Guarded Heart (Dubicki's) Read online

  “Hello, isn’t that just what I said?” he teased as he smiled down at her. “Now please crawl your pretty little ass into bed with me.”

  He patted the bed beside him with his good hand. Carissa snuggled next to him and felt better than she had in weeks. She was home. He was her home. She’d never forget that again.

  ***

  One week later, Jesse was released from the hospital. After a few days of rest which the doctor ordered as a condition of his release, he vowed to be with his two girls, Violet and Carissa, as much as possible. Life was too short for anything else.

  They climbed out of Carissa’s car as they reached the Dubicki’s parking lot. His family and friends were there to welcome him home. They had agreed to each other in the car that they’d stay for a little while, but that Jesse had to rest and couldn’t stay too long. Carissa had taken charge of making sure that the rules were adhered to with his care. His life as a fighter depended on it.

  Kelsey approached them. She hugged Jesse and then reached out for Carissa.

  “It’s nice to see you two are back together,” Kelsey said to her.

  “Well, Kelsey, I have to say that if you wouldn’t have come to talk to me, I might have stayed stubborn for so long I lost my chance with him. I thank you for that.”

  “You don’t owe me thanks. Well, other than that you’ll name your first-born child after me,” she joked.

  Carissa laughed. “We’ll see about that, Kelsey. We might not find out for a while, though. Jesse has his own child to get to know now.”

  Jesse tapped her shoulder lightly. “Carissa, I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet. This is my daughter, Violet.”

  Carissa’s heart melted when she met the little girl that looked so much like her daddy. She got down on her knees to talk to Violet.

  “Hi, Violet, I’m Carissa. It’s so nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends.”

  Violet just looked at her with her thumb in her mouth as if she would consider it. Carissa felt her heart swell with love at the thought that she might be part of the little girl’s life.

  As the day progressed, they said their goodbyes, and Carissa helped Jesse get his things upstairs to his apartment. Haley came to get Violet because Jesse couldn’t take care of her yet for at least a week. They agreed they’d visit him a few times until he was ready.

  As Carissa was getting all the things put away in his bedroom, he came up behind her and put his arm around her waist.

  “Do you know how long I have been waiting to get you alone?” he said as he nuzzled her ear.

  “Now, Jesse Dubicki, whatever do you mean?” She did her best southern accent as she said it, all the while feigning ignorance.

  “Let me show you,” he said as he turned her around.

  She dropped the clothes of his she’d had in her hands as their lips found each other’s. They kissed each other with the ravenous hunger that they’d never known until each other. Until that moment.

  “Carissa, baby, I want to take your clothes off, but it’s hard since I still can’t use my arm. It’s lucky that I can’t, though, because if I could, I’d rip your damn clothes off,” he said as she stripped her clothes off with an urgency that matched his.

  She leaned forward to help him remove his clothes, and, as she did, he started to fondle her breasts. She moaned. “Jesse, if you keep doing that, I’m going to lose focus on removing your clothes.”

  He laughed as she struggled to maintain her focus. As she kneeled to take his long shorts off, she couldn’t help but stop to admire his cock. She’d missed this and wanted to devour every bit of him. She left his boxer briefs on and could see his erection through them and decided to tease him a little. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his hard length outside of his underwear.

  “Carissa, what are you doing?” he groaned.

  “Shhh,” she said.

  She teased him with her mouth until neither of them could stand it. She reached inside the elastic waist band and brought his boxer briefs down. She made a primal sound as she saw his sex spring to life. God, I want him. Want this. She leaned forward to lick the glistening tip of him.

  “Baby,” he groaned.

  She opened her mouth and took his length in her mouth. He tasted so good to her. She could feel the heat in between her thighs and moved her hips to the rhythm of her mouth as she sucked him. She reached under him and felt his balls as he grabbed her head to him as she sucked. She didn’t know what had gotten into her.

  “Babe, if you keep doing that, I’m going to come,” he said.

  “That’s the idea,” she said as she looked up at him with a mischievous glint in her eye. Her lips were swollen from sucking him. He thought he might come as he saw her take her lips off his member that was glistening from the touch of her tongue.

  “I love that you want that. I want to give you some pleasure, too. Come up here,” he said as he pulled her to him, and they toppled to the bed.

  Carissa moaned as he kissed her neck and lightly sucked on her earlobe. She was so hot and bothered she didn’t have the strength to do anything other than moan.

  His fingers found her wet center, and he lightly touched his fingers to her folds.

  “God, Carissa, you feel so good. Do you like that?” he asked her as he eased one finger into her opening.

  “Yes. God, yes,” she said as she arched her hips up in response

  “Do you like that?” he asked as he eased another finger inside of her. She moaned loudly in response

  “How about this?” he said as he lowered his body so that he could taste her.

  He loved the way that her sex smelled as he brought his lips to her sweet folds. Gently, he kissed the inside of her thighs. Carissa whimpered impatiently. Lightly, he brought his own lips over her and kissed his way gently into her folds. He let his tongue find her center, and he licked it slowly. She put her fists in his hair, frustrated that he wasn’t giving her more. He looked up at her.

  “Patience, love,” he said as he got back to the beautiful taste of her. His tongue picked up speed on her clit, and she arched her back in response.

  “Yes, Jesse. You feel so good. Yes!” she said as she exploded into his mouth which he savored every moment of with his tongue.

  “Now what should we do?” he asked wickedly.

  “Lay down,” she ordered him.

  She wanted to do the work, not only because it was necessary due to his bad arm, but because she loved having the power and the feel of him beneath her. Her body quivered in anticipation of his rock hard arousal beneath her. As he settled into position, she gently lowered herself onto him. They both lost themselves in the moment. She rode him as his free hand gripped and guided her behind.

  She leaned forward to kiss him, never losing her rhythm while she did so. She raised herself up just a tad to let her breasts hover over his mouth. He responded by gently suckling her breasts. He gently teased her hard nipples with his teeth. Not too rough but just enough, and she loved it.

  “Jesse, I don’t have much longer I can go without coming.”

  “Baby, I want you to come for me. I want us to come together. Ride me.”

  That was all the encouragement she needed to ride him with reckless abandon. As her body started to jerk with another orgasm, he grabbed her hips as he bucked himself up to her so hard he hit her hard cervix as he exploded inside of her. She could feel his hot load fill her, and it sated her in a way that was foreign to her. She loved it. She loved him.

  She collapsed against him as they both lay together trying to catch their breath.

  Chapter 23

  For two weeks they had a hard time leaving Jesse’s apartment. They were there so much that they’d had to go get Carissa’s cat Cal and bring him with them. The passion that they felt for each other was just insatiable as they embraced their newfound love and made up for the time apart.

  “So, what do you want to do today?” Carissa asked Jesse as she kissed him good morning.


  “Well, as tempted as I am to spend another day here with you, I think we should get out a little. Next week I start physical therapy, and, with any luck, in a few weeks I can start going to the gym to do some light practice with Pablo. It might be a long road to recovery, but I’m willing to do the work. I don’t like thinking of the time we’ll be apart,” he said as he hugged her to him.

  “I don’t like that thought either, Jesse. So let’s just live in the moment today.”

  “I want another tattoo,” he told her.

  “Hmm, I like that idea. I think your tattoos are sexy,” she said as she methodically kissed each one of his tattoos.

  “Why don’t we get one together?” he asked her.

  “What? I don’t’ have any tattoos, Jesse. You know that!”

  “Carissa, that’s the point. You’re my woman. It’s too early to think about a ring. I love you, and I want to be with you for a long time. But we’ve agreed that we’ll get there one day at a time.” She nodded her head as he continued, “I know that you would never have any serious ink. But I like the thought of us getting matching tattoos.”

  She raised her eyebrows to contest.

  “Small tattoos. Just small tattoos. How about we each get a small heart with the word “fighter” in it? Because you’re last name is Hart. Get it?”

  He grabbed her to him and kissed her. He knew she’d probably not be into it, but it was worth a try. If he couldn’t put a ring on her finger just yet, he’d find a way to show that they belonged to each other.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” Jesse’s voice brightened with excitement.

  “Yes. I like that idea,” she said as she reached her face up to kiss him.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Jesse, what place will take us both at once, today?”

  “Well, I may have gotten us appointments when we reconciled. I knew we’d have to wait for my guy, and I felt like I was on top of the world that day. Besides you and fighting, the other thing that I think about often is ink. What kind of ink I have, and what kind I’m going to get.”

  He smiled into her forehead as he kissed her. “Let’s go. Our appointments are in an hour.”

  She laughed as they both quickly dressed and went to get their new ink.

  Three hours later, they both emerged from the tattoo parlor. They each had a brand new tattoo on opposite hips. She didn’t want hers to be seen by anyone else. Although the point of that exercise in the first place was for her to have a public identifier for him, he liked the idea that he could see it and no one else could. She was stepping out of her comfort zone to get a tattoo for him, and he liked that she was willing to step into his world, even if just a little bit. To him, she was as hot as ever, no matter what.

  Since they were out in the suburbs for the tattoo, they decided to take an afternoon drive out to Lake Minnetonka. Jesse knew she loved houses. She’d spent countless conversations telling him about all the houses she’d dreamed she’d have as a kid. He couldn’t wait to take her around the nicer area of the lake and show her some of the prestigious homes.

  They settled for a late brunch at a lakefront restaurant. Carissa had learned that Bloody Marys were one of her favorite drinks, and breakfast was one of her favorite meals, and he only wanted what she wanted right then.

  As she savored her first sips of her beloved Bloody Mary, they debated the kind of house they’d raise a family in someday, imagining the two of them and Violet in it.

  “Do you want to live in the city, or the suburbs? I love it out here. How can anyone not want to live on the lake?”

  “I love it, too. But I have to say that my roots run deep in the city. That was the city I was born in, raised in, dream in, love. It would be hard for me to leave it,” he said.

  “I know. I guess we’ll figure it out when we get there. Lucky for me, there are fabulous houses here no matter where you turn,” she grinned as she took another long sip of her drink.

  “Agreed,” he said as he marveled at the thought of how rich his life was with her in it. “I have one more question for you, Carissa.”

  Her eyes grew big. He wasn’t sure if it was in surprise or terror. He almost laughed at how opposite she was to other women her age. That’s why he loved her. He wasn’t ready to let her off the hook yet, though. Her reaction was too priceless not to play with a little.

  “Carissa, the night I met you, my life changed. I’d never seen someone so beautiful, and I knew right then that I had to have you in my life. I’m blessed to be with you, and I hope to be with you for a long time to come.”

  Carissa gulped, afraid to hear what was next. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say. She wasn’t ready to be engaged, even though she wanted to be with him. So much was happening at once.

  “Carissa Lynn Hart… will you move in with me?”

  He smiled as she visibly relaxed in the realization that the question was not of a more serious nature.

  She laughed with relief as she said, “Jesse Dubicki, I love you. Of course, I’ll move in with you.”

  THE END

  About the Author

  Lisa Andres lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her boyfriend and three cats. In addition to be a psychic, medium, and author, she is a voracious reader who loves good stories. Lisa is a graduate of McNally Smith College of Music; she sings and plays the piano. When she is not playing with a band, she is usually out seeing one. She is currently working on her next book, Indigo Warrior - A Guide for Indigo Adults and Children. Guarded Heart is the second book in the Dubicki’s Series. The first book, Dubicki’s, is available in both print and digital editions.