Jason (Blue Halo Book 2)

Courtney took a sip of her drink, the sweet flavor heating her blood. Voices buzzed around her and a pleasant haze had settled in her mind.

She glanced down at the pink bottle that someone had slipped into her hand. What was it… her third? Honestly, she couldn’t remember, but she was starting to think they were deceptively high in alcohol. Although, to be fair, she was a lightweight.

She watched as the fire crackled, lighting and heating the area. The guys had placed logs around it. After they’d taken care of the bison situation, of course. She didn’t even know how they’d taken care of it, but Logan assured her the animals were gone.

Good. So, no more bison. And no more heated kisses against trees.

She smiled at the memory and looked up. Jason’s gaze immediately caught hers. Or maybe his eyes had already been on her, she wasn’t sure. He winked, dimples flashing at her through the fire.

Sober Courtney would probably look away. Drunk Courtney was a bit more fearless. She gave him a big, tipsy, I-think-you’re-cute-and-could-get-lost-in-those-brown-eyes kind of smile.

She watched his chest move slightly with a quiet chuckle. His gigantic, muscular chest. Her gaze lowered to the long, strong fingers wrapped around his beer. Fingers that just a few hours ago had been wrapped around her breast while her core had pressed against his hard stomach.

Desire crashed through her lower abdomen, making her toes curl in her shoes.

Reluctantly, she dragged her glazed eyes away, trying to focus on whatever Mason was saying. People were laughing, so it had to be something funny. He had his arm wrapped around Sage’s shoulders, his fingers drawing circles on her upper arm. On another log, Grace leaned into Logan’s side, the expression on her face a perfect mix of happy and sleepy.

So much love in the air.

Courtney reached up to touch her necklace, frowning when her fingers found nothing but clothes. She tucked her hand inside her jacket, searching, but could only feel skin.

What the heck? Had she taken it off?

No. She never took it off.

Placing the half-empty bottle on the ground, Courtney rose to her feet and headed to her tent. Could it have fallen off in there? She lifted scattered clothes, checking every inch of her bag and the floor of the tent.

Nope. No necklace.

She was mildly aware that she should be more anxious than she was, especially given how precious the jewelry was to her, but the effects of the alcohol were keeping her nice and calm.

Where had she gone that afternoon? Her sluggish brain struggled to backtrack. The only thing she was really sure of was Jason. Lifting her up. Kissing her like he was starved for her.

Maybe that’s where she’d lost it? Against that tree. Either that or during their pre-dinner walk to the waterfall.

Leaving the tent, Courtney headed into the trees. They all kind of looked the same, but she’d be able to find the right one. Surely there’d be something akin to a big sign that read “This is it! The place he set your blood soaring”, right?

Well, it made sense in her mind. A mind that you probably shouldn’t trust right now, Courtney.

She ignored the whisper in her head, touching the trees as she walked, leaning just a tad too heavily on each one. Every few steps, she stumbled but never fell. Which was probably a win considering the darkness.

“Where are you going?”

The deep voice broke through the silence. Courtney spun around and raised her hands like she was going to kung fu the stranger.

Her gaze fell on deep brown eyes. Not a stranger. And not someone she had any hope of karate chopping.

“Jason…” She almost sighed his name. This was good. Maybe she could lean on him instead of the trees. Or she could just convince him to carry her. “I think that’s the closest I’ve ever come to a heart attack. Unless you can have a half-heart attack? If so, I think I had one of those.”

The dim light of the moon through the trees cast shadows over his face. It didn’t take away from how good-looking he was. If anything, it just made him look… more. More dangerous. More mysterious.

He took a small step forward, hands going to her arms, chafing them. “You shouldn’t be out here alone. It’s dark, you’re drunk, and you’ll freeze.”

She glanced down at her arms. Where had her jacket gone? She’d been wearing it over her sweatshirt all night. Strange. She must have taken it off in the tent. “I’m okay.”

In fact, the alcohol had heated her blood nicely.

“Hm.”

There was a hint of disapproval woven into his tone.

Reaching up, she touched the crease between his brows. “You shouldn’t frown. I like your smile.” The frown slowly vanished, a small smile tugging at his lips. “That’s better.”

Don’t get her wrong, the man looked sexy any and every way. But when he smiled, it was like his lips were speaking straight to her lady parts.

“What are you doing out here, Courtney?”

She watched his lips move, wondering if they’d kiss her again tonight. He didn’t strike her as the kind of person to kiss a drunk woman, but maybe she could convince him—

“Courtney.”

She frowned, dragging her gaze back to his eyes. “Yes?”

Another heart-stopping smile. “What are you doing out here?”

Good question. What was she doing out here? She scanned the trees around her, trying to grab onto her last memory.

Courtney’s nose wrinkled as she frowned. Her eyes were just a bit glazed over.

So, the woman was cute even while drunk.

“I was looking for something.” She glanced around, like the answer was in the trees and the moonlight.

Jason continued to chafe her arms, keeping her warm. He tilted his head to the side. “What’s that?”

She bit her bottom lip, gnawing at it as she looked back at him. It drew his attention to her pretty pink mouth like a moth to a flame.

“When I’m with you,” she said softly, “I forget things.”

His smile widened. “I think that’s the alcohol, darlin’.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s not just now. Although right now, I do feel very… muddy. When I’m with you, my brain turns to mush and I forget how to think. That’s never happened with anyone else before.”

When she started to gnaw on her bottom lip again, he raised a hand to her chin, tugging the lip out and stroking it with his thumb. “Anyone else?”

She leaned into his touch, and he swore he heard the softest hum from her chest. “You don’t need to worry about them. My exes were all lying, cheating buttholes.”

His body tensed, an angry burst skittering through his veins. “Your ex-boyfriends cheated on you?”

“Oh yeah. And not just one, but a few. One of them I even caught in my bed doing the deed. Talk about assholery, right? Jess never dated good guys either. I started to wonder if all men were lowlife scumbags, or if I’m just not someone who can hold a man’s attention.”

Motherfuckers.

He stepped closer, hands going to her cheeks. “We’re not all scumbags.” He grazed his lips across her cheek. “And you command every little bit of my attention. When you’re around”—and even when she wasn’t—“other women don’t exist.”

She sucked in a deep breath, that sexy lip between her teeth again. “I’m not that special.”

Oh, how Jason wished he could meet the men who’d made her believe that. Teach them a fucking lesson. “You are.” So damn special. And he’d make sure that soon, she realized how much. “Do you want to go back?”

Her nose wrinkled again. When she shook her head, little tendrils of blond hair mixed with blue highlights slipped onto her face.

“What would you like to do, sweetheart?”

When her cheekbones turned a rosy-pink shade, visible to his enhanced eyesight even in the dark, yearning churned his gut. He almost groaned out loud.

Shut it down, Jason. The woman’s drunk.

Sliding his hand down her arm, he tangled his fingers through hers. “How about we go for a walk?” Maybe he could help her walk off the alcohol, then he could kiss her without feeling like he was taking advantage.

They walked for a while in silence, the sound of the waterfall growing steadily louder.

He negotiated their way through the trees, watching her steps more than his own, conscious of the way her feet moved unsteadily over the dirt.

“You seemed distracted today, Courtney.”

It probably wasn’t fair, him bringing this up while she was drunk and more likely to tell him things that sober Courtney wouldn’t. But he’d seen her face in the little moments when she thought no one was watching. The pulling together of her brows. The faraway look in her eye. Like something was on her mind, rolling through her head and snatching her attention.

“I’ve started to think that maybe my cousin Jessica didn’t die from a random home invasion.”

His fingers tightened around hers. Hearing about her cousin’s death, a woman who had once been close to her, made him want to hold her close. Another example of the fragility of life. How easy it was to lose someone.

She stumbled, but he kept her on her feet easily.

“What makes you think that?” he asked softly.

“A part of me suspected before yesterday.” Yesterday? “But I didn’t want to believe it. Because then I played a part in her death, didn’t I? If I had this gut feeling that she wasn’t safe in her relationship, and I didn’t force her to leave, and she died because of him… it’s partly my fault.”

He stopped at the river. The top of the waterfall was now loud and just yards away. “It’s not your fault. Not even a little bit.”

She frowned. And even though she’d had a few drinks, he could see how deeply she was entrenched in her thoughts.

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, grazing her soft skin. “How do you know she wasn’t safe?”

Her eyes were on his, but he could see that her mind was far away. “I knew while she was alive. I only met him the one time. But it was the way he touched her. It was possessive. Rough. And the way he spoke to her. More demanding than anything. And when she came to visit me on my birthday, I saw bruises on her arms.”

The breath Courtney sucked in was shaky.

“Did you try to talk to her about it?” he asked softly.

“Yes. But it was like Jessica knew what I was going to say before I said it, and she kept changing the subject. Shutting me down. She didn’t want to talk about it.”

His hands rose, rubbing warmth into her arms again. God, he wished he had a jacket he could give her. “As hard as it sounds, you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. All you can do is try. Be there. Listen. And I’m sure you did all of that.”

She gave a small nod before rocking forward and back. He wasn’t sure if she was rocking from the wind or the alcohol, but he held her steady.

“What made you think about this?” he asked.

Her gaze lifted to his. “I had a dream.” She sighed. “I dream a lot though…” Some of the tension eased from her features. “Sometimes about you.”

Well, that wasn’t a terrible confession. “You dream about me?”

Her hands rose to his head, fingers sifting through his hair and tugging him down. Her lips were close. Whispers of her heated breath brushed against skin before she spoke softly into his ear. “You kissed me in my dreams before I ever felt your lips for real.”

His blood turned molten, red-hot need clawing at him. For a moment, his breathing was choppy, but he worked hard to control it.

She moved back, that damn lip captured by her teeth again.

Then she pulled away, taking a step toward the waterfall. Immediately, he tugged her back with a hand on her arm, giving her no leeway. Maybe she was drunker than he thought.

“I don’t think so.”

“I was just going to sit.”

In her current state? “I think here is close enough.”

“Are you doubting your ability to keep me safe?”

“Never.” He’d keep this woman safe in a tornado.

The smile dropped from her lips. Then she sat, crossing her legs beneath her. Jason lowered to her side.

“I wish Jessica could have met you. She would have loved you.” Courtney looked at the water. “She probably would have told me to lock this down.”

“This?”

“You. Us.”

Sounds like he would have liked Jessica, too.

She lifted her hand, touching his face, tracing the contours slowly. “You’re the most perfect man I’ve ever met.”

He almost laughed. “I’m far from perfect.”

She shook her head. “Not true.”

Every time her finger grazed his cheekbone, it was like a brand. Her touch soft but searing. Then she rose to her knees, slowly crawling onto his lap, straddling his hips. He steeled himself, forcing himself to remain still.

When her head lowered, he spoke her name as a warning. “Courtney…”

“Just one kiss.”

One kiss under the moonlight with the girl who made his skin burn and his heart soar. He shouldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t. But, dammit, he was a weak man where Courtney was concerned, so when her mouth touched his, he didn’t pull away.

She brushed and nipped at his lips.

A few seconds. That was as long as he lasted before a deep growl reverberated through his chest. He gripped the back of her neck, holding her while he made love to her mouth.

Minutes passed, dozens of them, neither of them coming up for air. The sound of her heart pounding in her chest rivaled the crashing of waves at the bottom of the waterfall.

She finally lifted her head, her deep breathing all he could hear.

“Kissing you is like magic,” she whispered.

He pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes and inhaling the sweet scent of the woman stealing his heart. “It’s out of this world.”