Page 33 of Scarred Heart

“Hey.I know this has all been a lot.”It had been a lot for me, too, but something told me she didn’t want to hear it.Not with the way she was feeling.“But you don’t have to worry.I’m not trying to take her from you.I’m not trying to outdo you or erase everything you have together.It’s not like that.”

“I want to believe you.”

I hated how defeated she suddenly sounded.That was what scared her most of all—losing Hannah to me.I had to convince her that would never happen.It would make the difference between getting to provide for what was mine and being kept on the outside for the rest of my life.

Stepping up behind her, I touched my hands to her hips, leaning close.“You have nothing to worry about.I’m ready to take things slow.I do understand where you’re coming from.You’ve raised a great girl.”

“I wish I could take credit for her,” she snorted.I couldn’t help lowering my head to indulge in her hair’s floral scent.Her head tipped back to touch my shoulder as she sighed, melting into me.“Sometimes, I wonder if I’ve had enough of an influence in her life.I’ve missed so much too.You’re not the only one.I wonder if I’ll spend my whole life trying to make up for that.”

“Take it easy on yourself.”It was natural, necessary to touch my lips to her ear, her jaw.I couldn’t be this close to her without wanting more.

“There’s never a time I feel like I have everything under control.”She surprised me by chuckling softly while my lips skimmed her neck.“Wow, it actually feels good to be able to say that.I never felt comfortable enough to say it to my family.”

I saw how that would feel good.I understood how isolated she must’ve felt all this time.No wonder she hated me so much during that first meeting when we went for drinks, and all I cared about was covering my ass.That was miles away now.Still important, but not nearly as much when compared to the woman my arms slid around.

“Spencer…” There was a mix of desire and warning in her whisper when my hand cupped her tit.Her nipple went hard under my thumb, and I ran in circles over the tight peak.“No fair.You know we can’t do this.She’s, like, feet away from us.”Turning in my arms, she wrapped hers around my neck and smirked up at me.“And just because we slept together doesn’t mean you automatically get access every time we’re in the same city.”

“Everyothertime?”I suggested, making her blurt out a laugh.She wasn’t fooling me.This pretense of resistance was just that.The last gasps of whatever it was she thought she should do.Who she thought she needed to be.

“Fine, but not while Hannah is mere feet from where you’re groping her mother.”Her smile hardened into something fiercely maternal.“Hard boundary.”

My dick was halfway to going rigid, and I would’ve loved nothing more than to be balls-deep in her, but I saw her point.“We have to get together on a weeknight,” I decided, breathing her in again, pulling her essence into my lungs.It was the most I’d get tonight.

Nothing could have been sweeter than her smile.“Yes.We definitely do.You’re not the only one with a craving,” she purred, running lazy fingers through my hair and setting my blood on fire.That was all it took—the simplest touch, so long as it came from her.

“A craving?”I couldn’t help groping her ass a little while she was still in my arms.“I like the sound of that.I’m something you can’t shake.”

Her hips shifted as she thrust her pussy against my growing bulge.“That’s a good way of describing it.The kind of thing you know you should resist…” she grazed my lips with hers, making me groan and grind against her, “… but you can’t,” she concluded with a wicked grin that did dangerous things to organs other than my dick.My heart beat harder, faster, like something exciting was happening.Maybe it was.

It didn’t have to mean anything.Whatever was happening between Rowan and me could be separate from Hannah and me.I would keep the lines from blurring.

“I guess I’ll have to go home and jerk off.”I sighed, pouting until she giggled.

“I have an idea.”There was a wicked gleam in her eye as she bit her lip.Dear God, she was a drug.“Why don’t I send you some inspiration for when you get home?”

“What did you have in mind?”I asked with a growl.

“Why don’t you head out, and you’ll see very soon?”

It wasn’t easy, pretending to be scornful as I let her go and backed away.“I see what this is all about.You lure a man into buying you dinner.Then you get them out of the apartment by promising to send nudes?That’s a unique hustle you have going on.”

“Get the hell out of here.”She laughed, turning me in place and pushing me toward the door.“And thank you for dinner.”

“Thankyou.” I turned to her when I reached the door, taking her face in my hands.Instead of shoving my tongue down her throat the way instinct demanded, I settled for a soft kiss that ended before it could lead anywhere else.

I was behind the wheel in the garage when the first text came through from her.

Rowan:Inspiration part one…

And a photo followed.

“Fuck me.”I groaned, my dick swelling at the shot of her tits in a see-through lace bra.Her nipples stood out and begged to be sucked through the fabric until she creamed her panties.

Rowan:Part two.

I held my ragged breath while waiting for the next image.This time, she’d hiked her skirt up to flash a bit of a lace thong.My dick jumped at the idea of what was coming next.

Another text.

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