Forbidden Love with the Marine(41)
“What about Jamie?” Makayla asked. Were you able to find a match for his transplant?”
“Yes, thank God. Since the transplant required only a partial donation, we were able to use one of Jessica’s sisters instead. Since then, Jamie has been in and out of hospital several times but as long as he’s monitored carefully, he’ll hopefully never be in critical condition again,” Blade told Makayla quietly. “With Thomas gone and considering Jamie never had a father, I never really stopped thinking of Jamie as my own son. And then of course, Thomas and I were as close as brothers. I could never turn my back on Thomas’s flesh and blood or anyone connected to him. He’d have done the same for me.”
A long, ragged sigh escaped Blade before he added, “I let Jessica know I’d always be there if she needed me and as soon as I got out of the army, I moved out here so that I’d be closer to them. Once I wrap up the deal with the real estate agent, I can move on to figuring out what I want to do in terms of work. I have to help look out for Jamie because apart from his mother, I’m really all the family the kid’s got left. Soon after the transplant, Jessica had a falling out with her sister and is now estranged from the rest of her family.”
Once he was done talking, he sat back, suddenly tired. Explaining everything had taken a lot of strength out of him. He felt bared, like he had a gaping wound.
Makayla squeezed his hand again and smiled. The gesture of support had him whipping his head back and looking at her. Not finding pity, distaste or scorn on her face made him suddenly glad that he’d opened up to her.
“I just didn’t want you to think I was some kind of...cad,” he murmured, linking his fingers within hers in response. “And I know my life looks messed up right now, but I’m getting it together. I’m considering the possibility of starting up a security business with a couple of friends. I’ll soon have a place of my own. I think I’m ready to give this thing we have a chance. Maybe it’s too soon – or maybe you really don’t want anything more to do with me. But I’d like to think we shared more than just chemistry that one night. And yet if you say no right now, I’ll respect that.”
Blade had never meant to burden Makayla with his issues. For god’s sake they’d practically only just met. He’d always shouldered his problems on his own and hated messing another person up in them.
Part of what he felt regarding Jessica was guilt, making him believe that if he hadn’t left her the way he had, she wouldn’t have been driven to seek solace with Thomas. A main part of him though, was involved with Jessica and Jamie because he really loved the little boy and wanted to do all he could to be there for either of them.
He hoped Makayla would understand that. He hoped she wouldn’t think it was too much baggage for him to drag into a relationship. But he’d meant what he’d said about wanting to give romance a chance this time. For once, he’d felt something with a woman that opened his eyes to what could be. He only hoped she’d felt it too.
“Makayla?” he asked softly, the silence stretching on. His eyes held hers and he felt his heart do that familiar flip that warned him he was in big trouble where Makayla Stiles was concerned.
“I’m ready to take it slow,” he added, a sudden impulse making him lift her hand to his lips. Her knuckles were delicate looking, beautiful. He kissed each one and heard her sharp intake of breath. This time, when he looked into her face he saw a look fit to scorch.
“Slow be damned,” Makayla said thickly, and in the same instant made Blade go hard as a rock beneath his pants.
“I think it’s time to go home now,” she added plainly, the look in her eyes speaking volumes. It had Blade paying the check in under fifteen seconds as he whisked her out the door as if to move quickly before she changed her mind.
Chapter Thirteen
There was no right or wrong about what Makayla felt around Blade. It was enough that his touch, his smile, did things to her that no other man ever could. In such a short time, he made her realize the essence of when a man and woman fit together like two perfect pieces of a jigsaw.
She couldn’t remember how they got back to the house. It must have been one heck of a race against time because one second he was kissing her knuckles in a bar, and the next they were shutting the front door of her apartment, sealing their lips together and doing the tongue tango right there against the wall.
Makayla’s fingers raked through his hair, and over his shirt, before pulling at the fastenings on his pants. He groaned against her mouth as her hips pressed enticingly against his burgeoning erection right before she cupped him with a seeking palm. He grabbed the back of her head and held her in place for a ravishing kiss that tore the breath out of both of them.
“Too fast,” Blade growled, staring down at her bodice and realizing that he’d ripped it down in half without realizing it. Her tits peeked out of the lacy red cups of her bra, and he positively throbbed in aching arousal.
“I don’t mind,” purred Makayla, fingers working quickly on his zipper. She needed him. So bad. Every night since she’d left she’d craved his touch, the sensation of his bare skin against hers. She wanted him with all her fiber; wanted parts of him in her mouth and then wanted him to fill her to bursting with his powerful maleness. She wanted – and needed.
“No, angel,” he said huskily but firmly, seizing her wrists in one grip and pinning them over her head against the wall. He ground into her, bringing her in contact with the pulsating steel of his passion. Her breasts heaved and tingled against his chest.