Catch Me When I Fall

by Jackson, A. L.

  I should have been repulsed.

  I wasn’t even close.

  Intrigue and attraction had me parting my lips, wanting to inhale him, suck him down.

  Experience something profound.

  To get zapped by the current I could feel running a circuit between us.

  “You think I didn’t see you come running in here, looking for a place to hide?” His mouth brushed my jaw, his words just loud enough to be heard over the roaring din of the bar. “Right out in the open. Is that what you wanted, to be found?”

  A wicked sort of seduction was falling from his tongue.

  Entrancing.

  Mesmerizing.

  My gaze flickered up to meet his, wavering and returning, wanting him to see me and terrified that he might discover who I was at the same time. “I think that might depend on who it was that found me.”

  Onyx eyes flitted over my face, as if he were tracing the lines, as if he were peeling me open and getting a good look at what was hidden inside.

  “Is that so?”

  I chewed at the inside of my cheek, feeling so out of sorts that I no longer understood up from down.

  “And who was it you were hoping would find you?” he pressed, his tattooed throat bobbing as he swallowed, his lips moving slow.

  Hypnotizing.

  I gathered up all the courage I had, and the words came rolling out like a plea. “Maybe I came here hoping for you.”

  A rough chuckle rumbled up that thick throat, and my eyes got stuck on the action, my mouth going dry.

  “I’m pretty sure I am exactly the opposite of what you’re looking for, beautiful.”

  He said it to repel, a clear-cut warning, but the only thing I could really process was the fact that he’d called me beautiful.

  “I think maybe you are exactly what I need right now.” I didn’t even know how I’d managed to get it out, but it was true.

  I needed him.

  For a moment.

  For a night.

  Even if he used me up, I knew it would feel right.

  “You don’t have the first clue what you’re asking.”

  There it was again.

  Another threat. A risk I wanted to accept. This was one time where I was happy to sign on the dotted line.

  “Maybe I want whatever it is you can give me.” God, I sounded like I was beggin’.

  A smirk ticked up at the corner of his delicious mouth, and he angled in closer and lifted a tattooed knuckle to trace along my bottom lip.

  Shivers raced.

  “Do you want to know what I think?”

  Did I?

  “Yes,” I whispered, my gaze jumping around, not sure where to rest my eyes, wanting to take in every inch of this compelling man.

  He let a fingertip traipse down the side of my jaw. “I think you’re feeling reckless. I think you’re looking for someone to take away the pain you’re drowning in. I think you’re itching to experience something different . . . to dip your pure, cute little toes into something dirty. Is that what you want . . . to get dirty?”

  A shockwave of need slammed over me, and my belly twisted into a thousand knots.

  I swallowed around the lump he had wedged in the base of my throat, going for brave when my knees were knocking so hard I wasn’t sure how I remained sitting on the stool. “You say that like it’d be a bad thing.”

  He dipped down faster than I could process it, his lips brushing mine. Chills zapped and energy flashed and a rush of dizziness swept through my head.

  “It would be a very, very bad thing.”

  He edged back, and I could feel the space between us simmering with something mysterious.

  “I’m not scared of you,” I murmured, wondering just who it was that I was tryin’ to convince.

  “You should be.”

  A frown pulled at my brow. “You just saved me. Stepped in and stood up for me.”

  “I touch you, and you won’t ever forget it. I’ll wreck you, beautiful. Looks to me like your heart is banged up enough.”

  “I’m not broken,” I whispered in a rush.

  “Are you looking to be?”

  “I . . . I . . .” All I could do was blink at him, trying to make sense of this. Of this attraction.

  Because he felt like instinct.

  I believed in love at first sight. With all of me.

  But this wasn’t close to being it.

  This was fascination. This was climbing a mountainside with the sole purpose of diving off a cliff. Risking everything to experience a free fall.

  “I don’t think my coming here was a mistake.”

  His voice lowered. “Watch yourself because those are the only kind of choices that I seem to make.”

  I peered at him in an attempt to see through the veil of words he kept tossing at me. “I don’t understand.”

  He angled his head, that black hair falling to one side, his gaze so severe my heart rate spiked. “That’s because you’re too good to see what’s staring back at you.”

  “Or maybe it’s you who sees himself all wrong.”

  A roll of coarse, dry laughter escaped him. “Precious girl.”

  He said it like an insult dipped in affection.

  God, this man was too much. Too forward and too compelling, and I was contemplating all kinds of things that I didn’t do. Maybe he was right. This was a very bad idea.

  “I should go,” I told him.

  “Yeah, you should.”

  I started to fumble for my credit card in the zipper pocket of my dress, thanking all the stars I sang to that I actually had one along with my hotel key. The last thing I wanted was to have to go crawling back to my brother.

  The stranger set a tattooed hand on my wrist.

  My attention dragged down to where we were connected. The muscles of his forearm were twitching, the skin covered in shadowy ink that looked like some kind of ripped-up, intricate treasure map interwoven with landscape and faces. It shifted into the portrait of a king on the back of his hand, the image surrounded by roses, fading into the pawns stamped on his knuckles.

  The entire scene screamed power and still somehow felt incredibly sad.

  I suddenly had the devastating need to climb inside of this man. To touch him and feel him and know him.

  He was right. I was a reckless, careless girl.

  “I’ve got this,” he grated.

  “You don’t owe me anything.”

  He looked at me with something in his expression that I couldn’t quite make out. “It’s the least I can do.”

  He handed the bartender his card, and I was whispering a wispy, “Thank you. I’m Emily, by the way.”

  A twitch of something that looked like disgust pulled at one side of his mouth. “Royce.”

  He said it like his name was an issue of condemnation, the man staring me down for a beat, as if he were waiting for something, for a fallout maybe, before he turned to the slip the bartender handed him and signed it.

  He returned the card to his wallet and tucked it into the back pocket of his pants.

  Unable to remain under the potency of him for a second longer, I fumbled to stand, swaying a bit when I got to my feet.

  His hand shot out to steady me. “Watch yourself, Precious.”

  A shiver raced over my arms. “I’m fine . . . I’m just . . . going to use the restroom. It was nice to meet you,” I managed, taking two steps as if I possessed an ounce of calm, and then for the second time tonight, I rushed through a crowd to get away.

  Though this time it was because I wanted to stay.

  Because I wanted to experience those dark waters washing over me.

  I shouldered through the crush, fighting the sting of tears.

  God, I really was pathetic. But I couldn’t help it. The only thing I wanted was for someone to see me for me. All I needed was one second of truth. A taste of freedom. To be loosed of these chains.

  Maybe then I would be willing to give it all away. Stand up and be brave. />
  Forget and remember.

  Accept all the possibilities and reject what had been haunting me.

  A surge of power rustled over me from behind, and I sucked in a staggered breath when I realized he was there, right behind me, following me through the crowd. My pulse raced in anticipation, though I increased my pace.

  The man did the same.

  Royce.

  I wondered what the sound of it might be like coming from my tongue.

  I stumbled when I broke out of the crowd and into the narrow, dimly lit hall, the decibel of the bar diminishing to a dull thrum. The only sound I could make out was the thunder of my heart pounding in my ears and the man’s footsteps edging up from behind.

  “You don’t have to watch over me,” I whispered into the hollow vacancy.

  A tattooed hand snaked around to palm the front of my throat.

  I felt it like a rough caress to my soul.

  “I don’t know how to let you walk away.”

  Oh, God.

  My knees went weak, and the plea was spilling out, “Then don’t.”

  He exhaled a shaky breath, and he was slowly turning me around and edging me deeper into the hall, the shadows swallowing us as we moved farther into the recesses. He backed me into the wall, and a tremble ripped down my spine when he planted both palms over my head.

  Heat surged as he covered me in the shroud of his gorgeous body. A whimper of need bled from my tongue.

  “Royce.” I murmured his name like it was a dream.

  He ran his nose along my jaw, and my chest was heaving, my wayward heart reaching out for him.

  “You’re going to regret this,” he grated.

  I probably would.

  This was so not me.

  But tonight—tonight I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was this.

  Feeling.

  And I wanted to feel with him.

  “Please . . . just . . . kiss me,” I begged.

  Royce wavered.

  Rocking forward then edging back, needy pants ripping up his tremoring throat.

  “Please,” I said again.

  “Shit,” he muttered, then his mouth crushed against mine.

  Three

  Royce

  Shit.

  Motherfucking shit.

  What was I doing? What was I doing?

  Making another one of those huge, massive mistakes, that was what.

  Didn’t understand why I couldn’t stop. Why I didn’t fucking want to.

  Nothing made sense. Nothing but driving my fingers deep into long, thick curls of blonde hair as I kissed her like a madman.

  A lightning bolt ridged down my spine, my cock steel, a boatload of lust dumped into my bloodstream, so thick, it obliterated all reason.

  Chased out all rationale.

  I was going to regret this. But sometimes one moment was more important than a thousand others.

  Unforgettable.

  Impossible.

  Because there was no chance I was actually feeling this.

  Emily exhaled in surprise, and I swallowed the needy sound, my lips slanting over hers in frantic possession.

  Those little hands fisted in my shirt, the girl trying to keep up with the assault, gasping for air as she fought to kiss me back.

  Could feel the heat, the need, the way she struggled to get closer. No chance that either of us could get close enough.

  For a desperate beat, I edged back to look down at her, the girl so gorgeous it knocked the breath from my lungs, my mind canting to the left, disconnected from all logic.

  She was cut in sharp, defined angles, cheeks high, her mouth the only contradiction, a soft, silken bow that I wanted to lose myself in forever.

  But it was those sage-colored green eyes that gutted me, the trust that swam in their lapping depths, the storm of gray that rimmed the outside.

  “Royce,” she begged.

  All it took was my name raking up her throat for me to completely lose it. No control left.

  Fuck it.

  Only thing that mattered was getting closer.

  I lifted her from the ground, one arm around the small of her back and the other wrapped up in her hair. I pulled her to my hungry mouth, kissing her wild, lips and tongues and teeth.

  Cherry coated her sweet tongue, and need thrummed her heart into a fury.

  “You were right, what you said. You were right,” she whispered frantically. “I want you to take away the pain. Take it . . . just for a little while. Just for tonight.”

  Fuck.

  I was a bastard.

  A monster.

  But I couldn’t stop.

  On a groan, I spun around and rushed us five steps deeper into the hall, like that was going to do anything to keep us concealed.

  Her upper back hit the opposite wall with a thud, and she wrapped her legs around my waist.

  Flames licked, friction rising from the barest connection.

  I dove in deeper, possessing her mouth, and my palm greedily slipped up the silky bare flesh of her long, toned leg. The material of that red country dress that had driven me out of my mind all night bunched up over her thigh.

  A warning screamed from the depths of my mind that this was spinning out of control.

  Realization that I was devouring her right out in the open. The shadows had nothing against a powerful camera lens.

  God, this was stupid.

  Reckless and foolish and brash.

  I knew this girl was out looking for a reprieve. Sanctuary. To find something that was so clearly lacking, but I didn’t think she had the first clue what she was signing up for.

  Me.

  The fucker who would take it all. Ruin it. Destroy her.

  Her tongue stroked mine, desire wrapping us in a hazy cloud of delirium.

  “Goddamn delicious.” I rumbled it into her mouth, just like I’d known she’d be. “Precious.”

  She was fucking precious.

  I kept kissing her, my hands grappling to get closer, to touch every inch of her sexy body. Running over her small, firm tits, cleavage just peeking out along the plunge of the dress.

  Palmed her slim waist and gripped her lush ass.

  I pressed my aching dick against the sweet heat of her pussy, my mind going fuzzy at the pleasure that threatened to erupt.

  Fuck.

  This girl was too much. Too perfect and too right and everything I shouldn’t want.

  She whimpered and sank her nails into my shoulders. “I don’t do this,” she rasped.

  My hand fisted in her hair, and I angled back to look at her, our chests heaving in sync, her back hiking up the wall as she clawed to get closer.

  I nipped her bottom lip. “What’s that? Kiss strangers in dark hallways?”

  “Yes.” The word blustered from her mouth, and I devoured that, too. “But . . . but you feel so familiar. So right. I feel like you can see me. See me for who I am. I want this.”

  Guilt gripped me in an iron fist.

  Lungs squeezing tight.

  There was that innocence, what had hauled my ass off that stool when I’d spotted the wolf that had scented her, bastard salivating all over the girl, going in for the kill.

  Couldn’t stomach it, the thought of someone touching her.

  Couldn’t sit aside and watch it go down.

  Fucker had been lucky I couldn’t seem to leave her side, because I’d been about five seconds from hunting him down.

  Then I was the twisted fuck who’d turned around and gone for her instead.

  Now here I was, pressing her against the wall like she belonged to me. My dick begging for reprieve.

  “I don’t think you know what you’re saying.”

  “I do . . . I do,” she whimpered, rubbing her tight body all over mine, inciting a fire that flamed and burned any good judgement into the ground.

  Turned it to ash.

  I let my lips travel over her jaw and tumble down her throat, both my hands holding her by the face. The g
irl’s head rocked back on the wall, gasping and panting for air as I devoured her sweet flesh.

  The girl completely surrendered.

  Shit.

  This was bad. So bad.

  I ripped myself back, which was a goddamn travesty in itself. “We have to get out of here. Right fucking now.”

  “Okay,” she said without reservation, and shit, that ruined me, too.

  Trust bubbling from her like a spring.

  I set her on unsteady feet, and my hand shot out to keep her from falling when she swayed. “Are you good?”

  “I need you,” was all that she said, and I gripped her by the hand and hauled her back down the hall and into the throng that had grown rowdy, the bar alive and thrumming.

  Thrumming as violently as my heart.

  I managed to pull her outside onto the street. Humidity clung to the night, the Savannah summer thick as it moved through the air, streetlamps hazy where they glowed through the mugginess that draped the city.

  It made it hard to move.

  Hard to breathe.

  At least, that was what I was blaming it on and not the girl who had her hand wrapped in mine.

  I lifted my free hand for the cab sitting on the opposite side of the street. It pulled from the curb, whipping around to our side. I pulled open the door, trying to keep my eyes off the curved lines of those legs as she slipped in. She angled to the side, one knee coming up, the material slipping up her thigh like a tease.

  She leaned back, both palms pressed to the seat, begging me to go for her, all the while shaking and shivering with nerves, a slick of heat radiating from her skin.

  Energy flashed, attraction and greed, and I clenched my teeth against the force of it.

  Fuck.

  She was hotter than a thousand suns.

  Sweeter than an orchard of dark black cherries.

  Trying to keep my cool, I slipped into the seat beside her, fighting the aggression that bottled in my chest when I saw the way the driver was looking at her through the rearview mirror.

  I cleared my throat.

  His attention snapped to me.

  That’s right, asshole. Don’t look at the girl unless you want to lose your teeth.

  With a glare that could kill, I gave him the order of where to drive. “Bohemian.”

  He gave a tight nod and flipped a U, taking the half-mile drive to the upscale hotel. The whole time, jade eyes with flecks of gold watched me from where she was angled on the seat, her breaths filling the air with cherries and sweet and desire.