He kept moving closer, backing her toward the counter behind her.
“So you read them?”
He dipped his chin. “Yeah, I read them.”
She thought she might actually throw up. “You had no damn right.”
“So that’s why you left school, because that asshole you were seeing won’t take no for an answer?”
There was no point denying it now. He’d seen it, all of it. All the ugly, sick, twisted crap Daniel had been sending her. “Yes,” she whispered.
Fire burned bright from his eyes. “Do you know how hard it was for me to come here instead of finding that fucker and tearing him to shreds?”
Lucy shook her head furiously. That was the last thing she needed. “This has nothing to do with you. I can handle it. I am handling it.”
“You’re not handling shit.”
“I’m going to change my number again. It’ll stop.”
Adam’s hands went to the counter either side of her waist, caging her in. “It’ll stop all right.”
“Please, Adam, you can’t…you can’t say anything. Please, just leave it.”
The muscle in his jaw jumped. “Why haven’t you reported this?”
She couldn’t hold his stare. It was too damn intense. “I just want to forget any of it happened.”
“You need to call the school. He should lose his job for this.”
She shook her head again. “No, please…”
“What the fuck, Lucy? Do you still care about him? Do you love him? Is that what this is about?” he said.
Her gaze shot back to his. “No…”
“Cut the bullshit. You’re hiding something. What is it? Fucking tell me.”
“No…I…”
“Tell me.”
“It’s none of your—”
“Now,” he barked.
“I don’t want to hurt his kids, okay?” Her voice sounded broken, stilted. “Not any more than I already have.”
“So his wife found out about you and Daniel, and started sending you hate messages, threats?”
Lucy shriveled in on herself. “Do you blame her? I had an affair with her husband.”
“Did you know he was married?”
“No.”
“That he had kids?” He cupped her face and made her look up at him as she shook her head.
“No.”
“Goddamn it, Lucy.” He sucked in a rough breath. “It’s not your fault. This is all on him. He was in a position of power and he abused that. None of this is your damn fault, do you hear me?”
She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I could have destroyed their family. Those kids would have grown up without their father.”
“They’re better off without him.”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe that. And I…I won’t be the cause of them losing him, the cause of their pain, of wondering every night where their dad is, if he’s coming home, what they did wrong…I can’t be the cause of that. I can’t be the one that destroys their lives.”
“Lucy—”
“No. I’m a screw-up, and because of that, I nearly ruined that family. If they’re torn apart, it’s my fault. I should’ve thought, I should have asked more questions. I should have never gone out with him. He flattered me, made me feel special, and I was so damn desperate for the attention, God, to feel wanted, that I fell for it like a gullible fool.” A tear streaked down her face and she dashed it away. “I’m an idiot, a screw-up—”
“Stop.”
“No. Hugh’s right…I’m…”
Adam gave her a shake, snapping her out of it, out of the place she’d avoided going since she got back to LA. She blinked up at him, biting her lip.
“You are wrong. Do you hear me? None of that, none of it’s true. I fucking see you, Lucy. I see you for the amazing, sweet, caring”—he swiped his thumb over her damp cheeks—“beautiful, sexy, fucking perfect woman you are.”
She sucked in a startled breath. “Adam—”
“That’s why you left school instead of transferring, because you blame yourself for what happened to that family…those kids?”
“How can I help anyone…God, children, after what I did?”
“Jesus. No more. I don’t want to hear any more. You didn’t cause any of this.”
Her lips parted to say something, though she had no idea what, but he leaned in and pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, cutting her off. His breath huffed in and out of his nose, chest rising and falling rapidly. He murmured her name and a curse before he covered her mouth with his.
She should resist, say no, but something snapped inside her. She needed this, she needed Adam. So instead of pushing him away, she pressed in close. God, she couldn’t get close enough. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him back, feeding him all the emotion, the turmoil, the pain pounding through her, and they just sort of…went up in flames.
Adam’s body was hard against hers, an unyielding wall of strength holding her up when she thought she might collapse in a heap and never get back up again. His hands went to her hips and his fingers flexed, digging into her flesh. She needed him inside her, needed him to wash it all away. All the pain and sadness, the guilt and crippling feeling of failure. Only Adam could do that, only he had the ability to wipe it clean, even if it was just for a little while.
“Please,” she said against his lips. “I need you. Please.”
His fingers dug deeper and he growled. “This isn’t why I came here tonight. Goddamn it, Lucy. Look what you do to me. Look what you made me do, baby girl. You fucking turn me inside out.”
She whimpered, afraid he might turn her down and walk away. “Please,” she said again. Prepared to beg if she had to.
His eyes flared, so much heat burning into her. “Fuck,” he ground out, then slammed his mouth back down on hers as he yanked at her towel, tearing it from her body. “I can’t say no to you. I’ve tried, but I can’t, not anymore.”
Lucy dragged his shirt up and over his head, and her hands dropped to his jeans to yank open the button. His went to the backs of her thighs and he lifted her, lowering her ass on the counter. His mouth lowered to her breast at the same time, sucking and licking as she freed him.
She might be blind with lust but not so blind she’d forget protection. “Condom,” she gasped. “Quickly.”
Adam lifted his head, eyes glazed over, looking momentarily confused before he shoved his hand in his pocket, tore out his wallet, and pulled out a condom.
He rolled it on then he was back between her thighs, tugging her closer. “Don’t have the patience to warm you up, sweetheart. Tell me you’re ready for me?” He brushed his knuckles along her slit, down to her opening and back, and a groan vibrated from his chest. “Shit, baby, you’re already so wet for me.”
He didn’t give her a chance to reply, and on a rough growl, he slammed up inside her. She cried out, hanging on, legs around his waist as he pounded into her. His hands were on her butt and he held her where he wanted her as he fucked her, his mouth at her throat, his groans vibrating against her skin.
“Jesus, you feel so good. Amazing,” he said roughly.
She couldn’t answer, an orgasm already building rapidly inside her.
“I’m so sorry I hurt you, sweetheart. So fucking sorry,” he muttered. “That was the last thing I ever wanted, why I shouldn’t be here now.” He lifted his head, his lips brushing hers, eyes holding hers captive. “You’ve always been under my skin. You’ve always been there, Luce. God knows I shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t touch you, but I can’t stop. You’re all I can think about.”
Her head was swimming. Heart pounding, she clung tighter to him. He slammed deeper and her head dropped back.
Adam fisted her hair, making her look at him again. “I can’t walk away now,” he said. “It’s too damn late for that, not now, not now that I know how you taste, the sounds you make when I’m deep inside you. Dammit, Lucy, what have we done?”
&n
bsp; She gasped from the torment in his voice, from the steadily building pleasure thrumming though her.
“Don’t run from me again, Lucy. Please don’t ever run from me again. Watching you leave on that bus, it nearly fucking killed me, knowing that I hurt you.” He cursed. “Promise me you won’t walk away again.”
There was a desperation to his voice she didn’t understand, couldn’t process, not when she started to clamp down on his cock, not when she was shaking so hard the only reason she hadn’t fallen to the floor in a puddle was Adam’s strong arms holding her upright.
He slammed deep, twisting his hips. “Promise me.”
“Yes. I Promise!” Then she screamed, clinging to his big body as her orgasm tore through her.
Adam grunted, grinding into her, pinning her down, fucking her through it. She felt him pulse deep inside her, and a shout burst past his lips as he came.
~ * ~
Lucy woke to the sound of birds chirping. She blinked her eyes open, trying to clear her sleep-fuzzed brain.
The bed moved behind her. That’s when she became aware of the hard, warm flesh pressed up against her.
“You’re awake.”
Adam.
His voice wasn’t rough with sleep; it was rough with something else. He sounded alert, like he’d been lying beside her, waiting for her to wake up for a while.
“Looks that way.”
His erection sat against the crease of her ass and he pumped his hips, making her shiver. His arm was around her waist and he tugged her back so there was no space between their bodies, not that there’d been much in the first place, and pressed his mouth to her ear.
“I want you,” he rasped.
“Yeah, I kinda noticed.” A delicious shiver moved through her.
He trailed one rough-skinned hand down her thigh to her knee and lifted it, opening her wide, and slid his own forward, holding her open. That hand then kept on moving down between her legs and he cupped her, pressing his middle finger against her slit and pushing it deeper.
Lucy moaned and arched into him.
“You woke up ready for me, baby.” He slid that finger back and forth, making her gasp and squirm.
When he took his hand away a second later, she whimpered in protest, but the sound of foil tearing cut her off and instead had her humming with anticipation. He reached down between their bodies and rolled on the condom before his hand went back to her thigh, holding her wide for him.
“Ready?” he said, voice husky and sexy as hell.
She shuddered again. “Yes.”
He didn’t ease in. He slammed up inside her and she cried out.
“Fuck, Lucy,” Adam grated behind her. “So fucking tight and perfect. This pussy was made for me.”
His mouth went to the side of her neck and he kissed and sucked the sensitive skin as he powered into her from behind, holding her steady so she would absorb each bone-jarring thrust of his hips. His hand came around under her, curling around one of her breasts. Fisting the sheets in front of her, she used what movement she had to push back, to meet each brutal thrust.
“Please. God, please, Adam.”
“Please what?” He muttered against her ear. “You wanna come?”
She whimpered again. “Yes.”
“But I’m nowhere near finished fucking you yet. I’m not ready to leave your tight pussy, and we both know as soon as you start squeezing down on me you’ll take me with you.”
She tried to reach down to rub the tight bundle of nerves desperate for attention, but he grabbed her hand, holding it captive.
“Not yet,” he growled.
Then he fully let loose, fucking into her hard and fast like all his control had vanished and losing himself in her body was his whole world. He shoved her forward, half on her side, half on her belly, and powered into her over and over. Lucy was sweaty and shaking, right at the precipice but unable to go over. Every time she was about to come, he’d slow down and deny her.
“Adam,” she moaned, reaching back to grip his ass and grind, taking him as deep as he’d go on his next thrust. “Please.”
Adam cursed, pulled out suddenly, and rolled to his back. “Get on then, brat. Show me. Show me what you want, what you can’t wait for.”
Lucy didn’t wait for another invitation. She straddled his hips, gripped his painfully hard cock, and sat down on him, taking him all the way. They both groaned.
His hands went to her chest, squeezing and massaging her breasts. His eyelids drooped low, gaze dark. “That’s right, work it. Fuck, you feel so good, Luce. Look so fucking perfect up there riding me.”
She felt perfect, too. Adam made her feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet. No one had ever looked at her like he did, like no one else, no other woman, had existed before her or would after this moment. She dropped her hands to his chest and rolled her hips, keeping him deep so he hit that spot, the one that made her head drop back and her muscles tremble.
She ground down and her orgasm slammed through her before she was fully aware it was going to hit. Her mouth dropped open and she screamed. Adam ab-curled suddenly, sitting up. His hands went to either side of her face and he didn’t take his eyes off her, hot gaze moving over her face as she flew apart. She was still shuddering against him when he groaned, rolled her to her back, and ground his hips into hers. He buried his face in her neck as he joined her, shaking and growling as he came.
They lay like that for a long time, neither one moving. His harsh breaths had slowed and were warm, tickling the spot just below her ear.
Finally, he said, “How long has he been harassing you?”
She swallowed the lump that formed instantly in her throat. “Since I ended it. He says he’s still in love with me, that he’ll leave his wife if I come back to him.”
“You don’t want that?” His voice sounded impossibly deep.
She shook her head, stomach in knots. “I cared about him, but I never loved him. Then I found out about his family and I couldn’t even like him anymore. You can’t love someone you don’t respect.”
Adam stilled, and lifted his head, eyes boring into hers. “No, I don’t suppose you can.”
Chapter Nineteen
An uncomfortable feeling settled low in Adam’s gut.
Did she respect him? She’d thought he was a manwhore, an asshole, out for what he could get with no interest in more than what went down between the sheets. Jesus, was that how she saw him still? And how could he blame her if she did? That’s what he put off, all to avoid a deeper connection with anyone who might try to get close.
God, he hated it.
He didn’t want Lucy to think about him that way anymore, but if that’s what he wanted, it would mean telling her the truth, the real reason he’d never even allowed himself to imagine having more—a relationship, a family.
He shook off his thoughts. This wasn’t about him; this was about Lucy, and whatever he could do to help her.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” He was using the word “talk” lightly. He’d be more than happy to convince this asshole to back the fuck off with his fists.
Lucy stilled. “I can handle it, Adam. Thank you, though.”
“Ignoring his calls and texts isn’t handling shit.” He lifted up so he could see her face, but couldn’t help shifting his hips against her soft heat, keeping her thighs open and wrapped around him. “Not to mention his wife. She’s directing her anger at the wrong person. You should go to the police. It’s harassment, Lucy. It needs to stop.”
She shook her head, her sexily rumpled dark hair falling over one side of her face. He brushed it back before he realized what he was doing. Her throat worked, eyes getting glassy. Shit, was she going to cry?
“Luce?”
“No, I’m not doing that. She has a right to be angry. I—”
“Yeah, she does. At her goddamn husband.” He cupped the side of her face. “He doesn’t deserve her and he sure as fuck never deserved you.” He shook his head. �
�You need to drop the guilt, baby. It’s not doing you any good. He’s taken enough of your time and energy. It’s time to let it go, and the only way to do that is to make the calls and texts stop.”
“You’re right. I’ll change my number again. Someone gave it to him the last couple times, but I’ll be pickier about who I give it to from now on.” She bit her lip and dragged in a sharp breath through her nose. “I’ve got this under control, Adam. You don’t need to do anything, okay?”
There was more to this. She was keeping something else from him—he could see it in her eyes. The damn shutters had come down. That wasn’t Lucy. She’d always worn her heart on her sleeve. Everything right there in her eyes for him to see, killing him every damn time he looked into them and saw the way she truly felt about him. Or at least the way she used to feel.
Not now, though. She was holding back, hiding something, something big.
“Is there another reason he’s so desperate to talk to you?”
“No.” She couldn’t hold his gaze.
What the hell was going on? “I’m not letting you leave this bed until you tell me the truth, and right now you’re lying through your teeth.”
She paled before his eyes, her distress obvious. He didn’t want to cause her pain, at least any more pain, but he wouldn’t back down either. Whatever that asshole wanted from her was enough for him to call and text her twenty fucking times a day. That was the actions of a man either obsessed, desperate, or both. The idea of someone in that frame of mind having Lucy in his sights did not sit well with him. In fact, it scared the shit out of him.
He cupped her jaw and made her look at him. “I’m not backing down, not until you tell me what this is really about.”
She must have seen the determination in his eyes because he felt her body deflate beneath his. She looked away and when she looked back a tear streaked down her cheek.
Fear sliced though him. “Jesus, Lucy. What’s going on?”
Her gaze shifted, focusing on something over his shoulder. “The reason he keeps calling is he…he thinks I’m lying to him.” She swallowed hard, more tears rolling down her face.
Slide (Boosted Hearts Book 3) Page 18
