The nurse who’d met us on the floor when we arrived promised to call if anything changed when we walked past the desk. I couldn’t thank him enough for being so calm and helpful. That would have to wait for tomorrow.
Heath was silent as we stepped into the elevator and rode down to the ground floor. I didn’t need words, his presence alone enough to comfort me when I felt lost. The car was waiting for us by the curb when we stepped into the cool night air. The weather had been uncharacteristically warm for February. Although there was a slight nip in the air promising the return of winter soon. Not that I was complaining about the warmer weather. It had been nice not to freeze in my zip up sweatshirt as I waited for the bus.
Heath pressed his hand to my back and a shiver ran down my spine as I climbed into the warm interior of the car. I gave my address to the driver and watched out the window as the hospital disappeared from view. The farther we drove the more I realized I didn’t want to be alone. How was I supposed to ask a complete stranger to stay with me and why was I crazy enough to trust a complete stranger? Doug’s words came back to me.
Trust him.
And for some reason I did. He’d done nothing but help me from the moment we met. Some people would say I was crazy. Things that seemed too good to be true normally were, but that didn’t stop me from turning to Heath when we pulled up in front of my house and asking, “Would you come in for a little while?”
His eyes widened for a split second before he nodded and opened the car door. He tossed the ball cap to the side and climbed out first, reaching in with one hand to help me out. I stepped onto the curb as he moved to the front of the vehicle and spoke to the driver. I didn’t hear what he said, but the car drove off as we walked to the front door. After telling him about my financial troubles, I felt the need to explain why I lived in a two-bedroom house instead of some cheap apartment in the city. Deep down, I knew it was no one’s business, but I gave him the explanation anyway.
I glanced over my shoulder as I unlocked the door. “I couldn’t bear to sell it when I couldn’t take care of her on my own anymore and had to place her in a nursing home. She’d been so proud of herself when she’d paid the home off. It’s the only home I’ve ever known.”
His eyes roamed over the front of the house and porch. “I don’t blame you for keeping it. I kept many of my grandmother’s things after she passed. I’m sure if she’d had a house, I would’ve wanted to keep that too.”
It amazed me to find someone who understood me as well as Heath did. Most people who found out about the house would chastise me for keeping it when I was already so far in debt taking care of Nana. I saw it as a way to have something of hers when I no longer had her anymore.
“It’s not much,” I said, turning on the light and dropping my bags by the door.
The house would probably be more of a mess if I actually had time to spend there, but with two jobs, I really just used it as a place to sleep. I walked over to the couch and dropped down onto it, weary all the way to my bones. When I noticed Heath still standing at the door, I patted the seat beside me. He sat down and I found myself sliding closer to him, looking for the comfort I wanted when I asked him to come home with me. Without question, he placed his arm around my shoulders, letting me sink into his side.
“What am I going to do without her?” I whispered.
He gave my shoulders a squeeze. “Right now, you don’t have to do anything without her. They’re going to bring her out of the coma tomorrow and you’ll be able to talk to her.”
The back of my throat burned. “You can’t promise that.”
“You’re right, I can’t. But isn’t it better to hope for the positive?”
“I know, but I…” I couldn’t bear to finish my sentence. The words hurt more saying them than thinking them. “She’s all I have.”
“Not all you have.”
I looked up at him.
“Right now, you have me.”
I nodded, but I couldn’t get the vision of my grandmother out of my head. All those wires and tubes. What if she didn’t make it? The woman who kissed my skinned knees and bought me ice cream when a boy broke my heart. She helped me do my homework and read me stories before bed. She was my everything and I wasn’t ready to let her go.
Hope for the positive.
Heath paraded through my mind. I needed to focus on her getting better not me losing her. To do that, I had to be ready to take care of her when she woke up. If I was ever going to get to sleep, I needed to think about something else. As tired as I was, my brain ran a hundred miles an hour.
I snuggled into Heath’s chest, letting his warmth surround me. My attention was drawn to the ink swirling down his bicep and onto his forearm. The top of it was hidden by his shirt, but the tail swirled around his elbow and finished at the bottom of his wrist.
“What’s that tattoo of?” I pointed to one on his right arm. It certainly wasn’t the only one he had.
“A phoenix.”
“Rises from the ashes?” I titled my head up to see him.
“That’s it. I wanted my chance to rise up.”
I rested my head against his chest again, feeling it rise and fall. The simple movement should have lulled me to sleep, except the scent of his cologne kept my attention. Combine that with the strong arms surrounding me and a lifetime’s worth of stress landing in my lap and I no longer wanted to sleep. I wanted to forget.
I reached out and ran my finger along the tail of the phoenix. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his head snap down. That didn’t stop me from what I was doing. My fingers continued up to the sleeve of his shirt. When my fingers slipped beneath the fabric, his arm moved from my shoulders and his hand covered mine.
“What are you doing?”
I tilted my head up, my eyes moving from the strong, chiseled jaw to the stormy gray eyes staring down at me.
What was I doing?
The rational part of my brain, the part that knew this was a really stupid idea, had apparently left the building. And the other part, the one that wanted to lose itself for a little while and forget was running the show.
“I want to forget.” I pushed his hand off and kept moving my fingers over his sleeve and down his chest.
He captured my wandering hand once again. “This isn’t the way.”
I sat back, bringing my other arm up to trace my finger over his lips. “Probably not, but I don’t have any of the normal distractions. No hobbies, no cable. Most of my time is spent working. For me this is the only distraction.”
Without giving him a chance to respond, I slid my leg over his lap and pressed my lips to his. He broke the connection almost as soon as it began.
“Jenna…”
“Please,” I begged.
His gaze held mine for the briefest of moments before he brought his lips down on mine. He plunged a hand into my hair and for a moment the only thing that existed were the most perfect lips on the planet.
He tasted like liquor and coke, and a whole lot of fun. My mind was clear to anything but him. I slid my tongue across his bottom lip, wanting more.
The kisses burned hot, searing every part of my body with need. Our tongues tangled, my body heating. Needing more skin to skin contact, I slid my hands down his chest to the hem of his shirt. I slipped a few fingers below the fabric, then slid them up and over his pecs.
Heath let me caress the muscles of his chest and arms. He didn’t even fight me when I pushed his shirt up to caress his chest.
He was absolutely gorgeous. From the tanned column of his throat to the sharply defined muscles of his chest. I slipped my hands over to cover the zipper of his jeans.
That was when he wrenched his mouth away from mine again.
“Jenna,” he warned.
I’d been so lost in the feel of our mouths pressed to one another, I hadn’t been thinking when I reached for his pants. But to be perfectly honest, I enjoyed not thinking. Thinking meant bills and buses, and a reality I wasn’t ready to fa
ce. Tonight with Heath seemed to be the ultimate distraction.
I popped the button of his jeans and heard him groan as I wrapped my hand around his dick.
“I don’t want you to hate me tomorrow.”
“I could never hate you.”
His fingers caught my wrist before I could reach beneath the fabric and keep going.
He held up a hand to stop me from saying anything else.
“You might not hate me right now, but I won’t be your distraction every night after you come to your senses. You’re grieving for something that hasn’t happened yet.”
“Maybe. Doesn’t mean I want this any less. I promise you, I won’t hate you. Help me forget at least for a little while.”
He was hard beneath me. No matter what, he couldn’t deny he wanted me. I tilted my hips, rubbing my core against him, daring him to tell me otherwise. He was quiet for a long moment, before he sank his hand into my hair and captured my lips with his. Gone was the caring man who worried about me earlier. Oh, I’m sure he was in there somewhere, but in his place was a man ravaging my mouth. Every swipe of his tongue across mine sent shock waves through me.
I wanted—no, I needed to feel more of his skin against mine. I ran my hands down the front of his shirt until my fingers wrapped around the hem. In one move, I pulled it up and over his head. The tattoos that peeked out beneath his sleeves didn’t stop on his biceps, but ran over his shoulder and down his chest in an intricate pattern. Leaning forward, I ran my tongue over the ink on his chest, tracing it down until the tip touched his nipple. He groaned and in one swift movement, I found myself on my back with him hoovering over me. A molten fire burned in those smoky depths as he stared down at me.
His breathing hard, he ran a finger along my exposed collarbone, tracing down the V of my T-shirt. His hand slipped beneath the fabric to graze my breast. Slow didn’t work for me. Shit had piled on me from every direction for years and I wanted one. Just one night to forget it all. And a slow seduction wouldn’t cut it.
When Heath seemed like he was enjoying the teasing and torture, I took matters into my own hands. With quick fingers, I moved the fabric of his jeans and slipped my hands inside. He clenched his eyes shut and dropped his head back. I could feel his warm flesh beneath my fingers.
“Commando?” I asked, running my fingers along the base of his shaft.
His hips jutted forward as he looked down at me. “Always. But if you keep that up, my lack of underwear won’t be doing either of us any good,” he warned.
I snatched my hand away. No way in hell was it ending here on my couch. “Bedroom.”
He stood and reached down a hand to help me up. “Lead the way.” He gestured toward the hall with his other hand. I grabbed it on the way by and pulled him down the hall to my room. The moment we stepped inside, I ripped off my own shirt and threw it to the floor.
“Fuck, you are sexy.” Heath palmed my breasts through my bra before slipping around the back to undo the clasp. Goose bumps raced down my arms, along with his hands taking the straps of the bra with them.
The moan caught in my throat when he ran his thumb in circles over my nipples. I took a step back toward the bed, hoping he would follow.
He did.
I climbed on the bed, my jeans still on, but Heath wasted no time dropping his jeans on the floor. Beneath his clothes, Heath hid an impressive body. Not overly bulky like some guys who spent his life in a gym, but long, lean muscle I wanted to touch every square inch of.
He crawled over me, his hand gliding down my side as his mouth crashed over mine once again. His tongue parted my lips. The taste and feel of him as his body covered and possessed mine cleared my head of all rational thought.
His lips moved over my jaw and down my throat at the same time his hand found the zipper of my jeans.
“Heath. Please, touch me,” I begged.
His fingers slipped past my pants, running circles around my clit. I writhed and moaned as his fingers and mouth tortured me, bringing me close to the peak only to back off again.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I slid my hand down his chest and wrapped my hand around his dick. I ran my hand up and down his shaft, showing him exactly what we could be doing when he gave up torturing me.
“Damn, I can’t anymore.”
For a moment, I thought he changed his mind. Then he reached for his pants, yanking his wallet from the back pocket. In mere seconds, he hand a condom out and rolled on. He came back to the bed and yanked my jeans down my legs.
His breathing was hard and eyes full of desire, but when he crawled back over me, he paused for a brief second.
“Are you sure?” he asked, searching my gaze. There was the man I’d met earlier tonight, but in that moment, I wanted the one who’d brought me to the heights of desire.
I grabbed his face and yanked him down for a kiss so hot, his body trembled. After a few minutes I released him. “Does that answer your question?”
“Absolutely.”
He covered my body with his and in one sure thrust, he filled me. He stayed still, arms taut, jaw clenched.
I pinched his ass. “Move.”
He looked down at me. “Not if you don’t want to be over before it begins. Give me a minute. You’re so hot and tight. Damn, baby, you feel amazing.”
I saw it before he moved. Something in his eyes flipped and suddenly he pulled his hips back only to slam back in. Exactly what I wanted.
“Do it again,” I ordered.
“My pleasure.”
He did it again, setting a pace that made stars dance before my eyes. I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him slide deeper. He braced his arms on either side of my head and devoured my lips while his body possessed mine. When his fingers found my clit, I exploded. My vision closed in at the edges.
“Jenna,” Heath yelled as he slammed into me one last time.
He collapsed to the side, bringing me with him. Our bodies still connected. The only sound in the room was our breathing as we tried to come down from the most satisfying sexual experience of my life.
“That was…that was,” he fumbled over his words.
“Yeah,” I said, knowing exactly what he meant.
He brushed a lock of hair from my face. “I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
“Me neither.”
We lay there in the comfortable silence for a few more minutes while our breathing evened out. Heath pulled out of me and sat up. “Bathroom?”
“First door on the left.”
“Let me get rid of this and I’ll be back.”
I nodded and lay back against the pillow, my eyelids heavy.
“Motherfucker.” The curse came ricocheting down the hall.
I practically jumped to my feet and ran toward the bathroom. I turned the corner and found Heath standing in front of the trashcan with the condom in his hand.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my heart racing in my chest.
“There’s a fucking hole in it. I went to pull it off and got come all over my hand.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Don’t worry, I’m on the pill and I was clean the last time I was tested. Haven’t been with anyone since.”
He watched me for a moment before the muscles in his arms and shoulders began to relax. He started nodding. “I’m clean, too.”
“See, nothing to worry about. Now let’s get to bed so we can get out of here early tomorrow.” I took the condom from his hand and dropped it in the trash. The weight from earlier tried to creep back in, but I wouldn’t let it. I needed a good night’s rest, which meant keeping my mind clear.
I climbed into bed, wondering what it would be like to have a man sleep in my bed with me. I hadn’t been lying, it had been a while since I’d been with anyone, but even then I rarely brought them home and when I did, they usually left long before we fell asleep. Heath made me want to sleep next to him. I couldn’t explain and for tonight I wouldn’t argue with myself about it. I wanted
the comfort he would offer and I wasn’t afraid to admit that.
I settled myself beneath the sheets and felt the bed dip behind me. Heath wasted no time wrapping his body around mine, his arm slung over me in a comforting gesture. Feeling safe and protected, I let myself slide into sleep.
CHAPTER 6
Jenna
Warmth filled me. I reached for it, wanting to wrap it around me and hold onto it.
Why was I so warm?
I didn’t want to wake up. It had been forever since I’d actually got some sleep. Apparently, my brain had different plans, I cracked one eye open, then the other. It took a moment for the room to come into focus. Slowly the weight on my side registered. I peeked over my shoulder to see a man’s arm resting over me, holding me close to a warm body.
I almost leaped out of bed screaming, but then the night before came back to me.
Shit. Shit. Shit
Nana was in the hospital and I’d managed to have a one-night stand with Heath. I slipped out of bed as quietly as possible so as not to wake him. I tiptoed across the room to my dresser and grabbed clothes to put on. Out the door I went. Once I was sure he hadn’t woken, I locked myself in the bathroom.
After a quick shower, I dressed and went back to my room. When I pushed the door open, I saw Heath was still asleep. With his baseball cap gone, the sense of familiarity grew.
I stepped closer and really looked at him. Long dark hair that lay spread out over my pillow. Something about his hair brought a memory to the surface. Actually the more I thought about it, the more I realized he reminded me of one of the members of Jaded Ivory.
I grabbed my phone off the dresser and went to the kitchen. The least I could do was make him coffee before he took me back to the hospital. I wanted Nana to get as much rest as possible.
Curious, I looked up a picture of Jaded Ivory. I’d seen the posters of them all over town. On the buses, the billboards. Everywhere.
The pictures loaded and I clicked on one of the thumbnails of the guy with long hair. The second I saw the picture I dropped the phone onto the counter. My hands were shaking as I picked it up and looked at the picture again.
Cover Me (Jaded Ivory Book 3) Page 4