Exposed - Part Two (Exposed 2)

I feel the weight of his kiss and I pull my hands instantly to his hair. I weave my fingers into it, pulling him harder into my mouth. His hands are on my back. The faint pull of the zipper at the back of my dress gives way to a burst of cool air as my skin is exposed. He's going to fuck me. Right here, now. He's going to make me come. I crave him. I'm so addicted to him.

"Sunshine. I need to taste you," he breathes into my mouth as the dress slips from my shoulders. A chill courses through me and I shudder.

He glides his tongue down my neck. I glance down and watch him trace a line with his kisses down my scar. My scar. The scar. Coral's heart.

"No." I jump back. "No. Stop." I push on him so hard he falls backwards onto the floor.

"Sadie. Please." He jumps to his feet. "Don't push me away. I need you."

"I can't do this." I feel the bite of tears at the corner of my eyes. "I can't want you. Everything is a lie. Go."

He moves to sit next to me and I bolt to my feet pulling my open dress to cover my chest. I point to the door of my bedroom as I cover my mouth quieting a sob.

Chapter 5

"Wait." Alexa grabs both my shoulders in her hands. "You're telling me that his girlfriend's heart is inside your body?"

I nod. It's taken every ounce of strength I have to confess everything to Alexa. "Coral. It's Coral's heart."

"So he tracked you down and then what?" The confused look on her face speaks volumes. "Decided to fuck you in memory of her? I don't get it."

I wince at her words. It's brutally direct but it resonates through me. It's exactly the same thing I've thought about for days. "I have no idea why he did it."

"You don't want to know?" She eases herself back onto the couch. "You didn't ask him why?"

"He never gives me a straight answer." I pull on a thread that is hanging from the bottom of my sundress. "He just said he wanted to meet me and he was worried I'd react badly to him knowing my donor."

"That kind of makes sense." She purses her lips together tightly. "It is a little freaky that he used to date a girl who had the same heart inside of her."

I smile slightly at the irony of her words. It's true. It's more than a little freaky. "It's too bizarre. I just need to forget about him."

I reach for the remote to turn on the television. I invited Alexa over for a movie and my sudden need to admit everything to her has sidelined that.

"We're not forgetting anything." She jerks the remote from my hand. "You need to get more answers. We need them."

"We?" I laugh. "We don't need any answers from him." I wave my hand in the space between us. "It's my heart now. I get to make the decisions about what we need to know."

"You can't just drop this." Her tone is insistent and wearing on me.

"I can and I am." I push back. I don't need Alexa to tell me what to do. I decided last night after I ushered Hunter out of my bed and my life that I wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Any lingering curiosity I've had about my heart donor had been satiated when I saw Coral's picture and learned how she died. I just wanted to refocus on what was important to me. School and work was all I really needed.

"I know that look," she says it offhandedly. "You're turning back into boring Sadie."

"Boring Sadie?" I arch a brow. "What does that mean?"

"That means that you're going to pull back inside your shell again."

"It's not like that," I scoff. "I'm just being realistic. I have responsibilities. I need to focus on those."

"You have questions." She reaches to squeeze my hand. "Now is your chance to get answers. Go talk to him. Don't let him lie to you anymore."

I stare at her face. I see the persistence in her eyes. She's right. I do have questions. I have loads of questions and Hunter Reynolds is going to answer them.

***

"I would have picked you up," he says as he opens the door of his apartment.

"I was fine." I step past him and hear the door close behind me. "I just took a taxi."