Authors: Marquita Valentine
Better than her usual drop
dead, so I go with it. “You remember that night in Reno, on our
third tour? Or have you forgotten everything about us?”
Her shoulders stiffen, and
then she softly exhales. “I didn’t wipe the memories from my mind,
Jackson. I couldn’t if I wanted to. Most of them are permanently
posted on the Internet.”
“
Not
everything.”
“
Hence the word
“most”.”
“
Do you think we would
have gone through with it, if you parents hadn’t shown
up?”
Her blue eyes fix on me,
and for once, I notice that I don’t automatically think they’re
pretty. They are, but—
“
Probably, but in the end,
it was for the best that we didn’t.”
I frown, anger and
humiliation rising, destroying my good mood. “Spending forever with
me leaves that bad of a taste in your mouth?”
“
No, but the divorce would
have.”
“
You’re so
sure?”
“
I have irrefutable
proof,
Jaxon
.”
“
Nothing
happened.”
“
So you say, but you won’t
tell me why she was there in the first place, nude and in your
bed.”
“
Damn it, Violet… she
wasn’t there for me. She was there for—” I smash my lips together
and look away. She’ll never believe me, not in a million
years.
“
For who?”
I swallow and turn to face
her. “For
not
me.”
“
It’s a nice story,
Jackson, but I’m not buying it, and honestly, I don’t care anymore.
I’ve moved on and you should, too.” She rises, and heads out of the
bus.
I stare after her. The ring
I’d bought for her is hanging on a chain around my neck. I only
wear it right before and during concerts, never afterwards, unless
I know I won’t be nailing anyone. I don’t want another female
touching it.
It’s small, white gold with
little diamonds all over. Simple and pretty.
She never knew I bought the
thing. At the time, we had thought to run off and marry, then not
tell anyone until after the honeymoon. Then Violet’s parents had
shown up unexpectedly, and we couldn’t sneak off to
Vegas
Tripp and his female
entourage leave, and I grab up all the cards, shuffling them, and
then returning the pile to the box.
Drinking down the last of
my beer, I happen to glance up and who’s standing by the seat
Violet just occupied but Bliss, the girl I want to see the most,
but shouldn’t see at all.
“
Why do you keep throwing
yourself at her? It’s obvious she’s in love with Cole
Morgan.”
There’s nothing more I’d
like to do right now then show Bliss that I’m a million times
better than my brother is. Wait, that’s not right. I should want to
show Violet I’m a million times better.
Damn, this girl makes me
crazy.
I give my best ‘I’m about
to be a real asshole’ look “Why do you keep sticking that cute nose
of yours where it doesn’t belong? It’s obvious you’re not
wanted—anywhere.”
Rolling her eyes, she
crosses her arms, pressing her breasts together and up. Her
scoop-necked shirt isn’t that revealing, but suddenly I feel as
though I’m looking at a forbidden image.
An image that I want to
touch and taste.
“
You don’t have to be an
asshole to me in private,” she says.
“
But in public’s
okay?”
Her brows crash together,
slender and dark. “Well, no, but I can’t control what you do in
public.”
Control me? I rise to my
feet and move to stand right in front of her. Her head is shoulder
height, but her stance makes her appear taller. “You think you can
control me in private, baby girl?”
She blinks, and it’s not a
shocked blink. It’s of annoyance. Point to me. “That’s not what I
meant. I meant—”
“
You think that out there,
out in public, that I’m—I’m some kind of asshole, some kind of bad
boy that’s really all nice and soft on the inside when it’s just
you and me?” I ask, dreading her answer.
A tiny nod. “I think you’re
afraid.”
That nod, coupled with that
truth, enrages me. I swipe the bottles, the bags of chips, and the
cards off the table. They fall to the floor and seat with
satisfying thuds.
Hell, I’d throw the table
across the room if I could, but it’s bolted down.
I slice my gaze to Bliss.
Her eyes are wide and she’s taken a couple of steps
back.
My jaw clenches at the
sight. She’s actually scared of me, and I don’t blame her one bit.
Looks like that defective Morgan gene is alive and well inside of
me.
“
Do I look afraid to you
now?” I cross the small distance between us and grab her upper
arms. She stands there, chin tipped up and mouth parted. Her sweet
breath is coming out in soft pants.
Behind the lens of her
glasses, her pretty green eyes search my face, but she doesn’t say
a word.
“
Do I?”
“
Yes,” she
whispers.
“
Damn you.” I dip my head,
finally doing the thing I’ve wanted to do since I first set eyes on
Bliss.
I kiss her. And it’s rough.
It’s hard.
It’s
everything.
I want to punish her for
seeing through me, but her mouth is sweetly submissive to my
demands. The first tentative stroke of her tongue almost undoes me.
I jerk her closer, until her full breasts are pressed to me, and
explore every inch of her mouth, unable to get enough of her
taste.
Every conversation, every
false want and need, drops away until all that’s left is Bliss.
She’s what I want. She’s what I need.
She’s not my prize, my
reward for doing anything. Hell, I should be punished for the
things I’ve done and the things I’ve lied about.
But this girl, this girl in
my arms… I’m kissing her without the taint of my family’s legacy
touching her. And it’s a heady thing. I’m getting drunk off her
kiss, dizzy with lust.
My fingers tighten their
grip, but she goes even softer while still fully participating. A
soft moan leaves her, and one of my hands steals down her arm to
squeeze her breast.
Before I know what’s
happening, I’ve maneuvered her across the room and onto the couch,
following her down on it. I break our kiss and gaze at her. She’s
lying under me, her lips all swollen and her curly hair wild across
the cushions.
“
Tell me to stop,” I
growl.
Her fingers wind in my
hair. “Don’t stop.”
I nibble on her ear,
worrying the lobe with my teeth. “Tell me no. Tell me you haven’t
forgiven me for what I said to you. For saying that I wouldn’t fuck
you, for comparing you to her, for everything, and not meaning a
word of it.”
This is wrong, and thing
are bound to get worse than complicated, but I can’t make myself
stop. Bliss feels too good, too soft, and too firm in all the right
places as I touch her, as I unfasten her jeans and work my hand
inside them.
My hand connects with
cotton panties, then slides under the elastic. I slip a finger
between her springy curls, finding her damp. Her body arches,
connecting with mine, and making my dick go hard as she spreads her
legs.
“
Tell me,” I insist, one
last burst of sanity firing in my brain.
“
Yes, yes,
yes
.”
“
Damn it, Bliss.” I fasten
my mouth to hers, easing a finger inside of her just as my tongue
finds the recesses of her mouth.
“
Oh God,” she whispers,
tearing her mouth away.
Pulling my finger out a
little, I slide it back inside, but not easily. Oh no. She’s tight
and hot, and I’m out of my mind.
“
Baby, tell me if I’m
hurting you.”
“
Doesn’t hurt too
much.”
“
Are you a
virgin?”
Her eyes open wide,
connecting with mine. I can see myself in her glasses, lust and
desire on my face. She turns pink. “Yes.”
Of course she
is
, I think, jaded from all the girls
who’ve claimed that I was their first. On the Internet, of all
places.
“
Is that… you don’t like
virgins?” she asks, her voice barely a whisper.
So not going to answer
that. “I like you.”
“
I like you, too. Well,
when you’re not being an asshole.” She gives me a shy smile with
lots of emotions behind it.
Despite thinking there’s no
way in hell I’m exploring that or even the emotions she invokes, a
sort of tenderness takes hold of me. With my free hand, I gently
remove her glasses from her face, and then reach up and over her to
set them in the closest chair.
“
Don’t want to break
them,” I say by way of explanation. The last thing I want her to
think is that I find her less attractive with them on. Honestly,
she’s gorgeous either way. I have no preference when it comes to
Bliss.
She smiles at me, all sweet
and grateful. Yeah, she’s a virgin, and there’s no way I’m putting
anything inside of her that’s not my fingers. “See,” she says,
“nice and soft in private.”
“
You’re nice and soft all
the time,” I murmur, dipping my head to hers once more. I kiss my
way up her throat until I’m back at her luscious mouth. “Like me
playing with you like this?”
“
Hmm-mmm,” she moans a
little.
I brush her clit with the
calloused tip of one finger, over and over. She makes this sexy as
hell purring sound, and I swear to God that I could come in my
pants from that sound.
“
Little Miss Bliss likes
her pussy petted.”
Her cheeks turn pink. “Is
that… bad?”
I grin. “Just this side of
wicked.” Then I do it again and again, until she’s whimpering and
mewling in my arms.
She grips at my shoulders.
“More.”
“
Anything you want,
beautiful girl.” I take a shuddering breath, reminding my dick that
it’s staying in my jeans tonight.
“
Jaxon, get off
her.”
My body goes cold, though
my hard-on is still raging. Slowly I lift my head, finding Violet
staring at me, at us… outrage in her eyes. Only I know she’s
concerned for Bliss, not jealous over me.
And fuck it all, reminding
me that my goal is to win Violet back. Not get my fingers wet in
some little virgin’s—
“
Oh God, not again.” Bliss
scrambles away, turning around. “I’m so sorry. I’m… I’ll go pack my
things.”
“
No,” Violet and I say at
the same time.
Bliss rounds on us, her
face fiery red. Her eyes are unfocused and I grab her glasses,
handing them to her. She mutters a thank you and puts them back
on.
“
I don’t have to pack my
things?” she asks, her lips trembling and making me want to take
her in my arms again.
“
It’s not your fault, and
you’re not leaving,” I say, before Violet can. Backing away a few
steps, I plop down in the nearest chair and grab a pillow to cover
my semi.
“
Damn right it’s not,”
Violet says, and then she turns to me. “I told you to stay away
from her.”
“
You lost the right to
have any say in my life, when you took up with my brother,” I say,
knowing that every word was a lie. I drove her to him, not the
other way around.
“
Took up with you
brother?
I wasn’t the one doing Everett’s
bidding by sleeping with my best friend,” she snaps, hands fisting
on her hips.
“
So you think you finally
figured it out.”
She makes a face. “Figured
what out—that your dad liked to reward you with other girls while
we were dating? Callie told me all about it, before I found her
with you. Guess I should have listened to her instead of believing
you.”
I want to shake her, to
shake my dad. To pound on the table and kick out all the windows in
the bus. Those same damn lies remained. “You believed her? She was
with me, when you had your accident, and she sure as hell didn’t
put up a fight to leave you lying in that damn field.”
Her face falls, doubt
clouding her eyes. “I’m not sure who to believe anymore.” Out of
the corner of my eye, I see Bliss slowly edging her way to the
door, but I’m not stopping her. I’m back on the path to win Violet
back.
“
Well, here’s some honesty
for you, Violet Rae Givens, I never cheated on you. I loved… love
you. But there are things about my family that you don’t
understand, things that even I don’t understand. But maybe if you
got off your self-righteous high horse, you might understand that I
hurt when you told me about our baby. I wanted to die that
night.”
Bliss freezes, her
attention back on us.
“
Don’t look so shocked,
Bliss. Everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past
year and a half knows I got Violet pregnant.”