“No,” he said again. “Not tonight. First thing in the morning though? As soon as you have some ibuprofen and I’m positive you’re fine, I’ll give you everything you want.”
Her breathing hitched. Then she narrowed her eyes. “Bastard. You can’t talk like that if you’re going to leave me hurting over here.”
Hurting? She wanted to talk about hurting? He put her hand against his cock. “Yeah, well, we’ll be hurting together.”
Her fingers tightened around him and Bennett realized he’d made a huge mistake.
Kennedy started to move her hand up and down, but he stopped her before she even got one full stroke in. Still, it was enough to have his balls screaming.
“Not taking advantage of me because you think I’m drunk is a little romantic,” she said softly. “I should do something dirty to get you back for that.”
His heart rate picked up. He loved this teasing with her. And here were certainly things they could do—well, things that could be done—that wouldn’t be sex. She wasn’t so drunk that they couldn’t tease and play a little.
“Okay,” he said. “Then you take care of yourself.” He moved her hand to her panties. His heart pounded. Could he lie there next to her while she got herself off?
Abso-fucking-lutely. He wasn’t taking advantage of her that way, but she was still getting some relief.
She immediately slid her hand into her panties. Even vodka couldn’t dull her natural inclination toward mischief.
“I will, if you will,” she said.
“You’ll play with yourself, make yourself come, and let me watch if I do what?” he asked, pulling the sheet down so that he could see.
One of her knees was bent slightly, spreading her legs, and her fingers were working behind the silk of her thong. He wanted to kiss that rose on her inner thigh more than he could remember wanting anything in a long time.
“If you get yourself off at the same time,” she told him. She reached up and pulled one of her bra cups down, playing with her nipple.
He reached over and pulled the other cup down. God, she was so fucking gorgeous. And this was so hot. “I’m in.”
He ran a hand over his rock-hard cock, sighing at the slight relief the pressure gave. But it wasn’t enough, of course. But before he could take care of himself, he needed to see all of Kennedy.
Bennett reached over and pulled her thong down, baring her, and her busy fingers. She was circling her clit, slowly, almost leisurely. She was also plucking at one nipple. Her hips moved slightly side to side and stopped only to let him pull the tiny scrap of silk from her legs and toss them to the floor. He also quickly divested her of her bra. He took a second to drag a fingertip over her tattoo from her hip to her knee. He relished the way she shivered with the stroke.
“Now you,” she told him, her eyes on the front of his boxers.
He pulled them down, naked with her for the first time, and threw them over his shoulder.
She blew out a breath. “Whoa.”
He grinned. “You’re drunk.” He wrapped his hand around his throbbing cock, loving her eyes on him.
“I’m not that drunk. That’s a whoa no matter how much I’ve had.” She spread her legs further. “You’re sure we can’t have sex?”
He wasn’t. At all. She seemed totally with it.
“I want nothing more than to be buried in you,” he told her honestly. “But—”
“This is really hot,” she said. “I know. I agree.”
He huffed out a laugh. He wasn’t sure that’s what he’d been about to say. “Yeah?”
“I’ve never gotten myself off while someone watched before,” she told him. “This is… yeah, hot.”
That decided it. He didn’t know—didn’t want to know—every detail of the other men Kennedy had been with, but if there was something they could do together for the first time that she found hot, then he was in.
“Show me how you like it,” he told her, his eyes focused on all the gorgeous pink between her legs and the fingers that clearly knew exactly what to do.
“Well, usually I use my vibrator,” she told him. “It’s faster.”
He stroked his fist up and down his cock. “I want to see that, too.”
“I can go get—”
“Don’t you dare,” he growled. “Fucking finish yourself off while I watch, Kennedy. Just your fingers this time. Work at it a little bit.”
She sucked in a quick breath before giving him a sheepish grin. “I like this work.”
She began circling again, rubbing, then dipping her fingers into the sweet wetness beneath. She continued playing with her nipple as well, pinching and rolling, and Bennett made note of what she liked. He continued to stroke himself, slow and easy, not wanting to rush ahead of her, but damned grateful for the pressure around his aching shaft. God, he needed to come and he needed it to be with her, if not in her.
“Help me,” she breathed as she slipped two fingers inside and thrust deep.
“How?” He was beyond being the good guy who wasn’t going to touch her. Whatever she wanted, he was going to give.
“Move so I can see you better.”
Bennett got to his knees and moved between her legs. “Better?”
“Oh my God, so much better,” she panted, her gaze riveted on his cock.
He liked it, too. From here he could see every hot, sweet, wet inch of her. “You’re right. This is pretty fucking hot.”
She watched his hand moving. “I want that so much.”
“It’s gonna be all yours.”
“I’m never drinking again,” she told him, “if it’s going to keep me from that.”
He chuckled and stroked faster. “Well, I don’t think we have to go crazy here.”
“Seriously.” Her hand was moving faster. “I’ll do anything.”
“Be careful, babe,” he said, also moving faster. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I’m going to come, Bennett.”
“Yes, honey, come for me.”
She arched her neck and a moment later squeezed her eyes shut and gave him a long, heartfelt, “Ahh.”
Yeah, they were going to work on her being a hell of a lot louder and just what—or rather whose name—she was calling out. Bennett gripped his cock and stroked hard and fast, feeling his climax tightening his balls, the tingling starting at the base of his spine.
Kennedy arched her back like a freaking cat as she withdrew her hand from between her legs. Then she propped herself up on one elbow and swirled her fingers over the head of his cock and he erupted.
“Kennedy!”
“Oh, yes,” she said softly as he came over her hand. She followed his hand with hers as he finished stroking himself. “Very, very hot.”
He let himself fall forward, waves from his orgasm still rippling through him, and pressed his mouth to hers. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, pressing against his body everywhere she could reach.
They kissed for several long, delicious minutes. Finally, Bennett rolled to the side, bringing her with him, his hands firmly cradling her ass.
“That,” she said, nuzzling her face against his neck, “was great.”
“It was.” Though “great” seemed so inadequate.
They lay plastered together for several long moments.
“Tell me about your foundation,” she said against his collarbone.
He took a breath. He really didn’t want to talk about his foundation. Or any of the stuff he’d been talking about all damned night. “Not right now.”
“How come?”
“Because that’s what kept me from bringing you up here earlier when you were totally sober.”
He felt her smile against his skin, but she didn’t say anything. Until they’d been quiet again for a few minutes.
“I don’t have a thing.”
Bennett frowned. “What?” She’d said it very quietly, but he also didn’t understand what she meant.
“I don’t have a thing.
Like your foundation and the environment and all the stuff you do. Or like Tori and Maddie and Juliet have.”
Bennett stroked his hand up and down her back. “You do have a thing,” he told her.
“Not really.”
It was just what Teddy had said downstairs. Maybe they’d been talking about it.
“You do,” Bennett insisted. “There’s no one like you, Kennedy. You make people happy. You make them feel supported. You’re like…coming home. You make me take a big deep breath when I see you and let me just…be happy.”
She didn’t say anything to that.
“You…you’re like your grandpa,” he said, feeling the need to go on. “You know how he always sits on that same stool? And he’s always got a grin and a story? He’ll be the first one to give you advice and to tell you you’re being a dumbass, to keep you grounded, but he’ll somehow also make you feel like he thinks you’re awesome and can do anything. He’s dependable, always the same. He’s…a rock,” Bennett said, as he had about Kennedy earlier. “He’s exactly who you think he is and if he tells you something, you know he means it and you can count on it. That’s definitely a thing. Something a lot of people can’t be.”
She still didn’t say anything. He wondered if she’d fallen asleep.
“Ken?”
Finally, she sighed. “I don’t want to be like my grandpa.”
Bennett tried to look down at her but could only see the top of her head. “What? Why not? Thought you loved Leo more than anyone.”
She nodded, her cheek moving against his chest. “I do, of course. But he…frustrates me. He’s a pushover.”
Bennett frowned. “That’s not how I see him.”
“You weren’t there when my grandma broke up with him.”
Oh. Yeah. Bennett had come along after the elder Landrys were already getting back together. They’d been married for years. Then they’d split up but had stayed close friends. Leo had moved out but only as far as the trailer behind the house he’d shared with Ellie. He’d even slept on the couch in that house whenever it rained because the trailer leaked. He’d continued to do things for Ellie around the house and help out at the bar. He sat on the same stool that he now occupied, and always had, throughout their breakup. He’d never really left her. He’d just, apparently, given her the space she’d thought she needed.
“He didn’t want to break up?” Bennett asked.
“No. Definitely not. I mean, he knew that they were fighting a lot and that she thought she was unhappy, so he wanted to break up if that’s what she wanted or what would make them both happy. But he was never going to leave her. Not really. He was always going to be there for her, no matter what she needed. No matter what she did. Or who she did.” The last few words were more of a mutter.
Bennett tightened his arm around her. “Their breakup was hard on you, I’m guessing.”
“I just…” She paused for several seconds. Then she looked up at him. “I pitied him,” she said. “He just sat there. Right there at that bar. Slept right outside her back door. Was always there. She knew he would always be there. And she got to do whatever she wanted. And I hated seeing that. I hated seeing him just take it. And I hated feeling sorry for him. He’s my favorite person. He’s the most loving person I’ve ever met. He will always put other people first. He will do anything to make people smile. He would do anything to keep our family safe. But she just took him for granted. And then he was there when she was ready to come back. Just like she knew he would be.”
“Are you more upset that they broke up or that they got back together?” Bennett asked.
She seemed to have to think about that. But finally she said, “Both. But maybe the getting back together. I mean, I like them together. He’s definitely happier with her than without. And my family is happier now that they’re back together. But…it’s like he doesn’t have a thing, either,” she said. “He’s just there. Helping everyone else do their things. Why can’t he have a thing?”
Bennett didn’t know what to say to that. Frankly, she had a point. Leo was the guy who built everyone else up to go off and do their things. The family hadn’t gone too far from him. His grandsons—Josh, Sawyer, Owen, and Mitch—all still worked in Autre in the business that Leo had handed down to them. His son and daughter still lived in Autre, too, though they worked in New Orleans. He was surrounded by people and friends he’d known all his life.
“Maybe he’s doing his thing,” Bennett suggested. “Maybe he likes being that rock. Everyone needs a solid place to start from and to rely on when things go wonky. Maybe he looks at it as him having a hand in all of those things everyone does. Those are all kind of his thing.”
“Did you have that?” she asked. “Were your parents a solid place to start for you to go do all your amazing things? Because they had their own things at the same time.”
Bennett took a deep breath and shook his head. “No. I mean, the path was solid if I wanted to follow what they’d laid out. And I did for a long time. But veering off of that got…rocky. Definitely not like Leo, who lets everyone figure their stuff out and is just there, being supportive no matter what.”
“You veered off your path?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
He took another deep breath. “This is a lot for tonight.”
“I want to know.”
He really didn’t want to get into this. What he wanted was for Kennedy to see that she really was like Leo, in all the best ways. Bennett really needed her to be that. That sounded selfish as hell, of course. This wasn’t all just about him figuring his shit out.
Apparently.
But that was why his gut was tightening and why he suddenly felt restless. He’d thought she was solid. He’d thought Kennedy had her shit together and was doing exactly what she wanted to be doing. He thought she could be that person who he could count on to be there, exactly who he thought she was, who would tell him the truth, no matter how painful, who would be…rock solid.
She didn’t sound rock solid right now.
“Let’s clean up first.” He rolled her off of him and slid out of bed without looking back at her. He went to the bathroom and cleaned up. He was feeling edgy, and he knew it was because Kennedy was revealing some things that he hadn’t been aware of. Things that were making him question all he’d been so sure of.
He wanted Kennedy Landry.
But did he want the woman who was lying in his bed right now or the woman he’d thought he knew? The one out there right now sounded sad and frustrated about the family that he’d thought was solid and sure. She seemed far less confident than he’d expected and maybe even a little lost. He wanted the sassy, sure-of-herself bayou girl. He’d thought she was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get girl. He’d thought she’d already found her place and had dug her roots in deep.
Now, between what Teddy had said and the little bit of insight she’d just given him, he wasn’t sure.
Bennett blew out a breath. Well, this whole trip had been about getting to know one another better. They were doing that. He wet a washcloth with warm water and went back into the bedroom.
She was asleep.
He stopped and just watched her for a long moment.
She was gorgeous. She was also deeply devoted to her family, handled everything anyone threw at her—even the need for shrimp po’ boys in the midst of his mother’s fancy party—made people laugh and was bluntly honest.
She was who he thought she was.
There was just even more there.
And he was an asshole for not knowing that. Or for even wondering about it.
Bennett tossed the washcloth back into the bathroom and headed for the bed. He slipped under the covers next to her and welcomed her warm, softness against him as she cuddled her butt into his groin.
His cock stirred, of course, but he wrapped an arm around her and kept her close.
Kennedy was definitely more open than most people he knew. All of the Landrys were. It was
refreshing and he’d fallen head over heels for it all immediately. But it was unfair of him to think that he knew everything about this woman. In fact, this was the first deep conversation they’d ever had. And she was at least half-drunk. Her guard down. It was possible she’d never intended to let him this close.
But then she turned in his arms, snuggled close, put her nose against his neck, and said softly, “Bennett.”
Contentment.
The feeling was intense and washed over him and he sucked in a deep breath.
Maybe she didn’t mean to let him this close, but she had. And he wanted more.
10
Fuck vanilla vodka and everything that had ever been made with it.
Kennedy groaned as she rolled over. Her head pounded.
Okay, fuck all vodka.
Kennedy put her hands to her head. Dammit. She hadn’t been hungover in a long time. She knew better. She knew what her limits were. At least, with moonshine on the bayou. Vanilla vodka was an unknown evil.
Until now.
She squinted at the clock. It was nine-thirty a.m. She looked at the bed next to her. Bennett was gone.
She listened for the shower but heard nothing.
Slowly, painfully, she pushed herself up to sitting and looked around, careful not to move her head too fast.
Nope, he wasn’t here.
She heard a chime from the bedside table and looked over. Her phone was there and apparently she had a text.
She reached for it, again slowly and a little painfully.
Golfing. Will probably be a while. Go down and help yourself to coffee and food.
The second text read, I’ll need a shower when I get back.
Even hungover, her body responded to that. She was getting in that damned shower with Bennett in the next twenty-four hours, or somebody was going to be in trouble.
Kennedy ran her tongue around her mouth, trying to clear the cotton out of it. Man, she needed coffee. And one of Cora’s hangover cures. She figured Maria had to have those ingredients in her kitchen. She stood slowly from the bed. Okay, her stomach was all right. Her head hurt, but otherwise she was okay. Ibuprofen, a tall glass of But Did You Die?—Cora’s name for her morning-after potion—and a shower. Then she’d feel human.
Crazy Rich Cajuns Page 16
