Full Throttle (13 page)

Josh felt the driving need to add to her strength
somehow, to give her some support, and to hold her was the only way he could
think of. As soon as he climbed into her bed, he regretted it. Not because he
didn’t want to hold her, nor because he didn’t like it.
The
exact opposite.
When he drew her closer to him, and she finally relaxed,
Josh had felt something click painfully inside his chest. Recognition of
something he long missed, knowledge that instantly came to life, quickly became
a painful knowledge that Josh wasn’t sure he wanted to accept.

Holding Sammy had felt … right.

He took another deep pull of his drink and shook his
head. Not even a twinge stirred in his cock when he read that message from
Penny, not even a lick of heat tickled his skin, only irritation. And as Josh glanced
around the small, cozy cottage, he knew why.

From the moment he spotted Sammy on her sexy race bike,
leathers on and her hair flowing, he’d been a goner. It mattered nothing to his
dick that she was not for him, with her innocence and class, his body still wanted
her.
Badly.

Sighing deeply, Josh wandered around the
house,
he glanced at her many bookshelves and grinned at the
amount of romance books. She might be shy and hesitant, but he was learning
that Sammy had a hunger for romance.
Which was not helping
his case against the lust currently riding his body hard.
He picked up
one of the novels, turned it over in his hand and shook his head. It was a pretty
steamy romance. Instantly, his blood heated, and Josh remembered Sammy upstairs
in a bed, a bed that he was apparently welcome into. It hadn’t passed his
notice that she hadn’t kicked him out earlier, and it was something his mind
was not letting him get past now.

He put the book down, sipped his beer and turned
away from the fully stocked bookshelves. Sammy wasn’t a one-night-stand type of
person, and he’d been nothing but since Penny. A year ago, when Penny left, he’d
made a pact with himself never to get caught up with just one woman again. He
just had to get his brain and dick to agree.

He passed by a small picture frame that held a
smiling photo of the crazy woman from the hospital, a bloke who was probably
her husband, and two cute kids. The family sat on a picnic rug, each holding a
sandwich. The scene was so normal, so achingly perfect, that Josh sighed, realizing
just how out-of-place he actually was in Sammy’s little house. There was not
one tattoo, not one piece of leather in the picture, not even a fly-smattered
bike helmet that dirtied the pastel colored photo.

A large, leather-clad biker with
a criminal record, a stupid mistake made in his teenage years, but still, a
record that shamed him to this day.
He recalled the
summer evening with perfect clarity, how angry he had been at his Dad for being
drunk again. Like so many evenings, so many times before, his father had got
drunk, began harping on about how his life was over because of him and Tony.
How he had been ruined by his “two useless brats.” As usual, his father’s fists
had started to fly. The idea to take his Dad’s car and get as far as he could
seemed so simple. He had been eighteen, full of bravado and anger. Now, he knew
his behaviour had been stupid. He’d done exactly what his father expected of
him. He’d taken a car and become a criminal all in one night. Joy riding and
driving without a license is what the magistrate had charged him with. And just
like that, he’d narrowed his life choices down to a minimum. Josh sighed
heavily and shook his
head,
he blew out a breath and
let the shame flow from his lungs.

That was a long time ago.

Still, in Sammy’s quaint little cottage, he stood
out like a lion amongst a herd of sheep. He glanced across at the small desk in
the corner and saw the schoolbooks piled up, ready to be marked. He’d guessed
Sammy was a teacher a while ago. Something about her way, her
manner,
had him convinced she worked with kids, and the
sight of the pile of—Josh moved closer, picked up a small book, and huffed an
amused laugh.
Math.

“Well, whadyah’ know. Sammy is a geek.” He
said,
affection in his tone. Yeah, he and Sammy couldn’t be more
different.
Him, the boy who hardly went to school after the
age of fifteen, and Sammy, a frickin’ math teacher.
It was laughable
that he even contemplated moving further with Sammy.

Wait.
When
had he begun to contemplate that?

“Oh, you are so fucking fucked…” Josh grumbled to
himself as he sipped at his beer again.

A small, almost whisper of a scraping sound caught
his attention and Josh turned in the direction to the noise. He moved through
the living room towards the front door and saw a large brown envelope lying on
the mat. He bent to pick it up and frowned at the typed letters on the front.
The letter was to Sammy, but what struck Josh as strange was that it had been
hand-delivered in the middle of the night. He checked his watch and scowled.
“Four AM?” Josh leaned close to the small hallway window and peeked out. Nothing
stirred outside. Not that he could see much through the pitch dark air, but
still he looked.

Weird.
Who
would deliver a letter at this hour?
Maybe a neighbor out walking
their dog?
Who knew what these country folk did to amuse themselves.

Josh moved back into the living room, dropped the
letter on the coffee table and wandered into the kitchen to get another drink.
He stood up, closed the fridge door and when he turned, he was greeted by a
sleepy, rumpled, sexy-looking Sammy.

Josh frowned, “How did you get down the stairs?”

Sammy held
herself
upright
using the door frame. She dangled her cast foot off the floor and shyly tipped
her head so her hair fell attractively around her face, “On my bum.” Her sleep
roughened voice stroked a perfect finger down his dick.

Josh grinned, “Your bum?” He said with a raised
eyebrow. Sammy looked up and frowned, her pretty eyes searching his face, even
as she clearly fought not to glance away. She nodded.

“Don’t you mean your ass?” Josh taunted.

A small smile flickered at the corner of Sammy’s
mouth a moment before she rolled her eyes. “No, Josh, I do not mean … that
word. I meant bum.” She shifted and Josh sipped at his beer. He watched her for
a long moment, transfixed by the way her eyes sparkled even in the low light of
the kitchen. He swept his gaze down her body and wondered at how, even dressed
in sweat pants and a loose t-shirt, she could be making his body so hot. When
he looked back up, Sammy was chewing her lip, her eyes fixed on the brown
envelope on the coffee table in the next room.

“That just arrived,” he said.

Sammy whipped her head around and stared at Josh with
wide eyes.
“Just now?”

Josh watched as Sammy swallowed hard, her hand
tightening on the doorframe as she held herself up. “Who—umm—did you see who
delivered it?” she asked, still not looking to move closer to the letter.

“No.”

Sammy took in a deep breath, pushed off from the
door, and turned, effectively placing her back to the letter. She gripped the
kitchen surface and tried to move. She grimaced obviously in pain, as her cast
foot dragged across the linoleum flooring. Josh put his beer down and moved to
her side, he hooked his arm around her waist and lifted her up and over to one
of the bar stools.

“Thank you,” she said shyly, her cheeks pink and her
gaze cast down. Josh tipped her head back with his finger and grinned at her.

“My pleasure,” he said on a purposeful rough voice
and laughed softly when her eyes opened wide, flashing with innocence, yet
darkening with need. “Now, what can I get you?” He brushed his thumb over her
bottom lip, then moved away, amused by how bewildered she looked. He loved
flirting, and he especially liked flirting with Sammy, her reactions to him
were so honest. There was no theatrics with Sammy. No Hollywood copied, sex-kitten,
just Sammy and her unfettered response. He opened the fridge and looked inside
for eggs and bacon, all he found was yogurt and fruit. Disgusted he faced
Sammy. “Where is your bacon?”

Sammy shook her head gently. “I don’t have any.”

Josh scowled and turned back to the fridge, “Well,
what is a man supposed to eat around here?” He poked at the fruit and yogurt as
if it were made of acid and accidentally found some eggs.
“Ah
ha!”
He yanked them from the fridge and turned to grin at Sammy. “Want a
fried egg sarnie?”

Sammy grinned back and for a staggering moment Josh felt
his insides clench tight. For all of her shy looks and slight, impish smiles,
she had not displayed such a wide, perfect grin until now, and Josh was floored
by it. Sexy and generous, and in no way trying to be seductive, Josh realized
he’d never seen such a dazzling smile on a woman before.

Sammy’s smile slowly dropped from her mouth and a
deep blush stole across her lips. She dipped her head and Josh walked over to
her, not liking how her shyness turned into embarrassment. He brushed his
fingers over her cheek and waited for her to look up. When she did, Josh’s heart
buckled over. He tucked a thick, silky lock of hair behind her ear, and brushed
the tips of his fingers over the angry bruise on her cheek, watching as Sammy
tried to control her breathing.

She was so obvious in her attraction to him, so
innocent with her reactions. She was nothing at all like the women he’d dated
in his past life. They had all been hard-faced and calculating. Sammy was
neither.

It made him protective, yet demanding. And Josh was fast
losing the battle of need against not being good enough for her.

Josh dipped his head and pushed his fingers into
Sammy’s hair at the nape of her neck. He tipped her head back and looked into
her eyes. Her short, panted breaths wisped over his lips as he hovered close to
her. Her scent, clean and fresh, washed over him like a hot shower. She licked
her lips and Josh flicked his gaze down to watch the action that left her
bottom lip glistening in the dull kitchen light. And in that second Josh had to
taste her.

He closed the distance and lowered his mouth to
hers. At first Sammy was stiff, as if shocked, but Josh wrapped his free hand
around her waist and tugged her closer to him, being ever mindful of the cast
that hung to the side of his leg.

****

Sammy gripped his shoulders. She opened her mouth
and moaned when Josh tasted her with his tongue. He was solid and big against
her as his strong hands gripped at her neck and hip, demanding she move closer
to him. Josh reached down, pushed her thighs open and placed his hips between
her legs. If Sammy hadn’t already been on a bar stool, she may have collapsed
by now, as her whole body trembled. He pressed his arousal into her and Sammy
gasped as a fizzle of
oh-god-yes
shot
through her body.

Josh tasted her as if he was a starved man. He
nipped, sucked, licked, and groaned into her mouth. Sammy had never been kissed
like this before, all rough kisses and bold advances. His stubble scraped at
her jaw and his weight pinned her into the counter as he literally ravished her
the way she had always dreamed. Though Sammy sensed he held back, probably
because of her injuries, his hands took firm hold of her, only to release a
little as if his mind was taking over his lust.

He was so big, so strong, and a master with his
mouth. Sammy imagined how his kisses would feel on other parts of her body. She
rolled her hips and sighed when he pressed his hard arousal closer to her again.
Pleasure whipped at her and burned through her, making her suck in a breath as
hot delight rippled over her core. He released her mouth, and Sammy gasped for
air as he moved along her jaw and down her neck. She threaded her fingers into
his short hair and gripped when he reached up and palmed her breast through the
t-shirt.

“Sammy.
So fucking beautiful.”
Josh moaned as he worked his way down her neck. He kissed her and sucked at her
skin and Sammy pressed
herself
even closer to him with
every touch he bestowed upon her. She moaned, delighted as her body heated and
shivered in a perfect cacophony of feeling.

Josh tore himself away and stared down at Sammy. His
eyes were dark and hooded and he breathed deeply.

“Sammy.” He
said,
his voice
easily the sexiest sound she ever heard. But that voice held a question—a
question that held no place here. Had she responded wrong? Had she put him off
somehow? Oh, God, had she seemed too easy?

He shook his head and his hand dropped away from her
neck. “You’re hurt. I shouldn’t—I could hurt you.” He said, looking frustrated
and angry as he moved further away.

Sammy stared back and licked her lips as uncertainty
rolled over her in a cool breeze. Should she reach for him? Should she stay
still? Sammy regretted the worry that filtered into Josh’s eyes and she
desperately wanted to remove it. But she had no past knowledge or experience to
know what to do now, how to make Josh continue. What would she do if Josh walked
away? Her body throbbed and her core pulsed, and Sammy didn’t want it to end.