Raging Heart On: Friends to Lovers Romance (Lucas Brothers Book 2)

by Jordan Marie

  “They feed our soldiers this? That’s horrible! They deserve real food. Why…”

  His laughter stops the beginning of my tirade. I freeze. It’s a beautiful sound, and it’s a sound that if I never hear it again for the rest of my life, I will still never forget it.

  “There isn’t really restaurants or even ways to cook in times of war.”

  Okay so he’s right, but still.

  I stop thinking at all when Max gets down on his knees in front of me. Heck, I’m not sure I can find my voice. For the first time, I allow myself to look at Max Kincaid, and I mean really look. He’s wearing a worn, faded white t-shirt that looks bright next to his dark skin. He’s got jeans on that seem a little tight, but he wears them perfectly. His five o’clock shadow gives his face even more depth and somehow highlights those dark, soulful eyes of his even more. I can see the tattoo he has on his shoulder peak out from under the t-shirt, and I wish I could see the rest of it. His file says he has eight tattoos, and I’ve always wanted to see each one personally. Certifiably insane.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, eventually finding my voice even if it comes out hoarse and croaky like a bullfrog. I shouldn’t have asked because he’s taking my shoes off, so I know. Still, I’m nervous. These thoughts of Max I keep having, combined with what happened yesterday…what my body keeps craving more of…Maybe once I get free, I can sign up for therapy. I hear it can do wonders, and I think it’s pretty clear I need it.

  He reaches over to his side and gets a box, handing it to me. First-Aid Kit, I read on the lid. Guess that was his answer. He works in silence, taking the old torn pieces of cloth off my feet and setting them with my shoes to the side. He puts my feet down and goes back to the basin, bringing it over, with the water and an old towel that he throws over his shoulder. I hiss in pain as the cool water flows over my poor feet. There are so many open raw spots from blisters that have burst; I want to weep. He works, quietly efficient, making sure my feet are clean and padding them dry gently, but with a firm hand.

  “Hand me that roll of gauze,” he says startling me out of the semi-trance I was in, watching his hands.

  I open the lid and quickly grasp it, handing it to him.

  “And a few of those cream packets, the antibiotic ones.”

  Once he treats the worst of the blisters, he rolls the gauze over my feet, securing it with the tape from the box. Then he goes back on his heels and looks at me.

  “We can’t go anywhere today, there’s no way you’d last trying to walk on those feet.”

  “Is that safe?” I ask, knowing not only that the law is on our heels, but also the other escapees. I don’t want to think about what might happen if they accidentally find us.

  “We don’t have much of a choice. We’ll let you rest up today and head out early in the morning.”

  “You could take me into town and leave me, Max. You should leave me. You need to keep on the move; it’s not safe.”

  “Since you work for a lawyer and all, shouldn’t you be urging me to turn myself back in?”

  “Would you listen to me if I did?” I counter.

  “Not hardly.”

  “That’s why I said you should keep running. Besides, it’d be better if you go to a police station and turn yourself in. Out here…”

  “You think they might shoot first and ask later?” He says dryly with a cold smile on his face that in no way reaches those beautiful dark eyes.

  “Probably…” I answer truthfully, and the very thought of it causes my blood to run cold. I can’t let that happen. I need to make it my mission to make sure Max gets back in jail safely and still be eligible for parole. I have no idea how I’m going to make that happen; I just know I need to.

  “Last night you didn’t want me to leave you,” he says, getting up to return the things back where they belong. He sounds angry. He pours the water into a big barrel in the corner. It’s on my mind to ask what happens when that gets full, but since I won’t be around when it does, I guess it doesn’t matter.

  “I don’t know what I want when I’m around you,” I answer with complete honesty. “I’m torn between wanting to go back to my quiet apartment or run off to Maine with you.”

  “Maine?” he asks with a sardonic smile on his face.

  “No one ever wants to go to Maine. Seemed like a good place. When people go on the run in the movies, they always head for the border. I always thought a quiet state to hide in would be better.”

  He shakes his head and doesn’t say anything else. It almost feels like we’re friends, and then he does something I’d almost like to slap him for. He puts the handcuffs back on me. I don’t argue, instead I find myself staring at the light in the lantern he must have lit before I woke up.

  Therapy. I definitely need therapy.

  10

  Max

  It shouldn’t bother me that Tess seems so disappointed when I handcuff her back to the bed. It does, and that’s all kinds of bad. I have a soft spot for this little, brunette spitfire, and I need to tap that shit all the fuck of the way out. I am even staying here for another night just so her feet can heal a little more. That in itself is pure idiocy. I should do like she suggested and drop her. Not here though, if the Hernandez twins managed to escape and find her, Tess would never survive—or if she did, she would wish she hadn’t. I could take her to the local town as she said though. I have to go there anyway to get a car off of Zeke. I ignore that train of thought, however, because the simple truth is I don’t want to separate from Tess just yet. I may die today and if I do, these moments with her have been the bright spot in my sorry life.

  In the back of my mind, I curse the fact that I couldn’t have met her before Renee, before the child, before I made the decisions that brought me to the place I am now. What would have happened then? My dick jerks against the zipper of my jeans, because I know what would have happened. I would have owned her body and made damned sure she never even thought to look elsewhere for a man.

  “Rest, Kitten. I need to go back up top and see if I can see signs of any company.”

  She doesn’t answer, and it pisses me off that she’s making me feel guilty. She’s my prisoner damn it. Mine to do with what I want, and in any way I want. Excitement courses through my system at that thought.

  __________

  I ended up spending the entire day up top. I needed to clear my head. I was right; the woman is under my skin. I am starting to think I’ll never get free, like she will always be there, and today, I found I missed her. I wish I had never touched her. Maybe if I hadn’t touched her or tasted her…maybe then she wouldn’t weigh so heavily on my brain. Tomorrow, I will let her go, I decide again. I’m giving myself whiplash with the way I keep changing my own damn mind. The woman has me going in circles, and I’m starting to get dizzy. I have to let her go. It’s best for both of us. Decision made; I head back to the bunker and check on her.

  I barely make it off the bottom rung before she pipes up.

  “How nice of you to come back and check on me,” she snaps.

  I have to bite the inside of my jaw to keep from smiling. She really doesn’t know how to guard her attitude, and I like everything about it. It all tempts me to show her exactly who is in charge.

  “Miss me?”

  “Like a toothache. To think I liked you before your hearing. Just goes to show you reality never lives up to the dream.”

  “Did you dream of me, Kitten?”

  That snaps her mouth shut or at least, I thought it would. I was apparently wrong.

  “I think it only fair to warn you, Max, you are an asshole.”

  “You’re tempting me, sweetheart.”

  “Yeah well, you’re pissing me off so I’d say we were even.”

  “You do get that you are my hostage, right?” I ask because apparently she needs reminding.

  “I offered to help you! You dick! What happens? You chain me up and leave me alone again! I specifically asked you not to! I even said please!”r />
  “I told you I’d be back! I had to make sure you didn’t escape! Remember? Hostage?”

  “I told you I would help you!”

  “And, I told you I’d be back,” I stress again.

  “What would have happened to me if one of those men from the prison had found me while you were gone, Max? You left me helpless!” She growls.

  She might have a point there, and I curse my stupidity. Still, she’s way too stubborn for her own good.

  “You need to stop pushing me.”

  “You need to stop leaving me alone!”

  I grab her by the back of her neck and pull her face up to me so that our lips are just a breath away from each other. Even then, even knowing what I’ve done in my life, it is not fear in her eyes. It’s excitement.

  “You’re playing with fire.” Her tongue slips from between her lips and rubs gently against her bottom lip. Her beautiful hazel eyes are glowing and so fucking intense. “You should be praying that I leave you alone, woman.”

  “I know,” she breathes.

  “Then, why aren’t you?”

  “Hell if I know, Max.”

  “This can’t happen, Tess.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m going to take you into town tomorrow and drop you off. I have to.” Even telling her that hurts. It’s true though. If we react this strongly to each other after only two days, what the hell would it be like to be near her longer? I can’t chance it. When I clearly see the disappointment in her eyes, I hate myself. For the first time since I pulled the trigger, I regret my decision. Tess offers a promise of a better life, of a life worth living. It’s too late.

  “Okay, Max,” she whispers, and the remorse in her eyes cuts me wide open.

  “Tess…”

  “You could kiss me goodbye.”

  “It might not stop at that,” I tell her in complete honesty.

  “I’m not sure I care.”

  “You should. You’re tempting fate, Kitten.”

  “Are you going to talk all evening or kiss me?”

  “You don’t like talking?”

  “When you grab a lady like you just did, you kind of promise her something...”

  My lips crash into hers, stopping her words and swallowing them. My tongue angrily takes over her mouth because I am angry. I’m angry at her for letting me do this, and I’m angry at the world for giving me everything I ever wanted; when it’s too late. Most of all, I’m angry at myself. If I had known Tess was waiting for me, things would have been different. When we pull away from each other, I watch as those emerald eyes of hers slowly open, shining at me and promising me things I can’t have.

  “Damn, Max, you sure know how to kiss,” she breathes.

  “Right back at you, Kitten,” I growl, before claiming her lips again.

  Maybe I could keep her, one more day….

  11

  Tess

  My body is on fire by the time our second kiss ends. I want more, and it’s on the tip of my tongue to demand it. Max does something surprising though. He reaches over, unchains me from the bed, and helps me to stand.

  “Will you give yourself to me tonight?”

  His gruff voice vibrates through me. I get the feeling he’s asking for more than just sex. I try to remind myself of all of the reasons I should say no. I can’t. It’s just not in me; I want this. It may never go past tonight, but I want tonight.

  “Yes.”

  My answer somehow makes those dark eyes of his deepen. I’m expecting him to make love to me right then, right there. So, it surprises me when he leaves me on the bed and goes to the wash basin. He takes one of the hundreds of gallon jugs of water stacked neatly in the corner and pours it into the basin he emptied earlier. I watch as he strips off his shirt. The tattoos on his shoulder and chest grab my eyes first before he turns to give me his back.

  “Tess, come and wash my hair,” he orders.

  It doesn’t even occur to me to argue. The truth is; I want to wash his hair. I want the privilege of running my fingers through his hair. I want to touch him and mark him, as he’s marked me. My hand goes to my neck; rubbing the marks he left there the day before. I walk to him; he gives me that slight smile that I’ve seen escape him a few times and hands me a small travel bottle of shampoo. I put it down and grab an old plastic cup and go about washing his hair.

  “Go back and sit down and wait for me,” he orders when I finish.

  “But…”

  “If you touch me, this won’t go like I want it to. Your hands on my body are guaranteed to make me lose control, and that’s not what I want, not tonight. Now, go and wait for me.”

  I want to pout, but his words have me too excited. I’m practically walking on air when I go back to the bed. He undresses, and I shamelessly watch him wash off. I’ve been halfway in love with Max since I first read his story. I may only get this one night with him, and I have to accept that. My night with him is a moment out of time. One that shouldn’t happen, but one I will cherish until I’m old and gray. I can’t pull my eyes away from him as he sponge bathes himself. When he washes his cock, and I watch him take himself into his hands, my body flushes hot. Moisture gathers between my legs and I’m dying to have him. I want to cry out in disappointment when he covers himself up with a pair of jogging pants he pulls out of the satchel he brought back from his uncle’s.

  Once he empties the basin the turns to me.

  “Come here, Tess.”

  Three words. Three words that are so simple, but they are words that I’ve imagined this man saying for months. It seems surreal. If I only get tonight, it will have been more than worth it. I go to him, willingly. I go to him, eager.

  He grabs the collar of my shirt and pulls. Buttons, pop and scatter through the room. My body jumps, but my eyes never leave his intense stare. He takes the shirt from my body and throws it on the floor. I look down at it and then back up to him.

  “Umm…what am I supposed to wear tomorrow?”

  “Let’s just worry about tonight right now, Kitten.”

  I moisten my lips and nod my approval. That seems to be what he was looking for because he unlatches the clasp between my breasts and my bra releases. It soon joins my ruined shirt. Heat infuses my face, I can feel it, but I don’t look away.

  “You’re beautiful, Tess. So fucking beautiful.”

  It doesn’t matter that I don’t agree with him. Right now, standing in front of him I feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. He unlatches my pants, and they drop to the ground, leaving me standing in front of him in nothing but my panties. He slides those off too, and now I’m naked, wondering what he’s going to do next. I don’t have long to wait.

  “Bend over the basin, sweetheart. I want to wash that beautiful hair of yours.”

  I’m twenty-seven years old, and I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone wash my hair, and that’s a damn shame because as Max starts using his strong hands to tenderly wash my hair I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. Once he’s done, he wraps my hair in a towel and begins washing my body.

  His hands move so slowly, so tenderly over me, washing me in a way that it feels like he’s worshipping me. When he cups my pussy, I moan. He’s already touched and caressed me to the point that my body feels like it is on pins and needles. I’m so close to the edge that when he holds my center like that, it’s almost enough to send me, hurling into an orgasm. I manage to keep that from happening, but it’s close. He takes the bar of soap; dropping it into the water and then lathering it in his hands. My eyes are glued to his movements. Even so, I’m not prepared when he slides the soap between my folds and lets the soap rub and tease against my opening and then my clit. He pushes it up so that I could almost ride it, before taking it away.

  I cry in disappointment. As he uses a cloth and fresh water to wash me clean.

  “Max…”

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart.”

  “I need…”

  “What do you need?”

&nbs
p; “Make me….make me come, please.”

  I think that might be what he is waiting for, from me, because he grabs my thighs and practically pulls my legs apart and then his tongue slides into my pussy. His tongue slides straight to my clit, flicking against it before flattening his tongue out against it and rubbing it so intently, my legs go weak. He teases and tortures my clit over and over, and I want to scream because I need more. Then, his fingers push into me, just as he sucks my clit into this mouth, rubbing it back and forth between his lips. His fingers begin fucking me, at a measured pace at first and then faster, starting a steady rhythm that I lose myself inside of. When his fingers thrust farther, and I clamp down on them; we both groan out loud. On his next thrust, he angles them and begins hard fucking me while his tongue joins in. The dual sensations are so intense I scream out his name and he thrusts harder and harder with his fingers, this time he hits that magic spot and the cream from my orgasm rushes forth. I cry as I cum all over Max’s face and fingers. He’s still sucking my clit, and he growls as my liquid soaks him, and the vibration sends me further and to the point where it feels as if I’m floating.

  When it’s over, I can’t register anything. I feel boneless; like I’m floating. I vaguely realize that Max is cleaning me from my climax and then drying me off. He grabs a large, cotton, flannel, button-up shirt out of his pack, putting it on me.

  “I want you in my shirt tonight, Tess,” he says buttoning it up.

  Once he’s got that done, my legs are still weak but it doesn’t matter. He picks me up and carries me back to the bed. I sit there, wondering what’s next when Max sits down beside me and starts brushing my hair. I close my eyes and just enjoy. The combination of having him give me so much attention and the orgasm I just had, mix, and my eyes get heavy. I’m swaying against him by the time he finishes brushing my hair. He gets off the cot and lays me down. As tired as I am, I can’t wait to finally have him. There’s a loud noise that makes me open my eyes, and I smile as he pushes the other small bed next to mine. He lies down and then pulls my body, so my back is against his chest, and our legs intertwine.