“No,” he growls, flipping me over and moving down my body.

“No! No way!” I shout, realizing what he’s doing and trying to shut my legs. I don’t think I can handle him tormenting me again like he did in the shower.

“Easy,” he rumbles, gently pushing my knees apart.

When he nips the skin of my inner thigh, I cry out as his mouth drops down on my core and his tongue licks up my center, ending at my clit, and my hips lift off the couch and my hand grabs onto his hair, wanting to hold him in place.

“Oh, God,” I breathe when he pulls my clit into his mouth, flicks his tongue across it, and slides one finger gently inside me. Feeling all of that, all of him, my back arches and the heels of my feet press hard into the couch so I can lift closer to his mouth. His hand on my thigh squeezes almost painfully as his tongue laps up my center.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I know I’m close. My body feels coiled and ready to snap at any moment, and his growl and the hook of his fingers against my g-spot send me over the edge. My body begins to shake and my legs attempt to clamp closed as my orgasm washes over me. Feeling his tongue lick up my center once more and the roughness of his jaw run over my inner thigh, my eyes blink open, connecting with his.

“C’mere,” he says, lifting my limp body to his chest and settling me in his lap. Resting against him, it takes a few minutes to come back to myself. My whole body is completely relaxed and the space between my legs is still sending tiny jolts of pleasure through me. Tilting my head back, his chin lowers and his gaze meets mine. He’s always looked at me like I’m something precious, like I’m something he wants to protect, but the look in his eyes now is something different. It’s warmer and softer, somehow sweeter than anything else I have ever seen from him before. The words I love you are on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t get my mouth open to say it. I don’t want to ruin this.

“I know,” he mutters quietly, tucking my head under his chin and breaking our connection. My heart starts to pound harder, and I wonder if he somehow knows what I’m thinking, what I’m feeling. Closing my eyes, I soak in his smell and the feeling of his arms around me, and before I know it, I fall asleep.

Waking up slowly, I smile as last night comes back to me. I had sex. Not only did I have sex with Jax, I had amazing sex with him. Opening my eyes, I turn my head and see I’m in Jax’s bed, but he’s gone. Pushing my arm out from under the covers, I feel across the sheets, noticing they are cool to the touch, like he’s been gone for a while.

Sitting up, I look around and really take in his room for the first time. The walls are a grey-blue that is masculine but still soft. The room is almost the exact shape as the room Hope has been sleeping in, with a large, curved window that juts outward, and has a seat under it that has a large cushion on top of it. So if you wanted to sit and read, you could do it comfortably.

Between the door to the room and the bathroom is a tall, dark dresser. The front of the drawers look like black leather and have unusual silver handles. Another dresser with the same style leather drawers is on the opposite side of the room. That one is long with a large mirror on top of it, and a flat metal-looking dish with some odds and end in it sits on top of the dark surface.

Looking to my right then left, I see there are matching side tables on either side of the bed, along with lamps that curve in an unusual shape and are the same dark silver as the handles on the drawers. Leaning back against the headboard and feeling coolness hit my back through my shirt, I turn and look over my shoulder. The back of the bed is the same black leather as on the front of the dressers, with tucked pieces that have dark silver buttons in the material.

Pulling the blanket up, I wonder if his mom helped him decorate, and that makes me smile. The comforter matches the furniture perfectly, with dark grey, black, and white rivets that shoot through it. Hearing banging downstairs, I roll to the side of the bed and put my feet on the floor, trying to be quiet as I make the bed, picking up decorative pillows from the floor, along with a dark grey throw, and placing them on the bed.

Once I have the bed made, my clothes picked up out of the bathroom, and toss the towels from last night into the hamper, I head down the hall to the bathroom I have been using. I take care of business quickly then go across to my room to grab a pair of panties and sweats, putting both on before heading down the stairs, where I see Jax at the bottom. Shirtless and wearing a pair of shorts, his body is bent double as he hammers something into the floor.

Moving quietly to the last step from the bottom, I look down at my feet then turn to look over my shoulder. That’s when I see the stairs now have a dark grey-colored carpet running down the center of them.

“Did I wake you?”

Pulling my gaze from the stairs behind me, I look at Jax and my eyes drop to his chest and abs, which are covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

“No,” I say absently then look behind me again at the stairs, remembering last night I thought something looked different; I just couldn’t figure out what it was at the time. “When did you do this?” I ask, turning to look at him while pointing at the stairs.

“Started on it yesterday, but I wanted to finish it before Hope came home today. She scares the shit out of me every time she runs down the steps.”

“She scares you when she runs down the stairs, so you’re putting in carpet?” I ask just to clarify as something warm washes over me.

“I was going to do it anyway,” he says, running his hand over his head and looking around.