Page 142 of The Jaded Notes

“Yes!” Her body stills, and her pleasure washes over her.

I push in deeper. My own release follows hers, my cum pouring into her.

I collapse on top of her with our bodies spent and our breaths slowly returning to normal. I take a minute to hold her, drawing in one last breath of her spicy yet warm perfume.

She changed it from her flowers-and-powder scent when she launched Lehlani Rose Designs, saying she’s matured and wanted to move forward as a bold adult, not some soft child.

“Stay with me,” she whispers. She wraps her arms around me, keeping me close.

I roll off her and pull her to my side. Our bodies remain touching, and our hearts pound in sync.

“Forever.” I kiss the top of her head.

The word slipped out of my mouth, but I don’t regret it. And that’s where the trouble starts.

Chapter Thirty-One

LIVIANNA/LILY

Two & A Half Weeks From Now

Couches & Confessions

Sometimes the safest place in the world is the arm of the man who listens, even when you say nothing at all.

“It’s beautiful out here, Jax.” The sun bleeds gold across the Pacific as we stroll barefoot along the shore, my hand tucked into Jax’s while the waves chase our footprints into oblivion.

“So are you.” He shoots me an earnest smile.

The sand is still warm from the day’s heat, and I can taste salt on my lips from the ocean breeze that tangles through my hair.

“This will always be our special place in California.” I pause as a pelican dives into the surf, its wings cutting through the air. “When everything else gets complicated, we’ll have this.”

Jax stops walking and turns to face me, his dark eyes reflecting the amber light that paints everything in shades of honey and promise.

There’s something in his expression I can’t quite read. He looks like he wants to tell me a secret but doesn’t know if I can handle the weight of it.

“Our special place.” He lifts our joined hands and presses a kiss to my knuckles. His lips are warm against my skin. “I like the sound of that,mon trésor.”

The French endearment rolls off his tongue as if he means it. Something in my chest flutters at the intimacy of it.

But it’s the way he’s staring at me that steals my breath. Not with the heated desire I’ve grown accustomed to but with something deeper, more reverent. Like I’m a piece of art he’s trying to memorize before someone takes it away.

“What?” I laugh, suddenly self-conscious under the pressure of his gaze. “Do I have seaweed in my hair?”

But he doesn’t even smile. Instead, his free hand comes up to cup my cheek, his thumb tracing the line of my cheekbone with a gentleness that makes my knees weak. The touch is worshipful, like he’s caressing something sacred.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous it hurts to look at you sometimes.” His voice is rough, edged with something that almost seems like pain. “Standing here with the sunset behind you, looking at me like that... Christ, Livianna.”

The raw honesty in his words makes my throat tighten with emotion I’m so close to exposing. There’s something broken in the way he says it, like beauty is something that brings him sorrow instead of joy.

“Jax…”

But he’s already pulling away, his walls snapping back into place so quickly it gives me whiplash.

“Come on.” He tugs my hand and walks again. “Let’s keep going before the sun sets.”

I don’t move. I stand there in the sand, studying his profile as he realizes I’m not following. The muscle in his jaw ticks with tension, and his shoulders are rigid. It tells me he’s fighting some internal battle I’m not privy to.