Tempted by a Sinner (Seven Sinners Book 4)

by A G Henderson

  It was hard to imagine this serene man acting out. Stealing. Fighting? I could look at his muscled shape and the dent in his nose as many times as I wanted, but picturing that side of him and believing it were two separate things.

  Tone walked for a while without a word, and I tugged my hat down around my ears. I should’ve worn more layers. But I would be damned before I asked him to turn back. Wherever we were going, there was a reason he was taking me there. He always had a reason.

  Always.

  “Our friendship shifted when we became teenagers. Call it hormones or fate or whatever the fuck it might’ve been. Something was different. For a while, we both danced around it, not wanting anything to change. Then it did. And it was...I don’t know. It was everything.”

  Tone stopped suddenly and I looked around, seeing nothing noteworthy. I squinted in case there was some identifying landmark I was missing. Except there wasn’t. There were only trees and brush and pine needles. He kept hold of my hand and walked to the base of a tree that looked no different from any of the others.

  Not counting the way he stared at this one in particular.

  Or the sudden tightness I felt spread through him.

  “We had several good years,” he said softly, placing his palm against the rough bark. “That’s something I can be grateful for, even now. Then things changed again, and not for the better. We were on a hike, out in these same woods. It was something we used to do all the time when my grandfather wasn’t around. When life felt too overbearing. She-”

  He choked and cleared his throat. There were already tears on my lashes, and when he saw them, a ghost of a smile appeared. Gentle fingers brushed my cheek. “Why are you crying?” he asked on a laugh that held no merriment.

  “Because you’re sad, and I know you won’t. I’ll cry for you.”

  Tone nodded as if I was making sense.

  I wasn’t. All I knew was that I could feel his heart being torn apart with every word like it was my own.

  He took a deep breath and glanced back at the tree. His brows bunched together, lips pulling in a tight grimace. “She couldn’t catch her breath.” He rocked back on his heels. “Katherine wasn’t an athlete, but she wasn’t out of shape either. It wasn’t a long hike. She should’ve been able to breathe just fine. And she couldn’t.”

  He dropped into a crouch suddenly, bringing me with him. My knees landed in cold dirt, and I ignored it, pressing myself to his side. He shivered, and I was sure it had nothing to do with the temperature.

  “I carried her back, and straight to a hospital. Waiting on the results was-“

  “Torture,” I finished, earning a distracted nod.

  “When they finally came back, it was nothing we could’ve seen coming. Nothing we could’ve stopped. She had an atrial septal defect.”

  I bit my lip. “A hole in her heart.”

  “How did you know that?”

  “Internet,” I said.

  Now wasn’t the time to get into how I had to learn that any child I might have had a higher chance of being born with the same issue. This wasn’t the time. It might never be.

  I didn’t offer anything else.

  Tone stared at me for a moment. Then he nodded. “It had been getting worse for some time before the first symptoms showed up. Seems like almost overnight, she went from being right across the street to being stuck at the hospital for days that stretched into weeks.”

  My eyes pinched shut. I knew that trial. The struggle of it. The realization of watching someone return to a place that was supposed to make them better, and instead they kept getting worse.

  “Her family was running itself into the ground trying to pay for the treatments, and I didn’t have a job.” He suddenly threw the branch in his other hand to the side, motions angry. “I did what I had to do. I became the same kind of thug those ignorant fucks had always seen me as.”

  I pressed myself closer, practically molding my small body around his much larger one. When he inhaled, I could feel the way he trembled. He was bleeding on the inside, breaking apart. And all I wanted to do was patch him back together.

  “I took and I took and I took, until the trail obviously lead back to me. It wasn’t enough. I couldn’t buy her more time, even with their blood money. Then they got me.”

  My heart froze, and the hand massaging his stiff shoulders with it. They stayed frozen while he talked about them attacking him in the middle of the night, wearing masks. Tying him up and taking him out into the woods, a noose around his neck. His barefoot escape.

  I licked suddenly dry lips. “Did you...get back at them?”

  “You mean did I kill them?” He asked harshly, flashing his teeth. Despite the hostility, I didn’t let him go. It seemed like that was what he wanted.

  And I was nothing if not contrary.

  I met his angry gaze steadily, letting nothing show aside from calm understanding. “Yes, that’s what I mean.”

  “Not right away,” he growled, hands flexing. Jaw pulsing. The rays of sunlight dashing across his features highlighted the frustration. “I had to find them first. That’s when I crossed paths with Tex, and he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Back then, I thought it was providence smiling on me for a change. Instead, it was Katherine maneuvering in the background.”

  He popped his neck and went quiet, allowing me time to put together what I knew. No wonder him being part of the Sinners never made sense. He hadn’t gone looking for them. It happened the other way around.

  “What are you waiting for?”

  I blinked, glancing at his stern profile. “Huh?”

  “You deserve better than a killer. And at the end of the day, that’s what I am.”

  “You’re wrong.” The words emerged without thought or concern.

  “I’m not. I killed her too.”

  I captured his face in my cold hands, forcing him to look at me. There was no lie in his dark, tortured eyes. He believed what he was saying.

  But I don’t. “Explain.”

  He grabbed my hands in his, turning so that we sat facing each other. For a while, he simply stared at our intertwined fingers. Then, he said, “She was miserable hooked up to those machines, and she didn’t have much time. Kat begged me not to let it happen there.”

  Oh. Oh. Shit. The boulder in his throat was in mine now instead. Dread curled up at the base of my neck, knocking against my skull. “Where?”

  He cocked his head to the side—towards the tree he was staring at before—eyes glistening. “Here,” he rasped. “Right here. She died in my fucking arms, Naomi. And I was-” His voice broke and I winced, feeling his pain. “I was helpless.”

  Now you help everyone else, I thought, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

  Did he even realize why?

  Did it matter?

  I think I finally understand you, my honorable knight.

  “You did the right thing,” I said. He looked desperate to believe me, but I wasn’t sure he did.

  That muscle in his jaw jumped. “She might’ve made it longer if-”

  “Stop.” I shook him none too gently. “The ifs and maybes are raindrops that never stop falling. They seem harmless enough, but give them a chance and they’ll drown you.”

  His lips curved. Not a full smile. Not utter desolation either.

  I would take it.

  “When did you get so wise?” he asked.

  “I didn’t,” I told him honestly. “The smartest woman I ever knew said those words to me right before she made the same choice Katherine did. My mom wanted to see another sunrise more than anything. That’s how I know you did the right thing.”

  “Most of her family wouldn’t agree.”

  Every molecule in my body burned. From the top of my scalp to the tips of my toes. “Fuck them.”

  He blinked, eyes going wide. “Was that an F-bomb, Smoothie Girl? I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  “I make an exception for special circumstances. From everything you’ve tol
d me, what you two had was special. That’s all that matters.”

  Tone flashed me a smile. The light behind it was dim, but it was there all the same. “You’re too good for me,” he said.

  And I smiled, hugging him.

  Placing my head against his chest.

  “I know.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Tone

  There was a sense of urgency humming in my veins as I closed my front door and stared at the gorgeous woman undressing in my space.

  Naomi took her coat off slowly, delicate fingers working at the buttons before she draped it over my sofa. She bent over, giving me an amazing view of her ass in those tight jeans as she unlaced her boots and stepped out of them, sock-covered toes wiggling on the hardwood.

  Watching her make herself at home was intoxicating, and so damn perfect I discreetly pinched my side to make sure this wasn’t a hallucination.

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, content to watch her. This amazing, passionate woman who was still around for some reason, despite all the heavy shit I laid on her last night and this morning.

  Had she run for the hill when I first told her about Katherine, I wouldn’t have been surprised.

  When I admitted to what went down between me and the men back in Deacon, I had fully expected her to stand up and walk away.

  I had blood on my hands. I was one moving part in a giant engine full of people who did bad shit. I’d stolen my best friend from the hospital without letting her family know, and taken her out into the woods for one last conversation.

  One last moment that was only ours.

  And even knowing those things, Naomi was here. With me. My heart knocked against my ribs and I heard it loud and clear. Keeping my distance from the emotions swamping me had become impossible where she was concerned.

  I wanted her.

  I needed her.

  It was so fucking wrong and yet so goddamn right.

  No wonder I’d been drawn to her from those first few moments. She knew the same pain I did. Yet she handled hers infinitely better. Being in her presence was finally giving me the true strength I needed to risk those barbed, pain-filled memories. To let them lance the wounds so they could finally begin to heal.

  I couldn’t do it without her.

  She padded towards the kitchen then stopped, glancing over her shoulder at me. Her brows drew together when she realized I hadn’t moved. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yes,” I answered, standing to my full height.

  “What is it?”

  I strode forward, long legs eating up the distance with ease. She stayed where she was, head tilted. When I got within reaching distance, I did just that.

  My hands snaked out, wrapping around her waist. Crushing her soft body against mine. Her lips parted in surprise and I stared at them hungrily. “It’s been too long since I last kissed you.”

  I didn’t need to wait for her to agree. The way she raised her chin up and closed her eyes, offering herself to me, said everything I needed to hear. Truth be told, I’d lost track of how many times I’d pressed my lips to hers. Yet I knew this one would be branded into my mind forever.

  This one, I would hold onto for when I was an old man with a cane, reminiscing on the best moments of my life.

  And this kiss?

  It was one of them.

  My lips brushed against hers, softly seeking. Her hands rose, resting on my neck. She twirled her fingers along the ends of my beard, and I smiled against her lips.

  Every breath I took smelled like peaches and life.

  I’d never been a smoker. Still, from the moment we walked out of the forest, hand in hand, my lungs felt purged of a smog I carried for years.

  Naomi made a soft noise I wanted to playback until the end of time, and I could no longer stand these tiny, butterfly kisses.

  I wound my hands in her hair, tilting her head the way I needed it to go. Loving how easily she let me. There was always fight in this woman. From day one she had given me hell. But when the bubble formed, and the two of us disappeared inside it, she let herself be mine.

  She gave herself to me, and that knowledge filled my heart nearly to bursting.

  I tugged at her hair, sliding my tongue along the seam of her lips, savoring her softness. It made no sense; how delicate she was. Yet I knew first-hand how much will and pride and passion were packed inside her small frame. It was humbling to take in.

  She was here, with me. Away from home. Away from family. Running her own business. Carving out her own life a day at a time, and doing it all with a heart that stayed golden. Open. Loving.

  I never stood a chance.

  Naomi moaned, and her tongue flicked out, teasing mine.

  I growled into her mouth, diving in to catch her tongue when it retreated. Her nails pressed against my skin when I did. Chuckling low in my throat, I released her hair just long enough to grab two handfuls of her ass and lift her into my arms.

  “Showoff,” she breathed, leaning back enough to look at me.

  Eyes gone heavy-lidded, I feigned a scowl. “Get back here, woman. I wasn’t done kissing you.”

  She raised a brow and I started walking towards my bedroom, never looking away from her. “I know you did not just call me, ‘woman.’ Is this the eighteen-hundreds? Do I look like some kind of housewife?”

  I laughed, pushing my bedroom door open and closing it behind me with my foot. “What do you have against housewives?”

  Naomi covered my face as much as she could with her small hands. “Ugh. Can you stop being handsome for like, two seconds so I can be as annoyed with you as I want to be?”

  “I don’t think it works like that.” I licked her palm and she pulled it away, shrieking playfully.

  “Gross, you’re going to give me cooties.”

  “Maybe I will,” I told her seriously, lowering her onto the bed. Kneeling on the floor between her legs. Times like these, her miniature frame worked to my advantage. Even in this position, our faces remained close together. “No one else will want you if you have cooties.”

  Her hands slid across my head and my eyes closed. I pressed my face between her breasts and stayed there while she did it again and again. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else wants,” she said softly, fingers working magic on my skull.

  “Why not?”

  Her lips caressed the shell of my ear so she could impart a whispered secret. “Because you’re it for me, Tone. I don’t want anyone else.”

  I kissed her heart over her shirt, thankful for its powerful, steady beat. I kissed her neck, thankful for her pulse. I kissed her nose, thankful for fucking everything about her because goddamn, I’d gotten lucky.

  My eyes scanned hers intently. “You mean that.”

  She grinned, pecking at the corner of my mouth. “Don’t sound so surprised. You’re kind of alright. For someone who sticks to me like superglue, anyway.” She tapped a finger against her luscious lips, nodding to herself. “Yeah. I mean, I guess you’ll do until I can upgrade to the newer model.”

  I threw my head back and laughed, long and hard and free.

  “That wasn’t funny,” she said, voice light. “As soon as a two-point-oh version is out, I’m kicking you to the-”

  I lunged forward, tackling her to the bed with my mouth on hers. A kiss that started urgently—with her clawing at my jacket to pull it from me—soon shifted. Becoming something slow and sensual. Something to be cradled like a precious gem or a blossoming flower.

  There was nothing that could keep her from me.

  And there would be plenty of time to fuck her brains out against every wall, and on top of every counter.

  Tonight?

  Tonight, would have purpose. I would pay her back for the gifts she had given me without even knowing what she was doing. But I wouldn’t do it in the name of old promises or self-flagellation.

  I would do it because we were setting out on new territory, and I wanted to honor this journey by starting it off r
ight.

  Hands pinning her in place on the bed, I kissed her until she was a squirming mess. I kissed her until her pink lips were swollen. I kissed her until I had imprinted every crevice of her mouth onto the map of her in my mind.

  Only then did I stand and tug at my jacket, tossing it into the corner before my shirt followed. The entire time, I kept my stare on those sunshine eyes. Letting the heat and emotion in them energize me in a way nothing else could.

  Naomi looked like a siren against my sheets, ready to lead men to the great, unforgiving depths with a simple crook of her finger. Her loose black hair was spread out, framing a face I would never get tired of looking at. There was a slight flush to her cheeks, staining them with a touch of innocence that was unreasonably tempting.

  I wanted to defile that innocence.

  I wanted to do things to her she would never forget. The kind of things that would have her waking up in the middle of the night with a drenched pussy and a craving for my dick.

  And I would.

  Oh, I fucking would.

  But not tonight.

  I kicked out of my shoes and jeans, leaving myself in nothing but my black boxer briefs before I closed in on her again. She opened her arms, welcoming me. I wasted no time, fitting myself against her soft curves and burying my face in the curve of her neck.

  My dick was harder than I thought possible. Being nestled right up against her mound, feeling her feminine heat even through her jeans wasn’t helping matters.

  Her hands slid down, heading towards my waistband.

  “Nuh-uh,” I said, capturing them. She briefly struggled, but we both knew there was no chance of her overpowering me. All she had to show for her efforts was several locks of hair scattered across her face.

  “Why not?” she complained, blowing the at the stray hairs. When even that was unsuccessful, she pulled at her hands again. “A little help?”

  Grinning, I pinned her arms back above her head and cleared her face with my nose instead. “Keep these here.”