Dark Hearts

by Micalea Smeltzer

  “Mine,” he growls between kisses. “Remember that,” he whispers. “You’re mine,” he says huskily. His hands roam every available surface of my body.

  I twine my arms around his neck and he lifts me up. My legs circle his waist as he carries me. I’m expecting the bed to hit my back, but I startle when I feel the hard press of the wall. Unexpected heat shoots through my body when I realize this fact. There’s something undeniably hot about the thought of him taking me against the wall. Like he’s too frantic to make it the few feet to the bed.

  He fumbles with the button of my jeans and when he finds it and slides down the zipper he makes this happy little sound in the back of his throat. He loosens his grip on me so he can slide my jeans and underwear down my hips. I lean my head against the wall, my face tilted to the ceiling as I struggle for air. I hear the jingling of his belt and the sound of his zipper sliding down and I break out in a sweat all over.

  “Condom,” he mutters. “Need a condom.”

  “I’m on birth control,” I tell him, my voice barely above a zipper.

  Shocked green eyes meet mine, and I expect him to say something about how you can’t be too sure or something like that, but instead he wraps his hand around the base of his cock and guides it inside me in one hard, sure, thrust.

  “Oh, my God,” I cry out as my back hits the wall. It might be painful if my body wasn’t so flooded with adrenaline right now.

  He presses his mouth to my collarbone and bites.

  My skin begins to feel too tight and I itch to crawl right out of my own body. It’s the strangest sensation but not an entirely unpleasant one.

  His lips move from my collarbone, up my neck, to my ear. He tugs gently on the lobe and I gasp, my inner muscles clenching around him.

  “Holy fuck,” he rasps. I roll my hips against his and he hisses. “Fuck, Nova.” He rests his head in the crook of my neck, his breath tickling my skin. He stands up straight and holds my hips in his hands. His thrusts are fast and hard and utterly perfect. I cry out a moment later as I come and then he’s right behind me. I shake and he holds my body weight so I don’t collapse.

  I hold onto him tightly, afraid if I don’t I might melt into a puddle of goo. I feel the hard surface of the wall disappear from my back and a moment later I’m lying across his soft bed and he pulls from my body carefully. Warmth seeps onto my legs, and despite the heat, I shiver.

  I’m sure I look a mess, with my jeans and panties around my ankles, hair mused and lips swollen, but I can’t bring myself to care. I don’t think I’ve ever felt better.

  Jace comes back with a damp washcloth and wipes between my legs. The sudden tenderness jolts me. I’m amazed by how he can be raging one minute as he fucks me against the wall and the next he’s gently wiping me clean.

  When I’m clean, he tosses the cloth away and then proceeds to help me out of my clothes.

  “Why are you getting me naked?” I ask him.

  His brow is furrowed in concentration as he lifts my sweater over my head.

  “Because I can and because I want to,” he says huskily.

  “I think I like that answer,” I admit. Probably a bit too much.

  His teeth flash white in the darkness.

  Once I’m completely naked he places a soft kiss to my neck. “Never do that again.”

  “What?” I ask, confused. “Jace!” I cry out when he bites my shoulder.

  “Never bring a guy back here—especially one that says, ‘So there is a guy?’ This is me reminding you that there’s definitely a guy.” His tongue swirls around my nipple. “He can’t do to you what I can.” He slips to fingers into me easily and I moan. “He can’t make you feel what I feel,” he breathes, his lips brushing mine as he speaks, purposely teasing me because he knows I want him to kiss me. I roll my hips, rubbing against his fingers. His fingers leave me and I whimper. A moment later he touches them to my lips with a one-word declaration. “Suck.”

  I wrap my mouth around his fingers and do as I’m told, swirling my tongue around. I watch with delight as his eyes dilate and his teeth dig in the slightest bit to his full bottom lip.

  “Shit,” he murmurs as I release his fingers.

  I look up at him with owlish eyes, silently saying, “What next?”

  He answers the question by cupping my cheek in one hand and angling his lips over mine. I wrap one leg around his waist and pull him close. He still wears his jeans and boxers and he’d pulled them back on after he left me, though he did remove his shirt.

  It’s not long before his jeans and boxers are on the floor with the rest of our clothes and he’s inside me. He moves slower this time, savoring it, and that makes me even hotter. I gasp when he hits a certain spot and when he does it again, and again in succession I fall over the edge. My vision blurs around the edges and for some reason I feel like crying. He presses a kiss to my temple and that makes the urge even stronger so I squish my eyes closed. His lips trail down the side of my cheek, my neck, top of chest, and over the swells of my breasts.

  Jace gently rubs his fingers over my clit and my eyes shoot open, connecting with his. A moment later another orgasm hits me and he follows suit.

  I close my eyes again as he lies beside me, both of us breathing heavily, and I know for certain that there is a guy whether I like it or not. Jace has ruined me.

  Jace

  I watch the cigarette smoke curl through the air. Images of Nova lying naked in my bed play through my mind. Leaving her this morning was the worst kind of torture but with Xander back in town for a game the guys and I agreed to meet up for lunch. I’d much rather be with her, but they can’t know that—which means I need to be paying some sort of attention to the conversation.

  “I’m going to ask Rae to marry me.”

  That sentence serves as a dose of ice-cold water poured over me.

  “W-What did you say?” I stutter. I rub at my ears like something might be lodged there and nearly burn myself on the stupid cigarette in the process.

  “I’m going to ask Rae to marry me,” Cade repeats, rubbing his hands on his jeans.

  I raise my beer, signaling to the waitress to bring me another. I wish there was a way to tell her I need about ten of them.

  “Wow, congrats, man.” Xander claps Cade on the shoulder, grinning.

  “Don’t congratulate me yet,” Cade says, with a shrug. “She could say no.”

  Xander chuckles and shakes his head. “She’s not going to say no.”

  “You don’t think it’s too soon, do you?” Cade rambles. “I mean, we’ve been together officially for almost a year and just because we’re engaged it doesn’t mean we’re getting married the next week.”

  “If you’re already freaking out about a wedding maybe you shouldn’t ask,” I suggest. The idea of both of my best friends being married is frightening. I can’t imagine being the only unmarried one. How fucking weird would that be?

  “No, not me,” he snaps, his tone implying that I’m stupid. “Rae can be very flighty about commitment. I don’t want to scare her off.”

  “She loves you,” Xander tells him. “She’s not going anywhere.”

  “I really love her,” Cade says softly. “I can’t lose her because of this.”

  “You’re overthinking it,” Xander says, leaning back in his chair.

  “I don’t know, Rae is … well, Rae,” I input. I know I’m being an asshole but I seriously can’t comprehend a world where both Xander and Cade have a wife. What kind of nonsense is that? Last time I checked we were three high school kids trying pot for the first time. Now they’re both going to be married? What the fuck is next? Babies and retirement?

  Xander sends me a scathing look, and I raise my hands innocently.

  “Rae loves you,” Xander says with a serious look. “She’s going to say yes.”

  “It’s a big deal,” Cade continues. “I don’t want to fuck this up, and I can’t even ask you for advice on a proposal because my sister got drunk and proposed t
o you. You got off easy.”

  Xander chuckles. “I’d hardly say our way was easy.”

  “Fuck,” Cade curses. “My palms are sweating and I haven’t even proposed to her yet.”

  “When are you planning to do it?” I ask. I need time to mentally prepare for this.

  “Christmas or New Year’s. I haven’t decided exactly when or how. I just want it to be memorable.”

  Xander reaches for his water and takes a drink before saying, “Whatever you do will be memorable.”

  “Yeah,” I pipe in. “If you propose to her in the bread aisle of the grocery store she’s going to always remember that and think that spot’s special.” The waitress finally returns with my beer and sets it down. I grab it and chug half of it in one swallow.

  Cade glares at me. “And this is why you don’t have a girlfriend.”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend because I don’t want one. If I wanted one, I’d have one,” I tell him, fishing for another cigarette. I can’t even remember what happened to my last one. I spare a glance under the table and find it lying there with a hole now burned in the carpet. Shit.

  Cade shakes his head. “You have no idea what you’re missing out on.”

  “I think I’ll live.” I light my second cigarette and inhale a drag, letting the smoke fill my lungs for a moment before blowing out.

  “Why exactly are you so anti-girlfriend?” Xander asks.

  “I’m not anti-girlfriend. I just don’t need a ball and chain.”

  Cade chuckles and taps his fingers against the table. “You’re so clueless, dude.”

  “About what?” I snap.

  “Everything.”

  I glare at him and Xander. “So, you guys suddenly know everything because you’re married and you practically are?” I wave my fingers through the air. “Fucking ridiculous.”

  Cade sighs and picks up his beer. “One day you’re going to fall in love and you’ll see.”

  “See what?” I seethe. I’m about five seconds from bolting.

  “You’ll see,” he says again, and I realize that’s all the answer I’m going to get.

  I pull out my wallet and lay down some bills. “I’m thrilled this lunch turned into a Dr. Phil session, but I’m out.”

  “Jace,” Xander calls after me. “Come back. We haven’t even eaten yet.”

  I lift my hand behind me in a wave.

  I push open the door and step outside into a blast of cold air. I head down the street to my truck and once in the cab I pull out my phone and call Nova.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Starved.”

  “I thought you were eating lunch with the guys?” Nova says before taking a bite of her club sandwich.

  We ended up at some little café within walking distance from our place. Neither of us has eaten here before, and the food is surprisingly good.

  I shrug.

  “Oh, no,” she says, picking up on the fact that there’s more. “What happened?”

  “Can you keep a secret?” I ask her.

  She looks at me like I’m stupid. “Have I ever told anyone one of your confessions? Do you really think so little of me?”

  “I’m sorry,” I defend, raising my hands. “This is big.”

  “What is it?” She pleads.

  “Cade is planning to propose to Rae and somehow the conversation turned to me and not having a girlfriend.” I shrug like it’s no big deal.

  “Ah, I see.” She smiles.

  “What?” I snap.

  “The conversation turned serious so you left. It’s kind of your thing.”

  “It’s not my thing,” I mumble. She eyes me. “Okay, so maybe it is.”

  “You can’t run anytime things get serious. You’ll end up alone.” I wince and she adds, “I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

  “Running is all I know,” I admit.

  She wipes her mouth with a napkin. “I hate to admit it, but I’m kind of glad that this time you ran to me and not away from me.”

  “You’re kind of my safe place.”

  Her face lights up and something inside me clenches. It’s an unfamiliar feeling, one I can’t quite discern, but I best compare it to the dip in your stomach when a rollercoaster goes plummeting back to Earth. It feels both terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.

  “Besides,” I begin, “they can make fun of me all they want, but I mean, I basically have a girlfriend.”

  “Oh, you do.” She smiles, her green hair falling over her shoulder.

  “Yeah.” I reach over, brushing the strand of hair away. “This really hot girl with freckles lives with me, and we have the most incredible sex, and spend pretty much every moment together so it’s basically like having a girlfriend.”

  “Mhmm,” she hums. “Only I’m not.”

  I lean into her, skimming my lips over her jaw. “You’re something.”

  “But I’m not your girlfriend,” she repeats. “So, you won’t mind that I invited Joel to Xander’s game?” I nearly come out of my seat and she smiles with triumph.

  “That asswipe isn’t coming,” I mumble, reaching for my water glass. My throat suddenly feels very dry.

  She smiles back. “I was talking to him the other day in class about my plans and it came up and he mentioned he loved football, so yes, I invited him.”

  “Why were you talking to him?” My fists clench against the table. Jealousy rears its ugly head inside me.

  She laughs. “Because we have classes together and we’re kind of friends now.”

  “Friends?” I repeat. “Since when?”

  “Since Titanic.”

  “Ah,” I breathe. “Wall night. That was a great night.” I repeat those events over in my mind.

  She shakes her head. “Anyway, Joel is coming to the game and you will be nice to him. After all, you’re not my boyfriend but he is my friend.” I bristle. She takes a sip of her water and sets the glass back down. “He’s a good guy.”

  “He wants to fuck you,” I mumble.

  She snorts. “So do you.”

  “I do fuck you. There’s a difference.”

  She laughs and shakes her head. “Well, I don’t want to fuck him.”

  “That makes me feel better.” I eye my half-eaten sandwich.

  “You don’t sound like you feel better,” she comments. I look up from my food and find her watching me with a coy smile.

  “That’s because he still wants to fuck you.”

  She laughs. “We could talk in circles about this all afternoon.”

  “You really don’t like him?” I ask. I know I sound pathetic asking it, but I can’t help it. I know that she spends a lot of time with him in class.

  “Only as a friend.”

  I groan. “I’d prefer that answer to be, ‘No, Jace. I hate his guts’.”

  She laughs. “You’re insane. And I did hate him in the beginning but he’s really not that bad, but only as a friend.”

  “I want to punch him,” I grumble.

  “Jace,” she scolds.

  “What?” I ask innocently. “I said I want to punch him, not that I will. I should be commended for not punching him the night I walked in on you two.”

  She laughs like I’ve said the funniest thing she’s ever heard. “You make it sound like you found us going at it like a couple of teenagers in our parents’ bed.”

  “Might as well have.” I cross my arms over my chest. My appetite long ago disappeared.

  Her lips quirk with amusement. “You’re jealous.”

  “Am not,” I scoff, which, of course, only reaffirms the fact that I am jealous.

  “Whatever you say,” she sing-songs.

  I’m clearly not very good at controlling my emotions. The game is tomorrow, so I doubt I can learn enough self-control by then to not act like a complete dick to Joel. What kind of name is Joel anyway?

  Nova curses, her gaze on her phone.

  “What is it?” I ask, instantly on edge since something seems to have up
set her.

  “It’s nothing bad,” she rushes to assure me. “Thea wants us all to go out tonight or to come over to their house for a movie night.”

  “Let’s go out,” I say.

  If we go out there’s a chance Nova and I can sneak away for a bit, but if we’re shut up in their house watching a movie then we’ll have to be on our best behavior.

  “I agree.” She types back a response. A minute later her phone vibrates. “She wants to know if I have any suggestions on where to go?”

  “Depends—do you want to dance, hear good music, or get drunk?”

  She sighs and presumably relays that question to Thea.

  “She says a bit of all of that.”

  I think for a moment and say, “2.0. It’s a club downtown—fairly new, nice but not stuffy, with live music and DJs, and a big ass bar.”

  She shakes her head, laughing under her breath. “You know everything.” She texts the information to Thea and then sets her phone aside. “Maybe I should ask Joel if he wants to go to the club?” she taunts.

  I lean across the table and slam my lips to hers, showing her exactly what I think of that suggestion. I kiss her roughly, but she loves it. I can tell from the soft little purring sound she makes.

  I release her, and she breathes, “I’m definitely asking Joel now.”

  “Over my dead body,” I growl.

  She smirks and picks up her phone, quickly typing out another text. She gets a response a moment later. “He said he’ll be there.”

  I bristle. “Great.”

  Something tells me tonight is going to be interesting.

  My jaw drops when Nova walks out of her bedroom that evening.

  “Are you trying to kill me? You are, aren’t you?” I say, looking her up and down.

  She wears a form-fitting black dress with an open back that has some kind of crisscross design with thin pieces of fabric, and because this is Nova, she pairs it with a pair of black combat boots and a choker necklace thing. She grabs her leather jacket from the hanger by the door and slips it on.

  “It’s just a dress,” she says, adjusting the jacket so it sits right on her shoulders.

  “A fucking tight one,” I grumble. It makes her ass and tits look amazing—but the problem is I won’t be the only guy that notices that fact. I’m sure Joel will love it. Fuck, Joel.