Tempt (Take It Off) (21 page)

“I need to tell you something,” I said, nerves crackling along my spine.

“That sounds serious.”

I nodded.

“Something happened on the island.”

“A lot of things happened on the island.”

“Something I was afraid to tell you about.”

“You don’t have to be afraid to tell me anything,
bella
.”

I wondered if
he would say that even after I told him. “You know how I was having those dreams?”

He nodded. “The nightmares about the crash.”

“They weren’t nightmares about the crash.” I paused. “Well, the first one was.”

“What were the other ones about?”

“Me and you…” I let the sentence end suggestively.

A slow smile formed on his face.

I held up my hand. “But it wasn’t just me and you.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there was someone else in the dream with us… doing things.”

“Please tell me it was another girl.”

Only a man would pray for that…

“It wasn’t.”

He looked like he was punched in the gut. “It was
him
, wasn’t it?”

I nodded, tears forming in my eyes.
Geesh, I was turning into an emotional basket case. Maybe I should stock up on tissues. “I don’t know why.” I sniffled. “I felt so guilty.”

“Why would you feel guilty,
bella
?” he said softly, caressing the side of my face. I leaned into his touch.

“It felt like I was betraying you somehow.”

“You didn’t actually sleep with him… like on the island?” he said, watching me.

I shook my head adamantly.
“Only you. There’s been only you.”

“Even since you came home?” he asked, his voice a little strained.

“There will only ever be you.”

He let out a breath.

“What about you? Since we’ve been home?” My stomach cramped. The thought of him with anyone else made me physically ill.

“No,
bella
, just you.” He threaded our fingers together. “I had to fight myself constantly not to come here and bang on your door.”

“You did?”

He nodded. “I just wanted to give you the time you needed. I wanted you to be sure.”

“I’ve never been so sure.”

“That’s real good because I’m never doing this again. I’m moving in. You’re going to stop sleeping on the floor and start sleeping in my arms.”

Like I said, I loved his bossiness.

“You’re going to move in? What about Puerto Rico? What about being a pilot?”

“I can be a pilot from here. We can visit Puerto Rico.” He glanced at the urn I still had yet to part with. “We can start with putting Ki
ki to rest. The way she deserves.”

“I’d like that.”

He grabbed another slice of pizza and stuck it under my nose. I dutifully took a bite.

“What have you been up to since you got home?”

“I got a new job. One I really love.”

“Doing what?” he asked gently, tucking the hair behind my ear.

“I’m a florist. A flower design specialist,” I said around a bite of cheesy goodness. “I work at a local flower shop, putting together bouquets and arrangements.”

He smiled.

“I don’t have to sit behind a desk. I don’t have to do math. I get to stare at beautiful flowers all day and make bows with gorgeous ribbons.”

“I’m glad you found something you love.”

I nodded. “Someday I want to open my own shop. I already have a name.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“
Bella Flora
,” I pronounced, totally butchering the Spanish language.

Nash repeated it
. It sound incredibly romantic on his tongue. “I like it.”

“Me too.”

“And I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“You’re not mad about the dreams?”

“I can’t say I’m thrilled about it
. You with another man is kind of my own personal nightmare.”

“I didn’t have sex with him
in the dream. He just kissed me and stuff.”

“And then what?”

“And then you pulled me away.”

“This is where you belong,
bella
.” He pulled me into his lap, cradling me against his chest.

“
I’m so glad we didn’t just have traumatic bonding.”

He stilled. “What?”

“I Googled it. That’s what it’s called when people get close through trauma.”

He muttered under his breath
, “You Googled it.” Then louder he said, “You should have looked up post traumatic stress disorder. Only a girl suffering from that would push away a catch like me.”

I stifled a laugh. “Hmmm. Maybe I should look that up
.” I made a move to get up.

His grip tightened and he growled
. “No more Google.”

I kissed the underside of his chin. “Deal.”

“If you ever want to know how I feel, just ask me. I’m more than willing to tell you.”

“I think I can tell how you
’re feeling right now,” I murmured, desire thick in my voice.

His growing erection nudged me again. “It’s not morning,
bella
,” he whispered, making goose bumps rise along my arms. “It’s all you.”

“We have lost time to make up for,” I said
, turning in his lap, sinking down onto him instantly.

“By all means,” he said, gripping my hips and rocking me across his hardness. “Get to work.”

A
very
long time later, I fell asleep, not on the floor, but in his arms. A place I planned to sleep for the rest of my life.

Just before slipping away
, a thought of Duke drifted over my mind. I pushed it away, unwilling to let a dead man who tried to kill us tempt me away from happiness. I knew that vowing to never think of him again was fruitless. What he did was something that couldn’t be forgotten. But not letting those thoughts consume me was something I
could
do.

The last thought I had before sleep c
laimed me completely was that controlling my thoughts was a lot easier than controlling my dreams…

I came awake with soft caresses. Barely there touches that glided over my skin, making me hyper aware of every single thing I felt.

My eyes were heavy—from sleep, from lust. I kept them closed, allowing the sensations of his hands and mouth to consume me. I could get used to this… to wake up to this every single day.

His tongue circled my belly button, and then he scattered kisses across my belly and landed on my hip. He pressed his slightly open mouth to the hollowed area between my hip and my pelvis, making my hips lurch upward and my hands search for his head.

“More,” I whispered, my sleepy voice tinged with pleading.

He kissed lower, burying his nose and mouth in my short, springy curls
, all the while his mouth sliding lower. I opened my legs for him. They were already trembling. He gripped the outside of my hips and yanked me forward so the most secret place of me collided with his mouth.

I groaned. His tongue began to work me into a tizzy. I
grasped for him but couldn’t quite reach as new sensations rolled over me and I fell back against the sheets once more, submitting to every single thing he made me feel.

My foot slid along his waist, cupping his ribcage and urging him closer.

Two fingers tested my soaking wet opening, but I made a sound of protest. “You,” I murmured. “I just want you.”

He crawled up my body, rubbing along me like a cat
, and I moaned again, hooking my legs around his waist.

“Nash,” I sighed.

He said nothing.

Something uneasy broke through my heavy desire.

I was dreaming. It was just like before.

Wake up, Ava!
I yelled at myself.

But it seemed the dream had me in its grip. I was torn. I wanted to get away… yet I wanted to continue.

Please, not again.
The thought whimpered through my mind.

Finally, we were together
. The island was behind us. The dreams were behind… Duke was gone.

“Open your eyes,” the man above me whispered.

I squeezed them shut harder and shook my head. If it wasn’t Nash, I would never forgive myself. I would be haunted forever with the dreams about another man. A man I most certainly didn’t want, but seemed to have the ability to kidnap my dreams.

A large, warm hand closed over my breast. I arched up off the bed. So good…

No! Stop that!
I yelled at myself.

Then he gripped my nipple and twisted it just lightly. Pleasure tingled through every ounce of me.

“Look at the man your heart truly desires,” the man whispered again.

I tried to decipher his voice. I couldn’t. I was so upset and caught between dream ad reality I didn’t know what to do.

There was only one thing I could do.

I took a breath.

And opened my eyes.

I blinked, adjusting to the dim lighting
, and nervously looked up at the man who was hovering over me, ready to take me.

It was
Nash.

“
Bella,” he whispered when my eyes collided with his.

Relief so strong poured over me as Nash reached out to stroke my cheek. And then he entered me in one long, hard stroke.

I took his face in my hands and stared up at him. Overjoyed with this man. My heart and body was so full of him that there was no room for anyone else.

There was only him.

In my heart. In my dreams. In my forever.

THE END

Today is your lucky day! Not only did you get to read TEMPT, but now you get an exclusive sneak peak of TEXT, the next
Take It Off
novel, coming November 2013!

One text can change everything.

Honor Calhoun never thought her life would ever be like the books she writes for a living. One morning while out for a run, she learns plot twists aren’t only found in novels. Some horrors can actually come true.

She faces off with a persistent attacker, holds her own, but in the end is taken hostage and thrown into a hole. In the middle of the woods.

But Honor didn’t go down there alone.

She took her kidnapper’s phone with her. With a spotty signal and a dying battery,
her hope is slim.

Nathan Reed is an active duty Marine stationed at a small reservist base in Pennsylvania. All he wants is a calm and uneventful duty station where he can forget the memories of his time in a war-torn country.

But a single text changes everything.

Nathan becomes Honor’s only hope for survival, and he has to go against the clock, push aside his past, and take on a mission for a girl he’s never met.

Both of them want freedom… but they have to survive long enough to obtain it.

You ready for the goods? Turn the page!

TEXT

Sneak Peek

b
y Cambria Hebert

1

Honor

Early morning sunlight filtered through the overhead canopy of burnished autumn leaves, and crisp, chilled air brushed over my cheeks
, filling my lungs with every deep inhale I took. My hot-pink Nikes pounded lightly against the gravel path on which I ran, and the sound of Mackelmore filled my ears.

I loved this time of day. It was just me, the trail
, and the exertion of my muscles. Running was something I knew I would always do. It was my escape. It was my way of de-stressing, of letting my mind wander wherever it wanted. I didn’t have to think about deadlines, or emails, or dealing with people. I was in the moment, working my body and releasing all the tension and stress that built up inside me during the day.

I took a second to wipe my brow and then glanced up. A light breeze ruffled the trees and leaves rained down around me, littering the already covered path. I could barely see the gravel because so many had already fallen. It was absolutely gorgeous. It motivated me to run farther, to run longer
, because being out here, in the purest form of nature during the fall, was close to heaven for me.

To my right
, a creek flowed, the water rushing over rocks insistently like it was racing me. Plants and trees grew along the bank, jutting into the moving water. Leaves were carried along with the current, dotting the dark water with bright spots of yellow and orange. Occasionally, a fish would jump up and splash, leaving ripples in its wake.

This trail
stretched for thirty miles. Thirty miles of scenic pleasure. Thirty miles of untouched wilderness that blended in naturally with the mountainous small town where I made my home. This trail was the main reason I moved here. I felt so close to nature, so at peace. Whenever I had a bad day, I could go down to the creek or walk along the path and be instantly calmed. This place had a way of reminding me how life was bigger than just me, how I shouldn’t get so caught up in the everyday that I forget to enjoy the beauty around me.

I glanced down at the pedometer strapped to my upper arm. I
’d already gone over three miles. I needed to turn back. By the time I made it back to my house, I would be over six miles for the day.

Oh well. This long run earned me a big fat dessert or maybe a pizza later.

I turned and started back the way I came, toward my little house that sat right along the trail. Some spots of the path were more isolated than others. I was running along in a place that had no homes around it, but in about another mile, I would start passing a few and a small row of townhouses.

I rounded the bend in the path and ran over a wooden bridge that carried me atop the rushing creek and then back into the gravel. The trees and wildlife grew right up to the path here
. It was dense and full. In another month or so, it would look more bare, the leaves would be mostly gone, and I would be able to see farther back into the woods. But not today. Today the plants provided ample coverage.

Unfortunately.

As I ran, something darted out from the side. I jerked, the sudden movement startling me. My stride faltered and I turned toward whatever it was, but I didn’t see it.

It plowed into me, knocking me over, my hip taking the brunt of my fall. I grunted in pain and scrambled to get up.

But someone pinned me down.

I shoved at the man, and he glanced down, his eyes meeting mine. There was something cold in his blue
-eyed stare. Something empty and flat.

Panic bloomed in my chest, spiking through my body as my heart rate went wild and alarm bells started sounding in my head.

Yes, I read the stories. Yes, I saw it on the news.

Woman is kidnapped. Search for missing woman continues. Woman is found beaten and dead.

But that stuff didn’t happen to
me
. That stuff happened to other people. Unfortunate women… women that weren’t me.

This
isn’t happening to me.

A surge of adrenaline had me bringing my knee up and catching the man in his balls. He made a high
-pitched sound and fell to the side. I scrambled up and took off, racing down the path, toward the road that intersected it. If I could make it there, I could flag down a car. I could find someone to help me.

The earbuds had fallen out of my ears and hung around my neck, banging into my skin and reminding me that I had my phone. My phone! As I ran
, my hand fumbled, trying to yank it out of the band around my arm. Finally, I managed to grasp it and I held it up in front of me, calling up the keypad and dialing.

9-1
—

He tackled me from behind and I fell face forward
, the phone tumbling out of my hands, just ahead, just out of reach. I cried out and stretched my hand toward my lifeline, desperate to finish the call.

“You’re going to pay for that, bitch,” the gruff voice said.

I’d never known such fear in all my life. I could barely think straight. Straight-laced dread and panic took over my body, making my limbs feel heavy and numb.

Don’t give in
,
the voice inside me screamed.

I bucked like a pony and reached forward, my hand closing over my phone.
Yes!
My joy was extremely short-lived when the man, who was still straddling my back, snatched it out of my hand and tossed it into the nearby creek.

“No,” I cried, watching it swept away beneath the surface.

“No one’s going to help you,” the voice above intoned.

Something inside me went deadly calm. Like the fear and panic flat lined, leaving behind nothing but the sound of my deep
, even breathing.

This fucker had no idea who he was dealing with.

I grabbed a handful of gravel beside my face and threw it behind me, right at the man. He didn’t tumble off me, but he did swear and I felt him fidget about. I grabbed another handful and launched it at him as I pushed up on my hands and knees, forcing my way out from beneath him.

When I got to my feet
, he grabbed me around the ankle and yanked me back. I reached into the hidden zippered pocket of my pants and pulled out a small container of mace. I carried it in case I ran into a bear or some aggressive animal.

I should have known that the real thing to be afraid of out here was another human being.

I flipped the little cap and depressed the button, the spray shooting forward.

But it missed him. He was still low to the ground.

Still clutching the mace, I took off running. I got maybe three steps when he tackled me again. Gravel cut into my cheek and stung my hands.

I started to scream.

I yelled as loud as I could.

He flipped me over and slapped a hand over my mouth. His face was dirty from the gravel and dust I flung at him. His eyes were no longer so empty…
They were now filled with excitement.

I glanced down and noticed the tent in his pants
, and I gagged.

He was sick. This was sick. This couldn’t be happening to me.

“Shut. Up,” he said and rocked against me.

I bit him.

He howled in pain and snatched away his hand. As I screamed, I reached out and grabbed at the erection that made me gag and yanked on it, twisting it, digging in my nails and hoping the pain would immobilize him enough for me to get free once more.

In the distance
, a dog was barking, and I prayed that meant someone was headed this way, someone that would help me.

My attacker slapped his hand over my mouth again
. The taste of blood, metallic and sharp, had me recoiling. His legs were shaking and I knew he was in pain.

But it hadn’t been enough.

I saw it in his face.

I felt it in my bones.

I wasn’t getting away.

I tried to buck him off one last time
. I reached out for two more handfuls of gravel and dirt.

He drew back his arm and punched me. Right in the face.

And then there was nothing.