Page 107 of Every Reason Why

“Oh, you’re definitely the badass I want on my side.” Jackson’s thumb moved against her hip, just over her raven tattoo. The strings of Leah’s heart strummed like the cheesiest harp glissando. “But what do you want, Raven? Tell me and I’ll do my best to get it for you.”

She pushed him flat on the bed and he let her. Climbing his body like a fallen tree, Leah straddled his hips and pressed her mouth fleetingly to his. “You really want to know?” she whispered.

Jackson nodded, pupils blown, hands weaving in and out of her hair. She kissed him again. And then, because she couldn’t help herself, she ran her tongue over his bottom lip, capturing his moan in her mouth.

He tightened his grip on her curls. She felt the firm ridge of him grow harder inside his jeans, pressing against her center, and her eyes fluttered shut. “What do you want, Leah? I can make it happen.”

She slid her hands inside his top, lingering over the hard planes of his stomach, the heat of his skin, the trail of hair from his navel. Tight muscles quivered and danced beneath her fingers.

“I want to feel like I belong somewhere. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I thought that meant a house or a home but it turns out it doesn’t. I don’t mind where I end up now as long as it’s with you.”

“Done.” He flipped them over in a sudden movement, forcing a gasp from her throat. Leah found herself pinned by his weight. “You’ve got it.” He captured her mouth and she felt his smile in the moments before every thought she’d ever had leaked from her ears.

She’d missed him so much. Missed this. He might think she brought the color, but her life was dismal without him. Leah wrapped her legs around his thick thighs, struggling to get closer still. Their breathing grew ragged, their hands clumsy. WhenJackson pulled away, the distressed grumble that burst from her was instinctive, her fingers instantly reaching for his shoulders to drag his mouth back to hers.

“Wait,” he rasped. Undone, disheveled, and achingly sexy, he frowned even as his cobalt eyes danced. “This isn’t the Bed of Half-Truths, Raven. Spill it.”

“Spill what?” She was fixated on his swollen lips, his angular cheekbones, the sensual tug at her center.

“I told you I love you. And you—didn’t.”

“I see. Feeling needy, are we?” Leah tried to suppress the wide, teasing smile clamoring to break free. Jackson growled and a laugh bubbled in her throat as she took pity on him.

“I love you, Jax.” She captured his mouth and sucked at his lip. “I started loving you just a little when you ignored me at Esther’s funeral.”

“I was concentrating,” he grumbled.

“I loved you a bit more when you built that enormous bonfire.”

His lips twitched and her heart gave a giddy flip. “Yeah, that was fun.”

“I think I fell in love with you completely when you were all green and pukey with your migraine.”

“I’m OK with less specific detail.”

“I love how panicked you look when Hazel and Marjorie gang up on you, that thing you do with your thumb when you slide it inside my shorts, and I love, love, love you in your wetsuit.”

“Leching is not cool, Raven.” He ducked his head to kiss her again, his flushed cheeks giving the lie to his words.

“Jax?” she whispered against his lips.

“Yes?” He leaned his forehead against hers, blue eyes glittering—so intense they sent electric shocks dancing over her skin. His face was relaxed; it suited him.

“I love you.”

“There’s no need to go on. You’re getting mushy now.” And he dived on her, his hands sweeping under her hoodie.

Leah gasped and laughed and wriggled and arched, a thrilling sense of belonging tingling through her bloodstream.

“I’m only being honest. We are in the Bed of Truth, after all.”

Epilogue

Four Months Later