by A. M. Myers
On the other hand, Diego’s instant defense of me – in spite of the fact that we both know just how difficult I can be – it’s a punch to a part of me that I’ve kept locked away for a very long time, a part of me I rarely let people into, and it’s exactly why this “situationship” with Diego is so damn dangerous.
“Hey, brother,” Jumper says, holding his hands up and letting out a nervous laugh. “I was just messing around.”
“I don’t give a single shit. You will not talk about Izzy that way ever again. She’s carrying my baby which means she’s with me and I will not tolerate your fucking disrespect. Not to mention, that she is family to this club, people who have way more sway around here than you so I wouldn’t go around saying dumb shit like that to anyone else.”
Shit.
Warmth rushes through me and I take a step forward like I can physically run from the emotion clogging my throat caused by Diego’s protectiveness but of course that doesn’t work. I need to get control of this situation and get the fuck out of here before something bad happens like Diego killing one of his brothers or the wall around my pulverized heart cracking even slightly.
“You ready to go?” I call to Diego and his head whips in my direction but he still doesn’t release Jumper as he nods.
“Come here real quick and then we can go.”
I follow his instructions, crossing the room and closing the distance between us before stopping next to them and looking up at the two men. Diego levels a glare at Jumper.
“Apologize.”
Jumper shoves at Diego’s hands, trying to break free, and Diego finally releases him. He takes a couple steps back and sucks in a breath, eyeing his brother warily before he turns to me.
“Sorry.”
As far as apologies go, it sucks. Diego bristles next to me and takes a step forward but I stop him with a hand on his arm and he glances down at me. I plaster a smile on my face and take a step toward Jumper as his words run through my head again.
God, what a fucking asshole.
Before just a moment ago, I would have said Jumper and I were good, friends even, but if this is what he really thinks of me, I won’t hold back. He said I chew men up and spit them out and he’s about to witness it firsthand.
“Listen, all this shit isn’t necessary,” I tell him, aware that we’ve drawn a crowd of onlookers as I reach out and pat his cheek a little harder than is socially acceptable. It’s not exactly a slap but it’s not gentle either and it works to get my point across that he crossed a fucking line. “If you’re trying to compensate for your micro penis, you could just say that. You don’t need to go around being a dick to everybody to prove that you’re not lacking in your jeans.”
His eyes widen as laughter rings out from the other guys and he takes a step back like I actually did slap him before he glares at me. “You little fucking bitch.”
“No, sweetie, that’s you.” I turn to find Diego staring down at me with pride and humor in his eyes and I flash him a grin. “I’m ready to go.”
He nods. “Let’s go.”
“I’m not fucking done with you yet,” Jumper growls, his wounded pride making him bolder than I expected. I barely flick him a glance.
“I’m done with you and let’s be honest, with the equipment you’re packing… or not packing, I should say, you wouldn’t know what to do with me anyway.”
He takes a step forward like he’s going to put his hands on me but before he can, Diego inserts his body between us, sheltering me as Logan walks forward and grabs the back of Jumper’s cut, pulling him away from us. I peek past Diego as Logan shoves Jumper back into the war room and slams the door. Everyone disperses quickly once the show is over and Diego ushers me out into the parking lot. Once we’re outside, he sighs and slips his arm over my shoulders as we walk to the truck.
“Sorry about all of that.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for, Diego,” I tell him as I shake my head. “God, what the hell was his problem?”’
He shrugs. “Who the fuck knows? He’s a dumb kid and sometimes he thinks he’s being funny when really, he’s just being a huge fucking asshole. I’ll talk to him tomorrow and make sure you get a real apology though. I can promise you that.”
“I appreciate you coming to my defense but I am capable of taking care of myself, you know.” I look up at him, punctuating my words with a look and he laughs.
“Oh, believe me, I know. So does everyone else that was watching that little scene but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna let him get away with talking about you like that. Not now and not ever.”
Oh, God.
He’s getting dangerously close to that locked away part of me again and I absolutely cannot have that.
We stop next to the passenger side of the truck and I turn to him, sucking in a breath as I meet his eyes and straighten my shoulders. “He wasn’t wrong though. I know I’m not easy to deal with and I can’t promise that I’ll ever change because I know myself too well to do that. As far as baby mamas, you could have done so much better than a cold bitch who will fight you at every single turn but… I am trying to be less like that.”
“Isabelle,” he rasps, his eyes on fire as he backs me into the truck and cages me in with his arms. “Have you ever considered that one of my favorite things about you is the fact that you’re difficult to deal with?”
“I… what?” My mind spins and my breaths are shallow as I look up at him, trying to understand his comment but I must have been knocked upside the head because I can’t make it make sense. He grins, leaning closer to me and my heart hammers in my chest as my body begs to get closer to him.
“I mean, sure, sometimes you make me so crazy that I want to throw you over my shoulder, carry you into the bedroom, and fuck you into the damn mattress until you’re a little more agreeable but I love your fire, baby. There isn’t another woman on this earth that I’d want to be the mother of my child and I hope our son learns to be as strong as his kick ass mama one day.”
My brain is short circuiting. This is one of the few times in my life that I don’t have a snappy comeback running through my head, at the ready to fire off at will, and it’s unnerving. That, combined with the need filling my bloodstream with every minute I spend around this man and it feels like I’m going to fall apart, just crumble on the ground in front of him. Diego never takes his eyes off mine, letting the silence settle between us as his words sink in. He can’t really mean all that though… can he?
“Oh,” he whispers, leaning closer so his lips brush over mine softly, pulling a gasp from my lips. “And just so we’re clear, other people might think you’re a cold bitch and you might hear it so much that you’ve started to believe it yourself but I see past that and I know better.”
“What are you doing to me?” The question is out of my mouth before I can stop it and his eyes widen, equally surprised by my honesty. His gaze drops to my lips for just a split second before he meets my eyes again and I’m drowning.
“I don’t know, Izzy. What am I doing to you?”
I place my hand on his chest, intending to push him away but he feels so fucking good, so right, that I can’t bring myself to do it. “You need to stop.”
“Why?” he asks, his lips lightly dragging across mine as he speaks and my nipples pebble, begging for his touch. My pussy is drenched and I want to cry with how badly I want him but I can’t let that happen. “Why would we ever stop when you know how good it feels to have me inside you?”
“Diego,” I sob, begging him to have mercy on me. His eyes close and he smiles, a little hum in the back of his throat making my inner muscles clench before he meets my gaze again. And lord help me, I can’t look away.
“God, I love hearing you say my name. You remember the way I made you scream it when we fucked up against the counter in your kitchen?”
I’m going to die.
This is torture and it’s going to kill me.
“Please.”
He pulls b
ack slightly, reaching up and pressing his thumb against my bottom lip before dragging it down my chin. “Please what, Izzy? Please take you home and fuck you until you can’t physically stay conscious anymore? Please slip my hand inside your shorts right here and give you the relief you so desperately need? Tell me what you want, Mama, and I’ll give it to you.”
My eyes roll back in my head at his words. I can’t stop them and I can’t pretend like he’s not on the verge of making me come with just his words alone. Gripping his cut to keep me grounded, I lick my lips and meet his eyes again. His expression tells me he wants an answer to his question but I have no clue what to say. Logically, I know we should stop. I know that getting mixed up with him when we have other things to worry about is such a bad idea but, God, I’ve never wanted a man this much in my life. That fact alone should send me running for the hills and I just don’t have the brain capacity to examine that right now.
Diego leans in again, his gaze so damn intense that it steals my breath. “You have an answer for me?”
I open my mouth but nothing comes out.
Fuck.
What the hell do I do here?
“Smoke,” someone calls and I jump, my heart climbing in my throat in surprise. Jesus fucking Christ, I completely forgot we were in the parking lot of the clubhouse where everyone could fucking see us. Diego pulls away slowly, like he doesn’t give a single shit about being caught pressing me up against his truck and nearly pulling an orgasm out of me without even touching me.
“Yeah?”
Logan smirks, his gaze bouncing between the two of us as he crosses his arms over his chest and arches a brow.
Fuck me.
This just got worse.
“Talk to you for a second?”
Diego nods, looking down at me regretfully. “Be back in a minute.”
I nod. There is no way I am opening my mouth right now to say anything to him when apparently I can’t control the words coming out of it anymore. It’s just as likely that I would ask him to fuck me on the seat as it is than I would tell him to back off. He cups my cheek, dragging his thumb across my skin for just a second before he turns and walks over to where Logan is standing. As soon as I’m free of his intoxicating presence, I yank open the truck door and climb inside, leaning back against the seat. I close my eyes but as soon as I do, it’s like he’s back in front of me again and I swear, I can feel his breath on my lips and the leather of his cut in my hands again. My entire body is throbbing with need and I moan, safe within the confines of the truck, as my eyes pop open again. I level a glare at the man from across the parking lot and mentally yell at him to hurry his ass up. As soon as we get home, I’m going to jump out of this truck, run into his room, lock the door, and touch myself until I’m not even interested in sex anymore. It will probably take all damn night but then maybe it will be safe to be in the same room as him again. At least, I hope it will.
Chapter Thirteen
Isabelle
I’m going to combust.
That’s the only thing that can happen with Diego flashing me heated glances from behind the wheel. They fill the cab of the truck with a tension so thick, I might just find my release without putting a single hand on myself. Has that ever happened to me? Hell no. Could it ever happen with any other guy? Also, no… I think. The fact that I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life leads me to think that something about Diego and what we have is different than the other guys I’ve been with. Or maybe my brain is scrambled eggs at this point, making me think that he’s the only man who can provide this for me. Isn’t he though? I’ve been with my fair share of men and yeah, I’ve had fun but never in my life have I felt like this - hot, needy, and honestly, a little fucking frantic. It might even scare me if I had the brain capacity at the moment to focus on it. But I don’t.
His eyes find me again. I don’t even have to glance in his direction to confirm that he is, in fact, staring at me because I can feel the heated looks he’s sending me like it’s his fingers caressing my curves instead of his eyes. My pussy clenches at the image of his hands on my skin and my breathing is labored as I try to ignore his gaze but it’s useless. From the moment he came back to the truck after his conversation with Logan and slid behind the wheel, it’s been like this and my need is only increasing. We’ve been silent the entire time but it doesn’t even matter. This thing between us, the pull we feel when we’re near each other doesn’t require words to summon its power. Just being as close as I am to him on the bench seat of his truck is making my skin prickle with awareness. My entire body aches to be touched and moisture pools between my thighs as I shift in my seat, resisting the urge to burst into tears at the intensity of my desperation. Blowing out a breath, I shake my head because the word isn’t strong enough. This isn’t just run of the mill desire or attraction. I feel like I’m being consumed and the thing is, I want to run into the sensation instead of fleeing from it.
“You need something, Iz?” Diego asks, his voice full of gravel and the same torment I’m feeling but there is no relief in the knowledge that he is just as affected as I am. If anything, it only makes it worse because he was right when he pinned me up against his truck in the parking lot - I can still remember, in vivid detail, what it felt like to have him inside me and I want to experience it again. And again and again. Except that I don’t because it would break every single one of my rules and… and I can’t actually think of another good reason to not give into this heat.
God, this is so fucking confusing.
“Isabelle…”
Right.
He asked me a question.
“No.”
I don’t trust myself to give him more than a one-word answer because I can feel my restraint stretching, like a rubber band pulled tight, seconds from snapping and I have no idea what is going to push me over the edge. If I open my mouth again, I might tell him to pull over and throw my body over the hood of his truck so he can do whatever the hell he wants to me or I could beg him to drive faster so we can get back to his place and lock ourselves inside for the rest of the week. Or maybe, just maybe, I would hold strong to my resolve and tell him that nothing more can happen between us… but I highly doubt it.
“I can smell your sweet little pussy, Mama,” he grits out, sounding as worked up and frustrated as I feel. Fuck. If he took me right now, it wouldn’t be gentle or sweet. It would be rough, animalistic, as he used my body to chase his own orgasm and the thought makes me moan quietly to myself. He sucks in a breath. “Shit, Izzy. You’re driving me so fucking crazy. Do you want to know what I want to do to you right now?”
I bite my lip to keep myself from moaning again. “Diego, please stop.”
“What if I can’t?”
With a gasp, I glance over at him, unable to stop myself, as he turns to look at me and when our eyes meet, another bolt of need spears through me. The way he’s looking at me now, it’s the exact same way he watched me through our weekend together, albeit stronger and more intense now, but it brings me right back to those three days we spent together. Memories swarm me, gripping at my limbs and pulling me back in time as I remember the way he held me close, treasuring every inch of my body as we made love on my deck, the stars twinkling down on us or the way he would step in the shower behind me and wrap his hand around my throat as he slid inside me from behind. I can’t believe how much I’ve missed the addictive dichotomy of the way he takes me - sweet, gentle, using his body to worship mine one moment and rough, demanding, dragging orgasms out of me whether I like it or not in the next. I never know which way he’ll come to me, what he’ll require from me, and I have to admit that it keeps me on my toes, excites me in a way no other man ever has.
“What the fuck are you thinking about?” he groans, turning back to the road and my cheeks burn as I look out of the window, trying desperately to calm myself. Can he see my explicit thoughts painted across my face?
“Nothing.”
I breathe a sigh of relief
as his house comes into view, poking through the thick trees covering the entire property and my leg bounces as I wait for him to pull up to the house and park. If I can just make it a few more seconds, I can run inside and take care of this problem without breaking my rules or making this situation any more complicated than it already is. Just a couple more seconds…
Moving faster than I thought possible, I grip the door handle as soon as he pulls the truck to a stop in front of the house but before I can open it, he grabs my other arm, dragging my gaze over to him as my brow shoots up in surprise. Having his skin on mine is making an already desperate situation feel moments away from a disaster and if I could pull away, I would. It’s impossible though. His touch feels like a brand on my arm and his eyes hold me hostage better than any rope or chain could.
“I don’t want you getting out of the truck first,” he explains, his gaze flicking to my fingers on the door handle as he turns off the truck. “I need to check the area and come around to get you.”
I scowl. “We’re on the compound.”
“I know but it’s something we need to get into the practice of doing so when we’re out in public, you don’t even have to think about it.”
“I don’t know,” I whisper, looking up at the house, my only salvation, before I turn back to him. “It seems a little excessive.”
His eyes narrow. “I wasn’t really asking, Izzy. You came to me to keep you and our baby safe so that’s what I’m going to do. Wait for me.”
I open my mouth to respond, shoot off some smart ass comment but my mind is blank and he doesn’t wait for a reply from me anyway, opening his door and slipping out of the truck. As the door slams, I jump and suck in a breath, pressing my hands to my thighs as I try to get control of myself. I’m literally seconds away from relief and I just need to hold on for a few more seconds. The passenger door opens and Diego grabs my legs, spinning me to face him and pulling me to the edge of the seat as he leans in.