All Chapters of Hard Curves (Dangerous Curves 2): Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

December and January passed, and Naomi and King spent as much time together as they could. They met for coffee, and they met for brunch, and they met for dinner. They exchanged Christmas gifts, and they both celebrated their first-ever sober New Year’s Eve together. They watched movies curled up on Naomi’s sofa; they read books curled up on King’s. They went for walks, and Naomi taught him how to ski, and he taught her how to change a tire. Every single time he brought Callie and Noah to the Heart Center, King checked in on Naomi, and he gave her a hug before leaving to get to work himself.He saw her through some hard times over those weeks. He was there for her after she received abusive and ugly calls from her mother, and he was there when she had some shaky moments after a late-afternoon meeting turned into an unforeseen boozy dinner. When she felt weak or threatened, she lashed out at him; he let her rant and rail, then he calmly told her that no matter what she said or did, he

King’s cell phone rang, shattering the silence. He turned over in bed, squinted at the time.Fuck. Who’s calling me at midnight?He picked up the cell and when he saw Naomi’s number, he sat straight up in bed, instantly wide awake.“Naomi? What’s wrong?”“Matt.” She was crying so hard, he could barely make out what she was saying. “Matt…”“Baby, are you hurt?”“N – no. Well, yes. Maybe a little. I’m –” She dissolved into sobs.“Where are you?” He got to his feet, headed for the closet. “Tell me, right now.”“Home.”“I’ll be right there. Hang tight, OK?”“OK.”“Twenty minutes. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”“Hurry, Matt. Please hurry.”****Twelve minutes later, King was standing outside her apartment. The urge to kick the door down was huge, but he fought it – whatever the hell was going on, Naomi didn’t seem to be in any condition to take a shock like that.She opened the door and when he saw her face, he grabbed her without a word. She looked terrible, wide-eyed and afraid, and a

King was holding a sleeping Naomi in his arms and watching the snow fall. It was after three o’clock but he was wide awake, and he fully expected to stay that way for a while.Surprisingly, he wasn’t awake because he was fighting a raging hard-on or overwhelming desire. Well, OK, yes – he did have a rock-hard cock, and yes, he did want to flip Naomi under him and take her until she screamed. That was all a given, seeing as he was finally in bed with the hottest, sweetest woman he’d ever held. This was his dirtiest, sexiest fantasy come to life… or at least this was how it kind of started. In his fantasy, she wasn’t anything close to asleep.No, he was wide awake because he finally had the time to fully process what Naomi had told him about that fucker who had raped her. At the time that she’d told him, King had heard it, but he hadn’t let himself really think about what that meant. He did so now, and the rage was slow and steady and all-encompassing.King had been around lots of drunk

“You sure?” he ground out. “Totally sure?”She nodded.“Say it.”“Yes. I’m sure.”“You look scared, honey,” he said softly. “You scared?”“Yes.”“Of what?” His hands stroked her cheeks. “Talk to me.”“I’m scared you’ll change your mind. That you’ll get up out of this bed and walk away from me.”“No way.” He was totally still. “I’m not going anywhere.”“You promise?” “I promise.”He lowered his head now and Naomi saw the kiss coming, felt his heat and strength approaching. She had just enough time to feel nervous about it, then his lips were on hers. Right away, her jitters disappeared, replaced by a sense of rightness. She knew, with everything in her body and soul, that she was in the right place, the right time, with the right man. Matt was right.He moved carefully over her mouth, delving and stroking. He invited her to open up to him and she did. Oh, she did. With a moan of surrender, she gave him her need; she handed it over to Matt, trusting him to both care for it and assuage

“Some are from then. Some I had before, but most are from since. I just like ‘em. I think of them as art, as a form of expression. Like painting, I guess.”Naomi kissed his chest. “Maybe I should get one.”King was surprised. “You want one?”“Maybe. I’ve always thought about it, but could never really decide on what to get.”“Yeah. Make sure it means something to you.”“I will.”He dropped a quick kiss on the back of her neck. “I need a shower.”“Me too. You want some company in there?”“Damn right I do. Though I can’t promise to behave myself if you stand in that shower with me, all wet and gorgeous.”“I can’t promise that I’ll mind too much.” She glanced down. “And give me your boxers – I’ll throw them in the wash.”He grinned. “But then I’ll be trapped here until they’re dry.”“Yep. You’ve figured out my evil plan.”“It’s OK if I stay for a while?”“Yes.” She suddenly looked unsure. “Matt?”“Yeah?”“Do you want to stay?”He studied her closely, hearing more than just the words. Tha