Kylie & Jack 1: Humble Beginnings

44. Resolution

"You ... y–you love me?"

"I love you." Jack smiled confidently.

Kylie's tired eyes scanned Jack's face, the fear, anxiety and anger she had felt all day crumbled as she fell into his bright eyes.

"I love you too," Kylie whispered.

It wasn't the fact that she admitted loving him that made Jack lean in to kiss her, it was the terrified, excited smile that flickered across her exhausted face.

Safe from the world in her car, they admitted how they felt. Jack had never been in love before, so he knew immediately that this intensity he felt every time he was with Kylie, even the way her perfume seemed to linger on his skin or her voice echoing in his ears, was the real deal. He certainly wasn't going to waste any time trying to decipher what he already knew.

There was something, he noticed, about the way Kylie had looked at him just now, as if in disbelief, that made him think Kylie hadn't said it to someone before either.

Or maybe she had and it fell apart tragically on her. He wondered if she had confessed her feelings to her lousy ex, Luke and given how it ended, hated the man for hurting Kylie. Jack also felt a surge of pain for her.

It had only been a heartbeat or two, between Jack telling Kylie he loved her and hearing it said back to him, but it felt like an eternity ... making Jack wonder for the briefest moment if he had just come on too strong, too fast ... but then she reciprocated his feelings.

Despite feeling so woozy, Kylie still felt Jack's lips pressed against hers, his hands softly cupping her jaw, pulling her closer to him. In the last two years or so that they had known each other, Jack had never once made Kylie feel uncomfortable and he had never let her down either. But because she was scared to be hurt again, she had pushed him away, she had been disgustingly rude to him. Every time she had begged herself not to be so hard on him and every time she failed miserably.

Now, after two months with him, although still a little scared, Kylie was falling so hard and fast for him that her fears were evaporating with his every kiss, touch and look.

As he kissed her right now, it felt like his very touch was drawing the anxiety and anger of the day out of her body.

His every touch made her feel alive; his every word floating towards her like flower petals caught in a warm, spring breeze. The way she could always see herself reflected in his bright eyes and the way his smile warmed her soul, like bathing in sunshine.

Surely it is impossible for a man to affect me like this? Like I could never be happy, safe or satisfied by anyone else? Like he is the energy that keeps me going when I just can't take another step?

But it wasn't just how he affected her in those tender moments, the looks across rooms, the subtle touch or smile. Ever since the drama with Matt started up, Kylie only felt secure and safe in Jack's arms. The closer she was to him – close enough to touch him and to hear him breathing – the safer she felt. The last few days had been nothing short of torture for her, having to stand up to Matt well beyond Jack's reach – even though Kylie was the type to set fire to any argument, with or without a friend in her corner. It certainly worried her, to wonder if Jack was robbing her of her own fierce independence – but he wasn't, if anything he was making her stronger, especially when he wasn't right there beside her and she had to step up and then, like a reward he would be there with open arms ...

Unconscious of what they were doing, or rather how they got into bed, Jack kissed her all over, keeping her body wrapped in his arms. His thrusts were deep and he kept his gaze fixed on her as he found his rhythm. Their moans and cries of passion encircled them, pushing them deeper into their own pleasure until they collapsed, breathless and satiated.