Guard My Heart

by AJ Summer

  “Arm,” he instructs, holding his hand out. I do as I'm told even though I don’t like the tone of his voice. Arguing now won’t help. He cleans the wound so gently. His actions are a million miles away from the harsh rasp of his voice. If you take the time to get to know Jase, you will realize that he has this hard exterior but on the inside is this gentle, caring person. You will see the fierce looking teenager who used to run off bullies for picking on the smaller kids. He takes another piece of cotton wool and repeats the procedure. He pours the rest of the liquid down the drain and throws the cotton wool in the trashcan before gently placing a band aid over the scrape on my elbow.

  I might actually fall down and break my arm just to see what he does if this is how he handles a scrape. He takes my hand again and leads me through the door. He stops beside the bed and sits down, holding me in front of him. His hands move to the waist bands of my PJ bottoms. The muscles in his arms are tense. I know he’s upset about hurting me, even if he didn’t know he was doing it at the time. I place my hands on his shoulders as he lowers my bottoms down my legs. I lift each leg in turn for him to remove it. His hands come to rest on my hips as he pulls me closer and nuzzles my belly.

  “I’m sorry, Mia, but next time do as you are fucking told,” he says.

  My mind backtracks. He’s upset with me. I didn’t listen to him. But I couldn’t just stay here knowing there was something going on downstairs. Shivers run up my spine thinking of what could’ve happened. I open my mouth to voice my thoughts but close it again. He doesn’t need me to state the obvious; he knows he lost it tonight. I squeeze his shoulders, feeling the knotted muscles.

  “Let’s get to bed. This will all look better in the morning,” I say, pushing him backwards onto the bed. That look is still in his eyes. The one that lets me know I’ve overstepped a boundary. I hate having him angry at me. The only way to get rid of that look is to remind him of how good I am for him.

  I tuck my fingers into the waistband of his boxers and tug at them. He gives me an odd look but lets me remove them. My eyes run over the gorgeous man lying in front of me. My eyes follow the tribal tattoo running from his neck, over his shoulder and arm. I lift my eyes up to his chest, mentally tracing the swirling pattern flowing from his collar bone down to his flat belly. I start with the top of his tattoo, licking the curling pattern down his neck, over his shoulder and down his arm to his fingers. I kiss each digit in turn, savoring the rough texture of each fingertip. It reminds me that even though these hands draw the most beautiful pictures, they also work hard at the garage. I look up to study his face, but his eyes are closed, the hard line of his mouth relaxed. I move over to tease his pierced nipple with my tongue. The sound he makes in the back of his throat makes me move down his chest picking up the pattern flowing down his belly to his hips. I know the tattoo ends right before I get to my ultimate goal. He knows it too by the smile tugging at his lips.

  “Oh no, Mew, seems like you’ve run out of ink to trace,” he teases with a cocky smile playing on his lips.

  “Whatever will I do?” I say, batting my eyelashes at him playfully.

  “I'm sure my kitten will figure something out.” He sucks in a breath as I pinch the swollen head of his erection between my teeth.

  The sound of him exhaling loudly is my only warning before I'm pulled down onto the bed. I look up into the greenest pools of desire I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting lost in. How did he get the upper hand? This is not what I wanted to do, damn it! I can almost feel my tongue sliding over his hard shaft. Tasting him. Driving him insane. Making him forget that he lost his temper tonight.

  He nuzzles my nose before placing a soft kiss on my lips. His hard chest presses into my breasts. I shift my legs to give him access to where I need him to be.

  His lips touch my nose, my jaw, and finally my lips. Caressing my skin with such tenderness, my heart swells and pounds loudly in my chest.

  “I love you,” he whispers before sinking into me slowly. I tilt my hips up to get him to move faster, but instead he pulls back. I reach around his back to pull him to me but he slides out completely. I shake my head and bite my lip to keep from moaning at him.

  “Slowly, baby, I have to have you slowly.” His eyes are soft but his voice is stern. He positions himself again and starts the slow torture all over again. I can feel every inch of him as he moves deeper into me. Feeding himself all the way into my soul. I squeeze my eyes closed so tightly I see little white stars forming behind my eye lids. My muscles tense. It’s too soon, how can I be so close?

  Jase slows his rhythm, and my pending orgasm simmers to a minute flame licking at receding oxygen.

  “No!” I whimper loudly, digging my nails into his back.

  “Excuse me?” he says, looking annoyed. I buck my hips against him, trying to coax movement out of his now still hips. Little sparks of anger flash across his eyes. I probably shouldn’t have clawed him.

  “I was so close,” I answer pathetically.

  “That’s why I slowed down. I told you I wanted slow. I don’t want it to end so soon. I plan on keeping you here for a while, and seeing that you can’t keep your violent little hands to yourself…” he reaches for the hand that clawed him and bites into my palm.

  “Ow,” I moan even as pleasure pulses through my body.

  “…I think I’ll keep it away a little longer,” he says, placing a soft kiss onto the palm of my hand.

  “Why not let me make it up to you?” I say, running my nails up his back.

  “’Cause you cheat,” he mutters into my neck.

  He is probably right. I will cheat. I get lost and focus only on the pleasure I can get from him. Jase believes in savoring every moment. I'm too impulsive and in the moment. It’s his fault for spoiling me like that. He places soft kisses from my ear down to my neck. I shift my legs, trying to draw his attention back to the emptiness between my thighs. Thankfully, he gets the hint and slips back into me. The sensation wrings a low moan from my throat. His slow rhythm torture on my over stimulated senses. Slowly the pulse starts building low in my belly. I sigh loudly but he refuses to move faster.

  “Please, Jase, faster,” I moan. He increases his pace slightly, increasing my pleasure with every entry as he grinds against my sensitive flesh. I dig my nails into his back and thrust my breasts into his chest. I need every inch of me touching every inch of him. Please don’t stop, please don’t stop, I chant in my head.

  “Oh shit, I'm so close, Jase,” I manage to choke out.

  “I’ve got you, babe,” he says into my neck. He thrusts deeper and grinds down harder. Every muscle in my body tenses.

  Jase lifts his head and stares into my eyes just as the tightly wound coil snaps and my orgasm rips through my body. I sigh out his name before he stills and I feel him finding his own escape inside of me. My hands smooth over his sweat slick back, welcoming his warm weight. He snuggles his nose into my neck, inhaling deeply. He strokes his fingers lazily up my sides.

  His mouth searches for my pulse point before laying his lips against it.

  “I love you, Mew.” I hear him whisper before his breathing evens out and becomes steady. I glance over at the clock on the night stand, 3:20 a.m. I’m glad I’m not working until later this afternoon, but a twang of guilt stabs at my heart. Jase has to get up in a couple of hours.

  “I love you too, baby,” I whisper. Running my fingers through his hair, I drift off.

  JASE

  I hate the sound of this damn alarm clock. It brings back memories of school mornings and running around looking for a mother who never came home the night before. I shake my head groggily and look at the time, 6:30. Yup, time to get my ass out of bed. I look over at Mia, who I mercifully haven’t smothered in my sleep. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Today I finally get to ask her to be my wife. I’ve ditched the late shift at the parlor to set everything up before she finishes her shift. I have to phone her during the day to feed her some stupid excuse abo
ut being caught up at the garage.

  I place a gentle kiss on her head, careful not to wake her. I take a quick shower, glimpses of our shower the night before tempting my senses. If I wasn’t pressed for time, I’d wake her up. I'm more than willing to take her up on her offer of last night. I jump out of the shower. If everything goes well tonight—and I plan for it to be fucking perfect—I’ll get to do all those things to her later. I dress into my usual jeans and shirt and grab my Ray’s Garage overalls from the hook behind the door. I dig the platinum band out of the pocket, where I hid it last night, and stuff it into my jean pocket. I steal one last look at her before leaving her sleeping. I have a lot of shit to do today. I hope James and Lewis are up.

  The smell of fresh coffee welcomes me on the stairs, and I rush to the kitchen before it all ends up in someone else’s gut. Jenna and Aiden are already dressed for their Saturday morning run. Thankfully, Aiden’s run-in with the bat doesn’t seem to have done any serious damage.

  “What’s up, man?” Lewis greets me and passes me a coffee at the same time. “I thought you could use the caffeine boost this morning, but doesn’t seem like you need it. You look fresh as a daisy. Mia must’ve lost her spunk.”

  I smirk at him; nobody has ever compared me to a daisy before. In fact, I look far from it. Most people cross the street when they see me on the sidewalk. Tattoos and piercings are a sure sign of evil, right? It’s best to keep it that way. I don’t like people in my business, and my looks normally keep them a mile away. But then the last part of his sentence hits me, and I flip him the finger. I smell the coffee, eyeing Lewis suspiciously before taking a sip. You can’t trust these buggers.

  “James, are you good man?” I ask, noticing him brooding at the table. He gives me the thumbs up but remains silent.

  “Then let’s get to work you lazy bastards,” I say, grabbing the keys to my truck. “We still good for tonight?” I ask Aiden, knowing he wouldn’t need the words to understand what I'm talking about.

  “All good and it’s about time,” he says, smiling at Jenna and tucking her under his arm. She’s practically glowing, she looks different this morning.

  “Hey, what’s that all about?” Lewis interrupts my thoughts. I catch a glimpse of Jenna paling and dashing towards the downstairs bathroom.

  That was a complete turnaround. One minute she was fine, and the next she’s as pale as a ghost. Aiden follows her before saluting us with two fingers pressed against his forehead. I ignore Lewis and head for the door.

  “Are you catching a lift with us, James?” I ask him.

  He shakes his head and climbs into his own truck. I unlock my truck, and Lewis immediately fucks around with the radio. Every morning he does this. Thankfully, we have the same taste in music. Lewis himself isn’t half shitty on the guitar. James pulls out of the driveway before us, and we follow him to the garage. Lewis rambles on about the redhead, but I hardly hear anything as I run through my plan for the night. We stop at the red light.

  I watch as the familiar green Chevy speeds over the changing red light and swerves, crashing straight into the side of my truck. The impact forces the air from my lungs and flips my truck with such velocity, that the metal screeches on the tarmac, before finally landing on its roof.

  “What the fuck!” I hear Lewis yell next to me. My head slams into the steering wheel before I can say or do anything. What the fuck just happened?

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Jase! Jase?” Lewis is shouting at me.

  I want to tell him to stop shouting at me, but my heart is pounding too fast. My brain feels like it’s located outside of my skull, it hurts that much. Asking Mia to marry me when I have a concussion is going to fucking suck. Something warm runs into my eyes and turns my vision red.

  “Jase, man, don’t do this to me!” Lewis yells to the side of me. I try to ask him what the fuck he’s talking about. I'm not doing anything. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can’t move. But I can’t form the words.

  “Somebody help us! Please, help us!” Lewis screams. The panic in his voice settles a dread in my stomach. I look up at Lewis, who is now lowering me so I’m lying against his chest. What the fuck is going on? My head is pounding. I'm struggling to breathe. The look on his face is terrifying me.

  “Lewis, man, what the fuck?” I breathe out softly. It hurts saying the words.

  “Shh, Jase, don’t speak, man. Help is on the way,” Lewis says. His eyes dart from side to side frantically. Like he is searching for something he can’t find. Something squeezes my heart in a death grip. I hear the stuttering of my pulse in my ears as the squeeze increases. Lewis wipes at my face with his shirt, and I see the blood turning the light blue fabric red.

  “Fucker!” I hear Lewis scream. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” He screams again. I hear sirens blaring in the distance. I already know they’re too far away. My eyes are heavy, and my chest doesn’t want to fill with the air it desperately needs.

  “Lewis, is James okay?” I ask, needing to know my friends will all survive. I need them to look after my girl when I’m gone.

  “I’m right here, Jase,” James says from somewhere at my window. “I’m here, man, hang in there,” he says in that calm-as-shit voice of his. That’s good; James and Aiden will take good care of her. Nobody will ever lay a finger on her when Lewis is around. My girl is sorted.

  The sirens are getting louder. James is yanking at my door. Terror grips my heart again and I know this is it. I should’ve woken Mia up. I should’ve looked into those beautiful brown eyes before I left. I should’ve told her how much I love her. I should’ve showed her how much I love her.

  “Fuck, Jase, don’t do this, you stubborn bastard!” Lewis yells while banging his fist into my dashboard.

  “Dude, do not hit my baby like that,” I cough out. I taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.

  “Lewis, fucking help him!” I hear James scream while really yanking on the door now.

  “Kick the fucking door down, James. Rip it off! Do something!” Lewis sounds frantic as he dabs at the blood from my mouth.

  The edges of my vision turn dark, and the darkness welcomes me closer. This is where it ends. I get to die in a fucking truck. I never get to say goodbye.

  “Fuck, Mia, I love you, baby, I love you,” I think over and over again. Or maybe I’m saying it out loud. I dig in my jeans pocket and hold the ring out to Lewis, my numb fingers holding it up limply.

  “You bastards better look after her. You guard my heart.”

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I don’t think I will ever have great enough words to thank everyone who helped me get to this point. I wrote a book…WOW. I still can’t believe it.

  To my husband, thank you for handling the little monsters while mommy was writing long sentences on her laptop. For listening to those long sentences even when they bored your face off. Thank you for supporting me and telling me I can do this. It worked, I did it!

  To Megan Keith, fellow author and amazing new friend, without you I wouldn’t know which way is up and which way is down. This book is here because of you. You rock lady!

  Author Laramie Briscoe, the first person I ever spoke to about this book, thank you for posting all that info on your page. That led me to the awesome lady who designed my cover:

  Kari Ayasha, my amazing cover designer. You brought this book alive, and I swear looking at this cover helped me finish this book. I had to do it justice! Thank you for being so much more than just a designer.

  And to my editor: Lindsay Hopper, thank you for helping me out in a pinch. I didn’t give you a lot of time, and you rocked my socks off. Thank you!

  All the Cover to Cover authors for all the friendly encouragement and advice you gave me. Thank you, it helped endlessly.

  SDJ, the first person who ever read Guard My Heart. You helped me fix my mistakes, listened to me whine, made endless teasers, and I can’t even remember all the horrible demands I made from you. Thank you for sticking with me, no matter how diffic
ult I was. I am truly blessed to have you in my life.

  To everyone else who believed in me and waited patiently for me to finally realize I can do this, Thank you. I hope Guard My Heart finds a place in your heart, just as it has in mine.

  Want to find out more about the author?

  Here’s where to find AJ …………..

  Email - ajsummer@vodamail.co.za

  Twitter - AJsummer_1

  Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18622822-guard-my-heart?from_search=true

  Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-AJ-Summer/468970473179696