped her chin gently and forced her to look into his eyes. They were dark with desire, the pupils so wide she could barely make out the gray irises.

“
You’re perfect,” he whispered, trailing his hand over one small, perky breast. “Just like this, Sarah. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The love and acceptance in his eyes gave truth to his words. Overwhelmed with emotion, as she often was these days, Sarah reached up and pulled Jackson down for another kiss. This time she did the exploring, sweeping the inside of his mouth with her tongue, and drinking thoroughly from his mouth. His body came down over hers, heavy, solid, protective.

A low sound, almost a growl, rumbled in his chest as she moved her lips to his neck to taste his skin as he had hers. The growl became a moan as she brought her hands up to his chest, caressing the soft skin and scoring it lightly with her fingernails as she tentatively flicked out her tongue over his sweet skin.

He snatched the control back from her in an instant, fulfilling his promise to teach her. He left not an inch of her untouched. His hands palmed her breasts, his fingers teased the sensitive tips. His lips replaced them as he ran his hand down over her ribs and waist. As his tongue circled one peach-colored nipple, his hands busied themselves with the final undergarment separating them, her white lace panties.

Sarah gasped and arched her hips to meet his as he settled between her legs. She felt him, full, thick, and pressed against her. In the back of her mind she knew there would be pain, but nothing would get her to the pleasure that waited on the other side except Jackson being inside of her. She wanted it, the joining of their bodies and souls, more than she’d ever wanted anything.

She squirmed and writhed beneath him as his fingers slipped through the chestnut curls between her thighs and found her most intimate place. His breathing grew heavier, and his fingers shook as he slipped first one, then a second finger inside, hinting at what was soon to come.

He took his time, allowing her to get used to the sensation, bringing her closer and closer to the explosive ending that she knew was only seconds away.

“
Jackson please,” she begged. Everything he’d done so far had been wonderful, far better than she’d imagined, but she was ready for more. “I’m ready now.”

“
Sarah,” he groaned against her shoulder. “I want this to be perfect for you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“
I don’t care,” she choked out between breaths. His hand never ceased its movement between her legs.

“
All right.”

He reluctantly pulled his hand away and spread her legs wider. He came down between her hips and pressed forward, guiding himself into her. She felt as if her inner channel was so impossibly stretched that she would rip in two, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to breathe as Jackson thrust forward swiftly, breaking through the barrier of her virginity.

She couldn’t stop the strangled cry that came from the back of her throat as hot, searing pain ripped through her. She shuddered against him, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as he paused inside of her.

He stroked her hair and sprinkled kisses across her face, murmuring softly to her as she breathed through the intrusive pain. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he whispered against her ear. “I’ll never hurt you again.”

His voice was strained, every muscle in his body tight. He trembled in her arms as he gazed down at her. Their eyes stayed connected as he slowly pulled away and surged forward again, burying himself deeply. He slowly repeated the motion again and again, until the pain began to melt into something else.

She instinctively tilted her hips toward his, drawing him even deeper into her sheath, gasping at the heavenly pleasure. She didn’t know how she knew to match the rhythm of his hips with her own, but somehow she did. She must have been doing it right, because her every movement caused a low groan of approval from Jackson.

Soon, the heavenly pleasure gave in to the force of something bigger. It grew and swelled, culminating in a colorful flash of brilliant color and light. Her back arched and her toes curled, and a sharp scream tore from her lips. Seconds later, Jackson experienced the same.

When the two had calmed, and lay quietly in each other’s arms, Sarah smiled up at him.

“
You, my love, are the best teacher a girl could ever have.”

He laughed and tugged at a curly brown lock. “You’re a fast learner. And just so you know…tip of the iceberg.”

Sarah’s jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide. There was more? Of course there was more. She looked forward to learning with great anticipation.

Chapter 21:
Endings and Beginnings

One year later…

Something evil was in the building. Jackson felt its presence the moment he stepped inside. Mason growled, the hair on the back his neck standing up.

“
Demon,” Sarah whispered, her hand coming protectively to little Jack’s shoulder. Three months into their marriage, Rochelle had died, and Jackson Jr. had turned to Sarah for comfort. She loved the boy like her own and was fiercely protective of him. She knew that he possessed a gift, like his father, though it had yet to manifest. She was determined that no demon would lay a hand on him.