Page 32 of Jackson

I wanted to find the motherfucker who had hurt him enough to illicit that kind of response and show them whatrealfear was like.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

His eyes reflected in my phone’s light as I slid it face down toward the wall so that the light bounced off the bottom of the top bunk and cocooned us in the soft glow. He was watching me curiously, no hint of being scared or upset at all reflected back at me.

“I think so.” I hooked my leg up over my knee. “I hope so.”

“Is Roxy okay?”

I smiled. “Yeah, she’s all good.”

Ayen slowly stretched his legs out in front of him. He scooted across the small twin mattress in order to come closer to me, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. We were only a few inches apart now, enough where I could feel the heat of his body refracting off of him.

“Is this about earlier?” His eyes were drawn to the floor.

Shit.

“Yes.” My throat was tight as I said the word.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d been rejected plenty of times in my forty-five years on this Earth. I’d always taken it in stride and never once thought badly of the other person who was doing the rejecting. That was simply a fact of life and one that I accepted wholeheartedly.

This felt worse for some reason, though. Like I was suddenly back in high school and getting turned down by my first crush.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

Incredulously, I asked, “What areyousorry for?”

“I...” His shoulders sagged inward, practically pinching up against his ears. “I got you in trouble, didn’t I?”

“Why would you think that?”

He glanced at me. “Isn’t that why you were sitting with the COs?”

I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing. “No, of course not.”

Was it better if I was honest with him about what my intentions were with sitting with the COs?

Or did I hold off on that for now and steer our conversation elsewhere?

It might freak him out if he thought I was fishing for more info on his background, especially with a murder charge tacked onto him.

“I wanted to talk about earlier, too.” I moved again, hooking my right leg up onto the mattress in order to face him fully. Not being able to help myself and because I was clearly half a masochist, I reached out and grabbed at the hands resting in his lap. “How did you feel about what happened earlier?”

“I liked it,” he whispered.

My heart raced in my chest. “Do you want to do it again?”

My voice had dropped low, thick with want for him. I could already feel my cock growing hard in my pants and had to force myself to remain still until Ayen answered me. Ineededhis truth—to know I wasn’t the only one feeling this insane spark between us.

“Yes.” He swallowed hard enough that his Adam’s apple bobbed. “D... Do you?”

“Absolutely.” I let go of one of his hands and cupped his face, pulling him closer to me. “Tell me to stop if you need me to.”

He shook his head in my hand, his tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip.

I yanked him in for another kiss, this time not holding back like I had in the forest. Here, no one was around to interrupt us, or catch us in the act. I could savor the taste of him, memorize every part of him as much as he let me.

Ayen exhaled out a small noise when I swiped my tongue against the seam of his mouth, beckoning him to open it for me and let me in. He only hesitated for a second before he was parting his lips, allowing me to deepen our kiss.

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