Page 41 of Big & Bossy

I picked up my speed, slamming into her with more force, my own release building. I could hold out for her, but it had to happen soon.

“Is this what you wanted?” I asked, pushing her legs further up, opening her more to me. I kept my pace on her clit, knew damn well that if she wanted something different she would ask, but just looking at her like this made me want more from her. “Tell me, princess.”

“Yes,” she moaned, her head falling back against the table with an audible thud. Her muscles squeezed me tighter, her little groans growing more desperate, more frequent. “It’s what I wanted. Fuck. You’re gonna make me?—”

She cried out, a guttural, frenzied noise ripping from her throat as her body seized and then released. She gasped for air, her orgasm ripping through her, her walls pulsing. My own orgasm chased hers and she shook gently beneath me as it hit me like a wave, pulling me under the surface, drowning me in her. I’d gladly go out like that.

I kissed her and held her as our climaxes subsided. “Jack,” she muttered, still catching her breath as our movements stilled. Every part of me was blinded by piercing satisfaction, pleasure rolling through my veins like ecstasy. I struggled to focus. “Jackson.”

“Hmm?”

Her hands rested gently on my cheeks as I lowered her legs, minimizing the space between us. “Did you mean what you said before? That I wasn’t the only one in love back then?” She asked, her voice small, words a little broken between breaths.

Her question pulled me back to the present. I slid an arm under her waist and lifted her so she was sitting up. I kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her lips. It hurt that she still didn’t quite believe me, but it was something I was willing to keep reinforcing until she did.

“Jack,” she whispered. A quiet request for an answer.

I rested my forehead against hers, unwilling to let this moment be ruined but knowing damn well she wouldn’t appreciate my silence.

“I don’t think I ever stopped loving you, Mandy.”

Chapter 20

Mandy

Ihadn’t been able to stop thinking about what happened on the flight for the last week. It consumed every waking thought, every dream. Jackson, emotional, vulnerable, nearly in tears as I held his hands, as he told me what happened. Jackson, strong, looming, sexy, buried deep inside of me.

I hadn’t come that hard in a long, fucking time.

“Mandy?”

I turned, hitting my ear with the curling iron, sucking in a breath through my teeth as it burned the tender flesh. “Yeah?”

“You okay?” Amanda asked, sitting down next to me at the table in her pink robe. She plonked her massive case of makeup in front of us. “You seem a bit out of it.”

“Mmm-hmm,” I nodded, catching Harry out of the corner of my eye as he came around the corner. He’d insisted on hanging out with us as we all got ready for Tiana’s bachelorette party, citing the fact that I clearly never told him anything anymore. He was still giving me crap about the fake engagement, stating it was a cruel joke allowing him to believe it was real. “Just thinking about, you know,” I whispered, low enough for only her to hear. She nodded.

Harry didn’t need to know about what happened on the plane. He was so fiercely protective, so adamant that I needed to keep my distance from Jackson for my mental well-being, and although I appreciated that, I didn’t want the inevitable lecture I’d get if he heard that I’d let my guard down and slept with him.

I still wasn’t sure if I regretted it or not.

“So where are we going that requires this much prep?” Harry asked, adjusting his tie in the mirror.

“Some place called Suite 200. Jack said to dress fancy, so that’s what I’m going off of.” I searched through the litany of shades of foundation in Amanda’s bag. You’d think she was a makeup artist with all this shit instead of a chef.

“Do you do everything Jack asks of you?” Harry snorted, pushing his hair back from his face and spraying a bit of hairspray on it.

“No, but his sister is an angel. Don’t take your annoyance with him out on her. I’m not.”

I slid the ring from my finger as I started on my makeup. I didn’t want to ruin that, especially not tonight. The press would likely be all over us, they’d been following me for the past week, including today to Denver. Jackson assigned some of his personal security to follow me around to ensure they didn’t hassle me too much.

Harry saddled up beside us, picking up the ring off the table and inspecting it between his fingers. My stomach sank as he twirled it around. I didn’t want him touching it, I didn’t want anyone touching it. “This thing is so tacky,” he said, his face crinkling with disgust. “It’s not even a diamond. Does he even know how to propose correctly?”

“I didn’t want a diamond,” I snapped, plucking it from his hands and pocketing it in my robe.

Harry glared down at me, blinking in confusion. “I’m sorry, did you design it together?”

“No, but the point remains. I didn’t want a diamond.”

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