SweetHarts (5 Book Box Set)

by Kira Graham

  “A friend of mine is in bad shape. I need magic or a miracle to fix this.”

  “So, you called me,” she murmurs smugly, her coo of pleasure grating over my nerves like hell.

  A few years back, I dated Beau Pleasant, an up-and-coming neurosurgeon who had stars in her eyes and babies on her brain. Our romance was fast, hot, and as heavy as hell, and thinking back on it even now makes my heart threaten to explode. She was and still is a good woman, but she wasn’t as smart when it came to relationships. Our time together was a strange mix of clinginess and conflict, something that I could never have accepted and wasn’t willing to take on. She blew hot and cold. We fought a lot. And then she gave me an ultimatum that blew apart something that could have been great. She wanted marriage, babies, and my undying love.

  I, on the other hand, wanted a relationship that didn’t involve breaking glass, hysterical tears, and constant stress. To say that things ended badly when I broke it off is an understatement. Beau went crazy, and for a while there, she called me every day, begging me to come back to her.

  I can’t say that I blame her for her anger now, but I know that I’ll hook her just on the challenge of sinking her teeth into something as perfect as the impossible save.

  “You’re the best in your field, Beau. Who else would I entrust my family to?” I ask, my mouth quirking when she hisses at the compliment and mutters a curse.

  “Who says that I want that? I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to come back there and see the face of the man who broke my heart,” she snarls, her anger still strong enough that I wince and look away from Nate when he meets my eyes questioningly.

  “Oh, come now, honey, you know that shit isn’t true. You hated me as much as you liked me,” I remind her, grinning when she curses and snorts snidely.

  “Who can blame me, Ares? For a man named after the god of war, all you ever did was avoid emotional conflict. That makes it really hard for a woman to conduct a relationship based on passion and desire. You’re as cold as ice under all that hotness,” she says softly, making me flinch and grind my jaw.

  “My friend’s name is Brent. He’s a thirty-four-year-old cop who was injured while protecting a friend. Suffered a near-fatal wound when a bullet tore up one of his kidneys. The doctors put him under to keep him stable while he healed up, but now he’s not waking. It’s been months, almost a full year of back-and-forth, since they tried to wake him, and now they’re saying that if things don’t change—”

  “Brain activity?” she asks, her professional tone bringing out a satisfied smile in me.

  I may not have loved Beau, but I always respected her, and I respect the hell out of her willingness to accept a challenge. She always took the hardest cases and tackled surgeries that no other doctor would dare go near. She’s brilliant, beautiful in her own right, and a force to be reckoned with. And now she’s my last Hail Mary, because if she can’t—or won’t—help me, then Brent could very well die.

  “It’s there. It’s why they put him back on life support when he crashed a little while back. But they’re pissing on and on about pneumonia and other shit that’s making them second-guess things. It’s not looking good. I don’t know all the details here, and Zeus and his wife Rosetta are closer to Brent than I was, but I’m hoping that the whiz kid of neuro will have some answers,” I tell her.

  “Flattery,” she muses, her tone mocking. “You always did have a way with words, asshole. Send me his files. I’ll look them over, but I’m not promising anything. I’m neuro. This could be something else entirely, in which case I can’t do a damn thing,” she warns me.

  “Thanks, Beau.”

  “Don’t thank me yet, asshole. I haven’t done anything.”

  “You’re willing to try. That’s all I’m asking for. Ma’ll get a kick out of seeing you again. She liked you,” I say softly, chuckling when she snorts.

  “She liked that I had sass, not that I was looking for a ring and happily ever after with one of her babies. Shut up, send me what you have, and don’t hold your breath,” she mutters, the line going dead with a click before I can say another word.

  Now I sigh, and as I close my eyes and pray, I hear a door open and crack my eyelids to peer up at a scowling Tee, who is dressed in a pair of Mickey Mouse sleep shorts, a gray sports bra, and black-and-white-striped socks that reach her knees.

  “God. Not you, too!” she hisses, scowling when I smirk and keep my pose relaxed as I continue reclining back against the couch.

  “Now, now, Nefertiti. Anyone would think that you weren’t happy to see me, the way you’re hissing like a scalded cat. What’s wrong, honey? Is hiding away in your apartment giving you the scratch?” I ask, the taunt rolling off my tongue before I can stop it.

  “Oh, shut up. I’m just fine. I don’t need another babysitter,” Tee grumbles, her ass twitching in her shorts as she flounces back towards the kitchen and opens the fridge. “I need to go to the store, Nate. All that’s left in here is beer and milk.”

  “No can do, sweet cheeks. Grange said that I’m not allowed to take you out without him and Heath being present, not after you freaked out and tried to climb into the soda fridges at the store. And the manager banned you, remember?” he yells back, his eyes twinkling when she huffs and slams the fridge closed, coming over to flop down beside him and steal his pizza right out of his hand.

  I can’t say that I like the familiarity that she has with these guys, and I like it even less when she curls her feet into his lap and demands a foot rub. Her feet are right over his cock, for God’s sake.

  “The manager is a little prick, and we all know it. What was I supposed to do when that little shithead of a kid set off firecrackers in the store?” she snarls, her eyes coming over to rest on mine when I snort.

  “You need to stop being a baby,” I grunt, leaning over to grab a slice because she’s looking at the box with a greed that tells me she’ll eat it all.

  That’s not usual for Tee. She can slay a baked good like no one’s business, and put chocolate in front of her and she’s off to the races, but actual dinner food isn’t something that she normally cares all that much about.

  “And you need to fuck off, Hart. I’m really grateful to you for saving my life, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to lick your balls every chance I get, either.”

  “Ah, but didn’t you like it the first time?” I ask, goading her.

  Why, I can’t tell you. I’m not usually the guy that looks for a fight. I’m the exact opposite, in fact. So why I came over here stewing and looking for an argument is beyond me. All I know is that when Tee hisses and gets that fire in her eyes, a fire I’ve been missing for weeks, I feel my body tense and get ready for more. Because I like it. I want it. I need it.

  “Screw off,” she grumbles, flushing scarlet when Nate gives us a speculative look and frowns.

  “The rumors are true? You guys are doing it?” he asks, wincing when Tee slaps his arm and orders him to go back to rubbing her feet.

  “No! We had sex, like, one time.”

  “Hmmm,” I drawl, letting my eyes go hot so that she blushes at the memory of what we did together.

  That one time may have been all we had, but it was something so memorable that even now, I feel my dick thicken at the memory. Of course I want her. I’m not a fool, and I am not into lying to myself about anything. Denial is the fastest way to losing your footing, and it’s a pointless activity that I find childish in the extreme. So, yeah, I want her again, but I know from experience that the payoff isn’t worth it. Tee comes with a lot more drama than any relationship that I’ve ended for that very reason, and getting tangled up with her isn’t a good idea. Now, if she’d agree to just sex…

  “Don’t ‘hmmm’ me with that smug man look. It was one time, and it wasn’t worth it in the end. You ended up being more of a self-righteous ass than you already were, and FYI, no woman wants a post-sex lecture about getting emotional,” she tells me, her head falling back against Nate’s
shoulder with a moan when he presses into her arch.

  She’s in seventh heaven, while he’s glaring at me so hard that I shift in my seat and try to remember that I don’t like violence.

  You started it, though, didn’t you? my mind whispers, taunting me enough that I curse silently and eye the door.

  I shouldn’t have come over. It’s just that sitting alone in my apartment all night has become alien to me ever since I met Tee. We may not be friends in the traditional sense of the word, and we may be complete opposites when it comes to life views, but she’s become a fixture that I find myself missing more, the more I try to pull away.

  “You kicked me in the balls, Tee,” I say softly, fighting a smile when her eyes go dreamy and she smiles, darkly.

  “You woke me up from a decent sleep and acted like an ass. You didn’t think that I was just going to walk out with my tail between my legs, being all ‘oh, woe is me’ and feeling rejected, did you?” she asks, her snort turning into a growl when I clamp my lips shut and just stare at her.

  “He didn’t cuddle?” Nate asks, his expression one of disgust when Tee shakes her head.

  “Nope. Not even a patronizing pat on the head. Why, Nathaniel, it pure broke my squishy little heart,” she proclaims mockingly, her lip curling when I close my eyes and search for patience.

  “Stop being a bitch. That was months ago. I thought we’d moved past our mistake,” I mumble, my body recoiling when something slams into my stomach right before ice-cold liquid pours over me.

  She threw Nate’s half-finished beer at me, I realize, when I leap up and the thing clatters to the floor. I see that my pants and stomach are soaked as I look down in shock and try to flick the beer away.

  “Jesus!”

  “Serves you right for being an asshole. You know, the last time that someone spoke to me that way, he had to have thirteen stitches,” she warns me, her eyes flicking away when I curse and grab a bunch of napkins to blot at my pants.

  “I should hit him. Can I hit him, Tee?” Nate asks, and my head wings up to meet his hostile gaze.

  “Nah. He’d just ruin it by not fighting back,” she sighs, her mouth twisting when I hiss and glare down at her.

  She’s right, though. I hate fighting. I haven’t fought anyone, ever, unless you count the struggle between me and Peter the night I shot him. I don’t want to fight. So why the hell am I here picking a fight in the first place? I ask myself, abandoning the napkins when I feel the beer seep into my boxers and cool my half-hard cock.

  “Tee,” I sigh, falling back onto the couch with a groan as I swipe a hand through my hair. “I’m sorry. I’m being an idiot for no good reason. I just don’t like it when you make it seem like I was the bad guy. We slept together once, and you agreed that it shouldn’t be a repeat performance.”

  Which for some reason annoyed me. Why wouldn’t she want me again? I’m no slouch when it comes to sex, and I know that she came enough times to prove that she liked what I did to her.

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t sign up for being a cum-dump, either, Ares. A little breakfast, something to break the ice and dispel the awkwardness afterwards…you know what I mean? Anything more than your cold-hearted approach, cyborg-man. But ya know what? You’re right. It’s water under the bridge. Let’s move on. Why are you here?” she asks, her eyes rolling when I shrug and lean over to resume eating my pizza.

  “I’m hiding from Adonis. He’s on a rant about accepting Cleo’s wedding ideas, and also trying to keep them from Honey, something that Rosetta thinks is a hilarious blackmail tool,” I sigh, my eyes running over Tee again and taking in her body.

  She looks different, but then again, I haven’t seen her for almost three weeks now. Is she gaining weight? I wonder, the question slipping out before I can stop it.

  She gasps, mortally offended, and I see Nate scowl before he snarls at me and glares meaningfully. I don’t get whatever message he’s trying to convey, though, because I see something happen that makes me blink and wonder if that beer hit me in the head and concussed me. Tee’s lip quivers, before she gets it under control and adopts a fixed expression.

  What the hell?

  “Thanks for that. I really needed one more person calling me tubby.”

  “Your dad’s already telling that story,” Nate chuckles, his eyes finding mine again even as he laughs.

  That laughter doesn’t reach his eyes, though—another sign that something is off at the moment. Very off.

  “It was only one lousy stitch!” she mumbles, a smile ticking at her lips.

  “This, I have to hear. What did she do?” I ask, choking when Nate tells me. “You bit your father?”

  “Well, he called me fat!” she complains, her attempts to stop her giggles failing miserably.

  “Uh, he said, and I quote, ‘Neffie, you’re startin’ to get some good curves, honey—that’s good. Never did understand why women today starve themselves,’” Nate laughs, his abs clenching in a way that makes me tense up and glance at Tee.

  She isn’t even looking, and I relax a little while a frown furrows my brow.

  “You hurt your own father for complimenting you?”

  “Pfft! Curves, my ass! Look at me. I’ve picked up six pounds, and I can tell. He didn’t have to mention it, though. Plus, I was a liiiittle hormonal,” she explains, blushing when Nate snorts and pulls her against his naked chest.

  “It’s okay, sweet cheeks. It’s understandable,” he murmurs, shaking his head when I open my mouth to ask.

  A mystery, then, I think, watching her bite her lip and stare at the TV, her eyes holding a faraway look.

  “This better be worth it.”

  “It will be. Shhh. You’re okay. This is good,” he tells her, dropping another vague clue that tells me nothing.

  What the hell is going on, and why hasn’t she told me about it? Tee tells me everything, even when I don’t want her to. I’ve had calls from her at three in the morning informing me that she got her period. She tells me anything and everything that she thinks will bug me. God, I even know that she’s prone to gas when she eats certain foods, something that you’d think would put me off, but doesn’t. I kinda like that I know she isn’t perfect, though God knows, I knew that before all the unwanted information.

  “My ass is going to be huge. I like being lean enough to commit a good, old-fashioned B and E. Cleo does some weird shit when she’s backed into a corner, and I need to be there to clean shit up. How will I do that now? Sin isn’t worth a damn in those kinds of situations. Remember when we egged Cole’s house?” she asks, making even me snort and nod. “She was a mess in that jail cell. A total mess. I thought that I had problems, with some tweaker junkie eyeing me like a piece of meat, but she was a mess. Rosetta doesn’t do illegal stuff anymore, ever since she almost went to jail for those murders she didn’t commit, and Alex is worse than useless when she’s gestating! Who’s gonna be there to save Cleo from herself, and the law?” she whines, her aggrieved tone making me sit up and pay attention.

  Nefertiti doesn’t whine. She doesn’t beg. Hell, she hardly ever even asks for anything, because she just takes what she wants, unapologetically. It’s a bone of contention between us that she doesn’t seem to care about how people feel. And yet here she is, looking nearly panicked by…what? I have no idea, but as I watch and listen to Nate trying to calm her down, I promise myself that I will find out. Somehow.

  Chapter Seven

  Tee

  I roll over with a groan and curse the sunlight when it sears my eyeballs and reminds me that I haven’t had all that much sleep. Ares, still fast asleep and snoring beside me, grunts and rolls over, his palm landing on my boob, squeezing and then relaxing, before he snuggles his stupid face into my neck.

  This isn’t smart, I tell myself as I keep completely still and hiss at my nipple to stop furling with desire. I can’t be in bed with Ares Hart while I’m taking these stupid shots to get my fertility just right for insemination. It’s silly and impractical
to let him creep his silent and judgmental ass back into my life when I’m hormonal to the point of hysteria some days. And yet here he is. In bed with me. Snuggling me the way he wouldn’t after we had sex!

  The freaking nerve, I think with a silent hiss, my body going all kinds of soft when he hums contentedly and starts to snore again, his soft grumbles puffing into my ear and over my neck.

  You’re a fool, Nefertiti Sweet. A damn fool for liking the way it feels to be here with him. And yet, I don’t ever say no when he shows up at my door with food, a look, and the expectation that I’ll let him in. All I can say in my own defense is that I’m lonely and a little…well, I wouldn’t say scared, exactly, but it’s something close to that. It’s been two months since I spoke to Sin about having her baby, and, from day one, Doc Payne and I have been playing this game. I’ve had shots, been made so fertile that a blowjob could knock me up, and had the inseminations once.

  Last month’s attempt didn’t take, and when I got my period and started crying like the world had come to an end, I knew why Sin had wanted things done this way. I was both devastated and partly relieved, as terrible as that sounds. Mostly devastated, but I can’t ignore the fact that I may, possibly, not be ready to do this thing. Not that Sin cares. According to her, a deal’s a deal, and my feelings can kiss her soon-to-be maternal ass.

  Whatever, man.

  “You wake up too early. Go back to sleep,” I hear Ares mutter into my neck, his warm breath tickling my skin enough that I immediately tense up and try to squirm away.

  I’m crazy ticklish on my neck; just ask this one guy that I dated for a week. He thought that it would be sexy to suck a hickey onto me but ended up with a broken nose when I accidentally headbutted him.

  “Stop that! It tickles,” I grouch, shoving at his head until he laughs and rolls away, flopping onto his front.

  God, the man has a beautiful back, I think, taking in the tattoos that cover half his skin, depicting a peace sign, of all things. Freaking loser.