Jack’s thumb found her clit through the material, and he circled around it until she thought she might combust. A moan escaped her lips, and she latched on to his belt buckle, willing him closer. The moan must have been too loud because Jack covered her mouth again with his lips, and he pressed his rapidly growing erection against her. She whimpered through the kisses as their bodies moved together, desperate to take him. Her hand fumbled to undo his belt buckle. She finally yanked it apart, unbuttoned his pants, and slid the zipper to the bottom. Her hand found his thickness through his jeans, and she ran down the length.

“Jack, take me,” she growled into his ear.

He didn’t need anymore urging as he grasped the waistline of her tights and shoved them down her legs forcefully. She hoped she didn’t have runs in them, but at this point, she could care less. Jack released himself from the confines of his boxers, and shoved her back harder against the tree. He body was pulsing with the heat radiating between and the forcefulness.

This was her Jack.

He lifted her up off the ground easily, until his dick pressed against her opening, and then he slid her down onto him. Her pussy took all of him in and tightened around the welcome intrusion.

“This is just how I like you,” he said, taking one of her hands, forcing it over her head, and then doing the same with the other.

She smirked at him from her position with him inside of her, and her completely exposed to him. “I’ll try to hold in my screams,” she said defiantly.

“Don’t. The world could use a lesson.”

She laughed until he moved out of her slowly. It was the only movement he took slow after that. He thrust up inside of her forcefully over and over again. The risk of getting caught only intensified the excitement and desperation in their movements. And he took her unrestrainedly; in a way that left no doubt in her mind that there would never be anything like this, no one else like Jack.

He could take her slow or fast or rough or fucking brutally, and she liked it. She wanted more. And she couldn’t imagine a time that she wouldn’t ever want more.

As Jack pumped inside of her, Lexi’s back scratched against the tree, and she felt her world tilting—the way it always did with Jack. Her breathing quickened, and she felt the first wave of orgasm take over her body. She clenched all around him, and he hit climax with her. As they both rode out the pleasure coursing through their bodies, Jack rested his forehead down on her.

“Mine,” he whispered.

“Forever.”

They separated and were in the middle of pulling themselves together when they heard someone clear his throat behind them.

Lexi dropped her hands immediately, and Jack jumped away. They both turned, faced the source of the interruption, and saw a young male cop standing nearby.

“Sorry, officer,” Jack said with a nod.

“I’d move along,” the guy said. He looked more like he was trying to hide his amusement than admonishing them.

Jack placed his hand on the small of Lexi’s back and walked with her off of the trail. “Sorry about that,” Jack said.

“About what?” Lexi asked. “The orgasm?”

Jack laughed. “No. I’m never sorry for those. Sorry about the cop.”

“Pervert.”

Jack cracked up again. “How much time do we have?”

Lexi checked her watch. “Shit! We’re cutting it really close. We have to meet Chyna at her place, and then we have dinner reservations almost right after.”

They walked out to the street, and Jack hailed a cab. He opened the back door and let her slide in first. “Hey, Lex,” he murmured.

“Yeah?”

“I have something I have to get before dinner. Can I meet you there?”

Lexi narrowed her eyes. After that encounter in the park and all this talk about eating her for dessert first, Lexi had no idea why he wouldn’t want to go with her. It made her suspicious, and it was a feeling she really didn’t like. Years of suspicions made her stomach jolt at the thought.

Jack could pretty much see it on her face, and he bent forward and kissed her. “You’ll like it.”

“Where are you going?” she asked anyway. Her stomach fluttered anxiously.

“It’s a surprise—for you. I don’t want to ruin it.”

“The last time you left in New York—”

Jack shushed her with another kiss. “I’m not leaving you.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

“It’s a good surprise, but it is a surprise. Please let me do this,” he whispered.

Lexi nodded slowly. She trusted him. He looked so earnest in his request, not an ounce of deception on his face. She wondered if he had planned this the whole time or if it was all just spur of the moment.

“Okay. I’ll see you at Chyna’s or the restaurant?”

“I’m not sure yet. Probably the restaurant.”

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too, Lex,” he said right before closing the taxi door.

Lexi gave the address to Chyna’s apartment to the cab driver as her mind drifted away to Jack. They’d had a great weekend in the city, and it just further solidified her desire to move back. She’d had offers from New York law firms before choosing Atlanta to be closer to Ramsey, and she was sure she could acquire a job here again with all the experience that she had gained. And Jack surely could get a job in the city now. He had been applying broadly, but she wanted to talk to him about focusing here more. She thought it would be good for them to get out of Atlanta.

She just hoped that whatever this surprise was would be good. She knew Jack had changed, but sometimes, it still scared her, knowing that they were together. She loved him with all her heart, and the only thing she wanted to do was give it away to him. Now, she just needed to trust herself not to try to hold on to it too tight. Jack knew what he was doing with it.

The cab drove her uptown through traffic to Chyna’s penthouse overlooking Central Park. Luckily, Lexi managed to arrive a few minutes early. She paid the cab and then stepped outside to see Bernard holding the door open for her.

“Miss Lexi,” he said with a nod. “Good to see you.”

“Mr. B,” she said with a wave. “You know, I never asked—what’s it like for Chyna not to show up with a random man every night? You actually don’t have to babysit her anymore.”

Bernard laughed and shook his head. “Mr. Adam does all the babysitting now. It’s pretty nice.”

Lexi bit her lip and smiled. So much had changed since she had first arrived in New York. “Good seeing you.”

She stepped inside, took the elevator upstairs and walked down the hall to Chyna’s place. The door was unlocked for her, and she entered an almost completely empty apartment. She had been expecting Chyna to be slightly drunk, pacing the apartment with Adam watching on incredulously, like he normally did when his wife acted like…herself. Instead, all Lexi saw was John.

He looked good. She was pretty sure every woman in the world found that man attractive. He just had the look. He was in a dark three-piece suit with a black shirt underneath and no tie. His short brown hair was spiked. His hazel eyes looked her up and down, and that smile crept up across his face.

Lexi hoped it wasn’t obvious what she had been doing with Jack. She hadn’t even checked to see if she had stuff in her hair or if her clothes were properly aligned. Oh well. Nothing she could do about it now. She ran her hands down the front of her skirt reflexively anyway.

“Hey. I didn’t know you were going to be here.” She hadn’t seen or heard from him since the wedding fiasco.

“I didn’t realize you would be here either,” he said, standing from where he had been seated on the couch and walking across the room toward her. “How have you been?”

“Great,” she answered honestly.

A smile grew on her face as she thought about Jack—his face, his body, his sweet kisses, the way his hair curled at the edges, the perfect color of his eyes, the way his hand traced her palm, the way his lips looked when he told her that he loved her.