Defensive Heart: The Donnolleys, Book 2 (13 page)

Chapter Twenty

The next day, Jimmy made his way downtown to her office with meatball grinders for each of them. And this time he remembered the drinks. He hadn’t bothered to text her this time—just walked in her office around twelve thirty. His Sunny appeared less shocked to see him. He was gifted with a sweet smile from her when he winked and proceeded to set up their meal on her conference table.

She looked amazing too. She wore a burgundy blouse and a black fitted pencil skirt hugged her lean hips and long legs to just below her knees. But it was the peep-toe black pumps with a tall chunky heel that made his dick hard. It was all he could do not to pull that tight skirt up and bend her over the arm of the sofa in her office. Stowing his lust-filled thoughts, he managed to eat and carry on a normal conversation with her. It was good—no, it was great actually. Having basic dialogue between them was fucking priceless.

Once again, he asked her out for drinks. And once again she declined, but he was confident he’d wear her down. On his way out, he pressed a deep kiss to her lips, making sure to let her know with his tongue how much he wanted her.

She was breathless when he walked out of her office.

Fuck’s sake, he wanted her back in his bed the second after he’d woken alone the previous Saturday morning. But tomorrow was another day and another chance with her. He’d bring her lunch again. And for the rest of today and tonight, his only solace was knowing their heated kiss would keep her mind on him, with any luck, as much as his was on her.

Craving him like he craved her. Missing him like he missed her. And horny as fuck because she denied them both what they needed so badly.

Sonja exited the double doors of the courtroom into the hall. The morning had been grueling—witness after witness on the stand, testifying against her client, and Sonja cross-examining them. The afternoon would bring her defense. Not that she was worried at all. Her client had an iron-clad case and the prosecution’s was mostly circumstantial. Piece. Of. Cake.

Sonja finished in the restroom and headed back out into the hall. She had a few documents needing review during the lunch break. Heading toward the end of the corridor, her high heels clicking on the linoleum floor, she focused on her phone, perusing the morning’s emails from her assistant…and walked straight into James.

“Hiding out from me in the courthouse, I see.”

Sonja tilted her head to the side, appraising him and trying not to notice how good he looked. “Yes, that’s exactly it. I’m hiding.” She moved around him and continued to the benches by the windows.
My word, he really isn’t going to give up.

“It’s lunch time. Let’s go grab something.”

Sonja took a seat and pulled the two-inch-thick file from her briefcase. “I can’t. I have documents to review before the trial convenes again. Work, remember?”

He held his hand out to her. “Yes, work, Sonja. But you also need to eat. Come on, there’s a deli right around the corner. We’ll eat and you can work.”

She looked up at him. He had his sunglasses perched on the top of his head and his lips pursed, waiting for an answer from her. His hazel eyes appeared lighter than normal from the sunlight filtering through the large windows. His goatee was perfectly trimmed. Did he ever
not
look good? Sonja’s standard answer for him sat poised on her tongue.
No. No, James, I can’t come with you to eat. No because if I say yes, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to say no to you again.
But, she couldn’t say the word.

He wiggled his hand, flexing his fingers, waiting for her to grab hold of it. “Come on, Sonja.”

Do it. Tell him no.
“Fine.”
Crap.
She stuffed the file back in her bag and took his offered palm.

James pulled her up from the bench. Still holding her hand, he wrapped their arms around the back of her waist and kissed her. Without giving herself permission, she melted into his embrace and kissed him back. She couldn’t help it. He was wearing her down, making her crave his lips…among other things.

A block away from the courthouse, Sonja settled at a small corner table in the deli and ate her grinder while studying the file for her client’s case. Or rather, tried to study the file. James was at Sonja’s right, instead of across from her, with his hand resting on her thigh. The light touch was making it impossible for her to focus.

As promised, he kept his word and let her work while he busied himself reading a discarded newspaper—however he kept touching her. In fact, he hadn’t stopped touching her since the kiss they’d shared in the courthouse hall. She’d forgotten how good it felt to be touched. She liked it. Much more than she’d ever admit to him. When a person went too long without the intimate touch of another human being, they became numb. Sonja guessed that’s what had happened to her—no longer wanting what she’d become accustomed to living without. However this man, this young, beautiful and stubborn man, had awoken what she’d long since forgotten about. In spite of her constant attempts to push him away, she secretly hoped he wouldn’t stop.

James leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and the alarm on her phone went off, letting her know it was time to head back to court. Sonja sighed. Fastest hour and a half in history. He gathered their trash. She stood, closed the file and placed it back in her bag.

“Dinner tonight?”

She stood and slung her bag over her shoulder. “I can’t tonight.” James’s face fell, his disappointment quite clear. Sonja reached up and cupped his cheek in her hand. “I have something to do with my daughter tonight.”

Closing his eyes, he leaned into her touch. “Okay.” He turned his face and kissed her palm. “Tomorrow’s another day, mo chroí
.
Come on. I’ll walk you back.”

“You don’t have to.”

He smiled and took her hand in his. “I know.”

They walked down the block hand in hand. Not an easy trick in Manhattan, yet he didn’t let go of her. This time, she had
wanted
to say yes to him. Thing was, James wasn’t giving up, and she was running out of excuses. Sonja stared at the cracks in the sidewalk and searched her mind for the reasons why she continued the futile attempts to put him off.

No. Wait. She knew why holding her ground was paramount. He was too young for her. It was foolish to believe he’d remain interested in her for very long. Plus, she had her hands full with her daughter and the law firm and her damn ex-husband. Sonja was just too busy. Continuing this game with him would only lead to heartbreak, likely with her heart being the one broken. She didn’t need that on her plate too.

Simple as that, she was back on track.

No dinner tonight. No nothing with the talented James Donnelly.

The idea she might be making a mistake caused her stomach to knot into a million tangles. Sonja shook off the feeling and smoothed her palm up the twist of hair on the back of her head. She glanced up in time to find they were back at the entrance to the courthouse.

James pulled her into an embrace. She let him. He kissed her. She let him do that too. Then she watched him walk away, disappearing among the rest of the pedestrians milling on the sidewalk.
Steady. Focus. Keep it together.
Another pass of her hand up the back of her pulled-up hair before she turned and entered the building. Time for work.

Jimmy pulled the rag from his back pocket and wiped off his hands before hitting the mute button on the iPod speaker dock. Walking to the base of the stairs, he listened again. Sure as shit, another knock echoed from his front door. Taking the stairs two at a time, he glanced at the clock on his cable box before rounding the corner and reaching the front door.

He checked the peephole and—holy shit! Running his fingers through his hair, Jimmy drew in a deep breath. He unlocked the door, took another deep breath, then swung it wide.

“Hi.” Sonja adjusted her bag on her shoulder. “Did I wake you?”

Jimmy was so fucking shocked to see her, he couldn’t talk. But his eyes worked just fine. As he took in her appearance, his lips curled into a grin. She still wore her navy-blue business suit…and looked de-fucking-licious in his opinion. Which was the only one that mattered. He shook his head and stepped to the side.

She placed her hand on her stomach and crossed the threshold. “Okay.”

Jimmy closed and locked the door. When he turned, she’d moved to his small dining table in the living room area. Without another thought, he was behind her. Wrapping his hands around her waist, Jimmy pressed his bare chest to her back and his mouth to the side of her neck.

Sonja let out a sigh and her briefcase dropped to the dining chair in front of her. Jimmy tasted the sweet, soft spot behind her ear, taking in her scent. Running his palms around to the front of her suit jacket, he unbuttoned it. She raised an arm, tangled her fingers in the back of his hair and then turned to face him.

Her lips. God, her fucking lips. Jimmy wasted no time taking what he wanted. He dived into her mouth with his tongue, sucking, nipping and devouring what he’d been craving. He could kiss her forever. And he might too.

Sonja pressed her body against his and circled her arms tight around his waist, digging her nails into the skin of his back. “Fuck,” he said against her lips. His cock was hard as a steel rod in his jeans and he rolled his pelvis against hers. “I can’t believe you’re here.” Jimmy placed kisses along her jaw line to her neck and pushed her jacket off her shoulders.

She shook the jacket off and tossed it on the table behind her. “I don’t…I just…”

“Shhh…don’t, mo chroí
.
” He kissed her again, pulled her blouse from her skirt and unbuttoned it. Parting the two halves, he broke the kiss and ran his gaze over her bra, not missing the hardened points of her nipples. “So fucking perfect.” He tugged one bra cup down and sucked one of the rose-hued points between his lips.

Sonja ran her fingers through his hair and arched against him. Jimmy groaned and twirled his barbell over her nipple. Honeyed lust flowed through his veins, settled hot in his balls and made his cock harden more than he thought possible. Moving to the other nipple, he pushed the other cup aside and bit the tip.

Sonja let out a loud gasp threaded with a moan. Pulling away from her breasts, Jimmy ran the flat of his palm down the center of her chest to her stomach. Her body felt hotter than a kiln and fire blazed in her eyes when he met them.

“Fuck me, James.” Raising her skirt, she slid it up her hips, revealing her thigh-high stockings and garter belt.

And… No. Fucking. Panties.

Unsure if it was the direct order she’d given, or the sheer beauty of her pussy bared and ready for him, or maybe the combination of both, Jimmy almost came in his jeans. “Oh, fuck. Fuck, yes.” He picked her up and set her on top of his table. “Lie back.”

She did as he asked, which was good because he was so wild for her, he wouldn’t have tolerated anything else. Bending forward he raised and spread her legs and licked through her slit, drowning in the pure sweetness of her arousal.

She thrust her hips forward. “Oh God, yes!”

Jimmy pressed her knees to her chest and teased her clit, rolling the barbell in his tongue over the swollen nub. Releasing her legs, he spread her lips and pressed his thumb inside her cunt. He stroked that small ridge of skin within her channel and sucked her clit harder.

Sonja whimpered and panted and writhed beneath his mouth. He wanted her to come hard, and once she did, he was going to fuck her even harder. God help him, this woman owned him. And she had no goddamn idea the power she had.

“James!” His name rode the scream belting out of her and she arched off the table. Her cunt clenched around his thumb. He kept his mouth right where it was and sucked, knowing he’d driven her over the edge already, but he wasn’t done with her yet. The head of his cock throbbed in his pants and he wanted inside her like a drowning man wanted a life jacket.

But he wanted her begging for it.

She gripped his hair, her legs shaking beside his ears. “I can’t…” She yanked his head away, sat up and dragged him to her mouth.

His lips and tongue were coated with her flavor, and Sonja let out another moan, sucking his tongue. He willingly shared the taste of her orgasm with her. “You like that, don’t you?”

She didn’t answer, just sucked his bottom lip into her mouth. Unbuttoning his jeans, she peeled down the zipper and freed his cock. Scooting forward, she positioned his prick at her opening.

“Babe…wait. Condom.”

“Fuck the condom.” She grabbed his hips, yanked him toward her and wrapped her long legs around his waist.

Jimmy’s dick sank into her heat, and he looked down where their bodies joined. He gritted his teeth and let out a hiss. The warmth of her wet pussy swallowed the swollen head of his cock. “Jesus Christ, look at that.”

Sonja reached between them and spread her lips apart, rimming the edges of his shaft with her fingers while he slid in and back out again. He pulled out completely, then pushed back in, slow and with deliberate control, the rim of the bulbous head catching on the tight mouth of her pussy. She moved her fingers to her clit and the groan that rose out of Sonja sounded like it was mined from deep in her belly.

“Fuck yes, rub your perfect clit for me.” Jimmy watched, mesmerized by her actions and by the glistening sheen of her juices on his shaft. “You missed me. Look how wet you are for me, Sonja.” He slid out to the head once more, teasing her with short thrusts, just deep enough to penetrate her entrance. A bolt of fire raced down his spine, settling hot in his sac. Having her tight wet heat wrapped around his shaft was too good, almost more than he could tolerate.

Sonja gripped his chin and raised his head. “Yes, I missed you,” she said before thrusting her tongue into his mouth.

A growl barreled out of him and he slid his hands under her ass, changing the angle of her pelvis before burying his prick deep. “Say it again.”

“No! Take me harder.” Kissing down his chin and along his jaw, she settled at his neck and bit down hard.