Twist My Heart by Brooke Taylor (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

It looked like what had once been a quality leather purse until it was dragged through the mud. Titan must’ve grabbed it from the tornado’s debris field when Nik had been tending Thea’s wounds.

He took the small black purse without any resistance from Titan. Inside was a stacked and wrapped wad of bills he guessed to be significant, an off-market temporary phone, a thumb drive, a bottle of sparkly red nail polish, a crocodile-skin wallet with the ID of a woman named Seraphina Westin, an extra extended magazine for the Glock and a box of bullets. So much for his first notion. This was not some random purse the dog had grabbed. It was a female version of a go-bag. Thea Gale was running from something or someone, and likely this was before the incident at Animal Control.

He tucked the purse into his own duffle, wanting to do a little research on the ID before he showed it to Thea. Given how she’d reacted to finding out the gun was hers, he figured the purse’s contents were not going to go over well either.

After disabling his home security system from the app on his phone, he unlocked the front door, dropped his bags, and proceeded straight for the wet bar. Thea followed, allowing her eyes to unabashedly rove the contents of the house. She was no doubt finding it oddly bare aside from basic furniture.

“What’s your poison?”

“My poison?”

“Alcohol. What do you drink?”

“I don’t remember, remember?”

Nik’s stomach tightened, but the kick had already been felt. “Sorry, I keep forgetting.”

“Yeah, I have the same problem.” She winked when he caught her eye. “Ba-dum-cha! I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“You got it, Tiggs.” He poured two double-sized shots of Jack Daniel’s. As he handed one to her, her fingers stroked across his. The brisk touch stirred up all the dirty thoughts he’d tried in vain to settle.

“Might take it easy,” he cautioned, as much to himself as her. But as she moved toward the floor-to-ceiling windows and more damn sunlight, he had to knock his shot back to keep from staring. A smooth, familiar burn slid down his throat, filling his stomach with the same explosive heat already firing in his groin.

“Are you…?” Her eyes teased over his body, slamming to a stop at the obvious bulge in his pants.

Her eyebrows popped up, indicating he’d surprised her again.

Hell, darlin’, I’m full of them.

He probably should’ve been more discreet, but preventing a woody around her was becoming a full-time job with shitty benefits. Besides, what was the point of trying to hide it when his dick was bound and determined to get her attention? Fuck, even a ghillie suit wouldn’t have concealed the bastard.

He curled the side of his mouth up. “Am I what?”

Hard for you?

Aching to have your body wrapped around mine?

Desperate to be inside of you?

Yes. Yes! And hell yes!!!

She managed to respond with, “Going to take it easy?” while full-on staring at his crotch. Shit. Was she asking if he’d be taking it easy with the whiskey or his cock? Didn’t matter, her thickening voice had already stroked up his spine, curled around his throat and cut off his air. It was a good thing he’d downed the shot when he had or he might’ve spewed alcohol clear across the room.

Damn. She had no clue the impact she had on him. How much control he had to exercise around her and how quickly his grasp on it was slipping. He set his jaw as he ratcheted down what little hold he had left.

Pouring himself a quick refill, he fired back his own double entendre. “I always go easy on the second round.”

A lie on both counts. He downed round two hard and fast, the clank of the shot glass colliding with granite betraying his words.

Her eyes flickered with amusement as her tongue tested the rim of her shot. Maybe she knew exactly what she was doing. Maybe she was the one who was full of surprises. But if she didn’t quit tempting him, she’d find out exactly how hard and how many rounds he was willing to go at her.

Chapter Thirteen

I breathed the liquor in… Sharp and fiery. Dipping my tongue into the golden liquid, I felt a numbing sting envelope it. Tingles cascaded across my scalp, dripping down the back of my neck.

Why’d he finish his so fast when it feels so darkly enticing?

I pushed my tongue in deeper, catching the sharp edge to Nik’s gaze. I didn’t understand the desires this body was having—the way it buzzed and warmed and swelled along with the images in my brain whenever he looked at me. Especially the way he was now. Like he was looking at my flesh, but he was seeing into my soul.

I braced as he flashed that slow grin of his. He was good at that grin. I imagine he probably broke a lot of hearts with it. I was beginning to fear for my own if I wasn’t careful, and I hadn’t been very careful so far.

Tilting my head back, I let a small sip of the whiskey slide down my throat. Electric tingles shuddered along my legs. Warmth seared, hollowing out my bones, leaving them weakened as I caught Nik’s intense stare again. Flickers of fire spread out from my stomach, reaching down into my sex, at the way his green eyes feasted on me. I envisioned him crossing the wood floors between us and sucking the whiskey off my lips…taking his hand to bury it in the warmth spreading between my thighs.

Oh screw being careful… I closed my eyes and lifted my chin, dropping my head back as I rushed the remaining liquor inside of me. The quivers and tingles rocked through me again, followed by a slow burn traveling under my skin, numbing my fingers and my brain.

At Titan’s bark, my eyes snapped open to see Nik looking down at him. From Nik’s smile it seemed he welcomed the distraction. “Need a drink, too, huh?