Change of Harte (Harte, #2) (Harte Series)

by Harris, Brooke

  ‘I love what you do to me,’ she whispered, wrapping her legs around him, her feet resting on the base of his spine.

  He loved what he did to her, too. He loved when she offered herself to him. She was his paradise and she was opening the gates and letting him in. Eva's fingers rummaged through his hair, pulling hard every time he dared to run his tongue across her clit, taking care to be extra gentle with her new jewellery. She clenched her thighs and her heels dug into his back, gathering him into her. Pulling him closer, nearer…And then she screamed. Her whole body shook as wave after wave rippled across her clit, across his tongue.

  ‘I love you,’ she mumbled as he scooped her floppy-from-pleasure body into his arms, gathering every inch of her skin against his. He had to stop the reply that almost passed his own lips. But he did think it, for the first time in his life he thought it, and Christ how he meant it.

  He opened his mouth wide on her when she kissed him, lifting her into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom. He laid her back against her neatly stacked pillows and positioned himself between her legs. He noticed how her teeth pressed against her bottom lip in anticipation when he let the tip of his cock graze her opening. Her warm, sticky wet was like satin kisses inviting him in and it was close to impossible to stop himself from slamming into her and fucking her senseless right there. But Eva left him no choice as she pushed against him, sliding down his length in one fluid movement until her bottom was pressed against his balls. Christ.

  If she moaned, he didn’t hear it over the deep throated gasp of lust and pleasure that poured from his own lips. Everything about her was a drug to him; it was the worst time possible to realise he was an addict. Truly, he’d known for a long time, maybe even from the first time she’d stepped into his office. The only thing he didn’t know now was how the fuck he was supposed to go cold turkey. The way her hipbones rested between his, the way her slender thighs and calves stretch out below him, the way her breath felt against his neck as she tucked her face into him. The way everything she did made him whole. She was the perfect size to fit the hole in his heart. She was his fix in every sense of the word. And he knew it.

  Julian stretched out his legs, reaching the end of the bed, his arms reaching under her pillow. He was close, it was building deep inside him. And then he stopped and called her name.

  ‘Miss Andrews, you surprise the hell out of me.’

  Bright red rippled across Eva’s nose and cheeks as she looked at what Julian was holding. He’d pulled a large, purple vibrator out from under her pillow.

  ‘Erm…’ Eva said.

  ‘Oh, this just got a whole lot more fun. Evangeline Andrews, I do believe you really are a filthy bitch at heart.’

  Eva laughed and grabbed the vibrator out of his hand and threw it on the floor as a sheepish smile lit up her face. If it was a chase she was after, Julian was more than happy to oblige.

  He grabbed her off the bed and pulled her to stand in front of him before she had time to move. ‘Have you used this since you got your piercing?’

  ‘I don’t…erm…’ Eva’s blushing was turning to a full face of scarlet. ‘I don’t really use it.’

  ‘And I don’t wank in the shower,’ Julian laughed. ‘Now we’re even with one lie each. Let’s have some fun.’

  Eva pulled a face.

  ‘I told you before, Evangeline. Don’t look so worried. Is there a mirror on one of these?’ Julian opened Eva’s wardrobe doors and grinned sadistically finding his reflection on one side.

  ‘Fuck yeah,’ he said, beckoning Eva to him.

  She obliged.

  ‘Look,’ he said, turning her to watch her naked reflection. He pressed close behind her, towering over her by a head and shoulders and broader by half, too. She examined her reflection. Her hunger for him was so obvious. Her quivering bottom lip, her heaving breasts. If she could see it, so could he. But he wanted her just as much, she knew, as his granite erection pressed against her back.

  He slipped a hand around her waist and his fingers scurried from her belly down until he parted her.

  ‘So pretty,’ he said.

  Eva blushed. She knew he was looking at her piercing. She was, too. She still couldn’t quite believe she’d done it.

  Julian’s other hand produced the vibrator from behind his back. She hadn’t even noticed that he picked it back up. She gasped, so uncertain of what he wanted next. But so ready to give him whatever it was.

  Julian pressed the purple silicone against her clit. The soft ears of her rabbit were cool against her clammy skin and she had to concentrate not to jerk away initially. Eva caught a seductive twinkle in Julian’s eye and then the buzz shot around her pelvis. He’d turned it on without warning. No surprise there.

  Eva dropped her head back against his chest and moaned deeply as pleasure shot around her whole pelvis with each rapid vibration. His lips were on her shoulder, dotting soft kisses across and up her neck. Tipping her closer and closer to the edge. His warm breath brushed against her ear and his subtle groan sent a huge shiver trickling down her spine. She was so ready to come.

  ‘Watch,’ he whispered.

  Eva lowered her head and stared into the mirror. Her shiny silver bar shook from side to side as the vibrator worked its magic.

  ‘Can you take more?’

  ‘Em-hm.’

  Julian guided the shaft inside her, slowly, gently, taking care to keep the rabbit ears against her clit.

  Oh, my God. Oh, my God. She’d pleasured herself with her rabbit more times than she could remember, but it never felt like this. He made it so much better. He made it mind-blowing.

  Julian flicked on one of the low shaft settings and a deep buzz rippled inside her as the rabbit ears nibbled at her aching clit. A euphoric moan shot out of her uncontrolled. She could feel Julian’s cock swell against her back in response. Knowing he was enjoying watching her turned her on even more. She wanted to be bold.

  Julian slipped his knees between hers and slowly opened his legs, forcing hers apart too until she was reverse straddling his pelvis.

  ‘Hold it,’ Julian instructed placing Eva’s hand around the vibrator. ‘Do you trust me?’

  It was the question she had asked herself repeatedly since he’d come back into her life, and she’d failed to come with an answer so far. But at that moment, the answer slipped off her tongue without a second thought. ‘I trust you, Julian.’

  Julian spread his fingers across her hips, gripping her tight. Jerking her ass down onto him over and over. He gripped her even tighter, pulling her wide until his cock nestled between her cheeks, his tip daring to press against her asshole. He wouldn’t dare, would he?

  Eva squealed loudly as burning pressure shot up inside her. He’d pushed. She watched her own reaction as her jaw dropped and her eyebrows pinched. He was hard and wide and inside her. Her whole pelvis was filled to bursting point with pressure. Hot. Wild. Aching. She never felt such powerful intensity. He was in total control of her body and all she wanted was for him to push harder and tip her over the edge. She leaned back against his firm chest. His hands stayed firm on her hips, pumping her onto him. He took her weight as she leaned back against his firm chest, her legs turning to jelly. Wave after wave of hot, powerful, rapturous pleasure surged through her whole body. Her orgasm exploded taking her breath with it. Julian’s deep satisfied groan followed straight after, and Eva relished the sensation of his warmth spilling into her. They broke away from each other and Eva spun around to face him, kissing him hard. Tasting the exhaustion from blissful orgasm from his mouth. Eva pushed Julian back against the bed and lay in his arms. Naked and still. She’d almost forgotten that he could do that to her. Fuck her until she quite literally couldn’t stand. And make her feel like when she caught her breath she wanted to do it all over again.

  Chapter 23

  Eva settled her head against Julian’s chest, scribbling messy shapes against his skin with the tip of her finger. ‘You still hungry?’

&nbs
p; He sighed comfortably. ‘No. You?’

  Eva shook her head. ‘I could use coffee, though.’

  ‘I’m good, thanks.’

  ‘Something stronger, maybe?’

  ‘Evangeline. I’m not hungry or thirsty.’

  Julian slid out from under her and walked back to the sitting room. Eva quickly pulled on an old t-shirt and a pair of leggings. His trousers were back on and he was gathering up the rest of his clothes by the time she walked in after him. She’d known what was coming, she’d know from how tightly he held her. Like someone whose heart was breaking right then. She recognised that feeling because it was exactly how she held him their last night together in Dublin.

  ‘You’re leaving me, aren’t you?’

  Julian didn’t look at her. He buttoned his shirt with his back to her. ‘Yes.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Eva lied. ‘I mean, I’m okay. You can’t break the same thing twice. My heart is still in pieces from the last time.’

  ‘You’re stronger than you know.’ Julian turned around.

  Eva walked away from him and sat on the couch. ‘You don’t have to do that, Julian. I understand the rules now. I belong to you, but you never belonged to me.’

  ‘We make our own rules, Evangeline. You don’t belong to anyone. Least of all me.’

  ‘I’m okay with you thinking I’m broken, but please don’t think I’m stupid, too. I’m not. I know this…’ Eva looked around her small apartment and paused with a resigned sigh. ‘All this—my job, this apartment, my life here…I know it’s all you.’

  Julian folded his jacket over his arm and sat beside her on the sofa. ‘How long have you known?’

  Eva tossed her head to one side. ‘Since about two days after I started at HTK. Harte, Thompson, Kent. It’s not that hard to figure out. Anyway, Pam can’t keep a secret to save her life. She wanted to know if we were a couple. I think she has a thing for you.’

  Julian smiled.

  ‘I don’t know whether to thank you or hit you.’

  Julian threw his eye back toward the bedroom. ‘You thanked me nicely already.’

  Eva snorted. ‘I could have managed on my own. You didn’t have to interfere.’

  ‘Really? So, how often have you been to visit your mother since you got back here?’

  ‘That’s none of your business.’

  ‘I never said it was, but you’ve just answered my question. Zero times is not managing, Eva. It’s hiding.’

  ‘Fuck you, Julian.’ Eva stood up and began to tidy the mess of spilt wine from earlier.

  ‘Once was enough, thank you. I’m still a little tired.’ Julian smirked.

  Eva wanted to slap him straight across the face. But he was painfully right, as always. That was the most irritating part.

  ‘I asked Mr. Thompson to give you a job because I’d sent you here. I needed to know that you were doing okay. It was purely to ease my conscience. It wasn’t a personal favour. If you saw it that way, you were wrong.’

  Eva swallowed hard. ‘Pam said…’

  ‘Pam lied,’ Julian interrupted. ‘She also said I fucked her ten ways sideways three Christmases ago. But she’d been ridden more times than a roller coaster at Disneyland. I wouldn’t touch her.’

  ‘You’re lying,’ Eva hissed. Please let him be lying.

  ‘I don’t lie, Miss Andrews. It’s a disgusting habit.’

  Eva threw the glass she’d just picked up out of her hand. It hit the wall, shattering instantly, making her jump. ‘God, Julian, just stop it. You’re lying to me now. You’ve lied to me so many times. Over and over, deeper and deeper into this bullshit game of yours. I didn’t want to play. I told you. But you kept up this shit. It was never a game to me, and I think you know that. You used it as an excuse to justify that fucking with my head was okay. Well, it wasn’t okay. It was never fucking okay. And now you’re back to doing it all over again.’

  Julian stood behind her and shook the second glass free from her other hand and it hit the carpet barely making a sound. He spun her around to face him and cupped her face in his hands, tilting her head back to meet his stare. ‘You’re wrong. I have never, ever lied to you.’

  Tears streamed down Eva’s cheeks. It had been a while since she cried, but Julian was like a switch for her emotions. ‘The game. Mr. Doe. That was all a lie.’

  ‘No, that was a game. You had a choice whether or not to play. You chose to play. We’ve been over this.’

  ‘You’re twisting things.’

  ‘Have I twisted things in the past? Yes. Have I ever lied to you? No.’

  ‘It’s the same thing. All those women you slept with before me. And after me.’

  ‘I like sex. I like fucking a woman so hard she loses her goddamn mind around my cock. But that doesn’t make me a fucking liar.’

  Eva knew she’d pissed him off. But the damage was done. He was walking out on her anyway. It might even be easier this way. She wasn’t backing down this time.

  ‘So, what? You’re going back to Dublin to play some more?’

  ‘I’m going back to Dublin. I never said anything about playing. You thought of that all on your own, Evangeline.’

  Eva’s whole face pinched. Now that sounded like a lie. She reminded herself that this was what he did best, get inside her head and fuck with her mind. This conversation had to end.

  ‘Do you really want to know what the game was about, Evangeline?’

  ‘Sex, right?’

  ‘Yes, sex. And power and pleasure and mind-blowing orgasms.’ But it was about you, too. I wanted you to know what it was like to lose everything. I wanted to break you.’

  Julian closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, for just a second. ‘Sounds so fucking stupid saying that out loud. Feels wrong even just admitting it, but I did. I wanted it, Evangeline. Like somehow it would make me feel better. That’s the most stupid thing of all, isn’t it? How could breaking you make me feel better?

  ‘I’d already lost everything. I was already broken. And then I lost you.’

  ‘I know. I know that now.’

  ‘You knew it, but you still kept playing. What the fuck? Why? I don’t understand?’

  ‘I haven’t been playing for a long time, Evangeline.’

  ‘Bullshit. What’s all this then?’ Eva spun around, a full 360 degrees, throwing her arms angrily in the air. ‘You sent me back to this. Fucking this, Julian. I’m still a pawn in your weird little game. Well, congratulations. You finally fucking did it; you’ve broken me beyond repair. Happy?’

  Julian stepped back and shook his head. ‘You can’t break something that’s already broken. You can only shatter it more.’

  He was calm. His voice was soft, and he kept a slight distance. She wanted emotion, and she wanted a reaction. She needed him to as close to falling to pieces as she was. But not Julian…never fucking Julian. Christ, he was impossible.

  ‘Okay, fine. If that’s the spin you want to put on this, then whatever. Congratulations on ruining me even more,’ Eva snapped, frustration outweighing tears.

  She looked into his eyes. She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help it. Her words were angry and harsh, but inside, her heart was pleading with her to hear him out.

  ‘I wasn’t finished,’ Julian snapped, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back into him. It was the first sign of emotion from him and Eva relished it. It meant it was getting to him. It meant he gave a shit.

  ‘You can’t fix something without all the pieces. I needed all the pieces of you, Evangeline. Do you understand?’

  Eva wasn’t even aware that she was holding her breath. She’d waited so long for this honesty from him. But it hurt to hear. It hurt in a way she wasn’t prepared for, like someone was thumping their fists against her chest, pounding all the air out of her. She wanted to hear it; she wanted him to confess. But she just wanted it to hurt less—a lot less. She couldn’t react, she couldn’t scream and shout and admit her frustration. She wouldn’t be a hypocrite. She’d pushed him to be h
onest. She couldn’t throw a tantrum as soon as he gave her the very thing she asked for. She ran her index finger over and back across her bottom lip, processing. Taking in every single word. Finally, she replied.

  ‘That’s pretty goddamn arrogant, Julian. I’m not yours. Not yours to break or repair. You can’t just fuck with people like that.’

  ‘Yes, it is arrogant. I know that. But that’s who I am. I go in all guns blazing. You know that by now.’

  ‘And what’s this then? What are your guns doing now?’

  ‘No guns now, Evangeline. No guns, I promise.’

  Julian was shaking his head. She believed him. She hated him and loved him all at the same time. But it wasn’t confusing. She knew exactly why she felt both. She just had to work out which feeling was stronger.

  ‘Get that coffee, Evangeline. There’s something you deserve to know.’

  Chapter 24

  Julian could hear the water running in the kitchen as Eva made coffee. He sat waiting in the sitting room. The apartment was small and the walls were pretty flimsy. We must have given the neighbours plenty to listen to, Julian thought replaying their bedroom scene in his mind briefly.

  He spun his phone around in his hand. He’d hit call three times already and hung up. But the fourth time, he doubled checked Eva was still in the kitchen and he let it ring.

  ‘Hey, stranger. Good to hear from you. I was beginning to worry.’

  ‘I fucked up, Mia. I ran out of time. He’s gone.’

  Julian heard Mia swallow hard.