He could do that. He started to stroke in and out, gripping her hips so he could hold her in place.
Jolene felt like she was holding her emotions with white knuckles, just the way she was the bed. This was intense. It was different. They weren’t even looking at each other and she could feel it. Something had shifted the minute Chance had opened his mouth at the Bluebird and told her he loved her. It seemed fitting for them that he would say it in a crowd, with music in the air. She had a thousand questions in her head, none of them answerable, and that was okay. For right now, that was okay. What mattered was that there was something indefinable between her and Chance, something magical. They created great songs because their chemistry extended far beyond lyrics and a melody.
When he reached around her waist and slid down over her clit with his thumb, all the fanciful thoughts flew right out of her head. He was taking her hard, like she had requested. It seemed fitting that now would be the time he obeyed her without question. Then she was shattering in a hot, tight orgasm that had her moaning in pure unadulterated ecstasy.
He followed her immediately, and after they’d both gasped their way over the finish line, Jolene fell forward onto the bed, her thighs and lower back burning. And she hadn’t even done the hard work.
He collapsed beside her on the bed. “JoJo, you make me forget my name.”
“As long as you remember mine, I don’t care.”
He laughed. He wrapped his arm over her and tugged her in close to him so they were spooning. She knew she should move, but for the moment all she wanted to do was lie there, breathe, and enjoy the sensation of his skin on her skin. His fingers trailed over her, up and down, barely skimming her flesh. It made goosebumps rise, and she felt a deference in his touch that hadn’t been there before. It made her throat tighten. She glanced back at him.
His gaze had been roaming her body, but he met her eyes with his. They were darker than normal. The intensity he always carried was there, but it seemed less volatile. Like he’d made peace with his emotions. It didn’t seem like there was any part of his body that she didn’t know, but every time they were intimate, she noticed something new about him. Now, for the first time, she realized he had ridiculously long eyelashes for a man. Normally she was so distracted by his broad shoulders, shaggy hair, and beard scruff that she didn’t notice his lashes brushed the soft skin under his eyes.
“I said I’d never get married,” he murmured. “I said I’d never do to a woman what my father did.”
Her heart rate had been slowing back down, but his words made it speed up again. “You’re not the same man as your father,” she said softly.
“I’ve never shied away from a bottle of Jack. And I have always liked the attention of women, I can’t lie.”
That made her pause. She wasn’t sure what he meant by that. It didn’t sound like a confession, but it fed in to all her insecurities. Had he been unfaithful to another woman he’d dated? Had he actually been unfaithful to her? She didn’t believe that. But it was an uncomfortable thought to have pop up, regardless. He was perilously close to ruining her warm and fuzzy feelings. “Doesn’t make you a cheat.”
“No. I am definitely not a cheat. You know that woman in the picture was a total stranger, and there was never anything else you need to worry about. But I’m scared.” He brushed the hair back off her face. “I’m scared because with you, I feel like I could make that commitment.”
Though the thought of marrying Chance, or at least that he wanted to marry her, pleased her immeasurably, she knew they weren’t nearly ready for that. “If we’re together, we are committed, and that’s enough for now.” It was. Hell, it was more than she’d been expecting last week. “It’s enough to hear that you love me.”
“I do. It makes everything feel easier. Like we don’t have to keep fighting with each other for control. Does that make sense?”
She nodded, rolling completely over so she could stroke her fingers across his mouth. He was a gorgeous man. She’d always known that. What surprised her was how much more of him she’d seen in the last few days. His vulnerability, his fears, his baggage from childhood. It made him more human. More her peer. She didn’t feel so hopelessly hick next to him.