Chapter 396

And my mate complies, wrapping a hand around the back of my neck as he brings his mouth to mine, where it belongs, and lays his body out on top of me. My leg hooks up over his hip, where it likes to be, and I kiss my mate rather desperately, with abandon. Half because want him - always want him, franticly want him- and half because I need him to know it.

A groan slips from between Jackson's lips as he presses himself tighter against me. He kisses me again and again, and with each kiss we sink deeper into each other as his palm slides hard against my skin, up over my rib cage to cup my breast for the first time. A shiver passes through me as he does, because even though I've been topless with him for hours now, this is the first time he's seriously acknowledged it.

I tilt my head back at the intensity of it, of Jackson's broad hand against me, of his calloused thumb rushing light across my nipple. He takes advantage, kissing my throat, running his tongue along the length of it. The shivers come harder now, more frequent, as my hips press up against him, wanting him, wanting him badly, losing my mind with it, as I always seem to do.

And all the while, I'm thinking that Jackson - he's mine. And even if he has this ridiculous idea that Luca is the one who is right for me, that Luca makes sense in a way that he does not...

Jackson? He is mine, and I claim him, and see every inch of him as a match for me -

"I don't think that," Jackson says, pulling back a little, frowning down at me. I pant up at him, confused for a second and he shakes his head at me, wrapping his arms around me so that one is tight around my waist and the other moves up between my shoulders, cradling my head and trapping me against him in a way I love. "I don't think that Luca is right for you, Ariel."

I blink at him, a little surprised because usually, we don't do words down our bond. But guess it's so open now that he caught on - that he can feel what I'm feeling, even without words being put to it.

"Wait," I say, confused and honestly a little too much in a makeout-induced haze to think straight, "then what do you think?"

He shakes his head again, staring at me intently, like it's the most important thing he's ever said. "I said that Luca looks like he makes more sense for you, on paper that you seern like the better match, I think that Luca's done a great job of convincing the tabloids that you're a perfect pair," he says, smirking a little now. And I can't help it, I smirk a bit too. "But that when it comes to the reality of you, Ariel? All of your complexities? All of your twists, and turns, and the woman you're growing into, the person you'll become?"noveldrama

I go a little still in his arms because...what is he saying? Does Jackson really see me this way?

His smile broadens, and then he nudges his nose against mine, wolfish and heated and sweet. "He can't handle you," he whispers.

My face breaks into a challenging grin. "What, McClintock," I murmur. "And you think you can?"

"Yeah," he whispers, instant, with a smug little grin. "I think I can, Clark. I think I'm going to enjoy...handling you."

I groan then, and basically grab him, pulling his face to mine and making him kiss me again. My mate laughs and complies, laying me back down flat on the bed and kissing me hard, and fast, matching my desire and my desperation.

Because that's what I am now, for better or for worse-just.. desperate for Jacks, to feel him, every inch of him.

My body sings, and I let him feel it, when he slides his hand long down the length of my side, dipping behind me and grabbing a handful of my ass. He groans, tucking his head down against my shoulder like he can't handle it, but his body moves forward despite him. Jackson, in a break from his usual restraint, lets his hips shift forward so that I can feel every long, hard inch of him, pressed tight between my legs.

And then, groaning deeply, Jackson flexes his hips just once, sliding the length of his cock against me. And when I feel how thick, and heavy, and ready he is -

I fucking lose my mind.

I wrap both of my legs around his waist then, panting, my head tilted back so that Jackson has full access to my neck, bared before him. He licks me there again, and then presses his teeth against the soft skin, his canines just slightly extended to points. And I know - I know he wants to mark me.