Caress: The Nora Heat Collection Read online

  Before I could even get close to my building, a hand gripped my shoulder and yanked me around.

  Matt gripped my upper arms, forcing me to face him, and that’s when it happened, the one thing I didn’t want to do, but had to.

  I screamed.

  SIX

  Chanel

  My scream was cut short when he cupped a hand over my mouth and tried to pull me aside. “Chanel, calm the fuck down!” he hissed, while I jerked and thrashed.

  I bit his hand and he hollered, allowing me a chance to break away. But I couldn’t get too far. I stumbled sideways, tripping over my own damn feet and landing flat on my ass.

  He stood tall, glaring down at me. “This is why I fucking love you, you know that? Always playing hard to get. I fucking love that shit!”

  “Stay the fuck away from me!” I snapped, backing away on my palms. I needed to get up and run. I was thinking it but was too paralyzed with fear to make it happen.

  No one was in front of this shop. It was dark, the lights off in front of the boutique. Could anyone even see me? Hear me? Someone had to be around.

  He stepped forward again, but just as he did, a hand wrapped around my arm and reeled me up.

  I gasped and looked up into familiar brown eyes.

  Kobe.

  He was shirtless, his jaw clenched as he glared at Matt. I was so overcome with relief that I wanted to cry.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Matt snapped.

  Kobe took a step toward him, fists clenched. “Her new bodyguard, and I suggest you get the fuck out of my sight before I break your goddamn neck.”

  Matt grimaced at him before looking at me. “Is this your new toy? You gonna lead him on too, like you did me?”

  “I never led you on, jackass!” I barked. “You’re obsessed with me, you fucking psycho!” My voice shook with fear.

  Matt challenged Kobe by taking a step forward. Kobe took another. His hand went to Matt’s throat without hesitation and he gripped it. Matt was a big man, stocky and built like a football player, but not in the hot kind of way like Kobe.

  I drew in a sharp breath and backed away, eyelashes damp.

  “You’re going to leave now, and you won’t come back around here. If I see so much as a hair of you—if you ever touch her again—I will end you.”

  Matt was struggling to breathe, clawing at Kobe’s hand. When Kobe finally let him go Matt buckled over, gasping for air. He stood up, rubbing his throat and as he walked away he yelled, “Fuck you, Chanel!”

  Kobe watched him walk until he could no longer see him. We both did. Then Kobe turned to face me, looking me over.

  “You hurt?”

  “No. Just a little shocked.” Shocked wasn’t the word, more like scared shitless.

  He sighed, glancing over his shoulder and then walking toward the bag I dropped on the sidewalk. He picked it up, collecting the items, and picked up my cellphone and wallet. I’d tossed them in the bag too.

  He handed me the bag with my wallet and my cellphone. “You won’t be going anywhere else without me. Got it?”

  I took the bag. “Yeah,” I breathed. “Sure. Got it.”

  With a single nod of his head, he placed a warm hand on my arm and escorted me back to our building, peering over his shoulder several times before we entered.

  The ride up the elevator was quiet, the tension thick, and heavy. When the doors opened on my floor, I rushed for my apartment door. I unlocked it quickly, and as soon as I stepped in, I dropped the bag and the wallet on the coffee table. I sat down on the sofa and took a moment.

  Kobe stood by the door and waited a beat before asking, “You okay?”

  “Fine, just need a minute.”

  “Do you want me to leave?” he asked.

  His question was a hefty one. No, I didn’t want him to leave yet. I wanted him to stay, mostly for my own personal reasons.

  He’d just saved my life. No one had ever done to Matt what he just did for me. None of my bodyguards had protected me the way he did. So viciously. So powerfully. So boldly. So…dominantly.

  I sighed and shook my head. “Stay, please. I’ll call Skye and tell her we’ll reschedule. She’s busy anyway.”

  He seemed opposed to the idea of staying. He lingered by the door longer than he should have, looking out of it before finally shutting it and taking a step forward.

  “Just for an hour or so. I’m worried he’ll come again,” I murmured. “Shit, he’s probably still watching me.”

  “I can always keep watch outside the door,” he replied, pointing back with his thumb.

  I knew he could, but I didn’t want him to. I wanted him inside. With me. I stood up, walking his direction. He lifted his chin, looking down at me as I stopped in front of him.

  “Stay. Please. Just…just until I feel better.”

  He looked me over once, and as he did, I felt my bottom lip tremble. When he noticed, he let out a deep sigh and nodded his head slowly, shutting the door and walking over to stand in front of my window.

  With a sigh of relief, I walked to the small corner where my king-sized bed was and took my hat off, stripping out of my clothes quickly. I’d started changing into a pair of shorts and a white tank when I felt eyes on me.

  I looked over and Kobe jerked his gaze away, putting his focus outside the window again.

  Oh. Right.

  I was so used to changing clothes in front of literally anyone during the lingerie fashion shows. I’d even endured a few nip-slips here and there due to wardrobe malfunctions.

  But this was my bodyguard.

  He wasn’t just anyone. It was wrong for him to see me getting undressed.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  He didn’t respond.

  With a sigh, I walked to my kitchen and took out a shot glass and my favorite drink. Whiskey. I filled my glass before bringing the rim to my lips with shaky hands and gulped it down like water.

  It burned going down, hitting me hard. It’d been three months since I last had a drink. I’d been so busy and I knew it was stupid to drink before a shoot, but after that altercation, I needed some kind of comfort.

  He got so close…he could have done anything to me.

  My heart still raced, thinking about all the ways he could have hurt me.

  I poured myself another shot.

  “I don’t think you should be drinking so much,” Kobe said. “You have a shoot tomorrow. Have to wake up at six a.m.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I responded, chucking the next shot down.

  He pressed his lips.

  “Can you, like, sit or something?” I asked, waving a hand toward my sofa. “You’re making me feel awkward and uncomfortable.”

  “I should really be standing outside the door Chanel, or at least going to put a shirt on. I shouldn’t even be in here right now.” I felt his gaze searing into me as I downed my fourth shot. I was certain putting a shirt on was the last thing on his mind. I put the whiskey back in the liquor cabinet and rinsed the shot glass with warm water.

  “I’ll have to tell your dad about Matthew Hall,” he said. Hearing Matthew’s name made the hairs on my spine tingle. I walked to the sofa, slouching down in my favorite corner and drew my legs up to my chest.

  “I won’t tell them what happened if you don’t, or about me wanting to go alone. That way you won’t get in trouble for it,” I said. “We can say he tried to attack me while I was walking with you from the store.”

  “Sure. That works.” He was quiet for a moment and then turned away from the window to face me. “Did you lead him on?” he asked, his voice gruff. “Matthew Hall?”

  “What?” I snapped, whipping my head to look at him. “No! I didn’t even let him inside my old apartment because he was such a creep! He always stayed outside. From the moment I saw him, I knew there was something wrong with him. I just ignored it because most bodyguards are usually very…stand-offish.”

  “Hmm,” was all he said, like he wasn’t sure what to believe.

>   His question annoyed me.Ugh.

  The whiskey was starting to hit me. All of the emotions were charging through me. My phone vibrated on the table and I dug in the plastic bag, taking it out and checking it. It was a text from Skye.

  Instead of getting the chance to cancel on her, she’d cancelled on me to hang out with a guy she’d just met during a shoot. I was glad because I really didn’t feel like explaining why we couldn’t hang out. But on the other hand, I needed her. I needed someone to talk to right now.

  I needed my mom. God, I missed her so much. Times like these were when I really needed her hugs to warm me up and comfort me.

  I was in full-blown panic mode and tears immediately stung my eyes.

  Before I could stop it, I sniffled, dropping my face into the palms of my hands. The last time I cried was four months ago, when my douche of an ex-boyfriend broke my heart and cheated on me with another model.

  I promised myself I would never feel as useless as I did when I found out, yet here I was, sobbing on my sofa with my new, shirtless bodyguard standing less than four steps away. He was probably looking at me like I was a damn psycho.

  I wouldn’t have blamed him if he left the room and gave me time to let it all out. It wasn’t his job to comfort me or make me feel better. He was only here for one thing: to protect me while in public. And I didn’t even let him do that.

  “God, I’m sorry,” I blubbered. “I don’t usually cry like this. Seriously. I don’t.” I swiped hard at my face, eyes fixed on the glass table, utterly ashamed. “He just really scared the shit out of me. I didn’t think I’d ever see that man again.”

  “It’s okay. It’s what I’m here for. It’s also okay to cry,” he murmured. I expected him to leave after airing his statement. I figured his words were a way to make me feel better while not making this entire situation too awkward.

  But, he didn’t leave.

  Instead, he walked around my coffee table to get to the other side of the sofa and took a seat. We both sat there in silence.

  I didn’t look at him. I was too embarrassed.

  I heard the leather crunch as he shifted, and then his hand was on my shoulder. It slid down to the middle of my back and he rubbed me there, his thumb lightly stroking my spine.

  I could hear him breathing, smell the lightly scented cologne on his skin.

  When he touched me every one of my senses spiked.

  And when I lifted my head and found his eyes, I felt the air slip right out of my lungs. He was even more beautiful up close.

  Perfectly chiseled jaw. Hair messy like he’d constantly been shoving his fingers through it.

  This man…this man had just saved my life.

  Though it was a part of his job, anything could have happened. Matt could have had a gun and shot Kobe. He could have been seriously hurt. Something worse could have gone down, but he stepped up to the plate.

  Maybe it was just for his career’s sake, but deep in my gut, I felt like he was truly doing what he did for me, going so far as to threaten Matt’s life.

  He studied my face as I did his, and then…well, I don’t know what came over me next.

  One moment I was sitting there, staring into his eyes through damp lashes, and the next, I was on his lap, my lips on his, desperate for a taste of him.

  He gripped me, groaning hard as I moaned, his hands shifting down to my waist. God, his lips were so soft and they tasted sweet, like fruit.

  He almost kissed me back—almost spread his lips to give me access—but he didn’t.

  “Chanel,” he groaned, and his voice was my wake-up call.

  Shit! What the hell am I doing? I jerked away in an instant, scrambling back to my side of the sofa again.

  “Oh, my gosh,” I whispered, wiping the pad of my thumb over my bottom lip. “Shit, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” he told me, eyes sincere. “Just the drinks getting to you.”

  “Yeah,” I laughed it off, but I still felt the pull. We both did and we just…sat there. We were like magnets—so drawn to each other, yet we hardly knew anything about each other. I straightened up against the arm of the sofa as he drank me in, like he was suddenly aware of how I looked.

  The way he looked at me—if I hadn’t known any better, I’d say Kobe Ward wanted to finish what I’d just started.

  He scanned me with his eyes twice and breathed a little harder through parted lips before his gaze slid back to mine.

  And then he moved closer.

  Closer.

  Until he was right there, his warm chest touching my knees. He was slow with his actions, taking his time, eyes trained on mine. Capping my knees with his large hands, he spread them apart and then dropped his right hand, letting his fingers skate down the inside of my thigh.

  My breath dwindled as I stared right back at him, his soft, smooth caress searing my skin.

  I wanted to say so much—ask so many things.

  But instead I remained quiet.

  Allowing our breaths to tangle.

  Allowing our eyes to burn with desire.

  His fingers continued down until he was at the edge of my shorts. He hesitated for a moment, shutting his eyes like he could almost feel me and needed to stop. But couldn’t.

  “Shit,” he rasped, voice deep.

  I braced myself against the sofa just as he started to pull away. “No.” I grabbed his arm, pulling him close again. “Keep going,” I begged. I clutched his muscled upper arm with desperation.

  His throat bobbed, and I was so relieved when he lowered his hand again. He tickled the lips of my pussy with his fingers, playing with me.

  I held him tighter, breath catching when he spread the lips apart and skimmed my clit with the pad of his thumb. I felt another finger at the entrance of my pussy and I gasped as he lightly applied pressure to both places.

  Kobe locked his eyes on my lips and slid his middle finger deep inside me. The action was so slick and easy, but I felt the immediate pressure as he hit a tender spot. I’d never felt anything like it before—not even with Riley

  “Christ, you are soaking wet, Chanel,” Kobe groaned against my lips. “Do I really turn you on that much?”

  I nodded, dropping my forehead on top of his.

  “Speak,” he commanded, playing with my pussy. “Tell me, do I really?”

  “Yes,” I sighed, and he thrust his finger deeper, his thumb still pressed on my clit.

  “You know damn well we shouldn’t be doing this,” he murmured, breath warm on my skin. “I never do shit like this.”

  “You don’t want me?” I pleaded.

  He focused on my eyes, using his other hand to grab my wrist and place it on his lap. When I felt his erection beneath the cotton fabric, my lips parted.

  “That explain how badly I want you right now?” he questioned, voice husky and heavy.

  I gasped as he worked his fingers faster. Dropping my arms, my head fell back and my eyes shut as he worked magic with his fingers. In and out. Thrust after beautiful, delicious thrust.

  “Feels so good,” I breathed, his lips were feathery light on mine. “Please don’t stop.”

  And he didn’t. Not for a second. No, in fact he went a little faster, a little deeper. His lips maneuvered their way down to suck on the crook of my neck. I could hear the groans bubbling in his chest, desperate to be unleashed.

  This was wrong. I knew it.

  But it felt so good. Too damn good.

  What the hell had gotten into me?

  Dad couldn’t find out about this. No one could find out about this. I didn’t want Kobe to get fired because of something I wanted. But I knew my dad. He was strict with the men he employed to keep an eye on me. With all that in mind, I should have been telling Kobe to run. Go. Don’t get caught up in this, but I was being a very stupid, very selfish girl.

  Kobe sucked lightly on my neck, pulling me from my worried thoughts. “Come for me,” he said, dragging his lips up to the shell of my ear. “I want to feel how
tight and wet your pussy can get.”

  His words were my undoing, his voice like dark, smooth silk. I clutched him tight and then threw my arms around the back of his neck, letting out one of the loudest cries I’d ever heard myself make.

  “Oh, fuck,” he moaned. “I can feel it, baby. I feel you coming for me.”

  I shuddered as he finished me off, lightly swirling his thumb around my clit, drawing out every ounce of ecstasy and release.

  I panted, my entire body heavy as I dropped my arms and my back hit the arm of the sofa again.

  I looked at him just as he pulled his fingers away.

  “Fuck,” he cursed, sliding back and then standing up.

  “What?” I asked, breathless. He adjusted his gray sweatpants and sweet lord, his cock was so hard beneath that thin layer. I almost got the urge to pull his pants down, get a good look at it and suck it. I truly wondered how big he was, how thick the tip was, how heavy his balls would feel in my hands.

  I needed to get it together.

  He raked a hand through his hair and took a step back. “We can’t do that again, Chanel.” He said the words, but the way he looked at me told me he wanted to devour me right where I sat. “I need this job. It’s all I’ve got. Can’t get fired anytime soon. You understand, right?”

  No, I didn’t understand. It sounded like a loaded question, personal at best. But he was right. And he gave me something I wanted, so I didn’t ask questions or argue with him.

  Instead, I said, “Yeah. I know. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine.” He stepped back, but he was still so hard. Good thing he was a whole floor up from me.

  “We both have to be up early,” he said. “You should try and get some rest. Security is keeping watch at the front desk and I’m only a floor up. You can always text me if something doesn’t feel right.”

  I nodded as he started for the door. “Okay. Yeah.” I tucked my hair behind my ears. “Sure.”

  He gripped the knob and twisted it, pulling it open and walking out. No goodbye, goodnight, or see you in the morning.