Learning to Breathe Again (28 page)

Jack groaned and leaned in for a kiss. A
toe-curling, sizzling kiss, before grabbing her hand and pulling
her down the hillside. “Let’s go.”

“
What about the blanket?”
Bayleigh asked, glancing back at the blanket laying in a heap on
the ground where Jack had dropped it.

“
I’ll buy a new one,” he
told her over his shoulder, not slowing down.

Bayleigh laughed. “What about the spectacular
sunset you wanted me to see?”

“
They’ll be a better one
tomorrow. Or, maybe the day after. We’ll see when I’m ready to let
you out of my bed,” he told her, continuing to move towards the
truck. He paused beside the front of the truck and turned towards
her, his hands settling on her waist again as he stared at
her.

Bayleigh waited several seconds for him to
say anything, her cheeks growing warm under his scrutiny. “What?”
she asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“
I’m just…I want to make
sure there’s no signs of a panic attack,” he told her, reaching out
his hand to caress her face. “I want to make sure that you’re doing
this for
you.”

“
I’m not doing it for me.
I’m doing it for
us
,” Bayleigh assured him, turning her head to press a kiss to
his palm. “I won’t lie and say I’m not scared, or maybe anxious
would be a better word. But I trust you, Jack. I’m not panicked in
any way.”

Jack took in a deep breath and pulled her
against him, his head coming down and his lips capturing hers in
another one of his bone-melting kisses, his tongue teasing hers.
His fingers flexed on her hips, drawing her against him. She felt
his erection against her and she ached to settle herself against
him.

Bayleigh moaned when he released her, turning
to open the truck door for her. “Let’s go home,” he voice was
almost a growl.

“
Home?” she looked at him
with a frown as she climbed in. After that kiss, and his obvious
excitement, he was taking her home?

“
My home, Bayleigh, my home.
Our first time together is not going to be with you shoved up
against the hood of my truck,” he whispered with a gentle kiss
before turning to help her into the cab of his truck.

“
Then let’s go home,”
Bayleigh whispered, sliding across the seat so she could sit next
to him on the short drive to his place.

THEY DIDN’T SPEAK UNTIL THEY were in the
kitchen at Jack’s house. Jack helped Bayleigh with her coat and
then reached to pull her into his arms. His mouth covered hers as
his hands moved over her body, eliciting a deep sigh from her.

“
Do you want anything to
drink? A glass of wine or a shot of whiskey?” he asked, his lips
tracing a path along her jaw.

She smiled as she tilted her head, allowing
him access to the sensitive spot under her ear. “No, I have
everything I need right here,” she told him, her hands smoothing
over his shoulders before linking together behind his neck.

With one last kiss, Jack took her hand and
led her down the hallway to his bedroom.

Bayleigh stopped at the side of the bed,
closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her heart started beating
faster as he stepped up behind her, his hands settling on her
shoulders.

“
You okay? I can still go
get that wine,” he offered, his lips tickling her ear.

She closed her eyes and took an inventory of
her what she was feeling; heart was racing and her stomach was in
knots but her breathing wasn’t choppy and there weren’t any rocks
on her chest. Nope, no panic attacks. Just normal ‘first time with
a guy’ anxiety.

“
I’m fine,” she reassured
him, releasing a sigh as his hands began to knead her shoulders.
“Maybe a little nervous, but I’m fine.”

Jack turned her so they were face-to-face,
his hands slipping to her waist, resting on her hips. “Why are you
nervous?”

“
The only man I’ve ever been
with was Will. I’m not sure what you expect!” she felt her face
flame with the admission.

Jack’s hands came up and he cupped her face.
“Oh, baby. There is nothing to be nervous or worried about. I’m not
holding up a scorecard and judging you. I just want to be here with
you, showing you how much I want this,” he leaned in and kissed
her.

Bayleigh opened to him, allowing him to
deepen the kiss as her hands settled on his muscled biceps. His
aftershave surrounded her, grounding her in the moment. This was
Jack, not Will. He wouldn’t hurt her in any way. Or leave her
hanging. Somehow, she knew that last part to be true.

She realized his fingers had undone the
buttons on her shirt and the front clasp of her bra. She gasped as
he slid the shirt from her shoulders, the bra straps caught up in
it as well. His hands cupped her breasts, his thumbs playing with
her nipples.

“
Tell me what you like,
sweetheart,” Jack said as he kissed the sensitive spot under her
ear, earning a shudder.

Bayleigh’s head dropped back, a silent
invitation for Jack to continue. “This. I like this,” she whispered
as his question finally registered.

Jack chuckled and pinched her nipples,
earning another shudder and a gasp. “I can tell.” His hands dropped
to her waist and he undid the button and zipper on her jeans.

Bayleigh tensed and Jack froze. He eased
back, his hands returning to rest on her hips. “Talk to me,
Bayleigh,” he instructed.

Bayleigh closed her eyes and swallowed. “I’m
here. I know it’s you. But I’ve never gotten past this point. I’m
waiting for the other shoe to drop, that’s all,” she opened her
eyes and met his concerned gaze. “I’m not saying ‘No’ and I’m not
using my safe word. I don’t want to stop,” she told him, her voice
strong and determined.

“
Thank God for small
favors,” Jack muttered, his hands pushing at her jeans, easing them
down her hips. He helped her sit on the edge of the bed and
stripped her jeans from her legs, somehow pulling her socks off
with them.

“
Settle back on the bed, in
the middle,” he instructed as he pulled his own shirt off over his
head. It was his turn to tense as he noticed her eyes going to his
scars. And staying there.

Bayleigh scooted back on the bed as she
raised her eyes to his. She could feel the tension in him and knew
it was because of her fascination with his scars. She couldn’t help
it. To her, they were badges of honor. Of courage. They had helped
make him into the man he was.

“
They don’t bother me. You
have to know that by now,” she whispered, holding her hand out. “I
just…I know what I went through. All the pain, the rehab. And that
was just my leg. I can’t imagine what you went through,” she told
him as he took her hand and slid onto the bed and leaned over
her.

He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing
the palm before releasing her hand. “I went through Hell, Bayleigh.
But I made my way out, just like you will.” His fingers trailed a
path down the center of her chest, to the lacy edge of her panties.
“Do you want to see Heaven tonight?” he whispered as his lips
traced the same path his hand had a moment ago.

“
Only if you take me there,”
she invited on a soft moan as he used his tongue to tease one her
nipples. She gasped as he closed his lips around it and sucked it,
the fingers of his other hand molding and shaping her other
breast.

Her hands went between them to stroke his
chest, smoothing over the scars, and settling on his pecs, her
hands mimicking the actions of his own, her nails digging into the
skin. Her legs shifted, spreading apart, as his fingers toyed with
the waistband of her underwear.

“
Tell me what you want,” he
whispered, as he moved to lie between her legs, the rough denim of
his jeans rubbing against her skin and creating an ache deep inside
of her.

Bayleigh bit her lip, her hands smoothed over
his chest, found one of the scars and toyed with the puckered skin.
“I’m not sure. Will wasn’t very inventive during sex,” she admitted
as she felt her face flame with the embarrassment.

Jack chuckled as he propped himself up to
study her. “I love your blushes,” he whispered, his finger stroking
a path across her cheekbone down her throat to her chest. “Did you
know your breasts blush, too?” He bent his head and pressed a kiss
to the tops of her breasts. “So, not inventive, or not attentive?”
he asked as one hand stroked across her stomach to her hip, easing
down the edge of her panties.

“
Uh, both, I guess,”
Bayleigh shifted her hips, asking without words for him to
continue.

“
Don’t worry, sweet lady. I
will be both inventive and attentive when it comes to you,” he
moved back up to capture her lips as his hands worked to strip her
panties down her legs. Once he got them below her knees, she
managed to maneuver her legs and kick them off.

“
You’re overdressed,” she
told him as her hands went to his belt buckle. He laughed and
rolled away from her, quickly stripping off the rest of his
clothes. Dropping the jeans over the side of the bed to the floor,
he settled himself back against her side, propping himself up on an
elbow.

“
You’re beautiful,” his
voice was low as he traced circles across her breasts and stomach
with the tips of his fingers. “Any areas off limits?” he asked, as
his fingers dipped lower, across her pelvic bone.

Bayleigh moaned and raised her hips, begging
without words for him to continue. His lips teased hers as his
fingers continued to tease and torment her, and then he traced a
path to her nipple with his tongue. He rolled her nipple between
his lips, using his teeth to bite and then his tongue to
soothe.

Her body jerked at the sensations, her legs
falling open in invitation. Jack’s fingers slid lower, teasing her,
as they played with her folds, before slowly inserting his finger
in her.

Bayleigh moaned, her back arching and her
hips rising off the bed. “More…I need more!” she managed to gasp,
her hands pulling on his shoulders.

“
More like this?” Jack
asked, sliding a second finger in, his thumb resting on her clit
and adding to the torment as he pumped his fingers in and out. He
loved the sounds she was making as he continued to work her into a
fevered pitch. “Or like this?” he added a third finger, earning a
long, drawn out moan.

Bayleigh’s nails scored his back as she tried
to pull him over her. “Please, Jack! I need you inside me, now!”
she begged, her hand going to his cock and wrapping around it,
stroking him.

“
No, baby. This first time
is for you,” Jack told her, withdrawing his hand and moving his
body lower. His hands gripped her hips and held her still as he
pursed his lips and blew across her clit.

“
J-a-c-k…” her drawn out cry
told him all he needed to know.

He slid his tongue along the slit, earning
another cry from her. “God, baby. I’ve been wanting to taste you
like this for days,” he told her as his tongue lapped at her
juices.

“
I’m so close,” she panted,
her fingers gripped his hair as she tried to guide him. Her back
arched off the mattress again as she pulled him closer.

“
Easy baby, I’ll get you
there,” he slid his fingers back into her, his lips closing around
her clit and sucking it into his mouth. Bayleigh screamed his name
as Jack continued to pump his fingers into her. His tongue remained
on her clit as she rode the wave he’d created inside of her until
he felt her body relax back into the mattress, drained.

He rolled away from her to snag a condom out
of the bedside table and then returned to her side. Sheathing
himself in record time, he moved back between her legs, edging them
apart even further, and slid into her with one stroke.

“
Easy, baby, you’re so
tight. I don’t want to hurt you,” he groaned as she tilted her
hips, urging him deeper. He struggled to control the urge to bury
himself to the hilt inside of her.

“
You’re not going to hurt
me, Jack,” she wrapped her legs around his waist, locking him
against her. “Again. Make me come again,” she begged, her nails
clawing at his back.

“
With pleasure,” Jack
groaned, as he pulled back until he was almost out of her and then
pressed back inside, controlling the movement, prolonging the
pleasure for both of them. He was desperate to pick up the pace, to
start thrusting hard and fast, but he needed her to be
ready.

Her nails clawed at his back. “Please, Jack,
I need more!” she cried out, her hips moving against him,
increasing the pressure on her clit.