Page 28 of Deserving Maisy
The second he felt her muscles tense, he rolled them, fucking her hard through her orgasm until his own came upon him. Once more, he filled her with his release. Except this time he couldn’t help but think about the possibility of getting her pregnant. It should’ve scared the crap out of him, but instead it felt…right.
After catching his breath, Jack slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. He wet a washcloth and cleaned himself up before returning to the bedroom and cleaning their combined release from between her legs. Jack didn’t miss the blush that swept over his wife’s face. One more thing he obviously hadn’t done before. He’d been an idiot, that had to be the only answer to why she sometimes acted so surprised at the things he did.
After returning the washcloth to the bathroom, he slipped back into bed and pulled Maisy into his arms. They were both naked, and it felt wonderful to have her lying skin-to-skin against him. She fell asleep almost immediately, snuggled close, but Jack lay awake for quite a while, thinking.
He still couldn’t remember anything past waking up in this room, but for some reason, holding Maisy felt…odd. It was amazing, and he loved it, but it feltnew. Not like something he’d done for years.
The feeling worried him.
Berating himself yet again, Jack made a mental vow to be a much better husband. If he hadn’t slept with her in his arms every single night, he was a fucking idiot. Because there was nothing better than the feel of this sleepy, snuggly woman against his heart.
Did he love her?
Jack thought about that question for a long moment. He was married to her, so he had to love her at one point. But the fact that he had no memories of their life together was a little disconcerting. He wanted to say ofcoursehe loved his wife, but honestly, with his memory gone, it felt as if he’d only known her for a week. He cared about her, yes. He worried about her, and the obviously strained relationship with her brother. Something was off about that, but he hadn’t been able to put his finger on what the problem was, exactly…yet.
He felt protective of her…but love? He was ashamed to admit that he wasn’t sure he was there yet. He’d never admit it to Maisy, as that would probably gut her. She was a woman who loved hard and deep. He could tell that about her even after only a week.
Love would come. He’d fallen for her once, he would again. Of that he had no doubt. For now, the connection he felt with her, both emotionally and physically, was enough. The sex was amazing, and thathadto be because they’d been in love before. His body obviously remembered her, even if his brain didn’t.
Maisy stirred against him, and Jack turned his head and kissed her temple. She immediately settled and that warm feeling in his chest grew. Yeah, he could definitely fall back in love with his wife. It was only a matter of time.
Jack had a lot of other shit he needed to figure out, but this? His marriage? It was solid. He’d make sure it stayed that way, no matter what.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Maisy blushed when she looked over and caught Jack’s eye. They were eating dinner with Jason and were sitting next to each other. Jack had his left hand on her thigh, as if he couldn’t bear not to touch her for more than a moment. And Maisy loved it.
A week had passed since they’d gotten married, and he’d been insatiable. They’d spent more timeinbed than out of it, not that Maisy was complaining.
But her brother’s snide comments when Jack wasn’t around—like when he’d gone out to get a test to prove that he didn’t have any STIs; he didn’t—about her whoring herself out and warning her not to fuck anything up, were getting to her. With every day that passed, Jason seemed to get meaner. It was as if having Jack in the house was turning her brother into even more of a monster.
He was impatient and resentful that he had to wait three months to get his hands on what he thought of ashismoney.
Jason had used some of his criminal connections to gethis new brother-in-law a “replacement” ID. He’d also added Jack to her bank account, so he could get a credit card. Jason was further disgruntled because that meant he’d actually had to put moneyintoher account, so Jack wouldn’t get suspicious when he saw how little there was in their supposed joint account.
Now she had more money than she’d ever had in her life, almost ten thousand dollars, but Jason made sure she understood that it was an advance on the tiny stipend he gave her every month. Which was ridiculous, because the stipend sheshouldbe receiving was double that ten grand. Jason took it for himself every month, leaving her pennies…and more importantly, making sure she was reliant on him.
But now that she was married to Jack, things were different. And Jason knew it. He was losing control over her, and he hated it.
“We’re going to go look at apartments tomorrow,” Jack announced out of the blue. He squeezed her thigh when she turned to look at him in shock.
“Why?” Jason asked in a hard voice.
“Because. It’s time. We’ve been in your way long enough.”
“You aren’t in my way.”
Maisy would’ve snorted at the comment if she felt safe enough to do so. But she didn’t, so she kept quiet.
“Maisy and I need to be on our own. I appreciate you letting her stay here while we worked through our stuff, and for letting me recuperate from my accident, but we need to be in our own space,” Jack said firmly.
“Maise, this isn’t a good idea,” Jason said. “What if you have a relapse? When Jack goes back to bounty hunting,you’ll be alone again. And you know what happens when you’re alone. You get depressed and need to take meds so you don’t do something stupid. And when you’re on meds, you’re a space cadet. Remember that time you lit all those candles and almost burned our house down?”
Maisy pressed her lips together. Her brother wasn’t exactly wrong. Shedidn’tlike being by herself. And the meds the doctor had prescribeddidhelp. But they left her feeling disconnected from just about everything. She was on meds for years and years after her parents died, and had lost so much of her life because of them.
“I’ll take care of her,” Jack said. “I’m going to find something else to do. Obviously, my previous job wasn’t good for our relationship. And if Maisy needs to see a doctor, I’ll get her to one. I don’t know what meds she was taking before, but there’s no reason for her to be a ‘space cadet,’ as you call it. She probably didn’t have the right dosages or combination of medicine. She’smywife,myresponsibility. Not yours.”
The tension in the room was sky high, and it made Maisy extremely nervous. She knew why Jason didn’t want her to move out. Because with her around, he could keep an eye on her and make sure she wasn’t doing anything that would betray him. She had no doubt that he hadn’t expected a man like Jack when he’d kidnapped him. He’d wanted someone he could control, and Jackwasn’tthat man. Not even close.
