Nina Levine: April 2014

Hello lovelies!! I have the second part to the Friends to Lovers scene with J & Madison. If you haven't read the first part to this, you need to get onto reading that first.

Click here to read Part 1.

Part 2

We pulled up outside J’s house and I got off his bike and stood silently watching him. I was nervous and it was unlike me. J and I had been friends for six years now, good friends, and for me to suddenly have knots in my stomach and feel speechless around him was disconcerting.

He stayed on his bike, slowly removed his helmet and looked at me. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“What are we doing?” I asked softly, the passion I’d felt at the club had given way to nerves now.

He cocked his head to the side. “I thought we’d agreed on that already.”

I nodded. “We had but -"

He cut me off, his voice laced with frustration, “But what, Madison? It’s a no brainer for me. I want you and you want me. What’s there to think about?”

“Everything. There’s everything to think about. You’re one of my best friends and I don’t want to lose that.”

“Why would we lose that?” The confusion was clear on his face.

I sighed; why did men have to be so clueless? “So we have sex tonight. What happens tomorrow? Will it be awkward between us or do you think we can just go back to being what we were before tonight?”

“Fuck. Why do chicks have to fucking over analyse shit? Why can’t we just have tonight and go from there?”

He got off his bike and walked towards me but I took a step back. He’d annoyed me now with his attitude towards this. When I stepped back, he stopped and shook his head. “So that’s it? You’ve changed your mind?”

“Well, I had hoped that we could discuss it a little more but you don’t seem to want to do that.”

“Babe, I seriously just want to get you inside and get your fucking clothes off. As far as I’m concerned that’s all the discussion that we need to make this happen.”

“Yeah, well I think that you and I are talking about two different things now, J. You seem to just want a quick fuck and I’m more interested to know what happens beyond that quick fuck.” Disappointment settled in; I’d thought he wanted more but it looked like I was wrong. This was why you didn’t contemplate having sex with your male friends.

His phone rang and he scowled. Answering it, he barked, “I’m in the middle of something. What’s up?” His eyes did not leave mine.

I stood waiting for him to finish his conversation; the intensity of his glare stirring up the butterflies in my stomach. That glare was a mixture of heat, desire, frustration, annoyance and so much more. I felt the exact same things that he was projecting. However, in that moment, my annoyance at his attitude outweighed my desire to be with him.

He ended his call and put his phone back in his pocket. “I’ve got to be at the clubhouse in an hour. Are we going to do this or not?”

Un-fucking-believable. “I can’t believe you just said that. No, we’re not doing this,” I snapped, and reached into my bag to get my phone out.

He stepped into my space and placed his hand over mine, stopping me. “I’m not sure what the fuck happened in your mind between the club and here, babe. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to fuck about so I’ll just take you home, but this is a conversation that needs to be finished at some point.”

I shook my head. “No, I’ll find my own way home, and this is not a conversation that needs to be revisited. You’ve made your intentions pretty clear.”

His nostrils flared and his breathing grew ragged. “I’m taking you home, Madison.” He made his way back to his bike and tried to pass me the helmet. “Put this on and get on the bike.”

My eyes widened. I wasn’t used to J talking to me like this. Ignoring him, I scrolled through my phone looking for the phone number of my only friend who hadn’t been out drinking with me tonight; hopefully she’d be able to come and pick me up. I finally found her number and hit dial, returning the glare that J was sending my way. She finally answered her call and agreed to come and get me.

J folded his arms across his chest and planted his feet wide. He was angry now and didn’t hold back. “Why the fuck couldn’t you just let me take you home?”

“Because you’re being a prick and I don’t want to be anywhere near you,” I threw back.

“So now I’ve got to wait here until your friend arrives. Would have been a lot easier to do it my way.”

“No-one’s asking you to stay!”

“Jesus, Madison. As if I’d fucking leave you alone at this time of the night.”

I was exasperated. On the one hand, I wanted to punch him, but on the other hand I wanted to rip his clothes off and screw him.

The next ten minutes were ten of the longest minutes in my life. We didn’t speak while we waited for Sally to come and get me. Instead, J paced and threw me a foul look every now and then. I sank further into my disappointment. When she pulled up, I quickly got in her car without a backwards glance at J. I could feel his angry eyes on me though. I must have been out of my mind to think that he and I could take our friendship further.

***

I woke up on my birthday and felt like shit. Not only did I have a headache from the slight hangover I had, but I felt ill over what had happened with J last night. Luckily I hadn’t planned anything special; it meant that I could pretty much just keep to myself. And so it was that I spent most of the day at home, reading and eating junk food. I wallowed in my heartbreak, because it was true, I was heartbroken that not only did I screw up a chance at a relationship with J but I’d probably screwed up our friendship too.

He never called or came by but at three o’clock that afternoon, I heard the rumble of a bike outside. Figuring it was Scott, I ignored it, stuck my headphones in and went back to my book. I didn’t want to see anyone.

A couple of minutes later, my headphones were ripped out of my ears and J stood in my bedroom, staring down at me. I couldn’t pick his mood. He seemed mildly annoyed but at the same time, he had a soft look in his eyes.

I moved off the bed so I was face to face with him. “What are you doing here, J?”

“Came to say happy birthday.” His voice was soft. It did things to me and I mentally cursed him; it wasn’t fair that he could make me feel this way when I was so upset with him.

“Thanks.”

His eyes scanned my face. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for but I figured he hadn’t found it when he muttered, “Fuck. This isn’t going to be easy, is it?”

Good God, he confused the shit out of me. “What isn’t going to be easy?”

His chest rose and fell in a heavy movement. “Us.”

“What, our friendship?” I really wished we were doing this on any other day than today. Today I wasn’t feeling the best so I was struggling to keep up with him.

A look crossed his face and then he appeared to settle something in his mind. He grabbed my hand and began walking us out of the bedroom.

“Where are we going?” I asked while trying to slow him down by pulling back.

It was futile though; he just kept powering through the house and out the front door. He let go of my hand once we were outside so that he could lock the front door.

“Where did you get a key for my house?” I had no clue that he had that key.

“Scott gave it to me. We’ve both got one in case you ever needed us.”

He said that like it was the most normal thing in the world. As far as I was concerned, it wasn’t. “I want that key back. And Scott’s too. You guys don’t need to worry about me.”

His amused eyes landed on mine and he shook his head. “Not going to happen, babe.”

Before I could say anything else, he grabbed my hand again and directed us to his bike. He handed me a helmet and indicated for me to put it on.

Again, I argued. “Tell me where we’re going.”

“Got a place I want to show you.” He pointed at the helmet and then the bike. “Put it on and get on the bike.”

I assessed the situation and decided it was just going to be easier to do what he said, so I did. Moments later his bike roared to life and we took off. I held onto him tightly and eventually relaxed. Having grown up around bikes my whole life, I loved being on the back of one. And being on the back of J’s, with my arms wrapped around him, felt amazing. Exhilarating. It felt like I was home, and I had no idea where that thought came from, but it was what was swirling around my mind.

Just under an hour later, he pulled the bike off the road and killed the engine. We were at Mt Glorious. It was beautiful but I was curious as to why he’d brought me here. He led me along a path until we eventually came to a small clearing. I’d been to Mt Glorious before; it was a great ride on a bike. But I’d never been to this particular part of it. The view was stunning. We could see out across the valley and it was just beautiful. There was no-one else around and the sounds of any cars were muted by the bush. There really was only one word to describe what my senses were getting from all of this; peace. It was peaceful here and it calmed me.

J was watching me quietly while I took all of this in. Finally, I looked at him and asked, “Why are we here, J?”

He nodded slowly. “This is where I come when I need to clear the shit out of my head.”

“Okay,” I said, waiting for him to go on.

“I’ve been coming here a lot over the last six months.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Had a lot of shit to clear out, I take it.”

His mouth curved up slightly in a small grin. “Yeah, you could say that, babe.”

“Okay, so tell me. What’s this got to do with me?”

“Everything.” He was watching me intently. It looked like he had a lot to say but he was holding back for some reason.

“Goodness, J. You need to get to the point. I don’t have the patience today to -"

He cut me off. “This is where I decided to make you mine.” His words were rough but tender if that was even possible.

Whoosh. The butterflies took hold of my stomach at those words.

I was speechless.

He continued. “Been thinking about you for the past six months, Madison. Can’t get you out of my fucking mind. So, I’ve been coming here to think. Last night, after I screwed the fuck up with you, I came here. And I decided you’d be mine before today was over.”

He was so bossy. I’d never had a guy like J before, but standing there, listening to him claim me like a caveman, I knew that I was ruined for all men. J was going to ruin me and consume me, and I was going to let him.

I moved into him at the same time that he reached his hand out and wrapped it around my neck to pull me closer. Our lips found each other and he began to ruin me. Our bodies were pressed together, our hands were on each other and I came alive under his touch. Desire spread through me as I fought to get even closer to him, as I gave myself over to this kiss.

Eventually we pulled apart, but he kept a hold on me, keeping me close so that we were still touching. “Fuck, babe. Those lips of yours might be my fucking downfall.”

I smiled up at him; at his words. And then my smile turned wicked. “I think there’ll be other parts of me that might be your downfall.”

His eyes widened and then he shook his head, and muttered, “You might be fucking right there.”

“So, now that I’m yours, are you going to take me home and have your way with me? Because, even though this will always be known as our special place, I’ve got to admit, I don’t really like to rough it.”

He moved his mouth close to my ear, and murmured, “I’d love to fuck you here, babe. Out in the open; could be kinda hot. But I totally get that you’re not a roughing it kind of chick. And I want you completely fucking relaxed when I finally get those panties off you and my cock into you.”

Holy fuck, he had a dirty mouth. And I fucking loved it.

I grabbed his hand and started walking us towards his bike. When he slowed and pulled on my hand to slow me down, I turned and muttered, “Hurry up, J. You’ve got a promise to fulfill.”

His face spread into a huge smile. “Just making sure this is what you want, sweetheart.”

“Oh, so now, after you tell me how it’s going to be and promise your cock to me, you decide to see what I want. Well, even though you’ve already decided for me, you can rest assured that I want this too. But what I really, really want right now is for you to take your dirty mouth home and show me just what you can do with it.”

“Fuck me,” he growled, and with that he grabbed my hand and took me home.

*****

J & Madison's story continues in Blaze (Storm MC #2.5).

Blaze will be out at the end of April 2014.

Add it to Goodreads.

Pages

Monday, 28 April 2014

COVER REVEAL: Born To Ride: A Clubhouse Collection

Sunday, 13 April 2014

Bonus Scene - J & Madison Friends to Lovers Part 2