Mugs of Love

by Norma Jeanne Karlsson

  “Yes.” Her tongue darts out and licks across my bottom lip.

  I’ve got more self-control than most. It’s necessary to make it through prison. I didn’t just make it through, I fucking soared. This woman is crumbling me when hundreds of men vying to crush me couldn’t.

  “You didn’t have sex with Adam for two years. You’ve known me for a few days.”

  She drops away from my face like I just threw cold water on her.

  “You’re right. You should go. Thanks for that reality check,” she says through a snort.

  “Save that for the right guy, Emily,” I whisper.

  “So you don’t wanna let me go, but you’re not gonna touch me? Jesus, you’re confusing,” she huffs, slithering away from me and climbing to her feet.

  I pause for a moment before pushing off the wall in time to see her striding away from me into her kitchen. Her hips sway with a little more attitude than she usually has and I can see the fire I’m so fond of building as she rips her hands through her hair.

  As the sandy waves cascade down her back, my breath hitches. I’ve never seen her hair down until tonight. When she works, it’s always up. It’s shiny and silky like a TV commercial for shampoo. Emily digs through her purse on the kitchen table and pulls out a hair tie. She tips her head back, threads her fingers through her waves and I move. Emily gathers a fistful of hair as I reach her back.

  “Don’t.”

  She jumps and gasps, not hearing my approach. I’m a thief, stealthy. No matter my size, I can walk without being heard even across two-hundred-year-old hardwood floors if necessary.

  I place my hand over hers and pull it away from her long tendrils. Then I bury my face and inhale as though I’m taking my last breath on Earth. She smells like coffee and cake. Paradise. If heaven has a scent, it’s this right here.

  “I’m not gonna let you go, Emily. I’m also not gonna fuck you on your couch after breakin’ up a fight in your doorway. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to. You have no idea how much I want to. But tonight, I’m gonna sleep on your couch. Then tomorrow I’m comin’ over and replacing your door. Then we’re gonna do the Fall Festival together. I’ll take you to dinner after that.”

  I pull my face out of her hair as she spins to face me, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her slender arms around my neck. I yank her closer with my hands at the small of her back. Her hair is tickling my forearms as she gazes up at me with wonder. No one has ever looked at me like this. Like her world begins and ends with me. It shakes me to my core as I fist her hair and tug it back, crushing my mouth to hers.

  Her lips part instantly and I take the advantage. I hold her head where I want it and take it all. My tongue has never tasted anything so decadent as this. If her smiles fill me with warmth, her mouth fills me with fire. Desire boils in my lungs as her moans filter in. I want her. I want to consume her from head to toe. I’m trying to do the right thing. She doesn’t know about me. When she finds out what I am, she’ll run. She should run. And she should have that chance before I get inside her.

  I slow the kiss and release her hair, settling one hand at the nape of her neck and the other just above her tight ass. I pepper her face with light pecks, ending at the tip of her nose.

  “Sleep with me, Garrett. No sex. Just hold me. I feel safe in your arms. Please,” she asks tenderly.

  “You’re safe with me, Sugar,” I purr.

  She’s beyond safe with me. I won’t let anything happen to her. The look of horror on her face when I ran in the room tonight after hearing her scream locked that fact solidly in place. I never want to see fear etched in her perfection again. It doesn’t belong there.

  Jenna showed me to the hall bathroom and then went into the guest room to deal with her hair. I had the water running while I splashed cold water on my face to get my shit together from the heat Emily was gazing at me with. When I heard her shriek in panic, my world stopped.

  I wanted to kill Adam. I have no idea what happened, but he was there and Jordan was fighting ferociously. He may have been under Adam when I got there, but Jordan was getting his licks in.

  Adam didn’t seem to remember me driving his head into the door. He probably has a concussion. I’ve found a good whack to the head can jack with memories. He comes at Emily again and he’ll be lucky to be breathing when I’m done with him much less remembering the beating I’ll hand him.

  “Go,” I grunt with a pat of her ass.

  “Huh?”

  “Bed.”

  “Are you…” she trails off, looking at the couch.

  “Lockin’ up first. Go.”

  “You’re bossy,” she says with a snort.

  “Get used to it.”

  “’Kay.”

  I pat her ass again and she moves. Good girl. I wait until she disappears behind her bedroom door and then I set about checking every door and window. When I’m satisfied everything’s locked tight, and note a few improvements that need to be made, I go out to my car.

  I press call on my phone quickly before locking my ride up for the night. If that motherfucker comes back to jack with my car, he’ll meet the business end of a tire iron.

  “Jenna called,” Devlin informs me as he answers. “Emily good?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You need my help with this shit? I can ride back, Sharp. This isn’t callin’ in your marker. I’ll do this for the fun of it.” There’s a devious hitch in his voice that speaks volumes without needing to explain anything.

  “Gotta talk to Emily first.”

  “That was a sentence. Holy shit. Jenna said you were headed toward the bedroom. That wasn’t long ago enough for you to have done that shit right.”

  I snort.

  “Talk to your woman and let me know. Fuckin’ lucky you were all there for that shit. You think he got ballsy or stupid?”

  “Stupid. Jordan parked his bike in Emily’s garage. He thought she was alone.”

  “Sentences.”

  “Fuck off, Devlin.”

  “Watch your back with this motherfucker. Call if you need me. I’m there, brother.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “No problem.”

  “Later.”

  “Later.”

  I stop on Emily’s small porch and examine the damage I caused to her door. It’s freshly painted white, shining brightly against the dark red brick of her tidy home. It’s not nearly enough for this woman. She deserves a castle or her own island. She deserves something big enough to fit her heart.

  She was going to let Adam take advantage of her to save Jordan.

  Completely selfless.

  Adam Warren fucked up letting her slip through his fingers and he knows it. He’s not going to walk away because I’m around. He’ll bide his time and try to attack on the sly. Try being the operative word there. No one has ever gotten the jump on me and no pretty boy like him ever will.

  I lock her door and force the never-used deadbolt into place. I turn off all the lights in the place and head to her bedroom. My dick has finally settled down. It’ll be back up and raring to go the moment her soft body is next to mine.

  When I enter her room, I can hear the water running in her ensuite. I toe off my boots and drag my button down over my head along with my undershirt. I slide my jeans over my hips and leave my boxer briefs in place. I should sleep in a pair of little kid footie pajamas. That would be a safer option. But I’m fresh out of those so I’ll have to control myself.

  The water shuts off as I’m folding my clothes to lay them on the flower patterned reading chair in the corner. I turn around as the door opens and my heart stops. Make-up free with her loose curls cascading around her sweet face, fucking perfection.

  Then rage fills me to the core.

  “Off,” I demand gruffly.

  Her brow furrows in confusion as I stalk toward her. She makes no move to obey my command so I do it for her. I grab the hem of the shirt and rip it over her head roughly. Emily squeals and throws her arms over her
naked tits. I ignore them and prowl back to my stack of clothes.

  When I make my way back to her, she hasn’t moved or changed her stunned expression. I shove my undershirt over her head and hold it out for her to push her arms through. Tentatively, she does. I right the hem near her knees before saying, “Bed.”

  “Did you just make me change?” she asks with shock in her voice.

  “You’re not sleepin’ in another man’s shirt. Bed.”

  “Oookay,” she draws the word out as long as she can make it, wanting me to explain further. I don’t think I need to say anything else. So I don’t.

  “Bed, Emily,” I order again with a pat of her ass.

  She sighs and walks to the bed. It’s small, a queen-size. I’ll fit but it’s not the massive California King at my place. We’ll have to start sleeping there. I’m not getting ahead of myself at all.

  She pulls back the purple and yellow duvet and slides in. I follow before reaching out to shut off the lamp on her bedside table.

  I scoop her onto my chest, resting a hand on her exposed hip. Her leg settles on mine and she burrows in further. I’d be happier to drape her entire body over mine, but that might seem a little creepy.

  Her delicate fingers begin to trace the tattoos that cover my chest, burning a trail in their wake.

  “Thank you, Garrett,” she murmurs into my skin.

  “Sleep, Sugar,” I order gently into her hair that’s fanned out in sandy waves of silk.

  Then I press a kiss to her head.

  As her breathing evens out, I feel the tension of the evening finally leaving my body. I wanted to kill Adam tonight. Not when he was fighting Jordan, when he kissed Emily’s palm. Murderous fury filled my veins when his lips brushed her creamy skin. I knew then.

  I’m completely fucked.

  I silence Emily’s alarm before curling back around her body. I turned her over halfway through the night so I could spoon her. She’s wiggling her hips against my hard dick and I’m thinking having her on my chest would be better right now.

  “Stop movin’ or you’re gonna get a mess on your back,” I purr into her neck just at her unique coffee stain birthmark.

  A glorious husky laugh rattles around the room and I smile. It hurts my face because those muscles are rarely used, but the pain feels good.

  She grinds against me intentionally a few more times and I groan before I grasp her hip roughly to stop her movements.

  “Stop,” I growl into her neck.

  “You seem to be enjoying it,” she flirts, looking over her shoulder at me.

  “Sugar, I’m more than enjoying it. Get up and get ready for the festival.”

  “I love the Fall Festival,” she says as she sits up then stretches her arms over her head, giving me the perfect view of her hard nipples beneath the thin white cotton of my shirt. She’s definitely going to kill me.

  “I’ll take you,” I say with sex in my voice, wanting to take her in more ways than I can count.

  “Jordan can pick me up. I’m sure you’re busy.”

  She looks at me through her long lashes, holding her hair away from her face. The sun streaming in through the curtains illuminates her in the way movie stars spend hours trying to achieve. As a broad smile sweeps across her face, I take a mental picture. I memorize every curve and plane, shimmer and shine, scent and breath. It’s the most breathtaking sight I’ve ever seen.

  “Beautiful,” I whisper.

  “I feel beautiful when you look at me with those eyes,” she says sweetly.

  “Which eyes?”

  “The kaleidoscope eyes.”

  My eyes can never decide what color they are. They change with every moment, like a mood ring. I don’t feel, but my eyes do. They show the emotions that I’m not able to experience. Though, while I’ve been with Emily, I’ve felt the entire time.

  “Mouth,” I grunt.

  “Huh?”

  “Give me your mouth,” I clarify.

  “I haven’t—”

  “Now.”

  She rolls her eyes at me and pecks my lips like a little old lady. I don’t think so.

  I ball up my T-shirt in my fist and pull her back to me.

  “Give me your mouth, Emily,” I growl a breath away from her lips, staring into her golden greens.

  She presses her mouth to mine and waits. She’s giving it to me and waiting for me to take over. Good girl.

  Emily squeals when I jerk her into my body and obliterate her mouth. I want to be soft and gentle with her, but I turn into a beast every time I touch her. I steal her breath and touch every surface of her mouth before releasing her. Her nails are still digging into my shoulders when I let go of the T-shirt. It stays formed in the ball my fist had it in.

  “I like you in my shirt,” I rasp, wanting to peal it off her.

  “I smell like you now. Cologne and wood.”

  She pulls the material up to her face and takes a deep breath, smiling big when she stops.

  “Thanks for forcing me to wear it,” she teases.

  “I’ll take you to your shop. Maybe if you’re good today, I’ll let you keep the shirt.”

  “You don’t—”

  “Sugar, get your sweet ass outta this bed and get ready for the festival.”

  “Do I get a say in anything with you?” she grumbles.

  “You wanna do somethin’ different?” I respond with a knowing look.

  “Maybe,” she lies like shit.

  I brace my fingers behind my head and snuggle into the pillow further. Her eyes rake over my naked torso as her cheeks flame.

  “Like?” I urge her on.

  “Stay in bed with you all day doin’ dirty stuff,” she says staring at my crotch then slams her hand over her mouth.

  “Why didn’t you have sex with Adam?”

  “I’ll go get ready,” she mumbles into her hand.

  “No.”

  She drops her hand and straightens her shoulders before saying, “I knew somewhere deep down that he wasn’t being honest. I didn’t know he was cheating until I walked in on him, but I knew he was lying to me.”

  “Instincts.”

  “Yeah. I always trust my gut.”

  “And your gut told you to be in bed with me last night and to stay in bed doin’ dirty stuff today?” I goad her.

  Emily’s eyes get huge with embarrassment before I let out a small chuckle. I can’t help it with her. I feel so fucking good in her presence. She slaps my chest before dissolving into mesmerizing laughter of her own.

  “Yes, my gut told me that. And then my brain kicked in and said forget it because I keep getting shot down.”

  “You’re not getting shot down,” I snarl, sitting up to get close to her. She needs to see that I want her. More than anything.

  “I’m doin’ the right thing. Hear me, Emily. I’m doin’ the right fuckin’ thing. You don’t know me. You’re a good woman and if you’re gonna go down this road with me, you owe yourself all the facts. I’m not rejecting you. I’m keepin’ your best interest as my priority. I want you. I want you so fuckin’ bad I can barely function around you. You decide this is what you want with me and I’ll spend fuckin’ days showin’ you what you do to me.”

  “Okay, Garrett,” she says softly before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

  “Okay.”

  “I’m gonna take a shower.”

  “Okay.”

  I try to keep my dick in check with that visual swirling, as she slides off the bed, gifting me a peek at her ass in a pair of tiny cotton panties. I’m a saint. The man I was nine years ago would be buried in Emily right now. He wouldn’t let her get up for days other than to eat and drink and then he’d fuck her in the kitchen. I’m still that man. And if she wants me, I’m ready to take her six ways to Sunday.

  The bathroom door shuts and I have the overwhelming urge to jack off. If I can release some of the tension vibrating through me, I’ll think more clearly. I’m not the guy who lays in a chick’s bed and beats his meat th
ough. So, I take some deep breaths and then climb to my feet to go check the house.

  When I’m content the place is secure and my car hasn’t been fucked with, I start to look for a coffee machine. I’m stunned that a woman who owns a coffee shop doesn’t have any in her house. I know she drinks coffee. I know how she takes it and how many cups she has a day. I need coffee.

  I head back to Emily’s room to get dressed. I’ll take a shower at my place after I drink at least two cups of coffee.

  When I walk in her room, steam is rolling out of the open bathroom while Emily shakes her hips in a music-free dance in front of her closet. Her hair is up in a fluffy white towel and her body is enveloped in a fluffier lavender robe. She’s so fucking cute.

  “No coffee?” I ask as she screams and stumbles into her clothes.

  I’m on her in an instant, pulling her into my chest.

  “You scared the crap outta me!” she shouts, slapping my pecs.

  “Sorry.”

  “If you’re gonna say you’re sorry, you can’t smirk while you do it,” she chides with a scowl on her face.

  “Sorry,” I purr, tipping my face to her neck before chuckling deeply.

  I haven’t felt this good in my entire life. Fuck, I’ve never felt this alive.

  She wraps her arms around my neck and joins in with my laughing. That fire she has is like a firecracker. It burns as bright as the sun, but only for an instant before it fades to a warm glow.

  I press a kiss below her ear to her coffee stain birthmark before standing up.

  “I don’t have coffee. I know that’s weird, but I’m never here enough in the morning to drink any. And if I have caffeine after five, I can’t sleep.”

  “I’ll grab some at home after I drive you to your shop.”

  I turn away from Emily and start pulling on my clothes. I don’t hear any movement from her as I yank my jeans over my hips so I look over my shoulder to find her staring at me. Hungry. She’s in such a daze with her eyes glued to my ass that she doesn’t notice I’m watching her. Good to know she appreciates the merchandise.

  “Emily.”

  “Huh?”

  Her eyes flick to mine with that golden desire as a scarlet flush decorates her cheeks. She smiles and her long dimple creases her face. I want to put my lips on that place, feeling the tangible joy her body offers with it.