Stoking Her Fire Read online

  His words were everything. I couldn’t help the tears that sprang free. I felt so embarrassed. Jackson lifted his hand and wiped the wetness away. He never once tried to get me to stop. He held me and stroked my hair and my back and just let me cry. Jackson just knew, he knew that all the hurt and pain I had felt needed to come out. I always thought I would be alone. It would be me and my grandmother, and then just me.

  Alone.

  I never dreamt I would have him again. It seemed like an impossible delusion. Jackson coming back had given me something I had lost a long time ago. He was giving me a future, hope.

  “Pretty girl, I see you. I see every single part of you, and I want it all. I will never let anything hurt you again, Avery. I’m going to give you all those things you wanted as a child and didn’t get. I want you and I want everything this life has to offer with you. There has never been anyone else for me.” He kissed me softly. “There’s never been anyone else,” he said again.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m a virgin, Avery. In all these years I haven’t even thought about another woman. I knew that it was you or nothing. When I got the opportunity to move back, I didn’t hesitate to take the job. I’ve been trying to get the balls to approach you, but I didn’t want to disturb your life.” He smiled, but it looked a little sad. “If you want to know the truth, I was scared that if you were with some man I might go to jail for killing him, knowing he had you and I didn’t.” Jackson’s words would have startled and possibly frightened any sane woman, but to me they felt right, perfect, because I was his. I always had been.

  He kissed my forehead then turned to the back of the truck and grabbed a thick blanket. Jackson took my hand and walked me to our spot. We’d always liked this small patch of grass away from the crowds. No matter how busy it got, this spot was always just for us.

  Jackson spread out the blanket, kicked off his shoes, and then took my hand. I sat down and he immediately lifted my feet to remove one shoe at a time. I couldn’t help but smile as he started rubbing my feet. The act was so intimate, and his touch was so familiar.

  “You know I hate feet.” He ginned, teasing me. “But your feet are different. They are the cutest things in the world.” The silence stretched on between us, his touch gentle, comforting. “Are you okay with all this? Is it going too fast?” I could hear the concern in his voice. “Please tell me I don’t sound like a lunatic.”

  I smiled. “I like the way things are going, and no, it’s not too fast.” He stared at me with such intensity. “I like the way you look at me.” My voice came out like a whisper.

  “And how is that?”

  “Like I’m the only girl in the world. You always looked at me like that. When I was younger, I thought it was just wishful thinking.”

  “It’s because you are. To me, you’re the only thing in the world that matters.”

  I didn’t think Jackson could ever know how much those words meant to me. Being a girl that was pretty much thrown in the trash by her own mother, I never really felt worthy of anything. Your mother is supposed to be the only person on the planet that loves you no matter what. She is supposed to do anything and everything for her child.

  I was lucky I had Gigi. She did everything for me and made me thrive. If not for her, things would have been far worse. But not having my mother put a hole in my heart. It shattered me, humiliated me.

  “Penny for your thoughts, beautiful.” Jackson pushed my hair back and looked deep into my eyes.

  At that moment, I just wanted to kiss him. I wanted to be held in his arms and feel the warmth of his lips on mine. I wanted the thing that only Jackson could give me ... a real home.

  And then he was kissing me.

  His lips felt cool, his tongue hot. I felt like I was in both a volcano and an ice storm. The kiss was desperate, full of need. I gripped his shoulders, my nails digging into his flesh. He just held my head like I was made of porcelain, fragile, vulnerable. I guess in that moment I was.

  Jackson

  Kissing her had my blood on fire. It was a flame that just kept rising until it engulfed me. Six years. I had gone six years without her. That time apart had been so lonely. Once I had gotten big and strong and the awkwardness of teen years evaporated, I’d had my share of girls wanting to date me. But none of them could ever be my Avery.

  So I waited, knowing that I would find her again and be complete. As fucking cheesy as it was, Avery was my other half. In this whole world she was the one I was meant to be with. She was going to be the mother of my children, and I’d spend the rest of my life making sure she got treated like the queen she was. I was going to hear her laughter every day for the rest of my damn life. “I love you,” I whispered against her lips. “I love you so much, Avery, that I ache for you. I have loved you from the moment I saw you, and that emotion has grown. It’s so damn big now that I couldn’t shake if even if I wanted to.” I stared into her eyes. “You’re in the very marrow of my being.” I didn’t think if those words would scare her or if she felt the same. I needed to tell her what I wanted, how I felt. She needed to know that she was my everything.

  “Oh, Jackson.” She burst into tears and threw her arms around me, and in that next moment I heard four words that made me feel invincible.

  “I love you too.” She smiled. “Let’s get out of here,” she whispered. “Take me home, Jackson.”

  8

  Jackson

  We crashed through the door, our limbs tangled together, our mouths fused as one.

  “I want you to be my first and only, Avery baby.” I wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed in the slightest to admit I’d never had sex, that I was a virgin. I’d saved myself for this girl, for the chance to show her with my body what she meant to me. There was nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for her.

  “I want you to be my first, too, Jackson.”

  I breathed out harshly at her words. I claimed her mouth again, kissed her, and stroked her tongue with mine. “I can’t stand the thought of you with anyone but me.”

  “I don’t want anyone but you,” she said against my mouth.

  I spread my hands in her hair and kissed her until we were both gasping for air. She arched into me, her breasts pressing into my chest, letting me feel how hard her nipples were. Damn, I wanted her naked, wanted her bare chest right up against mine. My cock jerked at that thought.

  I forced myself to pull back and break the kiss. I didn’t want to, but then again this moment needed done right. If I didn’t get some control, this would be over before it even started. And I didn’t want to come in my pants like some damn teenager.

  “Take me to bed,” she whispered.

  I looked into her eyes, feeling my heart race. “You’re sure?” I wanted to make sure she knew exactly what was happening. I wanted to hear Avery say she wanted this, wanted me.

  “I’ve been sure for years.”

  I had her in my arms and striding toward the bedroom a second later. I was done waiting. We’d done enough of that over the years. When I had her by the mattress, I gently pushed her down on it. I covered her body with mine, wanting the clothes she wore gone. I pulled back and braced my hands by her head. All I did was stare at her.

  She was perfect. She was mine.

  “I want to go slow with you, to make this last, but I don’t know if I can.”

  Avery rose up, and before I could comprehend what she was doing, she had her top lifted and pulled over her head.

  “Come closer to me,” she said softly.

  I stared down at her now exposed breasts, my cock throbbing, my balls drawn up tight. I rested my forehead on her chest, hearing her heart beating right below the surface of her skin, feeling her warmth spread to me. “God, Avery.” I closed my eyes. “I’ve waited for this moment seemingly my entire life.”

  “Undress the rest of me, Jackson.”

  I held in my groan. I wanted to be so deep in her there wasn’t any place on her body … in her body that I wasn’t claimin
g as mine.

  I shifted until I was off of her and helped her to sit up. Then I helped her undress. When she was nude, I went for my clothes, wanting to not seem like I was in a fucking hurry, but the truth was I wanted our naked bodies pressed together.

  “You’re sure about this?”

  “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life,” she said.

  I was frozen in place as I stared at the creamy, perfect flesh that covered her from head to toe.

  I looked between her legs at her pink, wet pussy, her engorged clit slightly protruding.

  For me.

  All for me.

  I lifted my gaze over her belly, along the indentation of her navel, and stopped when I got to her large breasts.

  “I need you, Jackson,” she said, and I groaned.

  I didn’t want to make her wait, and I sure as hell didn’t want to wait either. “I’ll never get enough,” I admitted.

  My throat tightened, my emotions threatening to spill over. “I love you,” I said. “I love you, too.” I closed my eyes at hearing those words. I wanted this moment to be special and memorable, but I was so far gone for her. I felt like I couldn’t handle what was about to happen. Thank God she was right here with me.

  I wasn’t even inside of her yet, and already I was trying not to get off. My balls were drawn up to my body, and I was having one hell of a time keeping myself in control.

  “I could come right now, Avery baby,” I said honestly. I wanted to feel her pussy clenching around my cock, milking me, because she wanted my cum filling her up.

  “I need you, Jackson. I need you now.”

  She’d get all of me and more. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip. I was tense, my muscles straining under my skin. My cock was so hard, and I felt pre-cum at the tip. Looking down at her face I saw her cheeks were this pretty pink color.

  I wanted her to know she was all mine.

  She started breathing harder, and I slid my hand between us and ran my finger along her slit. “You own me. You always have.” I grabbed my cock, aligned it with her entrance, and stilled.

  Her pussy was hot and soaking for me. All me. Only me.

  “You feel so good.”

  I groaned at hearing her words and plunged my tongue inside her mouth, forcing her to take it all. I was done waiting.

  “Baby,” I murmured against her mouth, my hips having a mind of their own and wanting to plunge forward, burying my cock inside of her tight, virgin heat. “I need to be inside of you.” With the tip of my cock at her entrance, I didn’t want to wait anymore. I couldn’t.

  She arched, pressing her breasts against my chest.

  I shoved my hips forward, thrusting my cock deep into her.

  “Don’t stop.”

  “I won’t.” Her pussy was so tight, so wet. She was so hot, so primed for me, I almost came right then.

  “Yes,” she groaned out, her lips parted.

  “I didn’t hurt you too much?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”

  I was fully inside her now, my balls pressed right up against her ass, her pussy clenching around my cock.

  “I need you to fuck me.”

  “Fuck. You can’t say that to me or I’ll come right now.” I started moving in and out of her slowly, gently. I lowered my head and claimed her mouth as I thrust in and out of her. My dick was so damn hard it ached.

  I thrust especially hard in her. She gasped and held on tighter, digging her nails in deeper. “You feel so good.” The feeling of her pussy squeezing my cock, and of her wanting this so damn badly, made me feel drunk.

  I was never going to get enough. Never.

  9

  Avery

  The pleasure overrode anything else.

  “So fucking good,” Jackson said in a deep voice. He thrust in slow and easy and the heat started to build inside of me, that discomfort still there but not as powerful as it had initially been. He was big and thick, hitting parts of me that had my toes curling.

  “You feel so good.” He closed his eyes and groaned softly. “Hold me as I make love to you.” He leaned closer to my mouth. “As I fuck you.”

  A shiver worked through me.

  I had my hands on his biceps, my nails in his flesh. He started pulling out of me; then right when just the tip was lodged in my body, he pushed back in, slow and easy, gentle and sweet.

  He’d thrust in deeply. Jackson buried his face in the crook of my neck again. I wrapped my arms around him. Jackson started moving at a steady pace then, and as the seconds moved by and the intensity of my pleasure rose, I just let myself feel.

  I couldn’t hold in my moan. “So good.”

  He thrust in and out of me slowly and turned his head so he could press his mouth on mine. This feeling of being filled, stretched, consumed me. He was hard where I was soft. My inner muscles clenched around him, and he pushed in deep and hard.

  He felt so good on me … in me.

  The bulbous head of his cock was poised at my entrance. While holding my gaze with his, he thrust in deep and hard once more. He was almost all the way out again, then pushed back into me. Over and over he did this, faster and a little harder with each movement.

  He leaned in and kissed me again. “I love you so much.”

  He sank back into me, his hand braced by my head, his forearms straight. He watched as he plunged his cock into my pussy.

  He shivered. “You’re the hottest fucking thing, Avery.”

  Jackson made this low sound in the back of his throat, gripped my waist, and flipped me over. It was only a second before I felt him reach between us and place his dick right back in my pussy.

  I felt myself start to rise to the surface of a powerful orgasm. “That’s it, baby,” he whispered. He started pushing in and pulling out of me faster, harder. “You’re mine.” The scent of sex and sweat filled the room. The sounds of our heavy breathing surrounded us. The sound of him fucking me consumed every part of my being. He only kept me on my belly for a few moments before he flipped me on my back again. I liked the way he was taking control, moving me around the way he wanted me to be. “Tell me you’ll come for me, Avery,” Jackson whispered in a harsh voice. “Yes,” I said, the only word coming out of me. Closing my eyes and breathing out harshly, I wanted him to know where I was right now. “I’m going to come again.” “Milk me, baby.” My pussy muscles clenched around him, and Jackson grunted in response, his hips slamming hard against mine. “Yes,” he hissed. He closed his eyes, his jaw clenched tightly. “I’m coming.” He groaned harshly again, bucking against me, emptying himself in my body. “I love you so much.” He thrust in deep. “I love you, Jackson.” His eyes were still closed, but the ecstasy was clear on his face. My inner muscles clamped down hard, and we both moaned. “You’ll always be mine, and I’ll always be yours,” he seemed to say to himself. With his huge body over mine, I felt every hard muscle in him tense further as he reached his peak.

  He was buried deep in me, filling me, making me his. After long seconds Jackson finally relaxed on top of me. All I wanted to do was stay like this, to just be in our own bubble where nothing would touch us. “I’m probably crushing you, Avery baby.” Before I could protest, he rolled off me but kept me right up against him. “I love you so much,” he whispered against my ear. I smiled and closed my eyes. Nothing else mattered except this moment. “I love you,” I said and I did, so much. Jackson shifted on the bed and cupped the side of my face. He pulled me in close, and I couldn’t deny I loved being held by him. I loved everything about him. “I know this seems so fast and sudden, but to me I’ve been waiting a lifetime to claim you as mine.” “I’ve been waiting forever, too,” I admitted. “To have you in my life…” He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” He crushed me to him. I loved the feeling of being breathless. It was just a shame it had taken us so long to get here. But we were here now, and that was all that mattered.

  Epil
ogue One

  Avery-Several weeks later

  The next few weeks were bliss being around Jackson again. It was exactly what I needed, what I’d been missing. I’d never felt so free or happy.

  Today was the day Gigi got released from the hospital. They’d kept her longer than any of us wanted, but I’m glad they waited to make sure she was okay and healed before discharge. The doctors kept telling me she would be fine, but seeing her frail body in that hospital just made me sad.

  “Today is the day, Gigi. I have the guest room all set up for you with all your things. It’s going to be so nice having you around.”

  Gigi just grumbled under her breath, but I could see the smile lacing her mouth. She really thought she was a nuisance to me, but the idea of having her and Jackson near me made me so happy.

  “I’m going to just cramp your style,” she said and huffed over at me. “Besides, you now have that delicious man and I really don’t want to be the third wheel.” She waggled her eyebrows in a suggestive way and I barked out a laugh.

  “Don’t worry. Having you there will be really nice. It’s exactly what we all need.” And I meant that. She smiled just as there was a knock on the hospital room door. Jackson came in a second later, a bouquet of flowers in one hand as he pushed a wheelchair with the other.

  I helped Gigi into the wheelchair and she looked up at Jackson and grinned. I could tell she was just as smitten with him as I was.

  “Okay, let’s leave this godforsaken place and go home.”

  Home. Where I could start my life with Jackson and be close to Gigi. That was my idea of perfection.

  Jackson-Six months later

  A lot had changed within the last six months, but my feelings for Avery had only grown. Here I was, carrying boxes out to the moving van, which would then go to our new, bigger home. There was no point in living separately, and the new house had its own mother-in-law suite just for Gigi.