Eyebrows drawn together, I unfolded it and blinked rapidly when I realized what it was. “You got tested?” I whispered.
He nodded solemnly. “I wanted you to know that I’m clean. You deserve not to have to worry about that.”
Swallowing hard, I folded the paper back over. “How many girls have you been with?”
“Enough to know ‘the one’ when I find her.” Jake pulled me against him, his arms strong around my waist. “My friends back in Chicago think I’m crazy when I talk about you. They keep telling me that I’m too young to feel this way. I’m not too young, Charley. I know with more certainty than I’ve ever had about anything in my life that you’re my future. I know that when we’re ready, after college or whatever, we’re going to get married and that you’re going to be the mother of my kids. I know that deep in my gut.”
Overwhelmed by his heartfelt confession, by his surety in me, and honestly by the restless sexual chemistry between us, I found myself close to tears. I hit his chest gently. “You’re going to make me cry. You know I don’t like that.”
He chuckled and cuddled me closer, his chin resting on my hair. “It’s the good kind of tears, though, right?”
I nodded, nuzzling my face into his throat. “I love you so much. I don’t care if people think we’re crazy.”
“I love you too,” he murmured, stroking my back.
Pretty quickly his soothing caress became something else and I pressed my lips to his throat. Jake groaned, tilting his head back a little as I kissed my way up to his jaw. I didn’t get a chance to reach for his mouth because Jake was already reaching for mine.
His kiss was soft, coaxing, his tongue gently teasing mine. As I melted into it, I slipped my hand under his shirt, forcing the fabric up as I explored his abs. Taking my hint, Jake broke the kiss to pull off his shirt and I did the same with my sweater. Goosebumps awoke all over me.
It was going to happen for us.
Yes.
I grinned at him and he smiled back, his warm hands coasting lightly around my waist as he pulled me back to him. We started kissing again, this time our lips pressing harder, our tongues sliding deeper, and the goosebumps disappeared in a flush of fire. Deftly, Jake took off my bra and still kissing, we fumbled with one another’s pants.
Laughing and stroking and kissing, we eventually ended up on his bed naked, his body braced above mine. When he slid a hand between my legs, the laughter disappeared and our breathing grew stilted. I lifted my hips, widening my legs, welcoming his touch and groaning with sheer pleasure when he slipped two fingers inside me.
He’d done this before, playing me to the point of explosion.
This time he pressed deeper and I flinched at the uncomfortable pressure.
Jake pulled back, his muscles straining. “It’ll hurt the first time, but I’ll try to make it as good as I can for you.”
“I know.” I wound my arms around his shoulders. “I trust you.”
He kissed me, lowering his hips against me so I could feel his hot erection pulsing at my core. I thought for a minute we were going straight into it and I tensed, bracing myself, but Jake left my mouth to follow an invisible trail down my body with his lips. He kissed every inch of me, sucking on my ni**les until they were distended and tender, kissing between my legs, his tongue laving at my clit until I came. And then he started all over again—his thumb on my swollen clit, his fingers pushing inside of me.
“Jake,” I moaned, my nails biting into his back. “I can’t …” I felt shattered, like I was only held together by the tiniest cracks of light and if Jake pushed me one more time, I was going to break into a million pieces. My body wanted that but I didn’t know if I could take any more.
“I can’t wait any longer,” he breathed harshly and I nodded, silently asking him to do it, to move inside me and end the torture he’d started. He leaned over the bed and opened the drawer of his bedside table. He removed the small foil condom package and ripped it open with his teeth. With a proficiency I pretended not to notice, Jake rolled the condom on.
I felt his hands depress the mattress on either side of my head, his chest lifting up off my body. He nudged my knee with his and I opened my legs wider at his silent request.
I looked up into his eyes.
He stared back at me, his cheeks flushed, his eyes dark with a mixture of tenderness and love. “You ready?”
My chest gave way to the strange sensation of fluttering beats. I gripped him harder, needing to anchor onto him to fight the nerves. “Yes,” I managed. “No. Wait.”
He swallowed hard, his arms shaking a little. “Okay.”
“Do it fast.”
“Baby, no. I’ve got to be gentle. I could hurt you.”
“It might hurt more. Think of it …” I struggled to draw a full breath. “Think of it like a Band-Aid.”
He didn’t look certain at all. “I don’t think—”
“Please.”
I knew he could never deny me. He nodded slowly and I nodded back reassuringly.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” Jake muttered, his gaze still hot but adoring. “So beautiful. I used to think there was nothing prettier than looking up at the stars. That feeling I got, like I was part of something bigger than anything I could ever imagine. It’s one of my favorite feelings … and I get it every time I look at you.”
I felt my eyes grow wet as the connection between us tightened. “I know,” I said. I did know because I felt that way every time I looked at him.
Our kiss was just a lip brush at first but I pulled him back for more, something deeper, and as I sucked on his tongue, I must’ve snapped what little self-control Jake had left. I felt him press between my legs, and then he shifted his weight …
I cried out as Jake thrust inside me hard, pushing deep. A flare of pain rippled up from my lower back to sprinkle shivers across my shoulders and I tensed as Jake hovered above me, not moving.
“Baby, you okay?”
As the pain dissipated, I was left with this uncomfortable fullness, a strange sensation I wasn’t sure I liked. But when I looked up at Jake’s face and saw the bead of sweat on his forehead, saw the untempered heat and desire in his eyes, I knew Jake liked whatever he was feeling. “I’m okay,” I said softly.
At my assurance, Jake moved, pulling back until he was almost gone and then pushing back in. I ached, still unsure, but held on as he repeated it. As he withdrew again, I felt his thumb circle my clit and the ache disappeared under the stir of pleasure. The next time Jake withdrew, I muffled a cry of surprise at the delicious sensation that moved through me and I arched my hips trying to pull him back.