The Heart Series: Complete Boxed Set (48 page)

Soft light streamed in through the curtains as I woke to tender kisses placed along my neck. I shivered slightly with his touch.

Oh, he was good.

Joel’s lips vibrated against my skin as he chuckled. “I was wondering when you were going to wake up.”

That silky voice did it to me every time. It instantly gave me goose bumps with intrigue at what delicious treats lay ahead.

I shuffled around to face him. “Hey,” I breathed, smiling softly at his beautiful dishevelled face.

His fingers gently stroked the curve of my cheek before his lips softly pressed against mine. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Mmm amazing, this bed is the best and well, you did do a good job of wearing me out.” The majority of the night actually, but hey I wasn’t complaining. I was one lucky girl and boy, did I know it.

He grinned at my words, knowing fine well they were true. “Well I told you I was making it memorable, baby.”

He certainly kept to his promise. “Mmmm you did, baby, you did.” I stroked his cheek and watched the lust ignite in his eyes.

Seriously?

“What do you want to do today, Iz?” His teeth nibbled along my jaw, and I felt my body begin to stir.

“I don’t know. What do you fancy doing?” I asked, though from the look present in his eyes I didn’t really need a reply.

“You,” he breathed, his words igniting every single part of me till I was completely on fire.

“Really?” I teased.

His smile grew wider. “I’ll always want you, Iz, you’re my addiction. I’ll never have enough, I’ll always want more, need more.”

Oh my.

I grabbed his chin, my mouth was hungry for his as they crashed together, his tongue quickly entwining with mine. He groaned loudly as I tugged on his mouth, taking the kiss deeper. He rolled over, pressing me down into the mattress before dragging his mouth away. We were both panting hard and he chuckled lightly, stroking his nose against mine. “My you’re a little feisty today, baby, I like it.” The wicked glint he held only confirmed he found my commanding side a real turn on.

“Well I know what I want so I’m not holding back.”

“You want me, baby?” he whispered, his lips still teasing mine.

“Until I take my final breath, all I’ll ever want is you. I crave, need, want you every second of every day.”

“I want you now.” His look was so urgent, my body immediately filled with desire.

“Then take me.”

His lips slammed against mine, the force so overwhelming I was instantly breathless, his mouth hypnotising me like so many times before. He was mine, forever, and right now even that didn’t seem long enough.

* * *

“Hey Iz,” Elijah yelled, before I’d barely opened the door. “Ooh you’re looking a little flushed, don’t need to ask how you got in that state.”

I dragged him inside not giving him time to finish his cheeky wink. I didn’t need the whole neighbourhood hearing about our sexual activities.

“Whoa girl, easy on the manhandling, this is vintage Prada.” He smoothed his shirt down, shooting me a disgusted look.

I shot him an equally disgusted one back. “Well maybe keep your voice down so you’re not practically telling the whole street.”

“Oh please, like Betty and her cronies could even hear, what is she like seventy?”

Joel chuckled, walking over and kissed my flushed face. “I love how no matter what we do you still get embarrassed by the tiniest of things.”

Oh god.

“Care to expand on that, Joel? Izzy get the kettle on, sweetie, while Joel and I have a nice little chat.”

I swiftly elbowed Joel in the stomach and smiled when he let out a low grunt. “You tell him nothing while I’m gone and I mean nothing, unless you want me to revoke your bedroom privileges.”

Joel’s eyes immediately widened. I’d definitely found his weak spot. “Now there’s no need for that, you know I need you so bad.” He pouted, and my eyes zoned in on those lips. But I wasn’t about to break.

“You say nothing, else you get nothing. Capiche?”

“Okay Isabella, when did you get all mobster on us?” He grabbed me, pressing me tight against him. “Though this domineering side is truly having an effect on me,” he whispered.

“Trust me, I can feel it.”

He ground into me, and I gasped.

Again?

“Can you speak up a little? It’s rude to whisper.” Elijah grinned.

Oh he was pushing it now.

“It’s ruder to listen in on people’s private conversations.” I stuck out my tongue and pulled a face, to which he pursed his lips.

“Trust me, sweetie, I can see it from over here, I don’t need to hear what you’re talking about, you dirty little minx.”

I quickly stood in front of Joel to hide his growing bulge, and his arms encircled me, kissing my hair. “I’ll errr make the coffee while I try to get this under control.”

“Let me know if you need a hand, I’m happy to oblige.” Elijah couldn’t have smiled wider as Joel instantly stiffened at his words.

Elijah was just teasing him, but I also knew he would pounce on him in a minute. Which always made Joel slightly hesitant and judging by the look in Elijah’s eyes, I wasn’t surprised.

“Now Izzy, get over here and tell me how much you love me for giving you the best home ever.”

I rolled my eyes at his lack of modesty, but he had done an amazing job. Joel kissed me quickly heading off to the kitchen to make the drinks.

“So do you love it, or really love it?”

He certainly loved praise, and this time I would give him his wish. “I loved it, what you did was beyond amazing. You’re such a great friend.”

He grinned in approval of my words. “Well I had to give my favourite girl the best home possible.”

“And you did,” I said without hesitation. “You gave me the best gift ever.” My eyes started to fill up, and I smiled watching his follow suit.

“Iz, I thought I’d lost you, so I wanted to make this place special, for you and Joel to finally have the home of your dreams, to give you your HEA, you more than deserve it, sweetie.” His arms enveloped me into a hug. We were perfectly matched when it came to being overly emotional.

Joel subtly coughed entering with the tray full of coffees. “Did I miss something? Oh you’re not watching The Notebook again.” He looked over to see the television was blank, then turned to us his face even blanker.

“Joel, I’m just having a moment with my girl.”

Joel raised his eyebrows in reference to the pet name. I shook my head, this was a sweet moment that shouldn’t be ruined by a moment of jealousy. He let out an annoyed sigh and distributed the mugs. I patted the seat beside me, and he sat down. I immediately grabbed his hand, stroking it tentatively, feeling him relax with every caress.

Elijah slowly wiped his tears before composing himself. “Sorry about that, you know me, I can kind of get a little emotional.”

Joel choked on his coffee, stifling a laugh.

That was an understatement.

I rubbed small circles along his back. “Did it go down the wrong way?” I asked in pretence, already knowing my answer.

“You could say that,” Joel mumbled, quickly recovering.

We all knew Elijah was an overly emotional drama queen who definitely wore his heart on his sleeve.

Elijah oblivious to our looks grabbed a biscuit from the plate, quickly depositing in his mouth as his eyes scanned the room. “Well now I’ve finished with your interior vision, I need to create my own. Do you fancy coming shopping tomorrow?”

My eyes widened in alarm, what a day spent with him eye rolling, dismissing every single thing I suggested. “Errr.”

“Sorry Elijah, I have something planned for tomorrow.” Joel quickly cut in, saving the day.

Hallelujah.

“Sorry, Elijah.” I pouted. “But we all know you have a creative vision, I don’t want to get in the way. I think it’s best you go on your own and then you won’t have anyone stifling your flow.”

Joel let out a snort. I quickly elbowed him while Elijah looked on in serious contemplation. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Modest as always.

“Hey Iz, we get the keys next week. Can you believe it I’m moving in with a boy, in my first flat? He grabbed me and hugged me hard as we squealed together. 

Joel somewhere along the line left the room. I think it was in case he was asked to join in, but I knew how much this meant to Elijah. So for that reason alone I was happy to reciprocate.

“So once we get it decorated, we’re holding a huge housewarming party. I’ll need my girl there on the night.” He grinned and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight.

“Of course, it will be the party of the year.”

His eyes widened in delight. “Well that’s a certainty.”

Like I said modest.

“You’ll have to help me organise.”

Oh god. Where the hell was Joel? I needed a new back up plan, pronto!

I pulled on a pretend smile, desperately trying to hide the grimace that was itching to break out. “Yeah, okay, I can lend a hand I guess.” He failed to notice the lack of enthusiasm in my voice.

His face spread out into a grin. “I know what I want the theme to be.”

My eyes widened, waiting as he did his usual dramatic pause. “Yes, go on . . .”

“Everyone should come as a musical character.”

My face instantly lit up. I was expecting something far racier, which involved less to little clothing. This I could enjoy. Not that Joel wouldn’t enjoy the first option. I just didn’t relish the thought of holding him back, the moment he noticed eyes pointing in my direction. “Oh that’s a good one, which one are you going to be?”

“Sweetie, I can’t divulge that, you’ll see at the party, but just so you know I’m making your outfit.”

“Ooh what is it?” I asked with intrigue, but by the wicked glint in his eye, I could tell it was beyond useless asking. “As if I’m telling you that, but I need to get your measurements as it’s got to be an exact fit, it will be very snug.” He winked as I blushed.

“Please tell me I’m not going to look like a prostitute.”

“Oh sweetie, have a little faith, you are going to look so sexy without barely showing any skin.”

Now I really needed to know.

I silently pleaded with my eyes, hoping it would have some effect in swaying his decision.

He grinned in response. It was useless to try to play the master of all persuasion. “My lips are sealed sweetie, but let’s just say, you will totally rock this look.”

I pursed my lips in annoyance; I hated surprises and he knew that.

He shot me a look of unease, probably sensing I would try to drag the information out of him. “I suppose I’d better go, I’m meeting Sam soon, give the sex god a kiss from me,” he teased, instantly changing the conversation, swallowing me in a hug. “Good to see you smiling, Iz.”

“Well you know Joel makes me smile a lot.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “I bet he does, I’m sure he’ll be making you smile once I leave.”

My eyes lifted towards the stairs and a flurry of inappropriate thoughts crossed my mind. He was no doubt waiting ready to pounce, and I would only be too willing to be his victim.

“Quite possibly.” I grinned.

I hoped so.

“Well you’d best not keep him waiting, oh and get Joel to take those measurements. I’m sure he’ll more than enjoy himself doing so.”

He probably would. I quickly kissed Elijah, seeing him out the door, eager to get back to Joel. Moments later I was propped against the bedroom doorframe, admiring the view of Joel doing his usual sit ups. I was practically drooling watching him in just his shorts working out in front of me.

“Are you just going to stand there perving at me?” he asked, without even looking.

God, my stalking skills sucked, I wonder what gave me away?

“I can hear you breathing, Iz, you’re panting at the sight of me,” he said smugly.

It was true, I couldn’t help myself, watching his back and biceps flex with each movement he made.

“Come over and make yourself useful, sit on my legs.”

He didn’t have to ask me twice.

I manoeuvred myself so I was straddling his thighs, pinning him down, while I got an amazing upfront view. My breath hitched each time his lips came tantalisingly close to mine. He grinned in delight. He could tell he was undoing me, the desire on my face plain to see. I wanted him now. I curled my fists in frustration to stop myself from touching him.  I was almost on the brink of combustion, then Joel grabbed me and slammed his lips against mine. I automatically welcomed the intrusion, feeling his tongue invade my mouth. My fingers entwined in his hair as my chest pressed up against Joel’s slick skin, and I smiled, feeling his arms curled tight around me.

“Was I turning you on with my little display, baby?” He grinned and I blushed, there was no denying it. He had this overwhelming power over me.