Guard My Heart (18 page)

“Arm,” he instructs, holding his hand out. I do as I'm
told even though I don’t like the tone of his voice. Arguing now won’t help. He
cleans the wound so gently. His actions are a million miles away from the harsh
rasp of his voice. If you take the time to get to know Jase, you will realize
that he has this hard exterior but on the inside is this gentle, caring person.
You will see the fierce looking teenager who used to run off bullies for
picking on the smaller kids. He takes another piece of cotton wool and repeats
the procedure. He pours the rest of the liquid down the drain and throws the
cotton wool in the trashcan before gently placing a band aid over the scrape on
my elbow.

I might actually fall down and break my arm just to see
what he does if this is how he handles a scrape. He takes my hand again and
leads me through the door. He stops beside the bed and sits down, holding me in
front of him. His hands move to the waist bands of my PJ bottoms. The muscles
in his arms are tense. I know he’s upset about hurting me, even if he didn’t
know he was doing it at the time. I place my hands on his shoulders as he
lowers my bottoms down my legs. I lift each leg in turn for him to remove it.
His hands come to rest on my hips as he pulls me closer and nuzzles my belly.

“I’m sorry, Mia, but next time do as you are fucking
told,” he says.

My mind backtracks. He’s upset with me. I didn’t listen to
him. But I couldn’t just stay here knowing there was something going on
downstairs. Shivers run up my spine thinking of what could’ve happened. I open
my mouth to voice my thoughts but close it again. He doesn’t need me to state
the obvious; he knows he lost it tonight. I squeeze his shoulders, feeling the
knotted muscles.

“Let’s get to bed. This will all look better in the
morning,” I say, pushing him backwards onto the bed. That look is still in his
eyes. The one that lets me know I’ve overstepped a boundary. I hate having him
angry at me. The only way to get rid of that look is to remind him of how good
I am for him.

I tuck my fingers into the waistband of his boxers and tug
at them. He gives me an odd look but lets me remove them. My eyes run over the
gorgeous man lying in front of me. My eyes follow the tribal tattoo running
from his neck, over his shoulder and arm. I lift my eyes up to his chest,
mentally tracing the swirling pattern flowing from his collar bone down to his
flat belly. I start with the top of his tattoo, licking the curling pattern
down his neck, over his shoulder and down his arm to his fingers. I kiss each
digit in turn, savoring the rough texture of each fingertip. It reminds me that
even though these hands draw the most beautiful pictures, they also work hard
at the garage. I look up to study his face, but his eyes are closed, the hard
line of his mouth relaxed. I move over to tease his pierced nipple with my
tongue. The sound he makes in the back of his throat makes me move down his
chest picking up the pattern flowing down his belly to his hips. I know the
tattoo ends right before I get to my ultimate goal. He knows it too by the
smile tugging at his lips.

“Oh no, Mew, seems like you’ve run out of ink to trace,”
he teases with a cocky smile playing on his lips.

“Whatever will I do?” I say, batting my eyelashes at him
playfully.

“I'm sure my kitten will figure something out.” He sucks
in a breath as I pinch the swollen head of his erection between my
teeth.

The sound of him exhaling loudly is my only warning before
I'm pulled down onto the bed. I look up into the greenest pools of desire I’ve
ever had the pleasure of getting lost in. How did he get the upper hand? This
is not what I wanted to do, damn it! I can almost feel my tongue sliding over
his hard shaft. Tasting him. Driving him insane. Making him forget that he lost
his temper tonight.

He nuzzles my nose before placing a soft kiss on my lips.
His hard chest presses into my breasts. I shift my legs to give him access to
where I need him to be.

His lips touch my nose, my jaw, and finally my lips.
Caressing my skin with such tenderness, my heart swells and pounds loudly in my
chest.

“I love you,” he whispers before sinking into me slowly. I
tilt my hips up to get him to move faster, but instead he pulls back. I reach
around his back to pull him to me but he slides out completely. I shake my head
and bite my lip to keep from moaning at him.

“Slowly, baby, I have to have you slowly.” His eyes are
soft but his voice is stern. He positions himself again and starts the slow
torture all over again. I can feel every inch of him as he moves deeper into
me. Feeding himself all the way into my soul. I squeeze my eyes closed so
tightly I see little white stars forming behind my eye lids. My muscles tense.
It’s too soon, how can I be so close?

Jase slows his rhythm, and my pending orgasm simmers to a
minute flame licking at receding oxygen.

“No!” I whimper loudly, digging my nails into his
back.

“Excuse me?” he says, looking annoyed. I buck my hips
against him, trying to coax movement out of his now still hips. Little sparks
of anger flash across his eyes. I probably shouldn’t have clawed him.

“I was so close,” I answer pathetically.

“That’s why I slowed down. I told you I wanted slow. I
don’t want it to end so soon. I plan on keeping you here for a while, and
seeing that you can’t keep your violent little hands to yourself…” he reaches
for the hand that clawed him and bites into my palm.

“Ow,” I moan even as pleasure pulses through my body.

“…I think I’ll keep it away a little longer,” he says,
placing a soft kiss onto the palm of my hand.

“Why not let me make it up to you?” I say, running my
nails up his back.

“’Cause you cheat,” he mutters into my neck.

He is probably right. I will cheat. I get lost and focus
only on the pleasure I can get from him. Jase believes in savoring every
moment. I'm too impulsive and in the moment. It’s his fault for spoiling me
like that. He places soft kisses from my ear down to my neck. I shift my legs,
trying to draw his attention back to the emptiness between my thighs.
Thankfully, he gets the hint and slips back into me. The sensation wrings a low
moan from my throat. His slow rhythm torture on my over stimulated senses.
Slowly the pulse starts building low in my belly. I sigh loudly but he refuses
to move faster.

“Please, Jase, faster,” I moan. He increases his pace
slightly, increasing my pleasure with every entry as he grinds against my
sensitive flesh. I dig my nails into his back and thrust my breasts into his
chest. I need every inch of me touching every inch of him. Please don’t stop,
please don’t stop, I chant in my head.

“Oh shit, I'm so close, Jase,” I manage to choke
out.

“I’ve got you, babe,” he says into my neck. He thrusts
deeper and grinds down harder. Every muscle in my body tenses.

Jase lifts his head and stares into my eyes just as the
tightly wound coil snaps and my orgasm rips through my body. I sigh out his
name before he stills and I feel him finding his own escape inside of me. My
hands smooth over his sweat slick back, welcoming his warm weight. He snuggles
his nose into my neck, inhaling deeply. He strokes his fingers lazily up my
sides.

His mouth searches for my pulse point before laying his
lips against it.

“I love you, Mew.” I hear him whisper before his breathing
evens out and becomes steady. I glance over at the clock on the night stand,
3:20 a.m. I’m glad I’m not working until later this afternoon, but a twang of
guilt stabs at my heart. Jase has to get up in a couple of hours.

“I love you too, baby,” I whisper. Running my fingers
through his hair, I drift off.

JASE

I hate the sound of this damn alarm clock. It brings back
memories of school mornings and running around looking for a mother who never
came home the night before. I shake my head groggily and look at the time,
6:30. Yup, time to get my ass out of bed. I look over at Mia, who I mercifully
haven’t smothered in my sleep. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid
eyes on. Today I finally get to ask her to be my wife. I’ve ditched the late
shift at the parlor to set everything up before she finishes her shift. I have
to phone her during the day to feed her some stupid excuse about being caught up
at the garage.

I place a gentle kiss on her head, careful not to wake
her. I take a quick shower, glimpses of our shower the night before tempting my
senses. If I wasn’t pressed for time, I’d wake her up. I'm more than willing to
take her up on her offer of last night. I jump out of the shower. If everything
goes well tonight—and I plan for it to be fucking perfect—I’ll get to do all
those things to her later. I dress into my usual jeans and shirt and grab my
Ray’s Garage overalls from the hook behind the door. I dig the platinum band
out of the pocket, where I hid it last night, and stuff it into my jean pocket.
I steal one last look at her before leaving her sleeping. I have a lot of shit
to do today. I hope James and Lewis are up.

The smell of fresh coffee welcomes me on the stairs, and I
rush to the kitchen before it all ends up in someone else’s gut. Jenna and
Aiden are already dressed for their Saturday morning run. Thankfully, Aiden’s
run-in with the bat doesn’t seem to have done any serious damage.

“What’s up, man?” Lewis greets me and passes me a coffee
at the same time. “I thought you could use the caffeine boost this morning, but
doesn’t seem like you need it. You look fresh as a daisy. Mia must’ve lost her
spunk.”

I smirk at him; nobody has ever compared me to a daisy
before. In fact, I look far from it. Most people cross the street when they see
me on the sidewalk. Tattoos and piercings are a sure sign of evil, right? It’s
best to keep it that way. I don’t like people in my business, and my looks
normally keep them a mile away. But then the last part of his sentence hits me,
and I flip him the finger. I smell the coffee, eyeing Lewis suspiciously before
taking a sip. You can’t trust these buggers.

“James, are you good man?” I ask, noticing him brooding at
the table. He gives me the thumbs up but remains silent.

“Then let’s get to work you lazy bastards,” I say,
grabbing the keys to my truck. “We still good for tonight?” I ask Aiden, knowing
he wouldn’t need the words to understand what I'm talking about.

“All good and it’s about time,” he says, smiling at Jenna
and tucking her under his arm. She’s practically glowing, she looks different
this morning.

“Hey, what’s that all about?” Lewis interrupts my
thoughts. I catch a glimpse of Jenna paling and dashing towards the downstairs
bathroom.

That was a complete turnaround. One minute she was fine,
and the next she’s as pale as a ghost. Aiden follows her before saluting us
with two fingers pressed against his forehead. I ignore Lewis and head for the
door.

“Are you catching a lift with us, James?” I ask
him.

He shakes his head and climbs into his own truck. I unlock
my truck, and Lewis immediately fucks around with the radio. Every morning he
does this. Thankfully, we have the same taste in music. Lewis himself isn’t
half shitty on the guitar. James pulls out of the driveway before us, and we
follow him to the garage. Lewis rambles on about the redhead, but I hardly hear
anything as I run through my plan for the night. We stop at the red light.

I watch as the familiar green Chevy speeds over the
changing red light and swerves, crashing straight into the side of my truck.
The impact forces the air from my lungs and flips my truck with such velocity,
that the metal screeches on the tarmac, before finally landing on its
roof.

“What the fuck!” I hear Lewis yell next to me. My head
slams into the steering wheel before I can say or do anything. What the fuck
just happened?

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Jase! Jase?” Lewis is shouting at me.

I want to tell him to stop shouting at me, but my heart is
pounding too fast. My brain feels like it’s located outside of my skull, it
hurts that much. Asking Mia to marry me when I have a concussion is going to
fucking suck. Something warm runs into my eyes and turns my vision
red.

“Jase, man, don’t do this to me!” Lewis yells to the side
of me. I try to ask him what the fuck he’s talking about. I'm not doing
anything. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can’t move. But I can’t form the words.

“Somebody help us! Please, help us!” Lewis screams. The
panic in his voice settles a dread in my stomach. I look up at Lewis, who is
now lowering me so I’m lying against his chest. What the fuck is going on? My
head is pounding. I'm struggling to breathe. The look on his face is terrifying
me.

“Lewis, man, what the fuck?” I breathe out softly. It
hurts saying the words.

“Shh, Jase, don’t speak, man. Help is on the way,” Lewis
says. His eyes dart from side to side frantically. Like he is searching for
something he can’t find. Something squeezes my heart in a death grip. I hear
the stuttering of my pulse in my ears as the squeeze increases. Lewis wipes at
my face with his shirt, and I see the blood turning the light blue fabric red.

“Fucker!” I hear Lewis scream. “I’m going to fucking kill
you!” He screams again. I hear sirens blaring in the distance. I already know
they’re too far away. My eyes are heavy, and my chest doesn’t want to fill with
the air it desperately needs.

“Lewis, is James okay?” I ask, needing to know my friends
will all survive. I need them to look after my girl when I’m gone.

“I’m right here, Jase,” James says from somewhere at my
window. “I’m here, man, hang in there,” he says in that calm-as-shit voice of
his. That’s good; James and Aiden will take good care of her. Nobody will ever
lay a finger on her when Lewis is around. My girl is sorted.

The sirens are getting louder. James is yanking at my
door. Terror grips my heart again and I know this is it. I should’ve woken Mia
up. I should’ve looked into those beautiful brown eyes before I left. I
should’ve told her how much I love her. I should’ve showed her how much I love
her.

“Fuck, Jase, don’t do this, you stubborn bastard!” Lewis
yells while banging his fist into my dashboard.

“Dude, do not hit my baby like that,” I cough out. I taste
the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.

“Lewis, fucking help him!” I hear James scream while
really yanking on the door now.

“Kick the fucking door down, James. Rip it off! Do
something!” Lewis sounds frantic as he dabs at the blood from my mouth.

The edges of my vision turn dark, and the darkness
welcomes me closer. This is where it ends. I get to die in a fucking truck. I
never get to say goodbye.

“Fuck, Mia, I love you, baby, I love you,” I think over
and over again. Or maybe I’m saying it out loud. I dig in my jeans pocket and
hold the ring out to Lewis, my numb fingers holding it up limply.

“You bastards better look after her. You guard my
heart.”