The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

            “Forget it,” she said, mortified by the insulting way he’d said it. “I didn’t—”

            “I’m in,” he growled, and then his lips were on hers.

            It was angry and hot, his mouth opening hers and kissing her with a wild aggression. His hands came up to hold her face so he could absolutely go feral with his teeth and tongue, and she grabbed his biceps because she felt like she needed something to hold on to.

            He made a sound in the back of his throat before sucking her tongue, before treating her mouth like it was a juicy, ripe peach that he wanted to eat whole.

            Just like that, she was in his arms and he was carrying her into the bedroom as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His eyes were dark as he dropped her onto the bed and crawled up her body, his mouth only leaving hers long enough to remove clothing.

            Her hands were shaking as she fumbled with the zipper of his jeans, and then everything changed.

            His expression stayed just as serious, just as hyper-focused and intense, but his body gentled. His touches softened. His mouth grew worshipful instead of ravenous.

            It broke her heart, because it was too much.

            And when he finally slid deep inside her, she had to close her eyes to hold back the tears. It was so good, like it always was with Jack, and she tried to just lose herself in the physicality of it all.

            Don’t think, don’t think, don’t think.

            “Open your eyes,” he said, his voice gruff. “Please?”

            She did, and his throat moved as he swallowed and looked down at her. She saw the flare of his nostrils, the flex of his jaw, and as their eyes locked, they exchanged powerful unspoken words. Goodbye. One last time. She reared up to kiss him, needing his mouth on hers. She locked her hands around his neck and sealed her mouth on his as he made her dizzy with the way he moved in her body.

            Then they reached the point of no return, where emotions ceased to matter as raw lust took over, and when she shifted her weight to flip them, so she was on top, he cursed like a sailor.

            His fingers held her hips, digging into her skin as he watched her move, but when he sat straight up and kissed her, taking her face in his hands, she was done.

            She moaned into his mouth as every muscle in her body clenched and flexed, and a second later he was biting her lower lip and groaning into hers.





Jack


            He turned and moved, sliding them on the sheets so they were lying side by side. Hallie’s eyes were closed, her breathing labored as they both came back to themselves. He felt emotional as he looked at the freckles on her nose, the bow of her lip, and like a pathetic fool, he touched the curve of her cheek and said, “Are you sure you want to be done with this, Hal?”

            Her eyes opened, and he hated the way they looked. Hurt, distant—he couldn’t put his finger on what he saw, but it wasn’t good. She blinked fast before she said in a pinched voice, “Absolutely.”

            He gave a nod and sat up, getting out of bed and grabbing his pants from the floor. There was a roaring in his ears, and even though he knew he didn’t want to know, he heard himself ask, “Is this because of Alex?”

            He shoved a foot into one of the pant legs, unable to say the guy’s name without gritting his teeth. Because honestly, he was so fucking jealous it was almost painful.

            “Um, I guess you could say that,” she said, her tone flat, and her response ripped his heart out of his chest.

            He turned back to the bed and she was standing now, the sheet wrapped around her body, her arms crossed over her chest. He swallowed and muttered, “Awesome.”

            She squinted at him and said, “Why didn’t you tell me that you told him about the bet?”

            His hands stilled on his button. “What?”

            “Before the wedding.” She glared at him and said, “It sounds to me like you got dumped by Kayla, so you decided to tell Alex about the bet to get me dumped.”

            He felt everything rush to a halt as he realized how it looked. What she thought. How it seemed. He shook his head and said, “No, it wasn’t like that at all. I just told him about the bet because that jackass thought fate brought you two together. That you were meant to be.”