From This Day Forward (The Wedding Belles 0.5)(16)

“Leah.”

His voice was quiet but insistent, and she turned her head, resting her cheek on her knees as she forced herself to look at him.

Leah had expected his eyes to be demanding and prying, but instead they were tender.

Slowly he reached out a hand, brushing his fingers along her cheek before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why’d you switch, Red?” he asked, but the look in his eyes told her he already knew the answer.

She pressed her lips together and held his gaze, begging him to understand without making her say the words out loud.

Because I wanted a little piece of you. If only in something as ridiculous as toothpaste.

His brown eyes seemed to darken as he searched her face before he nodded once, slowly.

Jason stood then, picking up the unused champagne flutes and tucking them into the same hand as the champagne bottle he still held.

Leah’s heart dropped as she realized she was losing him. That he was going to walk away without understanding, without knowing—

And then his other palm extended in front of her . . . reaching for her.

She glanced up into his eyes, and he lifted his eyebrows in question, his mouth tilting up at the corner in a gentle smile.

Before she could think better of it, Leah placed her hand in his, the heat of his palm warm and sure beneath hers.

He pulled her up, waiting as she bent down to pick up her bag.

Jason pulled her closer, gently, until their toes bumped, and then her breasts against his chest, and then they were belly to belly, plastered together beneath the moonlit sky as she tilted her face up to his.

Jason’s kiss was slow and soft, his lips moving across hers in gentle seduction as he slowly wrapped both arms around her.

The embrace should have been awkward. Between the champagne in his hand and her big, bulky camera bag, they couldn’t get as close as either wanted, but it was enough. The hot, tongue-twisting kiss in the sand was enough.

And then his tongue swept deeper into her mouth, his arm wrapping around the back of her neck, and it was no longer enough. Not nearly.

She needed more. She needed all of him.

Jason pulled back slowly, his eyelids heavy as he looked down at her. “Spend the night with me, Red. Just one night. I won’t ask for more if you don’t want to give it.”

It was the moment she was dreading and the moment she’d been longing for, all mingled into one glorious second of time.

In the end there was only one answer.

She lifted her hand to his face, her fingertips tracing his full bottom lip. “Take me.”





They reached for each other even before the door of his hotel room had clicked shut.

Their mouths were hot and hungry as their lips met and clung, their hands ripping at each other’s clothes.

It had always been like this with him. From the very first time they’d locked eyes, she’d known. Known that there would never be anyone who could make her feel this frantic, so full of need just by looking at her.

When they were both breathless from the kiss, Leah stepped back slightly, and then turned slowly so that her back was facing him. She gathered her long hair in one hand and glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows lifted in invitation.

Jason’s hands immediately went for the zipper of her dress as he stepped close and pressed a warm kiss to the side of her neck before sucking her skin between his teeth and slowly drawing the zipper down until he reached the small of her back.

He pulled back, bending to place his lips at the base of her spine, just above the edge of her panties, before moving his mouth back up, giving her goose bumps as his bottom lip dragged wetly along her hot skin. He paused at her bra clasp, flicking it open with skilled fingers before gently pushing the dress off her shoulders.

Leah shimmied out of the dress and bra, but when she started to turn toward him, he stopped her.

Jason’s palm found her stomach as he pulled her toward him, his hard chest firm against her back.

Teasing fingers stroked along her belly, the edge of his little finger skimming just under the edge of her underwear before pulling back, his thumbs rubbing along the underside of her breasts, testing their heavy weight without giving her what she needed.

Teasing. He’d always liked to tease.

In response, Leah arched her back, rubbing the curve of her butt against the hard ridge of his cock, smiling when he swore roughly.

Two could play at this game.

She let her head fall back on his shoulder, even as her hands slid up the front of his thighs, her nails digging into the firm muscles, only to skate away before touching the part of him that was hard and ready for her.

His big palms closed over her breasts, and they both moaned as his hands lifted them, his fingers plucking at the peaks just hard enough so that she cried out with a sharp moan.

“You feel so good,” he said against her neck, pinching her nipples lightly. “So f*cking good.”

Leah was panting now, needing more. She gripped his wrist, trying to pull it downward, but he resisted with a soft laugh. “Not yet, baby. Not until you’re begging.”

He turned her around then, bending his knees, his eyes locking on hers as he gave her nipple a quick flick with his tongue, only to pull back and blow gently.

Leah gasped, and he grinned evilly as he moved forward again, pressing soft kisses everywhere but on the tip until finally, she gripped his hair and guided him where she wanted him.