The Will (Magdalene #1)(101)
Author: Kristen Ashley

I shivered at his words and “unlatched,” sliding my hand away from his shaft and lifting my head to look down at him.

I wanted to say something, I knew not what. Thank you for being all that’s you. Or you mean a great deal to me. Or you make me happy and I haven’t been happy in decades. Or I’m delighted this is real.

I didn’t get a chance to say any of that. He put pressure on my neck, which meant he could get my mouth to his.

Then he took it as he rolled us.

After that, he set about proving that he did indeed wake up for a taste of me, but more, he was hungry.

Very.

In the end, however, it was me who was slaked.

* * * * *

I was naked, sated, on my belly and alone in the bed.

This was because Jake was down the hall in the bathroom dealing with the condom.

I didn’t like him that far away from me.

But I’d just cl**axed three times, all of them extraordinary, the one when Jake’s mouth was between my legs being mind-altering, I didn’t have it in me to lament this. Especially since he was coming back shortly.

I sensed movement at the door and turned my eyes there to watch him walk na**d down the hall, right past my door.

I blinked.

Where was he going?

Or a more pressing question, where was he going naked?

With some effort, my body much preferring to be fully reclining, I lifted up on my forearm in the bed, about to call out to Jake when something caught at the corner of my eye.

I looked to the nightstand and saw the bent, ripped foil wrapper of the condom Jake had just used.

I also saw his wallet opened and resting there.

And last, spilling out of his wallet, I saw a streamer of condoms.

I reached out and tugged at it. It came loose and I counted.

The streamer consisted of five condoms.

The used one made it six.

I grinned and stayed where I was, hoping whatever he was doing wouldn’t take long (at the same time hoping it had something to do with a caffeinated hot beverage) and was pleased when Jake’s large frame appeared in the doorway.

When it did, I lifted up the streamer of condoms.

His eyes dropped to it, his lips twitched and he made it to me. Tugging the condoms from between my fingers, he tossed them back to the nightstand then did something wondrous.

He entered the bed but he accomplished this at the same time he gathered me close to his big, strong body and pulled the covers over us. Only when he had us cozy, warm and settled, him on his back, me on him but also partly down his side, did I speak.

“How many hours do we have?”

He grinned at me. “Sucks but not that many. Leavin’ that stash in your nightstand.”

“Ah,” I murmured then pressed closer and shared, “I do take birth control, Jake, and I’m healthy.”

His face got soft and he replied, “Good to know, baby. But I haven’t had a checkup in seven months and I haven’t abstained. Except for you in the locker room, I’m all about protection and never go ungloved. Since it’s gonna be just you and me, you’re down with ungloved, okay. But you want me to move up my annual physical, I’m okay with that too.”

Just you and me.

I loved that.

I lifted a hand to his jaw and told him, “You’re really very wonderful.”

That was when his eyes got warm and he rolled into me so we were both on our sides, Jake’s thigh between my legs and he said, “You’re pretty f**kin’ wonderful too.”

“You thinking that makes me happy,” I shared.

“You bein’ happy makes me happy,” he returned and I pressed even deeper.

Yes, he was so…very…wonderful.

Jake took the cue and bent his head so he could kiss me. It was light and short but it was still sweet.

He lifted away an inch and said, “Coffee’s on.”

“Excellent,” I murmured then noted, “That’s what you did when you walked by the room.”

“Yep.”

“So you walked through Gran’s house naked.”

He grinned and his arms got tight. “Yeah. I also walked through your house naked.”

He did indeed.

My house. Jake naked.

I licked my lips.

His arms got tighter but his face got more serious.

“I take it your shit for brains boss didn’t f**k with you last night.”

I shook my head. “I’ve heard nothing from him. And I’m not contacting him until I know what I intend to say.”

“Which way you leaning?” he asked.

“I quit?” I asked back as answer.

He grinned but the grin died and he queried, “You in the position to do that?”

I nodded. “I have to meet an accountant but Gran’s estate was somewhat substantial. I also have a goodly amount in savings and investments. I’ll need to pay taxes on the inheritance but I believe I’ll still be comfortable after that.” My eyes drifted to his throat when I finished, “It’s just that I don’t fancy not being employed. I like to be busy. “

“And on the go,” Jake stated and I lifted my gaze back to him.

“Pardon?”

“And on the go,” he repeated. “Out and about. Flyin’ everywhere. Rome. Paris.”

“That, not so much,” I murmured.

His brows drew together. “Come again?”

I held his gaze and shared, “This feels good, being at Lavender House. Being in Magdalene. There’s a break, like a holiday, where you enjoy not being in your routine and you relax into another one. But in the end, you nearly always want to go back to your life. Your home. Your normal schedule. I’ve been here some time now, Jake, and even before Henry’s ignoble visit yesterday, I knew I was going to ask him if I could do much of my job from here because it occurred to me I am home and want to stay.”

“So you were gonna slow down anyway,” he replied.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

His arms got even tighter, his face softer and his eyes warmer. “Good news, Slick.”

I smiled at his apparent deep satisfaction at this news and repeated, “Yes.”

“You’ll find something to do,” he assured me.

“Yes,” I said yet again.

“Now, what the f**k does ignoble mean?”

I giggled, leaned up to kiss him in the middle of it and settled back to see him smiling.

“Not honorable. Shameful,” I explained.

“A lotta good things about you, honey. One of them is that Ethan’s pickin’ up your vocabulary. Swear to Christ, before Conner took him to school today, he said he was vexed about something and if I got it right, he used it right seein’ as he was annoyed.”