by Nana Malone
“I’m going to need a flow chart, aren’t I?”
She laughed and nodded. “There's Brooklyn. Man, is she beautiful. She's only sixteen, but the boys are following her around like she's the second coming or something. But she's really sweet too. One of those people who can get what she wants just by smiling prettily. Oh, and last but not least, there's Max. She is trouble. Don’t get me wrong. Smart as a whip. Maybe even smarter than you. But she's always looking for trouble. Mom and Dad are hoping she straightens out before she heads to college.”
Nate rubbed his chest. “That's a lot of kids. Where do you put everyone, or did you guys move?”
She shrugged. “Same house, but Mom and Dad added a guest house of sorts in the back that has three bedrooms. The older kids took over that one. And the apartment over the garage that you used to stay in had the room to house at least two.”
“Yeah, but still, that’s a lot of mouths to feed. They had big hearts, your parents.”
She smiled proudly. “Yeah well, it’s not cheap. Dylan, Derek, Jezzi, Mia, and I have been contributing to college funds since we were out of school. You know, to give everyone else a shot.”
The muscles in his jaw ticked before he looked at his hands. “I had no idea. I would have done more if I’d known.”
More? “What do you mean?”
He only briefly met her gaze before exhaling. “I give money to Sarah’s charity, Hope House, every year. I make sure Lach and Chase pay out of the nose as well.”
Delilah widened her eyes. “You mean that’s you?”
He frowned. “I’m confused.”
Her heart raced. She did not want him to be this kind. She wanted him to be shallow. But he wasn’t. Even though he had left, he still cared. A lump formed in her throat. “Every year, Mom talks about this crazy set of donors who gives hundreds of thousands. You pretty much funded the whole non-profit.”
He blushed and ducked his head. “Well, she’s doing good work. She’s getting more kids like me off the street, into warm beds, and into school. It’s important.”
She was afraid to ask, but she had to know. “Do you ever regret leaving?”
He sighed. The silence between them stretched from seconds to minutes. “More than you know.” Before she could ask him to elaborate, he asked. “So what about you, Dylan, and Derek? You guys ever think of getting married, adding to the family tradition?”
Delilah barked a laugh. “Nice redirect. I see your street hustler skills are still intact.” She rolled her eyes. “Dylan almost got married last year. But then apparently his fiancée decided she'd rather sleep with his partner, so he's been in a bit of a spiral since. Derek is having too much fun with the sports groupies. And as for me, I think I work too much for that to happen.”
His piercing blue gaze met hers. “I’m pretty sure all you have to do is say the word, and you’d have your pick.”
She laughed and shifted in her seat. They’d already been so intimate. He’d kissed every inch of her body. But somehow this line of questioning seemed more personal. “Right. There’s a line out my door. I just can’t see it.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, and fire torched her blood. She cleared her throat. “What about you? No close calls? I guess you’re a guy, so no biological clock ticking down for the kids thing.”
He shook his head. “With my past, I figure I’ve got more than my fair share of baggage. I don’t really want to bring kids in on it. As for a wife...I'm not exactly Prince Charming.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess you clean up nice. If you’re into that sort of thing.” And apparently, tall, well muscled, and a hint of bad boy was just her type. “I guess that makes sense. In the end, you got what you wanted—your freedom.”
“Freedom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Delilah met Nate’s gaze. The heat in them was unmistakable. Alarms rang in her head like the church bells of Westminster Abbey. He'll hurt you. He'll take everything you give him and give nothing back. You cannot fall in love with him. All perfectly good warnings for her brain—if her brain was in charge. But her body was ruling this little game, and it wasn't relinquishing control for anything.
With him sitting close enough to kiss, his breath comingled with hers. Electricity jumped the scant inches between them and crackled. Under the fabric of her soft silk dress and her lace bra, her nipples pebbled. Just below her belly, butterflies fluttered and slick heat pooled. She wanted him. Wanted his hands on her. Wanted him to make love to her again. She felt like a junkie in need of a fix. Being this close to him without touching was a tease to her body. The worst kind of tease, hinting at something spectacular, making her want to dive in headfirst.
Nate's gaze dipped to her mouth. She licked her lips again, and he growled low. “Delilah, if you're going to keep doing that, understand that I'm going to kiss you.” His voice pitched lower. “Unless, you’re trying to get me to break the rules.”
With her body vibrating, Delilah deliberately peeked her tongue out, running it over her bottom lip before pulling it into her mouth with her teeth.
“You taste so good. Thinking about your skin has been driving me nuts all day.”
Her head swam as she hunted for words. All she could focus on was his warm mouth against her flesh and the fascinating way his tongue chased his teeth as he gave her small love bites then soothed away the burn with his tongue.
With a growl, his hands worked their way up to her bun. He drew his head back to stare at it. “Do you mind if I take this down. I'm dying to see your hair. I used to imagine getting my hands tangled in your curls.”
All Delilah could do was mutely shake her head. The heat coursing through her body had apparently done the impossible and robbed her of speech. Her hands joined his in the pursuit of taking out her bobby pins. With them removed and her elastic discarded, Delilah groaned with the relief. Nate's answering moan was a surprise.
“God, I've missed your curls. This suits you better than that bun.” His fingers dug in and immediately massaged her scalp. Delilah lost all track of time as he soothed her body into a limp puddle.
When he kissed her again, she held nothing back, and kissed him with the lazy ease of someone who had been doing so all her life. In a flash, her need went to simmer as his lips took the kiss from easy to hot again. He moved his hips against hers, and her body arched into the silent caress. The hot length of him brushed her panties, and they both froze. He dropped his forehead to hers. “Jesus.”
Delilah had no idea what was happening to her. All she knew was she wanted more of him. Needed his hands on her body. She pulled him closer, arching her body into his.
Nate's breath came out in hot puffs. His big hands fumbled with the tiny buttons of her blouse. He only made it to the first two, then the sound of her ripping blouse and the ta-ta-ta-ta sound of scattering buttons filled the silence of the room. “I guess I’m still pretty impatient,” he whispered.
Delilah laughed. “Nuthin’ wrong with that.”
Nate brushed a hot kiss over the lace covering her nipple, and Delilah moaned. His first tug through the fabric with his teeth was gentle. The second, not so much. The rougher pull of his tongue was like a direct line to her core, pulling at the strings of her almost-thereorgasm.
“Nate...”
###
Nate knew he should be taking his time. Except...Lila was in his arms. The phantom of his dreams had manifested into a warm, willing, sexy woman. And the way she said his name drove him nuts.
He drew slow circles around her nipple with his thumb and watched in wonder as she gasped his name again. She was real. This was real. For the first time in a long time he wasn’t worried about hiding anything. Wasn’t worried that someone would see too much. He was home.
He might not be able to hold on to Delilah Donovan, but while she was in his arms, he was going to take care of her. First problem at hand—she had on entirely too many clothes.
He had to see more of her. The fantasy of her ha
d tormented him for too long. Frustrated, he slid the straps of her lace-covered bra over her slim shoulders. Lust pierced his gut as inch by inch, the lace gave way to soft cocoa skin.
“You left my bed way too early today. I had all kinds of ideas for you.” He could have spent all day sampling her breasts, firm, and high with chocolate tipped nipples. Bending over her, he teased her flesh with the stubble on his jaw.
Delilah’s' hands tightened in his hair. “Oh, geez.”
He laved at her nipple again. She whimpered. Sliding his hand between their bodies, he lifted the ruffles of her skirt up, allowing him more direct access to her body. As his hands traveled up that impossible expanse of leg, she stilled, as if holding her breath. He released her nipple, then gently teased the tip with his cheek. “Do you want to hear about my ideas, or would you rather I show you?”
Delilah moaned. “Show...definitely show.”
Nate grinned. The tension eased out of her body slowly, and inch by inch, his hand smoothed over her flesh. When his thumb reached the edge of her panties, he raised his head to meet her eyes. “You’re very, wet. Have you been thinking about me too?”
“I plead the fifth,” she whispered.
Despite what the roaring desire rushing in his blood told him, he took his time. He wanted every single minute to last. Through the satin of her panties, his thumb stroked over her clit slowly. Her hips rose to meet the caress. As he stroked, he kissed her, working his tongue in time to the upward movement of his thumb.
Under him, she writhed and arched, trying to bring their bodies still closer. He dragged his mouth from hers and trailed his lips to the tip of her breast again. The moment he suckled deep, she came.
Shudders wracked her body and nearly bucked him off. He stared, unable to look away while her orgasm rolled through her. He held her tight until even the smallest of the shivers had left her.
“Wow, you should come with a warning label,” she whispered.
Nate laughed. “Me? My skin’s on fire right now, and I’m the one who needs a warning label? Yours would read, ‘Caution, will burn you alive, but what a way to go.’” Every muscle still screamed for release, but he wasn’t going to rush this. He’d take all the cold showers in the world if he had to. He gently shifted them to ease her off his lap.
She ducked her head. “I have no idea what I’m doing here. This is totally uncharted waters for me. I’m a total novice at this.”
He frowned. “Lila, what are you trying to tell me?”
She blinked. Then again. “What? God. No. Okay, not a novice. Plenty of experience.”
Plenty? The tension rolled through him. “Okay.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Wait, not plenty. I mean enough. Just enough. Like I’m not a complete novice. Don’t let what Willow says fool you. I—” She sighed. “I’m just going to shut up now.”
He laughed. “Relax. We’ll figure it out.”
She smoothed a hand over her hair. “What I mean is, I have no idea what we’re doing here.”
His heart squeezed. He had no clue what to say. But he certainly wasn’t down for anything that didn’t include touching her. Hell, even just being around her. He was in trouble. Like the kind of trouble that should send him packing and gunning it for the hills. “What do you think we’re doing?” The one thing he knew was that now that he’d tasted her, he wasn’t letting her go over some bullshit rule. They’d figure out a way around the no fraternization issue.
“I—” She bit her lip. “I’m not exactly the throw caution to the wind girl. I did have an early meeting this morning, but it was also really convenient. I wanted to avoid the talk and the awkward morning-after convo.”
“Doesn’t have to be awkward. Not with us. You know me. I know you.”
“I’m not very good without a roadmap, and you are a very complicated, military maneuver meets NFL playbook type of roadmap. I feel like I have to be careful here.”
Nate studied her. “How about we maybe start with seeing how this goes? You know, I’ll take you riding, find a way to coax that smile of yours into a grin so that your dimples come out. I’ll even make sure you’re fed regularly. And I promise to stock my office and apartment with medieval goblets and buy shares of Godiva.”
“So we’ll see how this goes?” She exhaled. “You know, I’m not even sure I know how to do this.”
His worked his brows up. “Could have fooled me. All it takes is a kiss from you, and my brain cells stop functioning.”
She laughed. “Not what I meant.”
“I know you’re not sure if you should trust me. And I know it’s a little tricky with your job. But I promise, it’ll be fine. We’ll be discreet. I can be your little secret.” Except you don’t want to be a secret. Ignoring the flare of discontentment, he kissed her forehead. “C’mon, let’s pack up and head back to my place. I have some ideas for you that will require a bed.”
She grinned. “A bed? How cliché.” Then she leaned forward and kissed him. One of her hands skimmed between their bodies for his belt buckle, and blood rushed to his cock, making him ache. His whole body tensed as he tried to get himself under control. His head spun. Breathe, dumbass. If he could just breathe, he could focus, and he wouldn’t pass out. Hell, what was he going to do when she actually touched him?
Warm, slim fingers teased the elastic edge of his boxers. Just as she tugged on the elastic, a shrill ringing pierced the tense silence. His dick twitched in frustration. Yeah, buddy, I hear you. “Don’t answer that.”
Delilah’s hand stilled, and her gaze slid to her phone. “I have to answer that.”
“Nope. It won’t kill you if it goes to voicemail. But I might die if you don’t touch me.”
A shiver ran through her, and for a moment, Nate thought she’d ignore the call. He prayed she’d ignore the call. If she didn’t, he might just die from blue balls. But the shrill ringing continued, and with a groan, she released him and scooped the phone up off the table. “This is Delilah.”
She cursed, then eyes wide, turned to him. “Can you turn on your laptop? Michael’s been arrested.”
Chapter 16
Three days after sexus interuptus, Nate tried to force his eyeballs to focus on the screen in front of him. He really did. Problem was, every time he tried to focus over the last day, his mind wondered to Delilah. Why the hell was he even attempting to work? Because that’s what you’re here to do, not spend the entire day in bed with Delilah Donovan.
“Shit.” He dropped his head into his hands and tried to get his brain to get with the program. He rubbed his eyes. Hey guys, remember the work at hand?
But still, the lines of code in front of him ran together. The syntax might as well have been one long string of Greek gibberish as far as he was concerned tonight. Problem was, he’d been this way for three damn days. Ever since she’d run out of Prohibition like her hair was on fire.
Three damn days, and his blood still hummed in his veins and his skin still felt like a live wire had stroked it. “Damn it.”
His phone beckoned to him like a beacon. Maybe if he just called her to see how her day was, he’d be able to concentrate. They’d only exchanged brief texts during the last few days, as she had her hands full with the douche bag. She’d been pretty pissed that night after getting the Michael Ross call.
No, dumbass, you just want to call her. Hearing that husky voice would only set him up for a cold shower and a night of tossing and turning with wild, sex-crazed dreams. Shit. He hadn’t had one of those in nearly a decade. But a week and a half with her, and already he was a goner.
When he’d moved in with the Donovans, John Donovan had made it clear that there were some rules to be followed. First and foremost, Nate wasn’t to entertain any ideas about John’s stepdaughter. At the time, it hadn’t been a problem. Delilah had been all of fourteen, a kid. Never even entered Nate’s mind. Until the summer she turned sixteen and spent every day torturing him by running around the backyard pool in her bikini.
He’d loaded himself up on summer jobs and stayed the hell away from the pool just to make sure he didn’t have to see her growing curves in that barely-there bikini. But he’d never laid a hand on her. Not once. But the vision of her in that red bikini of hers had tormented him for years.
And first chance you got, you went and kissed her. Good luck sleeping tonight. Idiot.
Seven years later, and Delilah Donovan was still off limits and way out of his league. Someone like her would never pick someone like him for anything permanent. It didn’t matter if she wanted him. And she did want him. He'd still be that kid standing on the outside looking in on her and her perfect family.
But he’d take whatever time she gave him. So maybe forever was off the table with a woman like her, but maybe he could live the fantasy for a little while. He knew they had a time clock on this thing. Eventually, the secrecy would kill the both of them. Her job was on the line, and there was the small matter of the family he’d left behind.
If he let himself admit it, he’d have to say he wanted to see them. To show them that he’d turned out okay thanks to what they did for him. But stepping back into the whirlwind that was the Donovan family, he wasn't ready for yet, maybe not ever. He'd done everything he could to make up for leaving the way he had. Done everything he could to say he was sorry. Except actually opening his trap and putting words to purpose. But then again, how the hell did one say, “Hey, I'm sorry you guys took me in and treated me like family then I bailed and bolted the moment shit got real.”
Nate shook his head. He had real enemies to deal with and confront. Not ghosts from his past.
Nate forced his brain to focus on one line of code at a time. Forced himself to let the syntax translate into something his brain could understand. Once he had that, he savored the flavor of it like a fine wine. Every coder was like an artist. Or more like a chef. Once you'd tasted a masterpiece, you never forgot that chef’s signature. And the code base for Synth was one he had sampled before. They’d built a proprietary framework that all outsourced game developers had to use, and he was very familiar with it. But he’d never paid much attention to the framework code. He’d just followed the rules set forth. Which calls to make to which libraries. How to label and make his calls. How to handle the stored procedures for the database.