Anna and Jackson Read online

  “That all you have to say?”

  “What more do you want me to say?”

  Crossing my arms in front of me, I look back at Jackson’s reflection in the mirror. His arms tighten around me.

  “Nothing. I don’t want you to say anything at all.” I try wiggling out of his grasp, but he doesn’t let go.

  “When you’re here, you sleep with me. Not in my goddamned guestroom.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Yes ma’am. I’m sure.”

  “Fine. I’ll sleep with you; but, Jackson–”

  “I know Anna. We need to talk. Right now, I just don’t have answers for you. I’m as much in the dark as you are. But I meant what I said.”

  “About what?”

  “’Bout you having my babies. I’m one hundred percent certain about that.”

  “A man usually talks about other things before bringing up babies.” I respond quickly.

  He turns me and lifts me up on the dresser, stepping between my legs. The look on his face is intense. Even though he hadn’t said the words, I could see something there in his eyes. Whatever his reasons are, he doesn’t feel inclined to share.

  “All will be as it should, darlin’. I’m trying my hardest to do this right. Make sure I do everything humanly possible to tie you to me.” He kisses my nose, then both my cheeks, before I let him kiss my lips. I say the only thing left to say.

  “And you, how do I tie you to me, Jackson?”

  He grins against my lips.

  “Baby, been tied to you since the picnic and the string only gets tighter and tighter. You got me.” They’re not the three words I want to hear, but they mean the same damn thing as far as I’m concerned. Tingles break out over my skin at his voice, and my heart trips over itself, as the world tilts on its axis. Jackson Storme has just said he loves me in his own way.

  The kiss is slow, sweet. Jackson sucks on my lower lip. He nibbles the corners of my mouth, and his tongue conquers me in a way that ensures my surrender. Long, precise strokes that have me wrapping my legs around his hips and pulling him closer. I don’t want to admit that I’ve given in, but I cannot contain the emotion that washes over me.

  It’s one in the morning when Jackson and I settle in for the night. We ate take out, cold take out, after we’d attacked each other in the guestroom. Somehow, we made it to the living room, where we make love hard and fierce, the doorbell barely stopping us. We break for food and then pick up where we’d left off, but in the bedroom. Granted there are breaks in between bouts of sex, but only to eat food, cuddle, and then we start all over again. We did manage to sneak in an episode of Helix. Instead of fast-forwarding past the commercials, we made out like teenagers. Sleep is quickly trying to claim me, but Jackson begins talking.

  “Anna.”

  “Hmm.” I yawn. I was right in the middle of sleep and awake.

  “You awake?”

  I stretch and open my eyes to the darkness. “I am now.”

  “Time for that talk.”

  I close my eyes and open them again while stretching. My muscles are sore from our sexual activity. Every single inch of my body was put to good use. Jackson takes me into his arms and continues to talk about what he labels, ‘unnecessary bullshit.’

  “Vivian and I met in New York while I was at a conference. I thought she was the one, brought her home, and put a ring on her finger.”

  This is something I don’t want to hear. It manages to break down what little self-esteem I have shored up for the Jackson Storme before Annabelle Macon experience.

  “She left the night before the wedding. Ran off with her agent who promised her the world. For her, I guess that was more important.”

  Suck it up, Anna. He had a life before you.

  “Why did you think she was the one?”

  He shrugs at first; making me think he isn’t going to answer.

  “She was full of life and she was beautiful. I thought that was how life was going to be with her all the time.”

  What exactly he imagined, I don’t know.

  “How long before you popped the question?”

  Secretly, I’m feeling out his proposal timeline. Trying to get a bead on how long it would take him to scrounge up the know with all to ask me.

  “It was a month.”

  Direct hit to my woman’s ego.

  My heart constricts after that. We’d been at this for almost a year, and I hadn’t even gotten close to a proposal. Promises, yes. Threats, tons. But an actual, “spend your life with me, Anna.” That would be a big hell nah.

  “Wow, so you fell hard for her quick.”

  “I wouldn’t say I fell. More like I was led around by my dick is all. I would have tired of her eventually. When I think back to all the signs–and believe me there were plenty–I see now, we would have never been good for each other.”

  Tired of her.

  That’s all I hear.

  “And me? What’s this we’re doing, Jackson?”

  He drops his chin to my head.

  “This is us building a future together, Anna.”

  “Is that what we’re doing? Because from my view, it seems like we’re dancing around all our issues.”

  “To you, maybe we are. To me, I’m trying to see my way clear to a solution that will keep you by my side permanently.”

  Here we go again. Why couldn’t this stubborn man see that I could have a career and be his woman at the same time? Why did I have to be by his side? I’m not away all that much. He makes it seem like I’m away from him for months. I don’t respond to his comment, instead, I counter with another one.

  “So what are we doing about Vivian?”

  “We aren’t doing anything. She’s the worst kind of person there is. Manipulative, conniving, and spiteful. She makes Viola look like a saint.”

  I laugh.

  Viola is a handful. She blatantly approaches Jackson while I am out of town. I get to hear about her run-ins with the Sheriff of Beauville by way of Joey and my mother.

  “So what, I just sit tight like a good little girl?”

  “No. You back your man, Anna. Trust me to handle the situation.”

  Back my man.

  “Oh, so if the tables were turned you’d trust me to handle my ex?”

  “Fuck no! I’d handle that too and trust you to trust me. Anna, nothing touches you if I can help it. The only thing you gotta do is you. Let me handle the rest.”

  “Sounds controlling, Jackson. I can hold my own.”

  “I know you can, baby, but let me hold it for you. Let me worry so you sleep easy. Peaceful. I’ll carry your world while you just exist in mine.”

  No one has ever wanted to carry my world. How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?

  “What about me supporting you?”

  “You do that just by breathing fire with your sassy mouth. Knowing you’re happy makes me happy, and takes away all the bullshit.”

  “Is this how you got all the women in the seven parishes to drop draws for you,” I joke.

  “What?”

  “You’re such a smooth talker, Sheriff Storme, but I can’t argue right now. I’m too tired and sexually satisfied to come up with a good reason to counteract your man-sense. But remember this, Sheriff, the moment you need to unload some of that heavy ass world you’re carrying for both of us, break off some pieces and pass them my way. Relationships are a team effort.”

  Jackson kisses the top of my head and whispers, “That’s exactly why you’re my girl, Anna. I love that you’re always looking out for everyone’s interests. Present company included. Get some rest, baby. We’re going to Joey and Treat’s in the morning for brunch. Then I’ll go and handle Vivian.”

  His words don’t make me feel better, but I’m slowly getting there.

  “Night, baby.”

  “Night, Anna.”

  Jackson waited until Anna was asleep before he got out of bed, the events from earlier still on his mind. Vivian was up to som
ething. He just didn’t know what angle she was playing. If Ava was his daughter, he would do right by her in every way possible. He just wasn’t going to put up with Vivian’s bullshit. Grabbing his cell, he put a call into his longtime friend, Finn. He knew the other man was up. He was always up this time of night.

  “This had better be important, Storme. I was seconds away from closing in on some ass.”

  “It is.”

  “Speak, and make it quick.”

  “Need a favor. I need you to set up an appointment for DNA testing to determine paternity.”

  “Sure thing. Stop by the office sometime tomorrow. I’ll have Jesse set it up. Who’s testing?”

  “Me and a little girl named Ava.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone before his friend spoke. “Shit, man! Okay, well good luck.”

  Yeah, he was going to need it. If the little girl turned out to be his, his entire universe was about to be flipped upside down, and Mercury wasn’t even in retrograde.

  Give and Take: Chapter 6

  “Morning, beautiful.” Jackson’s warm voice slides against my senses. I’m in his arms, so when he squeezes me, I can't help purring.

  “Morning.”

  The man looks good in the morning. I’m a hot mess. My ponytail is raggedy, my eyes swollen from sleep, and my body relaxed.

  “Wanna shower?”

  “Together?” I ask my body waking up as my mind goes into Jackson mode. I moan as one of his hands slide up my thigh to my ass so he can position me on top of his morning erection.

  “Anything my Anna wants, my Anna gets.”

  “Anna wants to shower with Jackson,” I admit.

  Grinning slowly, he stares up at me as I sit up, straddling his waist.

  “Fuck yeah, she does,” he rumbles in a deep voice. We’d just had a long night, and still my body is ready for him. His hands grab onto my waist as he sits up in bed, me still in his lap. He shifts, so he’s at the edge of the bed and stands, carrying me in his arms over to the bathroom towards his large shower. Sliding down his body, I squeeze him around the neck, looking up into his bedroom eyes.

  “I’ll start the water, you get our towels.”

  I watch as he walks to the linen closet, amazed at his strength. Muscles bunch and strain beneath his sun-kissed skin. My hand absently hits the lever to turn on the spray. I don’t have to worry about clothes, we hadn’t put any back on. This is the start to our perfect morning. Stepping into the shower, I can feel Jackson’s heat as he walks in behind me.

  “I’ll do you first, then me.”

  “Kay.”

  Jackson grabs my Jo Malone shower gel and gestures for me to turn around. He washes me from top to bottom, making sure everything is clean. As I rinse, he hands me his soap and I do the same for him. My hands mold to his body. Steel muscles cover smooth skin. He’s hard everywhere. When my hands land on his chest, the muscles there flex beneath my fingers. I’m lost in a haze of lust. I know he’s watching me explore his body, and I’m enjoying the expanse of skin underneath my palms. The heat from the water creates steam clouds, lulling me further into a sexual daze. I have an insatiable appetite for Jackson. Suds slide down his body, hypnotizing me further. Jackson is a work of art carved from stone. His abs stand out in stark relief against his frame, tempting me to taste and explore with my tongue. I silently give thanks to the universe for creating this moment. My clit pulses in time with my racing heart. When he steps under the spray to rinse off, I attack.

  I back Jackson into the tile wall; my hands and lips are everywhere. His pecs become intimately acquainted with my nails as I kneel to bite and kiss his stomach. His muscles beneath my fingers jump at my touch. Jackson Storme’s body is a masterpiece. When I glance up, both his hands brace the tile across from him as his head rests on the wall. His throat works up and down, and I can hear the distinct sound of his need. It’s low–the tone broken and separated by his erratic breathing. He’s allowing me to touch him. Something I haven’t been able to do properly for days.

  As I make my way down his stomach, I’m gifted with the tip of his erection at my cheek.

  “Anna,” he warns. “No fucking around down there.”

  “Who said anything about fucking around, Sheriff? I was thinking along the lines of sucking.”

  His eyes darken as he watches me. He’s no longer bracing himself against the shower wall. He grabs my ponytail with one hand, while his other goes straight to his cock, making sure he gets what he wants.

  “Suck it.”

  I turn, opening my mouth as his hard, pulsing erection glides between my lips. Whenever I come back from my trips, there is always this. Sex, sex, and more sex. Doesn’t matter to either of us because we both equally enjoy it. Jackson’s cock tastes like him and his body wash. The perfect combination. The soap isn’t strong tasting, just light enough to let his full flavor stay true. The long, thick length of his erection overwhelms me at first. Once I get into it, I’m locked-in the moment, the right now, as the length of him slides in and out of my mouth.

  “I’m not coming in your mouth, Anna. I want your pussy.”

  I hum against the underside of his dick as my hands pull him forward, deeper into my mouth.

  “Fuck, take it all, baby. I want to feel the back of your throat.”

  I adjust and his thighs tighten. Jackson’s almost there and I’ve barely started. My legs are shaking. If I place my hands between my legs, my fingers will be soaked. My pussy is still puffy from last night’s lovemaking, but it will be a sweet agony for us both when Jackson finally fucks me. But right now, I want the taste of him on my tongue.

  “Give me one more, baby, and then I’m going to fuck you raw,” Jackson says, his voice is deeper, almost as if his gut’s dropped and he’s trying to pull the sound up from the bottom of his soul.

  I suck harder, deeper, taking him all the way to the back of my throat. He’s so close, and I’m not going to stop until he gives me what I want. I work him harder, digging my nails into his thighs, when he tries to pull away. Long, deep strokes up and down his length until his fingers tighten almost painfully in my hair. He’s fighting me. When I peer up at him, his eyes connect with mine, and he stills. He knows I want him to give it all to me. And just like he said earlier this morning, I get what I want. I take every drop until I’m lifted and cradled against his chest.

  “Fuck, love that mouth, Anna. Damn, I think I may have lost brain cells from that.”

  “Is that bad?” I joke.

  “Fuck no.”

  His body shakes from silent laughter.

  “What’s so funny?” I ask.

  He doesn’t answer right away.

  “I was thinking how I could keep you busy.”

  “Busy?” I question.

  He moves in behind me, smoothing his hands down my back to my ass, and squeezing.

  “You’d be busy all the time, sweet Anna. Riding me, taking my cock as I work it inside you. I love how you grip me with that tight pussy. Yeah, you’d be busy all the time, darlin'.”

  Now I was the one who was trying not to laugh because I knew he was serious. But I failed, and he made me pay, by turning me quickly into the wall and slamming his cock deep inside me. My hands slap the wet tile as I try to hold still and adjust to his size. We’d gone at it all-night and my body is still sore. I’m slick inside, but still swollen from our late night activities.

  “You’re so tight,” Jackson groans as he swivels his hips. He’s working his way in and out of my pussy with sure strokes of his cock. Slow, penetrating thrusts followed by short jabs. My hips push back into his, wanting more.

  “Faster, Jackson.”

  He grunts. One hand goes to my chest, pulling my back to his front.

  “No, baby. Slow. You’re already swollen and you’re gonna be even more sore. Let me love your body the right way.” He whispers against the side of my neck.

  His strokes are torturing me from the inside out. It feels like a million mini
-orgasms are self-detonating within me until I break apart into oblivion. Hearing him say he wants to love my body, only cements what he said to me last night.

  “Jackson, please. Please,” I beg.

  “I know you’re almost there. I can feel it in my dick, baby. Grip me tighter.”

  His arm bands tighter around my chest, and at the same moment his other hand at my waist grips me harder. I tilt forward, allowing him to stroke me deeper, hitting my spot. The sounds he makes are fierce and primal. It tips me over the edge into a fathomless orgasm. I momentarily black out. I can hear, as well as feel, Jackson’s release as I slip into blissful unconsciousness. When I come to, I’m in his arms. The shower’s turned off, and he has us both wrapped up in huge towels.

  “Annabelle Macon, you sure know how to make a man feel powerful.” He smiles down at me, his eyes warm. Jackson places me on the bed. He is laughing as he shakes his head at me.

  “Shut up. That’s never happened before.”

  His smile widens as he stares down at me.

  “I know how to make my woman swoon.” He half laughs and tries to cover it with a fake cough.

  I narrow my eyes at him. “Quiet, Jackson.”

  I’m embarrassed and unsure of what happened exactly. The shower was too hot. The sex was definitely hotter.

  When I try turning on my stomach in bed, Jackson’s hand reaches for my ankle and yanks me back. I let out a high pitched laugh.

  “Get dressed. Joey and Treat’s in half an hour.”

  “I’ll be ready in ten.”

  It’s already hot and I know we’re going to his mom’s later. I want to look semi-acceptable, without giving the impression that I’m trying too hard. I opt for comfortable. I put on denim shorts and a gray and white baseball tee. I semi-straighten my hair with some hair gloss, and go for my glasses.

  “Aren’t you the sexy nerd?” Jackson chuckles as he comes up behind me to kiss me on the cheek. He’s wearing dark jeans and a white tee-shirt. He keeps his five o’clock shadow well-groomed and his hair is a sexy mess. I’m starting to think he does it on purpose.