Beneath Broken (Imperfect Heroes #2) Read online

  Looking down into her crystal blue eyes, I said, “If I don’t stop, I’m going to embarrass myself here.”

  She grinned a little and chewed the side of her lip. “Well, we wouldn’t want that. Would we?”

  I ran the palm of my hand over the top of her head and it came to rest on her ponytail. I contemplated grasping it and dragging her to her bedroom by it, but realized that probably wasn’t the best thing to do at this point. Maybe one day I could…

  “Why did you stop kissing me?” Harper asked, lifting pleading blue pools up to look into my soul.

  “Because I don’t want to disrespect you by fucking you in your kitchen.”

  Her eyes went wide, and I had to fight hard to bite back a chuckle at her reaction. However, the surprise didn’t last long. The surprised countenance turned into a smoldering desire that made me swallow hard.

  As I’d sat on my sofa earlier during the fireworks, I had kept thinking that I needed to get up, get a shower after a long day at work, but I hadn’t been able to get up when those fireworks started – not until Harper showed up. However, I never got that shower.

  “Do you mind if I shower here?” I blurted out.

  She cocked her head to the side and looked at me for about half a minute before she lifted a gentle hand to my chin. “Of course not.”

  “You wanna join me?” I asked, feeling brave.

  Harper smiled up at me. “I do, but I’m not going to. I will, however, wait for you naked when you’re out.”

  Shit just got real…

  “That’s an offer a guy can’t refuse,” I replied, chuckling, my dick getting even harder.

  She grabbed my hand and led me to the staircase. We kissed all the way up. Then I remembered something. “You said you had something to show me. That’s why I came over.”

  She used her thumb to wipe off her bottom lip and gazed seductively up at me as she smirked. “Really? That’s the only reason you came over?”

  Sighing at her honesty, I chuckled. “Okay, that’s not the only reason. I want to see you naked.”

  “Soon,” she whispered with a coy grin.

  With her hand still in mine, she led me to the top of the stairs, and once we reached it, she opened the door on the left of the landing. A standalone bathroom sat directly in front of us, and some sort of near-empty office was on the right.

  Harper opened the door on the left, and put her arm out. “This is my bedroom.”

  My eyebrows furrowed, and while I wanted to say, So… am I going to get to see you naked in here? But I didn’t. Instead, I just smiled down at her, our hands still intertwined, my dick still hard as glass.

  “What you need to understand is… I have completely redone this room. It looks nothing like it once did.”

  I reluctantly dragged my gaze from hers and looked around. A red and black comforter with a funky but modern design with gold accents decorated the bed. The furniture was sort of a light wood variety of some type. There was a flat screen TV mounted to the wall and admittedly, I looked for photos of her with her late husband but found nothing there. As strange as it sounded, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  Why did this make me a little weirded out? It shouldn’t. Maybe I was just expecting something that wasn’t there.

  Distracting me, Harper said, “The bathroom is through there.”

  I looked in the direction she pointed and then back at her. She unbuttoned the little shirt she wore over her fitted cotton dress and I watched with interest as she began to remove it. Now gripped loosely in her right hand, she dropped it to the floor.

  “I’ll be waiting here when you get out.” She smiled at me.

  Chapter 27

  Harper

  I stood in the dark of my bedroom. The bedroom I had come to think of as only mine recently, instead of ours. Gutting and redoing it had definitely done my heart good.

  And it was my heart that now fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. Mason stood in the doorway between the bedroom and master bath, the glow of the moonlight streaming in from my window illuminating him as a light haze of steam surrounded him. It was at that moment, when I looked at him, that I had to decide to swallow down my vulnerability or give in to it – give it to Mason to hold in his hand and show me that I could trust him. My heart beat even faster as he slowly came toward me, his dark hair tousled and wet from the shower. His rock-hard chest was still a bit damp, and I could smell his manly, spicy shower gel still clinging to his skin. He had pulled on a pair of athletic shorts, and as my gaze slithered the length of his body, I swore my hand twitched, itching to pull down those shorts and show me what he was working with. Of course, I would never do this.

  He moved painfully slow, but it seemed as though he reached me in no time. I made no move toward him; I let him come to me. Once he was right in front of me, he cupped my cheek with his left hand, the right one sliding around my waist and landing at the small of my back. I resisted the urge to shudder under that small touch, and invariably failed.

  With the pad of his rough thumb, he slowly ran it across my cheek and stared at me, almost as if he wanted me to say something, or as if he wanted to say something himself. I kept silent, just staring into his eyes that looked like deep, inky pools in the darkness of the room. My breathing sped up when I felt his hand begin to slide up my back, caressing my spine on its way up. He brushed fingertips over my bare neck before reaching up and yanking at the ponytail holder at the back of my head. What should have been a familiar pain mixed with pleasure as my heavy hair was freed and cascaded over my shoulders was only pure, tingling pleasure. Mason massaged my scalp, as if he understood how it ached after being trapped in its ponytail prison all day.

  “Beautiful,” he said, never breaking eye contact. “You’re so incredibly beautiful and sexy. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?”

  I swallowed thickly and shook my head side to side, my hair tickling my nearly bare shoulders. I watched as his dark brows dipped together and didn’t understand why he looked upset.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, reaching up to touch his stubbly cheek with the tips of two fingers.

  “There’s no way that nobody has never told you you’re beautiful, because from the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew right then and there I had never seen anyone so stunning. You literally took my breath away. How can you not see that?”

  I dropped my eyes away, shying away from a compliment as I usually did. The hand that was still on my cheek moved to my chin. He tipped it up with his fingers, making me look at him, right before he leaned down and covered my mouth with his. Mason’s lips weren’t exactly gentle, but I didn’t mind. His right hand moved down to the small of my back again and he pushed me closer to his body where I felt his hardness pressing against my stomach. My body erupted into goosebumps at the feel of how much he wanted me. A dark, heady desire I hadn’t felt in such a long time began to pool somewhere in my lower belly. So overwhelmed by it, I gasped into his mouth.

  The hand which had been on my chin slipped down my neck and began to slide down to the spaghetti strap of my dress. With it lying lazily over my arm, he reached over and pushed the other strap down. The hand at my back tugged at the sun dress, and with a little help from me, it slipped completely off and it pooled at my feet.

  It was then he broke the kiss and stepped back a little to gaze down at my body. I now only wore a small pair of pink lace bikinis and no bra.

  “Damn…” he said, panting slightly. “You steal my breath, Harper.”

  “Please be gentle… it’s been a while.” I meant it, but then I didn’t mean it. He had me so aroused, the nervousness I had been feeling was beginning to ebb away with every touch.

  He grinned. “I may start out gentle…”

  In a bold move for me, I reached my hand around his neck and pushed his mouth back to mine. His tongue slid inside, caressing me, and I groaned. He was the best kisser I had ever had, not that I had much to compare to.

  I pushed thoughts of
anything else away from me and concentrated on what was in front of me. Mason broke the kiss and turned me around, sitting me on the bed. With him standing in front of me, it felt natural to put both hands on his hips and slip his dark blue shorts down over his muscular ass, then legs. His erection sprang free and I gasped at its beauty right in front of me.

  Using my right hand, I ran a finger up his thigh and over to his perfect manhood, caressing it with my thumb. Mason’s neck arched back and he groaned a little at my touch, which made me smile.

  “Shit, woman. I need you,” he murmured thickly.

  I swallowed again, smiling and nodding, my mouth eager to taste him.

  But he moved from in front of me and went to lie on the bed with his head on a pillow. He then beckoned me to him with two fingers. Not needing to be asked twice, I crawled slowly up toward his rock hard body like a starving animal about to finally eat, and thrust myself into his arms. I went to lie beside him, intent on kissing him some more, but he instead sat up, pushing me back slightly. He slowly slid my panties off, dropped them on the floor, then used his strong hand to lift one of my long legs, spreading it across his groin. The hand he’d used to push off my panties reached between my legs and touched me where I hadn’t been touched in over a year. I sucked in a breath when two of his fingers found my most intimate spot and began to explore. When one found my slick entrance, I let out some kind of squeal-squeak that I didn’t even recognize as my own. He moved his thick, talented fingers in, out, and around. I stopped breathing.

  His fingers continued their amazing moves and each time they were removed from me and thrust back in, pleasure in waves began to wash over me.

  “Oh, Mason…” I groaned out as the beginning of my orgasm hit me.

  His fingers kept moving and I was gasping for air, stars exploding behind my eyes. I couldn’t believe how fast that hit me. It was almost embarrassing how fast I came.

  Wow…

  Removing his hand, he gripped my thigh to push me on top of him, and almost instinctively, I sat up straddling him, his rock hard shaft lying perfectly against me. I began to move back and forth over it, as his hand reached up to rub my very hard nipple. I wanted nothing more than to feel him inside me now.

  “You’re so damn beautiful,” he said, one hand gripping my thigh, the other rubbing my hardened bud.

  I suddenly remembered something so I asked, “Do you have any… uh, protection? I’m not using any birth control. Didn’t see any reason to continue it…”

  “Yes, I have some. Don’t worry about that, baby.” He reached over and grabbed a condom from the nightstand.

  Where did that come from?

  “Placed it there a few minutes ago,” he chuckled, as if reading my mind but probably most likely reading my confused expression.

  Ripping it open and pushing me back so he had room to roll it on, I watched the action with lustful fascination, and the felt both his hands reach up to grip and control my waist. He left one hand there and used the other to gently grasp my breast, his thumb sensually brushing over the hardened bud again. A bolt of white-hot pleasure shot straight to my core, and it was my turn to moan and arch my head back as pure lust washed over me. My nipples pebbled even harder at his touch and I felt like I could come again already.

  “Oh, God…” I breathed.

  It had been so long… way too long… and as I was reminded about how much I missed this, it dawned on me that love and pleasure was such a fine line. The jumble of emotions roaring through me made the room spin.

  As Mason continued to stroke me, I could feel his hips begin to move a little, as if he couldn’t wait to take me. I knew the feeling. I wanted him inside of me and I could think of nothing else. Without wasting any more time, I arched up on my knees and used my hand to guide him inside me. I’m pretty sure the squeak I croaked out was anything but sexy, but I didn’t care. I doubt he did either, as he was too busy swearing and groaning as he hit rock bottom in me.

  “Oh, fuck, baby. You’re so tight,” he breathed.

  I wonder why.

  I shuddered at his words. My hips began to move on their own, and his joined mine in perfect sync, his hands exploring my body. As my hips moved faster, so did his. His hipbones reached up to press into the flesh of my bottom as I rolled my pelvis back and forth over his perfect cock that seemed to fit me so perfectly.

  In a move that surprised me, he sat up, still inside of me, grabbing both my legs and wrapping them around him. I curled them around his muscled ass as we continued to make love to each other in perfect rhythm. We were now face to face, and he leaned in and kissed me, groaning into my mouth as my tongue caressed his. Surely he liked me being on top, but now neither of us were. We were face to face and I started to feel the buildup of pleasurable stress begin to climb through my body again. My hips moved faster and his did, too. Throwing back my head, Mason’s hand kept a strong hold on my back as my breathing became more ragged and uncontrolled. His rock hardness inside of me, caressing my most intimate core, was driving me crazy.

  Mason slid his hand down my side, and then he reached his fingers between us, caressing me right where he was rocking in and out of me. When his finger pressed down onto my tight bundle of nerves, I cried out and I threw my head back. My body needed another release and I instantly found it, clenching my dripping wet sex against him, crying – actually crying tears – as the orgasm hit me so much harder than the last one had.

  I felt like I was screaming as it ripped through me, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. My trembling body felt like it had been engulfed in flames and I could barely breathe. I shook uncontrollably as I began to see stars float behind my closed eyelids.

  “Yes. So beautiful,” he whispered in my ear, his hand still on my back, his fingers caressing me as pleasure continued to ripple and soar through my body.

  My God, how long it been since I’d had a release like that?

  “Oh, Mason,” I sobbed in his ear, my arm still draped around his neck, holding onto him, as if letting go would mean losing him.

  My hips continued to move on him when I heard him groan into my neck. Suddenly, he stilled under me, his body twitching inside of me, the rock-hard feeling increasing as my sex milked him and his warmth flooded inside.

  “Ohhhhhh,” he moaned, his body, pulsing over and over as he released all of the tension inside of me… tension we’d both been amassing for weeks. The feel of it was making me build up to another orgasm, and I hoped that we had the rest of the night so we could do that again. The thought of it sent shivers over my entire body. I collapsed on the bed next to him, and his arm was spread out, ready for me to be enveloped in. I rolled to my side and snuggled into his, sighing happily, and still trying to catch my breath.

  He kissed the top of my head and faced me. His breaths were ragged but had slowed. We now gazed straight on at each other, this time lying down instead of sitting up, locked together as one. His fingers stroked my shoulder as my hand rested on his waist.

  “You’re incredible,” he breathed into my face.

  “You took the words right out of my mouth,” I replied, getting lost in his eyes.

  He pulled me against his body and kissed me again, which aroused me quickly and I hoped he wouldn’t pass out all night. That we could continue this.

  He got up and got rid of the condom, then came back to bed, where I fell asleep in his arms.

  I was happily surprised when, after sleeping off his exhaustion, he woke me about an hour later and began kissing me, wasting no time plunging back inside of me, pinning my hands to the bed with his and showing me how much he loved my body.

  I got no sleep whatsoever, but I had never been happier, ever, and I refused to feel guilty about that.

  Chapter 28

  Mason

  We’d spent all day in bed, and it was one of the best days of my life. I had never in my life had feelings for someone like I had for Harper. I was falling fast, hard, and dangerously for this woman, and the sm
ile on my face proved that I didn’t give two fucks whether it might end badly, because it would be worth it. I knew in my heart it was worth it – that she was worth it.

  I had finally come home to get some shit done. I hadn’t wanted to leave her, but there were some things I needed to take care of here. Plus, I’d run out of condoms. I chuckled at the thought. We definitely needed to have a talk about her getting on some sort of birth control. I needed to feel her without any sort of barrier with between us.

  Was that figuratively or literally, I wasn’t sure but I didn’t have the energy to analyze it. All I knew was that she so soft and beautiful, and breaking down those walls she put up wasn’t easy, but it was worth the effort. I couldn’t blame her for why she had the walls up. I couldn’t imagine what she had gone through over the past year and a half. She had to have been in her own personal hell, losing someone like that. I admit I’m fortunate to not have lost anyone really close to me – yet – and while the thought that my brother, my best friend, Duke, could have died overseas just like Keith had, it was a thought I often pushed from my mind.

  What I also knew was that when someone left to go fight a war, and then came back, they weren’t always the same person who’d left. I had seen it in Duke. He’d always been short-tempered, closed-off, and a bit gruff – it was just his personality. But after returning from war, he was downright mean and cruel. I’d hardly recognized him when he got back. It was so fucking hard dealing with him like that, and on more than one occasion, I had held our mother as she’d cried, thinking she’d lost her firstborn son, that the old Duke had left and a new one had taken his place. I was glad that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t exactly the same, and he still had to work hard to control his temper, but he was obviously normal and sane enough to hold down a job and have a woman fall in love with him. Or hell, maybe she was the crazy one. I couldn’t wait to get to know her better. Any girl who could love my brother would be loved by me, too.