Against the Rules (Liberty Cove Book 1)

by Julia Black

  Josh dipped his head and ran his tongue over the top arch of my breast. My lips parted, I wrapped my arms around his neck and arched my back. Right now, I would do anything he wanted.

  He kept playing with his tongue, running it around my breast, until finally, he flicked my nipples. I bucked, wishing he was inside me. He closed his mouth around my breast and I melted some more. Holy crap, how could it feel this good? Was he feeling what I was feeling? Did he want me as much as I wanted him?

  One of his hands snaked up, wrapping around my free breast. He pinched my hardened nipples and I bucked again. Pure heat and pleasure swam through me and I wanted more, more, more.

  Feeling bold and sexy, I slid my hands over his chest and found the hem of his polo shirt. While savoring each lap of his tongue and suck of his mouth, I explored his stomach and chest, in awe of the many muscles I found under his warm skin. This guy had to work out a lot to maintain a body like this.

  He pushed his hips against me again—I shivered.

  Biting my lower lip, I undid the button and zipper of his pants, and slipped my hand inside his boxers. He hissed, his teeth gently closing around my nipples, as I ran my hand over his massive hardon. Holy crap, I was suddenly worried if he would fit inside me.

  Noticing the way he reacted to my touch, I moved my hand up and down, up and down, pushing hard against his shaft. Josh shivered, then he grabbed my wrists, and pulled my hands away.

  Straightening, he looked at me. “Keep that up and I won’t last.”

  Pride bloomed in my chest. So I could make a man feel like that just by touching him? That had never happened before.

  He leaned into me and captured my mouth again. I surrendered to the kiss, melting into his arms, being sucked from reality, and loving every second of it. I tightened my legs around him and, with my feet, tugged him to me. He let out a small chuckle against my lips as he obliged and thrust his hips on mine, rubbing his hardon on my center. Breaking the kiss, I threw my head back. Josh’s lips found my neck and he switched between kissing and nipping at my delicate kiss.

  He grabbed hold of my shoulders and pushed me down, until my back was flat on the table. Then he knelt in front of me.

  I sucked in a sharp breath as realization of what he would do hit me. Oh …

  Josh slipped off my panties with ease, then trailed small pecks from my ankle, up my knees, to the inside of my thigh. I tensed in anticipation, and my hands flew to his silky hair.

  He licked my center and, with a loud gasp, my hips bucked and my back arched off the desk.

  “You taste so good,” he whispered, before flicking his tongue over my clit again.

  Then he slipped a finger inside me. Then a second one. I slapped my hands on the table and curled my fingers around the edge, trying to hold on before I lost it. Before I melted away. Before the pleasure took over and I became a useless pile of pure bliss.

  He pumped his fingers inside me, fucking me with his hand hard and deep. Holy crap, I had never, ever felt something like this. This hot, this good, this …

  He sucked on my clit, hard, and I was done for. Pleasure exploded inside me, sending me in a spiral of heat and bliss. With a low chuckle, Josh licked my center one more time, then stood straight. My mind was a beautiful haze, but I couldn’t stop looking at him, gawking at the handsome man before me, as he fished a foil package from his wallet. I heard the unmistaken sound of him ripping the packet and then silence as he quickly rolled it over his length.

  Grabbing my hips, Josh pushed inside me in one quick, fast thrust. I cried as his cock filled me. God, he was too much, too big, too hard, too … everything.

  In a slow rhythm, pulling out and pushing back in in slow, long thrusts, Josh worked me up. The pressure build up again, but it was different this time. Deeper, more powerful.

  “Fuck,” Josh hissed. “This is too good.”

  With swift movements, Josh pulled out his shirt, wrapped an arm under my back, and pulled me up, so I was seated up on the table, my breasts pressed tight against his bare chest. He leaned into me and captured my mouth, just as his movements sped and he pushed inside me fast, deep, and hard.

  I gasped against his mouth and that only seemed to entice him more. Holding on to me, Josh pumped into my core, drawing out the hidden fire I never knew I had.

  A wave of pure heat rolled through me and I sank my nails on Josh’s back, stilling for a moment, before the fire burst, and I melted away in little quivers.

  Josh groaned against my mouth. He pushed into me hard once, twice, three times, then broke out in little trembles.

  “Holy fuck,” he whispered, leaning his heavy body over mine.

  I know, I wanted to tell him, but my mouth couldn’t catch up with my dazed brain and numb body.

  Who knew sex could be this freaking good?

  ***

  Kiera

  “You were gone a long time,” Pillar said from the passenger seat of her car. I had had only two beers at the beginning of party, while she spent the entire night drinking. Once we were leaving, she handed me the keys without complaining.

  I glanced at her. She had an I-know-what-you-did look. My cheeks heated with embarrassment—and a little bit of remainder lust.

  “Oh my fucking God, you screwed that blond guy, didn’t you?”

  If the car wasn’t so dark, she would probably be able to see my cheeks were now bright red.

  Yes, I had screwed the hot blond, and it had been oh so good. Though, after it was all said and done, a huge wave of embarrassment hit me, and all I wanted to do was hide. Holy crap, I had had sex with a stranger in someone else’s house. I couldn’t be any more mortified than that.

  As soon as I had gotten my clothes straightened, I fled the office. Lucky for me, I found Pillar in the living room. Her roommate had already left with her boyfriend, and most of the people she knew had hook ups or were leaving. She hadn’t hooked up with anyone and was ready to leave. I didn’t complain.

  Now driving back to Jersey City, I lifted my chin, owning my actions. “So?”

  She slapped me on the shoulder. “Good for you, chica.”

  “Ouch. Did I need to be slapped?”

  “I don’t know. Did the guy slap you hard enough?”

  “Oh my … we’re not having this conversation.”

  “Of course we are. Tell me everything. How it happened, where, how it was. Oh, and very important …” she lifted her hand and wiggled her pinkie. “The size.”

  “Oh my …” I chuckled. “I’m not telling you anything.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  I snorted. “You always knew that.”

  She smiled at me. “I know, and to be honest, that is one of the things I most like about you.”

  And I liked her because she could bring me out of my shell, even if just for a brief moment. Though the urge to keep my life in a leash was overwhelming, I needed these breaks too. And I only got them with Pillar.

  “Thanks for dragging me out tonight.”

  She shrugged. “That’s what friends do. They get their friends laid.”

  I laughed. “Oh my God, can we change subjects now?”

  Pillar bothered me a little more about it, but I knew she was doing it on purpose just because she thought it was fun to bug me.

  I met Pillar and her mother, Mercedes, a little over four years ago, when I moved to the apartment beside theirs. Mercedes, a Mexican woman with great motherly instincts, took me in under her wing as if I was her own daughter. At the time I was eighteen, and Pillar had just turned seventeen. We became good friends right away, and when Pillar left to attend college, it hurt bad. But at least she went to a college in Galloway, which was a little under two hours away, and she often came to spend the weekends and holidays with her mother.

  I drove through our quaint apartment complex, Liberty Cove. There were cute townhouses right at the entrance with their own numbers and street name. In the middle, there were larger, nicer apartment buildings marked from A to E.
And on the far back, were the smaller and older apartments marked from F to M.

  I parked Pillar’s car on her spot, in front of one of the smaller, older buildings, letter J. Since it was late, we took off our high heels before entering the building, and tiptoed to the third floor.

  Pillar fished her keys from her purse and unlocked to door to 302. In silence, we entered her apartment and continued tiptoeing to her bedroom.

  There I found the most beautiful sight in the whole world.

  Luana was spread over Pillar’s bed, sleeping with her arm hooked around Mr. Fluffy, her pink stuffed bunny. She had her favorite pajamas on—princesses, of course—and her beautiful dark brown curls were spread over the pillow.

  I smiled watching my daughter as she snored softly.

  “She’s so damn cute,” Pillar whispered to me.

  “I know.”

  Gently, I scooped my baby up in my arms. She was getting big for a four year old, but she was still not heavy enough that I could carry her by myself.

  “Mommy,” she mumbled, snuggling her little head on my neck.

  “Shhh, go back to sleep, baby.”

  “Need help?” Pillar asked.

  I asked her to unlock the door of 303 for me.

  “Thanks,” I said, stepping into my apartment.

  “See you tomorrow,” Pillar whispered, waving at me.

  I nodded at her before closing the door with my ass. I propped a knee up, rested Luana’s back on it, and quickly turned the key to lock the door.

  I crossed the family room of our little apartment, entered Luana’s bedroom, and gently deposited her in her bed. She mumbled something ineligible and I smiled, tucking her under her covers. I kissed the top of her head, then retreated.

  As usual, I paused under the door and watched my beautiful baby sleeping.

  From the moment she was conceived, a lot of things went wrong. One day, I would tell her all about it, but there was one detail I would make sure she understood and never forgot: she might not have been planned, but she was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Kiera

  This day couldn’t end fast enough.

  In fact, all my days had been feeling like that lately.

  I felt like I was in a permanent catch up game. I had no time to breathe. I just had to keep going and going and going. In my mind, I kept telling myself that if I gave all of myself now, next year would be better. I had been doing that for almost four years now and so far, the following year was never any better. It was all more of the same.

  At least Luana had started preschool two weeks ago, which meant I didn’t have to pay for daycare while I was at work—and that was a huge saving. We still struggled a lot, but at least now I would have some financial breathing room.

  “Do you have this in six?” a woman shoved a mini skirt in my face.

  I wanted to tell her she wasn’t a young girl anymore—under the heavy makeup, the tight clothes, and the obvious boob job, this woman was probably nearing her fifties—instead, I smiled and said, “Sure. I’ll get it for you.”

  I pivoted on my heels and marched across the store, going for the stock room in the back. I had been working here at D’Angie & Co., a small department store, for almost four years. I had rotated between the men’s department, the watches, the perfumes and cosmetics, and now I was in the women’s department—and it was the worst so far. I had started begging my boss to stick me in the home department next. I bet I would have to deal with less bitchy females there.

  As I suspected, the skirt in size six was too tight for the customer and what did she do? She bitched that the skirt I brought her was the wrong size. The fact that she couldn’t look in the mirror and just accept her size wasn’t.

  That was what I had to deal with from nine to four thirty every weekday. Sometimes, if I needed the cash or the store was short staffed, I came in on the weekends too. It wasn’t the best job in the world, but with my lifestyle, it was good enough. My boss didn’t complain much when I came in a few minutes late, because Luana’s school bus was late, or when I had to leave early because she was sick and I had to be the one to pick her up. Besides, it provided me with a few benefits, including health insurance, which was a must with a little kid.

  At four thirty, I packed my things and went home, in my old, old 1994 Corolla. I had no idea how it was still running, but I was thankful it did. Once upon a time, I had had a nicer car. But I had to sell it when Luana and I moved to Liberty Cove. Back then, we needed the money, so I sold my beloved car and bought this junk.

  I parked my car beside Pillar’s empty spot. She had gone back to college Sunday evening to start the Fall semester, and I already missed her.

  I stepped into the hallway of the third floor and saw a man hunched down in between apartments 305 and 306. He was messing with a big cardboard box.

  I shifted my attention to Mercedes’ door and lifted my hand to ring the bell.

  “Kiera?”

  My hand froze. My breath caught.

  Oh my …

  Slowly, I turned toward the voice, not wanting to believe it, but there he was. “Josh.”

  Staring at me with huge eyes, Josh stood in front of the cardboard box, wearing faded blue jeans and a white t-shirt that stretched over the many muscles I knew he had.

  I gulped down my embarrassment at seeing him again and walked a couple of steps toward him. “What are you doing here?” My eyes widened. “How did you find me?”

  He scoffed. “Who says I’m here for you?” He gestured toward the box. “I’m moving into 306.”

  Wait … what? A ball of lead dropped into my stomach. “You’re …? No.”

  He frowned. “Sorry, but I am.” His eyes raked over my body and I felt self-conscious. I knew I looked a little dressed up in black slacks, kitten heel pumps, and a red blouse. “You look nice.” He advanced one step, angling us toward the wall. “Speaking of nice, that night was nice, right?” His gaze flicked to my mouth, and I inhaled a sharp breath. “Now that we have met again, we could have a repeat of the other night, what do you think?”

  I ducked to the side, escaping his trap, even if a traitorous heat spread low in my body. It had been five days ago and holy crap, I still remembered how good his lips felt on mine as clear as if it had been two hours ago. I remembered how good his hands felt on my body, how his little groans excited me, and how perfect his cock had felt inside of me.

  No, no. That was a one-time thing. I had one big rule in my life—one—and I wouldn’t start breaking it now.

  “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression that night, but I’m not that kind of girl.” I lifted my chin, defiant. “It was a mist—”

  The door to Mercedes’ apartment opened and Luana shot out into the hallway. “Mommy!” she cried, running for my legs.

  I watched Josh’s reaction—his eyes widening, his mouth parting, and his shoulders tensing—and it only made me more resolute to steer clear of him. That night with him had been amazing, but it had still been a mistake. I was not that kind of girl.

  “Hey, baby,” I knelt down and embraced her. Mercedes peeked out from her apartment, and I smiled at her. “Thank you for watching her. Everything all right?”

  Mercedes waved me off. “She was a doll, as usual.” She blew a kiss to Luana, who giggled, pretending to catch the kiss. “See you tomorrow, mi Lua.”

  Mercedes shifted her eyes to Josh, briefly—if she noticed anything, she didn’t show—then waved at us again before going back inside her apartment.

  Luana tugged at my pants. “Mommy, who is this?”

  I stood and looked back at Josh, keeping an arm around her shoulders. “This is Josh, our new neighbor.”

  Josh wiped the stunned expression off his face, replacing it with a deep frown. “It’s Joshua Wolfe, but you can call me Josh.”

  “Hi, Josh. I’m Luana Arlington and this is my mommy, Kiera.”

  “Nice to meet you,” he mumbled, still cl
early shocked.

  I patted Luana’s shoulder. “Come on, baby. I bet we both have homework to do.”

  She groaned, a cute little sound coming from her throat. It always brought a smile to my face. Not today, though. “I hate homework.” She was in preschool—she didn’t really have homework, but there was always some coloring project to finish or something like that.

  With a last glance at Josh, I turned around and unlocked the door to our apartment. “I know. I do too. But we have to do it.”

  I could have looked back at him before closing the door, I wanted to, but I didn’t. Instead, I turned to the reason of my life and smiled. “How about a snack first?”

  “Ice cream?” she asked, her big blue eyes full of hope.

  I laughed. “Why not?”

  It wasn’t our usual weekdays snack, but right now I needed something sweet to brighten my day.

  ***

  Josh

  Holy fuck!

  She had a kid. Kiera, who couldn’t be older than twenty-two, twenty-three, had a freaking kid. A Kid!

  I was more stunned by that than the fact that she was my neighbor.

  Fuck, what a situation.

  I ran a hand over my hair and stared at her closed door. I didn’t know how long ago she had disappeared inside her apartment. Right now, my brain wasn’t processing anything very well.

  My phone dinged, and I woke up from my stupor. I fished it from the back pocket of my jeans and checked it. A message from the movers saying they would be here early tomorrow morning. I replied with an “okay.”

  Then, I picked up the box that was ripping apart—this was what I got from packing too many heavy things in one box—and hurried into my new apartment. New for me, because the thing was probably over thirty years old and hadn’t seen any improvements in at least twenty.

  I had spent the day bringing in smaller stuff—my clothes, some books, toiletries, some things from the fridge. I wanted the movers to just bring the heavy stuff like the couch, the dining table and chairs, my bed and mattress, and the dresser. The rest I could shove inside my Jeep and bring myself.