Page 38 of Bound in Ashes

“Make me,” I shot back.

His response was silence.

Heavy. Charged.

Then, “Don’t tempt me, Counselor. Not unless you’re ready to deal with the consequences.”

I held his gaze for a split second, then climbed faster.

He chased me up the ladder, his presence overwhelming, consuming.

Essential.

The ladder rattled beneath us.

Jack was essential. That terrified me.

I chuckled softly to settle the sudden nerves, and then it was quiet, the sound of crickets the only soundtrack.

“Why am I up here, Asia?” Jack said, his voice clipped.

I smiled again, this time with genuine amusement. “If I didn’t know better, I would say the great Jackson Thorne is pouting.”

“How many times do I have to tell you my name is Jack?” he said.

“Definitely pouting,” I responded. Then I looked out of the opening.

“We used to call this the top of the world,” I said.

“What is that?”

“You can see the whole property here, all the way out to the forest,” I said. “Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yeah. It is,” Jack said, his voice soft.

Then I looked at him and realized he wasn’t looking out at all.

He was looking at me. Looking at me like I was the only thing he saw.

Like I was the only thing worth seeing.

Like he wanted to consume me whole.

“Jack,” my voice wobbled, “why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” he said.

“Like you want to fuck me into the next county,” I said.

“Because I want to fuck you into the next county,” he responded.

He moved closer, his breath warm against my face, his body solid.

He pulled me closer, his thumb stroking that spot on my neck. Then he stilled, pressing his thumb against that spot hard enough to make me gasp.

Swallowed the sound with his kiss.

I braced myself for the roughness I’d come to crave, but his kiss was shockingly gentle. Leisurely in a way I never experienced with him.