Page 16 of Knockout Queen

His eyelids flutter closed at the contact.

“How long was I out?”

“A couple of hours,” he answers.

“Were you awake the whole time?”

He shakes his head and opens his eyes once more. “I was in and out. I wanted to stay up and watch you sleep, but exhaustion pulled me under more than once.”

Fluttery butterflies spread through my chest. He wanted to watch me sleep... I love that we can find moments like this in the midst of the shitstorm. It makes it all worth it.

“I think we gave your cousin a shock,” I smile, remembering when I told him I was with all of them. Not just Johnny and not just Johnny and Magnum.

Mag cracks a smile. “That was kind of fun.” He drags his gaze down my front while he licks his lips. I’m not even sure he realizes he’s doing it, but it makes me feel powerful. Like I’m delectable to him.

Not things I should be thinking considering he’s down with a bullet wound.

“Remember when you told me your secret?”

I nod, searching his gaze.

“I have one,” he breathes.

I freeze. My pulse kicks up, knocking my heart into my ribs.

“Everyone has secrets in the Heights,” he continues in a low voice while trailing his finger up my arm. “You asked me to trust you even though you weren’t going to tell me yours at first.”

“I remember,” I tell him, mouth suddenly dry, like now that I know I’m missing something, I want it. I don’t want just the surface-level of any of these guys. I want them all, right down to their very core.

“I have a secret I can’t tell anyone,” he says again. “It’s driving a wedge between us. A wedge you’re not even aware of, and one I want so badly to close.” His voice turns heady, and his gaze fills with want, dousing me in lust. A more potent feeling than when I was with him in K’s suite during our forced sexual experience. If this is what it feels like to be on the other side of Magnum’s needy gaze, I don’t want to leave. Ever. “Tell me it’s okay for you not to know right now. Tell me you trust that I’ll tell you when the time is right.”

We’ve all had secrets. Especially me. Ones I felt like I couldn’t share, and ones that didn’t affect the way I feel about all of them. Even Johnny has his own secrets still. He told Mag about K killing his mom, but he hasn’t told me yet, and I can’t forget about the one secret I’m still keeping from Johnny….

Sometimes secrets are better left for when the person is ready. I know that better than anyone.

“What’s the wedge?” I ask, watching his full lips.

“I want to have all of you, Kyla Samson. I’ve had blue balls for months. I’ve pushed and pulled with you, letting you into my life little by little, so that you understand when I finally tell you, but I don’t want to wait anymore.”

My lips part. “Jacob…”

He groans, the sound straight from his heart, like it’s dug its way out of his chest just to lay itself before me. “When you call me that, I fucking lose it. I want to be me around you. I want you to be you around me. The Heights is a gap we can’t bridge right now though.”

“We will eventually.”

He traces his finger over my collarbone and down before pausing in the middle of my chest. “If you’re ready, I want to remove another barrier.” He makes his proposition clear when he drags his finger down my torso to the apex of my thighs.

I squirm under his scrutiny and light touch. “You know my answer already.”

I’m not sure which one of us moves first. Whether I’m the one who grabs his wrist and forces his fingers to my throbbing core or if my hand just comes along for the ride. He circles over my clit, right through my joggers. Our eye contact never wavers, like we’re living in each other’s minds for the moment. Lost there with just one another.

Jacob retreats only to push under my joggers, finding me with nothing on underneath. A muscle jumps, and I jerk toward him at the first touch of skin on skin.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“I’ve wanted this for so long,” he breathes.

The pads of his fingers swirl along my clit. “Your w-wound,” I say, biting down on my lip to keep from crying out. “You’ll be okay?”

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