Jackson reached my mouth and kissed me deeply. I could taste myself on him and it was fiercely erotic.

"Fuck me, Jackson," I whispered against his mouth, my eyes fluttering closed. "Fuck me hard."

"Emma," Jackson groaned hoarsely. He caught my chin and held my face still. "Look at me."

I opened my eyes and my breath caught. Jackson was looking down at me with not only desire, but with something else. Something I didn't want to identify yet, but it gave me a surge of happiness.

"I want you to look at me when I slide into you. I want you to look at me while I fuck you."

I nodded helplessly. At that moment, I would have done anything Jackson had asked of me.

I felt the head of his arousal nudging aside the folds of my wetness and I whimpered as I felt him stretching me, filling me to the point of pain.

"You're mine, Emma," Jackson bit out as he began to move inside me, his face tight as he steadily increased the speed of his thrusts. "Say it."

"I'm yours," I sobbed mindlessly as each plunge pushed me closer to the brink.

Jackson grunted in approval and then he seemed to lose control. I clung to him as he pumped into me, thrusting so hard that I felt the head of his arousal slamming into the end of me. I dug my nails into his back, trying to hold on as I felt ripples of pleasure start to overtake my body.

I cried out as I came and I heard Jackson yell out my name as he found his own release. In that moment, I felt connected to Jackson like I had never felt connected to anyone before. It made me giddy and anxious at the same time. Giddy because it felt so good, anxious because it felt too good.

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After both of us caught our breath, Jackson rested his forehead against mine and I could feel beads of sweat rolling down his face. He grinned at me weakly.

"I don't know if we'll ever get around to slow and easy."

"I think I can live with that," I replied with a rueful smile.

Jackson rolled over onto his back, taking me with him so that I was on top of him, still intimately connected. He suddenly got a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Shit. I forgot to put on a condom. I'm sorry. I can't believe I was so careless."

"It's okay," I reassured him, although I was concerned that I hadn't even noticed. Hadn't even cared. I had to be careful not to be too reckless, even if I was on birth control. "I'm on the pill."

Jackson grinned. "Good. That means I don't have to wear those damn things. It feels so much better without it. And I have a clean bill of health."

"Me too," I said, not volunteering the fact that I had only been with one other person.

"So that means we're exclusive, right?"

I paused, surprised that Jackson would bring that up after only a week. But I knew that was absolutely what I wanted so I nodded.

Jackson raised his head and gave me a soft kiss. "How did I get so lucky to find you?"

I smiled, pleasure coursing through me at his words. "I guess you must have done something good in your life."

"I must have," Jackson agreed with a solemn smile.

It amazed me how primal and forceful Jackson could be while we were making love, yet he could be so sweet and gentle as well. I thought I could spend the rest of my life trying to figure out Jackson Reynard.

We spent the rest of the night in bed, talking easily and sharing deeper confidences. Jackson told me about how hard it had been to grow up under his father's shadow. As loving as his father was, Jackson always had the feeling that he hadn't measured up. He told me about his grandmother who he had been extremely close to. She had passed away while he was in college and she had left him a sizable inheritance, which allowed him to pursue his acting career without having to worry about a steady income.

I told Jackson about how I had fallen apart when my father died. I had definitely been a daddy's girl and it had been devastating to lose him. I told him about the good memories too, like when my father used to take me out to lunch, just the two of us. My father would listen to me chatter on about who liked whom in school and who was my latest best friend while we ate burgers with milkshakes. It was the little things that I remembered the most about my father.

My last thought before drifting off to sleep was that my father would have liked Jackson.

Chapter Seven

"What do you want to do today?" Jackson asked. We had slept in and were now lazily drinking coffee and eating bagels that Jackson had run out to get. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt around him. I couldn't believe how strong our passion was, yet I felt completely at ease lounging on the couch, my legs stretched out with my feet on Jackson's lap.

"It's a gorgeous day. Maybe we can go to Central Park."

Jackson's eyes lit up. "A picnic!" He leaned down and gently lifted my leg, kissing my ankle. "How did I find someone so smart and beautiful?"

I giggled, feeling like I was floating on clouds of pure happiness. "The picnic was your idea."

Jackson grinned at me. "That's right. How did you find someone so smart?"

I burst out laughing. "Just lucky, I guess. You forgot the beautiful part."

Jackson gave me a mock frown. "It's not manly to say I'm beautiful."

I sat up and folded my legs under me, kneeling next to Jackson and giving him a quick kiss. "Okay. You're not beautiful. You're ruggedly handsome in the most masculine way possible."

Jackson grabbed me, pulling me so that I was sitting on his lap. "That's better. Now you get your reward."

Jackson cradled the back of my head with one hand, leaning down to caress my lips with his own. The kiss was gentle and slow as he languidly explored my mouth with his lips and tongue, playfully nipping at my bottom lip and sucking it gently into his mouth.

The kiss stirred desire but another emotion as well. Jackson Reynard would be easy to fall in love with. Despite my fears of what the future would hold, I decided to grab onto this happiness for as long as it lasted.

Jackson pulled back, gently brushing my hair back from my forehead and smiling at me with such sweetness that my heart squeezed.

"Can we drop by my apartment first?" I asked, a little breathlessly. "I need to take a shower and change."

"Sure, but why don't you just bring some stuff back here and shower? That way, you'll have your toiletries and clothes for tomorrow."

"Maybe I should stay at my apartment tonight. You have your show later too. We can just meet up tomorrow for Nathan's art show."

Jackson frowned. "Don't you want to stay over?" He sounded so vulnerable that my heart melted, but I didn't think it was a good idea to spend so much time together. I didn't want Jackson to get burned out of my company.




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