Page 42 of When We Are Complete

There’s this connection between us, the same one that’s always been there—it’s magnetic, and we’re pulled together by forces I can’t resist. No matter how much I want to keep my distance, to protect myself from getting hurt again, there’s something about him I just can’t seem to walk away from.

I’ve been telling myself to ignore how I feel about him. That we’re just two people who happen to be working together, both trying to pull off this festival, who are maybe kind-of friends with a complicated past.

But sitting here now, his arm around me, it doesn’t seem like work. We don’t feel like kind-of friends. It feels like home. Despite everything—despite the history, the heartbreak—there’sa part of me that remembers how it felt to lean on him, to let myself be held.

His scent joins the warmth of his arm—caramel, sawdust and rain—and heat shoots straight to my core. Outside, thunder growls, lightning flashes, rain pelting the roof above.

He clears his throat, a gravelly sound that seems to vibrate through me. I look up into the deep of his dark brown eyes, and for a long moment, the silence between us stretches, pulsates.

He swallows, gaze raking over my face. “It’s so good to hold you again. God, Kelly, I’m—” He looks away, jaw clenched, then back at me.

I look down, unsure of what to say.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he continues. “You know how my dad was—how he drilled it into me to be responsible. And when Jenny told me she was pregnant...” He trails off, helplessness written all over his face. “I had no choice. I didn’t want to drag you into my mess. You’ve always had such an amazing future ahead of you. You didn’t need to be saddled with me and an unplanned pregnancy. I was trying to protect you. I loved you so damn much.”

A mix of old anger and fresh pain strikes me. I swallow hard, trying to keep control of my emotions, but the truth bubbles out. “You could’ve talked to me, Jake. We could’ve figured it out together. I would have stuck by you. It wasn’t something that had to break us.”

His expression crumbles, and suddenly he’s the one looking lost. He curses under his breath, shaking his head. “Don’t say that. Fuck! Every single day since, I’ve been living with that choice. Losing you, losing us....”

“Jake—” My words are cut short by the raw honesty on his face, the kind of honesty that breaks down barriers and bares souls.

“It’s always been you,” he says, voice low as he stares at me: I’m the very center of his universe. “Always.”

The world tilts dangerously. This apology, this confession, it isn’t just words. It’s years ofwhat-ifsandmight-have-beens. It’s every lonely night and every hollow victory. It’s everything I wanted to hear and everything I feared would destroy me.

He turns to face me fully, his legs bracketing me as we sit on the dusty wooden floor in front of the fire, and our eyes lock. The air crackles, and we’re so close that each breath he takes seems to draw me nearer, his gaze holding mine. Outside, thunder booms.

“Kelly,” he murmurs, leaning in closer.

I don’t think. I move. Closing the gap, my lips find his, and the world falls away. It’s just us, this kiss, this moment—raw and desperate. His hands slide into my hair, pulling me closer as if he’s trying to merge our bodies and souls together. He tastes like regret and longing, and goddamn if it isn’t the sweetest thing.

“Kel,” he groans against my mouth, and that’s all it takes.

My hands roam over the hard planes of his chest, the muscles tensing under my touch. We’re shedding our past with every discarded piece of clothing, every urgent caress.

He pulls off the T-shirt he loaned me while I’m tugging at his belt. He lifts me into his lap so I’m straddling him, one hand fisting my hair as his mouth slants across mine, the other working to undo my bra.

Soon I’m naked from the waist up, and he drinks in the sight of me. His hand falls from my hair and he takes both breasts in his hands, his thumbs grazing my nipples, sending pleasure spooling deep in my core.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” He leans down, taking one nipple in the heat of his mouth, lips greedy and tongue sucking, licking, alternating with gentle nips.

He’s so hard beneath his jeans, and I shift my weight till the length of him is beneath me, rocking slightly while he continues to worship my breasts, my neck.

He pulls away and lifts me off him, both of us standing where we share another long kiss. Then he’s unzipping my jeans, sliding them to the floor, my panties following. It’s so tender, so different from the frenzied way we went at each other at the wedding.

He undoes his own jeans, letting them pool on the floor with his boxers. His body is thicker than it used to be, broader, but he’s still well-muscled, the kind of muscle that comes from an honest day’s work and not the gym.

My gaze roams down his body. His dick is so hard, and my hands find it, wrapping around the girth and stroking him as he steps closer and captures my mouth in another deep, intense kiss.

“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything,” he murmurs. “Lie down, beautiful.”

He spreads the T-shirts out and I settle on my back, the fire hot on one side of me, while Jake kneels between my legs, opening me to him fully. His gaze is feral as he takes in every bare inch of me. He strokes his hand up the inside of my thigh, then his fingers skim my folds, before his moistened fingertip lands on my sensitive nub, which he slowly teases.

Bringing his mouth to my stomach, lips trailing fire, he moves down my skin until he starts licking and sucking my clit, fingers slipping inside me, the broad of his tongue soft but firm.

His touch is familiar and electrifying. My eyes close as pleasure builds, and the years we’ve been apart melt away. He knows me, knows my body, and he rekindles a fire that had never truly gone out.

My toes curl and fingers splice through the damp of his hair as my breathing grows more rapid, soft moans leaving the backof my throat. With every arch of my back, every touch, our bodies speak the language that we once knew so well.

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