by Lane Hart
“Fuck, Madison!”
I have about two seconds to get my zipper down with my left hand since my right refuses to leave her tight warmth, which isn’t the easiest thing in the world, then try to decide if I was going to slam inside of her or not. Since there’s no time left to get a condom on, I stroke my aching cock until it swells and erupts on that thin strip of lace parting Madison’s ass cheeks. I can’t resist sliding my shaft through her, squeezing both sides of her sweet ass around my dick.
Unintelligent, animalistic sounds are all that come out of my mouth until the last twitch of pleasure leaves me.
While I try and keep myself upright, praying my knees don’t give out, Madison asks, “Why didn’t you…”
In the mirror, now she looks almost angry at me as she pushes her upper body up until she’s standing straight again.
What am I supposed to say? I consider my options while tucking my dick away and fastening my pants — there’s wasn’t time. I couldn’t hold off long enough to put a rubber on, much less make the sex good for you? That I wasn’t sure if I could only be with her once, and that scared the shit out of me? Hell no. Instead, I go with a darker truth that creeps up from the back of my mind.
“You and I both know you would have regretted it if I had fucked you right here in the bathroom of a Harley dealership.”
“Whatever,” she says with a heavy exhale. And if not for the glow on her face, I think we would’ve been headed for a longer argument. Instead, she simply holds her dress up around her waist and says, “Clean me up.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I respond, grabbing some tissues to wipe up the sticky mess I made on her. “There. All better,” I say when I’m done.
“I need a minute, if you can wait outside,” she replies.
“You’re actually going to come out?” I ask for confirmation.
“No reason to let the dress go to waste. Like you said, the men will love it.”
“Yes, they will,” I agree and start for the door that was thankfully shut but not locked during that whole ordeal. Good thing no one tried to come in. Unless they did, and I was just too damn busy to notice.
Before I can slip out, Madison says, “If you tell anyone what happened, I’ll deny it.”
I consider her harsh words for several seconds before I respond with, “So will I.”
Chapter Nineteen
Madison
As soon as Cannon disappears out the bathroom door, I go over and lock it, then slap my hand against it so hard it stings.
Damn him!
A few minutes of my silly insecurities, and I’m bending over like a dog in heat for him. But the most embarrassing part was that he turned me down. The man who sleeps with random women all the time, and he didn’t want to be with me.
My eyes sting with unshed tears, but I blink them away and then busy myself with cleaning up the mess he made with just his hand in my panties. I start by washing my hands. And every time I look up at the mirror in front of me, I keep seeing Cannon towering above me, behind me, shirtless and sexy as hell.
God, I was so stupid. I knew where things were headed as soon as he put his hands on my waist. That’s when I should’ve stopped him. I didn’t, and I wish I had now. Not because I regret his touch, but because he made me feel like a fool.
Either way, there’s a party just outside the door, and I’m the guest of honor. So, I take a few deep breaths, fix my dress, grab my bags with my clothes and purse, and then finally put the mask on over my eyes. It’s a small thing, but it helps, making me feel like I can hide a bit of myself from all of the strangers I’m about to meet – and the piece I decide to hide is what just happened with Cannon. Hopefully, there will be enough people that I don’t have to see or talk to him for a while.
Except, I feel a little lost without him by my side, which makes me hate him a little more for creating that dependency on him when Cannon is not the type of man that I should ever depend on.
The employee lounge is empty when I come out, other than a brown-haired man in a gold mask leaning on the arm of the sofa, wearing nothing but a pair of black slacks and a bunch of beads like Cannon had on. He jumps up when he sees me.
“Lucas?” I ask, because it’s hard to tell with the mask.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answers with a grin.
“What’s with the…” I wave my hand in his direction and it takes him several seconds of blinking at me, or at the tiny dress I’m wearing, before he responds.
“The single men are all selling beads. Whoever sells the most wins the pot. And I guess you get the money for all the beads we sell. Jake and I probably won’t sell many, but at least the Kings invited us to participate.”
“The beads look heavy,” I tell him honestly. I feel awkward, and I’m not sure what else to say.
“Ugh, they are. But the fun part is that the woman that buys them gets to feel us up. At least, I think that’s the point.”
I shake my head because of course the Savage Kings would find a way to make this a competition and a flirtatious event at the same time.
“How many beads are you wearing?”
“Twenty, I think,” he says, looking down and fingering through the necklaces.
“I’ll buy all of yours and Jake’s,” I tell him.
Lucas drops his beads and looks up at me. “You don’t have to do that. We’re trying to raise money for your campaign.”
“I know, but you two won’t have a fair chance since I’m guessing that Cannon’s ordered you to take turns keeping an eye on me.”
“That’s true,” he says with a small shrug that draws my attention to his shoulders and chest. He’s still young and has some filling out to do before he can make going shirtless in public look as good as Cannon, unfortunately.
“I want to help you,” I reply. “No reason for you to have to lug all of those around all night.”
Sitting my bag down on the sofa, I pull out my wallet from my purse, grabbing two one hundred-dollar bills. “Here,” I say when I hand him the cash. “Give one to Jake when you see him.”
“Okay, but you have to take them off,” he says with a grin when he takes the hundred from me.
“Fine,” I agree, lifting the pile of beads over his head and trying to touch him the least amount as possible. I pull five different colored ones free to put on myself to try and hide my cleavage and toss the rest in my bag.
“Cannon gave me the key to his office and said you could put your things in there,” Lucas says, taking a deep breath that raises his chest like he can breathe better without all the beads. I try not to think of how considerate that was of Cannon and just follow him to the office before it’s time for me to stop hiding and finally make my way to the front where I can hear music and voices.
Lucas is right behind me as I walk out to the dealership’s showroom that’s decorated from top to bottom in gold, green, and purple. There’s a long table of food, a little bar in the corner, and at least a hundred or more people already milling about, most of them gathered around the Harley that’s up for grabs.
“Wow,” I say in surprise since it’s a bigger turnout than I expected. And I hadn’t seen all the work the Kings had put into setting up since I came in through the employees’ back entrance.
“The Kings know how to throw a hell of a party,” Lucas replies with a chuckle.
“Yes, they do,” I agree. “Guess I better get out there.”
“Good luck,” Lucas says.
“Thanks,’ I tell him with a smile.
I figure the best place to start is with a drink since I’m going to be doing a lot of talking. Something non-alcoholic, of course, because the last thing I need is to get tipsy in this dress and fall on my face.
Going over to the bar, I ask for a Sprite from the bartender and have just taken a sip when I see a couple coming right for me. The man is tall and lean in a navy-blue suit, no tie with a white shirt underneath. The woman is dressed in a conservative, long sleeve purple dress, and is clinging t
o his arm like she needs his support. Neither one of them are moving very fast.
“Hi, I’m Madison Monroe, thanks for coming tonight,” I tell him, offering the woman my handshake first. I think going to the man first is rude and can look like I’m being flirty.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” the woman replies when she gently takes my hand in hers and then pulls it away before the man, who I’m guessing is her husband, does the same.
“Pleasure,” he says. “I’m Harold, and this is my wife, Jennifer. Our son has told us all about you.”
“Oh really? And who is your son?”
“Cannon,” Harold replies, nodding over to where the man in question is talking to a woman, who is rubbing her hands over his arms and down his chest rigorously like he’s a magic genie lamp and she’s demanding her three wishes.
“Oh,” I finally say when I tear my eyes away from them. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“Cannon told us all about what happened after we saw it on the news,” Jennifer says. “I’m so glad you’re staying with him and Conrad. They’ll keep you safe.”
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated their hospitality during this trying time,” I reply.
“Well, since you’re going to be staying a while, I hope you’ll join us for Sunday dinner tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow?” I ask in surprise.
“Cannon and Conrad wouldn’t miss it two weeks in a row. We expect them to be there, which means we want you to join us as well.”
“Ah, well, I should probably talk to Cannon to make sure he’s okay with me tagging along.”
“I know he would love to have you along,” Jennifer says. “And I’ve noticed he can’t seem to keep his eyes off of you.”
I glance back over and notice that Cannon’s head is turned in our direction; but thanks to the mask, I can’t tell where he’s looking. When his mom waves her hand at him, he lifts his and waves back even though he has two new admirers in front of him.
“We won’t take up any more of your time,” Harold tells me. “I know there are a lot of other people here who can’t wait to meet you. Good luck with your campaign. We’ll be voting for you.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate that,” I tell him with a smile.
“Hope to see you tomorrow.”
“See you then,” I say automatically before I can catch myself. Shit. What if Cannon doesn’t want me to go with him? And I’m not sure I want to be around him after what just happened in the bathroom.
Everything is so much more complicated now. If only I hadn’t been such a mess about my social anxiety, then things wouldn’t have gone that far.
Guess it’s too late to do anything about it now. All that’s left is for me to just pretend like it never happened.
Chapter Twenty
Cannon
“It’s been too long since that amazing night we had,” Becky says as she runs her fingernails up under the pile of beads around my neck, leaving marks where no one can see them.
“Yes, yes, it has,” I agree even though I can’t remember if it’s been weeks or months. Hell, it could’ve been years, because sex for me is never all that memorable. Unlike a few minutes ago in the bathroom. I know I’ll never forget what just happened with Madison. “So, how many beads would you like to buy?” I ask as I glance back over at Madison talking to my parents.
Talk about embarrassing. I wish they wouldn’t have bombarded her, especially after what we just did together. I can’t tell if the conversation is pleasant or if she’s taking her anger at me out on them. I’ll have to ask Lucas later since he’s close enough to overhear.
Wait a second.
I do a double take at the prospect and notice his chest is totally bare. What the fuck?
“Excuse me a second,” I tell Becky before I start in their direction. My parents have already walked away, and Madison is talking to Roman and Charlotte when I grab Lucas by the elbow and haul him back a few steps.
“Jeez. What’s up?” he mutters.
“Where the hell are all of your beads?” I bark at him so loudly that several people turn to stare at us in concern, including Madison and Roman. I turn my back to them to face the prospect, who has an enormous grin on his face.
“Madison bought them,” he says.
“Madison?”
“Yeah, when we were in the lounge…” he explains. “Is that a problem?”
The thought of her hands on him, touching his chest, when the only part of me she touched was my hair when she tried to pull it out, pisses me off. What if she did more than touch him? After all, right before I left her, she was bending over in offering, her body begging me to fuck her. Since I didn’t, maybe she found someone who would.
Getting in his face so I can see his eyes, I ask, “Did you fuck her?”
His eyes widen so that there’s a lot of white showing before he stumbles back a few steps like I shoved him. “God, no! Why would you think that?”
“It took you both a helluva long time to come out,” I remark through my clenched teeth.
“That was all Madison. I swear! She was in the bathroom. Alone! Then she asked about the beads, paid me for them and pulled them off. That’s it. Nothing else happened, Cannon!”
Jesus.
Seeing the fear on his face and hearing it in his voice finally makes me draw back and ease off from him. I don’t know what came over me, why I thought Madison would do that. I think she shocked herself by letting me touch her. Fuck knows she wouldn’t even let me kiss her lips, so I doubt she would fuck a boy almost a decade younger than her.
That’s when it hits me that the sudden, out of control rage isn’t like me. Is this what fucking jealousy feels like? If so, then I know why men go insane and shoot other guys in the heat of the moment when they see their woman screwing someone else.
But Madison isn’t my woman. I’m not even sure if she would consider me a friend right now.
“Sorry,” I tell Lucas as I scrub my palm over the back of my burning neck, feeling ridiculous for nearly attacking him and accusing him of sleeping with Madison. “It’s been a stressful night.”
“No problem,” he says. “Madison looks hot in that dress, and you’re protective of her. I get it, Cannon.”
“No, you don’t, but never mind,” I mutter.
“She gave me the cash for Jake’s beads too,” he informs me. “Just to warn you, so you don’t go off on him too.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” I reply before I turn around and walk over to see what Madison, Roman and Charlotte are talking about.
The first thing I hear is Madison saying, “You don’t have to invite me too. Cannon and I, we aren’t a couple or anything like that. He’s just been nice enough to let me stay with him…”
“I heard my name. What did I miss?” I ask when I step up beside Charlotte so that I’m directly across from Madison.
“Oh, there you are!” Charlotte says. She starts to place her hand on my arm before she realizes I’m not wearing a shirt and lets it fall. More than likely because she knew Roman wouldn’t approve of even that innocent contact. “I was just telling Madison that we would love to have you both over to dinner with Hannah and Conrad one night.”
“Sounds great,” I say, just because Madison sounded uncomfortable about it. It would be with two other couples and we are clearly not together that way, nor will we ever be since she thinks she’s too good for me. Hell, maybe she is. And also, because I don’t do relationships.
Madison’s jaw clenches, angry at me, but she doesn’t even glare at me before she says, “Just let us know when and what we should bring. We’re having dinner with Cannon and Conrad’s parents tomorrow night, so any other night is fine.”
“We are?” I blurt out in surprise.
“Yes, we are,” Madison responds before she takes a sip of her drink and then frowns like she would prefer coffee.
“There’s coffee in the employee lounge if you want a cup,” I
tell her, and she freezes with her lips parted.
“What?” Roman asks. “Did we miss something?”
“Nothing. Coffee is just Madison’s drink of choice,” I explain.
“I’ll make do for tonight, but thanks, Cannon,” she tells me without the least bit of gratitude. Yep, she’s still pissed.
“I’m gonna have a beer,” Roman says. “Want one?” he turns to ask me.
“Sure.”
“Just one,” Charlotte reminds him, holding up her finger.
“I know, I know,” he says with a grin before we leave the women to go to the bar.
“Whop-eesh,” I make the sound effect from the corner of my lips.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m whipped. Whatever. We’re trying to get pregnant, and that means laying off the alcohol for a while. It’s no big deal,” he says.
“You two have been trying for a while, haven’t you?” I ask, and Roman sighs.
“I’m going to knock her up,” he declares angrily.
“I didn’t say you wouldn’t,” I assure him with my palms up in surrender. He asks the bartender for two beers, pays him for his own beer, and then hands me one of the bottles.
“We’ve been to the doctor, and there’s no medical reason why we haven’t gotten pregnant already,” Roman admits. “So why haven’t we?”
“Don’t ask me. I’m all about trying to avoid kids,” I reply. “You could ask Conrad. Apparently, it was one and done for him and Hannah.”
“You younger guys just have all the fucking luck,” Roman mutters.
“Maybe you’re trying too hard,” I tell him. “All the accidental pregnancies happen for a reason – people are too turned on to be thinking straight. You could be overthinking it.”
“That’s what Charlotte does. She’s got the ovulation tests, the certain days we can’t fuck, when we can, how we fuck. It’s all planned out every month.”
