Hard Break (Deadlines & Diamonds, #5) (20 page)

She clung to him, kissing, nipping, moaning. Her nipples scored his chest without breaking skin. He wished they’d leave permanent marks. He wanted to remember this moment forever.

Sliding a palm up her thigh, he paused for a split
second flash of conscious. Hot and heavy, heat of the moment was one thing. He did
not
want her to regret.

“If you stop now, I swear
I will kill you in your sleep.” To punctuate her promise, she slipped her hand between them and took hold of him, squeezing lightly. “You ready?”

He nodded dumbly.

“Me too.” She kissed him, more like she branded him. Lip to lip, tongue to tongue and groin to…

“Oh
, damn!”

She echoed his sentiments. He moved against her, in her, nailing her to the drywall. Her head and moans tapped out a constant rhythm. Release came hard and fast and Ian sent a thank you skyward when Kayla screamed his name.

His
name.

“Yes!
Ian. Don’t stop. Y-y-yesss!” She thrashed against him. “Ian!”

That was when he lost himself in her.

Reality wrapped around them, but instead of being cold and smacking of
holy-shit-what’d-we-just-do
, it surrounded them like a warm blanket. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. Having this wonderful woman skin to skin was the single most amazing experience of Ian’s life.

Until she eased away to look in his eyes. There were tears there. Had he hurt her?

She gripped his face between her palms and kissed his lips. “Stop. Don’t go there.”

“But—
”

“I love you, Ian.”

“Oh, baby, I love you, too.” He searched her eyes for answers. “Why the tears?”

She grinned, wiped at the tears with the back of her hand. “Because I—” She laughed through a sob.
“Because I’m finally happy again. Completely happy. I love you. I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have you love me back, but you do and I’m going to take it.” She brushed a chaste kiss over his lips. “Thank you for loving me, Ian.”

He clutched her to his chest. “My pleasure.”

She bit her lip and looked at the floor.

“Hey.” He tipped her chin. “What’s wrong?”

Her smile let him know there wasn’t a damn thing wrong. “When can we do that again?”

Twenty-Two

K
ayla jerked awake. Disoriented, she glanced around. Through the darkness, she realized she was still in Ian’s house.

Holy crap!

Ian’s house.

She jumped off the couch, scrounged around for her clothes and put them on while hurrying for the door.

She ran out of his house, tripped over a toy of some kind on the journey to her yard, and all but took her own front door off the hinges. She took the staircase two steps at a time, stopping at Chase’s room. Her son was sound asleep, lying on his side. Her pulse slowed a tad. But the need to make sure the girls were okay had her sprinting to their room, only to skid to a stop just inside the door.

Penelope’s sweet snuffles mingled with steady snores. The Hello Kitty clock on the dresser read two-thirty. She searched Sadie’s bed. Empty. Not only was the child missing, but
the pillows, bedding and dollies were all missing as well. Her heart jumped into her throat. Until she glanced at the floor.

Sadie was snuggled into Ian’s side, her head resting on his huge bicep. His hand curled around her waist. Kayla grinned, loving them both just a little bit more. She plucked an unused blanket from the floor and crawled onto Sadie’s bed, letting sleep claim her like a champ.

I
an’s alarm jolted him into consciousness. He grabbed his phone and silenced the noise. His arm was asleep, completely dead. He couldn’t feel his fingers. And his shirt was damp. Drool. Not his.

He reached down to find Sadie tucked into his side.
He shifted her, trying to free the dead weight of his arm and her eyes popped open. He put his finger to his lips. “Shh. I need to go to work. Let’s get you in bed.”

S
he scurried to her feet.

He would’
ve liked to have picked her up, but didn’t trust his dead arm to hold her weight. Painful tingling flooded into his fingertips and he flexed to get the blood flow going.

On the bed, Kayla slept on her side. She looked adorable, so young and fragile.

Sadie giggled. “I bet she’ll wake up if you kiss her.”

“Probably. Now get your little butt in bed, so I can tuck you in before I go.”

Sadie climbed up on the mattress, careful to not wake her mother. “Love you, Ian.”

His heart warmed at the declaration. “I love you, too,
Sadiebug. Now, you go back to sleep and have a good day at school. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

He checked on Penelope, pulling the blanket back up over her body. Then he quietly made his way to Chase’s room. He cracked the d
oor and peeked inside. Chase laid spread eagle on the bed, his mouth open wide. Ian chuckled and closed the door.

He needed to hurry
if he was going to make it to work on time. In his house, in his bathroom, he turned on the shower and shaved while the water warmed up. He didn’t know what it was about this house, but his bathroom took forever and a freakin’ day to get hot water. It was hot once it made all the twists and turns, but…damn.

There was a lot of
damn!
in his life right now. He’d never imagined Kayla as a closet sex kitten. But man, his girl had claws. And as he stepped into the finally warm shower, he hissed as the water hit the scratches on his back. War wounds. And he’d gladly fight that battle every day of his life.

Last night h
e’d taken her against the wall, on the floor and then very slowly on the couch. He’d offered to take her to his bed, but she’d shaken her head and taken him into her mouth. Holy shit, that’d been good.

He
immediately rose at the memory. He didn’t have time for that, though. His morning routine was very structured. It had to be. He had twenty minutes to get ready and forty minutes to get his ass to the station. No room for deviation. This morning was no different.

If it were, he’d still be
dead to the world on the girls’ bedroom floor. When Kayla fell asleep last night, he’d taken up the torch and checked on the kids. Kayla needed her sleep, deserved the out cold. He’d donned a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and headed over.

He thought back to how Sadie had come to sleep next to him and had to admit to not having a clue. Although, he liked that she was comfortable enough to snuggle up close. Yet another reason to love the kids.
He turned off the water, got out and screamed like a little girl.

Kayla held the towel out to him. She glanced down at the cotton button-down she wore, the same one he’d been wearing last night. “Do I look that bad?”

“No, you scared me that bad.” Actually, she looked so damned good. He drank in the sight of her as he snatched the towel and wrapped it around his hips. “You’re supposed to be next door sleeping.”

K
ayla watched a droplet of water make its way over his pectorals and licked her lips.

His moan said the,
You’re killin’ me, Kay
, that didn’t cross his lips.

She wasn’t sure where this playful, sex-star
ved person came from, but, heaven help her, she liked teasing Ian. And now she knew she could, knew the way she affected him. She couldn’t wait to get him all hot and bothered again. Judging by the towel turned tent it wouldn’t take much.

“I can’t.” He stepped closer, but not close enough to touch her. He put a hand on each side of her face and kissed her. Very chastely. “I want to
take you. I always want to take you. But if I don’t hit the road in five minutes, I’ll be late for work.”

One corner of her mouth quirked. “Couldn’t you just drive faster?”

Now his mouth quirked on both sides. “Why don’t you drive home faster tonight? I’ll make it worth your while.”

Her pout rivaled Penelope’s best. “You’re really going to make me wait all day?”

“Yes. Now get out of my bathroom.”

She turned with a bit of
a sassy flair, tossing a wink over her shoulder. “Have a good day at work.”

“You too.”

The second the bathroom door closed, plans tumbled around in her head. Last night, Ian arranged every detail. Tonight, she’d return the favor.

***

By the time Kayla pulled into the garage that night she could hardly sit still. She couldn’t wait to torture Ian. He was right, she did like shopping at Victoria’s Secret. Today, though, she’d hit Fredericks. She smiled thinking of the barely-there lace currently residing under her clothes.

Leon had once told her
a sexy matching bra and panties combo were hotter than the skimpiest lingerie. Whatever. She hoped Ian felt the same way. She counted on it.

When she went inside
her home, things were much the same as two nights ago. Kids were bathed, homework was done, and dinner was just coming out of the oven. Frozen lasagna, warmed up and ready to eat. She’d take it.

Ian glanced up and he wanted her. She saw it, plain as day. Chase snorted and rolled his eyes, but didn’t object any further.

“How was your day?” she asked, putting her bag on the counter.

Chase laid a fork next to a plate, working his way around the table. “Good. I have a history project due next Friday.”

“What kind of project?”

He frowned. “I have to build a pyramid.”  

Awesome
. She tried to keep her own frown to herself.

“And Ian is going to help me.” Her son grinned at Ian. “Right, Ian?”

“Absolutely, buddy.” He shook the oven mitts off his huge hands. “We’ll start tomorrow after school. Will you go grab your sisters? We’re ready to eat.”

Chase
plunked the last fork down, hollered, “Saaaadie! Penelopeeeee!” then followed his voice out the room.

Kayla jumped when warm hands came around her waist and hot lips pressed to the back of her neck.

“How was your day?” Ian growled in her ear.

“Good. I did some shopping.”

“Really? You buy anything good?”

She turned in his arms, stretched up on her toes to purr, “No, something
very, very bad.”

“
Oh yeah? Where is this very, very bad purchase?”

“I’m wearing it,” she whispered in his ear.

He sucked in a breath. “And I’m supposed to sit through dinner now?”

“Yep.”
She kissed his chin and pulled back just as three little people joined them.

“Mom, I need money for the book fair,” Sadie informed her.

“Mommy, I lo’ you!” Penelope threw herself at Kayla.

Sadie rolled her eyes and kept talking. “There’s a book I really want. It’s Hello Kitty and—”

“Hey, Sade, let’s eat,” Ian interrupted. “You can tell your mom all about the Hello Kitty book and how you have to have it because it sparkles and has stickers.”

Apparently
, Ian had heard the description before. Kayla grinned at him as he herded the children to their seats. As soon as Sadie’s backside hit the wood of her chair, she began again, finishing with, “and it’s only twenty dollars!”

Kayla choked on the drink she’d just taken.
“Only
twenty dollars, huh?”

“Yeah, a real bargain,” Ian interjected. “I think we s
hould buy a dozen or so.”

“Yeah.
” Kayla rolled her eyes.

He lifted a fork filled with lasagna toward his mouth.
“Yeah, so you’ll have plenty of stickers.” He popped the bite in his mouth.

“Oh
, Ian,” Sadie squealed with delight. “You’re so smart. You think of everything.”

Ian reveled in the praise. He grinned at Sadie, studiously ignoring
the scowl Kayla threw at him. He finished his bite and placed his fork on the table. After wiping his mouth, he looked at Kay then Sadie.

“I’m sure it’s the very best Hello Kitty book ever printed, but really, girl, you only need one.”

She frowned, but nodded.

He reached around to his wallet, and took out a twenty dollar bill, handing it to her. “Your birthday is next week, right?”

“Right,” she said, holding the money like it were the most precious thing ever. “On Wednesday.”

“We’ll cal
l this my birthday present.” His smile and this whole conversation warmed Kayla’s heart. This man really did love her children. “That way, your mama can’t be mad at me and you get your book. Deal?”

“Deal!” She jumped off of her chair and threw herself at Ian. “Oh, Ian, thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” He kissed her cheek, then pushed her away, motioning toward her food. “Eat your dinner. It’s almost time for bed.”

Kayla expected a pout at the mention of bed, but nothing came back. At least not from Sadie. Penelope and Chase
protested, but a single look from Ian staunched both. It was very nice having Ian around, she admitted. Very, very nice.

An hour later, Kayla put a movie into the DVD player. Ian had gone to his place to change. Into something more comfortable, he’d told her with a wink.

She wanted to jump right back into Ian’s arms, maybe venture into his bed tonight, but she needed to make sure the kids were asleep and…

Yeah, she needed to remember her kids were her first and foremost.

Waking up this morning had been a sobering slap. As much as she loved being with Ian her kids were number one, two and three.

She’d teased him with her purchase. She sure hoped things played out
so he’d be able to see it. Fool that she was, she hadn’t thought much about that part of the scenario. In her fantasy they’d turned into horny teenagers and the kids magically weren’t around.

Reality, though, had them sleeping—or on their way to dreamland—instead.
Sneaking off to Ian’s place every night wasn’t an option. That just made her feel as if she had something to hide. She didn’t want to hide Ian or her feelings for him.

The kids seemed to be
fine with it. Before she allowed them to see the physical, she needed to make absolutely damn sure they were peachy-keen, a-okay with it.

Three raps to the front door preceded Ian’s entrance. “What’s the plan, love?”

Her heart flip-flopped at the endearment. Leon never…

Huh-
uh. Leon didn’t belong here.

“I thought we’d watch a movie until the kids fall asleep.”

“Sounds good. I’m always up for a good chick flick.” He dropped down onto the corner of the overstuffed couch.

“What makes you think it’s a chick flick?”

“An educated guess.”

She sat down on the other side of the couch, remote in hand and shifted to look at him. “Educated by whom?”

“Chicks?” He laughed and was totally ready for the pillow she threw at him.

The opening credits started and Ian didn’t look at the screen. He watched he
r, studied her, scrutinized her without a single glimmer of desire.