Out of the Shallows (Into the Deep #2)(58)
Author: Samantha Young

Jake smirked. “Yes. But with Matt, it’s more a case of being laid-back rather than mature and understanding.”

I grinned. “Yeah, that makes more sense.”

Before Jake could respond, the lights dimmed and the guys doing the sound check on stage quickly shuffled off. The crowd grew quiet.

The Stolen walked onstage and the noise exploded, people clapping, yelling, and whistling. I’d watched the guys perform more times than I could count, but the atmosphere was different tonight. There were at least a couple hundred people here—their biggest crowd yet. Along with that was the air of electricity, anticipation, and expectation.

This could be the beginning of everything for The Stolen.

Lowe stepped up to the mic and gave the trademark smirk that was sure to cause millions of women all over the world to fall in love with him if/when the band hit the big time.

Denver started the rhythm on the drums and the guys soon followed as Lowe sang in his deep, husky melodious voice. The crowd surged forward around the stage and the electricity in the room went full power.

Throughout the set, I’d shoot looks at Jake as he stood singing along to his best friends’ songs. He was proud of them. We both were.

An hour later they finished out the set with my favorite, “Lonely Boy.”

The crowds cheered and whistled and catcalled at the guys as soon as the song ended. I watched Beck and Lowe share a grin, shaking their heads in disbelief at the atmosphere they’d created tonight. Lowe turned back to the mic and gave a small salute to the crowd. “You’ve been listening to The Stolen. Thanks and have a good night.”

They began to make their way off stage to the chants for more. Jake grabbed my hand and tugged. “Backstage,” he mouthed. I nodded and held on tight as he maneuvered us through the crowd so we could congratulate the guys. I put a hand behind my back, fingers crossed, hoping that when we got there, the A & R executive would’ve beaten us to it.

I gasped into Jake’s mouth as he rocked inside me.

“You there?” he panted, the muscles in his arms flexing.

He had my hands pinned at the sides of my head as a deterrent to my impatience. Jake liked making lazy love to me in the mornings, and I had a tendency to turn things a little wild. He’d taken to holding me down, which was seriously hot.

I gripped his hips with my thighs, lifting my hips into his slow thrust. “Almost,” I said breathlessly. “Harder, Jake.”

He gritted his teeth and shook his head as he continued on his determined torture. It was worth it. The drawn-out building of tension toward orgasm only made my climax that much sweeter and longer.

I shattered, and my inner muscles clenched around Jake, expelling his own orgasm from him. He gave a muffled yell, his grip on my hands momentarily tightening.

And then he collapsed over me, his warm breath puffing against my neck as his hands loosened their hold. Free, I wrapped my arms around his sweat-slickened back and gripped his waist with my thighs. “Good morning to you too,” I laughed, my voice a little husky from having yelled and clapped for the band last night. Not to mention the yelling and celebrating we did afterward when the A & R exec told the guys he was impressed and he’d be in touch to set up a time to chat.

Jake pressed a kiss against my shoulder. “Morning,” he mumbled and nuzzled his head back against my neck.

I stroked his back with one hand and ran my fingers through his hair with the other. This was my favorite time with Jake. Don’t get me wrong—the sex was awesome and the closer we grew again, the better it got—but these moments, holding him with my whole body while he lay replete and happy, was the best feeling in the world.

We’d done a lot of talking in Europe during spring break. Okay, yes, there was a lot of sex as well, but mostly we let it all out—our apologies, our hurts, our resentments, our hopes for the future. We had a lot to work out and it hadn’t been easy. We’d argued at lot in those first few weeks. However, I felt like we were finally where we wanted to be.

I’d been apprehensive about admitting to Jake we’d both be at U of C as grad students but I shouldn’t have been. He was relieved that we wouldn’t have to contend with long distance on top of everything else. School had started, and we worked our butts off during the week so we could spend the weekends together. Jake was still living with the guys but since they could live anywhere, they’d opted for an apartment on the South Side so Jake could be close to school and me, and Beck could be close to Claudia. Claudia and I had gotten an apartment together, only a block away.

Reluctant to get up, I sighed and patted Jake’s delicious ass. “We’ve got to go.”

He groaned and pushed back so he was leaning over me again. His lids sat low over his beautiful dark eyes. “I want to stay inside you.”

I smiled and reached up to caress his cheek. “I want you to stay inside me too, but it’s that time again.”

Gently pulling out of me, Jake’s eyes burned into mine as he stroked my hip. “We could just f**k each other’s brains out all day.”

My breath stuttered at the suggestion but I somehow managed a semi-nonchalant response. “Another time maybe.”

He flashed me a grin, not buying it. “You know you want to.”

I smirked at him as he rolled off me and onto his back. “Sometimes we can’t always get what we want.”

“But to endure torture? Every month? It doesn’t seem right.”

I slid out of bed and strode across the room to my bathroom. “You’re going to endure this torture until my family is comfortable with us.” I switched on the shower and waited for it to heat up before stepping inside. Since getting back together with Jake, I’d made it my life mission to create some kind of peace between him and my family. I wasn’t giving either of them up. There was only so much compromising I could do, and definitely only so much sacrificing.

I knew what it felt like to give up Jake for someone else, and it not only made me miss him, it had made me miss me. I wasn’t the girl who gave up on someone just because someone else told her to. It took me a while to remember that, but once I had Jake back in my life, I knew there was no way I was letting go without a fight.

That’s when I invented “Reconciliation Saturday.” Once a month Jake and I drove to Lanton and spent Saturday and the better part of Sunday with my family. Getting Jake to Lanton the first time was hard, and there were still the odd few idiots who watched him with suspicion whenever we went into town, but he was willing to put himself through it for me.