Page 61 of The One With the Mountain Man

"Let me help," Jackson chuckled. He took a step back and bent forward so I could yank it clear.

Then I reached for his belt. It was so hot feeling him watching me as I slid the leather free that I had to swallow to keep from moaning some more. I popped the button and was searching for the top of his zipper when his hand stopped me. "Careful. I'm not far from where you were a minute ago." Then he nodded behind me. "Up on the bed with you."

His dark gaze made me giddy. I liked that he was so turned on. I liked even more that his control seemed to be hanging by a very delicate thread. Ilovedwatching him fight to keep that control.

Jacksonwantedme but he was willing to take only what I offered. His demands were the good kind. Teasing, playful, for fun, not to bleed me dry. He wasn’t here because he needed to take something from me. He was here because he wanted to bewithme.

And that’s what made it so easy to let go and simply…be.

Jackson slowly slid his zipper down but left his jeans in place. I could see the outline of his cock pressing against his boxers, the tip of it peeking out of the waistband as he climbed on the bed and over me. He pressed a soft kiss to my lips and pulled back to look into my eyes. "Promise you won't run on me."

I cradled him between my thighs and ran my fingers through his hair, needing to soothe him every bit as much as he was carefully taking care of me. “You were right. I didn’t think we’d be here in a month, let alone a day or two. You’ve worked some serious magic on me, Jackson.”

“It’s not magic, Marley. It’s us. This is what happens when you meet someone who understands who you are. The people in your life have made you a runner the same way the people in my life have. We run to save ourselves.”

“I don’t need to run from you,” I whispered. It took everything I had to be that vulnerable. Holding back my feelings and going along with half-truths had made me small. It had made it so easy to slip away and hide.

No more. We promised not to play games with each other, and hiding was a game of its own.

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Marley. Not even close.”

That should scare me. Too many things about us didn't make sense. But the things that did? They madeallthe sense. Almost enough to give me hope that we might even be able to figure this thing out.

"I've definitely never met anyone like you, Jackson."

He smiled and it was so warm, so full of something I couldn't name but knew was good, that I felt it everywhere. "That's the best thing I've ever heard."

And I believed that. I believed everything Jackson said because he was right when he said he was incapable of pretending. He was genuine. Pure Jackson Finn.

But it was still terrifying to trust it. "I'm a little scared you're too good to be true."

He held me so close, so tenderly, it gave me the flutters every time he spoke. "I'm not. But maybeweare. Good that is. Maybe you and me together is just right."

I hitched one knee higher, needing him closer than he already was. "Then maybe that was a lie. Maybe what I'm really trying to say is thatI'mscared."

He grew very still. "Of me?"

"Of getting hurt."

"Then talk to me. Whatever you're thinking, I want to hear it. Don't hide from me when I touch you." He dropped another kiss on the corner of my lips. "What are you thinking right now?"

"Every time you kiss me I feel like I'm flying and it makes me want to pull you closer to steady me."

He kissed the other corner of my lips and ground his erection against my center. "Like that?"

The combination set off a perfect storm of need. "Oh yes."

Every kiss came with a move of his hips or hands as we explored this new, physical part of us. My tension loosened as my pleasure ramped and I came to understand that Jackson was the same naked as he was fully clothed. He was mischievous, a little demanding when needed, and a wide-open book.

"You're so fucking gorgeous when you blush." He kissed his way down my throat to my breasts, swirling a kiss to each nipple on his way back to standing. He took my panties with him. "How are you feeling now?"

Wet, needy, way past ready. "Excited and just a little nervous."

"A little nervous is probably healthy."

I watched as he pulled a condom out of his pocket and tossed it onto the bed. "What areyouthinking?"

He paused with his thumbs hooked in his waistband, his gaze snapping from my breasts to my eyes. "That I'm a lucky fucking bastard to have stopped at that diner at the exact time that I did. That I feel more alive than I've felt in a long damn time. And that I can't wait to see how good we are together." He shoved down his jeans and boxers.

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