Pedal to the Metal: Love's Drivin' but Fate's Got the Pole (The 'Cuda Confessions Book 3)

by Eden Connor

  “Oh, look. The interior’s white.” I stuck my tongue out at Caine, wondering if he’d recall showing his ass because Dale had changed out the black interior of the ‘Cuda Jesse now owned.

  “Yeah, yeah. See that fat Hemi stripe on the rear?” he retorted.

  I saw it. The wide white decal that stretched from the edge of the door and filled the rear quarter panel was still hideous, as far as I was concerned.

  “You know, that looks weird to me now. I got used to the feathers.” Caroline wrinkled her nose.

  Marley nudged Colt aside to peer at the dash. “Jesse said he was gonna change back to the Hemi stripes, but he never has done it. Damn, this thing looks like it just rolled off the line yesterday.” She squatted and squinted down the passenger side in the direction of the rear bumper. “Not even a ding.”

  Wait. I blinked at Caine. “You put the feather decal on Dale’s ‘Cuda again after you did the body work? When you knew the car was going to Jesse?”

  His shoulders shook with laughter. “Caroline ain’t wrong. Poor car looked downright nekkid. I just couldn’t send her into the world bare-assed, now could I?”

  “Still waitin’ to hear why that chicken crossed the road.” Colt winked.

  I threw out my hands. “Dude, why do you race? Because the road exists. And when you’re on the road with your foot to the floor, you’re flying, right?” When the laughter died, I asked, “Lowe, what did you mean about getting Lee to give us one of those?” I pointed to the open garage behind the car. “Why would we even want one?”

  “Whoa!” Caine cried. The guys bailed, but the big car rolled another foot before it came to a stop. Lights danced across the gleaming hood.

  “Later. A lot has to sort itself out before we need to talk about that.” Caine adjusted his Hannah-Built cap.

  “Lowe, look your fill, but move your ass about it. I’ll lock the gate behind you.” Caroline and the rangy blond held a staring contest, until Caroline spread her hands. “Every racer has their rituals. This one’s friends only, and sure as hell not open to someone workin’ for the enemy.”

  “Enemy?” Lowe’s light brows climbed his forehead. “Damn, girl. I’m pissed off because Red Hot here had me kicked off the crew. I’m on y’all’s side.”

  “I mean it, Lowe. Look and be gone.”

  I tried to dodge around Caine, but he grabbed the tail of my shirt and my fingertips barely skimmed the hood. “Oh, no. You wanna touch that car? Then you better win it.”

  “Guess there’s all kinds of ways to add drag.” Lowe winked and sauntered toward the tunnel. “See y’all Sunday night, I reckon. I’ll be in the parkin’ lot. First round’s on me after the race.” Caroline stalked behind him.

  Caine’s eyes warned me what came next. He moved to stand behind me. Pushing my hair off my neck, he pressed his lips to the spot under my ear. I held my breath, feeling the brush of butterfly wings in my tummy, drinking in the sight of the ultimate prize—the car fairy tales were made of.

  Dale had been right. The legend mattered. This one had a legend that could never be beat, as far as I was concerned. Something stirred, deep in my soul, just from staring at her. She was power and beauty and I’d never wanted anything so bad in my entire life.

  Caine’s hands never strayed from my shoulders, but every inch of my skin glowed with heat. Sweat painted a crescent beneath my breasts. My nipples burned to be touched. I struggled to breathe.

  His warm breath, stirred the tiny hairs at my nape. Rough palms massaged my shoulders, relaxing me, even as his lips aroused me. At last, he slid a hand to my chest, only to stroke the spot under my chin, forcing me to tip my head back. His lips moved to my ear.

  Colt, Jonny, and Marley leaned against the ‘Cuda, watching with avid eyes while Caine aroused me out of my mind. The banks of lights gave the sense of performing on a stage. My wayward imagination painted faces in every seat, people who’d paid admission to watch me get off.

  Sick and twisted, yes, but the fantasy fueled my desire.

  Not a hint of tongue, no moisture remained on my skin from Caine’s kisses. He gave me nothing to quench the fires he ignited as he worked his way around the back of my neck, lingering in the dip at the base of my skull. My need escalated minute by minute, but Caine refused to rush and I knew better than to rush him.

  His time. Always in his time. Just the thought turned my insides to mush. I could love Colt and Jonny. It made me happy to know, I could fuck them any time I pleased.

  But my soul belonged to Caine. By giving me to his friends, wasn’t he saying that he prized my soul above all?

  “You tell me,” he whispered. “I haven’t touched you in any of the usual places, but your nipples are hard and I know you’re wetter than water. Cheating or innovation?”

  It was true. Caine was his father’s son—a goddamn showoff.

  Jonny stepped in front of me. He gripped the elastic around my waist and stripped the yoga pants down my thighs. I held his shoulder for balance, lifting each foot in turn so he could work the legs over my boots.

  Marley moved into the spot Jonny vacated, to keep her eyes on mine. I’d been conditioned to do this in the dark on a lonely country road, but the bright lights turned the experience on its head. It seemed to me like Caine was sending me a message—or sending one to Marley. No more hiding in the dark. This is us. Take us as we are or take a hike.

  “Wider.”

  I worked my legs apart at Jonny’s command. He slid his fingers through my labia, finding me wet.

  Marley’s lips parted. Her eyes went wide, but as Jonny thrust into me, shaking my body with the forceful finger-fuck, the look faded. Arousal took over, blowing her pupils and beading her nipples until they taunted me through her heavy T-shirt.

  Caroline moved in when Caine removed my top. Before she bent to take my nipple into her mouth, she beckoned to Marley. “C’mon, sis. This is how we roll. Let’s make Shelby fly.”

  Marley darted a glance at Colt. “I’m gonna touch Shelby, too. Not for the first time. I’m gonna fuck her, actually, and I want you to watch me do it. We all are. Because my big brother’s nice like that. And, because Shelby wants us to.”

  I knew Colt’s face by heart. I’d memorized every expression at eighteen. But the look he wore now hadn’t been in his repertoire then. I’d never seen the expression. I was sure of it, because I’d seen him look at me the way he looked at Marley now, but the fake version wasn’t nearly as stirring. The hope in his eyes was tinged with fear. He needed her to accept that this was how we were.

  A broken woman stared from me to Colt. Confusion reigned in her expression—confusion about what was right and what was wrong—and what a man would seduce her into doing, then throw in her face the next day.

  We had to heal her. I only knew one way.

  I beckoned. “C’mon, girl. I want you. The family that fucks together, will fuck the competition up, together.”

  I didn’t know where those words came from, but as they crossed my lips, my resolve hardened. I’d beat Barnes, then I’d beat my money out of him. I’d find a way to pay for three cars, if I had to panhandle on the streets to raise the cash.

  Relief flooded Colt’s eyes when Marley stepped forward and bent her head to my breast.

  I love you, he mouthed, blowing me a kiss.

  When Caine laid me on the warm hood of the ‘Cuda and moved over me, he didn’t force his way inside me. Rather, he eased in so slowly, I cried out with impatience. Entering me only a few inches, he rocked away. I gripped the head of his cock with my inner muscles, fearing he’d withdraw completely.

  I watched the twin oceans of his eyes churn, and somehow, the motion I saw there magnified his gentle penetrations. Inching deeper, he stroked my lips with his, raising a tingle that sank through me to meet the gliding stretch of his cock inside my channel, tumbling across my heart on its way.

  Every pore seemed open, every nerve ending alive and focused on Caine, and yet, I gloried in the eyes surrounding me.
The soft way he rocked into me summoned tears, but his lips were there to catch them. The internal storm swelled, tossing my emotions on the rising waves. I sobbed, tears flowing freely now.

  “That’s right, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Let it all go. Give us every hurt from this God-awful week. Every fear. I’m right here, baby. Heart to heart. We’re all here, for you.”

  His cock became a wick, siphoning away my fears. An inoculation against self-doubt, a soft, steady stroke that relaxed my body and unspooled my mind. I clung to his broad shoulders and rode out the storm that ended with his climax, and my salvation. No maelstrom of pleasure had ever left me as shaken, or made me feel more secure.

  Still buried inside me, he reached into his pocket. Colt lifted my left hand. Caroline clasped my right. When I turned to smile at her, Caine slid something on my ring finger.

  I blinked at the wide band of black metal, edged with narrow bands of yellow gold, studded with diamonds. The ebony center wasn’t smooth. I tipped my hand. Light danced across the inscribed pattern. “It’s a tire!”

  Caine touched the ring, setting the center spinning. “I made it from a cube of carbon steel. Kinda stole the pattern off Caroline’s tat, because you never can take your eyes off it. I know what the ring means to me, but for now, it means whatever you need it to mean. Whenever you want the matching diamond, we’ll go buy it.”

  “Caine Hannah, did you just propose to me in the middle of an orgy?”

  He smirked. “I did.”

  Giving me the band before the engagement ring was his way of saying ‘fuck convention, this is the Hannah way’.

  “I love it. And I love you. Yes.” My tears flowed. “Yes, I want to marry you.” Not tomorrow, but one day.

  “Jonny. Wanna be next to fuck the bride?”

  Robert’s voice whispered in my mind. And now you trust him?

  Caine hadn’t even kissed me to seal our engagement. Instead, he’d offered my body to this man. Like adding two gears to the ‘Cuda’s tranny before the race, this was how a Hannah showed off. Because Caine knew damn well, he was the man who held my heart.

  And maybe, like his dad, he had a savior complex.

  I laughed. I laughed, and gave in to the weird magic of the night. The heat of the ninety-seven-degree day that remained in the metal at my back collided with the cool night air caressing my front, making a storm front inside me.

  Jonny stepped between my thighs. He didn’t smile. He raked an arrogant gaze over my face, my breasts and belly, and down my spread legs. And, for once in my life, I felt as beautiful and serene as Caroline seemed when she was naked.

  Something dark flashed in his eyes and my body read the warning. Heat flashed over my skin.

  “Turn over.”

  My tummy clenched. I got down off the hood. Caine slid into the spot I vacated, drawing me into his arms. I stretched to kiss him. “Aw, y’all got me a sadist for my engagement.”

  Caroline giggled. “See, sis. I told you. Shelby don’t freak.”

  Lifting my ass, I focused on Caine’s eyes as the first blow landed. The strike made me gasp. Tears stung my eyes. A smile curled Caine’s lips and excitement flashed in his eyes. Jonny rained blows on my buttocks, covering every inch of skin. The man particularly loved that tender spot just beneath my cheeks.

  Caroline stroked my shoulder. Seeking comfort, I turned. “Kiss me,” I gasped.

  Her tongue twined around mine. The next strike landed between my legs, an underhanded blow that drove my cheek into Caine’s shoulder. Jonny settled there, strike after strike, until my clit felt the size of a lemon and the ache took my breath.

  The soft ripping sound signaled the opening of a condom packet. A second later, the empty contained landed on the hood, between me and Caroline.

  Impatiently, I waited for Jonny to enter me, steeling myself for the force. Instead, Caine pushed me off his lap. Holding my gaze, he unfastened his jeans. My eyes were drawn to his engorged cock. He slid his palm along the length—God, how that reminder of the moment I’d taken my first step to womanhood stirred me.

  When he let his shaft go, he reached around me, gripping my ass so hard, I cried out. He jerked my feet off the ground. My knees came down on the hood. Poised over Caine’s thighs, I slid a hand between us to fit his cock to my entrance.

  Holding his gaze, I worked him into me. He massaged the fiery skin on my butt cheeks without mercy, but the hard shaft sliding into me balanced the burn. When I had him as deep as he could go, another foil packet landed on the hood. I had time to read the contents—lubricant—before I felt the cool touch on my pucker.

  “Ah, God, that brings back memories.” I peered over my shoulder at Jonny, then sought Colt. Jonny snagged Colt’s T-shirt, yanking him forward to meet his lips.

  I focused on Marley to take my mind off the searing stretch as Jonny pushed into me. She darted a glance at Caroline. I closed my eyes and panted when Jonny began to rock into me, but opened them when Caroline giggled.

  “No sense in feelin’ left out, pretty girl.” Caroline curled a forefinger. “When we could be kissin’, too.”

  Jonny’s hard fingers brushed my neck. Want tightened my belly. He pulled my hair taut, sending streaks of pleasure-filled pain across my scalp, and drove into me. I knew him to be as methodical as Caine in that moment, because the denim around his open fly strafed the tender spot under the curve of my buttocks. His grip meant I couldn’t reach Caine to kiss him—a subtle tug-of-war between two Alpha males that turned my insides to mush as their cocks dueled inside me.

  “Ain’t nothin’ changed,” Caine whispered. “This is who we are.”

  Something had changed. Caine was telling Jonny he trusted him enough to allow only a thin wall between their cocks. Caine, the straight-to-his-bones man was showing his brother that he accepted his male lover.

  Hearts shouldn’t do what mine did at the realization, but pleasure sank tight talons into me, tossing me into the maelstrom I craved. I cried out, again and again, but sensed that Caine and Jonny competed to see who’d lose by coming first. All I could do was grip Caine’s shoulders and hold on until one or the other lost, but there was never a happier captive to two men’s egos.

  At last, Jonny cursed. “Fuck!” Caine laughed, but not for long.

  Jonny withdrew, letting me kiss Caine while he emptied inside me.

  Jonny swatted my ass. “Congratulations, brother. Can’t wait to dance at your wedding.”

  Caine rolled me onto my back on the hood. Sliding to my side, he turned my face toward him. One kiss was all he gave me. Backing away, he tugged his jeans up, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Colt, your turn to congratulate the bride.”

  Caroline slid onto the hood at my side. Marley sprang to join her on my opposite side.

  “Lift those legs, ladies.” Caine’s grin told me he liked that part as much as I.

  Colt dropped his zipper. I laughed when Caroline said, “This is my favorite part. Watching Colt work that big-ass thing into your little pussy makes me so goddamn wet.” Holding my thigh up with her forearm, she slid her fingers inside me, then dragged my wetness to my clit. I arched.

  “Good God Almighty.” Marley peeked from behind the thigh she held to stare at Colt’s stroking fist.

  “I always said this was a two-man job.” Jonny reached around Colt and gripped the base of his shaft.

  They all had such beautiful eyes. I let go of every worry and touched the stars.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  I chose a gray pencil from the box on Dale’s hospital tray. “I need you to open your eyes. We need to talk.”

  The steady rise and fall of his chest didn’t change—just as it hadn’t changed for the last two hours—or the last three damn days. I dragged the edge of the point around the chrome around the gills on the side of the ‘Cuda.

  “Starting again, from the top. The 6k ‘Cuda’s over at Lee’s place. Your buddy Dutch says it’s the real deal, the one you had to pass on when Caine dropped i
nto your life. Kolby’s buying it for us. I can get through this race with Caine’s help, so you can keep slacking off, because maybe you need the rest. But you need to hear what I have to say about Colt.”

  “I know why he’s not winning, Dale. He’s pulled in two directions. He looks in the mirror and what does he see? The face of the woman that doesn’t love him. Except, that’s not the truth, is it? She loves him enough to stay away, so he don’t see that you don’t love her. You have to forgive Robyn for whatever she did to you. I think Colt’s in love. Are you going to deny him the love of two happy parents on his wedding day? That’s not the Dale Hannah I worship.”

  I put the pencil down and scrutinized the sketch. I thought I’d caught the new maturity in Colt’s eyes, and the happy glow in my eyes and Caine’s. Caroline’s parted lips telegraphed that she was just about to burst into giggles as she turned her head toward Jonny. Jonny looked straight out of he page, giving the viewer an arrogant grin. Little Shelby perched on his shoulders, and her red boots drummed his white shirt while the child pulled his hair with both hands.

  Marley’s eyes held a smile I had to conjure right out of thin air. But the tender curve on Colt’s lips came right out my memory. Marley and the guys wore the racing togs I wanted for Hannah-built, royal purple, trimmed in silver. The logo sprawled across their chests.

  If Dale would just open his eyes, he’d see what was at stake. Getting to my feet, I tugged the paper from the pad. Propping the sketch against the vintage cell phone from Ernie and the Autumn Leaf pitcher I’d brought from the house, playing a scientific wild-ass guess about why Dale had the goddamn thing, I bent to kiss his cheek.

  “Wake up, Dale. I need your help to get Robyn out of that house. Jill’s daddy bought it.” I was past caring about the neurosurgeon’s warning to keep all conversation positive. “The preacher assaulted Caroline and he jacked their rent up sky high. I’m in over my head in so many ways. And, I need you to hold me and tell me how happy you are that me and Caine are getting married.”