Jade took a deep breath, but she didn’t dare say what was on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to ask Parker if he would ever leave her, if he would ever abandon her, but the words just wouldn’t come out of her mouth.
It wasn’t because she didn’t know how to ask that of him, but rather because she already had this very strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that he wouldn’t leave her alone to raise kids.
Parker Dawson might not be from Half Moon Key, and he might not be the kind of man who was the settling down type, but she had faith in the way he made her feel. The thumping in her heart was very real, and the way he looked at her was just as real too.
“Parker,” she whispered. “Do you think that we can go inside? I’m a little cold.”
“Sure thing.” With the speed and agility of a self-assured man, he grabbed the rest of their dishes from dessert and rushed them inside. He quickly lit a fire in the massive hearth and settled her in front of the flickering flames with a nice Irish coffee.
He was taking such good care of her that she didn’t dare tell him that she wasn’t actually cold. She really just wanted to be inside the house for what she was going to do next …
THIRTEEN
JADE
Parker sat beside her on the floor. A massive, fluffy throw was under them, and there was a mound of pillows all around them. It was quite comfortable, to be honest. His hands kept on straying to different parts of her body. He drew the back of his hands against her thigh, then her arm. He pushed her hair back over her shoulder, and before she could really make a move, he was making one for her.
He leaned into her, nearly making her lay back on the mountain of cushions. He pressed his mouth to hers very gently, his lips only there for a short moment. The kiss was so soft that if it weren’t for the sweetest burn his mouth left behind, she would’ve thought that she had imagined the whole thing.
“Jade,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she murmured back. “Kiss me again.” She tried to sound confident and to keep the pleading out of her voice, but she couldn’t. She was too breathless and keyed up to try to fake not being affected by him.
He smiled at her, his dark eyes going a few shades darker. “Absolutely. You let me know if I’m moving too fast.”
She arched a brow at him. “I don’t think that you can go too fast for me tonight.”
He chuckled. “You don’t know what I’ve been thinking all night, or you wouldn’t say that.”
“Well,” she said, coming to kneel in front of him. His back was pressed into the couch’s seat. “Youdon’t know what I’ve been thinking all night.”
“Those are dangerous words, Jade.”
Either she was going crazy, or he was growling at her low in the back of his throat. The sheer wantonness of the moment made her shiver with anticipation. “I don’t know how you do it,” she said.
“Oh? How I do what?”
“I don’t know how you can make me feel safe and make me horny as hell in the same moment.”
He chuckled. “That’s a magical gift I have, but I’m gonna let you in on a secret. That can only happen when two people really click. I’ll be really honest with you, Rosebud. This is the first time it has happened with any woman, and with any further luck, it will be the very last time it happens too.”
Again, Jade was thrown by the sheer honesty with which he spoke to her. “I think I like that a lot.”
“Yeah? You're gonna tell me any time you want me to stop.”
“Sure. But what if I want more?”
His eyes flashed with heat. “Well, then, you really have to tell me what you want more of, Rosebud. I will always try to do my very best to please you. To make sure that the only man you’ll ever want is me.”
Jade opened her mouth to reply, but he pressed his index to her lips.
“Shh, Rosebud. Let me take my time here. I wanna really enjoy this and go as slow as I possibly can.”
“Why would you do that?” she pouted. She really wasn’t used to this kind of talk. Guys usually blazed right over to the finish line.
“Because I want this moment to last for as long as it can,” Parker answered.
With that promise hanging between them, he slowly laid her onto the blanket, her back and head propped up against the accumulated cushions. He tugged at her skirt until it was thrown over his shoulder. She was happy to have worn a cute pink lace thong. His eyes widened when he saw it, and he growled again. His fingers dipped under the hem of her shirt, and he kept on pushing it up until he reached her breasts. The bra didn’t match the panties, but it was a nice white lace number that gave him a view of her pebbled nipples through the thin and sheer material.