The Closer You Come (The Original Heartbreakers, #1)(101)

“I don’t want you to ignore her,” she said. “I don’t want any of those things. I just...I don’t know.” She stomped across the room, but she didn’t draw him closer when she was within reach. She pushed him, as if daring him to react. “I’m so frustrated with us both right now. There’s no quick fix for any of this.”

“Trust me, I know.”

She looked down at her hands, as if she couldn’t believe what they’d done, before turning away from him.

He gently latched on to her waist, stopping her. “You do whatever you need to do to me, as long as you stay with me.”

*

MY RESISTANCE IS melting all over again, Brook Lynn thought.

Seeing Jase with her sister had caused the darkest, most primal surge of jealousy to shoot through her. It had been irrational. It was irrational, not to mention illogical. She trusted him not to cheat. And she trusted Jessie Kay. But...

The emotions were still there, frothing, propelling her toward madness. Even knowing she was out of line didn’t help. And now she couldn’t shake the questions rapid-firing through her mind. Questions she voiced. “What sets me apart from my sister in your mind? What makes you want one of us but not the other—when you once wanted the other, too?”

Warm breath fanned the curve of her neck, making her shiver. His chest pressed against her back, the strength of him buffering her from the rest of the world. He picked her up and turned, placing her on the kitchen counter. Parting her legs, he stepped into the cradle she provided.

He framed her face in his big, callused hands. “You’ve known hardship, and yet you’ve never allowed it to define you. You are serious...about having fun. You carry responsibilities too heavy for your shoulders, and yet you don’t seem to notice. And I have never wanted a woman the way I want you. Never needed one the way I need you. You were made for me—she wasn’t.”

“Jase,” she said softly. Had more beautiful words ever been spoken to her?

“I’m not done.” His hands moved to the back of her neck, fisting her hair. Ravaged, he said, “You are pleasure to my pain, hope to my fear. You are everything I’ve ever needed but didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to have. I adore the way you think and the things you say.” Voice going husky, he added, “And don’t even get me started on the way you move.”

A tremor danced along her spine as she played with the ends of his hair. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Brook Lynn,” he said.

“Yes, Jase.”

“I love you.”

Oh...wow. She’d been wrong—more beautiful words had been spoken to her. “But...you can’t. You shouldn’t. I abandoned you when you needed me most.”

“Not your fault. I started our relationship in the wrong place. But we’re on the right track now. You know everything. I can prove myself. I will.”

Well, it was suddenly clear to her that she had things to prove, as well. “Jase, I—”

“Still not done, honey. I love you with every fiber of my being.” His thumbs caressed her cheeks with reverence. “I’m happiest when I’m with you and resent any time apart. I think of you and smile. I think of you and crave. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

She melted against him, and in that moment, that instant, that snap of time, the fear left her. Just, boom, it packed up and moved out. This man—this amazing, precious man—might have a temper, but he loved her. He loved her, defective Brook Lynn Dillon. And she knew without a doubt that he would never turn his rage on her.

She might not have forgotten his rages, but she had forgotten his reaction to her, at least for a little while. He’d snapped out of his darker emotions at her command, at her touch, and his first thought had been of her, of her safety.

How could she ever have doubted him?

“So...” she said, kissing the center of his chin. “What I’m hearing is, you are totally whipped.”

He laughed, the sound of it rusty but magnificent. “I think ‘tenderized’ is a more apt description.”

“Like chicken?”

“For sure.”

Feeling more lighthearted than she had in days, she couldn’t help but tease, “You think I’m a mallet?”

“A very beautiful mallet.” He kissed the center of her chin, as well, then the edge of her mouth. “I was serious about proving myself. And the only way I know to do that is to make sure you know everything about me. Nothing held back.” Thin lines of tension formed at the corners of his eyes. “And there is something else I haven’t told you. Something I haven’t told anyone, not even Beck and West.”

When he said no more, she petted at his chest. “Whatever it is,” she said softly, “I’m not going anywhere. Not this time. And I want you to know I kept your other secret. Whatever you tell me stays with me. Always.”

He thought for a moment, nodded. But the lines of tension only deepened. “I...when I was first locked away...I was...I was scrawny, and the things you’ve probably heard about prison life...they’re true.” He cleared his throat. Beads of sweat dotted his brow. “The ‘worse’ things I told you happened to me...I was held down and...forced...and it happened more than once, until I got stronger and learned to fight back.”