Lily's breath came faster. She leaned forward, bracing her hands on my thighs, and groaned. I watched in the mirror as her little fingers sought between her legs and began to rub herself in time with my thrusts.

"Fucking hell, baby," I whispered. It was too fucking beautiful for me to take. "That's right. You get yourself there. I'm waiting right there for you, we're going together."

"So close," she gasped, and then her eyes flew wide open and I felt her tense around me, pulling me deeper inside of her than I ever knew possible. I pumped myself faster and faster and was rewarded with her low scream, her whole body shaking above me. I flew up, grasping her around the waist and pinning her close as the white-hot pleasure burst open inside of me. Her name was the only thing on my lips as I came.

Blindly, I grasped for her face and was shocked when my fingers came away wet.

I opened my eyes and spied her red eyes in the mirror. "Baby, what? What is it?"

She seemed to realize she was crying all of a sudden, because she shook her head and hid her face in her hands. I was still inside of her, but I leaned back, determined to give her as much time as she needed.

Finally she wiped her eyes. "Jaxson …" she started to say. Then she faded out. "Dammit."

I wished like hell I knew what she wanted to say instead. I had a feeling the same three words were hanging on the tip of my tongue too. I bit them back. "Hey, now," I whispered, running my hand up her arm. "That was good. We are good."

"Yeah?" She didn't sound good. She sounded fucking miserable, to tell the truth.

I kissed her shoulder, desperate to know what she needed but too afraid it wasn't me. "Yeah," I said. There was so much more I could have said, but that was all I could manage.

She slid from on top of me, a bit unsteadily I noted with no small pride. But the flash of ego fell away almost instantly when I looked her full in the face. She lifted her chin and some of that fire came back into her eyes. "It's going to be good?" she asked me.

I only vaguely understood what she was asking, so I answered the question in my own brain. I pulled her close. "It's going to be fucking perfect."

She sighed heavily. "I don't want to walk out of this room. We only just got started again, and when I walk out that door, it's the end."

I brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead, then pulled her down into the bed with me. "So stay," I told her, pulling up the covers.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Liliana

I stayed.

It was the first time we had ever slept in a bed together. The intimacy of his body slung along mine took my breath away. He held me so tightly that I struggled to find my breath and not panic. His skin burned along mine, every place where we touched a bright flame of desire. I could feel his heart beating against my back, slow and steady and so real that I suddenly couldn't take it any more. It was too much.

Something had changed inside of me. I lost whatever hope I had that this could just melt away into meaninglessness. I thought I could get him out of my system, but I couldn't get enough of him. Already I wanted to move closer, press my body to his and feel his hands mark my skin with their heat.

I finally realized that leaving him was going to fucking hurt.

So I stayed awake as long as I could to prolong the moment. And when we woke up together, there we no words for what had passed between us last night. There were only desperate kisses, one more and then one more again, before I finally succumbed to the inevitable and set foot outside of his door.

I pulled myself together as best I could with a splash of cold water to my face and the hottest shower I could stand. As I soaped my skin that still smelled like him, I saw the little bruises and marks on my skin that he had left on me.

I wanted to head immediately to a tattoo parlor and etch them into my body forever.

Instead, I dressed for my father's wedding in the dress Jax had chosen for me.

Then I squared my shoulders and headed downstairs.

My dad was standing in the kitchen with the rest of the road crew, looking so awkward and nervous in their tuxes that I had to laugh when I spotted them. "You guys look like a nature documentary about penguins," I giggled. "All huddled in a group like that."

"We're keeping our egg warm," Greg Fingers joked, patting my Dad's prodigious belly.

"Hey, who are you calling an egg?"

"You poached my line."

"Let's keep on the sunny-side here, guys …"

I buried my head in my hands and groaned out loud as the avalanche of puns turned into a round of back-slapping. "Your last day of freedom, Nails," Bash declared.

"You kiddin'? I wasn't ever free. Moment I saw that lady, my heart wasn't mine no more."

I had to look away quickly. Jax had said something so similar last night.

When I looked back again, my dad had extricated himself from another round of good natured punching and come over to me. "Hey, there she is," my Dad said with a twinkle in his eye. "My best woman." He kissed my cheek, then look me straight in the eye. "We missed you at the party last night."

I willed the blush to stay down. "I was there, Dad."

"Not for very long."

I wracked my brain for an excuse. "I thought it would be more fun for you if you didn't have to watch your language," I said breezily, patting his arm for good measure.

He nodded, and for a moment, I thought I might be in the clear. "Did you and Jax have fun together, though?"

"Me and… Jax?" I squeaked. I was sure that guilt was written on every inch of my face.

"Saw you take the bottle upstairs. Hope you didn't finish that all by yourself. Though if you did and you're still standing here, then I guess your old man had a good influence on you, after all."

I pressed my lips together and gave what I thought was a light-hearted grin. "You're an excellent influence, Daddy," I lied prettily, kissing his bearded cheek. Guilt and sorrow vied for control of my emotions, but in the end I forced myself to be happy for my dad on his big day. "Now, come on. Let's go get you married off."

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Jax

Even I could see that the wedding planner had done a hell of a job.

From our vantage point around the corner, we could see that the back lawn had been transformed into a flowery white fairy land. The kind of frilly shit chicks just lap up.

When I heard her delighted gasp, it occurred to me that my mother was a chick.

But that line of thinking was just way too disturbing for words. I extended my elbow. "You ready, Ma?"

She turned to look at me. Her eyes were soft, shining with happy tears. No edge. Nothing there but the genuine thrill of walking down the aisle toward the person she loved.

I almost understood.

"Congratulations, Ma," I said. My heart felt too tight in my chest. I quickly bent and pecked a kiss on her cheek.

"Jax," she said, sighing happily. "I wanted to tell you how proud …"

The crackle of the speakers interrupted her. I pulled back with a laugh as I recognized the opening bars. “ ‘Wildheart?’ Really? You're walking down the aisle to you own song?"

"Shut up!" she hissed, all tenderness gone. "We'll miss our cue!" She mouthed along to her own voice for a moment, and I rolled my eyes. "Okay… now!"