See Her (Turn it Up #1)

Chapter 18

18

MAYZIE

J ack and I lay together for some time, breathless, hearts beating rapidly. I breathe in his skin while he skates his fingers all over the skin of my back. It’s not until both our breathing has slowed and we’re completely relaxed that he gets up to dispose of the condom, giving me the most stunning view of his sculpted ass on his way to the bathroom, as well as the tattoo of a radio dial inked behind his left shoulder. The dial’s switch is cranked all the way to the right, and I feel myself smiling at the clever reference to his band.

When he returns, he promptly climbs back in the bed with me and pulls me to sit facing him in his lap. My legs straddle around his waist while he wraps the covers around us and locks his arms around my middle.

I giggle affectionately as he settles us in the position, and my eyes land on the ink on his chest I hadn’t seen before tonight.

“What’s this?” I ask quietly as I trace my finger over the wings of a dove that have been etched into the smooth skin on the right side. The bird sits on a branch, backlit by the sun, with its wings spread like it’s about to take flight.

“A little tribute to my mom,” he answers, continuing to cradle me close, as I have him lead me on a tour of his other markings. Some a re music related, some are symbolic, and some are self–proclaimed teenaged mistakes that he just thought looked cool, which humanizes and makes me melt into the idea of him even more.

“You know…” Jack cuddles me a little closer and I lace my fingers behind his neck. “We could get one done together.”

“What, like identical? Or just at the same time?”

“I don’t think it really matters. If we just got one at the same time, it would still give us a connection. Or we could come up with a design together.”

“Wanna merge our names, and get ‘Jayzie’?” I ask, smiling and sticking my tongue out.

“Oh hell no,” he says with a chuckle.

“Ride or die?”

“I’m serious!” he says, leaning in to nip at my neck, making me emit a gleeful yelp before pulling back again. “Really, though. What do you think?”

“Yeah,” I say, grinning at this crazy idea. “I’m in.”

“That’s my girl,” Jack whispers before turning his head to kiss my arm, but his eyes are semi-serious once he looks up to regard me from under his lashes.

“What?” I chance a smile. This is normally the part where a guy tells me he’s about to be really busy in the coming weeks, or some other evasive cliché. I don’t let my mind go there, though, and instead give him my eyes while I wait for him to respond.

“I have something to tell you,” he husks out.

Great.

I tilt my head up at him more, not letting my gaze falter.

“I love you,” he declares softly, instead of what I was semi-fearing. The words sail straight to my heart, delivering a hard pang that sends a ripple of warmth through the rest of my body. His eyes seem to search mine, as if cautiously gauging my reaction.

I feel a nervous smile pull at the sides of my mouth as I return his stare, looking for signs of kidding. “You do?” is the best m y befuddled ass can come up with. I feel a slight shiver run through me, despite being tucked against Jack’s warm body.

“I do,” his soft grumble affirms. “I’m so fucking crazy about you,” he admits, pulling me closer. “I know it’s crazy, it’s only been a couple of weeks, but I fucking know it.”

“How?” I breathe out as the dam in my heart starts to break, flooding my soul with the love I’ve been trying not to believe I’ve been feeling for him. Like he said, it hasn’t been very long.

He shakes his head and his shoulders rise slowly. “I’ve felt it ever since I saw you dance. I was already smitten with your kindness and your smile. You make me laugh and you inspire me more than anything ever has. And when I saw you in that studio, I saw so much beauty and passion exploding out of you. I knew it then, and I haven’t stopped feeling it since. It’s just there, Maze. When I’m not with you, I’m thinking about you. I can never seem to wait until the next time I see you, and I’ve never felt more alive.”

I finally let my eyes close, just to let his words settle over me as I place a hand on his chest. The smooth plane of muscle with the ink etched into the warm skin has quickly become my favorite place tonight.

“I think I know what you mean,” I admit as I open my eyes to face him again, wanting him to see my truth.

“You do?” he asks, tilting his head and brushing a strand of hair off my forehead before locking his hands behind my back, and I nod. “You feel it too?”

I draw in a deep breath, for some reason craving courage to say it. “I do feel it, Jack. All of it.”

“Will you say it?” He leans in closer, resting his head against mine, and I don’t feel pushed or prodded. He’s letting me know I’m safe to tell him how I feel.

“I love you,” I murmur back, and Jack lets out a tender sigh, grinning as he plants a sweet kiss on my lips.

I kiss him back, and we give and take for a while, each touch of our lips pressing deeper and lingering longer, and I feel my breath picking up to accommodate.

“Sweetheart,” Jack rasps, pulling away just enough to speak the word.

“Yeah?” I breathe out.

“Do you take the pill or anything?” he whispers almost uneasily, and when I shift in his lap, I realize he’s grown hard again. My sex takes notice and begins to warm between my legs at the thought of having sex with Jack again.

“Yeah,” I whisper between yearning kisses.

“I’ve never been with anyone without a condom,” he proclaims, his voice breathless. “I’ve never wanted to, but I do with you. I want to feel you. We don’t have to you if you’re not ready.”

“I want to,” I nod, my heart tumbling in my chest.

“You sure?” He takes hold of my face, placing a fierce kiss to my lips before ravaging a trail down my throat.

“Yes, Jack,” I promise him, the words escaping my mouth on a wayward breath.

“God,” he husks, gathering me closer and making me feel his straining erection between us. A moan escapes from back in my throat when I feel the skin-to-skin sensation brushing against my center, and my hands clamp down on Jack’s shoulders, squeezing and trying to get myself under control. I’ll die of disappointment and embarrassment if I come before he’s even inside me.

Jack releases me with one hand to reach between us and line himself up with my opening, his eyes closing at the contact. After inching the tip inside, he lets go and grabs onto my hips, pulling me down deeper. He goes slow, letting out a breathy moan as I descend. I hold on tight to his shoulders, gasping at the deep but welcome fusion of our bodies.

We’re a breathless duet of movement as Jack rocks my hips, finding a motion and a rhythm that gets us perfectly in sync with each other and I try to follow, rolling along with his guidance .

“I love you so much,” Jack professes, thrusting up into me with savoring strokes.

“Jack,” I pant along with our cadence. “I love you too.”

Jack

The next morning, the incessant ringing of my phone breaks through the thick fog of one of the best sleeps I’ve ever had. I come a little bit closer to consciousness with each ring, and struggle to piece together the reality of the moment.After six rings, the noise stops. My eyes are still glued shut, but my other senses are picking up my surroundings. I smell Mayzie all around me, and when I shift slightly, I feel the skin of her warm body pressed against mine, her head on my chest.I finally pull my eyes open to see a mess of light brown hair just inches in front of me, picking up rays of daylight.The ringing starts again, and fury starts to ignite inside my head which isn’t awake enough to process the annoying sound coming from my pants on the floor. I am not a morning person.

I decide to lie here and ignore it. Hopefully whoever it is gives up this time. I close my eyes again and lean my head forward to breathe in the hair that’s in front of my face. When I get the scent of Mayzie’s flowery shampoo, one part of me definitely starts to wake up, and the ringing stops again. Hallelujah. The skin on her arm feels cool as I run my hand up and down it.

God, last night was… well, it was life altering. I’ve never shared anything like this with anyone else. I’ve never felt what I did last night when Mayzie and I came together and let ourselves feel our love so completely. That second time, when I entered her with no barrier between us, feeling her warm and soft against my skin gave me everything I felt the first time, but intensified. That feeling of completeness overtook me. The absence of that little detail made us feel so close, and it was hard to control myself.I just wanted to drown in that feeling and never feel anything else ever again. I want to do it over and over again, just let go and give ourselves over to each other.

The damn ringing of my phone starts again, and this time, the beautiful being in my arms starts to wake up. Now I’m pissed. I could’ve stayed here all day without moving. She lets out a tiny grunt and brings a hand up to rub her eye.I bring both arms completely around her and gently roll her onto her back, giving her a kiss on her neck before turning to sit on the edge of the bed so I can reach for my jeans. I’m going to fish out my phone, find out who the fuck this is and what they want, then I’m turning my damn phone off and diving back under that sheet and pressing myself back up against my woman where I belong.

“What?” I growl into the phone without even checking the caller ID.

“The Black Fire. We’re in,” Matt’s voice says on the other end.

“What?” I say. I heard him, but I’m still not awake.

“Next Saturday,a slot for a band opened up. Remember Robby, my old roommate?He’s turned into quite the regular there. He’s there three nights a week and spending like crazy, so he’s become a VIP or something.The club’s usual go-to called it quits. We’re in!” he says, speaking a mile a minute.I’m catching on, but still struggling to keep up as Mayzie stirs behind me, stretching out her body.

“Are you shitting me? Did I really just hear all that?” I ask Matt.

“I’m dead fucking serious. We go on at 10, next Saturday. We have to get together, come up with a good set list, rehearse…”

“Yeah. Holy shit. I can’t believe this.”The Black Fire is one of the hottest clubs in downtown, and we’ve never gotten in to play there before. It’s a way bigger crowd, a chance to expose ourselves to more people.

“I can’t either. Look, I gotta go. I have to keep trying to reach the ot hers. You work tonight?”

It’s Thursday, and I’m off tonight.

“No, I’m off.”

“Alright, let’s get together, go over some shit.”

“Alright. Speaking of which, we need to add something to the demo.” The lyrics I started writing the night I saw Mayzie dancing practically wrote themselves that night, and the more time I spent with her, the more the words came to me, and before long, I had a song.

“Another song?Damn. Alright, let’s hear it tonight. I’ll be in touch later.”

“Alright, later.”I put my phone on silent and toss it back down on the floor. I turn back to Mayzie, who’s lying back on the pillow, the sheet pulled up to her chest. Her arms are folded over her head, and her hair is a sexy mess.

“Good news?” she asks, her eyebrows raised, but her lids are still half closed.

“Yeah,” I smile, and crawl back over to her. I see a flash of her naked body as I lift the sheet and climb on top of her, hovering my face over hers. “We get to play The Black Fire next week,” I beam down at her.Her eyes open all the way now, and her smile is big and bright. She’s definitely better with mornings than I am.

“Oh my God, really?” she says, going giddy as I nod at her. “That is amazing, Jack! I’m so excited for you!” She wraps both arms around my neck, giving me a squeeze.I’m happy too, but at the same time, I’m thinking how excited I am to have her, as I look at her looking back at me from under her lashes. Her grey eyes are practically sparkling with happiness, and my heart gives a thud, knowing it’s for me.I start to melt into her, kissing her chest, splaying my lips to touch as much of her skin as I can. She looks so damn beautiful like this; in the morning light, naked, sleepy, happy. I’ve known for a while now that I’m in love with her, but after last night, there’s more to it. She’s it. She’s mine now. And I will be no one’s but hers, ever again.