Fernando - Bad Boy Love (Bad Boy Love Series Book 1) (10 page)

Fernando arrived at the hospital to pick up Gwen. He’d been busy in the two hours since he’d left. He’d tracked down Vivian and had helped her arrange a rental for Gwen. Then, he’d driven the rental to the grocery and picked up some things he’d thought she would need.

He hurried up the stairs to her room but was stopped by the nurse. Her name was Marcela. He’d immediately recognized her earlier. She’d saved his life by stitching him up after a knife fight.

He shuddered. Those were unpleasant memories from a past he wanted to leave behind. This morning, he’d believed she didn’t know who he was, but now her eyes told him differently.

“Fernando,” she said.

“Marcela.” He paused, racking his brain to find the right words. “I never thanked you for stitching me up back then. You saved my life.”

“I guess I did.” Marcela smiled, but he sensed a hesitation.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of Gwen. It might have upset her.” It was a poor attempt at an apology because he hadn’t shown the decency to thank her.

She visibly relaxed. “Don’t worry about that. Saving people is my job.” Then she took a step closer and searched his eyes. “What are your intentions with Gwen Cohen?”

Fernando groaned. Nobody had ever questioned his intentions with a girl, and now twice in just a few hours? Why did everyone care so much about Gwen?
Perhaps because she’s such a special girl. “
That’s none of your business.”

Marcela wasn’t the least intimidated by his aggressive answer and put her finger on his chest – on the exact position of the scar. “It is my job to save people and that woman is too special to let you ruin her life by dragging her into your circles.” Her eyes threw sparks. “Now tell me your intentions.”

He fisted his hands to control the rage rising in his body. But Marcela was right, Gwen was too special to ruin her life. “Look. I’ve changed. I’m working a real job and have cut the ties with my former gang members. I would never harm her. I love her.” His legs wobbled suddenly. Where did that word come from?

Marcela squinted her eyes at him and cocked her head, apparently trying to decide whether to believe him or not. Then she said, “There’s a good man inside you, Fernando. Make sure he doesn’t go back into hiding.”

He muttered a thank you and then continued on his way to Gwen’s room. The encounter with Marcela had left him shaky. Would his past always come back to haunt him? But she’d believed him. Pride filled his chest. It was a start. He could do this turn-my-life-around thing.
Yes, I can!

Gwen was sitting on the edge of the bed when he returned, looking through a folder containing a number of documents. She held them up when she saw him. “I’m officially discharged.”

“That’s great news,
Chiquita
. You look much better.” He crossed to her and kissed her lightly on the lips, feeling at ease with himself and the world. They were together, and that was all that mattered. He fought the urge to pull her into his arms and squeeze her tight. Instead, he helped her get off the bed.

“I feel better. Getting the cast helped the pain more than I thought it would.” She held up her pink cast.

“Good for you. Nice color. So, are you ready to go home?”

“Yes, please. The sooner, the better.”

Fernando chuckled and went in search of the nurse – not Marcela – to make sure it was okay to go. Shortly afterwards, another wheelchair was brought in.

“Your chariot awaits,” the nurse said with a big smile and helped Gwen get settled for the ride down.

In the elevator, Fernando held her hand, talking her through her fear. When the doors opened, she smiled up at him. “Thank you,” she said, meaning it.

He sprinted into the parking lot to bring the car around, pulling under the awning where Gwen and the nurse waited. Grinning from ear to ear, he drove her to the pharmacy to get her prescriptions filled, then followed her instructions to her home. Despite having to concentrate on the traffic, he kept stealing glances at her profile. Each time, he ached to hug her tight and never let her go.

She lived in a nice single-family home in one of the better areas of L.A. He opened the door for her, carried her inside, despite her protests, and settled her on the comfy couch before joining her.

“You live here all alone?” he asked, admiring how nice the place was. Plenty of sunlight streamed in through the windows and the furniture was tasteful and modern. He thought of his own apartment, full of pickup second-hand furniture and felt bad. How could he ever allow her to see his miserable place?

“Yes. I grew up here with my parents and my brother, Donovan. My father works in the oil industry and he was relocated to Alaska five years ago. Since I had just started college, they allowed me to stay in their house. And I love it here. I wouldn’t ever want to move out.”

He understood. Who would want to move out of such a lovely place? “And your brother?”

“Donovan? He’s four years older than me and is working with the diplomatic corps, currently in Paris. He was never interested in staying here.” She sighed, and he had the feeling she somehow missed her family. He would. He still missed his parents. Every. Single. Day.

“Do you miss your family?”

Gwen smiled. “Yes. Sometimes. But Vivian’s family has become my family too. And I see them all the time. So it’s okay.”

Next he knew, she turned into his arms, causing his heart to miss a few beats. He pushed her hair back from her face and ran his fingertips down her cheek, then kissed her, careful not to bump her injured wrist. After a few moments, he pulled away. “How’s your arm?”

“A lot better with the cast now. Before, every time I moved, no matter how careful, it hurt. A lot.” She scrunched her nose, and he kissed it. Gwen looked so cute and fragile in his arms. Very different from the strong and self-reliant woman he’d known.

“Do you want a pain pill now?”

A mischievous smile crossed her face. “I think I can hold a little longer. If you kiss me again...”

Fernando was more than happy to comply with that request and pressed his lips against hers, giving his emotions free reign. Her lips opened to give him better access, and his tongue slid inside to ravish her mouth, the zings of pure electricity reverberating through his body. He swallowed her sexy moans of pleasure and used both of his hands to press her flush against him. Their heartbeats aligned and he sensed every spike of passion that caused her pulse to ratchet up.

Soon, he was breathless, his mind clouded with pure lust. He desperately wanted to make her his. But with the last rational thought in his brain, he broke the kiss and skimmed his lips over her cheek. “Want to watch a movie?”

It was a desperate attempt to do the right thing. He didn’t want to hurt Gwen or push her into something she wasn’t ready for. As he glanced at her rosy cheeks, passionate heat radiating off of them, and her wet lips, swollen from their kiss, he forced himself to look away, his gaze landing on the hallway. Which was a mistake, because just a few dozen feet away was the open door to her bedroom, and he sneaked a peek at the inviting queen sized bed.

Bed. Her bed.

Forgetting about his intention to give her time, he was about to lift her from the couch and carry her to it when her voice registered.  “Sounds good. There’s a bunch of DVDs in the cabinet over there.”

DVDs? Oh yes. Movie.

He willed the lust-fog from his brain and settled Gwen on the couch before dutifully choosing an action movie from her collection. A sheen of sweat had formed on his forehead, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand before slipping the movie into the DVD player.

Fernando decided to play it safe and left a few inches of space between them on the couch, but Gwen thwarted his plan and leaned her head against his shoulder, wrapping his arm around her side. With the fresh citron smell of her hair in his nostrils and his hand lying on her slim waist, the movie blurred and all he could do was
not
ravish her on the spot.

Gwen soon added to his distress. He sucked in a breath as her hands started roaming his body. His libido shot through the roof when she pushed her good hand below the hem of his shirt to touch bare skin. His abs tensed and relaxed in the same rhythm of her fingers dancing on his stomach.

Just when he thought he couldn’t take any more, her hand moved up to his chest, grazing his nipple, and hot fire shot through his veins, pooling in his groin and causing his pants to tighten painfully. A heartfelt growl escaped his throat, which seemed to spur her on because she straddled him, the heat from her center seeping through the fabric covering his erection. She intensified the play with her hand. Until she stopped and raised her head, question marks in her eyes.

He quietly asked, “Do you want to see the scar?”

She blushed but nodded. “Yes.”

Fernando reached behind his head and pulled his shirt off, amused when she seemed to melt at the sight of his bare chest. Her eyes had gone all soft, dilating with the rise in her libido. His own lust fired up, and it was suddenly much too warm in the room – even without his shirt.

She reached out a finger and gently traced the long puckered scar above his chest. It was a loving, yet passionate gesture and now it was his turn to melt away. Doing his best to keep still under her touch, he swallowed hard and concentrated on his breathing. Gwen repeated the process with each and every scar she could find. He had a number of them. It was driving him insane, augmenting his passion to levels he hadn’t known existed.

Her fingers had finished their exploration of his stomach and stilled. He closed his eyes and took a moment to control the fire in his groin. But only long enough to feel her finger on his chest again and hear her words, “Where did this one come from?”

“A knife fight.” His voice was ragged.

Gwen kissed his scar, and the unexpected touch caused all of his muscles to contract. “It’s a wonder you didn’t die.”

“It was. I would have died if it weren’t for Karen.”
And Marcela.

“Who’s Karen?”

He furrowed his brows in thought. “It’s a long story. I now believe she saved me in more ways than one. A stranger who wandered into the wrong part of town and something in her forced me to help. That’s when I got stabbed by the goons who wanted to mess her up.”

“You saved her?” Gwen’s expressive blue eyes lit up with surprise – and pride.

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“I believe it was.” She traced the scar again with her finger. “You’re a good man, Fernando.”

Those were the exact same words Karen had said to him, but back then he hadn’t wanted to believe it. She’d been the first person, ever, in his life to call him a good person. Meeting her had been a turning point in his life. Someone other than his little sister had believed in him, and that belief had resonated deep within his soul.

***

Gwen couldn’t keep her eyes off the six-pack and bulging chest muscles she’d been longing to see for weeks. Working in the gym sure helped to keep those goodies crisp. All her doubts about being with him had been crowded out of her brain by lust. It was amazing how much passion this man inspired in her. He hadn’t even touched her bare skin, and she was on fire, ready to burst. Her nipples had tightened into peaks, aching for his touch and her wet heat became slicker with every caress of his hard chest.

Not willing to let him push her away like he’d done minutes ago to fetch a DVD, she used her good hand to squeeze his nipple tight. When he groaned with pleasure, she crushed her lips over his. Even then, she felt his reluctance to give in to their desire and ground her core against his throbbing erection with even more intensity.

She groaned with desperation when he broke their kiss and said breathlessly, “Gwen, I’m not sure this is such a good idea. You just got out of the hospital.”

“I want you to make love to me,” she purred into his ear and instantly felt his pulse speed up.

“I want that too, but we probably shouldn’t. I don’t want to hurt your wrist or neck.” His voice was ragged, barely audible.

Gwen nibbled at his earlobe, breathing hard, her hand traveling down his twitching abs to the waistband of his jeans. His erection jumped under her touch. “We’ll be careful, and I promise to tell you the moment anything hurts.” Her hand traveled further south. “See, you want me.”

He growled. “I do. But–”

“No buts, carry me to my bed and show me how much you want me.”

His muscles stiffened at her words and then relaxed as he surrendered to what was happening between them. Without effort, he stood with her still cradled in his arms and carried her down the hall.

“But just because you insist,” he teased and gently laid her down on her bed, the movie entertaining the empty living room. Gwen raised her chin, ignoring the pain the movement caused, and he placed little kisses down her neck and her collarbone. He unbuttoned her blouse, and his calloused hands roamed over her bare skin, leaving trails of fire in their path. Gwen thought she’d die from passion when he opened the front clasp of her bra and squeezed her breasts together to take both of them in his mouth.

His twirling tongue sent shockwaves into her nipples, spreading throughout her entire body, wetting her panties. She arched into his touch, and he pushed her up, removing her blouse and bra. When bare skin touched bare skin, she shivered. “Oh my God, Nando. Ohh…”