Beautifully Broken Spirit

by Catherine Cowles

  I tore at the little metallic square as Tuck unbelted his robe. As he shucked it, I gasped. I’d been with all of two men in my life, so it wasn’t like I had a lot to compare Tuck to, but he was huge. Massive and beautiful. I swear I could’ve stared at him all night if I hadn’t been dying to get him inside me.

  His bronzed skin seemed to shimmer in the low light of the room, stretched tautly over broad shoulders and lean, sculpted muscles. And that V… I’d sworn those things were fake. But, nope. Here was one—live, and in person. I wanted to trace it with my tongue.

  Tuck’s dick twitched, and I startled. He chuckled. “You stare at it like that, there’s only going to be one reaction.”

  I nodded, fumbling with the condom. Tuck stilled my shaking fingers, helping me roll it on. “Are you sure, J? We can stop.”

  Our gazes locked. It might end up being yet another thing that I added to my list of colossal mistakes, but I was sure of one thing. “I need this.”

  Tuck nodded, taking my mouth in a slow kiss, ratcheting up the heat that seemed to flow through my veins. My legs encircled his hips, and his tip bumped my opening. Tuck eased in. So damn slowly, I wanted to cry. I sucked in a breath as he fully seated himself in me.

  Tuck brushed the hair away from my face. “You okay?”

  I nodded but kept my eyes squeezed closed. “Just. Give me. A minute.”

  “Got all the time in the world.” Tuck’s hand found my breast and began to play. Teasing, rolling, pinching my nipple in an ever-changing pattern of caresses. My body started to melt, my muscles easing. Any hint of pain I felt turned to molten heat.

  “Move. You can move.”

  Tuck pressed his lips to my temple. “You sure?”

  “Yes, dear God, please just move.”

  He chuckled as he began to ease in and out of me. Small movements at first. I urged him on, my heels digging into his muscled ass, my fingertips gripping onto those incredible shoulders.

  Tuck picked up speed, his thrusts becoming faster, deeper. I arched back into the bed, letting out a cross between a moan and a plea, the cord inside me tightening. Tuck reached between our bodies and gave my clit a single strum. That was all it took. That rough fingertip against that tight bundle of nerves sent me right over the edge.

  15

  Tuck

  I awoke to a delicious backside pressed up against me, my cock nestled perfectly between those cheeks. My hand palmed a breast so soft and malleable, I wanted to weep. The creature next to me arched back, letting out a little moan. My eyes fluttered open.

  Fuck. No, fuck was not a strong enough word. The perfection I was wrapped around. The best sex of my life. It was a girl I should’ve looked at as a little sister. Fuck.

  Jensen tilted her head to face me and gave a sleepy blink. It was fucking adorable. “Morning.”

  I released her breast and rolled to my back, my dick protesting the motion. “Morning.”

  Jensen maneuvered to her side, pulling the sheets up to her chin, the most adorable blush staining her cheeks. “So…”

  I studied her face, trying to read what she might be thinking. I got nothing. “So.”

  Jensen nibbled on her bottom lip. “You regret this, don’t you?”

  “What? No.” I sat up. “That was the best sex of my life. It would be damn difficult for me to regret it.” I just had no idea what it meant for us going forward. It was impossible to erase chemistry like that. Now that I’d tasted her skin…how the hell was I going to walk away?

  Jensen gave a slow nod. “Okay…”

  I watched as her mind seemed to go in circles as she reasoned through something. “Just tell me what you’re thinking.”

  Jensen raised herself up on one arm, the sheets slipping down and revealing those perky little nipples that had my mouth watering. “I think we should keep doing this.”

  My head jerked. “What?”

  She gestured between the two of us. “We should keep doing this.” She waited, seeming to check to see if I was going to freak out on her. I said nothing. “I’ve never had sex that explosive.” Her teeth rolled her bottom lip. “I want to keep having it.”

  Jensen sat up farther, the sheet dipping just a bit lower. “We have great chemistry. We respect each other. You’re one of my best friends. There’s no reason we can’t have a sort of friends-with-benefits thing going on.”

  “J, I don’t know…” The second the words left my lips, I wanted to steal them back. Experiencing the silk of her skin, the curve of her hips, how it felt to be buried deep inside her. How could I walk away, knowing I’d never feel that again?

  Jensen broke in before I could say another word. “It’ll be our secret. No judgement. No prying eyes. No pressure. Just two friends enjoying each other. Neither of us is looking for a relationship, so there’s no risk.”

  She made it sound so simple. Maybe, just maybe I could work her out of my system. I couldn’t have her forever, but I could have her for this brief moment in time. “It might work…”

  Jensen smiled. “There’s just one thing…”

  I arched a brow in question.

  “You can’t sleep with anyone else while we’re sleeping together.” Jensen’s gaze held mine, challenging. “Do you think you can handle that?”

  A wicked grin spread across my face. “Oh, I can handle it. But I’m going to need you often.” If I had any prayer of getting my fill of this woman, I’d need to keep her locked in my bedroom twenty-three hours a day.

  Jensen let the sheet fall all the way off her body. “I think that can be arranged…”

  I was going to Hell. And I was going there after Walker murdered me when he found out what I was doing with his sister. But it would be worth it.

  I watched as Jensen pulled on freshly-laundered jeans over her pert little ass. Oh, it would totally be worth it. “You about ready to go?”

  The roads had been cleared enough that we’d be able to make the hour trek home. I just wasn’t sure what life would look like when we got there. How would I be able to keep my hands off Jensen in front of everyone? Would they look at us and immediately know? An image of Walker socking me in the jaw as soon as we walked in the door flashed in my mind.

  Jensen tugged on my shirt, pulling me flush against her. “What’s with the grimace?”

  I brushed my lips over hers. I would never get enough of her taste. “I’m imagining what your brother would do if he found out.”

  Now it was Jensen grimacing. “That’s not going to happen. We’ll be careful.”

  I let my hands trail down her body, squeezing her ass. “Super-secret sex. I like it.”

  Jensen rose up on her tiptoes and tugged on my lip with her teeth. “It makes things that much more exciting.”

  I brushed the hair back from her face, giving a stray strand a couple of light tugs. “That it does, Little J.”

  Jensen shoved at my chest, forcing me to release my hold on her. “If we are doing the dirty, you have to stop calling me Little J.”

  I chuckled. “Doing the dirty?”

  Her hands went to her hips. “You know what I mean. Having sex, bumping uglies, assault with a friendly weapon, boinking, buttering the biscuit, fucking.”

  I let out a bark of laughter and pulled Jensen to me. “You’ve certainly got a wide and varied vocabulary, Miss Cole.” I bent my head, running my tongue along the column of her neck. “But I think the word I like coming out of your mouth most is fucking.”

  Jensen seemed to melt just a bit in my arms, and her words came out with a bit of a breathless quality to them. “Well, then. If we’re fucking. You can’t call me Little J.”

  I gave her pulse point a quick nip. “Then what should I call you?”

  Jensen’s hands fisted in my hair. “How about my name?”

  I tugged on her earlobe with my teeth. “Nope. Everyone calls you Jensen. I want something just for me.”

  Her hands trailed down my back. “Fine, but you’re going to have to think it up. And nothing dirt
y.”

  I chuckled. “Hmm…” I took her mouth in a slow kiss that soon turned hot. I pulled back, and her eyes blazed with that fire I’d been missing, the one that reminded me that she’d always have that bit of wildness to her. “I’ve got it.”

  She blinked up at me, annoyance filling her expression. “What?”

  “Wilder.”

  Jensen’s brow furrowed. “Wilder?”

  “Yup.” I pulled her back to me, wanting to soak up every second of her body pressed against mine before we had to reenter the real world. “You’ve always had a wildness to you. It’s been missing for a while, but it’s coming back. And when I light that match, your eyes burn with it.”

  Jensen’s cheeks heated. I brushed the hair out of her face, kissing each temple and then her forehead. “Don’t get embarrassed. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Wilder…” She let the word trail off her lips. “I like it. I think it’s about time I had some wild back in my life.”

  16

  Jensen

  Thirty more minutes, and my day would be done. I could flip the sign in the window to Closed, clean and pack up, and go home. I really hoped no more customers came in tracking snow everywhere and creating more messes for me to clear. I wanted to feed my horses and cuddle my son and call it a night.

  The bell above the door sounded, and I fought a grimace. As I lifted my head, my forced smile turned genuine. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

  “Couldn’t stay away, Wilder. You’re like a drug.” Tuck swaggered towards me, those lean hips and muscular shoulders of his causing saliva to pool in my mouth.

  We’d been stealing time everywhere we could these past two weeks. As the holidays approached, I knew those moments would get rarer, so I was thrilled to see him today. I chose to ignore the little flip my stomach did every time he walked into a room. It had to be a side effect of the amazing chemistry that sparked between us, nothing more.

  Tuck rounded the counter and tugged me into the kitchen. As soon as we were out of the line of sight from the front of the shop, his mouth was on mine, hot and demanding. That was the thing about Tuck, he never settled for less than my all.

  His tongue delved into my mouth, stroking mine. His hands cupped my ass and lifted. I wrapped my legs around his hips, searching for just a bit more. The friction of him pressing against the seam of my jeans had me letting out a little moan.

  The bell over the door sounded, and we froze. Two deer caught in a pair of headlights. I shook myself from the stupor Tuck’s kisses seemed to put me in and smacked his back. “Let me down.”

  Tuck snapped into action, carefully lowering me to the floor. I started out to the front room, but he caught my arm. “Hold on, you’re a little—” He reached up and smoothed down my hair.

  I let out a startled laugh. Whoops. “Be right with you,” I called. “Do I look presentable now?”

  Tuck leaned forward and nipped my bottom lip. “You look too damn sexy for your own good.”

  I grinned and headed for the front. The smile fell from my face, and my steps faltered. No. No. No. This could not be happening. I blinked several times, hoping the person standing at the counter of my tea shop was not who I thought it was.

  “Hey, J.”

  I felt Tuck’s heat at my back, but not even that was a comfort. Because standing before me was the man who had torn my heart to smithereens and then spat on it. And there was only one reason he would be here. Noah.

  “What are you doing here, Cody?”

  I felt Tuck stiffen at my back. While he’d never met Cody, he certainly knew the name.

  Cody gave me a gentle smile, the same one he’d given me so many times before. The smile that was a lie, but one I’d believed hook, line, and sinker. “Can we talk in private?”

  “No.”

  Cody’s eyes widened a fraction. “No?”

  “No.” That’s right. I wasn’t the same naïve girl he’d manipulated all those years ago, and it was best he learned that now. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it here and now. And then leave.”

  A flicker of annoyance flashed in his expression. “I don’t even know this guy.” He gestured to Tuck.

  “Not my problem.”

  Cody let the hurt show, but I was better at spotting his lies these days and knew the emotion wasn’t genuine. “You’ve changed.”

  I raised a single shoulder and then let it drop. “That’s what happens when someone tells you they love you, that they can’t wait to marry you, then knocks you up and takes off. Leaving nothing behind but the realization that the person you fell in love with never existed.”

  Cody took a step closer, and I felt Tuck move to my side. “That’s not fair, J. I was a dumb kid. I made the worst mistake of my life, and I’m here to make it up to you. You and my son.”

  A roaring sound filled my ears, and the blood in my veins turned to fire. I was going to commit murder on the floor of my tea shop, and then Tuck would have to arrest me. “Guess what? I was a kid, too. Four years younger than you. And you left me all alone to deal with everything. And never once looked back.” Tuck wrapped an arm around my shoulders, squeezing a few times.

  Cody’s gaze flicked to the movement and then traveled to Tuck. “Who are you?”

  Tuck let out a menacing chuckle. “Not that it’s any of your fucking business, but I’m a friend.”

  Cody let out a scoff. “Yeah, a friend trying to get in her pants.”

  My body went rigid. Tuck strode towards Cody. “It’s time for you to leave, buddy.”

  Cody looked at me. “Are you seriously going to let him kick me out? We need to talk.”

  “There’s nothing for us to talk about.” I kept my shoulders squared and my spine straight, even though all I wanted to do was curl in on myself. Cody Ailes would never see me brought weak by his actions again.

  Cody pinned me with a stare. “I’ll be back. We’re going to talk. I want to see my son.”

  17

  Tuck

  Rage flowed through me, causing my blood to pulse in my veins in a staccato beat. That rage was accompanied by something foreign. Uncertainty. I turned to face Jensen. She gripped the counter behind the register, the wildfire in her eyes slowly dimming.

  I strode towards her, pulling her into my arms and resting my chin on the top of her head. “You okay?”

  She nodded against my chest. Her silence had my gut twisting.

  I brushed my lips against her hair. “What can I do?”

  “You’re doing it.” We stood there for I don’t know how long before Jensen spoke again. “I’m scared.”

  Her words ripped at my skin. God, I wanted to drop-kick that guy into the next county. “We’re gonna figure this out.”

  Jensen pulled back so she could look at me. “I have no idea what rights he has. What if he takes me to court?”

  “No judge in their right mind would let that jackass have custody or even visitation rights for Noah.” I ran a hand down the ridges of her spine. “But you need to see a lawyer now, as a preventative measure. And I’ll go talk to Walker, see what we can dig up on Cody.”

  “Thank you.” Jensen let her head fall against my chest. “I hate that, yet again, I’m bringing trouble into all of our lives.”

  I tipped up her chin so Jensen had to meet my eyes. “This is not your fault.”

  She pulled back and began to pace. “I fell for Cody’s bullshit. Believed every lie and pretty story he told me. Same with Bryce. What is wrong with me that I can’t see the truth?”

  I caught Jensen’s arm to still her movements. “You were involved with master manipulators. That has nothing to do with you. None of us saw Bryce for what he was. And you didn’t bring him into our lives. He was already here.” I let my gaze bore into hers. I needed her to hear the truth of my words.

  Jensen met my stare. “You never liked Bryce.”

  I chuckled. “That had nothing to do with thinking he was a psychopath. I just d
idn’t like that he always had eyes for you.”

  Jensen’s eyes flared. “That’s why?”

  I brushed the hair out of her face. “That’s why.” I wasn’t saying any more. This thing was temporary. Just until Jensen realized she could reach for more. A husband, a family. Things I wasn’t equipped to give her. But I would soak up every damn moment I could get in the meantime.

  I pressed my lips to one temple, then the other, and lastly her forehead, lingering there. “I’m going to go find Walker. I think he’s still at the station. I want to get some basic information on Cody.”

  Jensen swallowed hard. “Okay. Walker’s going to be pissed.”

  “He is. But not at you.”

  Jensen shrugged. “There are times I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m an idiot.”

  “Wilder, your brother has done so much stupid shit in his life, he’d be in no place to judge.” I brushed my lips against hers. “We’re all just doing the best we can with the hand we’ve been dealt. He knows that.”

  Jensen let out a sigh. “Okay. I’m going to clean up here and then I have to go meet my mom and Noah.”

  I gave a strand of her hair a little tug. “You gonna be okay?”

  She nodded. “You think you could come up with a reason to stop by later?”

  An invisible fist tightened around my chest, the sensation toeing the line between pleasure and pain. “I think I can do that.”

  “Thank you.”

  I brushed my lips against hers quickly and then headed for the door. “I’ll call you after I talk with Walker.”

  I took off down the street, not stopping to engage in conversation with anyone. I made the five-block trek to the police station in record time. Jogging up the steps, I pushed open the door. A young officer named Greg greeted me.

  “Walker in?”

  Greg must’ve read the seriousness in my tone because he just pointed to Walker’s office. I strode in that direction, giving Walker’s door two quick raps.