House Rules (21 page)

So no one could blame me for feeling like the sky seemed a little bit bluer; the grass a bit greener. To top the whole day off, I’d aced my test. Things were really starting to look up.

I crossed into the parking lot and began weaving through cars when the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I’d heard footsteps behind me on the campus sidewalk but given that a lot of classes let out at the same time of mine, that was to be expected. What I didn’t expect was to hear them echo every move I made through the lot. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a shadow about ten feet behind me.

Asshole Ray had finally figured out my new class schedule.

Fight or flight?

I whirled around to confront whoever had been following me, but there was no one there. I scanned the lot. Other than a group of guys over by a beat up truck, there was no one, and they certainly weren’t close enough for it to have been them. They weren’t even looking in my direction.

Had it been a figment of my imagination?

My blood ran cold and a shiver ran up my back. I wrapped my jacket tighter around me, pulling my purse closer, and waited. But the only sound was faint laughter and the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.

I shook my head to clear it. The little shit was probably hiding between the cars, waiting to follow me back to the new apartment. It didn’t surprise me that he wasn’t man enough to confront me in public.

Not wanting to take any chances, I slipped my keys between my fingers and kept walking. If Ray thought he was going to put a single finger on me, he was in for a very rude awakening.

Finally, I reached my car. I pressed the unlock button and climbed in quickly, locking it as soon as the door shut behind me. I let out a long breath as I stared at the steering wheel. Coming to the bar was one thing. Sneaking around the school campus took things to a whole different level.

I backed out of the space, wanting to be far away from it all. A little way down the road, I pulled my phone out and dialed Miller’s number, with every intention of telling him what had happened.

“Gorgeous, what can I do for you?”

He sounded so upbeat. I knew he’d been having a hard time keeping up with all of the different businesses, so to hear him happy at work was a change of pace and, not wanting to ruin his mood or his day, I decided to drop the whole thing. I’d tell him later.

“Nothing. I wanted to tell you I passed my test.”

“That’s wonderful. What are you doing now?”

I yawned and my eyes watered. It briefly crossed my mind that maybe exhaustion had caused me to see things. Keeping up with school and work and seeing Miller; it was a lot. A good night’s rest would do me the world of good. “Thinking about going home to take a nap. Someone kept me up all night.”

“Mmm . . . I like the sound of that. I’ll keep you up all night tonight, too.” There was a hint of promise and passion in his tone and thoughts of the weird afternoon fled, all from the sound of his raspy tenor. I had to get it together if I was going to make it home in one piece.

“What are you doing?”

He chuckled. “Quick change of subject. Are my words getting to you?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Good. Remember that later.”

“I will, now help me clear my head before I crash the car.”

His rich laughter was soothing.

“Paperwork.”

“Paperwork?” I had no idea what he was talking about. My brain was in a sexual fog as the events of the night before came rushing back to me and suddenly, a nap didn’t seem like the best use of my time.

“Yes, paperwork. The only thing I ever seem to do.”

That was an understatement. I’d seen Miller clear his desk of papers, only to see the same amount there only a few hours later.

It was my turn to laugh. “Good luck with that.”

“Oh, want to be a smartass, do we? How about you meet me at my house at seven and I’ll show you who that ass belongs to.”

I groaned. “This ass will always belong to me, but I’d be happy to meet you there and prove that to you. You can have it for limited times.”

“Fuck, Tess. You’re going to be the death of me.” There was a shuffling of papers and a quick call out that he’d be right there. “I’ve got to go handle something. My house? Seven?”

“I’ll be there.”

Once I got home, I locked the dead bolt for good measure and lay down for a nap, knowing full well that Miller would keep his word about keeping me up all night.

I woke in time to take a shower and get ready to head over to Miller’s. I could finally get there without the GPS on my phone and Miller had given me the codes to the door.

I didn’t bother getting too dressed up. Every time we went to Miller’s, even with plans, we never managed to make it out of the house. That didn’t stop me from grabbing the cute jeans that hugged my ass and a red top that had a nice deep V at the front. A small bit of makeup later and I was ready to go.

My phone buzzed on the dresser. Expecting to see a text from Miller, I pulled up the message only to find one from a number I didn’t recognize, but with a text like, “Hey baby. I miss you. When are you going to stop ignoring me and realize you belong to me,” it was pretty obvious who the sender was.

When was the asshole going to give up? How many more numbers was I going to have to block. Frustrated, I grabbed my stuff and left for Miller’s, hoping he could take my mind off it all.

It was a little after seven when I pulled up in front of the garage. The house was dark. Odd, considering that Miller usually beat me there. Not that it mattered too much because he’d given me the codes in case of an emergency.

I climbed from the car and sent a quick text to Miller.

Me: Where are you?

Not a second later and my phone rang. “Hey, Sexy.”

“Where are you?”

There was a grunt and a pained moan in the background.

“Dad and I had a few things we had to handle. I won’t be long. Grab a drink and I’ll bring dinner.”

“Okay.”

The sounds were a blatant reminder of exactly what Miller did. Standing next to my car, I had the opportunity to drive away at the reminder, or stay and ignore what he did.

Because I cared about him more than I thought I would, I stepped up to the house, punched the code in, and walked inside.

“I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

For the first half and hour, I wandered around the house. For a man who was willing to break bones for not paying their debts, his home was a sanctuary. Books lined the shelves, and there were picture frames dotted throughout.

When I got bored with snooping, I went into the great room to watch some TV—anything but sports. At least it would help pass the time.

After about an hour or so my phone rang again.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Sorry, babe. That took longer than I thought. I’m on my way home now.”

Home.
The idea of home being with Miller made my pulse quicken. A part of me loved the sound, while the other part feared it.

“It’s okay. I gave myself a tour, checking out all your things.”

He laughed. He’d given me a tour the first morning we’d woken up in his bed together and since then I’d been there enough to know every room in the house as if it were my own. Adding to that, Miller had made it a mission to christen every room in both of our places. With only four rooms at my place, we’d already finished there.

But Miller’s place was much bigger.

“Really? And which room did you find yourself in?”

I leaned back on the couch and flicked off the TV. I had a feeling this conversation was about to get a whole lot more interesting. “The great room.”

There was a low hum over the line. “We haven’t been in there yet.”

“No, we haven’t.”

“That couch is high enough for me to get on my knees and taste you until you scream my name over and over again.”

“Oh god.”

The promise in his voice was overwhelming. Miller had a way of taking me to new heights of sexual frustration through his words alone. My body responded in kind.

“Can you picture it in your mind?”

I flipped the button on my jeans and moved my hand beneath the waistband, between my legs.

“Mmmhmm.”

“Tess?”

“Yes?” My voice was low, raspy.

“Are you touching yourself?”

I barely pushed out an answer, my brain focused solely on each stroke of my finger.

“Fuck, that is so goddamn sexy. You better not come until I get there. I want to see,” he growled.

“Hurry,” I panted.

“On my way.”

The line went dead and I slipped my finger deep inside of me but it wasn’t the same. I wanted—no, I
needed
Miller.

My mind was a haze of lust and I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I heard the door in the kitchen slam.

“Jesus Christ, I could come watching you.”

I moved my eyes up to the doorway where Miller stood, his eyes firmly locked on the movement of my hand. He stalked forward, reaching me in mere seconds, his clothes dropping haphazardly on the floor around him. I could feel the coiling of my muscles and I knew it wouldn’t be long. Miller’s hand came down on mine stopping all movement.

“No,” I whined. The orgasm had been so close. Just a few seconds more.

“I told you not to come until I got here.”

“But you’re here now.”

“Yes.” He gripped the top of my pants and yanked them to the floor, my underwear following quickly behind. “And now it’s my turn.”

He dropped to his knees. Lifting one of my legs, his tongue traced a path up my ankle to the top of my thigh, stopping right at the crease. My muscles quivered, anticipation tightening my thighs.

“Miller, please.” I wanted his mouth in a whole different place than it was.

Our gazes connected. He switched legs and without breaking eye contact, he followed the same path as before. This time I was ready and sunk my fingers into his dark locks. He stopped and chuckled.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“Miller, don’t tease.”

“Or what?” A smirk lifted the corner of his lips.

“Or I’ll go upstairs and let the shower head do the work.”

“We wouldn’t want that.” He gripped the inside of my thighs and pushed them apart. My body practically melted when his tongue took the first swipe through me. The man was a master. Soon heat became the only thing I could feel, my hand clenching and unclenching against his scalp as he sucked hard on my clit, my back bowing off the couch.

“Fuck, Miller.”

He lifted his mouth from me. “Oh, sweet baby, you want to fuck?”

“Oh god, please.”

“Only after I’m done.”

His tongue pressed into my wet heat over and over again. My legs began to shake but Miller held them down, his fingers biting into the sensitive flesh. When he delivered one final lick and a swirl around my clit, I lost it, screaming his name so loud my throat felt raw. Not a moment passed before he slid into me.

“Let’s fuck.”

Miller slammed home, pulling back only to thrust again. His hands held my thighs back as he pumped into me over and over, the force of his thrusts rocking the couch so hard it felt like it moved beneath me.

“Damn, baby, I can still feel your tremors.”

“Harder,” I begged.

His thrusts became harder, faster, until the room was in a tail spin, both of us searching for the release that was within our grasp.

“Sweet Jesus.”

Miller lay his body gently on mine. Our bodies were slick, our desires sated. Exhaustion swept over my body like an iron blanket, pinning me to the couch. “I can’t move.”

“Give me a minute.” He paused for breath between each word.

Slowly his breathing returned to normal, and just as my eyelids became too heavy to keep them open, he scooped me into his arms. “Come on sexy, time to get you into to bed.”

My body was too limp to argue and once my flushed skin slid in between the now familiar cool, crisp sheets, nothing could stop my eyes from staying closed.

***

A loud beeping sound yanked me from sleep. My eyes snapped open and I sat up, pulling the sheet high over my naked breasts.

What is that?

I frantically searched the room for the source of the noise as feet thundered up the stairs. Was the house on fire?

I lunged from the bed when the door burst open to reveal Miller. Except it was a Miller I’d never seen before. His hair was disheveled, like he’d been running his fingers through it, and at the corner of his eyes and running down the length of his cheek was a white streak. His bare chest was covered in brown spots.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

The beeping ceased.
Thank God.

“What the hell was that?” I sat back down on the bed, my heart thundering in my chest.

“The smoke detector.”

It wasn’t like any smoke detector I’d ever heard. It sounded more like a siren than a beep. “What set it off?” I figured if Miller wasn’t running for the exits it was safe to relax back into the bed.

“I—I—I . . . uh . . . was trying to make you breakfast.” His hand went through his hair again, probably not for the first time that morning.

“Breakfast?”

“Yeah.” He waved his hands at me. “You stay there. I’ll be right back.”

He spun on his heel and left in a whirlwind, closing the door behind him. I tightened the sheets around me, wondering about breakfast and also how, with everything I knew about Miller, how had I missed him knowing how to cook? Then again, smoke detectors didn’t go off for no reason.

As hard as I tried to hold on to worrying about breakfast, I couldn’t stop thoughts of the day before from creeping up on me. Miller was downstairs making me breakfast in bed and I still hadn’t told him about what happened in the parking lot. That tingle up my spine was back, and even now the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. The footsteps. The shadows. Were they figments of my imagination?

Between Ray’s nonsense at the bar and his continuous text messages, I had more than enough on my plate. Thankfully, Miller had dealt with Nathan Marcello because if I’d had to worry about him on top of everything else, I wasn’t sure I’d want to get out of bed every day.