Jaden (Jaded #3)

Numb and cold, I hung up my phone. She was crying out through the glass, begging me to stay, but I turned deaf ears on her. Standing, I walked out with my heart ripping in half. Those people died because of me.


She had wrecked her brother, and as I left the prison, I knew she had shattered me as well.

Walking through the parking lot, I heard a wolf whistle and glanced up. Corrigan lifted two fingers in the air. “Yo, hot woman walking.” He flashed me a cocky grin. He was standing outside his car, his arms spread out on both sides of him, holding onto his car and his legs were crossed at the ankles. With his green eyes and his golden brown hair that he’d cut recently, he looked like a movie star posing in a blockbuster ad. All thoughts of Mena fled, and I took in the rest of him. He was wearing designer jeans and a shirt that molded to his form, showing off his broad shoulders and his tapered waist. The wind kicked up then, riffling his shirt so it stuck to his form, and I glimpsed the six-pack I already knew was there.

Bryce had always been the athlete. His body was the most cut and was sculpted from his soccer training, but Corrigan was no slouch either. Since Mena’s last attack, we’d both started running together. Whereas it made my legs feel like lead, it seemed to have transformed Corrigan into a lean machine. Knowing an answering grin was on my face, I started for him, and the closer I got, the more my mouth watered.

Corrigan was delicious.

As I stopped right in front of him, his eyes were holding mine, watching intently. He dropped his arms from his car to rest on my hips. He didn’t pull me into him; he only held me. It was an intimate touch, and I shivered from the memory of this morning, how he had been so gentle as he made love to me. It had brought tears then, and I felt some tears threaten to spill again.

He murmured, “I’m trying to be dashing here to distract you from your sister.”

I jerked my head up and down. My hand lifted to rest on his chest and I felt his cement-like strength there. I absorbed it because, to be honest, talking to Mena had taken some of my fight. “Thanks. I need that.”

“Should I ask how it went or do you really want to be distracted?”

I lifted a shoulder. My eyes lingered on his lips. One touch from them and all feelings would be wiped away. He could make me forget. Bryce used to be able to do that. He was hot and passionate. He made everything disappear and melt away, but then it came back. It always came back, but it was different with Corrigan. Corrigan transformed the world for me. He lifted me up. He spun me around. He made the world look like a beautiful painting. I was craving that feeling again. He could make everything feel all right. Even Mena. Everything would be all right with her. I could handle it, if Corrigan was at my side.

“Sheldon?” His hand lifted to my cheek and he traced his thumb over my skin, a gentle caress.

I let out a soft sigh. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

The corner of his mouth lifted up. “Yes. This morning. I think you told all our neighbors, too.”

I laughed and moved into him. Resting my forehead against his, I breathed out, “I do. I love you.”

His voice dropped to a husky whisper. He said back, “I love you, too.”

“You make me feel like a pansy-ass girl.” I wrinkled my nose. “I was way more hardcore with Bryce. What the hell, Raimler? You’re making me weak?” My tone was teasing, but my god, I was addicted to him. I think I always had been. A few words from Corrigan had always been needed to make me feel better.

He tightened his hold on my hip and jerked me farther against him, aligning our hips so there wasn’t an inch of space between us. He leaned down and nipped at my lips, grinding into me. “If I do, then you do the opposite for me. Trust me, Jeneve, I’m rock hard right now.”

I laughed and swept a hand down between us. He sucked in a breath as I slid my hand inside his jeans. I didn’t go farther. I held my hand there, my fingers touching underneath his waistband, and I let them linger.

Corrigan laughed hoarsely. “Yep. I’m now like a rocket. Thanks, Jeneve.”

Grazing his lips with mine, I teased, “Maybe we should head home and do something about that, huh?”

He groaned and pulled his lips back, but resting his forehead to mine, he looked at me, peering right into my eyes, his green eyes suddenly sober. “We have that dinner premiere thing tonight.”

I let out a matching groan and lifted my head back. “For real?”

He nodded. “You promised Steele we’d go.”

My hands lifted from him and raked through my hair. I shook my head. Corrigan’s hand fell back to my hips. I said, “I totally forgot Denton was opening his restaurant tonight.”

“Bryce is bringing his new girlfriend, too.”

A litany of curses spewed from me then. “Way to really make me not want to go.”