Page 39 of Hideaway Heart

Those strong hands on my hips, moving my body over his. His tongue in my mouth. The tingling warmth between my legs. Feeling it start to hum, again I slipped my hand into my underwear. As I moved my fingertips over my swollen clit, I pictured Xander out there in the living room, sliding his hand into his pants.

Behind my eyelids, I saw a huge fist working up and down a mammoth cock in the dark, the flexing abs, the quickened breath, the struggle to be fast and silent. The electric current surging through him, gathering heat and strength. That sensation of pressure rising and rising, until it couldn’t be contained and came bursting forth in hot little pulses that would leave him sweaty and sticky and stifling a groan.

Fuck you, Xander, I thought as I took myself there while I fantasized about him jerking off.Fuck you so hard.As the throbbing between my legs subsided, I rolled onto my stomach, trying to smother my loud breathing.

And I wondered if he actuallywasout there on the couch, doing the same thing.

TEN

xander

Of course I was.

ELEVEN

kelly

The following day,I stepped out onto the front porch around ten a.m., both hands wrapped around a mug full of hot coffee. “Morning.”

Xander looked up at me from where he sat in his usual rocking chair on the front porch, laptop open, cup of coffee in his hand. His dark hair was messy, making him look more rugged than usual, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes, like maybe he hadn’t slept well.

“Morning,” he said.

Still in my pajamas, I crossed in front of him and lowered myself into the other chair, crisscrossing my legs pretzel-style.

“You sleep okay?” he asked.

“Like a baby,” I lied. I’d actually been pretty restless all night. “How’s the couch treating you?”

“Fine,” he said, taking a long sip of coffee. “It’s fine.”

I brought my cup to my lips and wondered if he was thinking about the empty spot next to me in the bed, and how it could have been his last night. “Thanks for making coffee.”

“I was up early. Decided to make myself useful.”

“I appreciate it.” A couple squirrels chased each other in circles on the gravel drive, then disappeared up a tree.

“Are you still mad?” he ventured.

“No.” I’d had plenty of time during the night to think it over. “It’s not like I don’t understand where you’re coming from, Xander. I get why you don’t want to mess around with me.”

“Idowant to.” He shook his head. “I just can’t.”

I sighed. “I suppose I should be glad someone assigned to watch out for me has such a strong moral code.”

“My code obviously has a weak spot where you’re concerned,” he said. “But I promise, what happened last night will not happen again.”

“And I promise, I will not try to tempt you.”

“Good.” He paused, eyeballing my bare legs. “I don’t suppose you’d go put some pants on, would you?”

“I’ll get dressed in a minute.” I stretched my legs out in front of me, pointing my toes. “Looks like it’s going to be another nice day.”

He sipped his coffee and gave me a sort of grunt in response. “We made the news again.”

“Huh?”

He rotated his screen so I could see the photo of us on Splash exiting the restaurant last night, Xander one step behind me looking warlike and furious, me looking shell-shocked and pale after the kiss. “Look at my face. That’s me wondering what the actual fuck just happened.”