Vote Then Read: Volume I

by Carly Phillips

  He was helping her, yes, but he didn’t want to get emotionally involved. If she’d harbored any illusions after their morning in bed, he’d definitely set her straight now. All she could do was to be there for him the way he’d been there for her since the day they’d met.

  “Hey.” She leaned back and looked into his red-rimmed eyes. “I get it, okay? I understand more than you could imagine. I have a complicated life that doesn’t lend toward bringing people in. My brother is dangerous. By letting anyone in, I put them in danger, too. I never wanted to do that to you but you insisted. So the truth is, I get needing to keep people at a distance.”

  He remained silent, as if sensing she wasn’t finished. Which she wasn’t.

  She drew a deep breath and continued. “So if you’re worried about me wanting anything more from you than the help you’re offering now, I won’t. I don’t.”

  Relief crossed his face even as the word lies echoed inside her head. Of course she wanted more than he could give, because she’d fallen for her reluctant hero. But that wasn’t in the cards. She’d deal with her pain like she dealt with everything else, by throwing herself into her work and building her business.

  She just needed to convince Jason he could trust her to respect his boundaries. “My plan is for my brother to end up in jail so I can go back to living my independent life.” She forced a smile. “We’re good, Jason. You’re good. Most importantly, you survived. Don’t feel guilty because you did.”

  He squeezed her hand and rose to his feet, then together they headed back to the car.

  Chapter Seven

  Faith took her cues from Jason, who was silent on the way home after the trip to the frat house. She gave him his space, not wanting to intrude on his personal thoughts, using the time to check in with Kelsey, who had everything at the store under control. She even offered to open in the morning, and since she knew the recipes and they had nonperishable items to sell, Faith agreed.

  She realized, however, it was time to hire more people to help at the store. Not only because of the Colton situation and the fact that she couldn’t always be there right now, but because she deserved some time off. She’d been handling things by herself for a year, with only Kelsey part-time to help out. So that was on her definite to-do list and ASAP.

  Jason had been so quiet, even on the elevator ride up to his apartment, that it took her by surprise when, after they entered the apartment, took off their jackets, and hung them in the closet, he spun her around, pulling her against him.

  “I need you,” he said, and she had no intention of denying him. Not after how he’d bared his soul to her earlier, helping her to understand everything about him.

  She kicked off her shoes and socks, lifted her hands and unbuttoned each button, letting her shirt drop to the floor. His heated stare fell to her full breasts, and as he watched, she reached behind her and released the bra clasp, letting the straps fall down her arms. Cool air rushed over her nipples, hardening them into tight peaks.

  Feeling his gaze hot on hers, she unbuttoned her trousers, releasing them as well. She kicked the pants aside.

  Jason’s eyes darkened with need. “Go on.”

  She swallowed hard. Hooking her fingers into her panties, she pulled them down and off, leaving her standing in the entryway of his apartment naked. She stared at him. His hooded gaze, the flush in his cheeks peeking over the scruff on his face, and the fact that he was fully dressed all worked to arouse her unbearably. Dampness slickened between her thighs and her sex throbbed with desire. But she was well aware that this was Jason’s show, his pace, his pain that he needed to work out.

  As she stood bared to him, he removed his shoes. His socks, shirt, and slacks along with his boxer briefs came next, tossed onto the pile of her clothes. His erection stood prominently against his belly, the sight causing a throbbing in her core.

  She licked her lips and his eyes darkened at the sight.

  Slowly, she stepped closer to him, her gaze never leaving his, then she lowered herself to her knees.

  “Faith,” he said, a harsh warning in his tone.

  She looked up at him through her lashes and smiled. “Yes?”

  “Fuck,” he said, his hand coming to rest on her head.

  He needed this, that much she knew, and if she could make him forget his troubles for a little while, that’s what she wanted to do. Because she was coming to care deeply for this dark knight of hers.

  She wrapped her hand around his stiffness, gliding her palm over the velvety yet rigid length. Dipping her head, she licked the salty white coating off the head and he groaned, his fingers tightening in her hair. The tug was arousing, turning her on, but not as much as being on her knees and giving him pleasure. And that was her goal.

  With her hand on the base of his shaft, she opened her mouth and glided her lips down his cock. His big body shuddered and she grew heady with the knowledge that she affected him. Pulling him inside her mouth, she slicked her tongue over and under his thick member. She drew him deep until the head of his cock hit the back of her throat. Forcing herself to relax, she swallowed over him, managing not to choke, and he yanked harder on her hair.

  She groaned around him as he began to rock his hips back and forth, thrusting his cock into her mouth, using her to take what he needed. With her hands now braced on his thighs, she let him take over. He pumped himself in and out, and she sucked him harder, causing a warning tap on her head.

  “I’m going to come,” he said gruffly, clearly expecting her to release him, but she had other plans.

  She hummed around him and urged him to continue. He thrust once, twice, and came with a grunt, streaming down her throat, and she swallowed over and over until he relaxed, sliding out of her mouth.

  “Shit, sweetness, I wanted that to be inside you.”

  “It was,” she said with a pleased chuckle. He helped her to her feet and, taking her off guard, lifted her into his arms. She squeaked in surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck, as he carried her into his bedroom.

  No sooner had he deposited her on the bed than he spread her thighs and came down over her, his face level with her sex, and began to lick, suck, and devour her like a starving man. At the first slide of his tongue, she moaned, suddenly aware of how very aroused she already was.

  His mouth worked magic, the experience fresh and new, as everything with Jason seemed to be. He knew his way around her body. She’d never known her breasts were sensitive, never realized she could come from oral sex. But as he slid his tongue inside her, his nose nudging her clit, waves of sensation and awareness shuddered through her. Warm and delicious, her body responded to his intense ministrations, the way he delicately played with her clit causing her to buck against him.

  He must have realized he’d hit the right spot, because he pulled the tight bud into his mouth and grazed it with his teeth. A swell of desire took hold and didn’t let go as he brought her up and over the edge.

  She’d been grasping the comforter, hanging on as he ate at her, but with the surge of desire, she needed to hold on to him. She grasped his hand as she ground her sex against his mouth, riding out the most explosive climax she’d ever had.

  Before she could fully finish, he’d come over her, nudging her legs apart and pushing himself deep.

  “Oh, God, Jason!” She quivered around him, her inner walls clasping him harder. “I’m coming again.”

  “Damn right you are,” he muttered and slammed into her, grinding his hips against her.

  She whimpered at the assault, his body rough with hers in all the best possible ways. Her gaze on his as she came, she fell into those dark blue eyes, losing herself in this man who’d all but sworn he would never truly be hers.

  Pushing those thoughts aside, she let her body enjoy the peak and slow tumble back to reality, coming to with his big body on top of hers. With a grunt, he rolled to his side, pulling out of her, and she felt the loss in more ways than physical.

  He pressed a long
kiss on her lips. “Be right back,” he said and rose to walk into the bathroom. She heard the water run, and he returned, helping her clean up before pulling her back into his arms.

  They dozed for a while, and when she woke up, he was staring into her eyes. “Thank you,” he said in a gruff voice.

  “For what?”

  “Letting me take what I needed. Giving me more than I deserve.”

  She lay her head in the crook of his shoulder. “You carry a lot of pain inside you. It’s good to let it out.”

  He merely grunted in reply.

  “I have a question,” she said, having realized earlier that this was the one thing he hadn’t addressed.

  His arm pulled her tighter against him. “What’s that?”

  Drawing a deep breath, she asked, “Who’s the woman and the little boy in the picture on your desk?”

  He exhaled slowly. “When Levi died, he had a girlfriend, Amber. He didn’t know it at the time but he’d gotten her pregnant.”

  “Oh, God.”

  She felt him nod. “Yeah.”

  “In the beginning, there wasn’t much the guys and I could do but be there for her, but after the club started bringing in money, we helped her out. LJ, that’s his name, Levi Jr., means a lot to all of us.”

  “That’s so sad,” she whispered, unable to imagine how difficult the woman’s life had been. A single mother, still in college…

  “She doesn’t live in the city, so we don’t see them nearly as much as we’d like, but the relationship is strong.”

  And LJ was the child he already had, Faith realized, her heart pounding hard in her chest at the thought. These men and the bond they shared with each other, and with Amber and her son, gave Jason all the family he believed he needed.

  They lay in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. After today, Faith understood Jason more than ever. She’d never felt so close to him … and he’d never felt further out of reach.

  The next morning, Jason woke up before Faith. Last night, they’d stayed up late, ordered in pizza, and … dammit, he couldn’t call it having sex. He’d made love to her.

  After the hard, punishing way he’d taken her the first time, they’d fallen asleep again, and then he’d found himself sliding into her slowly. Rocking against her as she woke up to him pumping in and out of her, their gazes locked on each other, emotions passing between them. Despite his vow to remain detached, he hadn’t been able to do it. Not with this woman who was burrowing her way deep inside him.

  Not that it changed anything. When her problems were solved, she’d go back to her life and he’d return to his. Solitary and safe, the way he liked it. He had no choice. He didn’t see himself opening up enough for marriage and a family, and that’s what Faith wanted. What she deserved.

  He muttered a curse, and leaving her sleeping, he slipped out of bed. He pulled on a pair of sweats before walking to the kitchen, where he immediately made himself a cup of coffee. Yesterday had been unexpected and brutal, the revelation of his past completely unplanned, but if there was anyone he would share his pain with, it would be Faith.

  Somehow they’d bonded, and he trusted her as much as his brothers, which was odd. And something that unnerved him to no end. Also something he didn’t want to think about too much, so he picked up his coffee mug, drank his caffeine, and began scrolling through his phone, checking in on Landon and Tanner.

  Jason had missed a Saturday night at the club, and his partners weren’t pissed exactly, but they weren’t happy with him, either. Since there was no way he was going to tell them he’d been reliving their shared past, he let them give him shit and took it as his due.

  He’d finished his first cup of coffee and was on his standard second when his doorbell rang, startling him. He narrowed his gaze.

  He glanced at his phone. Eleven a.m. Who would be here at this early hour on a Sunday? He strode to the door, glanced in the peephole, and did a double take.

  Unsetting his alarm, he unlocked the door and swung it open. “Mom? What in the world are you doing here?”

  Savannah Dare walked into his apartment, but instead of the tears he expected, he saw anger in her blue eyes. “Your father wants me back. Of all the self-centered, ridiculous notions, he thinks I’m going to forgive and forget.” She met Jason’s gaze and pulled him into her arms. “I’m sorry. How’s my boy?” she asked, hugging him tight. She smelled like the perfume he associated with home, a light floral scent that said mom.

  “I’m fine. And we’ll talk about Dad. But why are you here?”

  “He showed up last night with his flowers and apologies and I told him to leave. He swore he’d be back this morning. I wasn’t ready to deal with him, so I left.”

  “The state? Why didn’t you just go stay with Alex and Madison?” he asked of his brother and sister-in-law, who lived nearby his mom.

  “That’s the first place your father would look for me. And with the baby, I didn’t want to just show up on Sienna’s doorstep.” She rolled her suitcase into the entryway and met his gaze. “Show me to your guest room?”

  Jason rubbed a hand over his face, wondering how he was going to explain away the fact that he had a woman staying in the extra room who was currently fast asleep in his bed.

  “Jason?” As if on cue, Faith walked into the living area wearing nothing but his shirt from last night, buttoned and hanging down on her bare thighs. Her gaze landed on his mother and her eyes opened wide. “Oh my God. You have company!” She pulled at the shirt as if she could magically lengthen the fabric.

  “Jason Dare, why didn’t you tell me you had a woman here?” his mother asked in a chiding voice.

  “I was just about to,” he muttered. And though he was a grown man and had every right to have a woman in his bed, he wasn’t thrilled that Faith’s face had turned beet red and she looked mortified.

  He had no choice but to introduce them. “Mom, this is Faith Lancaster. Faith, this is my mother, Savannah Dare.”

  He gave Faith credit. Despite her embarrassment, she walked right up to his mom, extended her hand, and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “The same here. I apologize for interrupting. I flew in from Florida unannounced. I’ll just go–”

  “No. I, umm … I’ll go get dressed and let you two talk.” Faith turned and fled back the way she’d come.

  With a groan, he glanced at his mother. “That went well.”

  She tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. “I’m really sorry. I should have called but I just took the six-a.m. flight.”

  “It’s fine. It’s just that the situation with Faith is complicated. She’s staying here because she has some personal issues right now and despite her … being in my shirt, she’s using the spare bedroom,” he said instead of saying despite the obvious fact that we’re sleeping together. It was awkward enough for everyone.

  His mother nodded in understanding. “I didn’t stay in a hotel because your father has contacts and private investigators. He’ll track me down. At least this way, once he finds me, he has to deal with us both. But given the circumstances, I can take a room. Or go stay with Sienna. I can help with the baby. I just didn’t want to intrude because they’re still newlyweds, but it’s really no problem.” She was rambling.

  “No.” Faith returned, dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt, her hair brushed and pulled into a sleek ponytail. “I can go home. You stay here with your son.”

  “Not happening, Faith, and you know why.” Jason’s words came out like a command and had her snapping her shoulders back and narrowing her gaze.

  “I’m not putting your mother out. It’s not right.”

  Savannah looked from Jason to Faith, following the conversation although obviously not understanding the reasons behind their argument.

  “Then you can stay in my room and my mother can take the guest room,” Jason said. “Unless you want to go home and be a sitting duck for Colton to find you?” He folded his arms across his chest, da
ring her to challenge him.

  Faith’s shoulders, the evidence of her strength and defiance seconds before, wilted as he made his point. “Okay. Thank you. I realize I’m putting everyone out, but you’re right. I have nowhere else to go.” Her hands came up to her neck as she obviously remembered being hurt by her brother.

  He hated having had to bring up those memories in order to get his way and keep her safe.

  “Obviously the person who should go to a hotel is me,” his mother said when they’d both gone silent.

  “No,” Faith and Jason said at once. They both knew they were sleeping together. The chances of him letting her go back to her own bed while she was under his roof were slim to none anyway. He wanted to get his fill of her while he could.

  He ignored the voice in his head telling him he’d never have enough of her and faced his mother. “Looks like you’re staying.”

  “Okay.” His mother smiled at them both.

  Faith smiled back. “I’ll go pack up my things and move them into your room,” she said, her cheeks only slightly red at this point.

  “Great. Now that that’s settled, Mom, come in, take off your coat, and make yourself at home.” He met Faith’s gaze, shooting her a grateful look he hoped she could translate, along with an apologetic one.

  This was a turn of events he’d never expected, having his mother and his … Faith, under one roof. And he had no idea how to handle the situation.

  An hour after Jason’s mother arrived, Faith found herself at an upscale restaurant, sitting next to Jason and across the table from Savannah Dare. She was a lovely woman with blonde hair and light blue eyes, a warm smile, and an easy air of acceptance of having found Faith all but in her son’s bed.

  Once Faith had recovered from her embarrassment and accepted the fact that she really had nowhere else to go if she wanted to be safe, she realized she’d have to move into Jason’s room. His mother seemed to handle it easily enough.