Worth It

by Linda Kage

  “Good.” Gripping me harder, he flipped me over onto my back so he could come over me and sit up to look down before skimming his hands up over my breasts. “Because I’m pretty eager to try every position ever invented.”

  He surged deeper, and I couldn’t hold back with his hands igniting my nipples and his cock burrowed to my core. I started to come.

  He hissed out a breath. “Damn it, I can’t hold back when you do that.”

  “Sorry, not sorry.”

  I relished watching his eyes go unfocused.

  Then his mouth dropped open and he groaned through his release.

  It didn’t take me long to realize he wasn’t lying about wanting to try sex in every position. I just wasn’t aware he meant all in one day. But as soon as I announced I was hungry, he pulled his T-shirt on me, dragged his boxers onto himself and carried me into the kitchen, where he sat me gently on the counter. Then, as I watched, he fixed my coffee for me just the way I liked it. Sipping, I watched him start breakfast, breaking eggs into the skillet. But as soon as they were finished and on a plate, he took one look at me still innocently drinking my coffee, and he shook his head, prowling my way.

  “Why do you have to look so good, sitting there like that?” Skimming the shirt I wore up to the tops of my thighs, he stepped between my legs and gripped my hips to draw me to the edge of the counter. I suddenly realized why he hadn’t offered me panties—only a shirt—when he freed himself of his boxers and pushed inside me.

  And God, the orgasm that followed, was...nice.

  After that, he showered with me, where he took me against the wet tiled wall.

  The cutest part was his critique following each round. They all had their own perks, he claimed, but he wasn’t a fan of banging his knee against the kitchen cabinets when he was about to come, he claimed shower water really wasn’t helpful with lubrication at all, and he didn’t like not being able to see my eyes when he bent me over the couch to take me from behind. I loved being a part of it as he experienced each position for the first time. And, yeah, I had to agree with him when he concluded the bed was the best place.

  So we found ourselves back on the mattress in my room, where we took a nap for a while until I woke up in the late afternoon to him idly strumming his fingers down my back.

  He must’ve sensed I was awake because he asked, “Do you have to work tonight?”

  “Mmm.” I stretched and rolled his way. “No.”

  “Good.” He settled onto his side so he could face me too. Propping his cheek on his hand, he watched me with the most tender expression, as if he couldn’t believe he was really here with me.

  I couldn’t quite believe it myself, and I feared how temporary it might be. Reaching up, I traced his dark eyebrows with my fingers. “So I can’t help but notice you haven’t tried to push me away or keep me at a distance all day. Dare I hope this means...?” I lifted my eyebrows and sent him a grin.

  He sighed and ran a hand up my thigh. “I’ve come to realize resisting you is futile.”

  I scowled. “But you still think you’re a threat to me?”

  He glanced up at the ceiling, looking torn. “I don’t know. You’ve seen the way I can destroy a room.”

  “A room. Property,” I clarified. “Not people.”

  He sent me a glance. “I gave Ten a black eye.”

  I sniffed and waved a hand. “The way I hear it, all of his closest friends have given him a black eye at one point or another. I swear, it’s a rite of passage at Forbidden to jack Ten in the face.”

  “It’s still a risk I don’t want to take with you. When I lose my temper, I can’t always control what I do.”

  I held up a finger. “If I recall, I’ve pushed you to the limit of your temper pretty much every time we’ve talked since you were released. And you never once physically hurt me.”

  “That’s true,” he conceded with a thoughtful frown.

  “And the only thing you did when I pushed you too far was kiss the shit out of me against the break room wall. Ooh, and last night, you fucked my brains out.” I shivered and crawled my fingers down his abdomen. “That one was my favorite. In fact, I’m feeling the need to incite your rage all over again in the hopes you’ll do something even more delicious the next time.”

  “Woman,” he growled, gripping my arm and flipping me onto my back before crawling over me. “You are just asking for it, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, please, big strong scary ex-con! Don’t hurt me,” I fake begged, fluttering my lashes all dramatic-like. “I swear, I’ll never draw out your demon again.”

  “Too late, little girl. You lit the fire. Now it’s time to go up in flames.”

  He grasped my knees in his palms and yanked my legs open before leaning in and attacking me with his mouth. I shouted out my surprise and pleasure and gripped his shoulders as he showed me no mercy. Tongue swirling, he pressed against my nub, bringing me to the peak faster than I thought was humanly possible.

  “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my—”

  He thrust a finger into me and I came, sobbing out my release. It went on and on until one final pulse had me shuddering and sinking deep into the mattress under me.

  “Holy...” Staring up at the ceiling of my bedroom, I panted and I tried to come down from my unexpectedly sudden high. Knox’s face appeared above mine, and he grinned. “You may be on to something. Could be it’s physically impossible for me to hurt you. I end up…amorous instead of violent when you set me off.”

  “And, oh, do I appreciate your amour,” I murmured on a dreamy sigh.

  He stroked his fingers through my hair as he slid his gaze over me. “I don’t mind it myself.” He curled a red tendril around his pinkie. “You know...I don’t know who I am anymore. But I know I still love you. I always have, and I always will.”

  Overcome with emotion, I set my hand against his cheek. “I’ve always loved you too, Knox. I’ll do anything and everything to help you find yourself again.”

  He nodded. “I know. And Pick’s set me up with a trainer at the gym to help me vent off some of the rage. It’s actually been helping.”

  “Good.” I slid my palm up over his prickly scalp. “See, you’re already on your way to working past this, but…” I bit my lip, not sure if I should even suggest what I wanted to say next. I absolutely didn’t want to say anything that would close him off.

  “But?” he asked, looking at me with brown eyes that were so much like the old Knox Parker, I drew in a breath and dove in.

  “Might I suggest one more thing?”

  He grinned. “You might as well. It’s going to fester and bother you until you do.”

  I scowled. He knew me too well. “Okay, fine. I think you should see a psychiatrist.”

  He began to withdraw, but I grabbed his arm. “Please, just...think about it. There are other people who have survived terrible, traumatic things, just like you have. And there are other people out there who can help you work through it. Bottling it up wasn’t doing you any good. You need to let it out, to let it go, and then you can finally be free of it.”

  Blowing out a breath, he shook his head and sent me a look that said there was no way, but what came out of his mouth was, “If….if I agree to do this, there’s only one way I’ll allow it to go down.”

  “How’s that?” I asked, shocked he was even considering it.

  “I get to pick the shrink.”

  Nodding immediately, I said, “Absolutely. Of course. You should only go to someone you feel completely comfortable with.”

  A smug grin crossed his face. “Good. Then I pick you.”

  I groaned. “Knox, I’m serious. I meant a professional.”

  Cocking an eyebrow, he challenged me with a single look. “Thought you said you didn’t need a fancy degree to help people.”

  “Damn it,” I muttered. “I hate it when my own words come back to bite me in the butt.”

  “Just get on Google or whatever you do and look up tips to help me,” he u
rged, “like you did for that kid with the nightmares. If anyone can fix me, it’s you.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “Only you.”

  “No pressure or anything,” I grumbled even as I curled in close to his warmth.

  “Nah. You got this.”

  Almost a week passed after City convinced me it just wasn’t possible to keep my distance from her...in any capacity. It was the best damn week of my life. Once I stopped trying to do what I thought was best for her and I stopped pushing her away, life got infinitely better. Gone was the miserable aching want, lost was my sullen disposition, plus a good portion of my pent-up anger and aggression went poof. I mean, I didn’t turn into a sappy pansy ass or anything, but City said I definitely lost my broodiness.

  The best part of giving into temptation was finally having her whenever I wanted her. We turned into one of those crazy, horny couples who had to break in every room in our apartment…daily. I just couldn’t keep my hands off her, and she didn’t seem to mind. Half the time, she was the one attacking me.

  Yeah, I didn’t mind that either.

  But there were still issues; I couldn’t be fixed overnight. I continued to worry, afraid of what I could do, but City had a way of forcing me to work through it, even if it was to say, “Go punch something. It’s okay.”

  I’d yet to make it through a full “session” with her when she tried to talk to me about my prison years. I typically took off early to go work it off at the gym. But she insisted we were making progress after I lasted through eighteen minutes, compared to four the first time, before I had to escape.

  She discovered after some research that my violent outbursts were a form of anxiety attacks. So she tried to tackle that issue, and told me we’d already cleared step one by even identifying what prompted my episodes. When she read that breathing techniques, diversionary tactics, and working out helped—all things I already did at Speedy’s—she really began to advocate my gym time.

  A couple days, she went with me. Our first trip there together, she tried to work out alongside me, but gave up ten minutes in. After that, she only observed. She said she loved watching me box best, and I had to believe her because she jumped me in the changing room showers afterward, and I was so right. Everything was better when it was dirty.

  Friday was the next night we worked together. For some reason, I felt nervous walking into Forbidden with her, and I wasn’t sure why…until we entered and Ten immediately hooted, “All right! Parker finally got laid!”

  “Oh my God.” Squeaking, City spun to me, her face bright red. “Are we really that obvious?”

  “Well, now we are.” When she whimpered in embarrassment, I caught her shoulders in my hands and chuckled as I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Ten.”

  I turned my attention to the annoying man across the room who wouldn’t stop smirking.

  “Way to go, my man.” He tried to give me a high five as I stalked closer. “Scored with Three, huh? Good taste, Inmate.”

  Instead of accepting his congratulations, I cracked my knuckles and narrowed my eyes.

  He gulped. “Shit.” Lifting his hands, he backed away. “Look, no disrespect. Seriously. I’m just happy for you. Please don’t kill me in front of my wife.”

  I paused at that request and glanced over to find a highly amused blonde sitting at the bar and swinging her legs as she sipped from a drink with a straw in it.

  When my gaze met hers, she smiled and waved. “Hi.”

  Eyeing her, I hitched my thumb toward Ten. “You actually married this guy?”

  With a laugh, she answered, “I was drunk.”

  “Hey!” Ten whirled around to scowl at her. “And because you love the shit out of me.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess there was that too.”

  “You’re damn right there was.”

  When he went in for a kiss, Noel yelled, “Eww,” from the other end of the bar.

  Ten broke away from his wife to whisper loudly to Noel, so everyone could hear it. “I have sex with your sister. A lot.” To which his woman poked him in the ribs and told him to behave and stop badgering her brother.

  I glanced between Noel and Ten, but they only sneered at each other before turning their attention to their women. Up on the stage, Asher was setting up for the band, but he seemed to be the only member who’d arrived yet.

  I turned back to my two coworkers. Noel and Ten were back to chatting like best friends, as if they hadn’t just about broken into a fight. City was readying a table near Aspen so the two women could talk and laugh, and the other two waitresses were filling tables with condiments.

  “What’re you two doing here, anyway?” I asked the guys. “I thought I was working with Mason tonight.”

  Mason chose that moment to exit the back hall with Pick.

  “You are,” Ten answered, slugging my arm. “The rest of us are just here to watch dumb ass’s show.”

  “I heard that,” Asher yelled, flipping him off.

  “You were supposed to,” Ten called back, sending forth his own bird. “And you better make it good tonight. I could be at home, seducing my way into Caroline’s panties right now.”

  “Fucker,” Noel muttered.

  When Pick and Mason stopped talking between the two of them, Mason joined me behind the counter and paused, sending me a wary cringe. Then he lifted his hands. “Okay, just tell me now, on a scale of one to ten, how painfully are you going to kill me?”

  I hadn’t seen him since learning what all he had revealed to City. But maybe a week of time had helped me get over it. Or maybe something else entirely had helped me get over it. I glanced at the redhead who watched us from Aspen’s side.

  When I turned back to Mason, I shrugged. I could’ve gotten pissed and jacked him in the jaw. But I just couldn’t summon the anger. “It turned out okay,” I admitted before pointing at him threateningly. “But don’t ever spring shit like that on me again.”

  “Oh, you don’t even have to worry about that,” he assured me quickly. “Never again.”

  “And don’t tell Felicity a fucking thing that should be my place to tell her.”

  He nodded. “Right. Got it.”

  “Good.” I grunted and got to work.

  Pick dropped by right before we opened to make sure we were ready. He paused in front of me and let out a self-satisfied smile. “Damn, I love it when I’m right,” he murmured before strolling away and stopping by City to say something to her. I scowled after him, wondering if I really did have some kind of after-sex glow going on.

  The other band members didn’t show for their gig until after the doors had been opened and customers started to spill in. I caught sight of Rock—never more to be considered Rocket to me—on stage, but he didn’t even glance my way. Noel caught my eye when he wanted to order some refills for him and his wife, though.

  Once I delivered their drinks, he waylaid me by clearing his throat. “So…Aspen says Felicity’s been happier lately then she’s ever seen her.”

  “Okay.” I arched my eyebrows, waiting for him to get to his point.

  He growled out a sigh and made a face. “So maybe Pick knew what he was doing when he pushed you two at each other,” he admitted. Then he shrugged. “All I know is that a happier Felicity makes a happier Aspen, and that…” He wiggled his eyebrows, “Makes for a very happy Noel.”

  Oh, brother. “Well, that’s what I’m here for,” I deadpanned. “To improve your sex life.”

  “Shut up,” he muttered, scowling. “Just keep doing whatever the fuck you’re doing. All right?”

  “Gladly,” I murmured as he walked away. I turned to find City in the crowd, but a pair of laughing women plopped themselves onto the stool in front of me, controlling my attention.

  “Knox!” they cheered in unison.

  I blinked at Eva and Reese, finally seeing the similarities between them. Pick had said they were first cousins, but you couldn’t have proven it to me until I saw them side-by
-side, grinning at me from the same color of blue eyes.

  “Where did you two come from?”

  “We were gossiping in Pick’s office,” Eva answered before she reached out and grasped my forearm. “How have you been, handsome?”

  From the pity in her gaze, I realized she knew everything. I sent a sharp accusing glance to her cousin for being such a gossip. But Reese only shrugged, and not very apologetically.

  “I’m fine,” I offered, carefully tugging my arm free.

  “Good. You know, you really need to stop by the apartment again sometime. The kiddos have been asking about you.”

  I arched an eyebrow, wondering how she knew that when her kiddos didn’t say much past buh-buh, maw-maw, and nigh-nigh. But I shrugged, because I kind of missed them too. After I told her I’d swing by someday soon, Mason showed up, begging me to switch ends of the bar so he could flirt with his woman as he worked.

  The band started their gig, and the place came to life, flooding with cheers and catcalls. City managed to stop at my end of the bar every time she filled an order, and she was always able to slip in a kiss when she did.

  I was still feeling a high from her last one when Reese suddenly appeared in front of me, her eyes wide. “Knox,” she hissed, frantically waving me closer. I frowned but went to her. She leaned in and tried to call over all the noise as confidentially as possible. “Jeremy’s older brother just walked in the front door.”

  I glanced over her shoulder and immediately caught sight of Tad Walden. He hadn’t changed much since the night he’d held back my arms to let City’s brothers hit me. And speaking of City’s brothers…was that Garrett Bainbridge strolling up to the bar with him?

  I tensed and muttered, “Shit,” under my breath. “Thanks for the warning.” I nodded gratefully to Reese right before she hurried away.

  I watched the two approach, and then I intercepted them before they could go to Mason. “Can I help you?”

  They didn’t recognize me. Not surprising. But my eyebrows did lift when Tad said, “We’re looking for Knox Parker. Heard he worked here.”