Looks like Trouble to Me (Bad Boys Need Love, Too #1) Read online

  Jace tried hard to contain all the feelings trying to escape. “Not really. My sister and I were raised by a couple of zealous, bible thumping Christians.”

  Zoé slowly nodded in acknowledgment.

  “Mom and Dad always prayed for our souls, preaching the ways of their wrathful god. I wanted nothing to do with a god who took glee over the suffering of others. I also wanted nothing to do with the belt they used to drive home their points about mercy.”

  She turned to look at him, her face soft, finally displaying something other than well-deserved rage toward him. “Your parents beat you?”

  “Yeah, both me and my sister, but don’t bother feeling sorry for me. I hate pity.”

  “I don’t feel sorry for you. This is compassion. I can’t imagine anyone harming you.”

  This time he had to look away. “Yeah, well, shit happens. Anyway, I took off at age sixteen and came west. Found my Aunt Molly and she took me in. My sister soon followed and we had a couple years surrounded by warmth and kindness. I was already wild, getting into fights, skipping school a lot. I’m smart but my grades suffered. I was messed up, self-destructive, you name it. I played hard. Almost killed myself with my recklessness a couple times. I finally dropped out of school, got my GED and went to work for Neil. My sister was tragic. She started using, big time. I only dabbled. She’s been to rehab more times than I can count.”

  “Oh, Jace, I’m so sorry.”

  He ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. Me, too.” His mouth began to work back and forth as he contemplated telling her the next piece. “I went to high school with Billy. He was already a wealthy prick. He was always attracted to my sister but he kept seducing whoever he could get his hands on, so never pursued it. He started dating my sister a couple years ago. Knocked her up then left her when he found out. Tosses her a few dollars now and then. She puts them in her arm.” He made a gesture like he was giving himself a shot with a needle.

  “Did she keep the pregnancy?”

  “Yep.” His face softened as he thought of Marni. “She’s a beautiful little girl. She’s winding her way into my heart. Kind of like you.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. Cocked her head. Studied him for a few seconds, as if he were speaking gibberish. “So Billy’s sick genes are floating around in your family.”

  “Yep.” Jace’s stomach coiled in knots. “Makes me violent inside.”

  She stilled, seeming to contemplate her next words. “So what’s the trouble you and your sister got into that Billy plans on using against you in court?”

  “He won’t get away with it. He’s just bluffing and boasting, Billy-style.”

  “What is it? Tell me.”

  “I was furious when he knocked her up. I broke into one of his love shacks and did some damage. Stole some shit. It was stupid but I was pissed. I was never caught - I’ve always been lucky that way but he knows who did it.” A bitter laugh escaped his lips. “I wrecked his pride and joy pleasure room. Destroyed it. I used to listen to him boast about the kind of nasty shit he did to women in there and pictured him doing that to my sister. I broke every sex toy, every piece of equipment he had. Ropes, swings, paddles, whips, blindfolds, nipple clamps, ball gags, dildos, cock rings - you name it, he had it.” He could have done that kind of shit to Zoé tonight. His eyes closed and he willed himself to keep it together. “I piled it in the middle of the room, poured gasoline over it and boom!” He splayed his fingers in front of his face. “Then I beat a hasty retreat, covering my tracks, making sure I left no traces of me for the cops to find.”

  “Jesus, Jace, you are a wild thing. So I’m in bed with a criminal.”

  “You’re only a criminal if you get caught.” He smiled coldly.

  “Is this something you’ll do again? Are you prone to criminal acts?”

  “No!” he said forcefully. “I told you, I was pissed at Billy. I tried legal means to get to him but he’s got a wall of money at his disposal. The dude could get away with murder if he wanted. It was a last resort, pissed as hell move on my part. I won’t be doing shit like that again. Just because you got lucky once, doesn’t mean you’ll get lucky again.”

  He and Zoé sat silently, saying nothing.

  Finally, Jace said, “I told you Kate was an addict. Besides all her other drug shenanigans, ending up in the arrest, she also got hooked on some prescription drugs I had when I injured myself.”

  “What did you do?” Zoé asked softly.

  “I got in a motorcycle accident. Totaled my bike. She got strung out on my drugs and begged me to keep getting them for her, when I no longer needed them. When we finally broke up for the last time we did a ceremony up on Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Peninsula. I told her I was through with her. I promised I’d do everything in my power to leave her and the lifestyle she lived. That’s when I got this -- it represents getting away from Kate Bethlehem and the lifestyle she represented.” He gestured to his tattoo. “But then I slipped up, doing drugs on the yacht, much like you used tonight. I wanted to numb the pain. I used this tattoo as my touchstone and cleaned up my act. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Now it seems like child’s play. But this represents the kind of determination I have.” He stroked his forearm absentmindedly with his fingers. “It’s the same determination that will see this through.” He flipped his fingers between him and Zoé.

  Zoé nodded.

  “I want you. I won’t let you go.” He said the words with absolute certainty.

  Zoé shivered and looked away.

  “Anyway, back to my sister. She overdosed a few weeks ago. I found her, at her house, lying on the floor, Marni -- that’s her little girl -- screaming by her side. I thought my sis was dead, the same way I thought you were dead when I found you tonight.” He gazed at Zoé, his eyes moist with goddamn tears. “We got her to the hospital, got her stomach pumped, then she took off. No-one knows where she is.”

  “Oh, dear God, Jace!” Zoé’s hand flew to her mouth. She pried it away and said, “Who’s got the baby?”

  Jace looked away from her, pressing his lips tight.

  “Who, Jace? Is she…is the child all right?”

  Jace lifted his head to her and despised himself, shrinking back from the bewilderment in her eyes. She thinks I can’t take care of a child. She’s right. He bit his lip.

  “You’re taking care of your sister’s child?” She gaped at him.

  “She deserves better. She’s a good girl. But, yeah.”

  “Oh, Jace!” Tears streamed down her face.

  “Please don’t cry,” Jace pleaded. “It’s hard enough telling you this shit. I think I’ll lose it if you keep crying.”

  “I can’t help it,” Zoé said. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” She wiped her face with her knuckles.

  Jace wanted to suck the tears from her cheeks, to hold her, soothe her, but he stayed still. “Be real. What would you have done if I’d have laid this pile of shit at your feet when we started getting together? You’d have run like hell.”

  “No, I wouldn’t,” she said defensively.

  “I don’t believe you,” Jace said coldly. “You proved yourself tonight.”

  They both fell silent again, watching each other like distant strangers across a vast chasm.

  Zoé broke the silence, saying, “Thank you for telling me. So that’s why you didn’t want me to call you when you’re at home, or come over for that matter.”

  “Right. I wanted to keep you out of my trouble, to keep you safe on your side of the pond. I’d hoped my sister would show up and assume responsibility. I didn’t want to drag you through my shit. I wanted to protect you, clean up my many messes and show up for you as a stand-up guy.”

  She chuckled. “Like that could happen - you keeping me out of trouble. Your kind of trouble has been seeking me out since day one.”

  He smirked. “Yeah. I guess so.” He blew out his breath. “I’ve been running ragged for weeks, trying to keep it together, do my job, take care of
a toddler which I have no experience in, I have to say. But shit keeps piling on top of shit, what with this latest Billy escapade. Still, I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t met you.”

  “Oh, baby,” Zoé said in her soft, sweet voice. She reached out and took his hand in hers.

  He brought it to his lips and kissed it. “You move me, Zoé. You stir something in me I’ve never felt before. It’s electric times a thousand.” His eyes gazed at her fiercely as he said this. He watched her shift, lick her lips and swallow. Good.

  “I feel the same way.”

  “I know you do. Don’t run from it. Don’t run from me.” He brought her hand to his erection. “See what you do to me, baby? I loved Kate, true enough. But what I felt for her was nothing compared to what I feel for you.”

  She focused her warm brown eyes on his, stirring his insides into hard, tempestuous want. “Are we done talking about this shit?” he asked.

  “Yes. We’re done.”

  “Good. Because I want to bury myself deep inside you and forget we ever had this conversation.”

  “I don’t. I’m glad we had it. It makes me love you all the more.”

  His chest ached like he’d been battered with a two by four, bombarded by emotions struggling to escape. He stared at her, his breath chuffing from his lungs. “Are you for real? How can you say that?”

  “It’s true. You let me in. That’s what matters to me. I’m big enough to deal with your troubles as long as you include me.”

  He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Yeah, okay. I do feel better having told you. But I’m done talking. I have better things to do with my time.”

  “Such as?” She tipped her head to the side and smiled sweetly at him, completely turning him on.

  “Next chapter in Jace Savage’s Art of Seduction, baby. Let me love you with all my heart.” This time he said the L-word with no hesitation at all.

  Chapter 24

  “What do you have in mind?” Zoé asked Jace.

  “I know a place,” he said, a slow smile spreading on his face.

  “Of course you do. You have this whole region mapped out for your pleasure.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Our pleasure, you mean.”

  She shuddered as his dark, emerald gaze lazily explored her face, dipping down to linger on her shoulders and breasts.

  “Where do we do it?”

  “Drive. I’ll tell you the way to go.” He cupped his chin with his hand and stroked his lips and jaw, dragging a fingertip between his parted teeth.

  She shivered again, turned the keys in the ignition and drove.

  He guided her to a wooded area. “Pull in here and park around the back.”

  “What is this place?” She peered through the trees, shrouded by early morning pre-dawn light, at a plain looking building. First light had not yet arrived. She could barely make out the outline.

  “You’ll see. Get out.”

  “Okay,” she said cautiously.

  “Do you trust me?” he said, coming around the Jeep to stand before her.

  “I’m working on it.”

  “This is a trust game.”

  “Okay,” she said, feeling all fluttering inside.

  “Turn around and put your hands on top of the Jeep.”

  She did as she was told, quivers of excitement snaking through her belly.

  He pressed his tall body against her, his thick erection nudging her behind. “Feel that, baby?”

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “All for you. I won’t share you, ever.”

  He enveloped her, sweeping his fingers up her arms, from her hands to her neck and back to her hands, pressing them flat against the cool metal, engulfed in his.

  Trembles rolled through her body, even though he’d touched her through the fabric of her sleeves. He nudged apart her legs with one firm thigh, pushing insistently against her, as he brought his mouth down to her neck. “Stay still, baby,” he uttered, his warm breath puffing along her skin. “Close your eyes.”

  An involuntary shiver launched up her spine as her eyes fell shut.

  One of his arms released her and he seemed to be fumbling inside his leather jacket. He released the other hand and brought a soft, silky scarf around her eyes, tying it snugly in place.

  She swallowed and licked her lips.

  He reached around and grasped her arms, pulling them behind her back. Holding them in one large hand, he fiddled around with the other. He snapped cool steel into place around her wrists with a click.

  Lines of fear spiked through her, every sense kicking into high alert.

  He brought his mouth to her ear. “Ready, baby?”

  “I’m ready,” she breathed, her tummy feeling like a thousand butterflies were trying to get free.

  “Start walking.” He placed his warm hand in the middle of her back, guiding her forward.

  She kept her attention on his hand at her back, his voice, and her feet, stepping cautiously forward. Everything seemed vivid, clear, heightened -- the crunching gravel, the chilly, moist air on her neck and face, the heat rolling off the man behind her, the steady exhales she made.

  “Stop here. Seven steps to the gates of heaven, baby,” he said. “Lift your foot.”

  She did so, placing her foot on the wooden step.

  “That’s one. That’s two. Five more. Good, baby. Hold up.”

  She stopped. Her breath came in short little spasms.

  “Four steps to the entrance. Now stay put. I’ll be right back.”

  When Jace returned she heard the soft scrape of metal on metal and the snick of a door lock.

  “Okay, come on,” Jace said in a low voice.

  Slightly warmer air touched her face as they entered. “Where are we?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “Who lives here?”

  “No-one you need concern yourself with.”

  “Are they home?”

  “No. This place isn’t in use right now.”

  “Abandoned?”

  “Shhh,” he said, guiding her forward. “Stop here.”

  A door opening noise sounded, followed by a waft of cool, stale air.

  “Down the steps, baby. Twelve more steps into the dark mysteries. We’re going to transform hell.”

  What? Her heart began to hammer, racing like a greyhound. Puzzled, she began cautiously traipsing down the steps until she reached the landing at the bottom. The place smelled dank, like sex, weed, and cigarettes. “Where are we, Jace?” she asked, her voice filled with trepidation.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does to me,” she said.

  “Baby, just trust me. Please. I’m going to make you feel really, really good, I promise. You don’t like it, you tell me. Say, um….say ‘release’ and I’ll stop on the spot.”

  “Release,” she said. “That’s the word then.”

  “Release,” he agreed.

  She continued her forward movement until he told her to stop. “Now what?”

  One arm came around her knees, the other around her shoulders. He easily hefted her into his arms. The reverberation of his footfalls landed sharply in her ears as she felt herself being lifted up more stairs, like he’d stepped onto a platform.

  She took a couple more sniffs, finding a slightly musty smell mixed with the smell of old wood. Some floral scent tickled her nostrils…lilies? Roses?

  Jace maneuvered her body, sitting her on a hard wood table.

  “Are we in someone’s basement entertainment room?”

  “Shhh,” he said. “Close enough.” He unlocked the handcuff of one wrist, and pried the metal with a snick. “Lay back, beautiful.” He cradled her head in his large palm, guiding her until she lay prone on the solid table, cradled in fur.

  Her legs dangled off the end of the table, the precise corner of the wood digging into her thighs. She bent her legs, resting her shoe-clad feet on top, wondering if she laid on top an examination table of some kind. Jace lifted he
r other arm over her head and locked the free cuff in place to some sort of bolt, as far as she could tell. His hands disappeared, and then another cuff landed on her other wrist and was similarly locked in place, pinning her. Fear danced through her system, making the hair along her arms and neck stand tall. “No-one’s going to come home and find me like this, are they? I mean, we’re not going to be interrupted, right?”

  “No, baby, no-one’s going to come. Except you and me. I’m so fucking turned on right now I could come just watching you. You’re so fucking gorgeous.” He stepped across the room and fiddled with something, and the room was immersed in exotic, ambient, trip-hop sounds.

  Not what I expected, she thought, imagining him more a metal, rock or rap guy. The heavy bass beat of the music vibrated in her heart.

  He ran trembling fingers over her face. He slowly unbuttoned the placket of her shirt, planting tender kisses along her sternum as her skin was revealed. He peeled apart the fabric, leaving her bra in place. “Fuck. So fucking beautiful. So, so, fucking beautiful.”

  She frowned behind her blindfold. He’s shaking. My beautiful bad boy lover is shaking.

  “Lift your hips, baby.”

  She did as told, delighting as his hands swept her skirt and panties free from her hips. Some sort of wood on wood sliding rasp sounded, a cushy triangular shaped pillow was placed under her legs and her ankles were secured with solid leather straps, forcing her legs wide. Her hips were poised at the very edge of the table, open to the environment. The vulnerability of the position caused her fear to spike another notch. I’m completely exposed to this man. She let a deep sigh fall from her lips and waited.

  His shaking fingers traced her skin, starting at her ankles, working his way up her thighs, her belly, her sternum, hopping over the narrow bra strap. He circled her satiny bra cups before planting his mouth around the wispy cloth covering her areola, sucking hard, working her with his tongue and teeth, making her nipples grow rigid inside the fabric. “Fuck,” he said softly. “I’m so hard for you. I’ve got a boner as hard as an iron rod.” His hand softly caressed her collarbones, her neck, her jaw. When his finger approached her mouth, she opened and bit lightly, drawing it into her mouth, sucking on it.