Home Is Where the Heat Is

by James, Amelia

  Fuck me with a devoted heart. She’d come back—and she’d stuck around when he hadn’t been there. How lucky am I? The weight of worthlessness crumbled away, and hope filled his empty life. He crushed her against his aching chest, daring to believe he might be worthy of her.

  Until she stepped back and punched his arm. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Ow.” He rubbed his throbbing bicep. “I’ve been….” Arrested, fired, stalked. She didn’t know? “Have you seen the news?”

  More shivers shook her. “No. I haven’t actually, but I read the case file.”

  How did she find that already? “Oh shit, your boss is prosecuting me?”

  She nodded.

  The cold outside seeped into his newly warmed heart. “Are you assisting him?” That had to be a conflict of interest. He pulled her close again and rubbed her trembling shoulders.

  “No. He kicked me off the case.” A slight smile kissed her frosty cheeks, but her eyes dimmed. “Then I told him how we met, and he suspended me without pay for two weeks.”

  He pushed back and searched her eyes for anger or resentment. The reality of what he’d done smacked him in the face. If she hated him for it, he wouldn’t blame her one bit. “Why’d you do that? All this time you were so afraid of him finding out.”

  But her shivering stopped, and her gaze held steady. She stood in his grasp, but she could’ve easily run away if she wanted to. “I was trying to protect you. I thought he could help, but he has to do his job.” A deep sigh escaped her, and her face brightened. “Now I don’t have to live in fear. I just need to figure out how to pay my rent.”

  She’d done it for him. She risked her career and spent the afternoon freezing her ass off because he’d ignored a judge’s instructions and dragged her into his crazy life. “Jesus. I’m sorry I got you into this mess.” He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his chin on top of her head.

  She snuggled into him. “I’m just glad he didn’t fire me or tell the judge. He should’ve done both.”

  He stroked her hair, raking it over her shoulders and down her back. “We both got lucky.” She no longer feared for her job, and he held the woman he loved close to his heart. Even if she never loved him, he could spend the rest of his life touching her like this and be perfectly content.

  She peeked up at him. “How is your being charged with arson lucky?”

  Oh, that. “I have no idea, but you’re here, so everything else can go to hell.” He cradled her cold pink cheeks in his hands and kissed her chilly lips.

  She shivered against him. “Can we go inside? I need to tell you something, and my brain is about to freeze.”

  That doesn’t sound good. “Yeah.” He unlocked the door and ushered her in.

  She stood shaking and rubbing her arms, staring at the family photos on his wall. A sad smile touched her lips as if she longed for something she couldn’t have.

  “Can I take your coat?”

  She nodded and handed it to him.

  At least she’s staying… for now. He hung their coats in the closet and followed her to the kitchen, where she turned to face him, still hugging herself. Her entire body quaked as she took a deep breath.

  “I came here to tell you….” She blinked rapidly.

  Oh God, this can’t be good. He braced a trembling hand against the cold countertop. “What?”

  “Where are my words?” She exhaled, puffing her hair from her eyes. “Oh fuck it. I love you, JT. I was looking for a man who could give me stability and security, and you brought me exactly the opposite. I’ve been on a roller coaster ride since the moment the judge forbade you to speak to me, but I love every fucking minute of it. I don’t want it to end. Kiss me. Kiss me now, damn it!”

  His head spun as she grabbed his shirt and yanked him off-balance, kissing him hard and strong. No doubt, no reservation. He tried to pick apart what she’d said and make sense of it all, but he got stuck on ‘I love you, JT.’

  He pulled back and gasped for breath. “I don’t deserve you. I haven’t earned this. I screwed up more often than not.”

  “Shut the fuck up. Who cares?”

  Her breathless curse blew away his last remaining doubts. “I sure as hell don’t. Maybe I’m not the guy you were looking for, but you’re exactly what I need, and I’m going to spend every single second proving we belong together.” To her and to himself.

  She smiled and locked her arms behind his neck. “You already have.”

  “It’s not enough.” He parted his lips on hers, giving her his tongue and his touch, but he ached to do more, to show her what she meant to him. Say it, dumbass. “I love you, Rebel. And I’m not going to let bad luck or our awful families determine our future. You’re my lucky charm.”

  “Then you don’t need this.” She fished the chain from under his shirt and tugged the arrowhead up around his head.

  “Not so fast.” He grabbed the dangling stone, but she held it firm.

  “Prove it.”

  He let go and let her whisk the chain away, freeing him from all the bullshit that had dragged him down for so long.

  “Now you’re naked.” She stuffed the charm in her pocket.

  He glanced down at his fully buttoned shirt and zipped jeans. “You’ve got some strange ideas about naked.”

  “Yes, I do. Let’s explore them.”

  ***

  Claire grabbed JT’s shirt and dragged him across the room. She meant to head down the hallway toward the stairs, but he shifted their momentum and they tumbled against the wall. His body pinned her, and being trapped by all that hard muscle felt so fucking good she abandoned her plans and let the moment play out.

  “Here.” He groaned and maneuvered his erection between her splayed legs. “Now.”

  She gasped as he ground into her. How could she have walked away from him? Her body lived for his touch. “I’m sorry I left.”

  He smiled into her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t go after you.”

  His lips touched hers, and she raked her fingers in his hair, pouring her heart and soul into that kiss. She belonged with him—no further questions, no basis for appeal, no other suspects. She pressed her hand on his chest, separating them for a breath. “I love you.”

  JT blinked, tried to say something, then shook his head and swooped in for another kiss, squashing her hand on his pounding heart. He swept up her free hand and linked his fingers with hers, binding them together. His voice cracked as he pressed his forehead on hers. “I don’t know the words to tell you how much that means to me.”

  She didn’t know much better than he did, so instead of saying anything, she caressed his rough cheek.

  He squeezed her hand. “Let me make love to you.” A short laugh tickled her face. “Even the word love sounds odd coming from me.”

  “I like it.” Her lips touched his, and their tongues played tag, darting off and catching, teasing and touching.

  He sank his hands into her hair and held her face while he kissed her eyes, her cheeks and the tip of her nose. “This is sweet and romantic now, but I promise you it’s gonna get dirty.” He hitched her knees up around his hips.

  “God, yes!”

  He groaned into her mouth while she dug her heels into his thighs, pulling him closer. Their bodies expressed the emotions they couldn’t find the words for. She toyed with the button below his collar, and he leaned back to give her access. A sudden need to feel his bare skin consumed her, and she ripped his shirt open.

  He set her down long enough to strip it off, then he grabbed the button on her jeans and yanked her close. Their tongues wrestled while they wiggled her pants to her ankles.

  His hand drifted across the front of her new panties, and he teased her clit through the damp silk. “I feel like exposing you….”

  Fucking hell. She turned to gaze out the patio doors, but he cupped her chin and made her look into his eyes.

  “To me alone.”

  Her heart pounded, and she squirmed in his tigh
t grasp. He’d be her private audience, one who understood her desire to perform, and appreciated and indulged her favorite kink.

  “Putting you on display for my pleasure. Just me. Anyone else who wants you will have to deal with his bad luck.”

  Their tryst with Kurt had been a one-time fling, a fantasy made real for a few amazing hours that would last forever in her memory.

  Claire smiled as his hand dipped under black lace, teasing her with promises of memories to come. “And my pleasure?”

  JT slipped his fingers into her wet folds. “Always.” He stepped in for a kiss, and she helped him slide her panties down. The expensive silk dropped on top of the denim bunched around her ankles.

  He crossed the room and closed the blinds in front of the patio door, sealing them in together. Her naked thighs tingled as he turned the dimmer switch all the way up, then dragged a chair away from the breakfast bar and placed it a few feet in front of her.

  His shoulder flexed as he sat and draped his arm over the back of the chair, casually surveying her like a work in progress. “Pull your shirt up.”

  She grabbed them hem of her light sweater and tugged it above her breasts, revealing the pink silk and black lace bra that matched the panties she’d splurged on in Vegas. The cool draft created by the loss of her shirt quickly dissipated under the heat from his gaze.

  He shifted, spreading his legs to accommodate the bulge in his jeans. “Now, push your bra up.”

  The confining garment refused to stretch over her breasts, so she unhooked it and lifted the cups. Her nipples puckered as JT reached down and rubbed his erection.

  His darkened eyes glittered. “Tell me how that feels.”

  Standing pinned against the wall by his intense gaze, with her breasts exposed but shoulders covered, pussy revealed but ankles bound, sent white-hot shocks leaping from one naked area to the other. “Tingly. Hot.” Something more. “Like I need to be touched.”

  JT stretched out his arm. “Hmm… but I’m all the way over here.”

  She slid her feet apart as much as her confining pants would allow, tempting him with a better view. “Come to me.”

  “I intend to.” He unbuckled his belt. “But first, I want you to touch the tingly parts.”

  Her body throbbed. “While you watch?”

  “Oh yes, please.”

  She gathered her shirt and bra in one hand and slid the other hand down her body, circling and stroking her nipples with a feathery touch, teasing them one at a time. Flicking the pink peaks made her vulnerable clit ache, so she abandoned them and reached down. She glanced at JT and watched his gaze follow her hand as she spread her lips with two fingers and massaged the hot button between them.

  He grinned when he caught her watching him. “You’ve done this before.”

  She nodded.

  “Tell me about the first time.”

  Her eyes drifted shut as she sifted through memories of her sexual encounters, recalling the men who’d taken the time to watch her fondle herself. Not many. But she rode the crest of images until she found the first one, old and familiar.

  “It was a lot like this.” She opened her eyes and smiled at JT. “He lifted my shirt up, but all he could do was stare. I was tingling so bad I had to do something so I pinched my nipples while he watched.” She demonstrated. “Then he took my pants off and I spread my legs. I touched myself like this.” She pressed her clit and slowly rubbed. “And then he tried it.”

  He fixed his gaze on her stroking fingers. “Did you come?”

  “No. We were too nervous.” Guilt and satisfaction curled her lips. “I finished when I got home.”

  He glanced up at her face. “Were you still a virgin?”

  “Yes. I never had sex with him, but we played a lot.” Subsequent memories warmed her flesh. She let go of her shirt and cupped her breast, dragging her thumb over her nipple while her other hand occupied her pussy.

  JT stood and stalked toward her. “We need to play with new ways of putting you on display.” He unzipped his jeans.

  “Fuck yes.” Her fondling ceased and she reached for him.

  But he skirted her grasp. “Don’t stop.” He waited until she resumed her self-pleasure then he paced an arm’s length from her. “We can spend all summer fucking outside. My back yard gets lots of sun. I’ll put in a pool and we can go skinny dipping, and you can sunbathe naked on the deck.”

  She shoved her shirt up again, and her breasts warmed as if touched by the sun. “Holy shit.”

  “And indoors… you can strip for me, or we can fuck half-dressed with only the necessary parts exposed. But I know you’d rather take it all off. You have my permission—no, encouragement—to be naked whenever you’re in my house.”

  The nude length of her body from her pert nipples to her swollen clit rippled with anticipation. “What the fuck are you doing to me?”

  He stopped and stretched his hand toward her aching breast. “Proving that I get you.”

  But before he touched her, a rolling wave of heat slammed her back against the wall.

  “You bastard!”

  His fingers closed on her nipple while she bucked against her hand, throbbing and cursing him. His mouth claimed the other breast and together they wrestled his pants down to his knees. Their tangled clothes made penetration difficult, so he spun her around.

  She bent forward and pressed her hands on the wall, presenting her ass for the taking. He gave his cock a swift stroke then grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back as he thrust into her.

  Chapter 30

  JT pounded her while she struggled to pull her sweater over her head. He helped her toss it aside, then flung her bra down the hall while they fucked.

  Claire slapped her bare ass back against him, jamming his cock in deep, and he growled and bit her neck as he pinned her to the wall, thrusting the length of his body against hers.

  How could he treat the woman he loved like an animal? Wasn’t love-making supposed to be tender and sweet and shit?

  “Harder, you son of a bitch!” She reached back and clawed his ass, and as her fingernails scored his flesh, JT decided he’d love her and fuck her any way she wanted as long as she cursed him for it.

  He laughed in her ear.

  “What’s funny, asshole?”

  “I love you.” He slipped his arms under her breasts and held her tight against him while he ground into her pussy. “I love you my way. And no one’s gonna tell me that’s wrong.” Someone probably would, but he didn’t give a shit.

  “I love you—Oh fuck yes!” Claire groaned as he pounded her into the wall. “Just like that.”

  See? She likes it.

  She wobbled on her heels, stumbling and knocking him back against the chair. JT tripped and fell, dragging her down with him as they hit the floor. She kicked off her pants and her shoes and crawled on top, impaling herself on his hard and ready cock while he lay sprawled on the tile.

  “Mmm….” She sat up and stretched her arms over her head, picking up her hair and letting it tumble down her back. “And I can be on top so you can get a great view while I ride you.”

  “Beautiful,” he groaned as she showed off her breasts. He grabbed her hips and held her steady while she fucked him. Melting heat fused them together. He massaged her ass then slid his hands up to frame her breasts. “I love looking at you.”

  Pride lit her eyes. “I know.” She clamped her hands over his, and they both fondled her nipples.

  JT licked his lips and sat up to kiss her glowing skin. She wrapped her arms around his head and kept him close. He braced one hand on the floor and grabbed a handful of her ass with the other as he thrust upward.

  “Sweet fucking mercy!” She yanked his head back and kissed him, probing his mouth with her tongue while he owned her pussy over and over.

  Sweat trickled down his back and dripped onto the floor. His hand slipped, but she held him, maintaining their kiss while molten heat flowed from his body, consuming them both. He
r thighs clenched, and she gasped into his mouth as he sank his fingers into her flesh, the red-hot surge threatening to sweep him away from her. But she wrapped her arms around him, and he held on tight. The inferno roared between them, but he never let go.

  “Oh fuck, JT!” She flailed in his arms.

  His hold remained firm even when his body shattered. Pieces of him blended with pieces of her, and when he gathered them back together, he couldn’t separate them. He didn’t want to. “Fuck us,” he groaned into her shoulder.

  She laughed and rested her cheek on top of his head. “Can’t breathe.”

  “Me neither.” He sighed and nuzzled her breast.

  “No, seriously.” She grabbed his fingers and tried to pry them off her. “You’re about to pop my ribs.”

  “Oh, sorry.” He relaxed his grip without releasing her.

  Claire inhaled and giggled. “You have a strong hold.”

  Shit. How do I hold on to a woman without smothering her? He sat back, still resting his hands on her hips. “I want to keep you close.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” She leaned over and sealed her promise with a kiss that warmed his heart and filled his soul.

  “I know.” He had no idea what he’d done to deserve this woman, but he knew that fate no longer determined their destiny—never had. They made their own luck.

  “Take me to bed,” she breathed on his lips.

  “Hang on. I want to give you something.” In the kitchen, he pulled out a bottle of wine and set it on the countertop.

  She picked it up and read the label. “Ooo… chocolate wine? This looks yummy.”

  “Just wait. There’s more. Where did I put the…? Damn it, I didn’t get raspberries?” He pulled open the vegetable drawer and slammed it shut, then he searched the shelves. “Maybe this’ll work.” He slapped a pink plastic bottle next to the wine.

  “You have raspberry syrup?”

  “Zoe begged me for it. I know I don’t have white chocolate, so this will have to do.” He pulled out a can of whipped cream.

  “We can definitely work with that.” Claire giggled and sprayed a dollop on her nipple.