Boarded by Love (33 page)

Standing, he presses my legs back, opening me back up, and enters me with one swift thrust. I moan as he fills me completely, and then I remember that he did not put a condom on.

“Whoa, whoa, condom.”

“You’re not on the pill?”

“Oh, I am. As you were, fingers crossed no babies are in our future,” I mutter against his jaw. I trust him completely. He’s clean. He’s mine.

“At least not for now,” he says.

And for some dumb reason that makes me really happy, but then I’m frowning because there could be no future for us if I don’t grow some balls and be honest. Deciding to think about that later, I wrap my arms around his neck as he pounds into me, his dick completely filling me and making it hard to breathe.

“God, you feel so good,” he mutters against my neck.

“Oh, Jude,” I whisper as my body seizes up again, squeezing him tightly with another orgasm. He pushes through though, making my legs shake as he takes what he wants, and he can have it. His fingers bite into my thighs as he continues to move into me, taking my breath with each thrust. Sweat drips down my back, my heart is racing, and I’ve never felt this damn amazing in my life. When I feel the muscles in his shoulders tense up, I squeeze him and he stills inside me, his head leaning against mine. He then thrusts slowly once, then twice before stilling once more, gasping for breath.

Opening my eyes, I meet his and I smile. My heart is going insane in my chest, my stomach feels like it’s dropped to the ground, and as I look into his beautiful green eyes, I know that everything inside me is his. There is no other way. I’m his.

“I love you,” I whisper without really thinking it through. While I know I mean the words, I can’t help but feel a little dumb for admitting them. I mean, for shit’s sake! It’s only been two damn weeks! As we stare into each other eyes, I’m internally freaking out, and he isn’t saying anything. He’s just staring at me, his eyes soft and locked on mine.

Dropping my legs, he cups my face in such a fierce way that it takes my breath away. Moving stray hairs out of my face, he says, “I love you a whole hell of a lot more.”

It’s like firecrackers and glitter fly in the air as my heart just sings for him. Shaking my head, I say, “If you say so, buddy.”

“I know so,” he says in such a way that tells me he does. Smiling, he takes my lips with his, and I know I can’t tell him. I can’t risk the way he makes me feel. I can’t lose him. He loves me, but I don’t know if he loves me enough to love my job. I’ll quit. No biggie and I’ll stay here and own a studio. Or wherever he goes, I’ll go and we will be fine. I don’t need Vegas; I don’t need bright lights and stages with sexy burlesques dancers dancing to my stuff.

I just need Jude.

R
olling over, I wrap my arms around Claire’s waist and pull her in tight against my chest, but before I can settle into her, she turns, cuddling into my chest, and I coil around her as if I’m shielding her from the world. I want to stay like this, never let her go, but I know she has to get up soon. I wasn’t expecting her last night, but she texted me early in the morning saying she couldn’t sleep, so I offered for her to come here and I’m glad I did.

Moving my lips along her temple, I inhale deeply, memorizing her scent as a smile settles on my face. “I love you,” I say, and each time I utter those three simple words, my heart constricts because I know what she’s going to say back.

“I love you more,” she says, placing a kiss right on the tattoo on my chest. “Shh, I have at least an hour.”

I smile, kissing her, and say, “Twenty minutes actually.”

She groans as she nuzzles closer, draping her leg across my hip. If she didn’t need the sleep, I would slowly slip it in her, but since I know she has to go to the studio soon to teach little girls, I leave her be. One would think that would annoy her, but when she talks about the girls, she gets a dreamy look in her eyes. It’s sweet and I like that about her. She loves her job; she has such a passion for dance. It’s beautiful and I enjoy watching her do something she believes in. I can’t wait to see where we will be in a year’s time. I wonder if she’ll follow me wherever I go, and I wonder if it is selfish of me to expect her to. What if she wants to finish school? Or stay here? What will we do then?

I’m not sure, and even though it worries me, I know we’ll make it. She’s mine.

Closing my eyes, I’m about to fall asleep when her alarm sounds. Sitting up, she grabs her phone and turns it off before running her hands through her hair and then looking back at me. “Good morning.”

I smile. “Morning.”

Lying down on me, she frames my face with her hands, dusting my jaw and lips with hers. Looking down in my eyes, she smiles as she says, “Thanks again for letting me come over. I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Anytime, babe, you know that.”

“I feel bad,” she says with a sheepish grin. “Kicking Jayden out and all… Maybe next time I can drag you out of bed to come to my dorm?”

“But we can’t kick Skylar out,” I point out. “Jayden doesn’t mind.”

“The hell I don’t,” he says suddenly and Claire covers her mouth, holding in her laughter as I smile.

“Of course he doesn’t ’cause he sneaks back in once we’re asleep,” I say and Jayden agrees.

“Yup, I need my bed.”

“Sorry, Jayden,” she says over her shoulder and I reach up, placing my lips to her bare neck. She giggles, leaning into me and then falling on top of me. Liking her position, I grin as I run my hands down her bare back to her sweet ass.

“You have to leave, huh?”

“Yeah,” she says, letting her legs drop to either side of my hips, pressing her sweet center against my hard one.

“So no time to, you know?” I say, waggling my brows at her as I thrust up against her.

She laughs as she says, “No time to kick Jayden out of the room? Nope, no time.”

“So disappointing,” I say as she kisses my nose and then rolls off me.

“Agreed,” she says with a wink. “Roll over and close your eyes, Jayden.”

“Roger that,” he says and then she goes down the ladder to get her clothes. I lean on the railing and watch as she gets dressed.

Once she’s dressed in some Assassins sweats, she looks up at me expectantly. “Are you going to drive me to the studio?”

“Oh yeah,” I say, getting up and out of bed. “I forgot, sorry, babe.”

“You don’t have to. I can drive, but you’re the one who offered.”

I shake my head, grabbing my jeans and then a tee. “You’re right, I did ’cause I want to.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, putting her bag on her shoulder. “You can go back to sleep.”

“No, I’m good, come on.”

Taking her hand in mine, I grab our helmets and then say bye to Jayden before heading out and up the stairs.

Once outside, the sun shining brightly on me, I bring her in closer to me. “Told ya it was going to be a perfect morning to ride.”

Grinning up at me, she leans up, kissing my jaw before we reach my bike. Getting our helmets on and securing her bag, I’m about to start the bike when she says, “Can we stop at a gas station before we get there? I need some water and something to eat.”

“Sure,” I say before bringing the bike to life, and it roars beneath us.

Leaning forward, she wraps her arms around me and then we’re off. It’s a quiet morning, which is surprising since it’s a Saturday. Usually it’s nuts out and I’m thankful it’s not. I don’t want to concentrate on what I’m doing; I just want to enjoy it. I want to enjoy the feeling of her holding me, knowing that she loves me. It’s only been two days since she uttered the words to me, and I’ve never felt so complete in my life. It’s like I was waiting for that moment my whole existence, as if I was waiting for Claire. And now that I have her, I don’t ever want to let her go.

Since that moment, making love to her against the wall in the arena, I’ve been that lovesick boyfriend, texting and calling and wanting to be near her every second of the day. And that’s not an easy feat. We both have so much with schoolwork, dance, hockey, and life, it gets in the way. But somehow we’re surviving it all, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. It’s about to get worse though, I feel. My first game is Friday and then starts the morning and night practices, which means I’ll see her even less than I do now. It worries me, but I believe in this.

In us.

When we’re almost to the studio, I find a gas station and pull in, parking the bike before getting off and helping her. Setting our helmets down, she grabs her wallet and we head inside.

“I need to take a leak,” I say, and she rolls her eyes at me.

“Good to know. I’ll be ready once you are,” she says, a little grin on her face before she heads off. Before she can get far though, I pinch her butt, giving her a grin before heading to the bathroom. After doing my business, I go out to find her and when I do, I don’t like what I find. She’s pulling out of a hug with some guy, a grin on her face as she greets him cheerfully. It doesn’t take long for me to recognize him; it’s Patrick Franklin from the Nashville Assassins. I used to like him, thought he was a great player, but the look in his eyes as he basically eye-fucks my girl has me wanting to rip him to shreds.

“Damn, Claire, I think you’ve gotten hotter,” he says and she laughs.

“Oh please,” she says, waving him off.

“How old are you now? Tell me the truth this time.”

Still laughing, she says, “I’m nineteen now.”

“Legal and ready to mingle,” he sings, waggling his eyebrows. “What are you about to do? Let’s go get some breakfast, catch up.”

Instantly I want to rush out there and push the guy away, but only a psycho would do that. Claire can handle herself. She wouldn’t cheat on me. She loves me. So as I act as if I’m trying to decide on some M&Ms, I listen as Claire says, “Sorry, can’t. I have dance to get to.”

And you have a boyfriend
, I say in my head.

“Still at Reese’s?”

Why didn’t she say she has a boyfriend?!

“Yup, I’m getting my business major so I can take over one day or maybe open a studio somewhere else. Or do Vegas shows. You never know.”

“That’s good. I’m glad. I haven’t seen you in a long time, and I’m not lying when I say you’ve gotten hotter. You’re beautiful.”

She smiles. “Thank you.”

“Why don’t I give you my number, and we can go somewhere after you get done?”

He pulls out his phone but she shakes her head. “Sorry, Patrick, but I’m with someone.”

He eyes her. “Is it serious? Can I steal you away?” he asks with a cheeky smile.

She shakes her head, a warm grin coming over her face. “No, it’s superserious. He’s pretty amazing, makes me really happy.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re happy, you deserve that,” he says and then he smiles. “I should have snatched you up when you turned eighteen. I still think about our time together.”

Her face burns with color as she pushes him away. “Oh, hush!”

He laughs and she giggles as she reaches for a bag of popcorn. “I gotta go. I don’t know where my man is, must have fallen in the toilet or something. I’ll see you around, Patrick,” she says, and then gives him a sideways hug.

“It was great seeing you,” he says, wrapping both his arms around her and hugging her tightly.

“You too, bye,” she says, and when she turns, she sees me, a grin coming over her face but I can’t enjoy it because fuck-a-doodle-doo is watching her ass as she walks away. I glare at him, and he meets my gaze and then grins. Chucking his chin at me, he turns and thankfully is gone as Claire wraps her arms around me. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing,” I say, and it comes out sharper than I intended. She eyes me curiously and I say, “I heard your whole conversation with that guy. Past boyfriend?”

“Nope, I almost had sex with him to drive Phillip crazy, but it was nothing and I only see him at Assassins functions,” she says, releasing me and going to the cooler for a water like it’s no big deal. I know it shouldn’t be, but it bothers me.

“So I shouldn’t be mad, right? Or let this bother me?”

She looks up at me and shakes her head. “I promise it’s not a big deal. It was the old me, the nasty one who had a bad childhood.”