When We Fall (Take the Fall, #2)(58)

He curses and angles his pelvis so that each roll of his hips directly hits my clitoris. I’m on edge, ready to fall, but he pulls out of me suddenly and drops to his knees.

“Need to taste you,” is all the warning I get before he tongue-kisses my clit. I cry out his name. His silky hair brushes at my thighs while the stubble on his cheeks and jaw rub against my sensitive skin. He sucks my clit into his mouth and slides two fingers inside of me at the same time.

I fall apart. I shatter. I come so hard that stars dance in my eyes. In the middle of it all, Jase takes away his erotic mouth and fingers, replacing it with his cock. He shoves so hard and deep that another orgasm starts to build. He grips my hips hard, then holds himself still as he comes in hot spurts that turn me on so much that I come instantly.

We stay locked together for hours, it seems, as he kisses me tenderly. He kisses me as if I’m the most precious thing in his life.

“You’re my world, Piper, and I made a promise that no one would take that away from me.” He leans back a little so I can see his face. His blue eyes glitter. “Including you.”

My bottom lip starts to quiver. “I don’t want to go away. I just want to keep you and Rowan safe. I love you.”

“I know you do, but for us to give up without a fight—so not us.” His eyes close as he dips his head to press his forehead against mine. “It’s late, kitten. Let’s go to bed.”

—

All night long, I toss and turn, trying to come up with a plan that will keep everyone safe. Finally, near sunrise, I come to the conclusion that I will have to confront my mother. Surely, I can reason with her. After all, I did convince her that to be friends with Rowan Simmons was a community service act, and I had been only fourteen at the time.

I fall into a deep sleep, but not so deep that I didn’t try to knock Jase’s front teeth out.

“I love you, but damn, you’re violent,” he says, as rays of sunlight fill the room.

“Considering the source of that comment, I’ll take that as a compliment,” I say, throwing the covers back.

His eyes cloud over. “I don’t like you thinking of me like that.”

Immediately, I hug him. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sorry.”

“I know you didn’t.” He kisses the top of my head. “And I am what I am. Funny how you’re fine with it while I’m trying to shed my old skin.”

“Stop right there,” I say in my sternest voice. “First of all, you went to prison for a crime you didn’t commit.”

“I did shoot him.”

“Rowan says it was an accident.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, it was, but it didn’t matter.”

“It matters to me. I don’t want to change you, Jase. I only want everything that is good and wonderful in this world for you. Can’t you understand that? You’ve never asked me to change—not even the way I dress—so why would I ask the man I fell in love with when I was fourteen to stop being him?”

“I f*cking love the way you dress. I love you.”

“Then let me love you as you are.” I kiss his cheek. “Let me love you, Jase.”

He pulls me down into bed again, flipping me on my back. “How about you let me love you? I think I was a bit selfish last night, but I’d been dreaming about those heels.”

With a smile, I wrap my legs around his waist. “Last night was amazing. It was what we both needed, but I can’t stay in bed with you today.”

“The hell you can’t,” he protests as I quickly unwrap my legs and bolt out of bed. “Where are you going?”

I start to answer him but get caught up in ogling the man lying in bed: the centerpiece—or rather centerfold—in a mound of white sheets and blankets. His hard body with its tattoos is a feast for the eyes. I swear he could be his own man candy page on Pinterest. Women wouldn’t have to search for any other image but his. But they can’t, because he’s mine, and that body is mine. That lickable, hot, sexy body—

“Piper,” he says, and I snap out of my lust-induced trance.

“I have a meeting.” Smiling brightly, I hurry to the closet and pull out a silvery-green sheath dress that matches perfectly with my eyes. Mother had actually complimented me once while I wore it, so I think it’s exactly what I need to wear today.

“With who?”

I glance over my shoulder at Jase. “My mother.”

—

Every Thursday morning, Mother has a breakfast meeting with the Ladies of The Oaks charity organization. Actually, she runs the meetings.

In any case, this is the only way I know to catch her before our three-day time limit is up.

As soon as I walk into the private dining room, my mother’s eyebrows go up. Several of the ladies see me and smile, but their smiles aren’t friendly. They’re calculating how long they have to wait before they can share the news of me crashing their get-together.

“Piper, darling. I’m so thrilled you could make it.” Mother is ever the cat who can land gracefully on her feet in all situations. “Ladies, Piper has been working with Ginger Davidson-Prattley at the Charlotte Women’s Shelter.”

“This is rather unexpected, Whitley. You don’t have Piper down for today’s schedule.”