by R. Linda
Almost as if sensing me watching her, she looked up and focused her eyes on me as she hung up the phone. Her lips moved, and I could tell she was saying something to the others. Goodbye, most likely, because then she jogged up the beach toward the porch where Jack had just burst through the door.
“Mrs. Kellerman. Ravishing as always,” he said and dropped onto the top step.
“Hello, Jack. How is the party?”
“Well, they’re getting ready for a midnight surf, so I’m here for the view.” He winked, and Mrs. K laughed.
Harper approached and slowed her steps.
“Harper, good news. The guys are going for a surf,” Jack announced.
She half smiled but still hadn’t moved her eyes from mine. “Uh…sorry. I have to go.”
“Oh, so soon? Is everything okay, dear?” my mother asked.
“Yeah. Umm, no. I just…” She bit her lip and swallowed. “I really need a…friend,” she said, putting extra emphasis so I knew she needed me.
“Nate, you’ve not had much to drink. Why don’t you take Harper home?” my mother suggested helpfully when Harper darted through the door.
“Sure.” I rose to my feet then leaned down and pressed a kiss to Mum’s head.
“I’ll cover for you,” she whispered conspiratorially.
I pulled back and stared at her, wondering how she knew these things. She was like that growing up. She always knew we’d done something before we had the courage to tell her. Half the time, she knew things about us before we did.
“Go.” She ushered me away.
With a quick goodbye to Jack, I chased after Harper. Linc, Ryder, and Brody were grabbing boards and getting ready for a surf, while everyone else still partied. Linc’s parents were in the corner chatting with my dad. The guys Linc worked with were having too much fun with the keg. I said bye to the guys as they walked out the door, not stopping to explain where I was going because I had no clue where Harper had gone and needed to find her.
It didn’t take long. In fact, she found me, jumping out of the shadows when I neared my car.
One look at her face and I knew something wasn’t right.
“What’s wrong, friend?”
She wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my chest. I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one could see and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Let’s get out of here, yeah? Then you can tell me about it.”
“Okay.”
I opened the car door and waited for her to get in before closing it and jogging around to my side.
Once we were away from The Love Shack and she still hadn’t spoken, I decided to break the silence.
“How did your exam go yesterday?”
“Good, I think.” She was quiet and withdrawn. Lost in her own thoughts. I reached across the console and grabbed her hand.
Bringing it to my lips, I pressed a kiss on each knuckle and asked again, “What’s wrong?”
“Johnny called.” She took a deep breath and shifted in her seat to face me. “He received a phone call tonight and was trying to work out how to tell me. After a while, he figured it best if he just called and got it out of the way.”
“And?” I glanced at her as I turned the car onto the street where my apartment was. I didn’t ask if she wanted to go home because I wanted her to stay with me. She looked lost and broken on the beach after she spoke to her uncle, and an overwhelming need to protect her, comfort her, and cherish her took over.
“My brother’s out.”
The revelation hung in the air between us. I pulled the car over out the front of my apartment, and I unclipped both our seat belts so I could face her properly.
“Out?”
“Early release.”
“When?”
“Johnny was unsure of the date, but he thinks it’s been a while. Maybe even a year.”
I didn’t know what to say. I cupped her face in my hands and searched her eyes for a clue as to how she was feeling. Happy. Relieved. Sad. Angry. I couldn’t tell.
“Who called Johnny?”
“Jeremy, but he didn’t give Johnny much information. Just wanted to check on me, make sure I was safe and happy.”
“He cares, Harper. He cares about you.”
“But he didn’t contact me. He didn’t ask to visit. He just wanted to know I was okay. That’s it. Why?”
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t. Maybe he was waiting for the right time. Maybe he was scared. You’ll never know unless you talk to him. Maybe you can call him. Ask Johnny for his number or something.”
She laughed bitterly and pulled from my grasp. Pushing the door open, she climbed out and stomped up the steps and inside my building.
I followed her and opened the door to my apartment, letting her in.
“Harper?” I asked when she stormed down the hall to my room and began taking off her shoes.
“What?” Her dress was next. Dropped in a pool of silvery material at her feet.
I closed my bedroom door and stepped over to her, grabbing her arms as they twisted behind her back to unhook her bra.
“Stop.” I said and brought her hands down in front of her. The moment I let them go, they went straight behind her back again.
“Stop trying to undress yourself,” I said, pulling her arms back in between us again.
She reached for my shirt and began undoing the buttons. “Fine, I’ll undress you.”
“Stop trying to get us naked.” I couldn’t believe I actually said that to her. What guy in his right mind would turn her down? I couldn’t resist her for three months, and now she was standing in front of me in nothing but her underwear, tugging my pants down my legs.
What happened to my shirt?
“Can’t have sex with clothes on, Nate,” she said and crouched to remove my shoes and pants at the same time.
“You’re angry. We are not having sex.”
Damn my conscience to hell. There I went again. Turning her down. But it was the right thing to do. She was angry and hurting that her brother, who she idolised and looked up to, was a free man and hadn’t made any effort to contact her.
“But didn’t you know, friend? Angry sex is the best kind.” She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra.
I tried hard. Really hard not to look. And I didn’t…for all of three seconds. I was only human. And a man, at that. And putting a beautiful, half-naked woman in front of a man and asking him not to look was like dangling fine whiskey in front of an alcoholic and telling them don’t touch. Laughable.
So, I looked.
I followed her curves with my gaze, letting my eyes wander over the softness of her skin. The swell of her breasts. Her tight, toned stomach. The tiny scrap of black lace that barely passed for underwear. My mouth was dry, and all the blood in my body was heading south. But it wasn’t the time.
I scooped up my shirt from the bed and draped it around her shoulders, helping her to slide her arms in, and then I picked her up and placed her in my bed, much like I did the other night. I climbed in behind her and wrapped my arm around her waist and kissed the top of her shoulder.
“Why would he not contact me?” she asked.
“There could be a dozen reasons, and you’ll never know unless you ask.”
She rolled over and faced me, and her fingers danced along my cheekbones. “Would you come with me?”
“If you want me to, yes.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and brought her face to mine. Her tongue darted out and licked my bottom lip. With a playful look in her eyes, she asked, “Now, about that angry sex?”
I grabbed her by waist and rolled her on top of me. A surprised squeal left her lips, and she giggled.
The sound of the front door slamming shut echoed through the apartment, and I quickly placed my hand over Harper’s mouth to stop her from making noise.
What the hell was Brody doing home already?
Harper rolled off me and froze, too scared to move in c
ase Brody heard her. I pulled her back to my chest and wrapped an arm around her waist and waited for Brody to go to bed, but he had other ideas.
The bathroom door opened. The toilet flushed. The tap ran. Lights off. Lights on. Doors opening and closing. Footsteps up and down the hall. The fridge opened. A glass clinked. Liquid sloshed. The crackle of a chip packet being opened. All the while, we lay motionless, while I tried not to think about Harper’s ass pressing into me or the way her heart was beating seemingly in time with mine.
Finally, after the longest and most tense wait, the TV turned on. It meant we could relax a little. He wouldn’t hear us if he was watching something.
I brushed Harper’s hair to the side and pressed a kiss behind her ear. She sighed and gripped my hand around her waist, fast asleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Harper
I woke in the morning to featherlight kisses behind my ear. My shirt unbuttoned, and his fingers brushed my stomach, over my ribs, tickling as they went until they reached the collar of the shirt and tugged it down over my shoulder. I sat up and allowed Nate to remove it completely. I had given in entirely. I was kidding myself when I said it was one night only. The man was irresistible.
Looking at him over my shoulder, he still appeared to be half asleep. He smiled up at me and leaned forward to press a kiss to my spine. I shivered from the coolness of his lips on my overheated skin. He pulled me back down on the mattress and rolled until he hovered above me. “Good morning, friend.”
“We’re still using that line, are we?” I gasped and tilted my head back, driving my fingers into his hair when his tongue glided down the column of my throat until his teeth nipped at my collarbone. Why was that so sexy?
“Well, you’re my friend…”
“Friends don’t sleep naked next to each other.”
“Who’s naked? I’m wearing boxers, so who else have you been sharing a bed with?” he teased, gliding a hand down my side to my hip. His fingers dug into my flesh, massaging, kneading, caressing.
“Just you. I—” I froze and stared wide-eyed at Nate’s door, waiting.
Brody’s door had just opened and closed. He was home. I assumed he’d have gone out or something. Nate’s lips continued their delicious assault on my skin, skimming down my stomach until he paused and lifted his gaze to meet mine, a cheeky smile on his gorgeous face.
“Roll over?”
“What?”
“Roll over.” When I didn’t move, he sat back on his knees and flipped me onto my stomach. “That’s better.”
He braced his hands on either side of me. I tensed, my body and ears on high alert. What was he doi—?
His tongue flicked my lower back, once, twice, three times on one side before moving to the other side and doing it all over again.
“Told you I wanted to lick those dimples.” He flipped me back over and—
A knock sounded at the door.
Nate cursed, staring at me with wide, panicked eyes. Crap. What did I do? If Brody walked in, we were dead. How could we be so stupid? This was a terrible idea. Awful. Big mistake. Huge mistake. Then why did it feel so right?
Making a quick decision, one that would have most girls feeling self-conscious and embarrassed, I slid off the mattress and onto the floor, hiding myself between the bed and the window. Brody wouldn’t have a clue I was there unless he walked around the room or peered under the bed.
Nate snatched up my dress and shoes and threw them under the bed before climbing back under the covers and casually throwing an arm over the side, right where I was lying.
We waited in silence for Brody to leave or walk in. Nate’s hand was conveniently on my breast, squeezing gently, rubbing. I pushed it away, and he chuckled softly, using his pillow to muffle the sound, before returning his hand to continue touching my sensitive flesh.
Brody knocked again and called out Nate’s name. The door opened, and I held my breath, not wanting to make a noise. Nate increased the pressure of his hand, massaging my breast, his thumb brushing my nipple. My eyes rolled back, and I bit my lip to stop myself from moaning. It felt amazing.
“Nate?” Brody whispered, and when Nate didn’t answer, Brody pulled the door closed. Neither of us moved for a minute. We listened to make sure Brody had left, and the instant we heard the fridge door open, Nate was off the bed and on me, pulling his pillows down on the floor with him.
His lips met mine in a frenzied, hurried kiss. Our teeth clashed together, our tongues sliding against one another while our hands fumbled with our underwear. My heart was beating out of my chest. Brody was just down the hall. He could hear us at any moment, but that made it so much more exciting. The risk.
Rising to his feet, Nate discarded his boxer shorts, leaving him gloriously naked in front of me. My underwear practically fell off by itself. Combusted. Gone. Like magic. He positioned the pillows in a row and lifted me onto them. Leaning over me, he reached into his side table and pulled out a condom.
Kenzie’s voice echoed in my head, safety first, and I chuckled.
Worst time to start laughing.
“Something funny, friend?” he whispered.
“No…” I took a deep breath as he settled his body over me. “Not funny at all.”
“Good.” Nate pulled my lip between his teeth and nudged my legs open.
Finding my hands and entwining our fingers, he kissed me. Slow, languid movements as his tongue explored my mouth. I lifted my hips to meet his as he eased himself into me, taking his time. Dragging it out. My back arched, needing to feel closer as I moaned at the feeling of him moving inside me. The warmth of his skin sliding against mine. Too warm, but still not enough. Our mouths fused together, breathing each other’s air, stifling our moans.
I wanted to touch him.
Explore his body.
Run my fingers through his hair.
Scratch my nails down his back.
But I couldn’t. My hands were pinned. I was completely at his mercy.
Moving his mouth from mine, kissing my jaw, my neck, caressing my lips with his, Nate’s eyes sought mine. Hazy with lust, our gazes locked, watching every emotion, every thought flicker as the slow, deliberate, and gentle movement of his hips rocking into mine built a pleasure that sent us spiralling over the edge.
***
We fell back asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms on the floor. Something had shifted. I felt it in the way Nate held me. I saw it in his eyes. I felt it in my bones. In my heart. There was no going back, no matter the consequences. No matter the fallout. For six months, I had tried to fight my attraction to him. Evidently, I failed epically for three of those months. But there was no fighting it. It couldn’t be stopped. We were tied together by an invisible thread. A strong, unbreakable thread. A chain. With padlocks.
I combed my fingers through his hair and watched his chest rise and fall with every breath. Nate lifted his sleepy head and smiled at me lazily. “Hi, friend.”
“Hi,” I said quietly, conscious of Brody in the next room. We stared at each other with our lips pulled up into cheesy grins. My heart fluttered. He was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at him, but I did. A lot. He was like a fine—very fine—piece of artwork. Sculptors should model all their masterpieces on him. “What are you doing today?”
Nate inched higher until his mouth brushed mine. “You,” he whispered against my lips.
My eyelids fluttered closed. “I’m totally okay with that,” I murmured, lifting my chin and kissing him. I wanted to bottle his kisses, his scent, his essence and take him with me wherever I went. I felt like Alice, falling down the rabbit hole, and Nate was my Wonderland.
Voices sounded in the living room. Garbled at first, I couldn’t understand the words they were saying. Nate groaned and dropped his head to my chest, and then Linc’s husky voice rang loud and clear as it got closer to the bedroom door.
“I’ll get him.”
My eyes widened in shock. Linc was going to walk in that door any second
, and I was naked on the floor.
Pressing a soft kiss to my shoulder, he stood and held out his hand, telling me to stay hidden. “This isn’t over.”
I hoped not.
He pulled his shorts on just as the door opened. I lay perfectly still. Again.
“Oh, you’re up,” Brody said.
“Well spotted.” Linc laughed. “We’re going to play a game of basketball down by the beach. Get dressed. Let’s go.”
“Uh, nah, you guys go ahead without me,” Nate said, his tone uneven. I could picture the scene. He’d be rubbing his neck nervously, and Linc would be watching him with curious eyes.
“Come on, man, get out of the house a little. I’m gonna get changed now. Give me five minutes.” Brody’s footsteps retreated down the hall, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Seriously, you need to get out. Have some fun. Work out your frustrations,” Linc said.
“Believe me, I have well and truly worked out my frustrations today.” Nate cleared his throat. “Lots of fun.”
We worked out both our frustrations today. I giggled and quickly slapped my hand over my mouth. I couldn’t believe I did that.
Dammit.
Did Linc hear?
“Who was that?”
“Shh, keep your voice down. You need to get him out of here,” Nate said.
“Who?”
The door closed gently, and the sound of water running in the bathroom drifted through the walls. It wasn’t the shower, though, just a tap, which meant Brody was likely brushing his teeth.
“Brody. Get him out of the house. I need a little more time.”
“Nah, don’t think I will. Not until you tell me why your bed giggled.”
Jeez, Linc was stubborn. I sat up, careful to keep my naked body hidden behind the bed and waved at Linc.
“Fucking frustrations.” Linc threw his hands in the air and turned away. “Fine. But you get her out of here the moment we’re gone.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll meet you at the beach.”
“I hope you both know what you’re doing,” Linc said, shaking his head. He opened the door and walked out, being sure to close it behind him.
