“Crush her? What about me, you bastard?”
He tried to pull her against him again, but she blocked him with a shaking hand. “Don’t touch me.”
He gave her his usual sexy smile and said, “Come on, Micki. You’re stronger than she is. She’d be completely devastated. I can’t do that to her. You’re a tough woman. I know you’ll be fine.”
“When?” The question was barely a release of air. Her throat was locking up. Her chest squeezing so tightly she could barely breathe. Fine? Oh, god . . . she’d never be fine again.
He reached out to take her hand. She punched him in the mouth. He wiped at the tiny cut in his lip and said, “July. The wedding’s in July. I was going to tell you—”
“When? When were you going to tell me? Or were you planning to keep seeing me on the side?” Fury, hurt, and a faint tinge of hysteria raised her voice three decibels.
He had the balls to look shocked by that suggestion. “Keep seeing you? No. I was going to break it off before the wedding. I wouldn’t cheat on her after we’re married. That wouldn’t be right.”
I wouldn’t cheat on her? Stalking him with white hot rage blazing in her eyes, she demanded shrilly, “What do you call the last five years? You’ve been seeing both of us and you don’t call that cheating? Get out! Get out of my life!” Pushing him backwards, she shoved him through the hallway towards the front door, screaming, “I hate you!”
He tried to reason with her. “Calm down, Micki!” He grabbed her swinging fist and said, “I love you. You’re my soulmate! Living without you will be no life at all. Don’t make this all about you. This is killing me too!”
“GET OUT!”
With one last shove, he went stumbling onto the front stoop, naked and furious. She slammed the door and set the lock. He pounded on the door, yelling, “Micki! Let me in! We can work this out!”
She leaned against the door with her hand pressed to her mouth, trying desperately to stem the sobs that threatened to strangle her. Everything hurt.
“Goddammit, Micki! Give me my fucking clothes!”
Devastated, she slid to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees.
Two days later, she heard from a friend that he’d packed up his apartment and moved back to Las Vegas permanently. He didn’t even say goodbye.
And now, three years later, he was standing on her porch and all of her vows not to see him went flying out the window. He hadn’t changed at all. His thick, wavy hair begged for her fingers. His warm chocolate eyes still gleamed with an irresistible light. His gorgeous, sensitive mouth curled into a devastating smile that demanded hers in response.
“You look like shit,” he commented with a frown.
Closing the door partway, she went on the defensive. “Why are you here, Jake? I have nothing to say to you.”
“You’ve been ignoring me, Micki.” He stepped forward, his hand reaching through the narrow opening. “I told you I wanted to see you. Why would you refuse to talk to me?”
“Again, I have nothing to say to you.”
“Who says I want to talk?” He crowded close enough to see a fading bruise under his left eye. He’d been in the cage again. “I miss you, baby. I had to see you. My life sucks without you.”
He had to see her? After three years apart? After she’d ignored him for the past year? There were many things she wanted to say, but she was too exhausted to deal with him. It was all she could do to get out of bed this morning. The very last thing on her mind was stripping naked and screwing an ex who would rip her heart out again. “You need to leave. I don’t want to see you.” She closed the door.
He followed her inside and closed the door behind him. “You wanted to see me last year. We had a hot weekend together. If I remember right, you had a good time. What’s different now?”
“That was a mistake. I shouldn’t have agreed to see you. It’s not right.” It had been a colossal mistake that proved she was an addict where he was concerned. She thought she could see him without stirring up old feelings, without sex, but she was wrong. So wrong. It took them less than 30 minutes to hop into bed and pick up where they had left off. The next morning, the sun came up to remind her that he wasn’t hers anymore. He hadn’t even bothered to remove his gold wedding band. The pain and guilt had lasted for months. “I’m not making that mistake again. You need to get out and stop calling me.”
“What happened to you? You look like you got barbequed.”
Her hand fluttered up to her cheek. The skin was slick and hot. She was well aware of how bad she looked. She sounded like she’d just smoked two packs of cigarettes. “There was a fire.”
“You’re still beautiful.” He looked her over with dawning lust in his eyes. In the past, that gleam would’ve ignited a spark within her. This time, she wasn’t tempted. Maybe it was exhaustion or maybe she’d finally found a sense of self-preservation. Either way, she knew what the aftermath would be. She’d be the wreckage he left behind when he got on a plane and went back to his wife.
“Come on, baby.” He approached her with his hands lifted to draw her into his arms. His tongue wet the seam between his lips. Her eyes tracked the movement. His mouth curled into a satisfied smile and he closed the distance between them in two steps. He caught her hair, cupped her face. His mouth came down to graze her ear. “Let me stay. I’ve missed you.” He guided her hand to the bulge behind his zipper, pressing down so she felt it. “I’m so hard for you. I need to touch you. Taste you. You’re the only woman who makes me feel like this.” His voice deepened to the mesmerizing tone that usually undid her, but this time, she struggled to get free.
“Jake, let go of me! I’m serious. I don’t want you here.” Her voice rose two decibels and she broke into a painful coughing fit that left her breathless and tearing up. “Please, just go!”
Pulling her tighter against him, he said, “You can protest all you want, but I know you’re craving me as much as I’m craving you. We’re meant to be together. You know it. I know it.” He dragged his hand over her ass and ground his erection into her belly. “You want my cock inside you, making you scream, making you whimper, fucking you into a goddamned coma. You know you want that. Don’t lie to me.”
Deep down inside, a part of her moaned in anticipation of what he could make her feel. Another part of her, the sane, intelligent part, knew he was more trouble than any orgasm was worth. Did she still want him? Was she going to let him stay? His hand came up to tangle in her hair and pull her head back so he could kiss her.
Someone pounding on the door interrupted them. “Micki? You okay?”
Like a bucket of ice water, the interruption brought her back to her senses. Disengaging from Jake’s hold, she rounded up her scattered emotions and said, “You need to go. I mean it.”
The pounding came again. “Micki! Open the door!” This time she recognized the voice. It was Koivu.
Grabbing her by the arm, Jake jerked her back into his chest, his arm wrapping around her waist like a vice. “Ignore it. Whoever it is will go away.” He held her more tightly and said, “I’m not leaving until we talk. Things are bad at home, baby. You have no idea what it’s like to live with someone you don’t love. I think I made a mistake.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you married her.” She struggled to get free of his hold, but he only held on more tightly. “Damn it, Jake! I’m not playing your fucking games. Let go of me and go home to your precious wife. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”
“She’s pregnant. She’s a raving bitch 24-7 these days. She won’t let me touch her. I spend most of my time at the club.”
Pregnant? She tried to keep a straight face. The bastard didn’t deserve the satisfaction of knowing how much that hurt. For years they’d planned their family. She’d spent hours dreaming of what their babies would look like, how they would raise them. Two years into their relationship, she’d miscarried. He’d held her while she cried. Told her there would be other babies. He said he
wanted them all to look like her. Sure he did. She was an idiot. Forcing the shaking out of her voice, she said, “I don’t care about your problems. Go home and be with your family. I don’t want you here. I’m exhausted and I have a lot to do today. I don’t have time for you. Just leave.”
The sudden change of expression was startling. Jake’s handsome face hardened into an ugly mask; his mouth twisted into a hateful sneer. His eyes went flat. He lifted his chin towards the door. “I see what’s going on. You’re fucking someone else, is that it? Is that him?”
“Just go!”
Koivu knocked again, and this time, he tried to turn the doorknob. The door swung open and her white knight jumped from his horse.
Chapter 5: White Knights and Puppy Kisses
“Yo, asshole! Let her go!” Koivu roared. He helped the guy let go of Micki by twisting his arm behind his back like a chicken wing. Walking him towards the exit, he missed the door and accidently-on-purpose slammed the guy’s face into the doorjamb once or maybe twice or possibly three times before his nose decided to bleed and Micki started shrieking in his ear.
“Koivu! Stop it!” She tugged on his arm, her delicate hands barely noticeable. “You’re hurting him!”
“And?” he asked. What was her point? “He was hurting you. It seems fair.”
The guy—whatever his name was—was busy trying to twist out of Koivu’s hold without breaking his own arm. Koivu simply jacked his elbow a bit higher and the struggles stopped.
She threw up her hands in exasperation and cried hoarsely, “Let him go! I just want him to leave. Okay?”
“You sound terrible. Didn’t the doctor tell you to take it easy today? Yelling your head off can’t be helping your sore throat.” He felt compelled to point that out since she wasn’t following the doctor’s orders.
The guy turned his head in her direction and restarted the argument Koivu heard through the door. “Is this him? Is this the guy you’re fucking?”
“And what if he is? It’s none of your damn business, Jake. You’ve got your life and I’ve got mine. Just stay away.” She blinked back tears and pointed at the door. “Please. Just stay away.”
Jake opened his trap to say something else, but Koivu was fresh out of interest. Micki was trying to keep it together, but she was shaking like a leaf, and he’d seen the tears she tried to hide. Time to end this bullshit. He jerked Jake around and shoved him through the open doorway onto the front porch. Before he dumped him into the yard, he bent closer to warn, “Come near my girl again and I’ll break you in half. Understand?”
“Fuck you!” Jake hissed.
Glancing behind him, he made sure Micki was out of hearing range, and grinned evilly. “Oh, no thanks, Jake. I have all the pussy I can handle. Now get the fuck out of here before I lose my temper and break something important.”
“You motherfucker! I’m gonna rip your head off!” The guy’s pretty face was a little more colorful. He had a bloody stream flowing across his chin and dripping onto the steps.
If it was up to Koivu, he’d be bleeding from his eye sockets by now. Steering the dick across the little porch, he asked Micki, “Hey baby, do you want me to get rid of him for you?”
“What?” she gasped in horror. “No! Don’t kill him!”
“Kill him?” Surprise caused him to loosen his grip enough that Jake twisted out of his hold and sucker punched him. Knocked off balance, he fell heavily against the railing. He forgot all about his shoulder. He was back in the cage. Back in his element. He ducked his head and drove it into Jake’s gut sending them both sailing into the front yard. They landed in a tangle of limbs. Struggling for dominance, Jake leveraged Koivu to push himself upright and Koivu went down hard. His shoulder burst into red-hot pain. Fuuuuuuck!
Jake took advantage and landed a couple of nasty punches to Koivu’s face before Micki hit Jake over the head with a . . . Was that a friggin’ book?
Swinging that damn book in an arc, Micki croaked, “Stop it! Both of you!”
The book connected with Jake’s head a couple of times while he tried to scramble to his feet, hands over his face, trying to block the book and get out of the way.
Sitting on his ass, gritting his teeth at the screaming pain in his shoulder, Koivu couldn’t help admiring Micki’s methods. Relentless and accurate, she wielded that book like a broadsword. She had a good arm for someone so petite. Clearly she was taking this to another level. What was their history? Even after Jake held his hands out in surrender, she kept swinging at him. He ducked and laughed at her when she missed. Ooooh, yeah, bad move, man.
She changed tactics. The next time he ducked, she slammed the book into the crown of his head—repeatedly—biting out, “Get out of my life! I . . . MEAN . . . IT, JAKE!!!” Each word came with a blow until Jake had had enough and jogged to his shiny, red sports car.
He was pissed, but he wasn’t stupid. Micki had blood in her eye. If Jake hung around much longer, she’d tear his arms off. After throwing himself into the driver’s seat, he rolled down the window and shouted, “We’re not done, Micki!”
Panting with fury, her glorious red hair hanging in a mop of curls around her face, she clutched a stitch in her side and flipped Jake the finger. “Oh, yes, we are!”
Jake drove off in a squeal of tires.
The neighbors broke into applause.
Koivu watched her take a bow and couldn’t help grinning. This woman was a trip. She went from fury to humor in the blink of an eye. He’d thought she was moderately cute before, but the flush of rage looked damn good on her. The sparkle in her eyes elevated them from pretty to fascinating. Her heaving breasts spotlighted the glorious cleavage swelling out of her shirt. Some guys were ass fans; some guys were tits fans. Personally, he loved any shapely ass and he had yet to find a rack he didn’t want to motorboat. From this vantage point, Micki’s rack was a work of art. He had two big hands and she had two perky breasts that would fit perfectly in his palms. He craned his neck to get a better view of her ass. Tight and round. Apple shaped. His favorite. His mouth watered. How easy would it be to get her into the sack?
“No, Koivu. Just no.” She marched up to him, brandishing that book, her smile a thing of the past. “Stop gawking at my ass. It’s rude.”
He rolled somewhat awkwardly to his feet and countered, “I wouldn’t stare if it wasn’t perfect. Consider it a compliment.”
Instead of arguing, she made a disgusted noise and marched back into the house. He followed, since he actually needed to talk to her. The minute he closed the door, she turned around to face him. Despite her casual behavior in front of her neighbors, her unhappy feelings were written all over her face. Still flushed, she gestured with the book and apologized, “I’m sorry you had to see that and I’m sorry you got hurt. I had it under control though. You didn’t need to get involved, but thank you for your help.”
Something in her tone bothered him. Bitterness? Sadness? Exhaustion? It was hard to tell. He wasn’t an expert on human emotional cues, so he responded with the first thoughts that jumped into his mouth. “Under control, my ass. I heard most of your argument with Jake. The man’s a predator.” He chuffed at the surprise flitting across her features. “Don’t look so surprised. I’ve seen his type before. Obviously, you two have a history, but let me tell you something about men like that. He’ll fuck you if that’s what you want from him, but that’s all he’ll give you. You’ll never be a priority. You’re wasting your time waiting for happily ever after.”
Her knuckles tightened on the book again, but her face drained to milky white. Her rosy lips pressed into a tight line before she found her voice. “Oh, and I suppose you’re different? A real knight in shining armor? I saw how you were looking at me.” The harsh pain that colored her words pissed him off. She shouldn’t have to feel like this.
“I’m no angel, baby. I fucking love sex. Where I come from, it’s an extreme sport and I’m an elite athlete. You’ve got a beautiful body that I’d love to lick from head
to toe. My tongue’s won a few gold medals. You want to hook up? Say the word. I’ll rock your world, and then I’m gone. No strings.”
Her mouth actually dropped open for a sec before she snapped, “Never going to happen.”
“Never say never.” He winked and she crossed her arms over her breasts. The motion only pushed the cleavage higher, but he wouldn’t tell her that. He was enjoying the view. “So what do you want to do about your ex? Do you need me to run interference for you? I’m happy to talk to him or kick his ass. Do you have a preference?”
“My mistakes aren’t your business. You’re helping me with the dogs, and I appreciate it more than you know. But that doesn’t give you the right to nose into my personal life, so butt out. I’m not discussing this with you.”
“Seems like you already are.”
In spite of her strong words, she seemed vulnerable, fragile. There was a powerful, negative energy swirling around her now. It drew him like a magnet. He took an unconscious step closer, his eyes locking onto hers, searching for a clue to her secrets. Her muscles were clenched from her jaw to her calves. Her anger, her pain, was palpable, hanging heavily in the still air, turning him on. He wanted to do something about that. He eased a bit closer, the potent energy reeling him in. He could take away her pain . . . or at least turn it into pleasure.
“What are you doing?” Backing up, she brandished that damn book like a shield. Her big, green eyes darted from him to the door as if she was calculating the distance.
He plucked the book from her fingers and nearly flung it back at her. “The Holy Bible?” he yelped as he shoved it back into her palms. “You used a bible as a weapon? Are you insane?” Expecting the holy fire to burn the hell out of him, or an angel to show up with a flaming sword, he hastily wiped his hands on his jeans. Strange, his skin wasn’t melting off. Was that another fairy tale? Was anything he’d been told about the human god and heaven true? When he got back to Hell, he was going to have a serious discussion with his Aunt Mai. He was beginning to feel like everything he’d learned was a lie.
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