Uncaged Love (10 page)
Authors: JJ Knight
I know when he’s about to talk, because he draws in a different sort of breath.
“Jo?”
I don’t do anything, don’t answer. I feel paralyzed.
His arms move, his hands coming up around my head. He tugs the ponytail holder from my hair. I feel unmasked. But I let him do it.
His fingers slip through the strands. I shiver from the pleasure of it. He massages my scalp and a warmth spreads from my head down through my body.
He makes this feel so easy, so right. Maybe if he knows about Brittany, it will change things. If he sees who she really is, maybe he’ll know not to marry her.
Maybe he’ll be free.
But I remember him saying, “I’ll deal with this.” Like I’m a problem. Maybe right now he’s calming me down just so he can break my neck, or throw me out, or threaten me into silence.
“About six months ago,” he finally says, “I fell hard for a girl a lot like you.”
I swallow. I didn’t expect this.
“She was fiery. Probably not as raw talented as you. But she had heart.”
I squeeze my eyes shut.
“After—after she left, my work suffered pretty bad.” His voice is different from any of the versions I’ve known, almost broken.
“I lost a lot of fights.”
Zero said he canceled his title match. Maybe it wasn’t about the losses at all. It was a girl.
“Everyone is looking out for me,” he says. “Buster, my trainer, my father, Brittany.”
I stiffen at her name.
“I know. I don’t blame you for how you feel about her. This has to look bad.” He sighs. “I’m not able to explain Brittany right now.” He pulls away from me and this time, I look up.
His hazel eyes are more brown than green. His lashes are dark and fringed. He looks so haunted. I want to kiss him, to pull him close, to make him feel all right. But it can’t be right to do that.
“Can you trust me?” It’s a real question now.
I still don’t answer. I don’t know that I can trust him. I don’t know what any of this means. What it should be. What is right or wrong.
A sadness flickers across his face, and I think the moment is over. I haven’t told him that I trust him. But how can I? He just told the whole world he was marrying Brittany. He should not be in here holding on to me.
But, he is.
“I don’t know if you’ll ever even talk to me again after today.” His voice has fallen to almost a whisper. “So I’m going to take my chance while I have it.”
His lips meet mine and it’s like the hurricane, only different. The world has dropped away, like the wind is carrying us. But I’m not angry. I’m not threatened. I’m swept into it. His mouth is warm and tender and soft, like he’s still asking the question.
I relax into him, and it’s like he rejoices. He pulls me harder against him and his hand cups my head.
Now the kiss is something else, not a question, but an answer. I know what he’s saying, what he feels. It’s heady and beautiful, like a light is shining from the inside out.
His tongue touches my lips, and they know what to do. They open for him and he slips into me. I touch my tongue to his tentatively. Then everything builds into a frenzy, and his hands are moving, our bodies are touching in every place bodies can touch. His arm comes down and he lifts me against him.
His mouth slants across mine. The kiss is deep, like our mouths open into our souls. His heart has sped up beneath my palm. Mine is pounding so hard that I feel it in my ears.
I don’t ever want this feeling to end. I want more of it, more and more and more. I feel bold and wrap my arms around him. My fingers splay across his back, feeling each muscle stretch taut as he holds me in place.
I realize I’m not breathing, and I gasp against him. His mouth lowers then to my neck. Sparks erupt where his lips touch my skin. I could never have even imagined any of this could feel this way. Intense. Glorious. Beautiful.
Something unfurls inside me. I’m not twelve, but twenty now. And I’ve discovered what everyone else knew long before me. That this is what it’s all about. This is why we get up every morning. This.
I pull back a little, so I can look at him again. I want to see if he’s changed, now that I know what I feel.
His eyes are on mine. I see such happiness there. It’s a look I don’t know on him. He’s been fierce. Amused. Concerned. But this—
A light blinds us.
Our faces turn. One of the photographers from the street bolts for the back door.
Colt lets go of me and starts to chase after him. The man slams the door. Colt snatches it open.
I follow close behind. God, that photograph. Just an hour after his big public engagement. This is bad. Very bad.
I blow through the door. Colt is leaning against the brick wall, breathing heavy. “Go back inside,” he orders. His voice is angry.
I back away from him. “Don’t talk to me that way.”
He shakes his head. “Go in.”
Fury rises up in me. “Why didn’t you go after him?”
Colt presses the heel of his hand into his eye. “Because it wouldn’t make a difference.”
I hear a rumbling of voices. I walk in front of Colt to the corner of the building. The wind is crazy, blowing my hair everywhere.
And then I see it.
Reporters. Photographers. A mass of them, all waiting. When I peer out, the flashes pop, dozens of them, capturing me from every angle.
I’ve really done it now.
The End of Volume 1 - UNCAGED LOVE by JJ KNIGHT
UNCAGED LOVE is a 5-book series about Jo and Colt.
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Thank you for reading!
Love, JJ
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