A Devoted Heart (The Heart's Temptation Series Book 2)

by Genevieve Matthews

  He’s passionate and intensely focused on my face when he says, “I’ve been tested every year for my physicals and my tests are always negative. There’s no way they could be anything but negative. Do you know why?”

  “Why,” I say.

  “Because I never slept with any of those girls. I dated them. But that was it, no sex.”

  “You can’t expect me to believe you never had sex with these beautiful women who throw themselves at your feet.” More contradictions. I want to believe it, but at the same time it seems ludicrous.

  “Catey, you know me. You know me, I wouldn’t lie to you.” His hands have moved up and are cupping my face. He’s forcing me to look into his eyes, begging me to believe what he’s telling me. “I didn’t want any of those girls because none of them were you.”

  I close my eyes and let his words sink in. I’m taking it all in. The feeling of his thumb as it slowly caresses the skin along my jawbone. The smell of his cologne on his collar, it is light and natural but still brings out his masculine scent. His warm breath on my face, telling me how close his lips are to taking what they want once more.

  “No one else tastes like you,” he says. I feel the fullness of his lips as soon as they touch mine. The soft pressure of his mouth communicates his craving and passion. When his tongue finally meets mine I’m completely lost in the sensation I feel moving through my entire body. Every inch of me feels alive in a way I’ve only fantasized about.

  He’s walking me backwards into my bedroom and I’ve completely given in. I’m pressed against the wall when he breaks the kiss for the first time. We’re both breathing heavily, becoming more and more eager as each moment passes.

  His hands start at my neck and caress my body, over my breasts, down to my waist. “No one else feels the way you feel,” he says as he grabs the tie to my dress and pulls the bow apart. The first part of the dress easily loosens as he pulls the rest of it apart like he’s unwrapping a present.

  The look on his face as he devours me with his eyes while I stand in front of him in my bra and panties is one of shameless enjoyment.

  I smile and instead of feeling shy he’s filling me with confidence. I can see how much he wants me and it’s so empowering. He leans over me, kissing my neck and pulling the straps to my bra down my arms. As soon as the bra lands on the floor his mouth is on my breast. I feel his tongue softly lick my nipple and pull it into his mouth.

  I have to grab onto his shoulders to keep myself on my feet. His fingers work my other nipple and the feeling is so intense I feel weak in the knees. His mouth continues down my body, leaving a trail of kisses from my breasts to my navel. He slowly pulls down my panties as he kisses and nips at my skin.

  I feel combustible, like every time he touches my body I come closer to erupting into a ball of flames. I’m lost in him and I already know that there’s no one else who will ever make me feel this way. Nothing is going to keep me from having all of him tonight.

  “Your turn,” I say as I kneel down on the floor in front of him. The words sound breathless to my ears, but my hands are already moving to his shirt, unbuttoning every button. I let my hands explore his chest as I push his shirt over his shoulders and down his arms. He has a massive chest and his shoulders and arms feel strong and powerful as they wrap around me.

  “I want to see it all,” I say as I move my hands down to his pants. I unbutton his pants but can’t pull them off because of the way we are both kneeling on the floor right now. I let my hands explore inside of his boxers starting from behind, gripping his robust ass.

  I tug his pants down as far as I can so his cock is finally free. “Wow,” I say as my hands immediately grip him and gently squeeze his impressive girth. He moans and his head falls backward, his eyes rolling back in his head. He leans back while on his knees, letting his hands support him from behind.

  I lean down and lick the head of his cock. I wrap my mouth around him, licking up and down until I have him completely in my mouth. I use one hand and continue to squeeze him while I play with his cock in my mouth. He gently pushes me away after a few minutes of this rhythm.

  “I don’t want to come unless it’s inside of you,” he says. He pulls me up so I can feel him between my legs. I rub myself up and down his length, breathing heavily as his cock pushes against all of the right places in my wet folds.

  Before I can take things further, he lifts me off of the floor and carries me over to the bed. My legs are wrapped around his waist and I use my hands to direct his lips to mine again. We’re kissing feverishly as we both fall onto the mattress. His pants are still tangled around his ankles and he’s trying to kick them free without breaking our kiss.

  As soon as he shakes them loose he lays his body on mine, supporting his weight with his arms. I feel his impressive length pressing against my clit and it’s making me impatient. It’s not enough for me right now.

  “I need to feel you inside of me,” I say between kisses. He leans over and pulls a condom out of the nightstand. I grab it out of his hands, rip it open and roll it down his cock. As soon as it’s on I position him right at my entrance.

  “Brogan, now,” I say.

  Without hesitation he thrusts inside of me. I’m so wet his cock slides right inside. He immediately pulls out and thrusts again and again. He’s setting an almost frantic pace. We’re completely engrossed in each other and the way it feels to finally be one after all this time of wanting each other.

  I grab onto his ass to push him as deep as I can. His cock filling me is what I’ve needed to make me feel whole. A pleasurable ache builds between my legs. It doesn’t take long, I almost came undone with his very first thrust. With a few more powerful thrusts he tips me over the edge and I’m moaning his name as my orgasm rips through my body.

  He doesn’t stop thrusting and I don’t even have a chance to come down from my high before I feel the pleasure building inside of me again. I grab him around the waist and we both roll over to the other side of the bed. Without pausing I start rocking my hips. Brogan reaches up and squeezes my breasts as we ride each other hard.

  He rolls his thumbs over my nipples and I start to come again. His hands grab my hips and he gives another deep thrust. I can feel his cock pulse as he comes apart inside me, shouting my name.

  I fall down onto his chest and he wraps his arms around me and holds me close. We’re both breathing heavily and basking in the afterglow of amazing sex. Once our breathing starts to slow down, I roll off of him and snuggle into the bed. I immediately miss the connection I feel with him inside of me.

  He pulls the condom off and throws it in the bathroom garbage. On his way back to the bed I hear his phone go off in his pants pocket.

  “I thought we had a strict no-phones rule in the bedroom,” I say.

  He walks over and pulls his phone out of his pants. I lay where I am and enjoy the view from the bed.

  “It’s the guys wondering if I’m coming out for drinks tonight,” he says while looking at his phone.

  “And are you going out for drinks tonight?” I ask.

  “Of course not,” he says as he switches off his phone and sets it on the nightstand. “There is nowhere I’d rather be than lying naked with you in bed right now.” Without putting any clothes on, he crawls back into bed with me and tucks me into his side, my head on his chest.

  “Good answer,” I say.

  The soft shaking of his body tells me he’s laughing. I feel his fingers start to play with my hair, stroking it away from my forehead, sliding his fingers through the strands. The gentleness of his touches starts to lull me to sleep.

  The last thoughts I have before I drift off are how right it feels to be held in Brogan’s arms and how he has definitely ruined me for any other man.

  I actually think I have dozed off when it registers that Brogan said something. At least I think he did, unless I’m dreaming it.

  “What did you say?” I whisper.

  “I love you,” he says as he softly kis
ses my forehead and squeezes me tight.

  “I love you, too,” I say. My response is effortless because loving Brogan is something I have never once questioned.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Brogan

  2005

  Prom weekend flew by and now it already feels like a distant memory as I walk into school on Monday morning. I approach my locker and notice Cate standing in front of her locker, staring. I find myself hesitating, we haven’t talked since I kissed her on prom night. But we’ve been friends forever and I need to make sure we’re okay. Not to mention our lockers have been next to each other since we started school.

  I take a deep breath and head straight to my locker without hesitation. I’m putting in the combination to the lock as I say, “Hey.”

  She doesn’t say anything.

  I lean my forehead against the locker door and try again.

  “Look, I’m sorry about the kiss…” I’ve turned my head to look at her and realize that she still hasn’t moved and still hasn’t stopped staring at her locker. “Hey, what’s wrong?” My eyes follow hers and that’s when I finally see it.

  Someone has put signs up on her locker with the word “slut” written in bold red letters. My mouth drops open and I feel the same kind of shock I imagine Catey is feeling right now.

  “What the hell is this?” I say. I don’t know if I’m asking her or voicing my thoughts out loud but without waiting another second I start grabbing the paper in my hands and tearing them down. I crumple the paper up and walk it over to the garbage can.

  She’s at least unlocking her locker when I walk back over, hopefully she’s snapped out of the trance. The look on her face cuts right through my heart. I can tell she’s trying to hold back tears, I know her well enough and I’ve seen it enough times.

  “Hey,” I say again, putting my hand on her arm. She turns to look at me and her eyes show me how much pain she’s in right now. The confusion and complete anguish is what really tears at me. “We’ll figure this out and everything is going to be okay.”

  She doesn’t answer but manages to nod her head. She’s putting her complete trust in me to figure this out and I can’t let her down. Not to mention I have a bad feeling this somehow involves me and my impulsive behavior at prom.

  I don’t know what it is about her, but I have always felt protective of her. Maybe it’s because she has always been there for me when I’ve needed her, more so than my own family in so many ways.

  So I send her off to class determined to find out whose ass I’m going to have to kick.

  It’s hours later when I’m on my way to lunch that I see Andrew sit down at a table with some of his buddies. I walk right over.

  “You have a minute?” I ask.

  “Why?” he says.

  “Because I want to talk to you, in private.”

  “Fine.” He gets up and follows me out into the hallway. He’s doing a really good job letting me know what an inconvenience this is for him.

  He crosses his arms in front of him and says, “So what did you want to talk about?”

  “I want to know if you had anything to do with the signs hanging on Cate’s locker today.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” To his credit, he really does look like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “But here’s a thought, why don’t you stop meddling in Cate’s life.”

  Well that was unexpected. “I’m not meddling in her life, I’m helping her figure out who wrote ‘slut’ all over her locker today.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. So I thought I’d start with you since I’m assuming she spent most of the weekend with you.”

  “We didn’t spend the weekend together. We went to prom together, as friends. Thanks to you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Exactly what I’m trying to tell you. You’re always in the way. You won’t let her live her life.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “No? I saw you.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I saw you two kissing in the hallway. I mean what a total douche move, making out with my date at prom.”

  I’m speechless for a moment. I didn’t think anyone saw us and I never thought far enough ahead to know there would be consequences to my actions.

  “So did you tell anyone?”

  He puts his head down, looking at his feet. I already know the answer to that question.

  “I told Tatianna.”

  “Why the fuck would you do that?”

  “Because I was pissed!” He’s right in my face and for a second I think he’s going to give me a shove. “I figured your date had the right to know that you were making out with someone else.”

  Shit. Now it all makes sense.

  “She deserves better, you know.”

  “Just stay out of it, Andrew.”

  “Actually, if you’re not going to make a move, you should be the one to stay out of it. And leave her alone.”

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate the advice.” I’m already walking away. I don’t need this nobody telling me how to live my life. And anyway, I have bigger things to worry about. Unfortunately I’m going to have to talk to Tatianna again.

  I totally chickened out. Instead of finding Tatianna and confronting her at school, I called her and left her a message to get back to me. I haven’t really thought through how I’m going to handle the situation with her. I know she’s the one who put the signs on Catey’s locker, but I need to figure out how to diffuse the situation and somehow take Catey out of the equation.

  It’s late but I can still see the light on in her bedroom window. I know I’m not going to be able to go to bed tonight until I’ve confessed what I found out today. And I want to be the one to tell her. If she hears it from Andrew she’ll be so pissed.

  So I crawl out of my window and walk through our backyards. There’s a bite to the air tonight. I’m in jeans and a T-shirt and I should have worn a sweatshirt. It has been unseasonably cold this month, the grass is wet and cold and I wonder if it’ll frost tonight.

  I push my hands down into my pockets and listen to my heart pound with the sound of the crickets. I quietly knock on her window and wait. A minute later she pushes the window up and I crawl through.

  “Hey,” I say. “I wanted to talk, is this an okay time?”

  “Of course,” she says. She’s been doing her homework at her desk. The lamp is on and her notebook is out, her backpack on the floor. She’s always up late doing every bit of her homework and then some. I’ve been trying to rub off on her, get her to see how liberating it can be to skip some of the work sometimes, but she’s strung too tightly.

  I sit on her bed and she sits back at her desk. “So I talked to Andrew today,” I say.

  “Why Andrew? He wouldn’t have done that,” she says.

  “No, but…” I don’t know how to say it. I was selfish, but I don’t want this to be my fault.

  “But, what?”

  “He saw us kissing in the hallway at prom and told Tatianna.” I let it all out before I have any more time to think about it. I run my hands through my hair and wait for her reaction.

  “So Tatianna put them on my locker?”

  “I’m sure she did. I haven’t talked to her yet, but it’s something she would do. Especially finding out that I kissed you and then I pretty much dumped her after that.”

  “You dumped her at prom?”

  “Yes.”

  “Brogan, that’s so cold.”

  “She didn’t even care until she found out I kissed you. She’s not a nice person, Catey, don’t feel sorry for her.”

  “Well you’re the one that was there with her in the first place. Why go with her if she’s not a nice person, Brogan?”

  “I don’t know! I haven’t exactly had two parents that have been relationship role models for me. All I see is dysfunction and fighting.”

  “I’m sorry but that i
s utter bullshit, Brogan. It’s about what you feel. If you feel something for someone, you owe it to yourself to try. And if you don’t feel anything, you have no business being with that person.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. Who have you even dated? You don’t even put yourself out there.” I immediately regret my words. She doesn’t respond and I know I’ve crossed a line. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” I sit on the edge of her bed and take her hands in mine. “You’re right, I had no business being with her. It was a waste of my time.”

  “No, I’m sorry. It’s none of my business,” she says. Again I can see the hurt in her face and it really gets me.

  “I’ll talk to Tatianna and I’ll fix this. She won’t bother you anymore, I promise.”

  “Okay,” she says. She’s quiet, though, and I feel like there’s still more bothering her, but I don’t know how to get her to open up to me. I feel like we’re on fragile ground lately.

  “What do you think about a movie on Friday night?” I ask completely out of the blue.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, do you want to go to see a movie with me Friday night?”

  She’s studying my face like she’s trying to figure out what my motives are. Eventually her mouth turns up in a little smile and she says, “Sure, let’s do it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Cate

  2005

  I’m fresh out of the shower, busy looking through my closet for something to wear. The problem is that I have nothing to wear. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, but more importantly I want to look amazing and irresistible.

  I’ve decided on my favorite pair of jeans and a flowy, black shirt. Black dresses everything up a bit, not to mention how flattering it is to my curves. I’m looking in my jewelry box on my dresser when there’s a knock at my door.