Page 103 of True Abandon

“Yes,” he says, and that gorgeous smile beams from his magnificent face.

My breathing calms down as I stare up at him and brush a rogue hair that falls on his face away. “We have forever. There’s no rush. Let’s just put one foot in front of the other. Our path is clear. I just want to walk it with you.”

He kisses my nose and then rolls us over, so we’re facing each other.

“I can do that,” he says, running his hand up and down my body. His gaze lingers on my skin when he raises his brow as if he just remembered something. “Wait right here.” He kisses my shoulder and slowly parts from me. He pops off the bed, his bare ass walking out of the room.

I lean up, the white sheet draping over my naked body, and look out the doorway, wondering where on earth he went.

A minute later, he comes back into the room, his arms cradling something tiny as if it were a newborn baby.

I sit up on the bed to get a closer look. “You got a pig!”

He grins and it’s magnificent. “No. You got a pig. This little guy is all yours.”

I can’t even contain my excitement as he places the miniature pig into my arms. It’s pink and brown and fidgety as hell.

Jax sits behind me and wraps his arms around my waist as he looks down at the pig. “He’s a tuxedo striped mini boar. He’ll grow about the size of a bulldog.”

“It’s a he?” I ask and feel Jax’s head nod into the side of my head. I hold the little guy up in the air and christen him. “Hello, Olivia Benson.”

“He’s a dude.”

“So are you.” I turn and give him a kiss on his cheek. “Where did you find him?”

He pets the top of the pig’s head. “The guys helped me. Kal and I went to a breeder yesterday and Benji snuck him up here. Isaiah fed him while we were out this afternoon. I was waiting for the right time to give him to you.”

I nuzzle Olivia Benson into his chest. His wiry hair itches my skin. “I love him. Thank you.”

Jax and I fall back into the mound of pillows. Olivia Benson hits the sheets and snuggles right into the down comforter. Of course our pig would prefer luxury linens.

Jax props himself up and I nestle into the crook of his arm. Olivia Benson is on the other side of him. I lay my hand over Jax’s stomach and stroke our pig, closing my eyes and savoring the peace of the moment.

He kisses the top of my head as I wrap my leg over his hip.

Yesterday, I feared what tomorrow would look like.

Today, I don’t care.

Jax will check out and there’s one thing I know: Nothing can tear us apart again. At least I pray there isn’t.

chapter TWENTY TWO

I’m bouncing around the small kitchen of the Pele suite, listening to Bruno Mars from my cellphone speaker. My bun-clad hair is swaying in the air as I sing to the music.

Olivia Benson comes scurrying across the marble floor—little nails tapping as he prances over. I have no idea what to feed him.

I walk over to the other bedroom in search of where the pig was hiding when I came here last night. Inside the room is a small cage with a blanket, a rubber webbed ball, and a squeaky toy in the shape of a ukulele, inside. There’s a bag that looks like dog food on the dresser. I bring in into the kitchen, scoop some food into a bowl and watch Olivia Benson go to town on some pig chow.

The door to the bedroom opens and Jax comes out wearing a pair of basketballs shorts. The dragon doesn’t look as violent this morning as it has in the past. Today, it’s keeping the fire alive; ever burning in his soul.

He pads over to the kitchen and walks behind me, circling his arms around my waist and burying his nose in my neck.

“You smell good. I would have showered with you,” he speaks into my shoulder as he gives my skin a French kiss.

“You looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake you.” I squeak when his hand hits my butt.

“You look good in my shirt.”