Hart Read online

  I stared at him. “You will? Seriously?”

  He held up his hand in an oath, then held it out for me. “I promise. It’s a deal.”

  I reached over to shake it, but then I remembered something. “I have to take him his pill. He has asthma. If he doesn’t take it every day, he could have a bad attack.”

  He nodded. “All right. Give it to me. I’ll make sure he takes it.”

  “You will?” This seemed like a lot to entrust to a guy I barely knew who clearly was not health or safety minded, considering the death trap he’d chosen as his form of transportation. Still, I didn’t have much of a choice. “You understand it’s a life or death thing? It’s not optional.”

  “Yeah. Got it.” He didn’t sound dismissive. That was refreshing.

  I pointed to my apartment. “It’s just inside.” I started to run into the apartment with him right behind me. “And you are sure you’ll get him to come home, at midnight?”

  “Yeah.”

  I shoved open the door to the apartment and rushed in, the animals jumping at my feet in excitement. As I jogged to the bathroom, I called, “Close the door so the animals won’t get out, please.”

  I reached into the medicine cabinet and found the bottle, peeled off the lid and shook a single tablet into my palm. I heard the door click closed.

  Good. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy, after all.

  I set the bottle down on the shelf and grabbed one of Jojo’s inhalers right beside it. He hadn’t had to use it in ages, but that was when he was taking his pills regularly. Better to be safe than sorry.

  I whirled around to head back into the living room and ran straight into bulging pectorals, a complete wall of a man. I breathed in sharply. He smelled of soap. And leather. And man, all man.

  I hadn’t expected him to come this far into my home. My eyes trailed up to meet his. All the air left the room, making it impossible to breathe. I lifted the pill.

  “Got it,” I said. “I’ll wrap it in a tissue for you.”

  Anything to avoid those eyes of his.

  I plucked a tissue out of the box on the counter and set about my work, trying to ignore his presence. He was so close; I could turn my head and be near enough to kiss him. I unfolded the tissue and carefully wrapped up the pill, my fingers trembling the whole time.

  He had to notice. Him? He was as cool as ever, his breathing slow, deep, and methodical, his posture relaxed and devil-may-care as he slumped against the doorjamb.

  I held the nicely wrapped package up to him in my palm.

  He just stared at it. No . . . he wasn’t staring at the pill. He was staring at me, into my eyes, with an intensity that made my knees weak. Eyes holding mine, he slowly reached out, took the pill and tucked it into the pocket of his jeans.

  This was my apartment. And he’d instantly made me feel like I was the guest here. I gnawed on my lip and held up the inhaler. “Can you give this to him, too? Just in case?”

  He took it in his hand, then backed against the wall and looked down. “Fuck.”

  I followed his line of sight. Mags, my giant white bunny, was running circles around his boots on the embarrassingly dirty shag carpet.

  Oh, my gosh. Big man scared of a little rabbit. I crouched down to pick her up, then put my nose to hers to say hello.

  “It’s nothing, it’s just Mags,” I said, holding her up for an introduction. “Want to say hello?”

  The corner of his mouth rose in disgust. “No.”

  I stroked her soft fur. Sometimes, petting my bunny was all I needed to relax me. But suddenly, Hart looked about as uptight as I’d ever seen him. “She must like you. She doesn’t usually give greetings to people.”

  He looked down the hall, where Opie eyed him suspiciously from the top of the sofa. “What the fuck, are you running a zoo around here?”

  “You don’t like animals?” I asked as I kissed the top of Mag’s head, crouched, and set her free.

  He scratched his jaw and pocketed the inhaler in his jacket.

  “Not at all.”

  Talk about a deal-breaker. I always said to myself that if I ever wanted to settle down, the guy would have to love animals. This guy was wrong for me in so many ways.

  Not that I imagined a man like Hart ever wanting to settle down.

  “Really? What do you have against them?”

  He hitched a shoulder like he hadn’t thought about it, took a step toward the door, and Mags followed him, doing her rounds so close to his boots that she nearly tripped him. He stopped. “Fucking insane rat. You like tripping over them like this?”

  I bristled. “I don’t trip.” And to myself. She’s not a rat.

  He chuckled a little to himself, then turned to leave. “Whatever. I’ll have Joel back at midnight.”

  I crossed my arms. “Good. See that you do. I swear, I’ll come after you if you don’t.”

  He rolled his eyes, unimpressed by the threat, and crossed the living room, scanning the ground to keep from tripping over the animals, curious by his presence.

  “Oh! Make sure he takes it with food!” I called after him. He kept going, opening the door and stepping outside, so I found myself rushing to catch up to him. This was important info; if Jojo took it on an empty stomach, it was liable to make him sick. As I lunged forward, Mags got in my way, and I ended up sidestepping to avoid her, which made me knock my shin into the coffee table.

  “Ouch!” I yelped and went flying.

  Before I could even think, or put my hands out to break my fall, Hart wheeled back inside, caught me in his arms and lifted me against his chest. Out of breath, I murmured, “Thanks.”

  “You don’t trip, huh?”

  “Well, I—”

  Now he was way too close for comfort. Touching me. Holding me. And he didn’t appear to want to let go. He plucked and lifted a little of the fabric of my pink scrubs shirt off my collarbone. “You going to work? What do you do?” I was panting like a dog in heat. Dogs. Right. “Um, oh. I’m a vet tech.”

  A smile rose between his cinnamon whiskers, the hint of pure white teeth. He was delicious. I inhaled deeply again and nearly licked my lips.

  Then I realized I was in his arms, and he was staring at my lips now, like they were his last meal. I struggled to find my footing and get out of his way. He set me upright, on my own feet, and I went to fluff my hair and explain that usually I didn’t, but when I turned to look at him, the intention in his eyes was too much to resist.

  He slammed his mouth on mine. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He even tastes delicious.

  The force of it pushed me backward, and I was stumbling all over the apartment, but I didn’t care. He pushed me up against the nearest wall and dove into my mouth, his tongue hard and insistent.

  And that was when it hit me. This monster of a man was kissing me.

  Not kissing. Devouring. As much as I wanted to say no and push him away, a part of me couldn’t get enough. I didn’t know if we could have stopped. If a freight train could’ve torn us apart. He went all in, open-mouthed, so I opened my mouth too and let him feed me his tongue, fuck me with his tongue.

  My world upended. I’d never been kissed like this before. He ground his powerful body into me as he caged me against the now-closed front door, totally owning me.

  He broke the kiss with a tortured breath and gazed at me with heavy-lidded, hungry eyes. “You want me,” he breathed into my neck.

  It was more of a statement than a question, and he knew the answer. All I could do was nod like a bobble-head. But he wasn’t waiting for my permission. He kissed me deeper, harder, his hands roving up my sides to my breasts. I slid my tongue into his mouth to taste him, and before I could get my fill, he reached down and lifted me up, upending my world and making me dizzy.

  I gasped into his mouth as I felt him walking me down the hall. Like he owned the place.

  I didn’t have any doubt. He was taking me to bed.

  He didn’t need directions. He got me inside my bedroom and closed
the door with his foot. I heard Ernie whine outside as I never went to bed without including them, my favorite pillows. But for the first time, I didn’t care. I’d been living in this apartment for years and not once had I ever fucked on my bed.

  Fuck it. I was going to do it, now. In my apartment. Like a real, fucking adult.

  He dropped me on my neatly made, flowered comforter. A second later, he reached for the tie of my pants, and undid it with one easy pull. Then, lifting my legs, he pulled my loose pants to my ankles, lifted them off, and tossed them over his shoulder. I sat up on my elbows, reaching for his jeans. I opened the snap and unzipped his pants, then I slipped my hand in there and pulled his dick out

  Before I could wrap my fingers around it completely, he slid a hand under the small of my back and flipped me around, like a dog, so that I was on my hands and knees, my face in the comforter. He leaned over me, and I felt the length of his cock brush the crack of my ass, slowly, making my body flare with tingles. He felt so good. “You want this? You want me inside you?”

  A nod again, one I wasn’t sure my brain had control of. My body was calling the shots now.

  The next thing I knew, I heard the rip of a condom package. So prepared. I was too far gone to be thinking rationally, so I was glad he was, even though every pore was screaming, Give it to me! Now! Fuck the consequences.

  And then he did. He pushed inside me, so hard I let out all the air in my lungs in one gasp. He didn’t stay in for long. He fucked me hard, grabbing my ponytail. He leaned over and bit my ear. “This what you wanted?” his voice was a hard rasp.

  The nod again.

  “Yeah? Say something.”

  “Ye-es!” I said, my voice broken by the way he was riding me, so hard and rhythmic, I felt equal amounts pain and pleasure. His hot skin against mine, his enormous cock. I wasn’t one to ever get pleasure from sex with another man. Honestly didn’t know that I could, which was probably why I hadn’t had it in years.

  But this man? He’d broken that barrier. Now, I was heading full-steam ahead to my very first from-intercourse orgasm.

  My toes and fingers went numb as all sensation began to center on the place where he met me, again and again and again. He gripped me around my belly and dragged me closer, still pulling my ponytail taut, but I pressed my face against my comforter and let out a strangled scream as it reached a fever pitch and I went off.

  When I did, he changed rhythm, gripping me to him, then slowly feeding me his cock, inch by inch, like he was savoring the way my body contracted around his. Then he picked up rhythm again, growled, lifted me up, and set me down on my back as he came. He pumped again, retriggering my orgasm and making me feel like I’d lost every bone in my body.

  When he finished, I was aware he was looking at me, his face in my face, all I could see . . . and yet I couldn’t meet his eyes. I looked at his chin, and at the space between us, as he pulled out and sat on the mattress.

  I sat up and reached for my pants. “I . . . don’t know what just happened.”

  He chuckled in that same, easy way. “I think it’s called fucking.”

  Uh, duh. Actually, the whole thing was a great big duh. What the fuck was I thinking only five minutes ago? I was insane. “Yes, but I don’t do that.”

  “You saying you didn’t enjoy yourself?” He looked back at me, but I averted his eyes again. “I know you did.”

  He was right, I definitely did. It wasn’t insane. It was . . . good. He’d given me exactly what I needed, right when I needed it. And I wanted it. I couldn’t resist it. But how some man I barely met, a man I actually hated, could do that to me . . . well, it just went to show that my sex life was ridiculously fucked up.

  “It’s . . . fine.” I didn’t want to give him too much credit. Everything about him—from that sexy smirk to that attitude-strut of his, told me he knew he had magical fucking powers. “I’m just trying to explain to you that I don’t know what came over me. I’m not one to have sex with people I just met.” Not unless they’re paying.

  He peeled the condom off his dick and, twisting it closed, zipped up his pants and pulled the front hem of his shirt down, like he was ready to leave.

  “That’s all right,” he called after me.

  Was he fucking kidding me? I grabbed my pants and jumped into them, both feet at once, then rushed to follow him. I found him in the kitchen, looking around for the trash. “I wasn’t apologizing,” I snapped.

  He held up the used condom by the top. “Little help?”

  I pointed under the sink. Then I realized that even though Jojo wasn’t fond of throwing things away, if he found that condom, or—where the fuck was the wrapper?—he’d throttle me. He’d brought this guy home, I’d told him to stay away from him, and . . . then I went and rubbed myself all over him like a horny fucking nymph.

  “Just . . .” I rushed to him and took the condom, then opened the trash and stuffed it way down in the bottom, under the morning’s coffee grounds. “Do not tell Jojo.”

  “Wouldn’t think of telling Jojo,” he said with a smirk. “Hell. You really got some leash on him.”

  I frowned. “Obviously not a short enough one, considering he’s been hanging out with the likes of you.”

  “And I’m so bad? I just had my cock inside you, baby. Made you cream all over me. There’s got to be something about the likes of me that you like.”

  I shoved the trashcan closed and looked up at him. He was giving me that same, smug smirk, those light eyes boring into me, nailing me against the wall. “Nope.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  I crossed my arms. “I was really hard up. That’s all. So thanks for the O. But that’s all I needed.”

  He gave me a suspicious look. “Oh, yeah? No boyfriend? No hot veterinarians where you work?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t have time for a man.”

  “You just did. It didn’t take that long, did it?”

  Yeah. It’d taken about fifteen minutes from the time I’d come up to the bathroom to the time he was pulling out of me. I’m not sure I could’ve even accomplished that with my very best vibrator. I felt my face blushing as I was drawn back there, and suddenly it hit me. I had to be at work. I looked at the clock on the oven. “Shit. I’ve got to get to work.”

  I started to rush past him, but he spread one thick, muscle-bound arm across the doorway, effectively barring my way. I pushed on it, but it didn’t budge.

  “What are you . . . I’ve got to go.”

  “You ever been late?”

  “No, and I don’t plan to,” I said, as he put a finger under my chin and tilted my face up to his.

  “You know what’s better than a good O, baby?”

  I shook my head, my pulse racing in anticipation at finding out.

  “Two of them. And I think you can be a little late, baby,” he said.

  This time, when he swept in to capture my lips, he brushed his across them gently, licking, playing, teasing.

  And I knew I was never going to make it into work on time.

  Chapter Eleven

  Hart

  I didn’t have another condom.

  That was all right.

  There was something so sexy about Charlotte when she finally let go and came. Her face got all tense and then this sweet look of pure relaxation passed over her, finally, for the briefest of times, freeing her from that prison of a life she was in. So if this was my last chance to claim Jojo’s high-strung sister before she finally came to her senses, I wasn’t going to waste it.

  I carried her back to her bedroom, closing the animals out, and stripped her completely naked.

  This time, I stood back to appreciate her. She was fucking phenomenal. Easily the best looking girl I’d ever seen. I spread her legs and stood between her naked body as she gazed at me in eager anticipation, gnawing on her lip.

  Sure, she never did this kind of thing. But I could already sense she was one of those girls. The ones who professed to be good, until I got them h
ome and they became total freaks in bed.

  My favorite kind.

  I dove in, spreading her lips apart and zeroing right on her clit with my tongue. She let out a gasp and tried to close her legs, but I held them firm.

  “I don’t . . .” she started, but I silenced her by sucking the little nub into my mouth, running my tongue over it.

  She had no other protest after that. A second later, she had her feet on my shoulders and was lifting her ass up to meet my face, grinding herself into me.

  She tasted sweet. I loved that this girl who hated me so much was so wet and ready for me. I loved the little whimpers she made. I could fucking do this all day.

  The moment she started to come, I pushed my finger up into her hot, slick cunt, feeling her insides contract, again and again.

  When she was done, she pushed up off of me. “All right, really, stop it,” she said, out of breath, and with no resignation at all. “I’ve got to get to work.”

  I wiped her juices off my face with the back of my hand. “If you wanted me to stop, you could have told me before I made you come.”

  She gave me a guilty look. Nah, she’d wanted it too much; she couldn’t deny it. She grabbed her pants, and pulled them on, glancing at the clock on the night table. “Ugh. I’m going to be so late.”

  Her room was all pink and flowers, like a little kid. I sat on the bed and watched her as she grabbed a sweater from the closet. “Want a ride?”

  She whirled. “On your death trap? No thanks, I’ll take my car.”

  Right. “Sorry. Thought maybe coming a few times would dislodge that stick from your ass.”

  She scowled at me. “Oh, is that what your plan was? Well, you’re wrong. Go and get my brother. Watch him, like you promised. Don’t let him out of your sight.”

  I saluted.

  “Seriously. If anything bad happens to him, I’m coming after you. And it won’t be pretty.” She shrugged her sweater on, threw open the door of the bedroom, and when I didn’t move, motioned with her chin. “Come on.”

  I pushed off the bed and followed her toward the door. She reached the doorknob and stopped. “And you won’t forget to give him the pill?”