I nodded. I understood. Why should she walk away from this empire she lived on? I sure as heck wouldn’t. Here I was, saddled with loans from college and law school, and currently living off Marjorie and her daddy’s money.

I hoped I could find a job as an attorney. Until recently, I’d been planning to join the legal team at Colin’s father’s Denver satellite office. Those plans had blown up on my nonexistent wedding day.

But this wasn’t about me. It was about Marjorie.

“If that’s really your dream, why not talk to your brothers about it? Surely they’d understand.”

“Yeah, I should. It’s just easier staying here. I don’t have to worry about anything.”

Easy. Yeah, Marj did have it easy. I bit back a surge of envy. I certainly didn’t begrudge her the good fortune, but man, my life would have been a lot easier if I’d had a little money. My dad did the best he could, and I never got a penny from my mother. Her much-younger second husband had seen to that.

I finished my coffee and stood. “I’m going to shower. What time do you need me in here to start our cooking extravaganza?”

“I’d say probably around five. No, make that four. The potatoes need to bake and then bake again. Plus we’ll need to start the dessert so it can chill.”

I nodded, put my coffee cup in the sink, and walked back to my room.

And on my bed sat Talon Steel.

Chapter Eighteen

Talon

“Uh…hi,” Jade said.

“My brothers don’t want me to leave,” I said.

She shook her head. “Hi to you too. What are you doing here?”

“Are you still leaving?”

She walked to her chest of drawers, opened the top one, and pulled out a pair of underwear. I tried not to imagine the plain white cotton panties clinging to her shapely ass. What was it about plain white panties on women? God, so hot.

“No, not yet, anyway.”

“What changed your mind?” I dared to hope I had played a part in her decision.

“Nothing in particular. I mean, I took the Colorado bar, so I’ll be living somewhere in the state anyway. And I promised Marj I would try to make it work here in Snow Creek.”

Of course. For Marjorie. Not for me. Which was fine anyway, because I couldn’t love her. I couldn’t give her what she deserved. But her not being here… I’d be ripped in two.

I stared at her—at those blue-gray eyes that seemed to cut through my many tiers, at those red lips still swollen from her earlier kisses, at the lush golden-brown hair hanging in wavy layers around her creamy shoulders, at her perfectly shaped face, at her amazing and beautiful large breasts, at those brown-pink nipples poking through that damned white cotton tank. The woman could be wearing a lacy negligee from Victoria’s Secret and she couldn’t look any sexier than she did in a white tank and plaid boxers.

I wanted her again. My cock grew inside my jeans, and my balls tightened. How was this happening to me? I still hardly knew the woman. Was this simple physical chemistry? If it was only chemistry…why were my emotions involved?

Emotion… I had turned off myriad emotions long ago just so I could get through the craziness that was my life. Now feeling was creeping back into me, and as much as I wanted to stop it, I was powerless against it.

If Jade left, maybe I could get back to normal.

But if Jade left…she’d take a piece of me with her.

I had to get her out of my system once and for all. I could fuck her again. That would sate my physical hunger, but not for long, given the state of my cock at the moment. I had just had her an hour ago, and now I wanted her again. Truth of it was, I had wanted her as soon as we were done.

She fidgeted with the white panties she held, looking at the floor. “I need to shower, so if you’ll excuse me…”

Shower. I could take her into the shower with me. But no. I would have her again on her bed.

“Look at me,” I said.

She still looked down.

I rose and walked toward her. I lifted her chin and forced her to meet my gaze. “I said, ‘look at me.’”

Her eyes burned darker, into an almost midnight gray-blue. I waited for her to speak, but she did not. My cock strained against the confines of my jeans. I ached to grab her, bend my legs, and grind my cock into her pelvis while we were still fully clothed.

Instead, I lowered my head and kissed her lips. She opened for me, and we kissed softly for a few seconds, but then the kiss became more fervent. God, to kiss her was heaven. Her soft sweet tongue, her firm full lips, the tiny nibbles from her teeth… Yes, it was heaven kissing her. And heaven was a place I hadn’t known until Jade.

I brushed my hands over her shoulders, down her arms, and then up, cupping her firm full breasts. I thumbed her hard nipples through the flimsy cotton material. She groaned. I took them both between thumb and forefinger and pinched once, twice, three times…

She moaned into my mouth, the sound a tremor against the back of my throat. God, how I loved her nipples—so beautiful and so responsive. I pinched them again and again, her moans feeding my own desire. When I finally broke the kiss to take a breath, I leaned down and bit a nipple right through the fabric.

“Oh, God, Talon, yes. I love it when you pinch my nipples.”

I continued sucking and nibbling her nipples through the cotton while I brushed the boxers over her hips and onto the floor. I touched her wet pussy with my fingers. Slick and ready for me…so hot.

“Yes, just like that,” she said. “So good.”

I let go of her nipple with a soft pop and turned her around so her beautiful ass was facing me. I squeezed the firm cheeks and then knelt and slid my tongue through the crease. She sighed. Her pussy was red and swollen, dripping with her sweet nectar. I buried my face in it, rubbing my cheeks, chin, and lips in her juices, sucking her clean. She tasted so good, like citrus and sex. I had to have her. Again.

I stood and removed my jeans quickly. My cock stood at attention, as hard as ever. I ached to be inside her. I sat down on the bed and motioned her toward me. “Come sit on my cock, baby. Take off your shirt first and sit on my cock. I’m going to play with your nipples while you fuck me.”

She needed no further urging. When she sank her moist pussy onto me, I nearly shattered. So good, that suction, that sweet grip. Bracing her knees on either side of my hips, she rose slowly and plunged back down. A man of my word, I cupped both breasts, fingering one nipple and biting the other.