Chased - A Titan Novella (Titan (Novella))

by Harber, Cristin

  He rounded the corner blind and slammed into soft, luscious curves. Instinct took over. He caught Jenny and pivoted. She found her balance, back against the wall. His left hand landed high above her head. His right caged around her waist. They stood the closest they’d ever been. Decadent warmth radiated from her body. Whoa, she smelled sweet. Delicious and mouthwatering. Butterscotch and vanilla.

  He swallowed away an immediate urge to breathe her in and remembered his quickly fading rule don’t cross the line. “Where were you going?”

  Her long eyelashes fluttered. “It’d be better if I stayed somewhere else tonight. Let you two do the sibling thing. Ya know, a McIntyre family slumber party.”

  “Is that what you want to do?”

  Her cheeks blushed, and hell if he knew why he’d asked that question. What he did know was the don’t cross the line rule abdicated his rule book. Now that he’d broken their unspoken proximity barrier, he couldn’t get close enough to her.

  “It’d be safer if you stayed here.”

  “I’m heading to New York for an audition tomorrow.” Her eyes bounced over his shoulder, and what he wouldn’t do to have her lay those beauties back on him.

  “Look at me.”

  She bit her bottom glossed lip. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  Her eyes flashed to him, searing him straight to his groin. “Not everyone listens to you all the time, Mr. Congressman.”

  “I don’t care if you listen or not, but I do care if you ignore me.”

  “What difference does that make? You’ve been ignoring me for years. Now if you don’t mind, back up.”

  They stared, silent. He savored the electric charge that pulled them closer and leaned over. His lips hovered near her earlobe. “I’m tired of pretending.”

  Jenny pushed his chest and ducked under his arm. “What?”

  The pounding in his chest reverberated into his throat. Two hot marks burned him where she’d pushed her balled fists. The tips of his fingers prickled to touch her cheeks, her hair, her curves.

  Asher narrowed his focus on her but leaned against the wall.

  She stepped backwards until the back of her legs met the couch, then she dropped onto it.

  Molly walked into the room, much calmer and holding a half glass of wine in one hand, an opened bottle and two glasses by their stems in the other. She pivoted a look from Jenny to him and back. “Everything okay?”

  “Your brother has lost his mind.” Jenny pulled a blanket over her and burrowed into the couch.

  He shook his head. “Actually, I think I just made my mind up.”

  ***

  The living room turned into a sauna, and heat crawled up Jenny’s neck. Her heart pounded into overdrive. She couldn’t swallow past the knot in her throat, couldn’t respond with any witty comeback that would make their banter nothing more than an innocent flirtation. Asher wasn’t acting innocent, and she had no idea what he was doing.

  Done pretending and made up his mind? Her mind spun around his words. What?

  He was messing with her. He had to be. Nothing else made sense. Flirt and walk away. That was how their at-an-arm’s-distance relationship existed, even if she wanted more. Even if she’d die for him to hold her against the wall like that again.

  She shivered at the memory, even while self-doubt and self-preservation had her snuggled onto the couch with a blanket as a protective barrier. If she let him have his way with her, she would be irreparably broken and just another notch in his bedpost.

  Asher picked a book off a nearby shelf, paged through it without looking, and tossed it onto the coffee table. It covered a magazine Jenny knew had a photo of him with a real actress.

  Molly laughed for the first time since they’d learned about the threats. “You two kill me.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes twinkled as if he were letting Jenny in on a secret, but then he turned toward the kitchen. “I’ll call for the pizza, then have to make a couple phone calls.”

  “No prob. Take your time.” Molly offered her a wine glass.

  She unburied her arm to grasp the stem and held it steady while Molly filled it.

  “More, please.” Jenny wiggled her glass. “Or just give me the bottle and a straw.”

  Molly rolled her eyes toward the kitchen where Asher could be heard ordering pizza. “What just happened between you two?”

  Jenny shrugged. “Same thing that always happens. He flirts, walks away, and I’m left looking silly with a sad crush.”

  “That’s not what happened. I can tell that much.” Molly topped off Jenny’s glass and sat on the other end of the couch. “What’d he make up his mind about?”

  She took a long sip of the wine, not bothering to enjoy it. “No idea.”

  “With the way you’re draining that wine glass, I’d say that’s a lie.”

  Jenny tilted her head and knew she blushed. “Maybe a small one.”

  “The wine is helping?”

  “A little.” She swallowed another massive drink. “A lot. I don’t know.”

  “Better watch out, that wine’s going to hit you fast on an empty stomach.” Molly picked up the remote and skimmed through their DVR.

  Nothing looked good. Jenny could still feel Asher’s arms around her, and the scent of his cologne lingered on her shirt. Cable reruns weren’t going to be any form of distracting entertainment. One minute turned into five minutes, then fifteen, and Jenny had no idea what had been on the television. All she could picture was his arms around her.

  “Molls,” she whispered like he might be hanging around the corner and not ordering pizza or discussing national security or whatever he was doing on the phone in their kitchen. “He said he’s ‘done pretending.’ What does that mean?”

  Molly’s smile went as wide as her eyes. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know.” Jenny chewed on the inside of her mouth. “He had me up against the wall.”

  “He what? The wall?” Molly’s jaw hung open, and she inspected the wall like there might be evidence of the encounter. “No way.”

  “I’m being serious.” Jenny rubbed her temples. “Why did he do that? I’m totally reading into that, right?”

  “Shoot, Jenny. What’s there to read into? A man presses you against the wall and says he’s done pretending? For years, I’ve been saying it’s only a matter of time. He’s all book smart and politically savvy, but the guy is obtuse when it comes to finding a decent woman.” Molly kicked her leg off the couch and knocked the book Asher had placed on the table to the floor. The latest People magazine was front and center. “Case in point, that couldn’t possibly have been a serious thing.”

  They both knew that there was a picture of Asher with an A-list actress who’d fumbled through an E! interview, unable to recall how many states the US had. She and Molly had replayed that a hundred times.

  Asher walked in. “Pizza’s ordered. Should be here in a hot minute.” He glanced at the book on the floor and the magazine they stared at. He arched an eyebrow and gave half a smile. “Always up to no good.” He tossed the book back over the cover and winked. “You doing okay over there, Jenny?”

  “Stop messing with me, Ash.”

  “And miss a night with my two favorite ladies? Never.” Asher dropped in the middle of the couch. His arms spanned behind both of them as he leaned back. “What are we watching?”

  Molly topped off her glass of wine. “Actually, I have a headache.” The doorbell rang. “That was fast. I’ll get it, grab a slice and my glass, and head to bed. Nothing better for a headache than pizza and vino. You paid for this already, right, Ash?”

  “Yup.” He didn’t shift to the empty side of the couch.

  Holy shit. Jenny wanted to hug and strangle Molly. Don’t leave me alone with him. I’m not sure of my next move.

  “Night.” A laidback Asher leaned forward, letting his hand drag over her shoulders, then grabbed the empty wine glass. He filled it to an appropriate leve
l, unlike Jenny’s monster glasses. “Feel better, Molls.”

  Molly brought the pizza to the coffee table, grabbed a slice without a plate, and left the box on the table.

  This isn’t at all awkward. And by not at all, all Jenny could think of was yes, this was obvious and awkward. The big, pink elephant in the room had donned a tutu and was dancing with sparklers in hand.

  She gulped her wine. “Molly doesn’t really have a headache.”

  What? Shut up, Jenny! Her nerves made the room shrink. She couldn’t take a stabilizing breath and had no idea what uncensored line would fall from her lips next.

  Asher shut off the television, turned, and raked a penetrating gaze over her while sipping his wine. Her nipples grew tight, and she shivered to her toes. The room was too quiet.

  Finally, he swirled his glass and set it down. “I know she doesn’t have a headache.”

  “You know?”

  His expressive eyes narrowed. “You know what else I know?”

  No. I don’t. She shook her head. And I’m not sure I want to know. Her handling of his newfound focus left her quivering like a waif of a woman. Actually, drinking like a wino-sailor. The push-pull of their flirtation had never allowed for him to make a move. It was their unspoken rule, and apparently, she’d grown more than confident he’d never make a move. Tonight, she was unprepared.

  “Guess, sweetheart.”

  Sweetheart? She shook her head again. No way am I guessing anything.

  He smiled in that trusting, all-knowing way he had about him. “Here’s what I know. First, someone threatened you girls. I’d walk away from everything I have to make sure justice is done. But second”—he took her wine glass out of her hand—“I needed to find you, Jenny. I need to put a stop to the one lie between us that has been as consistent as it has been irrational.”

  “That’s the line of a politician.” Taking a deep breath was out of the question. The wine made her head swim. He made her head spin. She tried again to fill her lungs and felt them refuse. There wasn’t enough oxygen in her ever-shrinking living room. “You could mean anything.”

  “But I don’t.” He took a piece of hair hanging over her eye and tucked it behind her ear. Her pulse screamed in her neck, but his focused stare never wavered. “You know what I’m talking about. You’ve always known. Now it’s your turn: What do you want?”

  Her eyelashes fluttered; her stomach dropped. His voice was always low, but its vibrations washed over her, making her throb.

  “I want…” You. That was the answer. It had always been the answer up until the opportunity presented itself. But she didn’t trust her feelings or his motivation. “Not to be confused.”

  He shifted closer, evaporating their distance. His broad palms covered her cheeks, and his thumbs stroked slowly. Her bottom lip drifted open, and her eyelids sank. The quietest sigh fell from her mouth, and she hated how easy she was to manipulate.

  “You are gorgeous.” His tone was deep and hungry, and he was close enough for her to register the rich aroma of his faded cologne. “And it shouldn’t have taken me this long to tell you that.”

  Asher brushed his lips over hers. Like the intense roll of a summer storm, crackling lightning and thundering pulses ran their course, uncontrolled and unstoppable.

  “Ash…” Her lips tickled against his, and her mind drew blank, focusing on the sparks that spread from her lips into the softest of kisses.

  His fingers feathered into her hair, and she opened her mouth to him. He tasted like red wine, sweet and savory, and each velvet stroke of his tongue wicked away her hesitation. She struggled to stay in the moment, wanting to remember every amazing second, but the indulgent and delicate kiss was fading. Years of taunts and teases had lined up, urging their bodies together.

  Jenny leaned into his embrace. He dropped a hand from her hair and wrapped it around her back, pulling her close to his chest, into his lap. Exactly where she wanted to be.

  He ate at her mouth, lust pouring between them. He was all-powerful, all-consuming. He groaned against their lip lock. “God, Jenny.”

  Her legs straddled his thighs, and she rocked her hips, flexing over him. His hand still buried in her hair knotted and tugged, exposing her neck. His teeth dragged over her bottom lip and scraped down her neck.

  “Yes.” His teeth rasped again, and she arched into his strong embrace. “Please, Ash. Please.”

  Please what? It didn’t matter, whatever he’d give her, she would give back. Jenny wouldn’t hide from him.

  He suckled down to her collarbone. Harsh and surprising. The more he kissed, the more she needed. Pent-up frustration multiplied. Wild want pulsed between her legs. She was wet. He was erect. They still had their clothes on, and nothing about this first kiss said it was ending anytime soon.

  “God, sweetheart, nothing better than you.”

  Red-hot in his arms, Jenny grasped at him, wrapping her arms around his impossibly broad shoulders. He picked her up and swept her down. Her back was on the couch, and he loomed over her then dropped down with a mind-bending kiss, pressing his weight between her thighs. One leg stayed pinned between him and the back of the couch, the other snaked up his strong, lean muscles.

  She opened her eyes, skipping her hands into his hair. He leaned to the side and tore at her shirt, pushing it up her stomach, over her bra, and locked his mouth around her nipple.

  “I love that.” Intense pleasure-pain roared through her as he plucked and sucked. “I love…” You. She always had. But that wasn’t for him to know. No reason to ruin this.

  He pulled the other bra cup down and covered her breast with his palm. His massaging fingers were better than she’d imagined, and as he rolled his tongue over one tip and his thumb and forefinger over the other, she couldn’t feel anything other than the ecstasy rolling from his touch, moving lower, lower, lower, all the way to her craving canal.

  “Keep moaning like that, and we’ll never make it into your bed.” His light-colored eyes had darkened. Their shocking intensity made him look possessive, carnal—

  A loud rap on the door froze Jenny into place with her hands gripping his shirt. They stopped. Their uneven breaths and heaving chests mirrored one another, and his head dropped, placing one languid kiss over the breast he’d been deeply sucking.

  Asher pulled her shirt down. “Change in shifts. New agent. They’ll need to check in with me.”

  He sat up as another rap echoed on the door and ran a hand over his face. Jenny pulled her legs back, flushed and dizzy, then scooted back on the couch, staring at him. What to say?

  A third knock banged through the apartment, and Molly walked down the hall. “Jeez, isn’t anyone going to—” She did a double take, and Jenny knew they were so busted. “Never mind. I got it.”

  Asher stood up. “No. Hang on. You’re not answering the door when there’s a lunatic out there.” He walked to the front door, looked out the peephole, and answered.

  Molly mouthed, “Oh my God,” and pointed at her brother then Jenny.

  Cheeks flaming from arousal and awareness, she shrugged, pulling the blanket over her. She mouthed back, “Go away.”

  Asher walked in with the agent and made introductions. The congressman was back; whoever the man on the couch was had been shelved. They finished small talk, and the agent moved to his post. Asher shut and locked the door, turned, eyeing both her and a giggling Molly. Very mature, Molls.

  The hot and heavy moment was so gone, and they’d been so obvious, she had to laugh too. Even Asher-the-Congressman chuckled, and Jenny pulled the blanket over her head. “Go away, Molly.”

  Molly stopped giggling and whistled as she walked out of the living room. “Scandalous.”

  Still under the blanket, she heard Asher walk across the room and felt the cushion dip when he sat down. “You okay under there?”

  “I feel like I’m fifteen and just got caught making out with the captain of the football team.”

  “Nope, just your best friend�
�s older brother. Can’t wait for the Molly McIntyre inquisition.” He tugged the blanket off her head. “You’re gorgeous and cute. Not a bad mix.” Then he tossed the blanket back on her head. “Feel free to come out if you’re hungry for cold pizza.”

  Well, she was hungry and would have to come out eventually anyway. She let the blanket fall.

  “That was fast.” He turned the lamp off and the television on, snagged her arm, and pulled her against him. Just like that, he was relaxed again and holding her.

  She didn’t get it. Not that she wanted to complain, but why now? “Ash?”

  He took a bite of pizza. “So what’s your audition for?”

  She reached over for a piece of pizza, grabbed a copy of the script that’d been buried under the pile of magazines, and handed it to him. “Third callback, and I’m hoping third time’s a charm.”

  “Tassels and Tangos.” He read the cover and paged through the bound script one-handed while his other arm draped over her. His muscles shifted suddenly from kicked back to killer. “Who’s Maxwell?”

  “An acting coach I met at the last audition. Said he had some insight into what the director wanted, but I got a weird feeling. That’s his number in case I change my mind.”

  Asher’s face hardened. He tucked her in, took her script, and walked to the door. Jenny leaned over to try and listen but didn’t pick up any of the conversation he had with the agent. After a minute, Asher returned, sans script.

  “What’s that all about?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing. Probably coincidence.”

  Icy dread curled down her spine. “Asher. Tell me.”

  “All the notes have been signed by Maxwell.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Asher wrapped his arms around Jenny and held on tight. Her run-in with a man named Maxwell wasn’t a coincidence, and Asher wouldn’t take someone fucking around with his family or his woman.

  Jenny sighed as she watched The Late Show in his arms. This wasn’t how he’d thought his day would end. No way she could’ve guessed it either. She had to be exhausted. Flight from Florida, glass or two of wine, and he’d basically jumped her out of nowhere. Add the spike of arousal and then the dread of a stalker—the girl needed to pass out.