Slide (Boosted Hearts Book 3) Read online

  So he’d take what she was giving him—all of it—because it felt good. And wasn’t that what he’d been doing since his life fell to pieces? Did what felt good, took what he needed, when he needed it. This was no different, right? Yeah, that made him a bastard, but Lucy already knew that, and still she wanted this from him.

  So, yeah, he’d take this, this slice of heaven—of something good and perfect—because why the hell not?

  It felt good. She felt good.

  And for two more days, Lucy Colton was his.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Why did you take our daddy away?”

  Lucy backed up, the faceless child moving closer. “I’m sorry…I’m…”

  “Mommy cries all the time.”

  “I didn’t know. I—”

  “Whore.” The child lifted a shaky hand, finger pointed at her, tears pooling and forming a puddle at her feet. “Slut.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  A tall male figure stepped out of the shadows. “Come back, Lucy. Please, come back.”

  “No. Leave me alone.” Her back collided with something solid behind her. Something strong and warm…

  Lucy startled awake, blinking rapidly into the hotel room.

  It was light outside, but she could tell still early by the muted sunshine coming through the curtains.

  That’s when she became aware of the warm body at her back, the hard, very still body.

  Adam was breathing kind of fast, and despite still feeling unsettled by her dream and only half awake, she knew something was wrong.

  “Adam?”

  He didn’t answer, so she twisted around to face him, and as soon as her eyes met his, she knew he was upset about something. Did he regret last night? “Is there…what’s wrong?”

  He leaned away and pushed her onto her back, scowling down at her. “Who’s Daniel?”

  “What?” Her belly took a nosedive.

  “You heard me. Answer the question.”

  She blinked up at him. How did he…

  “You called his name in your sleep.” His jaw flexed, blue eyes turning glacial. “Your professor, right? The asshole you were fucking?” His hand moved to the side of her face, thumb sliding over her bottom lip. The softness of his touch was a complete contrast to his hard voice. “You still want him.”

  “No—”

  “You were dreaming about him. How often, Lucy? Huh?”

  Adam looked furious. What was going on? She was trying to wrap her head around his extreme reaction to her saying Daniel’s name, while trying to defuzz her sleepy brain. “I don’t know.”

  “Once a week…more?”

  “Adam—”

  “Was he touching you in your dream? Was he inside you?”

  The last words were growled, and suddenly she was wide awake. “Let me up.”

  “Tell me,” he said.

  “Adam—”

  “Fucking now, Lucy.”

  “It wasn’t a dream, okay? It was a nightmare,” she blurted.

  His thumb, still gently gliding across her bottom lip, stilled. The ice in his gaze slowly melted. “What do you mean nightmare?”

  God, she wasn’t going to talk about this, not with Adam, not with anyone. “A bad dream, you know? Not pleasant.”

  His scowl got deeper. “Not in the mood for your smart mouth right now. Tell me why you’re having nightmares about this guy? Is it because he was married, that he had kids?”

  She turned away.

  He took her chin between his thumb and finger and turned her back toward him. “Talk to me.”

  She let out a steadying breath. “There’s nothing to talk about, okay? It was a messy situation. It ended. There’s nothing more to say.”

  “There is if you’re calling that asshole’s name out in your sleep. Something’s worrying you.” He shook his head. “You’ve been acting differently since you got back. Tell me what the hell’s going on.”

  “Why?” She twisted her head, pulling away from his hold. “We’re fucking, Adam, that’s it. That’s all you want. That’s all I want. Just because you say we’re friends, doesn’t make it true. In fact, we both know it’s a load of horseshit. Before this”—she motioned between them—“we argued, that’s it. There were no heart-to-heart chats. Not any that you partook in anyway. I have no desire to change the status of our relationship. When we get back to LA, we’ll go back to hating each other and that’s fine with me. That’s the way I want it.”

  Lies, all of it. She’d never hated Adam, even when she desperately wished she could.

  Some emotion sliced through his gaze, something she refused to think about or acknowledge.

  “I’ve never hated you,” he rasped.

  “No?” The word flew from her mouth before she could think better of it, and then her lips kept on flapping. “You could’ve fooled me. Every single time I ever tried to get close, just a little bit…God, just to be a friend to you, you shut me down.”

  He flinched, mouth opening then shutting again, and opening once more.

  “Shut up.”

  He blinked “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You were going to.” She didn’t want to have this conversation. She didn’t want to know his deepest, darkest secrets, not anymore. She’d given up on all that. Adam would never be capable of giving her more than this, and that was fine. She’d resigned herself to that. And if she was honest, after everything, she sure as hell didn’t want to reveal her ugly truth either. “Don’t. Just save it.”

  “Lucy—”

  She grabbed his bare ass, digging her nails into the hard flesh. “Shut the hell up and kiss me.”

  He narrowed his eyes, wariness there she wanted no part of, but she also didn’t miss the heat burning from them, the fire that was always there for her.

  “Hang on a damn minute. We haven’t finished—”

  “Yes, we have.” Leaning toward him, she wrapped her mouth around one of his small brown nipples and sunk her teeth in lightly, giving it a tug.

  His hips snapped forward. “Fuck.”

  “Exactly,” she said against his now damp skin.

  “You’re a demanding little she-devil, aren’t you?”

  He’d tried to inject some lightness to his voice for her, she knew, but there was still a weightiness there she loathed.

  She didn’t want to talk this out, confess her mistakes, have Adam tell her that none of it was her fault. She didn’t want to be absolved of her transgressions. She didn’t deserve it. What she did want was to live in the moment. To forget, just for a little while. That was why she came on this road trip. That’s why she chose Adam to be the one to help her.

  If anyone knew how to live in the now, it was him.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her bare skin against his, sliding one knee up and over his hip. Oh shit. So damn hard. She felt a tremble travel through his big body. “Why are you fighting it?” She reached down and wrapped her fingers around his hot, rigid flesh. “Stop playing goddamn hard to get and fuck me.”

  He froze, chest expanding sharply, before releasing a rough breath.

  She didn’t have time to say anything else because he jerked back, grabbed her hips, and flipped her onto her belly.

  “You want to be fucked, baby girl, I’ll fuck you.” Then he was behind her, tugging her hips up so she was on her knees. “Keep your head down on the mattress, face to the side,” he growled, sliding her hair over her shoulder “I want to see you when I’m fucking you, see your eyes screwed shut when I pound you hard, each of your panted breaths when you’re getting close. I want to watch you sink your teeth into that plump lower lip when I go deeper, hear every moan, every hitch of breath. I want my fucking ears to ring when you come screaming my name.”

  A full body tremble rolled through her that had her fingers shaking as she fisted the sheet beneath her.

  “You understand, Lucy? Don’t you dare hide from me. I want to see it all, every damn thing.”
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  He shifted and she heard foil tear. His fingers slid along her slit, parting her, sliding against her. “You’re already there. Shit, so wet, baby.” Then the head of his cock was at her opening, and he started to push in, stretching her, forcing her to accommodate his size.

  Her mouth dropped open on a groan, fingers digging deeper into the covers.

  “That’s it,” he snarled, gripping her hips harder. “Show me how good it feels when I fill you up.”

  There was no warming up. He drew back his hips and slammed forward, jarring her, then started fucking her hard and deep.

  A startled cry burst from her lips. “Oh God.”

  So good. So damn good.

  A harsh grunt that sounded torn from his chest filled her ears on the next thrust, an animalistic sound that made the hair at the back of her neck lift and set off tingles across her shoulders and over her scalp. On the next, she jerked back to meet him, taking him deeper.

  “Christ, you’re so fucking hot for it, sweetheart, aren’t you? You love the feel of me inside you?”

  A sob burst free on the next deep pound.

  “Answer me,” he barked.

  “Yes!”

  “Jesus, the way you’re pushing back on me…” His fingers dug in harder. “Goddamn it, Lucy.”

  His voice shook, gritty with lust, and something else. She didn’t know what it was exactly. Anger? Desperation? Torment? Whatever it was had her inner muscles clamping down hard around him.

  “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” he gritted out. “Any…goddamn…idea?” He punctuated each word with a punishing thrust of his hips.

  Her orgasm was right there, and she pushed back harder, fucking herself back on him, meeting each of his hard, brutal strokes. “I’m going to…I’m…ahhh.” She screamed his name, so damn loud her throat felt tight and raw when she was done.

  Adam didn’t slow, was still pounding into her, wringing every last shudder and cry out of her until she was tearing at the sheet beneath her, sobbing and writhing. Planted deep, he roared, pulsing inside her, and she knew he was coming as hard as she just had.

  “Damn you, Lucy,” he gritted low while he still throbbed and ground against her, body shaking. “Goddamn you.”

  He covered her back, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her to the side with him, still breathing hard.

  Silence engulfed the room and the words he’d said while he was inside her swam through her head. Going by the way he’d stilled, he was doing the same thing. What she was doing to him? What the hell did he mean?

  No. No more lying, not even to herself. She knew, didn’t she? He was feeling the same thing she was. It should be groundbreaking, earth shattering—but it wasn’t because she’d always known. Deep down, she’d known the truth. They’d both known.

  “We should get ready,” Adam said suddenly. “We need to get this car delivered by tomorrow night.”

  “We should.”

  Neither one moved.

  She tightened her fingers around his wrist. “Adam—”

  “Don’t,” he rasped.

  Nothing’s changed.

  He hadn’t said the words out loud, but they hung in the air all the same. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, then finally sat up, forcing a smile. “I’m first in the shower.” She dove off the bed and raced to the bathroom.

  Adam didn’t say anything, but she felt his eyes on her as she crossed the room and shut the door behind her.

  ~ * ~

  “I love this song.” Lucy turned the stereo up, and Adam must have like it, too, because he let her. She was counting that as a win. The man was a control freak, in all things—some ways that were frustrating as hell, and others…well, she kind of loved, like a lot.

  They’d avoided conversation that veered toward heavy since they left the hotel, and Lucy was fine with that. They both had their reasons for being content with this short-term deal. Okay, content probably wasn’t the right word. Accepting, maybe? And weirdly, it made her feel better knowing she wasn’t alone in her feelings for him, that it went both ways. It also made her feel extremely sad, but she wasn’t going there. She was done being sad. They had today and tonight, and she wanted to make the most of every minute.

  Her favorite part of the song started and she tilted her head back and belted it out along with the lead singer. She sounded like shit, but it wasn’t like this was the first time Adam had been subjected to her singing.

  She heard him chuckle beside her and turned her grin his way. “Don’t even lie. You love the sound of my voice.”

  His gaze moved over her bare legs. “When it’s screaming my name, it’s the sweetest fucking sound in the world. When you’re butchering the chorus line to one of my favorite songs? Not so much.”

  She ignored the way her belly dipped and slugged him in the arm. “Good God, you’re an ego maniac.” She snorted. “When you jerk off do you call out your own name?” She screwed her face up, giving her best Adam-come-face impersonation, and lowered her voice. “I’m so hot. That’s it Adam, you’re the man. Bring it home, big boy…Adaaammmmm.”

  “I would never call myself big boy.” He smirked. “Nice to know you think I am, though.”

  “I said nothing of the sort.”

  “Yes, you did. You just said it.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I said you thought that about yourself.” He totally was a big boy. Shit, she could still feel him between her legs from this morning.

  “Are you saying I’m lacking in some way?”

  “I didn’t say that either.”

  “So what are you saying?”

  “Oh my God!” She threw up her hands. “Fine, yours is the biggest, finest piece of man meat I have ever encountered. Better?”

  “Much.”

  Adam put on the turn signal and turned off onto a gravel road.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Thought we’d stop for lunch. My aunt and uncle used to live few miles from here, before they moved to Chicago. I camped down here a time or two with my cousin when we were younger.”

  The road was lined with trees, leaves swaying in the breeze. It was idyllic. “Is this where you brought girls?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Never brought anyone down here. It was our spot. Mine and my cousin’s. We’d fish, drink the beers we stole from my uncle, and just…” His gaze turned faraway, heavy. “Shoot the shit, yanno?”

  “Yeah, Joe and me always had an easy relationship like that.” She grinned at Adam. “Well, until I got boobs and he went from being my friend to my bodyguard.” She chuckled. “Scared away every boy I ever liked.”

  “They love you.”

  There was something in his voice, something that made her want to reach out and touch him, place her hand on his cheek and brush her thumb over his skin. “They do. But it can be suffocating sometimes.”

  “If I had a sister, I’d be the same.” He cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t like you with someone like me, for example.”

  “They’d have a problem with any guy I went out with, which is why I’ve always tried to keep that part of my life to myself. I’d die an old maid if they had their way.” She twisted in her seat more. “And anyway, what’s wrong with you?”

  He was a loyal friend. He’d stood by Joe and Hugh when everything was falling apart. Yeah, he fucked around, which had never really suited him, not the man she knew, the man she saw when he was with the people he cared about. He’d always loved to be around her family when they’d been younger. Had spent a lot of time at their house. If he’d open the hell up and let the demons out, whatever they were, she knew he could find the happiness he desperately wanted. He could deny it until he was blue in the face, but that’s what he wanted. And if he ever allowed himself to have that happiness, she knew he’d be one hundred percent loyal to the woman lucky enough to get through to him. She shook that thought off. The idea of him with someone else hurt like hell.

  He offered her a self-depreciat
ing smile. “More than you know, baby girl.”

  She wanted to growl in frustration. The man had a warped view of himself, and she noticed whenever he wanted to put emotional distance between them he called her baby girl. At the realization, she didn’t love the name quite so much anymore.

  “Being a narcissistic egomaniac is not a crime. I’m sure there’s a woman out there who would happily put up with you. Would love to watch you stare at yourself in the mirror all day, talking to yourself in the third person.” She lowered her voice again. “Yes, Adam, you are a sexy beast…Adam, you handsome devil, look at your magnificent penis…Good God, Adam, you’re a stallion among men…”

  “Jesus Christ.”

  She giggled at the look on his face. “Am I wrong?”

  He just stared at her.

  “You’re telling me your mirror isn’t getting a workout?” She was teasing, of course. Adam was the least vain person she knew. Was fun to tease him, though.

  “You realize you’ll pay for that, right?”

  “Do your worst, Grady.” She’d pay all damn day if he had a mind to dish it out. If his punishment was anything like this morning, she planned on being a very naughty girl. They’d reached the end of the road and when he turned the car off, she could hear lapping water. “Are we near a lake?”

  “Yeah.” He pushed his door open. “Come on.”

  Adam moved to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and pulled out a bag.

  Lucy shielded her eyes from the sun. “What’s that?”

  He shrugged. “Lunch. I picked it up when we stopped for gas.” He pulled something else from the trunk. A blanket.

  “Are we having a picnic?”

  He tilted his head to the side then looked down at his hands, like the idea had never occurred to him. “No. We’re eating outside.”

  She gave him a huge cheesy grin. “Aw, I never would have guessed you were such a romantic.”

  He shook his head and started walking.