All Falls Down (33 page)

"No." I shake my head. He's here and we have the entire property to ourselves for a few hours. Sleeping is the last thing I want to do.

"Wanna make out with me in the pool?" he asks.

I laugh. I can't help it. He sounds like a little boy – both teasing and completely serious.

"Yeah," I say, kissing his cheek, "I'll make out with you in the pool."

"
Do you believe in heaven?" I ask, kicking my feet to send ripples waving through the cool water.

"
You ask the strangest questions," Jared murmurs even as he smiles over at me. The sun catches in his hair and my fingers ache to weave their way through the mess.

I do exactly that.

He hums his pleasure before lifting me up into his arms and settling me in front of him. His head finds its way into the crook of my shoulder. He sighs softly, content.

"
This is heaven," he finally says. "Right here with you… not even God himself could compete with that."

"
I love you," I breathe, turning my face up toward his.

"
And I love you." His lips meet mine, softly, reverently.

He's right. This is heaven.

We kiss for a long, breathless moment. Being able to do this here – out in the open for the first time in weeks – is indescribable. We're not hiding today. We don't
have
to hide. Chris and Demetri are with the girls. Stewart's off until late evening. It's just me and Jared, sunshine and cool water.

He slips his hand into my top and rubs my nipple between his fingers.

I moan. Loudly.

"I want to make love to you," he says. "Right here."

My stomach bottoms out at the breathless hitch to his voice. It makes me feel powerful, bold.

I reach between us, and slide my hand into his trunks.

"Oh, fuck," he groans when I wrap my fingers around his length.

That word falling from his lips as if pulled from somewhere deep within him makes me crazy. I can't think through the haze of desire clouding my mind. My lungs are full of him. I pump my hand up and down, exploring every inch of him. He's so big. So hard.

"I need you," I tell him.

He doesn't make me say it twice.

He sets me off of his lap and slips into the water. Before I can miss him, he's back, pulling me down into the pool with him. The water is cool against my overheated skin, but I don't care. My legs go around his waist. My hands find their way into his hair. His lips meet mine, his kiss frantic.

He splashes through the water to the deep steps, and sits.

In a matter of moments, he pushes the bottom of my suit to the side and presses himself inside me. He moans against my lips when I sink down on top of him, taking all of him. My top is pulled down so he can explore my skin.

His breath is hot as he pulls my nipples into his mouth, one and then the other.

Water splashes against us every time I rise up and slide back down onto him.

His hands span my waist, helping to lift me until it feels like I'm flying.

"Christ, beautiful girl," he groans, his tongue on my breast, "the things I want to do to you."

His words are so honest, I can't breathe. I'm excited. I'm scared. Part of me trembles, the past trying to invade into this moment. Trying to claw its way free and pull me into that ugly place where Toby kept me – the one where I feel dirty inside and out. As if I'm a whore.

I want to ask Jared what he means, but no words come out. I'm frozen, unable to move as fear and desire battle within me, fighting for dominion.

Jared notices, freezing instantly. His eyes fly up to mine. I don't know what he sees on my face, but guilt washes through his expression, burning away desire.

"I'm sorry, beautiful girl," he says, and then his arms are around me, pulling me into a hug. His heart pounds against my chest. "I'm sorry."

And I don't want him to be sorry. I want him to be able to lose himself with me – to say what he wants and needs from me because he isn't Toby, and this isn't how it was then. Jared is different.
We're
different. And Toby doesn't get to take this away from me, too. He doesn't get to take Jared.

I'm the master of my fate.

"Don't stop," I whisper to Jared, shifting.

He's still inside me, still so hard. He tilts my face to his, searching intently.

"Don't stop," I whisper again. "Please."

For long moments, he just stares at me.

"I trust you," I tell him, and shift again.

His head falls back, another of those masculine, beautiful groans falling from his lips… and just like that, he's back with me. His hands settle on my waist again, lifting me up and pulling me back down. He's gentle. But I don't want slow and soft this time, and I know he doesn't either.

"Please. I need more."

Those words seem to tear through him, releasing him from his restraints. He turns us until I'm sprawled across the steps on my hands and knees. He hovers over me on his forearms, water dripping from his body.

"Savannah… Christ," he moans, sinking into me from behind.

And then he lets go.

I'm crying out over and over as he takes me right there on the steps, fast and hard. His body slaps against mine, causing the water around us to splash and ripple. The cement scrapes at my knees. The sun beats down on my back. Low moans pour from my lips in an endless chant. I grasp the edge of the pool, clawing when he digs his fingertips into my hips and holds me still to his thrusts. He strikes deeply, hitting every nerve-ending in my body over and over.

Sparks ignite inside me with each thrust, a current of heightened sensation running through me.

It's so amazing, I think I'm going to scream.

And then I do – a scream breaks from my lips as orgasm slams into me from out of nowhere.

My heart races. My lips and toes tingle. Every part of me is blissed out.

"Savannah, Savannah," he chants, and then he's coming, too. He sinks into me all the way and stops moving, a half-sob, half-growl ripping from his chest. "I love you. Fuck, I love you," he says, releasing inside of me.

I peek over my shoulder at him, and he takes my breath away. He looks fierce and radiant. A golden angel with a sated smile dancing at his lips. Pleasure is stamped across his face, his green eyes wild and unrestrained.

I did this to him
, I think, staring at him.
I made him lose control like this.

I've never felt as beautiful or powerful as I do in this moment.

Chapter Twenty: You and I

We play around in the pool for hours afterward, only climbing out when my fingers have pruned and a sunburn kisses my skin. I'm tired in a way that has nothing to do with my earlier migraine, and everything to do with how content I feel. I've soaked up so much happiness, my heart can't hold anymore.

I never want to forget this day.

Jared laces his fingers through mine as we head back to the pool house to clean up. He hums under his breath – some song I don't know, but I instantly love it.

"What is that song?" I ask.

He holds the door wide open for me, allowing me to enter in front of him.

The pool house is massive. A big flat-screen television hangs on the wall between two wide windows, comfortable, sturdy furniture grouped beneath. A fully stocked bar stretches across the far side of the room. Two showers and a closet of pool supplies take up the back wall.

Jared leads me toward the showers, still humming his song. Only when he's adjusted the water to his liking and pulled me beneath does he answer my question.

"It's John Legend," he says, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

Warm water beats down on me, washing away the sticky chemicals clinging to my skin.

Jared croons the lyrics of the song into my ear. His hands are in my hair, massaging my scalp.

I've never heard him sing before, but his voice it beautiful. Sincerity rings in every word of his song, making me feel like I truly am the only woman in the world to him.

Happiness bubbles up inside of me until I'm immersed in it.

I hum, relaxing into him.

He strips me naked, dropping my suit to the floor, and then reaches for the soap. I don't have to do anything as he washes me clean. The scent of lavender surrounds us. His hands are everywhere. He pays painstaking attention to every inch of my skin, gently scrubbing me clean, before he nudges me back beneath the spray of water.

Soap runs in rivulets down my body.

And then it's my turn to wash him clean.

My hands tremble against him like I've never touched him before. I take my time, my fingertips dancing over the muscles in his chest and abdomen, down his sides and across his back. When I reach for his erection, he groans and pulls me in for a lingering kiss.

"If you touch me, I won't be able to stop," he warns against my lips.

I wrap my fingers around him without hesitation.

"Savannah," he whispers.

His green eyes tangle with mine as I stroke him, the soap acting as a lubricant. We maintain eye contact the entire time I'm touching him. It's so intimate, I feel like he's staring into my soul, filling all of those places up with himself. I see the world reflected in his gaze, and I think it's exactly the same for him.

I don't stop until his head falls back and he moans my name, coming against my fingers.

I press a kiss to his chest and reach for the knob to turn the water off while he comes down. A sleepy, sated smile plays on his lips. For the moment, we really are the only two people in the world, exactly like his song said.

"I don't think I ever want to stop feeling this way," I say when he secures a towel around me and reaches for his own.

"Yeah?" He dries his hair, that crooked grin on his face. The one that makes my heart skip a beat. "What way?"

"Happy," I say, staring up at him in wonder. "I'm so fucking happy, Jared."

He opens his arms when moisture wells, teardrops catching in my lashes.

I step into him, allowing him to wrap me up in his embrace.

"Beautiful girl," he says, rocking us back and forth. "Don't you know I'd do just about anything to make you happy for the rest of your life? To take care of you and love you like you deserve?"

I believe him. How can I not?

"I love you."

"I love you too, Savannah." He kisses me again, his lips soft and sweet against mine. And then he swats me gently on the bottom and sets me away from him. "We'd better get dressed," he says. "The girls will be home soon."

I can't help the pout that crosses my face. I'm not ready for the real world to intrude into our bubble again. Jared chuckles at me while slowly pulling his clothes on. I watch him for a few minutes, appreciating the view, before reluctantly doing the same.

"Hey." He reaches out to grab my hand before I can slip past him to toss our suits in the basket by the door.

I stop, peering up at him.

He shoots me that crooked grin again. "I have a surprise for you tonight."

"You do?"

"Mmhmm." He nods. "Meet me at sunset?"

"Where?"

"On the porch."

Of course I don't tell him no.