Page 33 of Heartless (Scathing Hearts #1)

Jake

Sienna folded into Sile’s arms before he headed to his truck.

After I’d shut the front door, I caught her hand and pulled her to me. She came easily, circling her arms around my waist but there was a slight frown above her questioning gaze.

“Why do you kiss me in front of Camila and Silas?”

I curled a long strand of her hair around my index finger before tucking it behind her ear. “You don’t like it?”

She took the time to think about her answer. “I just don’t understand why you do it. I mean I’ve really enjoyed everything we’ve done together.” Her little grin was impish. “And your reputation is well deserved, but I didn’t think our sexual relationship would get past the bedroom door.”

What the fuck? “What reputation?”

Her tempting mouth curved up. “Of being somewhat of a pleasure god. You also have a nickname: ‘Sin Jake’. That night at the Silver Shell, Gabby said a friend of a friend told her you’d given her so many orgasms that she passed out. And Gabby wanted that.”

“Fucking Christ.”

The feminine peal of her giggle floated between us. “Jake, it’s a compliment most men would gloat about.”

I tightened my hold on her. “It’s fucking bullshit. If a woman passes out while I’m fucking her, my first thought wouldn’t be that my magical dick fucked her unconscious.”

At that, her forehead dropped on my chest. One of us was fucking amused. I fisted my hand in her hair at her nape and tilted her flushed face up. Fuck. She was impossible to resist when she was laughing and happy.

When I kissed her, her little gasp went straight to my cock, and I grabbed the back of her legs.

She looped them around my waist, and I took her to the living room where I sat her astride my lap.

She glided her fingers along my jaw, down the side of my neck before resting them at the base of my throat.

And I fucking loved how easily she gave physical affection.

I cupped her cheek. “Baby, are you uncomfortable when I kiss you in front of our friends?”

“Our friends,” she whispered.

The wonder filling her soft expression clawed at my chest. I pulled her closer while it washed over her.

“I’m just confused. We’ve had sex, but now we’re kissing, and...” Her shoulder rose in a shrug.

“I like kissing you.” Truth was I’d been permanently hard around her.

When she bowed her head, and her body shifted back, my arms clamped around her to halt her retreat. “Sienna, look at me.” She did. “I want fuckload of fucking and kissing. In private. In public. Anywhere and everywhere.”

After a slow blink, she murmured. “You like having sex with me?”

“Until I fucking pass out, kitten.”

Her full lips stretched over her white teeth, but before carrying her to bed, I wanted to clear something else.

“Baby, do you trust me to keep you safe?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Yes, I do. Why?”

“Every time you’re scared, you look for Sile.”

Tenderness softened her gaze, and I forced my body loose. “Silas is the first and only man who’s offered to protect me without expecting anything from me in return. And he’s kind and funny, and just... an awesome person.” She smiled. “But you know that.”

I did. Didn’t stop my gut from fucking burning. I took her mouth. Long and deep.

****

Bent over my father’s bed, I touched his white hair. The staff had given him a fresh haircut.

“I’ve got our home back, Pa.” My throat tightened, and I swallowed hard. “And I get it now. What it’s been like to survive the death of the light of your life.” I kissed his head. “I love you, Pa.”

I straightened up. The simmering rage was gone, and for the first time in years, I breathed easy. I touched the urn. “Love you, Ma.”

Dr. Nuys, standing at the end of the corridor outside the room with a clipboard in her hand, smiled. “Oh hello, Jake. How are you?”

“Leslie.”

The woman’s head jerked back. I was nearly at the front entrance when she called my name, and I pivoted to watch her rushing toward me.

“Next week is the yearly dinner for the residents and their families, and I was wondering if you would like to join us this year.” I was about to decline, like I’d done every year, and she added, “I know it might seem awkward or unusual since James is unconscious, but it’s a fun evening.

Mr. Xavier and Ms. Farrell are, of course, welcome. ”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

I started toward my truck, on my way to Sienna. I was fucking better than good.

****

Sienna

In the wide but short hallway of my new apartment, Bianca hugged me. “Take care, cara. I’ll call you when I land in London.”

Tautening my arms around her, I nodded while trying not to burst into tears. Jake, Silas, Camila, and Bianca had helped me move into the cozy condo.

We’d worked tirelessly since six this morning, and except for my books, we’d unpacked everything. The men had taken care of the furniture while we had unpacked my boxes and washed the bed linen. Camila had filled my tiny pantry and the fridge with food, making the apartment into my new home.

I hadn’t had that much stuff to move, and the movers Jake had hired had been uber-efficient, so at nearly eleven, we were done.

Silas was going to drive Camila and Bianca to Jake’s house then take Bianca to the airport.

And now, I was saying goodbye to my friends. I didn’t want to. I actually hated it. So much.

As Bianca pulled back and cupped my face with gentle hands, I forced a smile, which didn’t stop a tear running over her fingers.

“I’m sorry. I’m just tired.”

Bianca, as I was learning, didn’t let me hide behind the white lie.

“You’re sad because you and I are becoming friends, and you’ve recently been abandoned by everyone you loved.

Be sad. I’m sad, but I’m also happy because now, I have you in my life.

And I wish my artist wasn’t such a spoiled baby, so we would have more time together instead of flying to London to nanny him. ”

“I’m going to miss you.”

She touched my forehead with her own. “Me too. I’ll call you. And we’ll text.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

After she’d let me go, Camila held me against her. “At least twice a week,” she murmured in my hair.

My voice was a little stronger. “I promise.”

Then, Silas wrapped his big hand around my nape, yanked me to his hard chest, and kissed the top of my head. He did all this without saying a word.

Through all this, Jake had stood close.

I waved goodbye with shaking fingers until the doors of the elevator shut.

Watching the empty space where my friends had just been, I took a deep breath.

It was going to be okay. It was just another step toward being free from freaking Nigel Morrison.

A positive step. God, in the last few weeks, I’d been propelled to one place after the other. Places that just happened to me.

Jake’s arm wrapped around my middle. He closed the door and carried me to the sofa where he sat me on his lap. As he cupped the back of my head, I buried my nose in the crook of his shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay, baby,” he said in my hair. I nodded and burrowed deeper.

He held me for a long moment, and when I lifted my eyes to his, he curled his warm hand around the side of my neck and placed a soft kiss on my lips.

I needed his tenderness. I opened my mouth, and Jake’s tongue caressed mine in unhurried strokes.

His hard penis poked my hip, but we kept kissing as if we had all the time in the world.

When I broke from the kiss, we were both panting. The pad of his thumb grazed my temple.

“I’m here, baby.”

“Okay,” I whispered back.

On one last tender lip touch, I sat up. Three sets of keys were lying on the small coffee table. My apartment’s, Jake’s penthouse, and my car keys. Silas had organized my car to be driven into the underground parking lot.

My phone vibrated from the confines of my purse. Since I’d gotten it back, it had rung, chimed, or beeped with information I hadn’t missed. Nigel had sent more than a hundred texts and voicemails. I’d ignored them all.

After retrieving it, I sat beside Jake. “Joel wants to have lunch the day after tomorrow.”

****

Jake

News of our return to the city had gone fast. Joel had been the first Morrison Sile and I had targeted but we hadn’t found any pressure points. The man lived on the other side of the world and was basically estranged from the motherfucker. Sienna liked him. But he was a Morrison.

“I’ll go with you.”

Sienna’s curls swayed when she shook her head. “I like Joel. He’s not like Nigel, and I want to hear what he has to say.”

“Sienna—”

She threw her leg in a sexy arc over my lap, and once she was facing me, she placed a soft hand on the side of my face.

“When you said you’d be what I need, did that change because we’ve had sex?”

I slid my hand under her top and caressed the soft skin of her back. “No, baby.”

“I need you to let me do this by myself. We’ll be in a public place. If Nigel shows up, I’ll text you. If anything freaks me out, I’ll call you.”

I pulled her closer. “Sienna—”

“Besides, you have a life, and I’m not expecting you to drop everything for me.”

“You want your independence and autonomy, I get it. But you need to get that you’re no longer on your own. You’ve got us, now.”

“I’ll meet with Joel, and I promise I’ll call you if anything happens.”

The quiet stubbornness of her expression made me hard. “Anything. You call me.”

On a soft sigh, she nodded. Then, her brows knit. “Did you buy the furniture and the kitchen stuff?”

When I confirmed, she nibbled on her bottom lip but said nothing. “Tell me, baby.”

“Can I ask you... can I say something?”

“Always.”

She shifted back and pushed off her knees. I tightened my hold on her to keep her where she belonged. “Whatever you need to say, you do it right here.”

Tension tightened her shoulders. With my fingers under her chin, I leveled her worried gaze to mine.

“Sienna baby, I’m listening.”

After a deep breath, she said, “I’ve been wondering if.

..” She sighed. “You’re doing a lot for me.

I mean a lot more than...” She paused again.

“I think the real Jake Rhodes is the man who cares about our planet and uses his wealth to make it better. He’s also the man who protected Bianca and Camila, and who’s earned the friendship and loyalty of three wonderful people. ”

I didn’t know how much I needed to hear that. But she wasn’t done.

“So, this man, who bought me expensive furniture for an apartment I won’t stay in is also a man I think would stay in a sexual-but-not-really relationship with me because he’s feeling remorse—”

She was fucking adorable. I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

****

Sienna

I bolted out of his lap, and raced toward—

Jake’s arms clamped tight around me, plastering my back against his chest. Not freaking again.

“Let go of me,” I hissed.

He immediately freed me, and I stumbled when my feet hit the ground. I was instantly swung around and drawn chest to chest against him. I glared, but what I saw in his eyes deflated all my anger. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it made me want to hug him.

He locked his stormy gaze onto mine and watched me for long seconds before his bass voice vibrated between us.

“I keep forgetting how innocent you are.” The pad of his thumb grazed my cheekbone. “Baby, I wasn’t laughing at you. Guilt can do a lot of things to a man but not make him hard.” His gaze heated. “If you fucking knew what I want to do to you, you’d run scared.”

The shiver that warmed my skin had nothing to do with fear. But I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared at him.

“Here’s my kitten,” he growled.

Then his mouth captured mine. The kiss was hard. So was his penis, prodding against my belly.

When I leaned back to catch my breath, he brushed his nose on mine. “You had coffee and half a piece of toast this morning. I’m going to order some food. I know one of the best taco places in the city.”

I grinned. “Can I please have fish tacos?”

His lips twitched. “You can have anything you want, baby.”

As he was about to reach for his cell, I tightened my arms around him. “Would you like to try my new bed with me after lunch?”

In response, he meshed my body with his. Our kiss was so explicit, I heard myself moan in his mouth.

****

Jake

She was sound asleep with her warm curves draped over me. I had shit to do, but I couldn’t make myself leave.

My cell vibrated, and I tagged it before it woke her up. It was a text from Zook.

Lenny Conti: Your place. Five minutes.

I carefully extracted myself from under the heaven of Sienna’s body, who didn’t even stir. Minutes after I’d gotten to the penthouse, the elevator opened on Zook and Sergio. The younger man was a shoe-in for Dario as the head of security for The Family.

After we’d shaken hands, he scanned the space. “Nice.”

“Is she here?” Zook asked.

“She’s downstairs. We moved her in today.”

Sergio pulled a file from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Zook. We moved to the kitchen where Zook set the file on the island.

“Sergio did a background check on the man you hired to watch over your girl and found out he works for Morrison.”

Motherfucker. I clenched my fists while Sergio spoke. “I pulled a list of loyal people who’ve done independent work for us.”

My hands twitched with the need to strangle Morrison. “What happened to the fucker I hired?”

“Rearranged his depth perception.”

“Meaning what?”

A brief, ugly grin slit the man’s face. “I sent his left eye to the father.”

Those fuckers deserved everything they got, but I’d never regret having listened to Zook all those years ago when he’d advised me to think long and hard after Edo had offered Sile and I to join The Family.

Zook smirked. “Morrison has hired personal security around his house. They all worked for The Family, but Edo wants him to feel safe.”

Proffering his hand, Zook said, “Talk soon, son.”

I shook their hands before they headed to the elevator.

After arranging the security detail, I went back to my sleeping woman.