by Ali Parker
“You can talk, I’ll listen,” she finally said.
I could work with that. “My brother, Sonny. You know he’s a cop?”
“I know,” she said.
Her eyes were guarded, her lips tight. I could practically feel the walls around her, and I hated it. She was so expressive usually, so responsive. I missed that Marie, my Marie.
Except, she wasn’t mine.
I cleared my throat and continued just as she held up a hand and circled it.
“He told me about Wesley. I didn’t ask him to look into your ex at first, but I’m glad that he did.” I was done keeping things from her. I hadn’t intentionally kept Sonny looking into her ex from her, but I’d been replaying our previous conversation in my mind and realized it might have come across the wrong way to tell her what I knew about her ex.
“He looked into Wesley because he knew I cared about you, and he wanted to look out for me,” I continued, looking for the tiniest chink in her armor. She folded her arms over her chest like was trying to protect herself and it killed me that she was on the defensive like that because of me.
“You said you didn’t ask him to look into Wesley at first. Have you asked him to look into him since?” Her eyes were blazing, but there was curiosity and maybe even a spark of fear in them too.
The only way to get back beyond those walls of hers was to be honest with her that was all I wanted to be anyway. “I have. I was actually with him yesterday.”
Eyes flying wide open, Marie took a step back from me. “Yesterday?”
I nodded. “I didn’t mean to upset you when we talked before. I know you can take care of yourself and Austin. I never meant for you to think I thought anything else.”
Marie stilled, clearly listening and waiting for me to carry on. It was my chance to redeem myself after coming across all wrong the other day. I snatched at the opportunity with both hands.
“Sonny is… Protective, I guess. We’re all that way about each other after everything that happened with our father. When I told him I met someone who mattered to me, he told me he’d look into you. I asked him not to, but he did it anyway. Like I said, I’m happy now that he did.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.
“Because I care about you.” My volume matched hers. I took a small step closer to her, encouraged when she didn’t back away. “Your ex is a real piece of work, I’m sure you know that. Now that I know about him, I can help keep you and Austin safe. At least, that was what I was thinking but then you shut me out.”
“Because I care about you too.” Her soft voice barely reached my ears, but it did.
“Why’d you shut me out then?”
Marie chewed on her bottom lip as she eyed me. Her eyes glistened with a sheen of tears, her voice thick with emotion when she spoke again.
Eyes darting around the room like she wasn’t sure about what she was about to do, she took a deep breath before she spoke. “Sit down, Jeremy. I think it’s time I told you the truth.”
Chapter Eight
Marie
As I looked at Jeremy, my heart ached, and yet hope was trying to punch through the pain. Jeremy was here, telling me he wanted to help. I was so accustomed to handling everything myself because that was what I’d had to do—to leave Wesley at first, to try to make a life for Austin and me on our own, to scrabble together the money to barely get by, and to constantly fend off Wesley and his threats. I’d had to rely on myself to make all of that happen, and trust didn’t come easily to me. At all. It terrified me to rely on someone else, but part of me wanted nothing more than to collapse into the strength Jeremy offered.
Tension was thick in the air between us, but Jeremy did as I asked. He lowered his large frame into a chair by the small round table back here. It made an almost comical picture, the big ex-football star, the most handsome man I’d ever met, sitting on a chair so small, he might as well have been on his haunches.
Under ordinary circumstances, I would’ve laughed, but there was no humor in this moment. I gulped in air, shoving my trembling hands into the pockets of my jeans.
“You might know all about Wesley’s past, but you don’t know about his present,” I began and then it all tumbled out.
I told him about what happened before I left Savannah. I told him about moving to Cypress Creek to get away from Wesley and then finally, I told him about Wesley threatening to kill him. To his credit, he didn’t run away screaming or tell me to keep my crazy life away from him.
I was so stressed and so weary of trying to keep things together that it took me a minute to register he wasn’t freaking out. That I’d told him all about my nightmare and that he hadn’t taken off for the hills.
Instead, he leaned back in his chair with his eyes locked on mine. His jaw was clenched and his posture was stiff, but he was still here. His gaze held mine—steady and strong.
He didn’t know Austin or me that well. My emotions were bouncing around all over the place since I saw Wesley earlier, or since I thought I saw Wesley earlier. After a week of being so bundled up with emotion and stress, I didn’t know what to feel anymore.
I just knew that I wanted Austin to be safe, and Jeremy too. Tears were stinging the backs of my eyes, but I didn’t want to let them fall. I needed to stay strong.
Jeremy stood up from his chair, keeping his eyes on mine. Closing the distance between us, he raised his hand to gently cradle my chin between his thumb and his fingers, lifting my face to his. “You don’t need to worry about me, I can take care of myself. I know you can too, but if you’d let me I’d like to help with that. I want to protect you and Austin, just like you want to protect me.”
My tears rolled free. As I knuckled them with a fist, Jeremy caught my wrist, his thumbs swiping over my cheeks. My tears were hot as he wiped them away, pulling me into his arms when he was done.
“I know he’s scared you and that he’s been terrorizing you, but I can help you. If you’ll let me,” he murmured in my ear. I nodded against his chest, finally letting myself relax into him.
His body was hard and firm, unrelenting as I buried my face in his wide chest and burrowed into him. Contrary to what his leave-me-the-fuck-alone demeanor might’ve made me think before I’d gotten to know him, he was good at making me feel better. He didn’t talk, just simply held me. I soaked in his strength, relief rolling through me in waves.
His scent was divine—musky with a faint hint of coffee—and added to the comfort of being in his arms. He was real, he was here and he was planning on staying, if I’d let him.
“Please do,” I whispered, my hands twisting at the hem of his t-shirt. One palm stroked up and down my back, while the other sifted through my hair. He didn’t seem to care one whit that I was soaking the front of his shirt with my tears.
Bending his head, his lips brushed against my ear as her murmured, “I’ll do anything I can to help you. I want to help you protect Austin too.”
“You do?” Even though I heard the words that were coming out of his mouth, I was struggling to make sense of them. He didn’t owe me anything, and he sure as hell didn’t have to put himself or his safety on the line for Austin and me. Yet, his words and the way I felt in his arms was so much of what I wanted, I was almost dizzy with relief.
“I’m here, Marie.” He squeezed me tighter, his fingers digging into me like he didn’t plan on ever letting me go. “As long as you’ll have me, I’m right here for you.”
A part of me melted inside at his words. I didn’t need someone to protect me, and I could take care of myself, but sharing the load couldn’t be such a bad thing. I’d proven I could weather the storm that Wesley brought to our lives without help. I’d survived it by myself for five years.
Regardless of how new my relationship with Jeremy was, the intimacy I felt with him was so intense. To recognize he could be here for me when the storm came was so comforting and such a relief, I nearly collapsed against him.
He must’
ve sensed something, or maybe I sagged against him a little, because his arms tightened even more. I couldn’t remember the last time someone supported me, physically and metaphorically.
Blinking back a fresh round of tears, I looked up into his hazel eyes. For a moment, I felt vulnerable. I was so accustomed to hiding my pain, to staying strong for Austin, that falling apart like this made me feel raw. Yet, Jeremy’s gaze held mine—the intensity there nearly taking my breath away.
A bolt of need scored me. I had the sudden urge to kiss him, and so I did. Rising up on my toes, I pressed my lips against his and wound my arms around his neck. It started out soft, a teasing exploration—almost a tentative confirmation that what we felt for each other was real and was still there after the week we’d had. But it didn’t stay that way for long.
Swiping my tongue across his lips, the low growl from his throat emboldened me. In a flash, my tongue was tangling with his. Jeremy quickly took control of the kiss. One of his hands traveled up my spine and into my hair, coming to rest at the nape of my neck and holding him to me while the other came to rest at my waist, his fingers splayed there.
Deepening the kiss, his tongue stroked mine and swept me up along with it. Pressing his body to mine, he walked us back until I bumped against the wall. Every hard, hot inch of his body came against mine, and I gasped.
A soft moan escaped from my lips as I curled my fingers into his short hair, desperate to keep him there with me, tumbling into our kiss. He made a low noise at the back of his throat, flexing into me, the feel of his arousal at the apex of my hips sending a shock of need through me.
Our kiss went from hot to wild and heavy. My hands started exploring the hard planes of his body, my left leg lifting and hooking around his thigh to get him closer to me.
Meanwhile, he growled against my mouth as his hands fell to my bottom and he lifted me, holding me in place with his hips. The hard, hot length of his cock was nestled against my core now.
My hips rocked reflexively against him, moans and gasps escaping as frissons of pleasure spiraled through me. Jeremy made me crazy. I lost sight of everything but the feel of him and sensation.
Throbbing and achy almost instantly, I became single-minded in my pursuit of pleasure, both mine and his. I kissed him back hungrily, my busy hands roaming over him. He held his hips steady, allowing me to rub against him until I was half out of my mind and unaware of anything but his lips on mine, his intoxicating scent enveloping me and his body pressing into me.
“Jeremy,” I gasped, breaking our kiss as I shimmied my hands between us to undo his pants. My skirt rode up around my hips.
God, I needed him inside me. As fast as possible. Our breath mingled as I fumbled to unbutton his jeans. The feel of the denim scraping against my silk panties was almost enough to push me over the edge.
There. I finally found his button at the same time that his lips found my throat, kissing and nuzzling as he shoved my skirt further up. I was so lost in him, I forgot about the world outside. I’d completely forgotten we were in the salon.
The loud banging of doors slamming somewhere outside brought me back to reality, and I froze. Breathing heavily, Jeremy muttered something and stepped back, letting me slide down. “We should probably get out of here.”
My lips felt swollen. Glancing to him, his were red, and his dark curls were mussed. I blushed, though I was probably already so flushed it didn’t matter.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Sorry, I lost track of… well, everything, I guess.”
“Don’t say sorry about that. Never say sorry about that,” he said, pulling me back into his arms. Locking eyes with mine, he held me still and paused as if he was searching for words before continuing. “You need to know I’m serious about helping you, regardless of whether you want more. This thing between us is too strong for me to ignore, but I’ll be there for you, no matter what. But if you want to slow down...”
“No,” I said, interrupting him and cupping his face in my hands. “I don’t want to ignore it either, and I don’t want to slow down, unless you want to.”
Jeremy’s mouth curled at one corner with a sly grin, his eyes gleaming. “Absolutely not, I was just saying that I would, if that was what you wanted.”
“It’s not,” I replied firmly, pressing a quick kiss to his lips and taking his hand.
I started to turn to lead him out of the salon, but he stopped me by pulling back on my hand. “Does this mean you’re not going to keep shutting me out of your and Austin’s lives?”
“I shut you out to protect you. You seem pretty confident that you don’t need me to do that. I just didn’t want to get you involved in a potentially dangerous situation,” I told him honestly. “That was the entire reason I shut you out, so if you’re sure...”
“I’m sure,” he said, his lips curling into a satisfied grin.
With a flushed smile, I tugged on his hand. “You ready to get out of here then?”
“Absolutely. Let’s go.”
Jeremy waited for me to lock up, and we left the salon together, hand in hand. It was the best I’d felt all week.
Chapter Nine
Jeremy
“You. Are. Beautiful.” My words were punctuated with kisses over the soft curve of Marie’s belly as I mapped my way up between the valley of her breasts, along her neck and finally to her lips. We’d picked up where we left off at the salon once we got to my house and had lost most of our clothes before we made it to my bedroom. Marie flexed and arched under me, nearly driving me mad for simply existing.
“So are you,” Marie murmured, dragging one hand through my hair and using the other to cup the nape of my neck and pull me in for a deep, long kiss.
Kissing her was like getting caught in a flame, and I didn’t give a damn if it singed me. Stretched out on my bed, only a scrap of red silk was left on her, the sight of it tempting me beyond reason. My body covered hers as I settled over her. Her skin was flushed with a sheen of passion, and her breasts rose and fell with her shallow pants and gasps. With each brush of her breasts against me, her taut nipples teased my skin, begging for me to touch them, suck on them.
Much as my body wanted me to rush with lust lashing at me and need driving me, I clung to my control. I wanted to savor this, to make sure Marie wasn’t simply satisfied, but that she knew this was more than just sex for me.
She wasn’t any other girl to me. She was my girl. A single week without her had driven that point home. I wanted to take care of her, to make her understand that this was more than a fling to me. Protectiveness and possessiveness were crashing over me in waves. My need to keep her safe and the urge to burn the world to the ground to keep her ex from threatening her mingled with the need to bury myself so deeply inside of her, we were nearly fused as one.
Our kiss grew more heated, and Marie curled her legs around my hips, winding her arms around my neck, every flex of her body against mine and every shuddering gasp making me so hard I ached for it. With the heat between her thighs rubbing against my briefs, it was all I could do to maintain control.
She whimpered when I broke our kiss, only to cry out when I brushed my lips against her neck.
Blazing a wet path along her neck and down to her collarbone, I shifted my weight to her side, easing her back against the bed. She sank into it willingly, her eyes dark and hot on mine. Lowering my head again, I swiped my tongue over a nipple, rolling the other between my thumb and forefinger. The scent of her was intoxicating—a hint of honey and vanilla mingling with her musk.
Marie gasped and arched her back, pushing herself up into my mouth, as I drew her nipple in, giving it a hard suck. My teeth scored it lightly as I drew back and gave the same attention to the other, my cock aching when she cried my name in a low moan.
Her hips bucked against me. I growled against her skin when she ground against my cock. With the feel of her wet heat, I was in danger of losing control. I kept moving, my lips dusting kisses down over her belly and my fingers dragging acros
s the wet silk of her panties.
When she cried out and arched into my touch, I had to cling to my control. My lips kept moving, lingering on the insides of her thighs for a few beats as I teased over the wet silk.
By the time I pushed the silk out of the way, she was gasping my name and pleading with me. I dragged a finger through her folds. She was soaked.
“You’re so fucking wet,” I muttered
Hooking my thumbs into the waistband of her underwear, I pulled them off, and she kicked them away. Arching my own hips into the mattress below me to keep from coming myself as the sight and scent of her arousal hit me, a low groan tore from my chest.
She spread her legs instinctively, and I spread them open even further, settling between them. She didn’t wax or shave, but she was neatly trimmed, her pussy pink and glistening.
Running my tongue along her seam, both of us moaned. I didn’t need any more encouragement than that from her. Any thoughts of taking my time were abandoned as my hands gripped her hips and I settled in to tease and taste her.
With my tongue exploring every inch of her, I buried two fingers inside of her, groaning at the feel of her tight, slick channel throbbing around me. In a matter of seconds, she was thrusting against me, her hands tangling in my hair and her thighs clenching around me. She came with a rough, husky cry.
I stayed with Marie through it, my eyes snapping open as I watched her thrash and tremble, screaming my name loudly. Seeing her come undone for me was the hottest thing ever. It made me want to see it over and over again. I was nothing if not a goal oriented man. Without pausing, I pushed her right back to another peak.
She was panting when I finally lifted my head, then she reached for me and I finally gave in. Easing up the length of her body, I skimmed kisses on the way up and brushed a damp strand of hair off her forehead when I settled my hips in the cradle of hers.
