by Jody Wallace
“I like them too, but I gotta get up early,” Shonda explained. “Sorry, Caroline. We’re running a beta test, and I have to babysit it. Don’t worry, I’ll be done in time for the wedding.”
“About that. I’m going to call you all first thing in the morning. It’s important. Don’t take your phones off the hook.” Caroline poked around for her clutch as her friends clattered out to the limo. “Anybody seen my purse?”
She didn’t poke too hard, hoping they’d leave without her. She needed to tell Heck about Dan ASAP and deal with his overreacting.
Too bad Officer Sexy hadn’t left the handcuffs. Though getting Heck into them might prove challenging. He didn’t seem the type who’d be willing to lie back and…
No.
That was not a healthy direction for her imagination to veer, especially considering she was a jilted bride who hadn’t had sex in months. It was a good thing Jhi had promised to stay and help her break the news.
“Don’t forget to sponge off that tux, Heck,” Sally called over her shoulder as she waved good-bye.
Heck came up behind Caroline. His breath tickled her hair. To her surprise, his big hand slipped under her arm and curved around her rib cage.
“Don’t go yet,” he whispered. “We need to talk.”
Every nerve ending in her body jangled with awareness. “I know.”
He didn’t answer. He spread his fingers, and his thumb stroked the fabric of her dress.
“Are you coming?” Lisa asked her. She looked at Heck and Caroline, her lips thin. “There’s no reason for you to stay. The party’s over.”
“I can’t find my purse,” Caro said.
“I saw Jhi pawing through it.” Lisa held the door wider. “Hurry up. The limo’s waiting.”
Jhi sauntered back into the hallway from the dining room. “Caro, Heck, and I have some wedding glitches to discuss. You guys go on ahead.”
“Is everything okay?” Lisa asked.
“It will be. Call you tomorrow.” Jhi slammed the front door on Lisa and propped herself against it.
Caro wished Jhi hadn’t been so obvious. She trusted Jhi in most things, but in others, she really was the devil.
“Alone at last.” Jhi’s eyes glittered in the dim light of the foyer. “You two have fun?”
“It was a great party,” Caroline said.
“I agree.” She smiled. “Herman, I was wrong about you. I am truly impressed with some portions of this evening.”
Heck rested his chin on Caro’s head companionably, but the way his thumb was stroking her side was less congenial. He was coming awfully close to her breast. She discreetly checked her chest and…yep, her nipples had hardened. Dammit.
“Only some portions were impressive?” he asked Jhi, his tone smug.
Jhi flicked aside the curtain in the foyer window. “I was impressed with the limo.”
“The whole evening was a success.” Heck, to Caroline’s delight and dismay, wrapped both arms around her and pulled her against him. He’d rolled up his cuffs, and the dark hair on his arms tickled her hands when she placed them hesitantly on his skin. He gave her a squeeze. “Our girl deserves the best, and I provided.”
“You came close, anyway.” Jhi let the curtain fall. “You even got us a stripper.”
She felt the rumble of Heck’s laugh against her back. “Hell, I got us two.”
Jhi snorted. “God, don’t remind me. I may be scared off dick for life.” Then she smiled at the two of them, sly as a cat. “But there is one thing left to do.”
“I had a checklist. I didn’t miss anything.” He released her and stepped away, hands shoved into his pockets.
“You did a wonderful job,” Caroline told him, buttering him up. “I’m amazed at everything you managed. Very creative.”
“It was nothing.” He shrugged.
“I bet you’re exhausted. Why don’t you go relax? Kick back on the sofa. We can have our talk and you can drive us home.”
“Herman switched to liquor after the food fight. He can’t drive.” Jhi slipped the strap of her own purse over her shoulder. “I, on the other hand, am always sober. I’ll be driving myself home. Caro, your purse is on the dining room table. There’s a surprise inside. Herman, give me your keys.”
What was Jhi doing? She couldn’t leave Caro alone to face Heck. He’d be furious with Dan, and he’d blame the guy for this fiasco, no matter what Caro said. He’d want to know why the hell anybody would be jealous of him, since she was practically his sister. It already felt like a gut punch, just thinking about it. “Come on, Jhi, you promised to stay.”
Heck grunted. “You can’t have my truck.”
“It’s just until tomorrow.” Jhi inspected the bookcase in the hallway and fished several key rings out of the wooden bowl. “Which one do I need ?”
“Put those back.” He advanced on Jhi, who promptly shoved the keys in her top. “Dammit, Jhi.”
“You two talk this out,” she said. “It’s your last chance, so don’t screw it up. For any of us.”
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Curls—curls that Caroline adored—sprang all over. “Last chance for what, to see my truck again?”
“Ask Caroline.” She opened the door. “Go ahead. There’s nothing stopping you. She’s waiting. Has been, in fact.”
Caroline shook her head frantically. Jhi had promised she had Caro’s back. She couldn’t handle “Heck smash” alone . “Heck, stop her. This involves all of us.”
“You’re up to something,” he told Jhi, his voice severe. “You’re always sneaking around, causing trouble and hurting people.”
Jhi’s eyebrows arched. “Hurting people?”
But Heck had a full head of steam now. “I mean, why would you nag me to kiss Caroline in the limo? Is shitting on my life some kink of yours?” The disgust in his voice smacked the panic right out of Caro and stabbed her somewhere hurtful and deep. If he didn’t love her romantically, that was life, but she wasn’t a hideous beast.
“Don’t sound so grossed out,” she snapped. “Why won’t you kiss me? Am I repulsive?”
Heck raised his hands like he was going to clutch his head and stopped. “Kiss you? Why won’t I kiss you? You’re getting married, Caroline.”
“She’s not married yet,” Jhi said conversationally, swinging on the door. “She hasn’t ever been married. What do you care, anyway? You hate Dan.”
“Fucking hell.” Heck stomped down the hallway and back again, like a toddler in a temper. All because he couldn’t bear to touch his lips to Caroline’s. “Goddamn women. I don’t understand women.”
“That’s obvious,” Caroline said. “If you understood women, you’d realize it’s offensive to act like the idea of kissing me is torture.”
He stopped right in front of her. “Is that what you think? That I want to hurt you?”
“You’re revolted.” Her voice thickened and she tried to breathe it away, but his rejection thudded her like fists. He didn’t share her feelings. Couldn’t even kiss her in friendship. “That hurts.”
“You’re a dumb bastard,” Jhi said to Heck.
He whirled on Jhi faster than Caro had ever seen him move in her life.
“Get the hell out of my house,” he yelled at Jhi.
Jhi fled. The door slammed. Footsteps raced across the porch. Caroline couldn’t tell if Jhi had been upset, but she certainly was. Why was Heck being an asshole? He rarely lost his temper. Yeah, he overreacted when he thought someone he cared about had been hurt, but he did it calmly. Deliberately. That time he’d beaten up her high school boyfriend, he’d barely raised his voice.
She punched him in the arm, sharply enough that he could feel it even through his blockheadedness. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
“She’s had that coming for a long time.”
“You’re mental.” Caroline crossed her arms, upset and trembling. “She only wants to know why you won’t— ”
“Why I won’t kiss you.” He took
a step forward. She straightened, suddenly nervous. His expression was dark and angry and aimed at her, as she’d never seen before.
When he butted into her space, she tripped backward and hit the wall. “What are you doing, Heck?”
His hands slammed the wall on either side of her. She squeaked.
“You want me to kiss you? Is that it?”
Her heart raced so fast she felt dizzy. She couldn’t admit it with him so furious. “I don’t know.”
“I swear to God, Caroline, I—” He cursed and shook his head before lowering it until he was inches from her face. “Why are you getting married?”
She ducked away, close to tears she didn’t want him to see.
He crowded her. Trapped her. Caught her chin and tilted her face up. He wasn’t gentle.
“Answer me,” he said in a growl. “You want me to kiss you, but you’re getting married. That ain’t right. Explain.”
She shrugged helplessly. There were no words in the world to express what she was feeling right now. She wanted to crumple and hide.
He wouldn’t let her, pushing her against the wall to keep her upright. His fingers on her face were like steel. “How many times did I offer to listen to your troubles? But you said I’m not that kind of friend. It’s pretty damn insulting, Caro.”
“You are my friend.” A tear slid down her cheek. Part of her wanted to tell him she loved him and explain about the wedding while the other part couldn’t bear the rebuff. Better that he never knew how she felt.
“Tell me the thing I’m not supposed to get mad about.”
More tears trickled down her face, wetting his fingers. “You’re already mad.”
“Hell, yes, I’m mad. You’re ditching me.” He wouldn’t let her duck away from him, and his intensity unnerved her. “You think I don’t know? You think I’m too dumb to realize Dan hates me as much as I hate him? I could wring his scrawny neck. What right does he have telling you who you can and can’t be friends with?”
“How did you find out?” she asked, her voice breaking in a sob.
“I’m not stupid. Is he going to let you stay friends with Jhi or is it just me you’re expected to dump? How could I not get mad about this, Caroline?”
“I’m so sorry.” Heck had been more perceptive than she’d imagined. “I didn’t mean—”
His jaw tensed. “Don’t you fucking cry when you’re the one doing this. You’re the one screwing everything up.”
She lashed out. Her hand struck his cheek so hard it stung her palm.
“Shit,” she whimpered. “That hurt.”
“Serves you right,” he muttered, before his mouth came down on hers, swift and brutal. His tongue swept the seam of her lips, demanding she yield.
When she froze in disbelief, he slid his hand around her head and anchored it in her hair, pulling her toward him. Pain jolted her out of her shock. She gasped, and he caught her bottom lip between his teeth.
He wedged his leg between hers, rubbing her sweet spot. Panic rising alongside desire, she tried to wriggle free, but he seized her hip and forced her to ride him.
Sensation poured through her. Caroline couldn’t stop a moan, and he slid his tongue inside her mouth.
For a moment she wallowed in the bliss of his tongue curling around hers, his hands on her body, but he’d been so angry, she was afraid to let this progress.
She had to tell him. She pushed his chest, twisted her face. “Stop.”
He caught her wrists and yanked her arms above her head. Shifted his leg against her privates, where she ached for him. “Why are you getting married?”
Since he wasn’t pulling her hair, she didn’t have to look at him. “What if I’m not?”
“Don’t jerk me around.” His lips feathered across her cheek. Slow, melting kisses coming closer to his goal until his tongue teased the corner of her mouth. “I heard you talking to Dan on the phone. That wasn’t the caterer.”
That explained how he knew about Dan’s jealousy. Did he know the wedding was off? Had he been jerking her around? “What else did you hear?”
“I heard you tell him you loved him. Yet here you are, kissing me.”
“You kissed me first.” But when he raised his thigh, pressing her pussy, she couldn’t hide her exhalation.
“I can tell how turned on you are.” He angled his thigh, grinding on her, his cock firm against her hip. “You’re hot between your legs.”
Heat suffused her face, embarrassment and longing combined. “Oh, God.”
“Admit it.” His lips tickled hers and he released her wrists, smoothing his hands up her bare arms to cup her face. “You want this.”
She took a deep breath and met his gaze. His hair mussed, his shirt collar open, his blue gaze intent on her, his cock erect because of her, she had the kind of attention she’d always wanted from him.
What was she going to do with it?
“You know what this means, don’t you?” he asked. “If we do this?”
She nodded.
He didn’t wait for another answer. He lowered his lips to hers once, twice, and she parted for him. Their tongues stroked, their lips clung. She forgot, even, about the ache in her core as she kissed Heck for real, the way she’d always dreamed.
After a few minutes, his hands and lips grew rough and insistent. He must know. He must have heard her break up with Dan, or he wouldn’t be doing this. He plundered her mouth, massaged her ass, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, desperate to get closer to him.
This was it, right? This meant the same thing to him as it did to her.
She lifted onto her toes so she wouldn’t have to tilt her head so far. His kisses rushed through her like ten shots of alcohol. She felt simultaneously delirious and terrified. Emotions, sensations, overwhelmed her, and all she could do was pray he didn’t stop.
He didn’t. He didn’t stop kissing her, tasting her, sinking his teeth in her neck before returning to her lips. She squirmed against him, frantic. When he groped at the neckline of her dress, the straps ripped. She didn’t care. At the touch of his hand on her bare breast, she cried out.
“Caroline. God.” He yanked the dress, tearing something else, and had both her nipples between his fingers in moments. When he pinched, she gasped his name, burying her hands in his hair. He weighed her full breasts, kneading, chafing her nipples, kissing her lips, sucking her tongue.
He lifted her breasts to his mouth. Hot, wet suction she felt all the way to her center covered first one nipple, then the other. He pulled the tips with his teeth, the stubble on his cheeks burning her skin, before licking them until she moaned. Her fists clenched in his hair as he sucked her so hard she thought she might come from it.
Her knees buckled. He caught her, lifted her, his big hands seizing her ass. She widened her thighs, her dress riding up, and he slammed her into the wall. Kissing her, he lodged himself between her legs. His cock rubbed exactly the right spot as he snared her with a combination of pressure and strength.
She wanted him inside her. She didn’t care about anything else. Not tomorrow, not the past thirty-four years. He ground his hips, pushing and riding her, and it wasn’t enough. His fingers dug into her, sliding beneath her panties.
Feverish, she scrabbled at the buttons of his shirt. She wasn’t a weak woman. Threads snapped. Buttons flew. She pushed the shirt off his shoulders, the excitement of his hairy, bare chest against her breasts almost unbearable.
The ache she’d been feeling on and off all night tormented her pussy, driving her crazier each time he circled his hips. Their tongues tangled. She moved with him, one arm tight around his neck and one hand dropping to his ass to pull him into her.
Heck cursed, quietly and viciously, his face buried in her neck. “Caroline, we should talk about this.”
“In a minute.” She was breathing so fast she was pure oxygen. His arms loosened, and she slid to the floor, catching herself on her knees. Before he could escape, she had his waistband in one hand, he
r face against his crotch. He sucked in a breath. She closed her teeth on his erection, biting down through the layers of his clothing.
She stroked his rigid, beautiful length through the pants. Button. Zipper. He didn’t stop her. She had him naked in another second and didn’t hesitate to take what she wanted. She sucked as much of his cock into her mouth as she could manage, the salty musk of him making her shiver and moan.
Big. He was so big. She licked up and down, stroking the base with one hand. His breathing grew harsh, and his hands fondled her hair. His hips twitched. She could tell he wanted to thrust but held himself back, letting her savor him however she wanted.
She sucked him, swallowed him, squeezed the head in her mouth, her lips wet. Licked him on the bottom side, stroking that sensitive area until she tasted pre-come.
Heck gave a choked cry and shoved away from her. “No.”
She fell onto her ass, staring up at him. Tears threatened to return. “No?”
His chest heaved. God, he was perfect, dark hair all down his abdomen and thighs, bushing around his gorgeous cock. In a single motion, he swifted his pants up his legs.
“Don’t.” She struggled to her knees. “Heck, please let me.”
He ran a shaky hand through his hair. “No.”
“I want to.”
“It’s not what I want.” Unceremoniously, he jerked her off the ground. Before she could protest, he dragged her into the dining room and cleared the end of the table with a vicious swipe. Her clutch flew across the room, whacked into the wall. Its contents scattered on the floor. Lifting her onto the wood, Heck splayed her out and loomed over her like a vengeful spirit.
Then he kissed her again, letting his weight pin her to the table. She wrapped her legs around his hips and kissed him back. He slid his tongue inside her mouth, and she moaned. He tore away and lowered himself to her breasts.
He tugged on one sensitive tip with his teeth until she was arching off the table and panting. He caught the other between his fingers. The twin delights forced a sigh out of her, and she groped for his shoulders, attempting to hold him there.
Still kissing her nipples, he grabbed her dress at the hemline and shoved it up to her belly. Then he pulled her hips to the edge of the table and tore her lace panties down her legs.