Three hours later, we were both drunk and out on the dance floor. Beyonce's Dance For You, was blasting out of the speakers, and I was making suggestive moves with my hips when I felt a body slide up against mine, and then begin grinding against me.
Even without Minx's eyes widening before narrowing, I knew who was behind me. Hell, even if I'd been unconscious, I'd have known. His cologne and warmth surrounded me, and I found myself grinding right back. The thick hardness pressed against my ass spurring me on.
Leaning his head down until his lips rested against my ear, Nathan continued to bump and grind against me as he growled, “Yeah. You’re not making this friendship thing between us easy.” Then, with a hoarse, "Fuck!" he released me, and disappeared into the crowd.
The next morning, slitting an eye open, I uttered a groan. Feeling like I was on death’s door, I gingerly leaned over, grabbed my purse, and dug out the pain relievers buried within its depths. After shaking two tablets into my palm, I picked up the water bottle sitting near me, and swallowed the pills, swearing I’d never drink another drop of alcohol again.
As I waited for the pills to take effect I dropped my head onto my knees, reliving the hours after Nathan had left me standing alone at the club, my face shrouded in pain.
With her face flushed with anger and her hands balled into fists at her sides, Minx had hurried over to my side. “What the hell the bastard say to you?”
Before I'd been able to say anything, she'd declared, “Oh, who the hell cares—I'll kill him whatever the fuck it was!”
Shaking my head, I'd laughed, trying to hide my unhappiness. “Chill Mohamed, I’m okay,” I murmured.
Minx had been slow to calm, but when she had, a sheepish look had stolen across her features, and she'd exclaimed, “Bit rash, huh?”
“Mm, mayhap, a teeny, tiny, bit,” I'd teased, as I'd held up my thumb and forefinger—a minute space separating the two pads.
~~
Time passed, and the alcohol flowed, and I was out on the dance floor again, dancing with a man who was drop-dead gorgeous, when suddenly he released me and my arm was grabbed from behind, and swinging me around until I was facing him, Nathan snarled, “He had his goddamn hands all over you.”
I scowled at him. “He did not!”
Nathan’s jaw was ticking rapidly, and his lips curled into a slight snarl. “The fuck if he didn’t. He had no right touching you like that—you’re not his.”
I stared at him nonplussed for seconds, then shook my head whispering, “But I’m not yours either.”
With a deep groan, Nathan grasped my hand and began tugging me off the dance floor at a near trot. Doing my best to make a quick survey of the nearby crowd in search of Minx, I finally spotted her dancing nasty with a man who was nearly as hot as the one leading me out of the club.
Catching her eye, I gave a tug of my ear. A signal we'd made up long ago, letting her know I was okay. Minx gazed at me, a pitying look crossing her features, before she mouthed, “Oh, honey...” Then with a resigned look in her eyes, she shook her head, and raising her hand next to her ear in imitation of a phone, she mouthed, “You better call me tomorrow!”
Though I knew I was opening myself back up for more heartache as I followed Nathan as he pushed and shoved people out of our way as we headed toward the door. His actions weren’t done rudely, but with a fixed determination nonetheless. The closer we got to the exit, the more he picked up speed, and as his hand connected with the door that led to the outside, he had us almost running as he shoved it open with a powerful thrust.
On the other side of the door, moisture streamed out of the clouds. It saturated us in a matter of seconds as we wove our way between the parked cars. When we reached a dimly lit area of the back parking lot, Nathan came to an abrupt stop, then, spinning around he pushed me up against the trunk of a nearby car.
Bending toward me, he buried my mouth beneath his, before, with water streaming down all around us, he groaned low and deep against my lips, “I have to taste you!”
His hands slid up my thighs and under my dress, pushing the hem up around my hips. With his action, he left my bare ass on display for the world to see. Modesty flew out the window, though as cupping an ass cheek in each palm, he began squeezing and molding them like play-doh.
Voice rough and deep, he groaned, “Fuck, you make me hard.” A tremble of desire shook his frame, as placing his lips against mine; he began to nibble at the swell of my bottom lip. After a few seconds, he lifted his mouth away, trailing a line of kisses over my jaw and down my neck, murmuring, “Baby, I'm going to get that taste now.”
No matter our soaked condition, or the fact the parking lot was beginning to look like a small stream ran through it, he dropped to his knees.
Pushing my dress even higher, he settled it around my waist, as, bunching the material in one hand; he sucked and bit at the flesh of my stomach. From there, he began working his way down until he reached the moist cloth covering my slick folds.
Pushing aside the thin material of my thong, he began a maddening dance with his tongue, licking and sucking at my labia, before delving into its crease. Drawing the slickness of my arousal onto his tongue as he ground out, “God, how I've craved the taste of you.”
The swipe of his tongue on my sensitive bundle of nerves had me panting and squirming with need, and lowering my hands into his hair, I pressed his face harder into me as my orgasm slammed through me with such force, I was positive my toes dug through my shoes, and left grooves in the pavement beneath them.
As I tried muffling my cries of pleasure, Nathan gave a groan, before sliding his tongue deep inside me, he began stroking it in and out, making love to me with it as he drew every last spasm out of me, fingers biting into my hips as he held me in place against his face.
His abrupt stilling though brought me out of my pleasure-induced haze. Lifting his head from where he'd been driving me insane, he rested it against my abdomen. His breathing harsh and labored, as body quaking with unsatisfied desire, he hissed, “Fuck!” before, pushing himself away and gaining his feet, he muttered, “What the fuck am I doing?”
Then, exhaling another breath, he’d taken my arm, and led me back inside the club. Afterward, he'd turned and begun walking away, only to pause and turn back to face me.
Gazing at me for several seconds, he'd given a shake of his head, then, once again turned away.
Turning, I took a step and heard a pop and crack. To my horror, I saw the ceiling coming down at me. With a scream, I threw myself down beside the couch, riding it out there until the shaking stopped. When everything stopped rocking, I began to shift; however, I couldn’t as my legs had become pinned beneath what I could only assume were large chunks of the ceiling and support beams. The quake must have knocked the power out of the whole neighborhood, for the house had settled into a shroud of darkness. Not even the moon penetrated the blackness that now surrounded me and prevented me from seeing how much debris I lay beneath. I tried pushing at the heavy material to remove it from my legs. However, I had to stop as another contraction tore through me. Panting, I worked my way through the pain. When it had subsided, I pushed again at the debris, which held me, prisoner, beneath it.As I pushed and shoved, I became frantic. Fear skittered up my spine and claimed my mind. This couldn’
After I had greeted him with a good to hear from you, Arizona had cleared his throat. “I’m not too sure you’ll feel that way after I tell you what I have to say.” From there, he’d launched into telling me how Nathan had come to see him the night I’d gone into witness protection. Demanding that he tell him where I was going. I groaned. “Oh, Jesus, tell me you didn’t.” Arizona gave a long sigh. “No, of course not. I didn’t know then. However, after the other night, he knows you’re in L.A.” “Arizona,” I wailed, “how could you? You promised you wouldn’t!” “Look here, Brianna, I ain’t said much, but dammit, this time I am, and you’re going to listen.”I remained silent but listening. After a few seconds Arizona continued, “He’s determined to find you, sweetheart. Do you remember what I told you about a man in love moving Heaven and Hell? Well, the earth has been under siege for a while now. And it seems he was a little confused. He thought you and I had been lovers. I set him straigh
ONE MONTH LATERThough I’d known it wasn’t wise, I’d been unable to cut all ties back in Texas, and had reached out to Minx once I’d settled in L.A., even reaching out to Arizona. Then came the dilemma of Nathan.After everything was over, I’d powered up my phone and found my voicemail practically filled with his messages. With each one he left, I’d fought myself not to listen, instead, before weakness could overtake me, I’d hit the delete button and blocked his number. The temptation not to call him was still a daily struggle. I’d managed to find a job as an assistant for a private investigator. It differed from the hectic activity I’d become accustomed to at the agency and was nothing more than answering the phone and setting up appointments—but it filled in the empty hours. As the days continued to pass, I found I liked my boss. Linda Spelling had turned out not only to be a wonderful employer but a great friend. We spent almost every morning before work drinking decaffeinated c
The silence that followed Zane’s announcement was filled with unspoken longing, a shared yearning for the simplicity of days gone by. But as the clock chimed the hour, reality crashed back in, and we both knew that we had to keep moving forward, no matter how much our hearts yearned for the comfort of the past."So, what's the plan?" I asked, breaking the silence.Zane took a swig of his iced tea before answering. "Well, we sit tight here for a bit. The feds are working on nailing the bastards that are after you. They're setting up a meeting, trying to draw them out.""How do they know where to look?" I questioned, fear gnawing at my stomach."They've got their ways," he said cryptically, his eyes holding a glint of something I couldn't quite decipher.I nodded, knowing better than to pry. "And what do we do in the meantime?""We wait," he said with a sigh. "But we won't be idle. We're going to use this time to get you ready, just in case things go sideways.""Ready for what?"He lean
Zane led me to a blacked-out SUV, and as we drove away from the airport, I watched the lights of the city stretch out before us like a never-ending sea of stars."You okay?" Zane's voice was gentle, his hand briefly touching my arm before retreating to the steering wheel.I nodded, not trusting my voice. The lump in my throat was too big for words."We've got a safe house set up for you. It's not much, but it's home for now."Home. The word was foreign on my tongue. I had left my real home behind, trading it for a life in the shadows. But as we pulled into the quiet, nondescript neighborhood, I knew that for now, this was where I had to be.For the sake of my baby, and the love I had for Nathan, I had to play this game. I had to be strong, and I had to survive.As we pulled into the driveway of the safe house, Zane turned to me. "You can trust me, Brianna. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe."I nodded again, my eyes misty with unshed tears. "Thank you."He helped me insid
~NATHAN~Hearing Brianna say she was leaving had devastated me—her whispered words, “I love you,” had killed me.After she’d quit the call, I’d jumped in my pickup, and like a crazed man, I’d broken every goddamn speed limit law there was between her place and mine. I hadn’t given a flying fuck if a patrol car had pulled in behind me. They would have had to chase me to Brianna’s because I wasn’t slowing down for any motherfucker. Now, pulling in before her home, I gazed at it, shattered. It sat, silent and empty of her presence, echoing the bareness that now ripped through my soul. However, its solitude appearance didn’t stop me and shoving the pickup’s door open, I jumped out of the cab and ran up the steps of the porch. My feet never slowed until I stood before the front door. Grabbing the knob, I twisted, but it didn’t give beneath my fingers. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, its beat, erratic, broken. Raising a leg, I kicked at the door, the force behind the blow one