Chapter 9

Harper

G io’s home was not at all what I expected when I stepped inside. It wasn’t your typical bachelor pad, decked out with high end electronics and no touches of personality. There was a big ass television and a couple of plush sofas but there were also photos of Gio with his nephew Nolan, his parents, and Rocky, and plenty with his biker brothers. “Nice place.”

He flashed a warm smile. “Thanks. Peyton, that’s Rocky’s woman, said my place needed a touch of home.”

“She was right.” I barely listened to the details of the tour Gio gave of his small two-bedroom home because the feel of his warm palm pressed against mine was exactly the soothing balm I needed. His hand was soft but slightly roughened, probably from working on his bike, and steadying. His constant touches helped relax me after the shooting, but they also had a different effect.

Arousal, white hot and pulsing, coursed through me.

“You haven’t heard a damn thing I said, have you?” There was nothing but amusement in his tone.

“Sorry, I was distracted.” I shook my head and blinked at the bedroom decorated in rich, dark colors. An oversized bed dominated most of the space and my heart kicked hard against my chest. “I need a shower,” I said and motioned to the blood splatter on my face, throat and dress.

“Shit, sorry.”

I shrugged. “I’m just glad he was wearing a helmet.”

Gio laughed and shook his head. “Come on, I’ll show you the bathroom.” He kept his hand pressed to mine as we stepped into his bedroom and then the attached bathroom. “Towels are here. Take your time.” Gio’s gaze lingered for a long moment before he finally left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

I undressed quickly, eager to get the bloody clothes off my body. I cranked the water as hot as it would go and stepped under the spray with my eyes closed. Instead of the sight of the biker’s head exploding, my mind was full of images of Gio from tonight. Gio looking good enough to eat in that suit that hugged his muscles. The genuine smiles he sent my way. The heated touches that turned me on.

It was the perfect palate cleanser for the dramatic night, a sexy daydream about my brother’s best friend. It doesn’t have to be a daydream, my inner bad girl teased me.

I shook off those thoughts and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a big gray towel around my body before I grabbed another to dry my hair. I felt better, at least without someone else’s blood stuck to my skin, but I was still uneasy. On edge.

Uncomfortable.

I stepped out of the bathroom just as Gio entered the bedroom in nothing but a towel that hung low on his hips. My mouth watered instantly at the sight of him, all muscles and tattoos. One side was vibrant colors and rich detail and the other fine lines of black and gray art. He was even more beautiful than the art that adorned his body.

He looked up in surprise and then his gaze raked in every detail of my body that could be seen, which wasn’t much in the large towel. “Shit, Harp. Sorry I didn’t know you were still in there.”

The heat in his gaze was the answer I needed for my bold side to come out and play. “Don’t be. I’m not.”

His gaze flicked to mine. “What?”

I inhaled deeply and let it out slowly while I summoned all the courage I possessed. I wanted this, I wanted him. Badly. I told myself I could have what I wanted, and it would be average and then I’d go home with no regrets. Part of me knew I was lying, but I shoved that away and said, “I’m going back to California tomorrow.”

His dark brows dipped in confusion. “I’m aware.”

“I want you and I’m pretty sure you want me too.” At least I hoped so or else I was about to be really humiliated.

“I do,” he admitted easily, his gaze unwavering. “But we can’t.”

That wasn’t rejection, it was obligation. “Because of Cole.”

Gio nodded. “I promised him I wouldn’t.”

“Years ago,” I guessed. “Well I’m a grown woman and Cole isn’t the boss of me.” I reached for the top of my towel until my hand stopped shaking. “But if he’s the boss of you, that’s another story,” I teased him and loosened the towel to let it fall to my feet.

“Harper.” He groaned my name, an agonizing sound that told me this was hard for him.

Good. “No one has to know, Gio. Just you and me, and tonight. But if you’re not interested, say that.”

“I can’t say that.”

“Good.” I took one step forward and then another and another until I was close enough to touch his wet hair, his slightly damp back, hot and hard. “That’s all I wanted to know.” I placed my hands on both sides of his face and pressed my lips to his.

Gio was hesitant at first and I thought his promise to my brother might win out against his desire for me. But when my tongue swept across the seam of his lips, he opened up and took over the kiss. He speared his fingers through my hair and gripped it tight a few inches from the roots. The tender kiss was at odds with the possessive way he held me.

My toes curled and my belly clenched tight.

He deepened the kiss, flicking his tongue at mine until a moan escaped. The kiss grew hotter, all lips and tongue and teeth as he held me right where he wanted me to send me into another world. His hands left my hair and slid down to grip the back of my neck while the other hand slid down my spine, gripping my hip and pulling me right up against the towel covered monster hiding beneath.

“Gio,” I moaned when I pulled back, breathless and dizzy. That satisfied smile on his face was like a double shot of lust and my pussy clenched hard, flooded with desire.

“You sure about this, Harp?”

I nodded slowly and leaned in to nip at his lower lip. “Positive. I want you,” I whispered and licked a trail of heat up one side of his neck. “You want me too.” I licked the other side and punctuated the move by nibbling his earlobe. “And I’m leaving tomorrow. This night is ours.”

“Yeah?” His voice was filled with awe and something dark and intense, something that said he wanted to devour me whole.

“Hell yeah.” My hands roamed all over his body, up his wide back and around his narrow waist before I gave myself plenty of time to focus on his abs and his chest, his broad shoulders. “You grew up nice, Gio. Really fucking nice.”

He snatched a handful of my hair, tugging back so that he could place tantalizing open mouth kisses on my throat and across my collarbone. “I love it when you tell me how much you want me.” He pressed his lips to one shoulder and then the other, soft and gentle.

I shivered at the way he was so effective at switching gears. One minute I was hot, ready to burst with need and then he pumped the brakes and gentled his touches, his kisses. It was enough to drive a girl mad. “Is that what you like,” I whispered, a little unsure of myself. “Ego stroking?”

He let out a huff of laughter. “Any kind of stroking is good.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” I reached between us brushed the back of my hand against the impressive erection behind the towel. “Nice,” I moaned and yanked the towel from his waist, and gripped his cock in my hand. “It’s hot, hard yet soft. Thicker than I imagined.” Who was this woman talking so dirty while she jacked off her brother’s best friend? It couldn’t be me because this was all so foreign to me.

“Fucking tease,” he growled and nipped at my throat. He took a step forward, forcing me to take a step back until I was falling back onto the bed. “You like what you see?”

I nodded and pushed up to my elbows, watching every movement he made, every bunch and flex of his muscles. “So much.”

He smiled and stroked his cock while his gaze traveled the length of my body before settling on my pussy with a groan. “Open those gorgeous legs and let me good a good look at that pink pussy.”

I gasped at the filthy words that fell from his mouth, but I did what he said, I spread myself wide and felt myself clench when his nostrils flared with heat. “Like that?” I let one hand slide down my body and rubbed myself under his fiery gaze.

“Fuck yeah, baby. Just like that.” When he spoke like that, his voice so rough and complimentary, I wanted to be bold and sexy.

So I was. I played with myself and rubbed my clit while he watched. My breath hitched and low moans dripped from my lips.

“Enough,” he growled. “Hands above your head.”

Holy shit. I did what he demanded and waited. And waited.

Eventually he knelt on the bed, one knee and then the other. His lips hit the inside of my thighs first, gentle, teasing kisses that made my ass muscles clench. He moaned when his tongue swiped at my clit.

My hips bucked off the bed. “Gio, fuck!” I felt his smile against my pussy and that little act made me relax. My fingertips found his head, massaging his scalp while my hips rolled against his mouth. “Yes, Gio. Fuck. Me.”

He moaned while he French kissed my pussy, licking and sucking and swirling his tongue around my clit until I begged for more. Gio ate pussy like he did everything, intensely with a hint of playfulness that was irresistible. He growled again and I pushed my hips forward, enjoying the way he lapped me up as if I was his last meal.

I wanted to fight back against the pleasure that started at my toes, but the way Gio gripped my thigh with one hand and my nipple with the other was too much. The desire welled up within me and when he pushed my thighs farther apart, I knew what I had to do.

Let go.

My head fell back but I willed my eyes to fixate on Gio, to watch him while he ate me out and his hips pumped as he found his own pleasure in that intimate act.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. The orgasm hit me like a fucking tidal wave, fierce and strong, it left me powerless to do anything other than go with the flow of the waves. Let my body roll as it wanted to, because this kind of pleasure? It was the kind that people wrote poems and songs about. “Gio, oh my fucking…yes!” My hips bucked against his mouth, hard and fast, pressing my clit against his nose to prolong the pleasure. “Yes!” The word fell from my lips over and over until every last ounce of orgasmic pleasure was wrung from my body.

“You are hot as fuck when you come apart.” He kissed my thighs, my pussy lips, and my clit before he kissed his way up my body so slowly that by the time he reached my lips, I was ready for him again.

“Then wait until you see how I come on your cock.”

Another low moan escaped, and he pulled back, staring at me like I was the very air he needed to breathe. “Can’t. Wait.”

Me either. I watched as he rubbed his cock against my wetness, the sound as wickedly delightful as I expected. The blunt head of his cock pushed against my opening and then he gave me an inch. And then another.

I reached out and put my hands to his chest.

He stilled, eyes full of concern. “Okay?”

I nodded. “You’re big but I like it, the pleasure-pain sensation.” It was as intoxicating as this man.

“You sure?”

I smiled bigger this time. “Positive. Give me more, Gio. A few more inches if you got ‘em.”

Fire lit his eyes as he gripped my thighs hard enough to bruise and eased in a few more inches. “Fuck, you’re so tight, you feel so good.”

I gritted my teeth, and my eyes slammed shut, but I willed them open because I needed to see this, every minute of it. “Yes, Gio. More, give me more.”

“Ah, fuck,” he shouted when he was buried balls deep. I felt eager for more of him, hungry and unafraid of his giant cock or the way my heart swelled at the sensation. “Harper, baby.”

“Yes, Gio. Give me everything. Please.”

He eased back and slammed in deeper, performing that particular move over and over again. “You’re close,” he growled. “I fell your pussy clenching around me, teasing me to fill you with my nut.”

“Dirty,” I panted.

“You like it,” he shot back, punctuating the sentiment with a rough thrust that made my nipples tighten.

“No, Gio. I don’t like it,” I gritted my teeth as he pounded into me hard and deep. “I fucking love it.”

“Shit,” he groaned and flung my legs over his forearms, fucking me hard and deep and so fast my breasts jiggled like crazy. The rough grunts of pleasure he released were sexy as fuck, hitting me low in my belly, deep in my pussy.

“Yes, Gio! Yes! Oh fuck, yes!” I was like a wild animal, pumping my hips to meet him, stroke for stroke as I squeezed him until a rush of hot liquid filled my body. “Fuck,” I cried out as every knot of pleasure yanked its way from my skin until I was loose-limbed, satisfied and smiling like a fool.

“Harper,” he shouted one final time, pressing deep into me until he was empty, and I was full.

Of him.

“My goodness, that was even better than I imagined.”

He laughed and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead as he fell to his side, our bodies still entwined. We faced each other with goofy, satisfied smiles. “So you imagined what it would be like to fuck me?”

I rolled my eyes but nodded in answer. “Too many times over the years.” And that was the truth I shouldn’t have admitted.

I blamed the orgasms. It was the only explanation for my loose lips.