Page 28 of Heartless (Scathing Hearts #1)

Sienna

“Ouch!”

Sharp pain radiated from my big toe to my sleep deprived brain after I’d stubbed it on the leg of the dining table.

I grabbed my foot, hopped on the other one, and dropped onto the sofa.

I’d been up for at least an hour, but my head was still buzzing from my conversation.

.. no, not conversation. Proposal? Or whatever had happened last night.

Today, I was going to give Jake... to give myself to... Jake and I were going to...

My heart raced. Okay. Deep breath.

I opened the quarters door and didn’t stop to admire the view on my way to the kitchen.

To my delight, Bianca and Camila were seated at the table of the sunny room smelling of sugar, chocolate, and coffee. Camila was facing the archway and Bianca was at the head of the table. Both grinned at me.

“Good morning, Camila. Good morning, Bianca.”

“Good morning, Sia.”

“Good morning, cara.”

They replied at the same time.

I kissed their cheeks. “Thank you for yesterday, it was awesome.”

As I strolled to the coffee machine, Bianca said to my back, “My friends had a blast. They loved you, especially Matt who’s positively smitten with you.”

At the query in her joyful tone, I smiled over my shoulder. “Matt’s very cute.”

I placed a cup on the rounded base of the Bruvi wonder, inserted the B-pod, and pushed on the button.

“Was he a good kisser?” That was Camila.

Matt’s kisses had been tender and building up heat. Jake’s kiss... My lower belly convulsed. “Yes... he was nice.”

The humming whir of the coffee maker started. I needed vanilla cream. I stepped toward the fridge, and a heated shiver snaked down my back while Camila and Bianca took a sudden interest in their hot drinks. My nipples pebbled as I slowly pivoted to watch Jake walk in.

His strong, long, jean-covered legs ate up the distance between us. Trapped in everything that was him, my breath rushed out while the beats of my heart somersaulted.

The baritone of his voice wrapped around me. “Morning, beautiful.”

He was close enough for me to inhale his crispy, woodsy scent.

“Hi, Jake,” I whispered.

His blistering gaze roamed over my now flushed face. When his arm extended toward the coffee machine behind me, I held my breath, but my body had its own agenda and shifted nearer to his.

“...ffee,” I heard.

“Hm?”

“Is your coffee done?”

His hands dove in his pockets, and my gaze tracked them down, dropping to his tented crotch before veering slowly up his body.

Eyeing his mouth, I licked my dry lips. “What?”

“Fuck,” he muttered before stalking out of the kitchen.

I was still gazing at the archway when laughter exploded in the kitchen. Blinking fast, I twisted toward Bianca and Camila. Bianca’s forehead nearly touched the table, and her whole body shook while Camila was slapping her palm on the wooden table.

To hide the heat crowding my face, I hooked my fingers around the handle of the mug. When I faced them again, their hilarity had tampered down—slightly—and I sat beside Bianca, across from Camila.

Holding my cup on the table, I smiled. “Thank you for yesterday. It was an awesome—”

Bianca touched my wrist, and her eyes were bright with mirth. “Carissima, let’s not pretend that the temperature hasn’t risen by a hundred degrees in here.”

Camila’s chest canted over the table. “And that you forgot what coffee was.”

Bianca’s voice pitched to a whisper. “What happened with Jake?”

Nothing. Everything. “I uh... we talked last night, and uh... we kissed, and—” I shrugged, unable to describe the feverish frenzy overtaking... everything.

She curled her fingers around mine. “Whatever happened seemed to have changed things for you. Have things changed?”

Not changed. Turned upside down. I bit on my bottom lip. “Yes.”

“In a good way?” Camila asked.

“God, yes.” I breathed out.

Again, my friends laughed, but this time, I laughed with them.

“Say no more, cara. I’m going to head to New York and give you some space.”

My head jerked up. “Are you leaving?”

“I’ll be back soon.” Her fingers pinched around the edge of the oval basket full of pastries and slid it beside my mug. “Try a chocolate croissant. Cami made them.”

As every time Bianca had offered me food, I nodded and reached for one of the pastries.

****

Jake

Cam had left, Sile had picked Bianc up to drive her to the airport, and the beautiful Sienna had gone back to her quarters.

Sitting on the couch of the front living room with my cell in landscape mode in my hand, I watched her nibble on the nail of her thumb. Her flowing curls bounced down her back with every turn she took while her short dress swayed around her thighs with her pacing.

This morning in the kitchen, the way she’d looked at me had gotten me so hard, I’d gone straight for a cold shower. She was the young virgin, and I was the one jacking off to keep some damn control.

Her graceful gait paused at the window, and I planted my feet on the carpet. “Come to me, baby.”

She touched the windowpane, and my chest got tight.

The wound I’d inflicted on her nascent sexuality had cut too deep.

All I’d done was ram my fetid shit into that pure heart of hers.

Why would she give me any precious part of herself?

Minutes later, heavy clouds darkened the sky.

She wasn’t coming. I tossed my cell on the coffee table.

While rain tapped on the glass, I got on my feet and headed to the bedroom. Another cold shower was in order.

“Jake?”

Pivoting toward the door, I swallowed hard while her bare feet took her to me. Her small hand rose to my chest, and I inhaled the flowery scent of her skin.

“Can I kiss you?” she whispered.

****

Sienna

My lips parted under the warmth of his breath, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. My fingers curled in his hair while the heat of his body against mine birthed a shiver. His fists were clenched tight at his sides, and staring into the inferno of his gaze, my sex slickened.

Closer. I needed to be closer. “Hold me.”

I gasped at the unbreakable grip of his arms around me.

When I licked the inside of his upper lip, a muted sound vibrated off his chest. Or maybe it was from mine.

Pushing my tongue into his mouth, I lost myself in his taste, his scent, and his strength. I kissed him, reveling in the languorous motions of his tongue. When I pulled out of the kiss, I was breathless.

I unwound my fingers and glided them down the strong column of his neck.

As I shifted back, his arms spasmed before he lowered them.

He was barefoot. Watching my hand, I slid my fingers over his black t-shirt from his hard bicep, along his corded arm, and down to his wrist. Curling my fingers around the back of his hand, I raised our hands and aligned our palms. The size difference made me smile, and I tilted my gaze up to his.

His eyes were both soft and heated, and I liked that expression so much that I pressed a kiss on his palm.

Keeping my fingers curled around his, my heart raced. “I want to undress you. Can I undress you?”

His voice was husky. “Anything you want, kitten.”

I didn’t waste time. I grabbed the bottom edge of his t-shirt and hauled it up. I couldn’t reach past his shoulders, and that made me giggle.

“Help me, please.”

He did it fast, and I took a step back to peruse over his sculpted chest. The splatter of dark chest hair looked soft. I tracked their narrowing path down his six packs framed by his tapered waist.

“My God, you’re beautiful.”

His chest moved with a silent chuckle that unlocked some of my nervousness.

The shape of his erection prodding under the soft material of his grey sweatpants was tantalizing. My hands and my breath were steadier when I curled my fingers around the waistband of his sweats. I peeled off the elastic band over his penis slowly.

No underwear. Oh. My.

The swollen column of his penis sprung from a dark patch of curls and the bulbous head of his sex laid under his belly button.

I slid the garment down his muscled legs. My body followed, and by the time his sweatpants reached below his knees, I was kneeling in front of him.

Once he’d stepped out of the material, I cast it aside and sat on my calves. He was perfect. Curling my hand around the back of his knee, I pushed my nose against the inside of his leg.

God, he smelled good. I stuck my tongue out and tasted his skin. Salty. When I opened my mouth on the inside of his thigh, his muscle jumped and contracted, brushing against my sensitized nipple.

Amazing. I pressed my palms on the inside of his knees and tilted my head up. “Can you...?”

He widened his stance, and my thinking stopped.

I was just senses and sensations. After wrapping my hands around the back of his thighs, my short nails dug into his hard flesh. I kneeled up, tracking the musky scent that made my mouth water and my sex pulsate.

With my mouth wide open, I licked and nibbled my way up the inside of his legs. One side. Then the other.

When I reached the source of the scent making me feverish, I pressed my nose against the soft fur of his testicles.

The skin was rippled and taut. I touched the tip of my tongue there.

Mm. So unique. I swiped the flat of my tongue against his flesh.

So good. As I sucked his testicle in my mouth, I knew to be gentle, so I did it slowly.

Then, I rolled my tongue around his sack.

Again, and again, loving the clenching rigidity my ministrations were creating in Jake’s legs.

“Fuck.”

The thick, clipped sound wrenched me out of my sensual exploration, and I reared back. Jake’s expression was... I didn’t know what it was, but I liked it. I loved it.

Faster than I could gasp, his strong hands curled under my arms. The next second, I was plastered against Jake’s body and his tongue thrust in my mouth. The kiss was hard. Deep. A beautiful invasion