Teaser - Marked Chapter 19

We know that several of you are anxiously awaiting the next chapter, wanting to see what happens with the boys after Jasper's indiscretion. We wanted to give you a little something to go on. If you'd like to read a teaser for the next chapter, check it out here.

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His hair was messy and hanging in his eyes, which were clouded and dark. The storm raging in the bottomless blue was one of uncertainty and hopelessness, and in that instant, it didn’t matter how I hurt or what I deserved because I couldn’t take the sight of the man I loved dying inside. He shifted his weight nervously, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He didn’t say anything at all, but as I watched, his hands tightened around the bottle and his eyes squeezed shut.

Oh, Jazz…

I didn’t speak, either. I took the three steps needed to reach him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pressing my body against his as I pulled him close. He froze for a moment, and then his arms were around my waist, the bottle of wine digging into my lower back. He shuddered, his whole body shaking; it felt as if he were trying to squeeze me in two.

I moved my hand to cup his cheek and lifted his lips to mine, feeling the constriction in my chest relax when he returned my kiss eagerly. He let me lead, but when my lips parted his, he moaned loudly as our tongues brushed. Any doubt I might have had about how he felt about me was erased in his needy reaction.

When I ended our kiss at long last, his lips followed, insistent against mine until, suddenly, he stopped and pulled back. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. I wasn’t sure if he meant for being overly eager or for everything that had happened – I thought both – but I felt more hope that we would be alright than I had since I returned home.

I swallowed back my automatic, “It’s okay,” because there was a hell of a lot we needed to talk about before it would be okay. Instead, I said honestly, “I missed you. Come inside?”