Page 79 of Coming In Hot
My chest shakes with silent laughter. Reaching for the hem of his tee, I slide it up over his head, exposing all that smooth tatted skin I’m dying to get my mouth on. “What do you say we add a little more sparkle to you?” My tongue snakes out to lick his jaw, then a nip of my teeth. His mouth falls open on an exhale, and he breathes out, his warm breath ghosting my lips. “You gonna let me fuck you, JJ?”
He answers by sliding his tongue in my mouth. My hands roam over his back, his shoulders, pulling him close. “Nothing’s shinier than lube,” he pants, dipping his head for another kiss.
He makes an excellent point.
“Did you have fun tonight?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it fun. More like humiliation and torture.”
“What do you say we continue to make up? I have a little game we can play that is much more fun than singing. Strengthens communication, too. We’d make Brewer so proud.”
Jax lingers just a breath away, drawn to my lips like gravity won’t let him go.“Let’s not talk about Brewer right before we’re about to fuck.” His fingers work the buttons of my shirt open, and he slides it from my shoulders. Jax sucks in a breath, biting his bottom lip as his eyes roam over my chest and stomach. “Mmmphm,” he sighs.
He’s got the same look in his eyes I get when I’m at a restaurant and my server places a juicy steak in front of me.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” My voice is smooth and playful. “It’s called the compliment game. You pay me a nice compliment, and I reward you. And vice versa. What do you say?”
Jax’s eyes narrow, like he’s considering it. The corner of his mouth tugs upward, but there's a challenge in his gaze, too, like he’s not going to make this easy for me.
After a beat, he leans in closer, and his hand gently rests on my chest, his thumb brushing over the skin there like he’s testing the waters. “You think you can handle arealcompliment from me?” he asks, his voice dropping lower, that familiar smirk tugging at his lips.
I lean back, deliberately slow, allowing him to close the gap, but I don’t back down. “I’m pretty sure I can handle whatever you’ve got, Jax.”
He chuckles, low and throaty, before his eyes slide down over my chest again. “Alright then,” he mutters, as if making up his mind. “You’re a damn work of art, Pharo. But I’m not just talking about the body.”
His eyes lock on mine now, and the playful edge softens just a little, something deeper flickering beneath the surface. “You’ve got that thing about you, y’know? Thatmagnetism. People can’t help but look, can’t help but want to be near you.” He licks his lips, looking unsure again. “It’s... It's impossible to ignore.You’reimpossible to ignore.”
My heart beats a little faster, and the compliment, unexpected as it is, sends a rush through me. I can’t help but feel a little undone by it, though I cover it with a grin. “How long have you felt that way?”
“Pretty much from the beginning,” he admits. “You’ve always had that... effect on me. Didn’t know what to do with it at first.”
My breath catches. He’s always been this storm of contradictions, and hearing him admit it—this—feels like a crack in the shield he’s built around himself. I can’t help but let my own walls fall just a little, the tension between us giving way to something that feels like honesty, like truth.
“Well,” I murmur, my voice warm, “you definitely didn’t make it easy for me.”
His eyes flicker with a grin, but there's something softer in the way he looks at me now, like a weight has been lifted. “Didn't want to make it easy,” he says with a slight shrug. “Guess I was... afraid.”
Afraid. The word lingers between us, heavier than I expected, but it doesn’t scare me. In fact, it only draws me closer.
“Of what?” I ask, my voice quieter now, almost teasing.
“Ofyou,” he finally says, his voice barely above a whisper. “Of this.”
I can feel the air shift between us, a strange mix of vulnerability and intensity. His admission hangs there, raw and unguarded, and it’s enough to make my pulse quicken. It’s not like I expected it—Jax, usually so sure of himself, confessing fear?Of me?It’s unsettling in the best possible way.
“Of me?” I repeat, just to make sure I heard him right, a slight curve tugging at my lips, though there’s a knot of curiosity forming in my chest. “Guess I must be pretty intimidating then.”
He lets out a low laugh, but it’s not his usual sarcastic chuckle. It’s almost... soft, like he’s unsure whether to hide behind humor or face what’s really going on between us.
“You’re not intimidating,” he says, his voice just shy of a whisper. “You’re... too real, too intense. I didn’t know how to deal with that.”
The honesty of his confession settles between us, heavy and undeniable. I try to swallow the sudden tightness in my throat, but it doesn’t go away. This,this—this feels different than the banter or the usual back-and-forth.
My hand slides to his jaw, gently tilting his head so he’s gazing at me, and for a moment, I just let the silence wrap around us, our faces inches apart.
“You don’t have to deal with it,” I murmur, my voice barely audible, as though speaking any louder might shatter the fragile moment we’ve created. “You just have to be with it.With me.”
It doesn’t come out easily, but once it does, it feels like the truth I’ve been holding back for too long. The need to close the gap between us has become unbearable, yet I hold myself just shy of crossing it, wanting to give him the space to decide.
