Hard Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 2) (15 page)

“You like that?”

“Yes,” she managed.

“Me too.” His voice was deep and almost harsh. “I want more and I want it right from the source.”

She actually whimpered. “Please…
please
.”

“Please?” He slid down her body. “You begging me?”

“Yes.”

“I like it.” He nudged her thighs farther apart and settled between them, his breath hot on her pussy. “You need to beg me some more.”

“Oh, God.” She arched towards him, but he held back. “Matt… please. Please kiss me.”

He leaned forward and mouthed the softest kiss humanly possible on her mound. She jerked and he lifted his head again.

“What else?” His eyes were intense. “What else do you want me to do?”

“I –” Her throat closed up. “Oh…”

“You have to ask for it, baby.” He ran his hands up her thighs. “I’m not giving you anything you don’t ask for.”

She shook with need, and that need was stronger than her embarrassment. “Kiss me. Lick me. Put your fingers in me. Put your tongue in to me deep, as deep as you can.”

“Fuck, yes,” King growled. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

She gave a cry when his mouth took her – and no mistake, that’s exactly what his mouth did. His mouth claimed her pussy, took ownership of it, possessed it. His mouth wasn’t gentle or soft or slow, and he didn’t waste any time. He’d waited long enough.

King paused to rest Naomi’s feet on his shoulders, then he returned to where he really wanted to be. He teased her, his tongue flicking her clit in fast little strokes, before making long, leisurely licks her whole length. She didn’t know what he’d do next, so she just dug her fingers in to the mattress beneath her and held on for the ride.

When he plunged his tongue inside her, she gave a shocked scream and sat straight up. Her eyes were wide and her chest rose and fell in panicked breaths. He stopped dead.

“Naomi? You OK?”

“I – I… oh,
God
.” She fell back on the bed, tried to twist away from him. “Oh, no.
No
.”

“Naomi?” He was alarmed now and he moved back up her body. “Talk to me.”

“You’re too much. Matt, you’re so… so close.”

“Close to what?” He stroked her cheek. “What’s going on in your head?”

“
You’re
close to
me
. You’re – you’re part of me. In my body. You
see
me.” Her eyes were overflowing with tears and she looked away. “I – I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Hey, now.” King wrapped his arms around her. “Is it too much? You need me to stop?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m sorry… I need you to stop.” She started to cry now. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Baby, don’t apologize,” he said. “Don’t
ever
say you’re sorry for asking for what you need.”

“But you wanted to do this and I said it was OK.”

“And you have the right to change your mind. You always have that right. You hear me?”

She ducked her head and tried to roll away from him, but Matt stopped her. He pressed her down with his body, his hands on either side of her head, holding her in place. His touch was gentle but firm – she knew Matt wasn’t going to let her hide or run from him.

“No,” he said. “Don’t you do that. Don’t you turn your back on me. You stay right here where I can see your eyes and you talk to me.” His tender kiss counteracted the gruffness of his words. “What’s really going on?”

“I don’t know.” That was the honest-to-God truth and he saw it. “I’m just – I feel too… open.”

“You mean physically because I went down on you? Or you mean emotionally because you’re letting me see your need and desire?”

“The second one,” she said. “You’re – you’re starting to see all of me. The
real
me.”

“And you think that’s bad?”

“Maybe.” She spoke softly. “The real me is ugly in lots of ways.”

He laid down now, pulled her on to his chest, held on tight. “Everyone has things they’re not proud of, Naomi. We all have things we’d love to change about ourselves or mistakes we’d do anything to go back and fix. People we’ve hurt and lies we’ve told and chances we fucked up. Everyone has some ugly, and anyone who says any different is a liar.”

“I know.”

“I hope you do.”

“I guess sometimes I just forget that I’m not so extraordinary.” She sighed. “Mirrie’s always reminding me that my ugly isn’t so exceptional, really.”

“The alcoholic mentality?”

“Yep. Also known as the special snowflake syndrome.” He was relieved to see her smiling again. “Every alcoholic thinks that their issues are so much more issue-y than anyone else’s issues.”

He laughed. “You’re a bunch of egomaniacs, huh?”

“Oh, Lord. For sure.”

He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering for a few seconds. “Better?”

“Yeah. Better.”

“OK, then.” He pulled the blankets up over their naked bodies. “Let’s get some sleep, honey.”

“You don’t mind not… ummm… finishing?”

“Oh, I mind.” He grinned down at her to show her that he wasn’t serious. “I mind that I didn’t get to give you a mind-blowing orgasm with my mouth.”

“You wanted to?”

“You have
no
idea how much. But I’ll wait.”

“You wait for me a lot, huh?”

“I do. And you know why?”

“No.”

“Because.” He kissed her, whispered the next words against her lips. “You’re worth waiting for.”

Chapter Thirteen

King killed the engine, glanced over at Naomi. She was staring up at Jax’s house with an apprehensive expression.

He reached over and took her hand. “Hey, you sure you want to do this? We can leave. Just say the word.”

“No.” She cleared her throat. “No, I want to meet your friends and see Sarah and Jax.”

“OK. But if it gets to be too much, you tell me. You promise?”

“I promise.”

They walked up to the house and before they’d even knocked, the door swung open. Sarah stood there, beaming and gorgeous. “Hi, guys!”

“Hi,” Naomi said, trying to sound normal. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, good, you know,” Sarah said as she gave Naomi a hug. “Come on in and have a drink…Aidan’s mixing some fruity stuff in the blender, much to Mac’s chagrin. He says that fruit and alcohol have no business being anywhere near each other. It’s one of our never-ending battles.”

Oh, God. And it begins before she’s even got her damn coat off. Shit. This may have been a huge mistake.

Naomi was calm, though. “And how does Jax feel about fruit and booze combined?”

“He refuses to discuss it much, unless he’s trying to butter me up for something. Then it’s Cosmos all the way, baby.”

Naomi laughed and King relaxed a fraction, only to tense up again when Mac appeared.

“Well, hey, sweet thing.” Those blue eyes were teasing as he took her coat and hung it up. “You have to be Naomi.”

“And you have to be Mac.”

“You’ve heard tell of the legend?”

“Of course. Since childhood, and from far and wide.”

Mac threw back his blond head and roared. He stepped forward and put his arm around her now. “Come on. Your drinks are on me.”

“Mac…” King had no idea what to say, but he had to step in.

“Yeah?” Mac glanced over. “Feeling a bit worried there, King?”

Yeah. But you have no idea why.

“Yeah, right. As if.” King’s eyes met Naomi’s, anxious and concerned, but he kept his tone light. “Watch out for him, honey. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“Aren’t you all?” she responded, grinning. She looked fine, so he let them head over to where Aidan was standing in the kitchen. King watched them go, wondering how the hell he was supposed to get through the next few hours without losing his mind with worry. It came to him that Naomi was actually handling her being around alcohol better than he was.

“Hey,” Jax said. He handed King a beer that he didn’t want; he had no desire to hug or kiss Naomi with beer breath. “Welcome to our humble abode.”

King took a good look around now. He’d never been to Jax’s place before, and he suddenly realized that it was damn nice. Seems the man had spent some of those lottery winnings pretty well.

“Thanks for the invite.”

“Grand tour?”

“Hell, yeah. Let me see this palace, man.”

He gave Naomi a small wave and she nodded at him from the kitchen where she was watching Aidan mix her a virgin Mojito. When she’d asked for it, he hadn’t even blinked, though Mac had pouted a bit until she’d told him that she was on antibiotics for a bout of bronchitis. Good doctor that he was, Mac had backed off right away.

“Yeah, no mixing booze and pills,” he said sternly. “Bad idea in general.”

She snapped him a salute and accepted the drink from Aidan.

“So.” Mac leaned against the wall and surveyed her from his great height. “You work in non-profit.”

“I do.” She took a sip of the drink, enjoying the fresh bite of mint. “You know Art With Heart?”

“Just through King and Sarah,” Mac said. “If I came by next week for a tour and to talk about a donation, would you show me around?”

“Yeah, sure. Just call and tell me when you have some time.”

Aidan groaned and they both looked at him.

“What?” Mac said.

“Now you’ve done it, darlin’.” His tone was teasing.

“I’ve done what?”

“You’ll have him there and bugging you non-stop. Cracking jokes and being all flirty and shit.”

She grinned. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. He quite literally cannot help himself when he sees a pretty face. He’s totally incorrigible.”

“I am not,” Mac said with great dignity. “I’m just totally depraved.”

Naomi burst in to laughter, and the men grinned back at her. King came back in to the open living room/ kitchen area now, just in time to hear Naomi’s wonderful laugh. That was when he relaxed fully.

Yeah, she’s OK.

**

Two hours later, Naomi set her glass down on the coffee table with a sigh. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun at a party – drunk or sober.

“So,” Sarah said to her. “You and King seem to be spending a lot of time together.”

“Yeah. We are.”

Sarah’s blue eyes were warm. “He’s a great guy. They all are, really.”

“I’ve noticed.” Idly, Naomi picked up a cup off the overflowing table. “Appearances can be deceiving, huh?”

“Yep.” She caught Jax’s eye across the room. “Oh, excuse me for one sec, OK? I think Jax wants me to meet someone.”

“Sure.” Naomi watched Sarah pull herself to her feet and limp over to Jax and another man. Sarah looked much better, she was happy to see: her limp was way less pronounced and her balance seemed to be better. She glanced around the crowded open space, took a sip of her drink.

The panic hit her less than one second after the taste of alcohol hit her taste buds. She gagged, spat the drink back in to the plastic cup in her shaking hand. She stared down at it.

Oh, fuck, oh, fuck. I picked up the wrong goddamn cup.

King looked up just in time to see a look of fear and desperation cross Naomi’s face. Startled, he watched her shoot to her feet and dash out of the room. He followed, his heart in his throat. He walked down the hallway, listened. There was noise in the smaller bathroom, farther down the hall, and he tapped on the door.

“Naomi?” he said.

All he got for an answer was a sob, but that was more than enough. He threw the door open, thanking God that it wasn’t locked because he’d have kicked the damn thing down without a second of thought. What he saw froze the breath in his lungs.

Naomi was over at the sink, water running full-blast. She was rubbing her tongue roughly, then cupping her hands under the spray to drink. Over and over she did this, tears streaming down her pale face, breathing hard and fast. He was next to her in two strides.

“What happened?”

“I – I drank some wine by accident.” She drank some more water. “Matt – I can still taste it.”

“OK, OK. Breathe.” He took her shoulders gently. “Did you swallow any?”

She shook her head frantically.

“Good. Let me find you some toothpaste, OK? I’ll go down to Jax and Sarah’s bathroom. You just hang on, yeah?”

He opened the door again, and then stopped dead when he saw Aidan standing there.

“Here,” Aidan said urgently and handed King a glass. “Drink this, hon.”

“What is it?” King said.

“Milk. The best thing for killing tastes and coating the mouth and throat. Drink it.”

Naomi was shocked enough to be distracted from her panic for a few seconds. She and King stared at Aidan.

“How – how did you –”

“Stop talking and
drink
. Do it.”

She accepted the glass from Matt and both men watched her drink the milk. She drained the glass in a few seconds, then lowered it to stare at Aidan some more. He’d shut the door again and now he leaned against it, his large arms crossed. He was still and silent, and his golden glow looked dimmer, somehow. Diminished.

“OK, man,” King said. “Spill.”

Aidan shrugged. “I’m a bartender, y’all. I know how alcoholics look and act around alcohol.” His eyes met Naomi’s and all she saw there was kindness. “And I
also
know because I’m one too.”

She dropped the glass in shock, then realized when it rolled away that it was plastic.

“You – you’re what?” she said. “But – but… you work in a
bar
! You’re the
bartender
!”

“Yep.” He grinned now. “I’m the Sam Malone of Curves.”

“Who?” King said, still gazing at his friend. He was wondering just how the fuck he’d never known this about Aidan, not in four whole years of knowing the guy.

“Sam Malone? From that TV show ‘Cheers’?”

They stared some more.

“Never mind.” He turned back to Naomi. “Better?”

“Uh, yeah. Thank you.”

“Sure.”

Silence descended now, and they all suddenly had a hard time looking at each other. Finally, Aidan sighed.

“I’m just over six years sober,” he offered.

She bit her lip. “Almost a year. One year in two weeks.”

“You doing AA? You have a sponsor?”

She nodded.

“You need to call them?”

“Maybe… maybe…” She hesitated. “Can I –”

“What?” King said gently.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked Aidan, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, of course.”

She glanced at King. “Is that OK?”

“God, baby… of course it’s OK.” He kissed her on the forehead, his thick fingers moving in her hair. “Whatever you need and you
know
that.” He nodded at Aidan. “Take good care of her, yeah?”

“I will. I promise.”

**

Almost an hour later, Naomi and Aidan emerged from the guest bedroom. She looked calm again, he was relieved to see, and she came over to him. Right away, he wrapped his arms around her.

“OK?” he said, keeping his voice low.

“Yes. But can we please go now?”

“Yeah. We’re out of here.”

King went to the closet to get their coats and when he turned, he caught Aidan’s eye. The other man was standing there, his hands in his jeans pockets, his body tense. King smiled at him, gave him a small nod, and Aidan relaxed again.

Your secret is safe with me, for as long as you want it to be a secret.

They thanked Sarah and Jax for the hospitality and made the rounds, saying goodbye. When they finally stepped outside, King heard Naomi take a deep breath.

“Thank God,” she said quietly.

“You need a meeting? You need to see Mirrie?”

“No.” She took his proffered hand as she stepped over a large patch of ice. “Aidan was great. I’m OK now.”

“Good.”

The drive back to her place was almost totally silent. Naomi looked blankly out the window the whole way, and he didn’t push her. He could only imagine how scared she must have been at that first unexpected taste of wine – the equivalent of an ambush in an innocent-looking cup – and that wasn’t something he’d ever understand. Aidan did, Mirrie did, millions of others on the planet did. But not him. If she wanted to talk, he could listen; if she wanted comfort, he was prepared to be there for her.

Whatever you need, baby, I’ll be it for you.

He took her home, not sure what she needed tonight. He’d go if said to do that; he’d stay if she wanted that. It was up to her, and he’d do anything she asked of him.

She blinked, her expression clearing. “We’re at my place.”

“Yeah.” She started a bit at the gruffness in his voice. “You want to be alone?”

Naomi smiled at the look on his gorgeous face. God, this man was so damn hard and scary, but when he looked at her like this – like all he cared about was her next breath – she didn’t see any of that. She just saw safety and warmth.

“No,” she said. “I want to be with you. You’ll stay?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“Good.”

Upstairs, he removed her coat, watched her go and sit on the sofa. She looked exhausted suddenly, and when he took her in his arms, she leaned on him heavily. He stroked her back, soothing the tension he still felt there, and held on. There was nothing sexual or sensual about his touch right now. All he wanted was to make her feel safe, make her believe that it was over. She’d faced down another encounter with her personal demon and walked away whole. A bit scratched up, a bit burned, but still in one piece.

“Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“I need a shower. I need to wash this day off me.”

“OK. You want to be alone?”

She leaned back now and he saw her smile. “Oh, no. As I already said, I most definitely
don’t
want to be alone.”

“Huh.” He grinned back at her. “So…you’d like me to join you?”

“You know it, babe.”

“Naomi?”

Something in his voice stopped her. “Yes?”

“I know I can’t do this for you, honey, as much as I want to. All I can do is be here while you do it. Hold your hand, let you know you’re not all alone in this.” He intertwined her fingers with his. “But is that enough? On days like today, when shit like this hits you out of the blue, is it enough?”

“It’s more than enough, Matt.” Naomi brushed his mouth with her lips. “It’s everything.”

He took a shuddering breath, amazed at the relief that washed over him at her words. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“I want to be everything for you,” he said softly, almost afraid to say his deepest desire out loud. “Your sun and moon and stars.”

She paused, touched. “And I want to be yours.”

“You are.” He stood now and started to lead her to the bathroom. “My blood and breath, too. My everything.”

Naomi blinked back tears at his words. God, she’d never felt so valued and cherished in the whole of her life. What this man gave her – gave her freely and openly – was nothing short of a gift. A tiny miracle, all for her. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe it.

They shed their clothes and let them fall to the bathroom floor. King started the shower and checked the temperature before stepping in. He turned, extended his hand to her.

“Come on in, darlin’. The water’s fine.”

She grinned and accepted his hand. She sighed as the water pummeled her shoulders and back, massaging out some of the residual tension. Aidan had talked her down amazingly well, but she was still shaken by that unexpected taste of wine on her tongue. It had been shockingly good, scarily familiar. A ghost that refused to fully die, an echo that called to her across time and space almost daily.