Page 64 of No More Heartbreakers

My voice was low and thick, sounding like someone else to my ears. And I was someone else in that moment—a girl swimming in sensation, in the response I had to Aric, unafraid for once of the kind of pain it might lead to.

Aric made another surprisingly erotic growly noise and flipped us, his weight pressing into me.

It was a feeling like no other, hard and heavy and perfect. Propping himself on an elbow, he held my face in one hand as he took my mouth with deep, drugging, powerful kisses.

His hand slid to my shoulder, pushing my bra strap down my arm and then gliding lower to unfasten the front clasp. A bullet of heat shot through me, detonating in my center and erasing all my thoughts except for a desperate desire to get rid of the scraps of clothing remaining between us.

Now now now.

My sense of urgency was growing, but Aric seemed happy to browse. He drew back and stared down at me.

“You are so beautiful. I can’t believe you’re actually here. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

Between kisses he whispered all the words I wanted to hear from him, the words any girl would want to hear in such a moment.

And then... he said exactly thewrongthing. “It’s never been like this before.”

Just like that, my thoughts, my fears came roaring back.

All the good feelings drained away, replaced with a transfusion of bile that made me want to be anywhere but here with a guy who had the power to give me so much pleasure… and inflict so much emotional harm.

I stiffened and pressed a palm against Aric’s shoulder, causing him to lift his head in confusion.

It’s never been like this before.

The exact words Jason had used the first time we’d made love. Or rather the first time we’d had sex, since love had obviously had no part in it for him. What were the odds?

“What’s the matter? You okay?” Aric mumbled like someone emerging from a dream.

“No.” I squirmed to free myself of his weight, and Aric rolled to the side, allowing me to wiggle out from under him.

His expression was sheer bafflement. “What happened? Did I hurt you?”

“No. Not yet.”

Pulling the listing sides of my bra together, I closed the clasp with a snap that sounded like a gunshot in the quiet bedroom then scooted toward the edge of the bed.

Aric slung an arm around my waist, stopping me. “Heidi, what the—talk to me. What happened?”

I kept my back to him and stared at my lap. “I can’t do this.”

He sat up behind me, pressing his chest along my back. I straightened my spine so our bodies stopped touching.

“Okay,” he said and let go.

Rising from the bed, I searched the floor for my pants, my sweater. All the while I could see him in my peripheral vision, staring at me. I got dressed, not looking at him, not speaking. I didn’t know what to say.

Sugar, this was bad. Why had I ever come here in the first place?

Because I’d wanted him, that’s why. Now all I wanted was to escape. This was so much worse than if we’d never started anything.

I went to the bedroom door and opened it.

“Heidi.”

I stopped, staring ahead at the wood grain, willing myself not to cry.

“Heidi, look at me.”

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