Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREE
H aisley couldn’t get home fast enough. Thank god the streets of Lafayette weren’t crowded because she drove like a bat out of hell until she made it into her newly uncluttered garage and closed the door behind her, blocking out the night.
Unfortunately, her lips were still tingling from Nash’s kiss.
She had been back in this damn town for a handful of days, and already the man she’d hoped to avoid so she might save herself more heartbreak had gotten up in her personal space, flashed her those unsettling dark eyes, and kissed her. And not just a peck. Oh, no. He’d gone for the gusto. And she’d let him, wrapping her arms around him, opening her legs wide to him. Damn it. The way she’d melted into a puddle the second Nash had touched her, it was a miracle she hadn’t dropped her panties for him, too.
“Pathetic,” she muttered as she dropped her keys on the hall table, tossed her little bag on the nearby sofa, and sighed.
What were the odds he would back off? Two years ago, he’d let her go without a fight. But tonight, she’d tasted his desperation. No, his determination. Something was different.
Haisley didn’t think for an instant that she’d seen the last of him.
She wished that didn’t make her ridiculously giddy, but why lie to herself? Still, when he came sniffing around her again, she didn’t dare say yes.
With a huff, she marched into the kitchen for some chamomile tea. As wired as she felt, she wasn’t getting to sleep without a little calming. And she refused to scratch the itch Nash had stirred up by masturbating to thoughts of him. She’d already done that too much over the past two years.
As she set the kettle on the stove, her phone rang. Since she’d changed her number after leaving Louisiana, it couldn’t be Nash. Or at least it shouldn’t be. Then again, he worked for an elite group of badasses—snipers, hackers, demolitions experts, tacticians. She shouldn’t underestimate him.
Cautiously, she scanned her phone, relieved to see Charli’s name on her display. “Hey.”
“Just checking to make sure you got home okay. I would have left with you.”
She winced. Her friend hadn’t been having a great time, either. Haisley had been so intent on escaping the bar before she caved to Nash’s touch and surrendered her self-respect for the mind-blowing pleasure only he had ever given her that she hadn’t thought about anything else.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have?—”
“It’s okay. It looked like you were dealing with a lot. Did you expect him to…”
“No. Honestly, I thought he’d look right through me. I thought he’d—” Act as if I didn’t exist . “That kiss doesn’t mean anything. He wasn’t exactly sober.”
“Were you?”
Haisley wanted to write off her behavior as too much tequila, but she didn’t feel buzzed in the slightest. “Did you go home?”
“Right after you. I wasn’t in the party mood.”
Something was definitely up with Charli, and Haisley felt guilty for being so out of the loop. “Same. Listen, how about Sunday brunch? I’d love to catch up, one-on-one. It’s been too long.”
“That would be great.” Charli sighed. “Daniel will probably be at work, so I’ll be alone with the laundry I’d rather avoid.”
“We’ll avoid laundry together.” They set a time at one of their favorite restaurants. “We’ll have fun. It will be like old times. Mimosas, sugar, and shenanigans.”
“That sounds perfect.”
If that was true, why did Charli sound near tears?
After the call ended, Haisley locked up and wandered upstairs and took off her makeup. Then she indulged in a hot shower to ward off the winter chill before slipping between the sheets with her tablet and her latest steamy read. Unfortunately, even the erotic antics of the story’s main couple couldn’t hold her attention.
What was she going to do about Nash? How would she handle bumping into him again without unraveling?
Maybe she’d caved so easily and been rendered breathless tonight because seeing him had been such a surprise. She’d be better braced in the future, right?
Haisley turned out the lights and closed her eyes with a sigh. But Nash refused to go away, lurking in the dark corners, peeling off her clothes, blowing her mind, then holding her close as he pried open her heart with each wicked touch. Every time she tried to clear her thoughts, he appeared, reminding her of how she’d fallen so hard and hopelessly for him…
* * *
August
Three and a half years ago
The sun beat down from the super-blue Louisiana sky, the humid summer heat sweltering and oppressive. But that wasn’t what had Haisley hot and bothered.
Nash Scott was here.
She should have guessed he would be. This town wasn’t all that big, and they had more than a few friends in common.
When she’d seen him last a few weeks back, he’d escorted her and Madison to the Houston hospital where her bestie’s dad was receiving cancer treatment. The hunk of warrior had homed in on her, watching her with those shiver-worthy dark eyes that made her heart pound and flirting with a good-natured smile until her knees felt like goo.
He never bothered to hide how much he wanted her, and he constantly challenged her with one-liners that got under her skin. Still, she did her best to ignore him because if she let him too close, he’d be lethal to her heart.
Even knowing that, Haisley found herself rooted in place when he arrived at the pool party. She stared, helplessly drawn to him. How did that man get hotter every time she saw him?
“I’m here, y’all. Let’s get this shindig started!” Nash set a couple of six-packs on the kitchen counter, shook hands and backslapped a few of his pals. Then he sauntered her way with a grin. “Haisley. You look gorgeous, as usual. Wanna mess around?”
Oh, how she was tempted.
She sent him a saucy hair flip. “You wish.”
“You know it.” He looked her up and down. “What are you wearing under that cute little dress?”
Her bathing suit, like most everyone at this party. “That’s a rude question. Are your brains in your tighty-whities, horn dog?”
“Nope, but whenever I’m around you, something mighty stiff is. Wanna a peek, baby?” He winked.
Haisley rolled her eyes and faked disinterest. “I typically pass on anything I need a microscope to see.”
He laughed. “Wait until I prove you so fucking wrong.”
“Do those delusions make things hard for you?”
“No. But you do.”
She stifled a giggle. No way would she tell him how much she enjoyed their banter. Sparring with him was dangerous, and she was playing with fire…but everything about the man excited her. He was tall, rugged, confident, muscled, tatted, and sexy as hell. That sounded shallow, but she was drawn to more than his looks. Since she’d known him, he’d proven he was also smart, resourceful, protective, and funny. The whole package.
If love wasn’t mostly BS and she was looking for it, he’d be a major catch.
But it was, and she wasn’t. Besides, according to local rumor, he’d blown through half the single women in his town—at least. She liked to have a good time as much as the next girl, but she wasn’t eager to be the next notch on his bedpost.
On the other hand, she’d heard the whispers that he was really good in bed. After a string of lousy lays, she couldn’t deny that she was curious—and interested as hell.
Haisley forced herself to turn away and headed to the backyard, fanning her flushed face. But it was useless. Nash always got her hot and bothered. And the way he looked at her—like she was the only woman in the world—made her heart stutter.
She definitely needed to avoid him.
Grabbing a burger from the barbecue, a beer from the cooler, and some chips from the nearby buffet table, she settled beside Charli and Gracelyn. But her gaze kept straying to Nash. And every time she looked at him, he was staring straight at her. He wasn’t even trying to hide it.
Being this close to him made her feel dangerously alive. He seemed to invade every corner of her body—the pounding of her heart, the tingling of her suddenly sensitive skin, the ache throbbing between her legs.
She needed a breather to catch her equilibrium.
Once she’d finished dinner and her friends were occupied with conversations, she slipped off behind the cabana for a breath. She didn’t see Nash, but he’d probably gone into the house with the other guys to shoot pool.
In the shadows behind the structure, she exhaled out her tension and closed her eyes. She could steer clear of Nash—and avoid temptation—for another hour or two, right?
“Hey, baby. Looking for me?” A familiar, gravelly purr sounded low and close.
Nash.
He was here. And no one else was in sight.
She risked a glance over her shoulder. Bad idea. He leaned against the cabana wall, his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest, watching her with those molten eyes that promised all sorts of sin. Haisley swallowed hard.
“Nope. I wanted a moment alone.” She silently cursed the tremor in her voice. “So maybe you’d be a good boy and skedaddle?”
“I was here first.” Nash pushed off the wall, taking a few deliberate steps closer. “And I’ve been wanting you all to myself.” He raked his gaze up and down her body, leaving behind a scorching trail of sensation. “Looks like I succeeded.”
Anticipation raced through Haisley. She opened her mouth, but her retort died as he closed the distance between them.
“This dark little corner back here gives us the perfect opportunity to…misbehave.” Nash traced his finger along the low neckline of her bikini top.
His whisper-light touch raised goosebumps and turned her nipples hard. Secluded together, where all she knew was his gleaming eyes, his musky scent, and his teasing caress, Haisley was painfully aware that he was all man. “I don’t need you to misbehave. I can do that all by myself.”
A slow grin stretched across his rugged face, complete with a flash of white teeth. “Oh, I’d love to watch you.”
Was he insinuating…? Yes, and the idea sent her heartbeat skittering. “I’m not masturbating for you.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to misbehave together.” He skimmed his thumb over her lower lip. “You want to be bad with me, Haisley. Don’t you?”
She forgot how to breathe. This man was sin personified, and she struggled to resist his magnetic pull and the undeniable spark of desire between them.
Screw it. She had to know—just once—what his kiss felt like.
Haisley grasped the front of Nash’s shirt, using it to tug him even closer until their bodies were flush against each other. “If we’re going to misbehave, you should talk less.”
A wicked grin curled up Nash’s full mouth as he pinned her against the stucco wall, his large frame caging her in as he brushed a lock of hair from her face with maddening tenderness. As her heart thudded wildly, she found herself lost in him.
“Last chance to back out, baby.” He dipped his head until their lips were a breath apart. “But fair warning: once I get a taste of you, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”
She was powerless to resist the overwhelming scent and heat of him. “I don’t want you to stop.”
That was all the encouragement Nash needed. He swooped down and claimed her mouth. On fire, Haisley whimpered against his lips, her fingers tangling in the thick waves of his dark hair as she threw herself into his searing kiss with equal hunger.
Nash angled his head, deepening the kiss as he pinned her more firmly against the wall with the solid weight of his body. One calloused palm trailed along the curve of her hip and dipped teasingly beneath the hem of her dress, blazing a path along her bare thigh. Haisley gasped, head falling back with a moan, allowing his questing tongue to delve deeper and taste her with passion that melted her.
She raked her nails down the hard planes of his back, thrilling at the way his powerful muscles flexed beneath her touch. Nash growled low in his throat, the primal rumble reverberating through her as he seized her lower lip between his teeth in a teasing nip.
This scorching desire was unlike anything she’d ever experienced, and Haisley drowned in it. Her blood rushed through her veins, echoing the staccato cadence of her thundering heart as Nash’s clever mouth trailed hot kisses to her neck.
“Haisley,” he rasped against her skin, each breath fanning the flames of her need. “God, you taste so good. I’m dying to devour you.”
A desperate whine escaped her. She wanted that—wanted him to consume her utterly.
Haisley surrendered to the dizzying spiral of lust and tangled her fingers in Nash’s hair to pull him back to her lips. He went willingly, slanting his mouth over hers and devouring her until she couldn’t breathe or think or care about anything but him touching her.
He shifted, getting impossibly closer, and lifted her thigh in his grip, sliding it up and around his hip, forcing her to grip him more tightly. Then he bent his knees and notched something big and steely between her legs, rocking exactly where she ached.
Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she whimpered.
“Does that feel like you’ll need a microscope, baby?”
“No,” she gasped out.
“I want to fill you with every inch while you fill my ears with more of those panting little whines. I want to plow into you while your fingernails rake my back. Yes…just like that.” He groaned against her mouth, his face full of pleasure. “You going to let me make us feel so good?”
He punctuated his question by sliding his thumb inside her bikini bottoms and skating the digit across her slick clit. Haisley couldn’t find a reply. Plastering herself against him and deepening their kiss didn’t count.
When he circled her sensitive button lazily, she cried out, breaking their kiss.
His laugh was a low rumble vibrating under her skin. “That’s it. You’re so wet. I want to eat this pussy, violate it, pet it, worship it.” He curled his fingers in her hair and tugged until she was forced to look at him. “I want to tie you to my bed and edge you for hours, until you beg. Until I drive you so high, you surrender your will to me and take my cock over and over. All you have to do is say yes, baby. We’ll leave this party, and I’ll make you feel everything…”
God, she couldn’t look away, couldn’t not want him, despite the fact she was the one who usually loved them and left them. “Make me come.”
“Go home with me, and I’ll do that as many times as you can handle. I’ll keep doing it until you beg me to stop. We’ll see if I have any mercy.”
Holy hotcakes, this man had a silver tongue and—if his thumb was anything to go by—skills that made him more than capable of satisfying her.
In high school, she’d been looking for love and stupid enough to sleep with guys who offered her far less, serving up her heart again and again. She was older and wiser now. She knew that, for most, love wasn’t lasting, so she took the pleasure and ran. Even if it was fleeting, it didn’t break her heart.
This man just might have the ability to do both.
“Nash…” She meant to refuse him.
But he bent and pressed a kiss on the swell of her breast exposed above her dress while his thumb slid across her sensitive clit again. She swallowed a groan.
“Is that a yes?”
“What if it was?”
“I’ll have you on the back of my motorcycle, speeding toward my place in the next thirty seconds. In the thirty seconds after you hit my bed, you’ll be having the first of countless orgasms.”
Yes. Despite the fact climbing in his bed was a hundred kinds of bad idea, the word was perched on the tip of her tongue. No man had ever made her blood boil the way he did. That alone made him dangerous.
On top of that, he ticked all her bad-boy boxes. Seductive? Check. Risky profession? Check. Tats and attitude? Check. Hot motorcycle? Check. Not from around here? Check. Able to melt her with a single glance? Check, damn it.
“Oh, fuck!” a woman’s unfamiliar voice slurred as she stumbled around the corner, clutching a sloshing beer in one hand and her stomach with the other.
As she and Nash jumped apart and whirled to face the blonde—a friend of a friend she barely knew—the woman heaved and unloaded her booze-laden stomach into the unsuspecting soil two feet from them.
Talk about a mood killer.
But maybe that was a good thing. Now that Nash wasn’t touching her, she could breathe again. And think.
She didn’t dare succumb to a player like Nash. He’d probably thrash her heart until it felt like he’d shoved it through a meat grinder.
Nope. No thanks. She was too smart for that.
She just had to remind her libido of that.
The aching parts of her protested, but she did her best to squelch the throbbing between her legs and pretend that Nash’s kiss and his wandering thumb didn’t have her so needy she was ready to scream.
Maneuvering around the upchucking party guest, she distanced herself from Nash. “I’ll find her boyfriend so he can take care of her.”
He frowned. “After that, you’ll come with me?”
Even with someone retching and moaning between them, she was still tempted. That was scary as hell—and her reminder of all the reasons she’d been avoiding him in the first place. He was like every other guy she’d been involved with. He’d hit it and quit it. While casual sex could be fun and she wasn’t looking for forever, she didn’t like being treated as if she was disposable.
“Actually, I think I’m partied out. See you around, hotshot.”
Before he could talk her out of it or—god forbid—touch her again and make her lose her head, she dashed off, whispered a quick word to the upchucker’s boyfriend, then hauled ass to her car.
That night, sleep was a long time coming, and erotic dreams of Nash plagued her.
Back in the present, her feelings were every bit as stirred up. Haisley turned off the lights with a sigh, worried as hell she was doomed to repeat their dangerous cycle now that she had returned to town.