Just Pretend

Chapter Forty-Three

Gwen
After a comfortable dinner with my mom, we head out to the truck and Jason is the perfect gentleman; opening every door and allowing my mom to walk ahead of us and me ahead of him.
The quickie in the bathroom only succeeded in stoking the embers of desire in my core and I know Jason feels the same by the way he keeps finding excuses to touch me; sensually wiping a drop of cheese sauce from my lip or sliding his hand under my dress to the top of my thigh.
I love feeling him close to me and his hand on my lower back sends warmth spreading through me and he slides it along my back as he helps me into the truck.
We drive to the private airport where the unmarked, sleek black Reddick International Holdings jet stands at the ready for my mom.
We drive right up to it and pull up next to the stairs, getting out of the truck.  The pilot looks at me fondly when he sees me and I lift a hand in greeting.
‘How's Burton?’ he asks, not subtly at all and I shake my head.
‘I haven’t seen him since you last did, Donovan,’ I tell him and disappointment flickers over his expression.
‘You know he always chooses you as his pilot,’ I tell him and his face warms slightly before his eyebrows raise into his hairline at the appearance of Jace at my side and his arm wrapping around my waist.
‘Donovan, meet my boyfriend, Jason.  Jace, this is our pilot, Donovan.’  Jason looks at me strangely as Donovan heads to the truck to lift my mom’s bags from them and carry them onto the plane.  My om gives me a warm hug and tells me to take care of myself, Carrie and Jason before moving to the aforementioned boyfriend and pulling him into a bone-crushing hug; I can hear his vertebrae crack under her hands and he hugs her back, nodding slightly at something she’s saying.
She lets him go and he stands beside me as my mom walks up the steps of the plane and gives us one last wave before walking in and Donovan heads up after her, letting the ground crew take away the metal steps and closing the door. 
Jason and I walk back to the truck and he helps me inside while the jet engines turn on.  We stay on the runway until the plane reaches the end of the runway and pulls up into the sky before Jason starts the truck and drives us home.
He puts his hand on my thigh during the drive and I unbuckle my seatbelt, leaning against his arm for a few moments before Jason slows to a cruise and wraps his arm around my shoulder.
I run my hand idly up and down his thigh, turning on my side in my seat and I feel his cheek on the top of my head, and I close my eyes for the rest of the ride.
I wake up to Jace's soft lips on mine and I tighten my arms around his neck, feeling him smile into the kiss before hearing something heavy drop onto the floor and feeling both his hands on my ribs as he lowers me gently onto my knees on the mattress.
I realise the heavy object he'd dropped was my shoes; feeling the soft material of the comforter under the bridge of my feet.
Love for him swells my heart when I grasp the fact that he'd taken off my shoes and carried me inside and up the stairs, and I know he locked up behind us.
I can hear Carrie in the bedroom; her paws hitting the carpet with soft thuds as she makes her way to her bed next to my side of the bed.
Jason slowly glides his hands up my back and slides under the sides of the back of my dress and I drop my arms to my sides; helping him to take off my dress.  He pushes it down over my hips while I start unbuttoning his shirt blindly before gliding my hands over his chest and pushing the shirt over his shoulders.
He pulls me flush against him and I groan at the feel of his skin against my sensitive breasts before pushing my hands between us and getting rid of his slacks and boxers. 
Jason slips his thumbs under the waistband of my underwear and pushes them down over my thighs until they reach my knees.  He easily flips me onto my back and I gasp at the sudden change of position, pushing his slacks and boxers down with my foot while he does the same with his hand and my underwear.
He chuckles when he encounters wetness and he breaks the kiss to look at me, amused.
‘It’s not all me, remember,’ I tell him and he laughs while sliding into me slowly, surprising me, filling me to the hilt.
Only once have we gone this slow; Jason thrusting into me languidly and taking his time in sliding in and out of me, allowing me to feel everything of him - it was the night we told each other how we feel.
I arch my body into his, meeting him thrust for thrust and he groans softly, kissing a gentle trail down from my lips to my neck and suckling lovingly at my throat.
I can feel everything; the head of him brushing against my sensitive walls and my body shifting to accommodate him – the silky skin of his shaft against my lips with every inward movement.
The cannabis-infused soufflé is doing its job, enhancing my senses and allowing them to be filled with Jason and the desire and love I feel for him.  I turn my head against his as I whisper to him that I love him before taking his earlobe between my lips and sucking softly.
He groans and I feel him swell slightly inside of me and I moan softly into his ear, warmth rising throughout my body and he thrusts twice more before his body stiffens as my own orgasm rips me apart with a moan.
My body stiffens under him and he pushes deeper into me for a second before pulling out and rolling off of me; rolling me over onto my side and cuddles me into him.
We lay in silence for a bit before he speaks again, and his voice is gruff.
‘Are you awake enough to talk?’ he asks into the dark room and I nod against his chest.  Jason shifts us around so that we’re laying on the pillows and he runs his hand over my back.
‘I need to fully apologise for the last four months,’ he starts and I raise myself up on my elbow to look at him.
‘Okay?’ I prompt him and he looks me in the eye before pulling me down and kissing me softly.
‘I was hiding behind the booze.  I didn’t want to tell you that I’m in love with you and I kind of drank my feelings.  I don’t know why I came home with that girl two weeks ago, but I regret even touching her.  I don’t deserve being with you and you’ve been amazing...’
Once Jason starts, he keeps apologising for being drunk for the majority of the four months and his behaviour while intoxicated.
‘I get it.  I hid my feelings, too.  As for the girl,, both of you were too drunk to do anything.  I was in the kitchen when you came in,’ I tell him and relief passes over his expression and he squeezes my back gently.
‘Who was the guy in the kitchen with you that morning?’ he asks and I cringe.
‘I’m surprised you didn’t recognise him.  It was the bartender.  I couldn’t go through with it, though,’ I say quickly when anger takes over his expression and he nods stiffly.
‘You didn’t sleep with him?’ he asks and I shake my head, telling him that’s what he woke up to; the bartender and I arguing because I wouldn’t sleep with him, again.
He visibly relaxes and pulls me onto his body and I rest my head over his heart as he shifts his legs to accommodate mine and splays his hands over my back. 
Jason holds me for a while as we lay in silence and he kisses the top of my head before shifting us off the bed and carrying me into the bathroom while I wrap my legs around him.
He opens the shower and steps inside, putting me down, and opening the faucet.
‘I'm not letting you go, Gwen. No matter what happens.’
His words ring in the bathroom for a moment and coat me like a blanket, and I can only pull him into a hug, burying my face in his chest, inhaling his scent and wrapping my arms around his waist.
He kisses the top of my head and moves me under the spray, holding me close as possible while the waters rains down over us.
He steps away once we're both drenched and he pulls my loofah from the hook on the wall and picks up my shower gel, squeezing a generous amount onto the loofah and crushes it in his hand.
He pulls me from under the spray and starts washing me thoroughly, scrubbing my skin gently in circles.  His actions aren’t sexual in any way but the moment is intimate nonetheless.
After he pushes me back under the water and rinses me just as thoroughly, it’s my turn. 
Jason has to bend down in order for me to reach his shoulders and upper back completely and I sink down onto my knees on the tile to wash his legs and feet.
He turns the water off when the water runs clean from soap and he opens the door for us to get out.
We dry off separately and Jason leads me to the bed, pausing only to bend down and rub Carrie behind her ears, and sitting me down on the edge with my back to him.
I can hear him walk to my vanity and rummage around for a second before walking back to me and the sound of a tube being uncapped reaches me. A purple cap falls into my lap that I recognise as the cap to my hair oil. 
I can’t help but moan as his fingers dive into my hair; massaging the oil into my roots and dragging then through the strands to the ends, pulling out the knots individually before running a comb through my hair.
He continues to surprise me by braiding my hair and trying it in the middle of my lower back and suggesting that we go to bed.
‘You’re my endgame, Gwen.’ Jason whispers as he pulls the covers over us and I snuggle into him, throwing my arm over his stomach.
‘And you’re mine,’ I tell him before raising my head and he meets me halfway, pressing a kiss to his lips and telling him that I love him as we settle in to sleep.