The Hearts Series

by L.H. Cosway

  I stood and walked out of the club, while Hirota and his men were still fixated on the exotic dancer. It only took me a minute to flag down a taxi. The second I got back to my hotel room, I felt a huge flood of relief. There was something off about King and this trip, but I was completely in the dark as to what it might be. Changing into some boy shorts and a T-shirt, and relieving myself of my bra, I called for room service, then checked out what films were available on pay per view. I settled for a romantic comedy.

  My food arrived soon after, a massive bowl of spaghetti carbonara and an equally massive glass of white wine. Now that I was off the clock, I could afford to indulge. About a half-hour into the film, while I lay in bed, sleepy from pasta and wine, a knock sounded from the door adjoining mine and King’s rooms.

  “Yeah?” I called.

  “Can I come in?” King called back.

  I hesitated. Why did he want to come in? I was trying to veg out and relax here, ferchristsakes!

  “Uh, sure.”

  “Are you decent?”

  I glanced down at my PJs. “Kinda.”

  “I’m coming in.”

  A second later he was in my room, wearing only his shirt and slacks, the suit jacket discarded. The first few buttons on his shirt were undone, and he looked like he’d been running his hands through his hair a few too many times, because it was attractively ruffled. He seemed…stressed, but he didn’t seem drunk. He must have stopped drinking right after I left the club.

  A moment passed as he took in the sight of me tucked up in bed, the empty plate and wine glass on the floor and the romantic comedy playing on the flat-screen TV.

  “I’m sorry, am I interrupting?” he asked. His tired voice held a hint of humour.

  I picked up the remote and pressed “pause” on the movie. King dropped down onto a seat, and I rose to a sitting position. I remembered I wasn’t wearing a bra only when his eyes lingered a few too many seconds on my breasts. I said nothing, just raised an eyebrow at his obviousness. With the tiniest grin, he shook his head and looked away.

  “Do you mind if I order up some food?” he asked then.

  “Not at all, go ahead.”

  He stood and walked to the phone, dialling room service. “I haven’t had the chance to eat yet,” he said as he waited for them to pick up.

  “Not in the mood for a side of gonorrhoea with your steak?” I asked, grinning.

  King half-smiled, half-grimaced back at me before he began speaking down the line. He ordered a pizza, and I kind of liked the sound of that. What? I enjoyed eating, and I was in flippin’ Italy, of all places. I was determined to take every chance to sample the cuisine that I could. King finished his call and returned to his seat.

  “You look comfortable.”

  “I am.”

  A silence elapsed, King staring at me dead on, before I said, “Can I ask a question?”

  His eyes pierced me. “Go ahead.”

  “What’s up with this deal? Something about it has you agitated.”

  He sighed and ran a hand through his hair again before replying, “It’s a little difficult to explain, but you’re right, I am agitated. Let’s just say I’ll be happy when we have the contracts signed and are on a plane back to London.”

  “Huh.”

  A silence elapsed as I studied him, then asked gently, “How has your mum been?”

  My question took him off guard, as he brought his eyes to mine. For a split second I saw the sadness in them, and it caused my heart to thump harder. “She’s okay,” he answered, then paused, shaking his head. “Well, no, that’s not quite true. You saw how she’s been living — there’s nothing okay about it. But she’s been unwell in her mind for a long time, and sometimes that’s the worst type of illness. At least with a physical ailment you can find the cause and treat it. Mental illness is so much harder to get a handle on. Some days are better than others, but they’re never what you’d consider normal.”

  “What’s wrong with her?” I asked, my voice soft.

  “Severe anxiety and paranoia, paired with a bad case of agoraphobia. She rarely likes to leave the house.”

  I wanted to ask what had caused all that, but I knew it was none of my business, so I simply took his hand in mine and squeezed. “That must be awful.”

  When he looked at me, his expression was pained, and for a second it felt like all the turmoil inside him was about to flood out. “It is awful. Do you ever wish, Alexis, that your heart was just that little bit smaller, so that you didn’t have to care quite so much?”

  His question knocked the air right out of me. When we’d started having this conversation, I never expected it would turn so deep. I squeezed his hand once more and whispered, “Never. The bigger our hearts, the more beautiful our souls.”

  Our eyes connected, his moving back and forth between mine as he absorbed my words, my meaning. I hadn’t anticipated my answer; it just seemed to come out naturally. For a long moment we sat there in contemplative silence. I didn’t want him to be down, though, and tried to cheer him up when I said, “So, how do you feel about romantic comedies?”

  He blinked at me, bringing himself back to the present, and with no small amount of sarcasm, replied, “Oh, I adore them.”

  “Well, isn’t that just fabulous, because you’re going to join me in watching one,” I said, ignoring his sassy attitude and patting the space beside me. King rose from his seat next to the bed and crawled on. I don’t know, there was just something about the visual that gave me tingles. A bed was new territory for us, and it inevitably made my mind wander. I hit “play” on the movie and King settled in next to me, our elbows touching. I tried to ignore the clean smell of his shower gel and the familiar scent of his cologne, but it was hard.

  Man, I could seriously go for a bottle of that stuff…you know, just to have at home and spritz on my pillows every time I wanted to torture myself.

  “What kind of cologne do you wear?” I blurted, because I’m me and that’s what I do. I blurt.

  King’s eyes came to mine slowly, and they seemed curious. “Do you like it?”

  I sucked in a deep breath. “Uh-huh.”

  “It’s Estee Lauder Pleasures for Men.”

  I let out a guffaw. “Ha! Why do they always insist on giving these things embarrassing names? It’s almost like they don’t want people to buy them.”

  King shifted in his place and sighed. “Cynical marketing ploy, I assume. By naming it ‘Pleasures,’ they imagine our brains will make the connection that if we buy the product, it’ll somehow bring us exactly that: pleasure. I, for one, just like how it smells.”

  “Ah, but has it ever brought you pleasure?” I teased. “That’s the question.”

  He shot me a lazy glance and tilted his head. “I’m still waiting to find out.”

  “Oh, you’re a scoundrel,” I declared, and slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

  King just shook his head and returned his attention to the TV while muttering under his breath, “I wasn’t joking.”

  I shot him a wide-eyed glance, but he was still staring at the screen. A silence filled the room. It would have been worse if it weren’t for the movie playing in the background. I felt a blush creep up my neck and glanced down to see King flex his hand, repeatedly opening and closing his fist. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, so I could see his forearms, and as usual they were way too much of a distraction. I began to feel a funny sensation, both in my chest and between my legs. An ache. My imagination was working overtime, showing me just how easily it would be for him to roll on top of me right then and make me see stars.

  I wondered what he was like during sex….

  He said he wasn’t one for love and romance, but I bet he put his all into a good old-fashioned fucking session. And really, if he put even half the effort into it as he put into his work, then he was probably more than I could handle.

  And, funnily enough, I had a sudden craving for more than I could handle.

  T
he tension had almost reached its boiling point when there was a knock at the door. It was room service, and King slid off the bed to go let them in. It was a good thing, too, because I seriously needed a moment. I feared the blush that had begun on my neck had spread all the way down my body by now.

  “Do you want some?” King asked, picking the plate and his glass of wine up off the tray and carrying them to the bed.

  “Sure,” I answered. I never said no to pizza, and this one looked delicious.

  King settled back in place and took a quick bite, then held the pizza to my mouth. Now, normally I’d say something cheeky in this circumstance, perhaps make a joke, but my sense of humour was no longer present. I was aroused, and King’s eyes held a game. I wanted to play. Making eye contact with him, I bent forward and took a bite right from where he’d taken one. His nostrils flared, a new intensity in his eyes. He returned the pizza to his own mouth before bringing it back to mine again.

  He was hovering over me, his fit, delectable body right there, and my hands itched to feel him. The movie was long forgotten as we continued our strange interaction. I had barely any clothes on, and since King was still in his shirt and slacks, I felt vulnerable and a little bit naked. His breathing grew heavy, and I saw his attention wander to the dip of my collarbone, fixating on it.

  “We should….” he began, but then faltered.

  “What?”

  He looked down, his thick golden lashes shading his eyes. His voice was so quiet and gravelly when he continued, “I need to get this out of my system, Alexis.”

  “Get what….”

  Before I could finish the sentence, he was taking the pizza crust from my hand, tossing it on the plate, and levelling his icy blues on me. “We can fuck.” He paused, his accent over-emphasising the “K” and making my bones turn to jelly. “We can have sex once and still remain the same. I’m sure of it.”

  “Well, we are both very pragmatic,” I agreed, my entire body coiled tight. I might not have believed a word I was saying, but right then I wanted him inside me, and my vagina was willing to let me lie to myself in order to make that happen. His hands were already on my hips, massaging.

  “We are,” he echoed, voice lowering to a whisper as he brought his mouth to my collarbone, to the spot he’d been staring at so intensely. A moan escaped me, and I tilted my head back to give him greater access. He licked at my skin, humming in approval as he trailed his nose across the rise of my bosom. He nuzzled lightly at my cleavage, then began planting kisses all the way up the centre of my neck. I undulated beneath him, and when he reached my jaw, he nibbled at my skin, soliciting another moan from me. His lips made a quick journey to my mouth. But once he was there, he pulled back to stare into my eyes, and it took my breath away for a fraction of a second. He looked at me like I was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

  Leaning in again, King placed surprisingly tender kisses to either side of my mouth, and I kissed him back. These tender kisses continued for a while, each of us nibbling at one another, learning each other until the kisses began to deepen. He slid his tongue gently past my lips, teasing me, tasting me. I was melting into a puddle on the bed, gripping his shoulders, his hard pecs pressing into the softness of my breasts. It wasn’t long before we were full-on snogging, grasping for each other, drinking one another in like we couldn’t get enough.

  My hands went to the buttons of his shirt, eager to get it off. He started to help, and as soon as he was bare, he reached for the hem of my top, pulling it up over my head in one fell swoop. There was a moment where we both just stared, me taking in the perfect contours of his chest and abdomen, him studying the curves of my breasts, the flare of my hips and the hard peaks of my nipples.

  I was so turned on, I felt empty. I needed him inside.

  “Fuck,” he swore, all his breath escaping him.

  He moved forward, lowering himself over me and bringing his mouth to my breast. The sound I made when his lips closed over my nipple would have been embarrassing if I wasn’t so lost in arousal. His hand trailed over my thigh, squeezing before running up my hip and stomach until it came to my other breast. I arched my back off the bed, eager for his touch as he massaged and licked. He startled a yelp out of me when his teeth pressed down on my nipple in a teasing bite.

  God, this.

  Just this.

  Sometimes you didn’t realise how much you needed something until it was happening. I felt like I’d been unconsciously locking up my all desire for this man since the day we first met, and now it was pouring out of me like a waterfall.

  “King,” I moaned, and a grunt emanated from him as he moved his body, deftly pulling my thighs apart and settling himself between my legs. His fingertips dug desperately into my skin, marking me with his need. And I could feel him then, the thick length of him pressing into my core until I couldn’t find enough air. My breaths grew laboured to match his, and my brain was completely out of the picture. I was nothing but feeling and sensation, and all I wanted was more.

  Suddenly, his mouth left my nipple, and I wanted to whine in protest. But then he was at my ear, and I was hot, so hot I couldn’t formulate words as he growled, “I want to fuck you so hard, Alexis, so hard you’re still feeling me inside you tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow….”

  Okay, did he just hit me with a side of Shakespeare in his dirty talk?

  I died.

  I died dead.

  All right, I didn’t die dead, but I did have a mini brain orgasm courtesy of the sexy-as-fuck Cambridge graduate who was currently trailing his tongue along the shell of my ear, sending goose bumps running all down my spine.

  “Do you know how bad it’s been for me, huh?” he growled. “Being around you at the office, you wearing those tight little skirts that made me want to bite my way up your perfect thighs and then sink my face between your legs until you screamed for it. And your fucking arse, Alexis — Jesus Christ, half the time I’m walking around with a semi just at the sight of it.”

  “Shut up,” I gasped.

  Don’t shut up.

  He was making his way down my body, licking and kissing the soft part of my stomach until he reached the hem of my sleep shorts. He paused, nuzzling my belly, face pressed to my skin as he let out a long exhalation.

  “I adore your body,” he breathed, almost like he was in pain. “I’ve been dying for this.”

  Whoa, it wasn’t like I’d had a small amount of sex in my life, but this was definitely the most intensity I’d ever felt from a man. It was probably because I was reflecting that exact intensity back at him.

  His fingers teased at the elastic, inching it down bit by bit until he was pulling the sleep shorts clean off and I was left in nothing but my black knickers.

  King stared down at me, breathing heavily as I lay there watching him, enraptured.

  “You are so fucking beautiful,” he said, so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. And then he pressed his face to my vagina, mouthing it through the fabric and miraculously finding my clit. He sucked it into his mouth, dampening the material and sending me to the edge of desperation. I needed my knickers gone. Now.

  A second later they were; King pulled them off smoothly before returning his attention to my sex. I could practically feel myself pulsing with anticipation as his hot breath warmed my skin and his eyes devoured every inch of me.

  “So pretty,” he whispered, and then leaned forward to give me the lightest of licks. I shuddered, so turned on he could have kept doing only this and I’d have come within moments. He didn’t keep doing it, though. Only a second passed before a wave of fierce need overcame him and his mouth was sucking hard, his tongue licking fast and his fingers trailing up my inner thighs. One hand found my entrance, a finger slowly dipping inside and a feral growl erupting from him as he did so. I fisted my hands in the sheets, pleasure filling my every pore as I felt him devour me. Own me.

  Stu had been good at going downtown, but nothing like this. King possessed skill, yes, but it was th
e intensity with which he wanted me that made it so much better. It was royalty-level cunnilingus, and I momentarily wondered if any man who came after King would ever be good enough.

  And honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted any other man after King. I was bewitched by him, enamoured. The concept should have sobered me, put a dampener on what we were doing, but it didn’t. It only made me want him more. I wanted him to consume me; I wanted to consume him before life got in the way and ruined it for both of us.

  This might be our only chance to forget about everything and just lose ourselves in the moment.

  King levelled his eyes on me, his expression dark and sexual as he licked right up my slit, slow and hard - purposeful. My entire body shook, and the orgasm that had been quickly building hit me suddenly. Warm goose bumps spread across my skin, and my hands went instinctively to his hair and then his face, marvelling at him in wonder.

  “You…I…we….” I mumbled incoherently, not even sure what I meant to say to him. There were no words to describe what he’d just done to me, what he’d just made me feel. I felt sated, but somehow even emptier. His mouth was all well and good, but it didn’t satisfy the deep need I had for his cock. He climbed up the bed until his hands were braced on either side of my head.

  He sucked in a deep breath, his eyes travelling back and forth between mine as he swiped his thump across my bottom lip. His voice was husky when he spoke. “The way you come is fucking devastating.”

  The way he spoke was fucking devastating. My eyes flicked down, taking in the sight of his erection standing to attention beneath his trousers.

  I tugged on the belt and whispered, “Take these off.”

  One end of his lips rose in a smirk, and he leaned in to press a quick kiss to my lips. I could taste myself on him, something that had never particularly appealed to me before, but with King I wanted it. Some primal inner part of me wanted to leave my mark all over him.

  “What’s the magic word?” he asked playfully.

  God, he was gorgeous all sex-mussed and turned on. His light eyes seemed even brighter.