I glance at Jaylah, and she’s watching me, her eyes emotional but soft. “They saved you?”

I nod. “They were amazing people. They adopted even though they had no purpose to, they just wanted to save a life, and they did. It killed us when they passed, but we had each other and that was all we needed. I found out about Benito in my late teens. I was fuckin’ furious. Why my mother would go and have another child was beyond me, and worse, I was wild with envy. At that point I didn’t know he had been shoved through foster systems his entire life; I just thought she’d replaced me.”

Jaylah reaches over and squeezes my hand. I let her.

“I stuck around, feeling for him, wanting to connect with the only blood family I had that mattered. We never got along, shit was always hard, but when he married Ingrid, I found sunshine in her, and things went okay for a while. Until, of course, he found out what I’d done. After that, a hate grew.”

“Is that why you’re so hard?” Jaylah whispers.

I glance at her, catch her expression, and then turn back to the road. “I’m hard because I was raised to be hard. Everyone who was supposed to love me always put me second. I closed my heart off.”

“That makes sense,” she whispers. “Your own family didn’t give you what you needed and that wasn’t okay. Then you fell for a woman who was taken.”

“And she didn’t give it to me either,” I murmur. “Because she refused to leave him.”

“I’m sorry, Mack, for all of it.”

I shrug. “Life ain’t always easy.”

“No,” she whispers. “But it’s not meant to be hard either.”

“You’re a good girl, Lah.”

She reaches up, trailing her fingers down my jaw. I flinch, and it takes all my concentration not to close my eyes.

“And you’re good for me, Miakoda.”

I flinch.

She grins.

Fuckin’ girl is under my skin.

~*~*~*~

JAYLAH

It’s well into the afternoon. Mack spent a while telling me his story, and as I processed it we sat, silent. It was a lot to take in, but it helped me understand him and his hesitance towards emotion. That was beneficial for us both. After we got out of the silent moment, we stopped and got some food before continuing the last stretch towards my parents’ house.

We’re about an hour out, and I’m singing lightly to a country song on the radio. Mack occasionally smiles, and it only encourages me. I turn and stare at him, and he looks amazing. His dark tee is stretched perfectly over his chest and his hair is loose, flowing around him. I reach out, running my fingers through it and murmuring, “Have you ever been jerked off in a car?”

He hisses through his teeth and rasps, “No, baby.”

Baby. That’ll never get old.

“You want to see what it’s like?”

“One condition,” he grates out. “Put your legs up.”

“What?” I gasp.

“Baby, put your legs up, and get those shorts off.”

“But . . .”

“You want my cock in your hand?”

Oh yes, yes I did.

“Then get your shorts off and put your legs up.”

“Cars will see.”

“Even fuckin’ better.”

“Mack.”

He reaches down and unzips his jeans, all while keeping his eyes on the road. He pulls out his cock, closes his hand around it and starts stroking. My mouth goes dry, and I can’t take my eyes off him.

“I’ll do it myself if you don’t play with me, honey.”

I shuffle out of my pants without any more questions. I shift so I’m closer to him, and I spread my legs, putting one up on the door. He hisses, releases his cock, and reaches over, finding my clit. He starts stroking softly, and I mewl, pressing up into his finger while my hand reaches across and curls around his cock. I begin to stroke, softly at first, working with his finger.

As he increases the pressure, I start stroking him harder.

“Mack,” I breathe. “I’m close.”

“Hang on,” he grinds out.

“Mack.”

“Fuck it.”

He pulls the car over suddenly, taking it down next to a tree. His windows are fairly heavily tinted, but I hardly get the chance to think about that. Mack moves, twisting me and flipping me over before I have the chance to squeak out his name. He raises my ass, shifts so he’s on his knees, and then drives his cock into my depths.

“Mack,” I cry out. “Oh, God.”

“Fuckin’ wet baby,” he growls. “Sweet cunt.”

“Harder.”

“Can’t go harder, honey,” he growls. “Too cramped.”

“I need you, harder, deeper, oh Go—”

My moan is cut off, because he presses his body down over mine, wraps his arms around my middle, and he fucks me harder.

“Holy. Shit,” I yell.

He’s deep, so fucking deep. I scream his name as I come, my body trembling. His arm tightens around my belly and he keeps driving, all while holding me and fucking me harder.

“Coming baby,” he bellows. “Fuck.”

He explodes inside me and my entire body jerks with the pleasure of it. He holds me tight until we’re both down from our high, then he leans closer and kisses my shoulder, sweeping my hair off my back. My skin tingles, and I whimper his name once more before he pulls me back up and kisses my neck.