Standing from the toilet, I prop my phone between my cheek and shoulder to wash my hands. “How do you know all this stuff?”
“Pain and misery and too many breakups. And
Dr. Phil, obviously. Hang on. Can I get another chicken burger to go, please? Thanks.”
Unbelievable. “You still want this guy to leave your house, right?”
I’m not so sure I do. The story he told me about how he selflessly took a bullet for another human being means there’s a good man inside him somewhere.
“Of course. But I don’t know if I can just make myself cry like that. What do I do if I can’t?”
Maria slurps on her drink. “Sometimes guys need us to be more…obvious. Touchthe zone.”
“What the hell is the zone?”
“So innocent,” she chuckles. “It’s the six-inch exclusion zone between his thighs and man-brain. But prepare yourself. ‘Accidentally’ touching him there will spark a fire you won’t be able to extinguish. He probably already has a boner. Hell, no one likes guys more than me, but even I had a boner when I saw you in that dress.”
My best friend tells me to keep her updated and returns to her food. Sucking in a deep breath, I pull open the door and jump back in shock when I find Chris standing there in the hallway.
“W-what are you doing?” I ask, trying to be cool.
I hope he didn’t hear any of that conversation.
“Umm…” He nods at the toilet. “Same thing as you, I assume. But a lot faster.” I just stare up into those dark eyes. “So…”
“Crap!” I march past him. “I’ll go make us another drink.”
Walking past the lounge, I notice he’s paused the movie, and I smile as I make my way to the kitchen.
Still with my head in his lap, we’re watching the credits roll, and I don’t have to fake the tears.
“It’s so beautiful,” I say, wiping my cheek. “True love makes me believe in God.”
“True love doesn’t exist,” Chris replies. “You’ll realize that when life has kicked you in the face a few hundred times.”
Shit. I wiped my tears away!
I shake my head against the pillow.
“Or maybe you’re a soulless AI bot,” I tease. “I bet you have a battery pack somewhere. Let me see if I can find it.”
My heart thumps so hard as I grab his knee.
“Nope,” I say. “Not in there.”
Closing my eyes, I slowly slide my palm up his inner thigh.
“Still can’t find it.”
My trembling fingers almost reach his groin, and the cushion rises as Chris draws in a deep breath. I open my eyes when he grabs my wrist.
“What’s wrong?” I joke. “Scared I’ll find your batteries?”
“Stop,” he states.
Resisting his grip, I push my hand higher, and the next few seconds are a blur of limbs. Tugging my arm above his head, the cushion flies to the floor and he drags my ass across the sofa.
The momentum lifts my right leg over his lap and now I’m straddling him. His dark, lustful eyes snake down my body, and I shudder when he stares at my bare thighs. His gaze rolls back up to my eyes, and his chiseled jaw twitches.
“Stop. Playing. With fire,” he mouths at me.
Maybe it’s the vodka, but I’m in a playful mood. Leaning my chest closer to his face, I tap his muscular back. “Nope. No battery pack there either.”
Perhaps expecting me to climb off him, he releases my arm, but I don’t move.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing, Harper?”
I wiggle my ass in his lap and giggle when he groans. “You can’t tell me you’re not enjoying it.”
“Don’t play games with me,” he says, a serious glare dulling his brown eyes. “Getting involved with people like me never ends well for anyone.”
I slow my grind and tilt my head. “Maybe I don’t need protection. Because I’m not some dumb little kid anymore, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise.”
“Fuck,” Chris moans.
His ripped body tenses under me as he tries so hard to resist. A moan escapes my lips when he traces a soft finger up past my knee.
“It’s true. Youare a beautiful young woman.” My legs tremble as he circles a figure eight across my inner thigh. “But it’s also true that I’m too much for you. You couldn’t handle me or what a life like mine means.”
A shiver runs up my spine as his finger grazes my panties. “Isn’t that my decision to make? You know you want?-“
I gasp when Chris grips my hips and spins me like a doll. Within a second, we’re both facing the television, my back pinned to his chest. His heart thumps against my spine as he brushes a lock of hair from my cheek.
“I don’t do the lovey-dovey shit. I don’t kiss. Men like me don’t make love, Harper.” He presses his lips to my ear. “We fuck. Hard.”
With my ass pressed to the growing swell in his jeans, I try to catch my breath. “M-maybe I’m into that.”
“I really don’t think you are,” Chris purrs, grazing my left breast as he strokes my arm.
A sudden burst of reality hits me, and I gulp hard.
What the hell am I doing? This guy almost shot someone last week. And he had handcuffs ready for his date. I’m way out of my depth here!
His phone vibrates against my ass and even that makes me moan with delight.
“No rest for the wicked,” Chris says, sliding from underneath me. He stares down at me as he walks backward across the lounge. “Iam wicked, Harper. And when someone tells you who they are…it’s a wise move to believe them.”
Chris leaves the lounge, and I throw a hand to my chest. That was the craziest, hottest thing that’s ever happened to me.
His delicate, roaming fingers combined with his sheer strength made me feel things I’ve never felt before. But I’m supposed to be seducing him, not be seducedby him.
“I told you to stop calling this fucking phone!” Chris yells in the kitchen. “I won’t tell you again. Lose my fucking number! Last time!”
A clatter echoes through the hallway, so I sit forward to peek through the door. Chris is leaning over the sink, his rippling biceps and forearms pulsing with pent-up rage.
Maybe he’s telling the truth. Maybe he really is as dangerous as he says…
The fear and shame inside me intensifies, so I throw myself down on the sofa and pretend I’m asleep.
“Hey. You want to watch…”
Chris stops talking when he enters the lounge. I can feel his dark, penetrating eyes raking over my body, but I don’t move. Then I feel his soft, strong hands stroking my cheek. The heat of his breath tickles my neck.
“I’m sorry, kiddo. But everything I touch turns to shit eventually. And I made a promise.”
A moment later, he wraps his hands under my legs and neck. Now I’m floating in his powerful arms, my head bouncing with each step as he climbs the staircase. Pushing open my door, he pulls back the covers before delicately laying me in bed. He tucks me in and wipes the hair from my forehead.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Harper Reeves.”
Still pretending I’m half asleep, I roll toward his retreating footsteps and mumble, “Stay with me. Please.”
I try not to smile when I hear his tortured sigh.
“Just this once,” he says, walking back to the bed. “But nothing is going to happen.”
Peeling back the covers, he climbs inside and pulls me closer to his chest.
The bursts of adrenaline I feel when I’m around this guy make me feel so alive.
Men like Chris Collins are addictive.
And now I need another hit…
EIGHTEEN
Harper
Chris Collins wraps the chain over my bedpost and locks the metal handcuffs around my wrists.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” he whispers down at me.
Completely naked, I try to kick my legs, but the ankle straps keep me pinned in place.
“Yes,” I moan. “Please. I need it so bad.”
He grins through the darkness. “Good girl.”
I watch him pull off his shirt before grabbing the leather whip. Starting at my feet, Chris drags the tassels up the inside of my thighs. I’m strapped to my bed, but my hips thrust up as he grazes the leather between my legs.
“Beg me,” he whispers.
“P-please,” I pant, my stiff nipples rising with my breath as the whip trails my stomach. “Please!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.