Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series) (5 page)

He smiles, even though he tries not to, while she struggles
with the thought of ruining herself.  “You said it,” Harley answers,
raking her
hot little body
with uninhibited eyes.

She smoothes her hands down the curve of her slim waist,
appreciating the body God gave her.  “That’s right.  I did. 
Because I have the balls to say it.”  Aliah notices how conflicted Harley
seems.  He obviously has something to hide.  She doesn’t know what it
is, but it intrigues her to keep stoking the fire.  She moves closer to
him, sliding one of her legs between his thighs, so she can whisper
provocatively in his ear.  “Unlike some people.”

Aliah leans back to catch his reaction, but he doesn’t let
her move far.  His arm hooks around her waist, as Harley raises a
brow.  She loves the look he gets on his face every time she shocks
him.  Then he leans into her, until she can feel his breath on her ear.

“I may act like a gentleman in public,” he growls. 
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t spank you behind closed doors.”

Aliah smiles, loving the way his voice makes promises. 
“Is that a threat?”

He leans back and takes another good look at her. 
“What are you doing after work?”

She smiles, a genuine smile.  “What do you care?”

“Do you always make it this difficult for a man to ask you
out?”

“Yes.  Most men don’t last half this long.”

He looks to the floor, smiling.

“Aliah!  Are you waiting or dating?”  Any other
time and Aliah would have given Mitchell a high five for originality.  But
not tonight.

She groans.  “He doesn’t pay me nearly enough for
this.”

Harley’s still smiling when she leaves him.

That smile is a weapon, I tell you.

He needs to put that thing away before she’s
forced
to
do something that will give him a good reason to smile that wickedly.

After escaping from Harley’s attention long enough to serve
a few tables and fix up a couple of drinks, she turns around and finds Harley
standing there, like a brick wall.  She slams right into him.  He’s
even bigger than she thought.  A shiver courses through her veins, the
chill quickly spreading through her entire body, as she imagines what it would
feel like to be pinned beneath all that man.

Harley doesn’t take his eyes off the prize.  It’s a
simple task, watching over her, with that tiny waist and stunning child-bearing
hips.  This is turning out to be more fun than he anticipated.  Aliah
Brooklin is even hotter in person, if that is possible.

Thank the Lord for side boob.

She’s just a petite little thing, with luscious hair and
pale green eyes.  Her attitude strikes you like a sword, or maybe like
those skyscraper stiletto heels she manages to walk in.  But Harley has
come armed too.  His charm will slowly wear her down, the way it always
does with the ladies.  Before long, she won’t be able to resist him.

He loves every single minute of their bantering, and from
the look in her eye, she loves it too.  She has a mouth on her, that
one.  He’ll have to be careful with her.  She isn’t exactly the kind
of girl you’d want your teenaged daughter looking up to.

But even as he hears himself saying no, his dick is telling
him otherwise.  He’d love to teach her a lesson about that potty mouth
too.  He could have a lot of fun teaching Miss Brooklin a lesson or two in
the bedroom.

When he watches Aliah finish up at the bar, he slides over
to strike up another conversation with her.  She slams right into him,
pressing those beautiful breasts against his hard body.  He struggles to
find a respectful thing to say.  Nothing thoughtful can come from a glance
at those breasts.

Harley tears his eyes away and focuses on her face. 
Though her cleavage has burned the most beautiful image in his mind, he’s
suddenly having difficulty taking his eyes from those luscious lips.  He
gazes at them a little too long.  He is sure that her mouth has a
multitude of other uses that can be valuable to him.

“You’re closing up soon.”

Aliah glances up at him.  “Yeah, so?”

“Do you need a hand with anything?  Or is Cavanagh
getting the job done for you?”  He was careful not to push too hard, but
she seems to catch right onto him.

“What business is it of yours, Hulk?”

She starts to hesitate, wondering what his deal is, so he
drops her an angled smile; the one that slants a little to the left.  It
has always worked with the ladies and it looks like it works for her too.

“It’s Harley, missy.”  He doesn’t know what it is about
this girl, but she makes him want to press her buttons.  “Get it right or
gets a stepping.”

Aliah glances over each of her shoulders dramatically. 
“I was here first,
brother
.  And
you
can screw off, it
you’re going to be such an asshole.”

He looks at her incredulously.  “Do you kiss your
mother with that mouth?”

“That’s not the only thing,” she snaps back.

He nearly spews his beer all over her, excited by her
insinuation even while she berates him.  Unable to keep his distance, he
draws closer, and glances down at her.  She doesn’t back away. 
Instead she thrusts her hands onto her hips and lifts her chin.

He leans down until they’re nose to nose.  Then he
combs his fingers through her hair and wraps his hand around a good handful at
the nape of her neck, pulling it back firmly until she has no option but to
lift her chin to the sky.  Her expression shows that she’s straining to
match his hardness but, because of the heat flickering in her eyes, she can’t
fool him.

“You like it when I’m rough with you?”  He tugs a
little harder.

Aliah lets out a strangled moan, but doesn’t answer.

“Imagine all of the fun things we could do.”  His lips
whisper over her neck and up to her ear.  “Would you like to have some
fun, missy?”

It’s hard to keep his cool when this vixen is swooning at
his feet.  “The name’s Aliah.  Get it right.”  She barely gets
the words out, before closing her eyes.

She wants it. 
Him.

He knows it’s a bad idea, but his lips brush across her
throat before he can think to stop.  His tongue licks across her warm
flesh and he gets a taste of her skin.  She’s his flavor.  When she
whimpers again, he lightens his grip, ever so slightly, but not nearly enough
to give her control over her head.  He feels like he’s in the power seat
and smothering a powerful woman like that is a heady experience.  He knows
they’re in public, but he can’t stop.

Harley wants to taste her again.  Hell, he wants to do
a lot more than that.  If this wasn’t his hometown, she’d already be
flattened against that bar and he’d be moving inside of her.  With Aliah’s
small hands on his chest, he’s unable to think clearly.  She fogs his
brain when she’s this close.  He needs to put some space between
them.  He needs to get back to business.

He smiles and lets go of her hair.  When he releases
the pressure, she looks a little lightheaded.  “So,
Aliah
. 
Same place tomorrow?”

She seems to like that he gets her name right this
time.  And, though he’s kind of joking, he has to fight off his smile when
she reluctantly nods her head to agree with him.

“Does it look like I have a choice?” she snaps, trying to
regain her attitude.

He shakes his head, not surprised by her snappy comeback,
and heads for the door with strong legs and steady steps.  To his
surprise, she follows him out.

He turns back to her and raises an eyebrow, taking in every
curve on that body.  She shares an equally as suggestive glance, once
she’s stopped next to him.  He can’t waste the opportunity.

“I don’t do this often.”

She cuts him off, not much caring what he has to say. 
“Am I supposed to feel special?”

“Can I get your number?”

Aliah delivers him a slanted smile of her own. 
“No.  I don’t give out my number.”

“Can I give you mine?”

“Why?  So I can do a background check on you?”

Harley laughs at that.  “I’ll take that as a sign that
you like me.”

She smirks at him, both of them finding it difficult not to
respond to each other with upturned lips.

He pulls a business card from his wallet and pushes the
leather fold back into his pocket.  Before giving her the card, he rips
his number off the bottom and stares at it.  Then he stuffs the larger
half in his pocket and hands the small piece over to her.

She reaches for it, but he won’t let it go.  Their eyes
meet for a heated second.

“I
never
give out my number.”  His intensity
appears to thrill her, but she can’t help but sass back.

“That’s why you have a business card.  And I’m not even
entitled to see the entire card.  That’s cool.”  She stuffs the scrap
of paper into her purse.

“Allow me to rephrase.”  The depth of his tone captures
her attention.  His heart starts racing.  “I never give my number out
to a woman because I want to sleep with her.”

His boldness seems to turn her on.  He loves how her
skin grows warm whenever he makes a lewd comment, but the color of her face
remains a soft white.  His words are meant to test her, to see if his
sexual advance scares her off.  If not the words, then maybe the oversized
bulge in his pants.  But it doesn’t.

Now he’s truly intrigued.  He wonders what it’d be like
to have her peel his jacket off him and skim her hands across his skin, looking
up at him like he’s a sexy slab of man, the way she is now.

His lips slant into a smile that is sure to melt her
panties.  “Are you going to call me?  If you’re not, then you might
as well give that back.”  He points at her bag where the scrap of paper is
tucked inside.

She turns her bag away from him, as if he might try to take
it back if she made it too easy for him.  “I’ll get back to you on that,
as soon as I have a chance to check you out.”

“Ah, shit.”

“What’s wrong?  Do you have something to hide?” 
Her voice sounds coy and it’s very sexy on her.

“Nothing you’ll find.”

Aliah steps closer to him and lowers her voice.  “Is
there a shady history you don’t want my
superior
investigative skills to
uncover?”

Her confidence actually has him a little on edge.

Is she onto me?

Hiding that from his features, Harley brings his face right
to hers, until their noses are nuzzled and his breath is rushing over her
lips.  “A little mystery never hurt anyone.”

After a brief pause, with her full lips urging him to kiss
her, he decides it might be fun to turn the tables on her.  “What would I
find if I looked you up, Ally?”

Her eyes look up into his, like a lost little girl, and yet
he refuses to release her from his determined gaze.  She looks terrified
by the knowledge that he uses her nickname, and yet she doesn’t stop him, as
his hands swipe down either side of her head.  He clutches over her hair
and holds it firmly against her throat, toying with her air supply.

She should have been terrified, screaming for help. 
But instead he finds her swallowing another moan.

“Tell me to stop,” he says, reading her eyes.  If she
doesn’t, then he’s not sure he’ll ever find the control to.  When she
doesn’t, his fingers magically loosen their grip, as he dusts a kiss over her
lips.  He doesn’t want to hurt the girl, even if she could use a lesson in
submission.

“Why did you call me that?”  Her voice is hoarse, and
even that is sexy.

“I heard a guy in there call you by name.  The
bartender who has the not-so-secret crush on you.”

Her gaze turns cool.  “He doesn’t have a crush. 
We’re friends.  He’s seeing someone else.”

Harley brushes a rough thumb over her throat.  When she
holds her breath, it cuts off her air, just long enough for her to feel a
slight bit dizzy, but no less excited.

“He wants more.”  His eyes flicker down between them,
and he takes an eyeful of her exposed flesh.  “I can’t blame the
guy.  Look at you, all packaged up for my viewing pleasure.”

“You like that?” she asks, urging him toward his more
devious pleasures.

“I’d like it more if I could unwrap that.”  He flings
her long hair over her shoulder.  “I want to have a better taste.” 
He licks at his lips, like he’s warding off an uncontrollable hunger.  “I
want to see if you taste as sweet as you look.”

She pants and he wants nothing more than to pry that bra off
of her so he can bury himself in those swelling breasts and drag his tongue
across her entire body.  He’d like to discover her all over, just the way
his deep voice promises.  He edges closer to her mouth and descends on her
lips.

Aliah expects him to play rough, and he does.  He tugs
her close and flattens her against his hard edges.  His hands dig into her
flesh, in stark contrast to the softness of her lips, as he teases her with a
sensual assault that is sure to wet the girl’s panties.