A Jar of Hearts

by Cartharn, Clarissa

  He looked at her hands balled in her lap and he had a tremendous urge to hold them. To feel her palm against his, to let her know he would protect her. He let out a breath to simmer himself down.

  He turned the car around the corner and towards their homes. He immediately caught sight of the men hovering on the path before his house and he tensed. He straightened up, recognizing the license plate of one of the two cars parked. What was Juan doing here? If there was business, he would always call him over to his own house. That was the base, that’s where business took place.

  He frowned, wondering how he should keep Anne away from the gangster. He pulled the car to a stop a reasonable distance away and turned to her. “Stay in the car. I’ll help you out.”

  “I don’t need help to get out of the car,” she began to protest.

  “Stay in the car, Anne.” His voice was firm and it made her tense.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “There are some men outside waiting for me.”

  “Are you going to be alright? Do you want me to call the cops?” she asked worriedly.

  He caressed her hand. “I will be fine. But stay here until I come and get you, okay?”

  He leaned over her and locked her car door. His lips brushed her cheeks and for a brief moment, he savored her taste. Juan, he reminded himself.

  He pressed down his own door lock as slickly as he could and then stepped out into the street. He didn’t want Juan to think he was taking precautions against him.

  “What’s up, Juan?” he asked casually.

  “Hey man,” Juan replied, nodding his head at him. “I didn’t know you were out with a woman.” He narrowed his eyes to have a better look at Anne. “Who is she? She’s looks fine.”

  “She’s no one,” he said quickly, moving to block Juan’s view of Anne. “Why are you here? I thought we’d agree to always meet at the base.”

  “Yeah, well, something important came up.” He scratched his chin as he glanced back at James’ car. “Perhaps we should talk about it when you are free. Come by tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Juan lifted his brow. “Maybe you could introduce me next time. She is a beautiful woman.”

  “I probably won’t see her again,” James replied carelessly. “She’s not from here.”

  “Oh well, in that case I should say hi.”

  James stepped into his way. “Juan, she isn’t an easy catch. I’ve got hopes for a hot night. I don’t want her running off thinking I’m setting her up for a gangbang.”

  “Ahh right,” Juan chuckled, throwing up his hands in defeat. “Just my luck. Have a good one then.” He winked. “ Tomorrow, esé.”

  “It’s okay. You can come out now,” he said as he helped her out of the car.

  “Who were they?” she asked somewhat stiffly.

  “Just some people I do business with.” He glanced back up the street to make sure Juan and his men had gone. They could return and in such case he needed to get Anne out of plain sight as soon as he could. “I’ll walk you home.”

  She clasped his arm, stopping him short by her slightly tight grip.

  “Let’s go to your house,” she muttered. “I don’t want to go home just yet.”

  Had Juan’s visit scared her? He studied her carefully but she showed no signs of worry. He sighed. He probably was just being too cautious.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked her as they entered his living room.

  “No, I’m fine.” She licked her lips nervously. “Umm… you don’t mind me here at such an hour?”

  “Anne, of course not,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips. He breathed in the scent of her palm. She always smelled so sweet. “I’m glad you came.”

  “Thank you for dinner. I may not have been ideal company but I did appreciate it.” She cupped his face, her fingers tracing his contours, sending heat rapidly down his body. “James, could you…?”She hesitated.

  “Hmm?” He lifted his eyes to gaze into hers; delirious of the sensations she was arousing in him. Common sense warned him to break away from her or he would just have to…

  “Could you kiss me again?” she asked, raising her long eyelashes up at him.

  He stared up at her, uncertain if she had meant what she had said. He let her hand fall off from him as he tried to determine why she would ask him that. Hadn’t she been trying to fend him off all this while? Just a day ago, she had hated being in the same room as him. Why then?

  She palmed her face and shook her head. “This is embarrassing. I shouldn’t have asked you something like that. I don’t know what I was thinking. I may have now officially lost my mind. Just… just forget-”

  Fuck the analysis! He grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged her up against him, bringing his mouth heavily down on hers. She curled her arms between them and for a second, he felt she was about to push him away. But then she relaxed them, snaking them up his torso and winding them around his nape.

  She pulled herself closer up to him until he could kiss her deeply, deftly moving his tongue into her mouth to play and tease hers. She groaned as she gently nipped at his lips, bringing him to an unbearable hardness. She was his manna from heaven and he didn’t realize how much he was starved of her until now.

  He cupped her bottom to press himself against her core, his length jutting aroused and hard into her. She threw back her head, delirious with the pleasures he was creating in her. He felt so familiar. He felt like… Eric.

  He kissed her down the side of her neck, taking time to nip at her flesh. So like Eric. If she imagined this was him… he was Eric… She moaned as his head dipped further down to her cleavage. He cupped her breast, kneading it, feeling for her nipple through her dress.

  “Anne,” he rasped. “If you want me to stop, do it now. But don’t torture me anymore.”

  “Don’t stop,” she managed to mutter. But he did, she thought disappointedly as she felt him step away from her. Did he not want her anymore? Her dejection began to knot in the pits of her stomach. “James?”

  Her legs gave way as he swept her into his arms. She tugged at his head and he eagerly bent down to kiss her wildly, all the while carrying her up to his bedroom. He wanted her, she thought dazedly. He wants me.

  He steadied her on her feet, his thumb fiddling with the strap of her dress. “Is it okay if…?”

  She pulled the straps of her dress down her shoulders, letting the dress slither down her body and fall into a heap at her ankles. His hand caressed her bare shoulders and she closed her eyes to feel him trace his fingers down her collarbone and to the fleshly domes of her breasts.

  She shivered under his fingers as he gently unfastened her bra and then palmed her hands along the contours of her body until he reached her panties. He helped her out of it even more delicately until she stood bare before him. But where was he?

  Her toes grazed his knees and then she felt his breath against the shaven lips of her heated womanhood. She pulled in a sharp breath. He was too close… much too close. Was he going to kiss her there?

  But he stood up instead without touching her at all. What was he doing now? She cocked her head to listen for any sounds. She heard nothing. Had he left? She bit her lip nervously. Had she just embarrassed herself?

  And then he touched her hand. She stiffened. He was still here. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. She caressed his face and then ran her finger tips over him just as he had done hers, like a painter stroking his brush over every curve and muscle in his body.

  She finally stopped at his hips, letting her fingers rest there, hesitating to go any further. She pulled in a deep breath, invigorated by a sudden wash of boldness and reached out for his hot length. She heard him suck in sharply as she curled her fingers around his cock.

  “Anne,” he muttered, threading his fingers through her hair and tugging her to him, kissing her while she continued to hold him there.

  Her hold grew stronger and tighter, pumping him, his
kisses growing fiercer.

  “I’ll come,” he said with a low growl, releasing the tight vice she held on him.

  He pushed her gently onto his bed, going down with her. His mouth captured her nipples, sucking and nipping at them. She arched her back, deliriously running her hands through his hair, feeling the wetness dripping from the apex of her legs. His thigh parted her legs apart, pressing it hard against her crotch, letting her rub against him. His thigh was by no means his cock, but it was so pleasurable, she almost orgasmed.

  Her ecstasy sped up her like a drug, making her wild with intoxication, so when he moved away briefly, she groaned. But he replaced his thigh with his hot mouth and she almost bucked off the bed with delirium. What was he doing to her?

  He snaked up her again until his cock met her core. His velvety head pressed hard against her and she moaned. She widened her legs and wound them at his hips as he pushed through her entrance to plunge into her.

  “Anne,” he whispered, cupping her bottom and pushing further deeper into her.

  He thrust in and out of her, their bodies rocking in unison, their breaths growing short and sharp until they trembled to a halt, riding the climactic peak of their passion.

  His steady breaths told her that he was asleep. She pushed his arms away as carefully as she could and then scrambled for her clothes. But where were they?

  She found her underwear and she hurriedly put them on. Now, for her dress. Where could he have tossed it?

  The bed creaked, and she froze, hoping he hadn’t awoken. But she heard nothing more and she went back on her hands and knees to look for her dress.

  “Here,” he said, his deep voice penetrating the silence in the house.

  She went rigid as she straightened up. He placed the dress in her hands.

  “You look even more beautiful in the morning,” he whispered, stroking her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You should have told me you wanted to go home. I would have taken you back.”

  “I… I didn’t want to wake you,” she muttered, pulling her dress over herself as fast as she could. I look beautiful? He’s got to be kidding me! I am always a mess in the morning. She bit her lip, swearing inwardly.

  “I’ll make you breakfast.”

  “No, don’t. I really have to go back home.”

  “Right.” He sounded a little disappointed and she felt guilty at once.

  “I’m sorry. But I am in the dire need of a bath.” She tried to break their awkwardness with a small chuckle but it came out phony instead. She flushed.

  “Let me see you to the door at least,” he said stiffly.

  He knows, she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut. She had been trying to make a quick getaway and instead had embarrassingly got caught in the act.

  Her legs almost crumbled beneath her and only managed to walk steadily without falling to the floor. I doubt he’d carry me now after this early morning drama.

  He caught her arm as she walked past him. “Anne, did I do something wrong?”

  “No, of course not.” She fumbled for the right words. How could she tell him? “You don’t need to go out of your way, James. I’m a big girl. I can handle the morning after.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Our one night-stand,” she gulped.

  “One night-stand? Is that what this was?”

  “Wasn’t it?” She tilted her head up at him. Why did he feel the need to act so innocent about it now? “I heard you last night. You told that guy that I was nothing to you and that you were eagerly looking forward to a … hot night. Isn’t that the word you used?”

  “Anne.” He clasped her arm, but she pushed them away.

  “It’s okay. You don’t need to explain yourself. In fact, I appreciated that that was how you felt. I guess I was being needlessly afraid that it was more.” She pulled in a deep breath. “I’m glad it meant nothing.”

  “Are you really?” he asked her coldly.

  She combed her hair with trembling fingers. Why couldn’t he just let her leave? They had slept together. He had got what he had wanted. She had given him a ‘hot night’, hadn’t she?

  “It… it helped me get over a difficult part of my life,” she stammered. “The so-called ‘nothingness’ helped.”

  “Anne…”

  “Please, James,” she said with a quiver. “You need to let me go while I’ve still got my pride intact.”

  He palmed his face, kicking himself on the inside for those words. She had rolled down her windows and heard him. She is nothing. The words reverberated in his mind, tormenting him.

  They had been rushed, he tried consoling himself. He had only wanted to protect her from Juan. But in truth, there really was no excuse for hurting her.

  He followed her a few paces away, watching her amble towards her house. How did he always manage to fuck things up with her? It was always one step forward and two damned steps back.

  She cocked her head for the tinkling sounds of her wood chime and Harley’s tiny bark to tell her she was at the right house.

  “Harley?” she said as she fumbled with the back gate.

  And when she disappeared down her path and into her house, he let out a disappointing grunt, kicking the sand at his feet into the air. He’d have to find a way to win her back. He couldn’t just let her continue to think he had used her and then sent her packing the next day. She was his woman, even if she didn’t know that yet.

  He walked back to the house. But first he had to deal with Juan. Hopefully, he would fix that problem and get his life back with Anne as soon as he could.

  CHAPTER 16

  “Fuck, Ty, you should have had a lookout driver! What the fuck were you fucks doing?!” Juan screamed into the phone. “This is not good! Not fucking good.”

  He glanced up at James strolling into his living room and waved at him to take a seat.

  “Find a way, Ty. I mean it, or I will have your fucking ass on a skewer.” He ended the call, rubbing his brow with his thumb.

  “Something wrong, Juan?” James asked.

  “The cops arrested almost five hundred kilos of coke last night. That’s a million and a half dollars worth gone… fucking poofed!” He swiped a frustrated hand over his face. “I don’t need this shit right now, James. This shouldn’t have fucking happened.”

  “So what’s the story?”

  Juan shook his head. “The boys were doing their usual run this morning. They passed the herd at the border but ran into cops five miles in.” He grew quiet for a brief while. “They were waiting for them. I think someone snitched, Jamie.” He frowned looking up at him. “That woman you were with… who was she?”

  James froze. What was he on about now? “Like I told you last night, she’s no one.”

  “How do you know that? She could have been a cop. She saw us together.”

  “That’s why I told you to never show up at my house,” James replied flatly. “As for the girl, I can swear she’s not one.”

  “You sure about that? Right after I meet you, my boys get caught by the police. How the fuck do you explain that?”

  “Well, it isn’t her.”

  “I’m not having that, Jamie. I need to investigate every end if I ever want to find that fucking roach. Where is she?”

  James casually slid out of his chair and towards the window. If Juan discovered the bile of nervousness he was trying to swallow down his throat, this would be the end of both him and Anne. “I told you it isn’t her. The woman is blind, so it was impossible she had seen you. And you saw for yourself the windows of my car were rolled up, so she heard nothing as well.”

  “You fucked a blind chica?” he asked with surprise and then let out a laugh. “How did it go?” He slapped James’ back. “I’ve fucked women blindfolded, but doing a woman who is blind… now, that’s another level completely. Damn, man”

  James placed his hands in his pocket to restrain himself from landing a fist against the man’s jaw. “Why did you come by my house anyw
ay?”

  “Right that.” He scratched his head. “Talk about one fuck up after another.” He walked over to his bar and opened up a can of beer. “You want one?”

  “Thanks.” James waved his hand at him. “But it’s a little too early for me.”

  “I need you to do a clean-up.”

  “Who is the poor bastard this time?”

  “Derek Burns, CEO of Denton Securities. Derek’s been dipping in our turf. I’ve warned him and his boys several times but they don’t listen. They won’t listen and they won’t learn.” He swallowed his drink and then smacked his lips. “They’re taking a chunk of our clients and our profits. He needs to be handled, Jamie, or people would think we’re fucking pussies, you feel me?”

  “He is a prominent figure, Juan. The cops and the media will be all over this.”

  “That’s why I hired you, an expatriate to handle the complicated stuff,” he snapped. “If I wanted him gangbanged in the middle of an intersection, I would have got my homies to do it.”

  “There is no need to get riled up. I just meant I need some time to figure this out. This is the head of Denton Securities we are talking about. Except for his own gang, there are only a few people who know that he is the leader of the Arms & Blood Brotherhood. And those who do will fight to protect him.”

  “Well, figure it out, damn it! I pay you enough to do that,” he mumbled. “I just want him gone, you feel me, Jamie? Gone.”

  “Yeah,” Mark’s voice came on the phone.

  James ran a hand through his breeze ruffled hair. “I have a janitor shift at Denton Securities.”

  “Where you cleaning?”

  “The CEO’s office. Am I cleared to go?”

  The line went static for a brief while. “I’ve cleared your schedule to accommodate your shift. You’re good to go. Just make sure you spruce it properly. He is an important client. We don’t want to be receiving complaints on a shoddy job for fingerprints.”