While Brett and Damien followed the seniors to the other side of the room, Alex made his way back to me.

“Thank you,” I said as soon as he reached me.

Alex nodded. “I told Brett to back off. I’m not happy with him lately. I’ll try to keep him off your back.” His eyes softened. “You know I don’t want to cause you trouble, Charley.”

“I know that. And I really appreciate you helping out Lukas.”

“No problem. Maybe save me a dance later?”

I felt heat at my back and then Jake asked, “What’s going on?”

I looked up at him over my shoulder and smiled a little weakly. “Nothing.”

When Jake’s eyes hardened, the atmosphere between us thickened. Sensing it, Alex gave him a tough guy chin nod and shot me an appreciative look before heading across the gym to his friends.

“I know when you’re lying, Charley.”

“It was nothing. Brett was giving Lukas a hard time. I was going over there to sort it out but Alex saw it happening and dealt with it.”

Watching the muscle tick in Jake’s jaw, I realized maybe honesty in this instance might not have been the best policy.

“That’s it. I’m done with this shit. He and I are having it out.”

Definitely not the best policy.

“No.” I grabbed his arms, pulling him closer to me. “Alex warned him off and he’s his teammate, so he has sway over him. He’s also friends with the seniors and if Alex asks them to, the seniors on the team won’t have Brett’s back. And if they don’t have his back, Brett is effed.”

Jake ducked his head to meet my gaze as he cupped the back of my neck. “It shouldn’t be up to Alex to deal with someone who is hassling my girl and bullying my brother.”

“Jake, you know Brett is looking for an excuse to fight you. Don’t give it to him. That’s drama we don’t need.”

His grip on me tightened. “You suggesting I’d get hurt in a fight with Brett?”

Giving him my “what the fuck?” face, I answered, “Did I say that? Were those the words that came out of my mouth?”

He stared at me a moment before shaking his head. “Whatever, smart-ass.” Jake sighed but my body relaxed as I realized he was giving in. He released his hold on my nape only to place his hands on my hips. .

“Where are our drinks?”

He shrugged. “I kind of left them when I saw you talking to Alex.”

Of course he did.

Sensing my annoyance at his obvious jealousy, he pulled me closer. “I like your costume.”

“You already said that.”

“I meant it.”

He kissed me.

My irritation melted and I sank against him, opening my mouth and kissing him back, deepening it. I loved the way his fingers tightened on my hips, almost bruising as they flexed with need.

“Ahem.”

A loud clearing of the throat once again drew us apart and I pulled back to stare at a smirking Lacey. “We’re bored and Alex is having a party at the gazebo again. You coming?”

That sounded just wonderful. Not. “We’ll catch up with you.”

Satisfied, Lacey and Rose took off.

Looking back at Jake, I found him scowling at me. “We’ll catch up with you?”

I shrugged. “If I said we weren’t going, she would’ve argued with me until I’d have no choice but to slay her.” I wrapped my fist around my invisible stake and demonstrated by hitting it softly against his heart. “My little white lie got rid of Vampyra peacefully instead.”

Jake’s expression cleared and he smiled as he wrapped both hands around my fist and drew my body against his. “What are we doing, then?”

I answered immediately, “Brenton Fields.”

Jake had to wait for Brett to leave the dance before he’d leave Lukas alone there. Mr. Caplin was picking Lukas up, so at least we didn’t need to worry about him getting home. We drove out of town and pulled into our usual spot. Jake left the radio and the lights on, spread out a blanket in Hendrix’s bed, and pulled me up onto it.

We lay side by side, staring up at the stars, but it wasn’t long until I was shivering in my not-so-warm costume.

I snuggled into Jake’s side and he immediately draped an arm around me so I could rest my head against his chest.

“If you’re cold, we can leave,” he murmured softly against my hair.

No way. If I was cold, I could think of a far better way to deal with that problem. Feeling the familiar tingling only Jake seemed to incite, I turned my head a little and whispered, “Do you think the girls you slept with are sluts?”

Jake tensed under me. At first I didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he finally replied, “Firstly, with me it’s more that I started out young than that I’ve slept with lots of girls. Me and my friends back in Chicago… we moved fast with this stuff, but there haven’t been as many girls as people say. Okay? And secondly, no. Why would you think that?”

“Because they were obviously eager and they gave it up easy. And you didn’t give them the time of day afterward. I don’t think they’re sluts. I think if boys can do it, girls should be able to too. But I don’t know how you feel about it. I mean, I made you work for a kiss and here you are.”

His chest rumbled underneath my cheek as he chuckled. “I’m here because you crack me up. You never bore me. You surprise me. That’s why. Not because you made me work for it.” He caressed my arm softly as he asked, “Where is this coming from?”

Butterflies suddenly appeared, their wings fluttering against my stomach in anticipation. “I just … you’ve been taking things slow with me and I don’t know if … I wasn’t sure if you would think I was a slut if I said I wanted to speed things up a bit.”

He sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t think a girl is a slut for wanting sex, Charley. That would make me a slut, and frankly, I’m a little offended by the word,” he teased, his voice hoarse from my meaning. When I didn’t say anything, Jake trailed his fingers down my waist and he asked thickly, “Speed things up how?”

Wanting to face him when I said this, I pulled up, one hand flat against the truck bed, the other still resting on his chest. “I don’t think I’m ready for sex … but I do want more from you.”

Jake’s eyes darkened, his lids lowering slightly as his gaze dipped to my mouth. “More how?”

I bent my head, bringing my lips close to his. “What comes before sex?”

“A lot.”

I tipped my head to the side, smiling to cover the fact that I was nervous. I was nervous, but I was also sure. “Then show me a lot.”

The words registered with Jake two seconds before he rolled me under him, his mouth hard on mine. My arms slid around him and I opened my legs to let him fall deeper against me. At the feel of Jake’s erection nudging between my legs, I gasped into his mouth and my fingers tightened in his hair. His groan reverberated through me and I tilted my hips, liking the waves of pleasure rocking through me as he rubbed against me there.

When his hand coasted up my waist and cupped my breast through my bra, I jerked a little with surprise. I’d never let Alex close enough to do anything like this. I’d never wanted it. But with Jake, I’d started to fantasize about it.

Having him touch me in real life was a million times better.

Jake broke our kiss. “I want to touch you.” He pulled gently at a button in my shirt, his hesitancy a question. I nodded, my eyes fixated on his face and the intensity of his expression. All that focus, all that need was for me.

It made me feel strangely powerful and in control.

Shivering but not with cold this time, I waited impatiently as Jake popped the buttons on my shirt, gently spreading it open so I was na**d except for my bra. To my shock my ni**les hardened under his perusal, something that had never happened to me before. That hard tightness was like a tease and my h*ps undulated under Jake in a silent plea for more.

He sucked in his breath and put pressure on my left hip with his palm. “Baby, calm. You keep doing that and I’m going to lose it.”

I tensed, suddenly unsure. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he whispered hoarsely and then kissed me softly. “Don’t ever be sorry.” He coasted his hand over my na**d belly. “Can I see you?”

Knowing exactly what he meant, I took a breath. I wanted this, I did, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t worried about how attractive he’d find me na**d. Licking my dry lips, I nodded again and reached up to undo the front clasp on my bra.

Tentatively, Jake brushed the fabric apart and the cold air blew over my na**d breasts, my ni**les pebbling into impossibly hard points. I felt Jake swell even thicker between my legs.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he cupped me carefully, his touch worshipping. “You’re so beautiful.”

I arched into his hand, wanting more, wanting pressure … or something. “Jake,” I squirmed, wishing I knew what it was I was asking for so I could tell him.

It didn’t matter since it seemed Jake was a good guesser.

He crushed his mouth over mine, his kiss hungry and wet, and he squeezed my br**sts gently, sending a lightning rod of feeling straight to my core. I cried out into his mouth, lifting my h*ps again, pushing against his hard-on, wanting pressure there.

Jake growled, his lips moving from my mouth and trailing down my neck and chest until he reached my right nipple. He blew his hot breath over it and it puckered up for him. “Yes,” I breathed and then sighed as he took it into his mouth, sucking it so hard, the tight pleasure between my legs became almost unbearable.

“Jake,” I clutched at his hair, “Jake, please.”

His head came up and his features were taut, his breathing heavier, shallow, as he braced up on his arms, his hands at either side of my head. He thrust suddenly and his erection pushed up against me. At my pleasured gasp, Jake began to roll his hips, rubbing harder but torturously slowly. “You ever had an orgasm, baby?” he asked quietly, his voice so full of sex, I barely recognized it.

“What?” I gasped again, trying to catch my breath.

“You ever make yourself come?”

My cheeks heated and I shook my head. “No.”

“Can I make you come?”

“Do you even have to ask?” I moaned.

Jake found this amusing. I didn’t. I was too impatient to discover whatever it was my body was reaching for.

He stopped moving against me and I instantly frowned. “What are you doing?”

In answer, Jake reached for the top button on my pants. Thankfully, I’d taken off the belt with the cuffs before I’d gotten onto the truck bed so we had no obstacles slowing us down.

“Is this okay?” he asked softly, unbuttoning my pants. I had to admit I liked that he kept checking to make sure I was all right.

“Yeah, baby,” I whispered back and saw his eyes flare at the endearment. It was the first time I’d said it.

He kissed me as his fingers tugged on my zipper, the sound abnormally loud in the quiet night. My h*ps jerked at the touch of his fingers above the line of my panties and I could feel Jake hesitate. He began to pull away so I clutched his neck and kissed him harder. As our tongues tangled, the kiss deeper than any we’d shared before, Jake’s hand slipped under my panties and his fingers pressed against me, coming to rest on my clit.

The feeling made me cry out. Our mouths parted as I looked up into his eyes in shock.

He lowered his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, and he began to move his fingers over my clit. The coil of tension in my belly tightened and I whimpered.

“That’s it,” he murmured against my mouth, “baby, that’s it.”

I pushed against his fingers, my own digging into his waist as I clutched him tight and let him build my body up to something wonderful.

Not much time passed before the coil snapped and lights flared behind my eyes as I arched my back and fell apart, my body shuddering against him as I experienced my first-ever orgasm.

It was a whole new world.

Coming back down to earth, I tried to catch my breath as my heart pounded against my ribs. The blood rushed in my ears, drowning out all other sound.

Jake kissed me, a butterfly brush against my lips, then my jaw, then my collarbone, and then my breasts. Lazily, because my body felt all jellified and languid, I ran my fingers through his hair as he played with my br**sts and licked at my nipples, sending beautiful aftershocks and shivers through me.

“Thank you,” I whispered and Jake’s head immediately shot up.

He shook his head, his expression impassioned. “No, baby … thank you.”

Loving that and wanting to repay it, I shoved against him and the move so surprised Jake, it allowed me to roll him on his back. As I moved over him, my br**sts seemed to hypnotize him and he immediately reached up to cup them in his hands.

I closed my eyes in pleasure as his thumbs brushed over my ni**les and it took me a minute to shake myself out of the spell he kept putting me under. “No,” I murmured, pulling back. “It’s your turn.”

“Charley,” his voice cracked with need, “you don’t have to. Tonight was for you. We don’t have to do everything at once.”

“But I want to see you.”

Jake closed his eyes as if he was in pain. “You’re going to kill me.”

I smiled and leaned over to whisper over his lips, “But what a way to go.”

He reached up to cup my cheek in his hand, his expression seeming somewhat awed. “You’re amazing, you know that, right?”