Stealing His Heart

by Diane Alberts

  “That I got an abusive asshole while you were coddled and loved?” He stood and linked his hands behind his head. “We might be part of the dead parents club, but that doesn’t mean we both had to have tragic pasts. Your parents died and left you loads of cash. Mine died, and I lost everything. It doesn’t mean I feel cheated or unloved. It’s the way life works. We don’t all get a fucking happy ending.”

  She swallowed hard. “But you could still have one. I wish—” She locked gazes with him. “I wish you would have come and lived with me. I wish I had thought of it back then.”

  “Me, living with your grandmother?” Jake laughed and leaned against the wall. “It wouldn’t have happened.”

  “It should have.” She blinked back tears. “I should have saved you.”

  He shook his head. “No one could have saved me because I didn’t need saving in the first place.”

  “What about now?” she whispered.

  “Now I’m beyond hope. Nothing can save me.” He gave her his back. “Not even you.”

  Not even you.

  Why did he say it like that? Maybe he was worried she could save him. Maybe he was worried she still might. Reaching out, she grabbed his arms and held on tight. “I would try, if you wanted me to. I would save you.”

  A small tremor went through his muscles. So little that anyone else might not have noticed. But she wasn’t anybody else. “I’m not the one that needs saving, Tara. Get us the fuck out of here so I can save you.”

  An hour later, Jake braced himself against the safe wall and watched Tara, forcing a calming breath…but it wasn’t easy. Hell no, it wasn’t easy.

  Neither was being locked in with her.

  She wanted to save him. Fucking save him. He wasn’t the one who was about to go to jail, damn it. She needed to worry about herself. He was fine. Good, even.

  And he didn’t need saving.

  Over the past hour, after her heartfelt speech about why she did what she did, he’d come to the realization that she didn’t have anyone in her life. Her grandmother was dead. So were her parents. She didn’t have siblings. Aunts or uncles either. She was alone.

  More alone than he was.

  She needed to see that she didn’t have to be a thief to make a difference in the world. She could go legit. Stop breaking into houses. He could help her.

  Walking past him, she headed for a bottle of water in the corner. He followed her, watching that ass he loved so much swing back and forth with each step. He’d had her only a few hours ago, but the need to have her again was strong. He wanted to conquer her. Make her scream his name out until it echoed off the walls.

  Wanted to claim her as his.

  Tilting her chin up, he stared at her mouth hungrily. “Do you have any fucking idea how badly I want to kiss you right now? It’s all I can think about.”

  “That’s because you’re as bored as I am,” she said breathlessly. “Or you’re running out of oxygen and getting delirious. Either one.”

  “We’re supposed to be working,” he said, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip. “But I want to fuck you against this wall. You’re like a drug I’m hooked on, and I don’t want to break free. Get us out of here before it’s too late.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t. Soltese will have to drag our dead, rotting corpses out of here when he’s back from his vacation.”

  “About Soltese…” He cleared his throat. “I investigated him some more last night after you went to sleep. I sent Cooper an email with the evidence, but you were right about him. He’s a con.”

  She seized his biceps. “I told you that already. Does this mean I could be off the hook with the code?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “I have no idea. All I know is that Soltese isn’t the type of man we generally protect. He has close ties to the Mafia, and a history of violence.”

  “Yeah, I know,” she said drily.

  Her nonchalance in the face of danger hit him, swift and strong. He leaned in, touching noses with her. Didn’t she realize he needed her to be safe? Or how much she meant to him?

  “Do you have any idea how much danger you could be in right now ?” he asked, his voice deceptively soft.

  She scoffed. “Please. I don’t care how dangerous he thinks he is. He won’t get to me.”

  “Bullshit.” Jake tightened his grip on her, wanting to kiss her into submission. “You’re not safe from men like him. No one is.”

  “Sure I am. No one ever suspects me. I’m a rich woman who is supposed to be happily married with a bunch of trust fund kids by now.” She shrugged. “Well, no one suspected me until you, anyway.”

  He flexed his jaw, anger and worry over her safety making him see red. “If you don’t tell me how you cracked my code, he will find out who you are. He’ll know your name, because we’ll have to tell him. Do you understand that?”

  She jerked her chin free. “I don’t care. Tell him my name. Give him my address. Hand me over to him. I don’t care.”

  Deep breaths. Keep your head, Jake.

  “Well, I do, damn it,” he said, his gut twisting tight. “I care. You need to tell me the secret to cracking the code, and you need to do it right fucking now.”

  She frowned at him and shoved his shoulder. “I can’t. You, Soltese, and everyone in the Shillings Agency can go to hell.”

  “Can’t.” He leaned against the wall. “I’m already there.”

  Because of the way he felt about her. Because he was going to have to trick her, or send her to jail, and he didn’t fucking want to. Because he wanted more, with her.

  He wanted to be happy, damn it.

  Those unwelcome feelings, combined with the knowledge that she was in danger, and quite possibly would soon be behind bars, were enough to drive a saint insane…and he was no saint.

  She went back to the keypad, leaving his last comment untouched.

  Now came the tricky part. The part he’d been devising since her name crossed his desk. “In the future, it would be nice if we had someone in the company who checked into backgrounds to make sure this lapse in judgment doesn’t happen again.”

  She froze with her finger on the fifth button. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” He forced himself not to watch her, to act as if he wasn’t offering her a job. Because he was. “We’re going to be looking for someone to fill the position soon.”

  She pushed some more buttons, her back stiff. “Is that your goal? To get me to agree to a safer job? To be my knight in shining armor, rescuing me from a life of danger and loneliness?”

  Cocking his head, he studied her closely. He’d never said anything about her being lonely. She’d told him that all on her own. But he knew all about being on your own. Way too well. Going to bed alone. Waking up alone. Eating Christmas dinner alone.

  Having to rely on himself and no one else. But maybe…maybe he didn’t want that anymore. Maybe they could be lonely together, or something.

  Shit, he didn’t know.

  “I’m not a knight, or a hero. I’m a warrior with a lame leg. I’m one of those men who can do nothing but sit by the fire and reminisce on the good old days, while secretly wishing he could go back out and fight.”

  Her mouth dipped down, and she bit down on her tongue. She looked…sad. “You’re so much more than that, Jake. Don’t you see how wonderful you are?”

  He gave an uneasy laugh. “No. I don’t.”

  “But I do. You’re more than you think you are.” Playing with the buttons of his vest, she made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. “I care about you, Jake. I know it’s crazy, and stupid, but I want…I want you. I want to be with you.”

  No way she could care about him. Not after everything he’d done to her—and everything he still had to do. He should tell her there was no hope for them in the future, because there wasn’t. He wasn’t good enough for her, but he wished he was.

  Fuck, he wished he was.

  He kissed her.

  Chapter Eleven

&nb
sp; Tara clung to his hard forearms, taking everything he gave her, and yet still needing more. When his lips moved over hers, her stomach clenched as the familiar scent of his cologne teased her senses, the taste of his tongue drove her wild.

  All too soon, he pulled back. “You have to fig—shit.”

  Bending down, he rubbed his thigh, a grimace etched on his face. She swallowed hard and glanced down at his leg. “Does it hurt a lot?”

  Without replying, he turned away. He let go of his thigh quickly, as if he just now realized he’d been rubbing it in front of her. “Yeah. Especially when it’s going to rain. But it’s not a big deal. I’ll be fine. It always goes away.”

  Her heart twisted tight. “Does it help if someone rubs it?”

  “I have no clue.” Lifting a shoulder, he glanced back at her. “No one has ever rubbed it before, except for me.”

  “But…” She nibbled her lower lip, a pang of sadness stabbing her in the throat. “Not even Christine?”

  He didn’t meet her eyes. “I won’t let her.”

  “Well, then…” After taking a deep breath, she knelt at his feet. “Let’s find out.”

  Stiffening, he captured her hand, the vulnerabilities he usually hid beneath his hard, steely eyes achingly defenseless. “Tara.”

  “Trust me. I only want to help you.” She met his gaze, hoping he’d see the truth in her words. Showing him he wasn’t alone in the world anymore. Not if he didn’t want to be. “Please?”

  He didn’t release her right away. He held her fingers still, locking gazes with her. Then, after a few seemingly endless moments, he let go of her. She sucked in a deep breath, her mind spinning in circles. Lifting his pants up, he revealed his scars. Even in the shadows of the safe, she could make out the pattern of the zigzagged scars all across his thigh and knee.

  When she tried to move it higher, she realized there was no way she could possibly get his pants high enough to do what she wanted. Sure, she could leave them on and massage him through the fabric, but she wanted to show him that his scars didn’t scare her.

  That she wasn’t disgusted or turned off by them in the slightest. It was really important to her. She hesitated, her fingers resting on his knee. “Can you take these off for me?”

  He shifted uneasily. “That was easy. I didn’t have to seduce you with my smoldering stares and bedroom eyes first.”

  “It’s my turn to be bossy.” Even though he was cracking jokes, she knew this wasn’t a joke to him. Not at all. She tugged at the hem. “Take them off. Now.”

  Mouth tight, he stood, undid his pants, and let them hit the floor. She didn’t count on the fact that with him standing in front of her, and her kneeling at his feet, she was right at crotch level. Yeah, she was staring his erection in the face, and he was hard.

  Really, really hard.

  All she could think about was leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the tip of his erection before rolling his boxer briefs down and taking him in her mouth, inch by slow inch. She swallowed a huge gulp of air and forced her attention north.

  His gaze was on her, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Thinking about her closing her mouth around him and…no. That was not why she’d told him to remove his pants. “S-Sit down. I’m in control this time.”

  “I’ll allow it…for now.” He tugged on a piece of her hair, then dropped it. He sat and straightened his injured leg on the floor in front of him. “But only for a little while, and only till I tell you to stop. And when I take control, I’ll bend you over that box in the corner and fuck you till you can’t breathe anymore.”

  Oh, God. That sounded hot. So, so hot. But she wouldn’t focus on that. Not yet. Right now, she had to concentrate on him. He needed this, too, even if he didn’t know it yet. “We’ll see,” she said, her voice thick with desire.

  He clenched his fists at his sides. “Yes. We will.”

  Reaching out, she grabbed some lotion out of her purse and lathered her hands. He’d smell fruity and girly, but he’d feel a heck of a lot better. “I’m going to rub your leg. If it hurts, let me know.”

  He stiffened. “You probably don’t want to touch it. It’s all raw and rough and—nasty.”

  She raised her brow, then clutched his ankle. Slowly, she massaged the muscles, going a little higher as she went. His head dropped back on the wall, and he let out a strangled groan. His hand fisted tighter on top of the floor, and he closed his eyes.

  She couldn’t stop looking at him.

  Memorizing every detail, laid out for her to see, since she wouldn’t be able to do so for much longer. She loved the way his five o’clock shadow darkened his jaw, much like his lowered lashes did his cheeks. And how he held his breath as she rubbed him, not moving a single muscle, as if he was scared he would send her running.

  He should know better. She didn’t run scared of anything.

  Especially not him.

  Looking at her from beneath lowered lids, he shifted his weight. “You have no idea how good that feels. But you don’t have to touch the scars.”

  “You know what I see when I study you?” She moved up his leg more, reaching mid-calf. “I see bravery.” Moving higher, she lowered her mouth to his, stopping an inch from him. “I see heroic actions and I see you. But I don’t see ugliness.”

  A broken sound escaped him, and he gripped her. “Tara…I…”

  “Sh.” She flipped her wrist, entwining her fingers through his. Leaning in, she kissed his chin dimple. “You don’t have to say anything at all. I wanted you to know.”

  Crawling over his injured leg into the empty space between his thighs, she massaged his thigh, dipping her fingers under his boxer briefs. His muscles tensed, and he arched his hips. The vulnerability in his gaze, and the motions of his body, made her want him more than ever.

  Another inch higher…

  She closed her fingers over his shaft, squeezing gently. He thrust into her hand, gripping her hips tightly. “Tara.”

  “Yes?” She cupped his balls, tugging ever so slightly. “What do you want, sir?”

  “You. Only you.” He swallowed. “I know how hard it is for you to give yourself over to me, to submit. So…I’m giving you control. This one time.”

  She froze. She knew, more now than ever before, how hard it was for him to say that. To submit to her. He was giving her something huge. He was giving her his trust.

  And she wouldn’t let him down.

  “Good.” She lowered her head and nibbled on his ear, biting just enough to sting. He shuddered. “My first order? Touch me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He gripped her sides, closing on her breasts. “Like that?”

  She moaned when he palmed her, rolling her nipples between his fingers. Even through the fabric of her shirt and bra, she could feel his skin burning her. “Yes.”

  He arched his hips up. His cock pressed against her, teasing her. Making her want more. She scrambled to undo his vest, needing to see him naked. To feel his skin. To admire his tattoos, and study them up close for once.

  Last night, he’d tied her up so she couldn’t touch him, and in the supply closet, he’d been fully clothed. This time, they would do it right. He tilted his face up, letting her take control of the kiss, as he’d promised. When she undid the first button, he tensed.

  “Shit.” Catching her hand, he said, “I hate to say this, but you need to stop.”

  “You’re not the one in charge of this. I am.” She leaned in so her mouth was barely touching his. “Why would I stop now, when I’m starting to have fun?”

  He grasped her hips, holding her still. “Because in one minute, my boss Cooper will be opening that door, and I’d rather have my pants on when he does. And he damn well isn’t going to get to see you bent over, ass naked and in the air. That’s for my eyes only.”

  Heart racing, she jumped off him and tugged her skirt back down. As far as ways to dispel heated lust went, hearing that his boss was about to open the door was right up there with an ice-col
d bucket of water. “How long till he’s here?”

  “Not long enough.” He slipped his pants back on and watched her the whole time. “And he’s going to expect me to have answers that I don’t have.”

  She clenched her hands in front of her, the guilt choking her again. He wouldn’t actually get in trouble because of her inability. Only she’d suffer. “I can’t help you.”

  “Can’t?” He turned her way again. “Or won’t?”

  She didn’t answer.

  When he realized she didn’t intend to, he balled his fists at his sides. “I want to save you, and I wish you would let me. Why won’t you let me?”

  She opened her mouth to say…what? She had no clue.

  But the safe door opened, and the man she could only presume was Cooper Shillings stood silhouetted in the doorway. He had brown hair, green eyes, and was hot as hell. Almost as hot as Jake.

  He leaned on the doorframe. “So…since I’m rescuing you both, I take it the code hasn’t been figured out yet?”

  “We’ve got nothing,” Jake said, his cheeks flushing as he did up his button. “I thought locking us in would help, but she still can’t figure it out.”

  Cooper eyed Jake’s hands. “I see. I’m not going to lie. I’m disappointed.”

  “It’s not his fault,” Tara said quickly, watching Jake out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t Jake’s fault she refused to help Soltese, and she couldn’t let him get caught in the cross fire because of her. “He’s been trying his best to help me, but I can’t remember how I did it. Arrest me now if you have to, but don’t blame him. It’s not his fault.”

  Cooper cocked a brow. “Is that so?”

  “Yeah. Give me your word he won’t be punished for my shortcomings.”

  “Tara, stop it.”

  “No.” She gave Cooper a pointed look. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you, but he’s been the perfect employee to you.”

  Cooper nodded. “I believe you.”

  “Tara, stop defending me,” Jake snapped. He glared at her. “He knows I’m doing my job.”

  Cooper cleared his throat. “Look, we need to get Tara to—”

  “I know.” She sighed, wanting to get this over with. “Are we going straight to the jail from here?”