Forbidden Attraction: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  She looked up at me. “You’re really easy to get along with,” she said, the levity gone from her voice. “That’s what it is. It isn’t me.”

  I shook my head. “I’m impossible to get along with,” I said with a laugh. “I haven’t opened up to anyone like this since...well, since my wife died.”

  “I’m glad you did,” she murmured. “I’m glad you feel like you can talk to me.”

  “I honestly can’t imagine why anybody wouldn’t.” I squeezed her hands, and she squeezed back. I felt a current rush through my body downward toward my groin. Maybe Jenna felt the same thing, because her breathing accelerated. The rise and fall of her chest was incredibly distracting. “Listen,” I said, “is it too late to change my mind about that date?”

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, her gaze was sweet. “I don’t think I have it in me to say no to you, Noah Clark.”

  I nodded. “Do you want to come back to my place?”

  “You said Tess’s out for the evening?”

  “She’s at a friend’s.”

  “Then yes.”

  “Do you want to tell Sara and Eric we’re leaving?”

  “They’ll figure it out,” she said. Keeping one hand firmly in mine, she grabbed her purse and towed me out the door and into the cool night air.

  Chapter 18

  Jenna

  I had always enjoyed the view riding from Brooklyn into Manhattan—crossing the bridge, watching the city skyline grow bigger until it seemed to swallow me up—but this time I didn’t see a minute of it. I was completely distracted by Noah.

  He held my hand as we got into the cab. I thought it would drive me crazy to sit there holding his hand, but almost immediately he began to stroke my arm and leaned over to catch my lips in a kiss. The cab driver cleared his throat, but I didn’t care. I was too caught up in sensation, in the thrill of what was happening.

  Part of me was still protesting. Hadn’t I just spent the day convincing myself it was for the best that nothing had happened between Noah and me? Hadn’t I decided I was relieved that he’d turned me down when I’d asked him out? How could I have allowed myself to get sucked back in so quickly?

  You should stop this, I told myself firmly. You should tell him you’ve made a mistake, get out of this cab, and go back to Brooklyn.

  But his touch was heady and confusing. I didn’t pull away. I leaned in instead. There’s no harm in riding with him to his house, I thought. If you don’t want to go any further when you get there, you can always get this driver to take you to your place.

  Noah’s hand found my breast and squeezed. He was so firm, yet so gentle, his touch almost reverent. I wanted to lie back on the seat of the cab and pull him on top of me, but I managed to restrain myself. I ran my fingers down his chest instead, catching my thumb briefly and teasingly on his waistband before lowering my hand to grip his cock.

  God, he was hard. He let out a low groan in my ear as I gripped him, and I knew the two of us were flirting with disaster. We were on the edge of a precipice. If we kept this up, there would be no going back.

  I had to put a stop to it soon if I wanted to.

  But did I want to?

  I was less and less sure. I’d convinced myself it was a good idea for the two of us to keep our distance. But after talking to him tonight at the bar, it seemed clear to me that whatever was between us was about more than just sex. And I thought he felt the same way. After all, hadn’t he said how easy he found it to confide in me?

  Maybe we owed it to each other—to ourselves—to give this a chance.

  Noah slid a hand up under my shirt and pushed aside my bra, and my head fell back in pleasure as his thumb circled my nipple. How was I supposed to think clearly with that going on? How was I supposed to be capable of any kind of rational decision making?

  I wanted him. That much, I couldn’t deny.

  Oh, hell. Why was I trying to fight it at all? If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that Noah was amazing in bed. And if bed was where he wanted to take me, then bed was where I would go.

  We tumbled out of the cab in front of his building and made it as far as the elevator before stopping to kiss again. Noah lifted me in his arms when the doors opened, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, clinging, pulling him close. The new angle allowed us to deepen our kiss, and for a moment I quite literally forgot where I was. The only thing in the world that mattered was Noah—his lips on mine, his strong hands on my back, the taste of him, the heat as he pressed against me.

  He pulled back. “I need to get you inside,” he said hoarsely. “I’m losing my mind here.”

  My own mind had fled long ago. All I could do was nod.

  Noah carried me inside and to the bedroom. I was astounded by his strength—it heightened my arousal, and by the time we reached his bed, I was rocking my hips against him, desperate to generate friction.

  He set me down and held up a hand. “Stand still.”

  “Why?” I wanted to rip off his clothes. I wanted to push him down on the bed and jump on top of him. I wanted to claim his body.

  “Because I said so,” he said, giving me a feral grin. A shiver ran through me. He stepped back and looked me up and down carefully, as though I was a work of art he was considering purchasing. “Take off your shirt.”

  My temperature rose. I gripped my shirt by the lower hem and lifted it slowly over my head, dropping it to the floor.

  Noah smiled and nodded. “Good,” he said. “Now your pants.”

  “Noah…”

  “Take them off.” When I hesitated, he ordered, “Go on.”

  I unfastened my pants, carefully stepped out of them, and kicked them away. Now I stood before him in bra and panties, shivering a little as the cold air kissed my bare, overheated skin.

  He stepped forward and slipped a hand between my legs, pushing my panties out of the way for better access. I groaned and leaned forward, resting my forehead on his shoulder, hitching my hips against his hand. “Fuck, Noah,” I moaned. “You’re so fucking good at that.”

  He reached around and unhooked my bra with one hand. I shimmied it loose, allowing my tits to fall free before pressing up against him again. I felt like an animal, stupid with lust and desperate for every touch.

  “Now take off my shirt,” Noah commanded. I nodded and started to back away from him, but he grabbed my hip with his free hand and pulled me in closer. With the other hand, he slid one finger inside me, pressing his palm against me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I…you said…”

  He fucked me slowly with his finger, stopping every few strokes to grind his palm against my mound. I thought I was going to pass out with the intensity of it.

  “I said take my shirt off,” he repeated. “I didn’t say we were done here.”

  With a sob of ecstasy, I began to fumble with the buttons, n almost impossible task. His hand worked me at a slow and steady pace, and no matter how hard I tried to get more pressure, more friction, Noah controlled the tempo.

  “You don’t get to come until you get this shirt off me,” he warned. “Go ahead.”

  For an agonizing minute, I didn’t think I would be able to do it. A task that would have been easy any other day of the week had become borderline impossible. Finally, I managed to undo the last of the buttons and eased the shirt down over his shoulders.

  “Now do I get to come?” I whispered, nearly whimpered.

  In answer, he dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around my ass, drew me to his mouth, and shoved one leg up on my shoulder. As soon as his tongue touched me, I came. I screamed with pleasure, bucking against his face, my fingers digging desperately into his shoulders. I thought it might have been the best orgasm of my life. When it was over, my knees lost all power and I collapsed.

  Noah caught me. He lifted me in his arms, clutching me against his chest, wrapping my legs around him, and he slipped inside me. I slumped in his arms weakly, enjoying the sen
sation of being full and cared for. He lifted me up and down slowly, doing all the work, until I felt my body begin to tense again.

  “Noah,” I whispered hoarsely. “I’m going to cum, again.”

  He nodded against my cheek, and his voice was strained. “Me too.”

  He gripped me tightly against him and I held on to him with my thighs, and we came together, the sound of our names intermingling as we cried out.

  Chapter 19

  Noah

  I didn’t remember falling asleep. We lay tangled up in each other, breathing in harmony. My focus narrowed. For a while, my thoughts seemed to come in a rush—my feelings for Jenna were growing stronger, we kept finding our way back to each other, and what did that mean? Was it possible there was something here, something between us, that could grow into a real relationship?

  Would it be possible for me to let go of her now that I’d had another taste?

  Eventually, though, all I was thinking about was the soft sigh of her breath, the way her hair fanned out over my arm, the softness of her skin pressed against mine. And, I suppose, it was sometime around then that I slipped into sleep.

  The next thing I was aware of was the chirpy melody of a cell phone ringtone.

  I was often slow to wake, even when something like a ringing phone was calling me. But today I was jerked from sleep by the fact that Jenna sat bolt upright beside me as if she’d received a shock.

  “Jenna?” I mumbled. “What’s goin’ on?”

  She didn’t answer me. She scrambled out of bed, tripping a little in her haste, and dropped to her knees beside her purse on the floor. She fumbled it open, reached inside, and pulled out her phone. “Hello?”

  I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to make myself presentable. I looked at Jenna kneeling on the floor, naked and beautiful, and my cock was instantly hard again.

  The idea fled from my mind, however, the moment Jenna put down the phone and turned around. Her eyes were wide and her face was pale and frightened. “I have to go home,” she said, shoving her phone back into her purse. Her hands were shaking so badly she knocked the bag over, spilling its contents on the floor. “Shit!”

  “Whoa, hang on.” I slid out of bed and dropped to my knees beside her, helping her gather her things. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

  “That was my landlord,” she mumbled. “Somebody broke into my apartment.”

  “What?” I paused in my shock.

  “I need to go. I’m really sorry, I can’t—”

  “No, hang on, slow down,” I soothed. “Just wait a minute. Where are you going? To your apartment? That doesn’t sound safe.”

  “Whoever did it is gone,” Jenna said. “He—he says they trashed the place.”

  “Did they take anything?” I held her shoulders, trying to steady her.

  “I don’t know,” she said, her voice cracking. “I have to go over there and see.”

  “Well, you can’t go by yourself.”

  “I’m fine, I can handle it—”

  “No, I’ll go with you,” I stated firmly. “You shouldn’t be alone. You should have a friend with you right now.” What she really needed, I thought but did not say, was a bodyguard. Someone who could watch her back in case whoever the hell decided to make an appearance again. I’d be damned if I’d let anyone lay hands on Jenna.

  She nodded, clearly too badly shaken to argue further. “Okay,” she said quietly.

  We dressed quickly, hurried to the garage, and got into my car. During the drive, I took her hand in mine, squeezing gently, doing my best to offer reassurance.

  “It’s got to be Josh,” she murmured under her breath, her knees jittering up and down and betraying her anxiety.

  “Josh?” I asked. “Who’s Josh?”

  “He’s a client...well, technically his father hired me.” She groaned and pressed her free hand to her forehead. “I didn’t think he’d actually do anything like this. I just thought he wanted to scare me with the note.”

  “Wait, he left you a note? When?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?”

  “Yeah, it just said found you. I asked the receptionist who’d been upstairs, and she told me it was the son of one of my clients. He’d been looking for me, apparently.”

  “And he just left information about who he was? Is he an idiot?”

  She exhaled shakily. “Kind of, yeah. And he’s an asshole. He tried to attack me after I finished designing his stupid man cave.”

  “What?” I loosened my hold on her hand. That behavior went against everything in me. I wanted to pull her closer. I wanted to wrap myself around her and shield her and never let anybody fucking touch her. And I wanted her to feel safe. If she wanted me close, her body language would let me know. And she leaned in. I tightened my hold on her hand.

  “He tried to block me from leaving his apartment and told me he wouldn’t let me go until I gave him what he wanted.”

  “How did you get out?”

  “Threatened him. Told him I’d kick him in the balls.” She took a long, shuddery breath that resembled a chuckle. “I don’t know if I could have done it.”

  “That was brave,” I told her. “Did you call the police? Report him?”

  “No,” she said. “I called his father, actually.”

  You should have called the cops. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. I was threatened recently, I suddenly remembered, and I hadn’t involved the police. And it turned out to be a good thing I didn’t, given the way my father apparently made his money. Jenna probably should have involved the authorities, but I did understand the instinct not to do so.

  She let out a soft sob and I pulled her closer. “It’ll be all right.”

  “I never should have called his father,” she mumbled against my shoulder. “I should have left it alone.”

  “No Jenna, this isn’t your fault. Nothing you did warranted him doing what he did.”

  “He was in my apartment,” she said, sounding sick.

  “It’s fucked up,” I agreed. “But you did the right thing to tell somebody what happened. He should be held accountable. He shouldn’t feel as though he can threaten women and get away with it.”

  She didn’t look reassured. I couldn’t really blame her. It was nice to think that her actions had helped corral a sexual predator, of course, but there was also the very real fact that her apartment had been broken into, and that couldn’t be ignored or brushed aside.

  If I could get my hands on that guy, I’d make him wish he’d never even heard of Jenna Robertson.

  My sudden rage alarmed me. I wasn’t used to feeling out of control, but I knew that if I came upon this Josh character in the street, I’d kick his teeth down his throat. How dare he think he could scare Jenna like this, just because he hadn’t gotten what he’d wanted from her? He ought to be locked up.

  I pulled my car to a halt in front of Jenna’s building and we got out. She leaned into me, and I summoned my strength, knowing she needed me to be a rock for her right now. “Come on,” I said, forcing my voice to remain even. “Let’s go see what’s up.”

  A man in a grey suit met us in the lobby. He looked harried and upset. “Ms. Robertson,” he said. “Thank you for coming so quickly.” He looked up at me. “Hi, I’m Charlie Wells. I’m the property manager.”

  “Noah Clark,” I said.

  He waited for a moment, as if expecting me to clarify my role, to say that I was Jenna’s friend or boyfriend or something else. I remained silent, and Wells seemed to give up. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll take you up.”

  “Have the police been contacted?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Wells answered. “They’re already here, in the lobby interviewing the desk receptionist right now, so you’ll have some time alone in the apartment.” He hesitated. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything. All right?”

  “Thank you,” Jenna said.

  The door stood slightly ajar
when we reached her apartment. “This was how we found it this morning,” Wells said, gesturing. “Nobody’s touched or moved anything, but the police have taken pictures and checked for prints, so you’re free to gather your things or do whatever you’d like to do. I’ll give you two a minute.” And he disappeared back down the stairs.

  Jenna pushed the door open. “Oh my God.”

  The place was trashed. It looked as though whoever had broken in had done so for the sole purpose of turning it upside down. Books had been pulled off shelves, and picture frames had been torn from the walls. Broken pieces of glass were strewn around the floor. Jenna took one look at the ruin of her home and burst into tears.

  I stepped forward and gathered her into my arms, turning her to face me, letting her sob into my chest. “It’s all right,” I murmured quietly. “It’ll be okay.”

  “He ruined everything!”

  “We’ll fix it.”

  She cried for a moment, then said, “I know it’s just stuff. I shouldn’t be letting it get to me…”

  “You have every right to be upset,” I defended. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s okay.” I kissed the crown of her head. “We should get you out of here, Jenna. Come back to my place tonight.”

  She looked up at me, eyes shining and wet. For a moment I thought she was going to say yes. But she shook her head. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Tess.”

  “What about her?”

  “You don’t think it would confuse her? If you and I…”

  “We’ll tell her the truth,” I said. “She’s almost a teenager. She’ll understand that.”

  “Which truth are you talking about?”

  That was a fair question. “About the apartment,” I decided. “We’ll tell her your apartment was broken into and that you don’t feel safe staying here tonight, and I didn’t want to let you, so you’re going to stay with us for a while.”