Fever

by Carnal, MJ

  “So, what brings you guys to the neighborhood?” I ask casually, leaning back on my heels. I bite my lip when Viv starts to laugh, looking over at Nancy.

  “Well, Kenton called and said you needed company.”

  A light bulb goes off in my head and I know exactly what happened. He thought I was going to run off, so he sent for backup. The door opens and Kenton walks in. I’m surprised by the smile that lights up his face when our eyes meet.

  “Tow truck’s on the way,” he says, walking towards me. I look around, trying to find an escape route. He looks at his mom and gives her a grin. “Can you start some coffee while I talk to Autumn?” he asks her.

  She looks at me and her eyes sparkle when I start shaking my head at her. “Sure, honey,” she tells him, turning towards the kitchen. “Viv, let’s go make coffee,” Nancy says with a smile.

  Viv’s eyes come to me and she smiles, shaking her head.

  “No!” I semi shout. “You should really spend some time with your son. I can totally make the coffee,” I tell them, starting to head towards the kitchen. I feel myself being tugged back by the hem of my shirt. When I look over my shoulder at Kenton, I glare.

  “We need to talk,” he informs me.

  “We’ll be in the kitchen,” Nancy says, Viv following close behind her.

  I close my eyes, letting my head drop forward.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Kenton says as I turn around to face him and my shirt twists around my stomach. His eyes drop to my mouth and he takes a step towards me. I try to take a step back, but his hand, which is still wrapped around my shirt, prevents me from going far. “You kicked me,” he says quietly, his mouth brushing mine, leaving me paralyzed.

  “Sorry,” I say, getting lost in his eyes.

  “Are you really sorry?”

  “No,” I whisper, watching his eyes grow dark.

  “I didn’t think so.” His tongue touches my bottom lip, making me gasp as his teeth give my bottom lip a punishing nip and tug. My hands lift to his hair, pulling it at the roots, as his hands slide down my sides and over my ass, where he gives me a squeeze.

  The feeling of his hands on me has me jumping up without thinking and wrapping my legs around his waist. He groans, pulling my hips tighter against him. My back hits the wall and I whimper. His mouth leaves mine and travels to my ear, nipping it before his lips make their way down my neck, licking and biting along the way. When his mouth comes back to mine, my hips grind against him, trying to get some friction.

  “Coffee’s ready—oh! Crap. Sorry,” I hear Viv say.

  My eyes open, my teeth release his bottom lip, and I look over his shoulder, seeing Viv heading back into the kitchen.

  His hand cups my cheek, pulling my attention back to him. “I hate that she hit you.” His words and the look in his eyes as he studies my cheek make my heart start to pound harder.

  “I’m okay. I’m sorry about your bed,” I tell him. Now that I’m not in the moment anymore, I feel bad for having lost my temper.

  “I needed a new one anyways.” He smiles, and my fingers go to his cheek, pressing into his dimple. “We good now?” he asks, and I know he’s talking about this morning.

  I fight myself on what to say. I need to be honest with him. He scares me, but not exploring this thing with him scares me more. I look over his shoulder before my eyes search his face.

  “I know you didn’t mean it like you said it. You’re the first person in a very long time I find myself opening up to.” I cover his mouth with my hand when it looks like he’s going to speak. “You’re also the first guy since my first that I have been interested in. I feel vulnerable when I’m with you, and I hate that your words have the power to crush me, but they do,” I confess softly.

  His hand comes to mine, pulling it from his mouth, and he kisses my palm before placing it against his chest. “I say shit I don’t mean sometimes. It’s no excuse and I’ll work on it, but you need to work on opening up to me.” His eyes search my face before his lips brush mine again. “You’re so fucking fearless that I forget how fragile you are.” The words gently spoken against my lips cause my eyes to slide closed.

  “I’m not fearless,” I tell him, resting my forehead against his. “I’m afraid all the damn time.”

  “Nah.” He shakes his head. “You’re a fucking warrior.”

  Chapter 6

  Annoying Roomies And Bad Guys.

  When I pull up to the house, it’s just after seven in the morning. Yesterday, after the tow truck showed up and Kenton left to go back to work, Viv, Nancy, and I sat around the kitchen drinking coffee and chatting for a few hours. When Nancy asked about the video Cassie had been talking about, I cringed but told her and Viv what had happened and the real reason I was in Tennessee. Nancy was visibly upset about it, and I immediately told her that I would leave if she felt uncomfortable with me being here with her son.

  The second the words left my mouth, she grabbed my face between her hands and I watched as tears slid down her cheeks. My heart broke when she looked into my eyes and spoke. “This is exactly where you’re supposed to be. This is the safest place for you. This is where my son wants you. This is where we want you, so this is where you will stay.”

  I started crying and buried my face in her chest, taking something from her I never received from my own mother—comfort. I hated crying, but something about crying while she held me healed a small piece of me. That lost, lonely little girl who was never allowed to show emotion was finally able to cry until she couldn’t cry anymore.

  I shake my head, clearing the memory, and slide my key into the door. All I want to do is take a shower and go to sleep. I’m exhausted from being up early and not having a nap before going to work. As soon as I can, I’m going to have them change my schedule. There is just no way I will be able to keep this up.

  I make my way upstairs and head right to the bathroom. I take a quick shower and wrap a towel under my arms, not even bothering with brushing my hair. I pick my clothes up off the floor and head to my room without turning on the light. I toss my stuff in the direction of my closet before pulling off the towel and begin climbing into bed.

  “How was work?”

  I scream when I hear Kenton’s voice. I jump off the bed and run to the closet, going inside and shutting the door.

  “Why are you in the closet?” Kenton asks, and I can tell that he’s laughing.

  “Why are you in my bed?” I ask through the closed closet door while trying to find something to put on in the dark.

  “Someone threw my bed outside.”

  “Shit!” I whisper, closing my eyes. “I’ll sleep on the couch downstairs,” I tell him, pulling a hoodie on over my head.

  When I open the closet door, I find a shirtless Kenton sitting on the side of the bed, wearing a pair of cut-off sweats that have seen better days. Somehow, I find the strength to pull my eyes from him and walk to my dresser, pulling out a pair of cotton Victoria’s Secret panties and slipping them on under the hoodie.

  “Where is your sexy underwear?”

  “What?” I ask, my face heating up from the look in his eyes.

  “You know. Silk thongs, lacy shit—where are they?”

  “I don’t wear those unless I have to. I would rather be comfortable,” I explain. I know that a lot of women go gaga over sexy panties, but I couldn’t care less. I hate the feeling of something crawling up my ass all day.

  “I have to tell you. I have seen you in those things three times now, and all three times, that damn underwear has done more for me than any skimpy shit I’ve ever seen.”

  “Can we never talk about you and what you’ve seen other women wear please?”

  He smirks, his eyes running down my legs. “Come to bed.”

  “No.” I shake my head, looking at the door.

  “You try to sleep on the couch and I’m dragging your ass back up here to bed,” he threatens.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Afraid you
won’t be able to keep your hands off me?” He smiles.

  “You wish.” I roll my eyes, knowing that is the exact reason why I don’t want to get into bed with him.

  “Come on, babe. I can tell you’re tired.”

  I look at the bed then him. I am really tired. I open my dresser, pull out a pair of shorts, put them on, and walk over to the opposite side of the bed before getting in. I hear his laugh as he lies back down, shutting off the light. I put my back to him and close my eyes.

  I’m just about asleep when I feel him put his hand around my waist, and he pulls me across the bed to him so his body curves around mine and his hand can wrap in my hair.

  “What are you doing?” I ask him sleepily.

  “Sleeping,” he says softly, kissing the back of my head.

  I know I should get up and leave or at least put up a little bit of a fight about cuddling with him for the third night in a row, but I can’t. I feel too warm, too comfortable, and way too exhausted to fight what I’m feeling. I feel him kiss me again and his hand go a little tighter, and I’m pretty sure I hear him whisper, “She’s getting it,” as I fall asleep.

  I wake up in complete darkness. My first thought is how great I feel. I have forgotten what it feels like to wake up after a good night’s sleep. It takes a second to realize that it’s pitch black in the room. I sit up quickly and look at the clock on the bedside table, and my heart starts beating out of my chest when I see that it’s four o’clock. I missed work!

  I jump out of bed and run to the door, swinging it open only to be bombarded with bright daylight. I look over my shoulder into the room and see that there are now dark, wooden blinds on the windows, whereas before there were only sheer curtains. My heart, which was already beating hard, starts to beat harder. Kenton put in blinds while I was at work, knowing how little sleep I’ve been getting. That was sweet. Really sweet.

  I go to the bathroom, quickly taking care of business, and then head down to the kitchen. As soon as I make it around the corner, I’m surprised to see Kenton there, wearing the same cut-off sweats he had on last night and a pair of sneakers. His head is back, his throat working vigorously while he downs a bottle of water. The ends of his hair are dripping with sweat along with his bare chest.

  I stand there captivated by him; I can’t pull my eyes away no matter how hard I try. Just watching him drink water is making the space between my legs get tingly. When the bottle’s empty, he pulls it from his mouth, the back of his hand goes to his lips, and he swipes them. As soon as his head turns, his eyes land on me and a look I’m starting to become familiar with fills his eyes.

  “How’d you sleep?” he rumbles.

  I stand there staring at him, trying to comprehend what he just said over the lustful haze that’s filling my head.

  “You put up blinds,” I say when I finally find my words and then want to smack myself for being an idiot.

  “I know how tired you’ve been,” he says, his eyes going soft.

  “That was very sweet, and I actually slept really great. When I woke up, I thought I’d overslept and missed work.”

  His smile makes the breath catch in my throat.

  “I thought you would be at work,” I tell him, trying to think of something else to say besides, “Please kiss me.”

  “Yeah. I have to leave for a couple of nights. Justin has a lead for me, but my flight isn’t until after midnight, and I wanted to make sure you would be okay being here alone.”

  My heart plummets. I don’t want him to leave, but I know his work is important. Plus, I would look really stupid if I were to beg him to stay. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.” I wave him off, trying to do the same with the feeling of loneliness starting to fill my chest. I’ve forgotten what that feels like; I haven’t felt it since I moved here.

  He shakes his head and takes two long steps until his body is crowding mine. “I like worrying about you.”

  “Why?” I ask softly, my eyes drawn to his mouth.

  “Honesty, I don’t know.”

  I look at him and my hands go to his chest when I feel like I might fall over from the heat in his eyes.

  “What I do know is I want this”—his finger presses lightly into my chest above my heart—“more than I’ve wanted anything, and that right there tells me everything I need to know.”

  “Oh,” I breathe. The words aren’t deep or particularly meaningful, but something about the way he said it, with such sincerity, has me leaning deeper into him.

  His hand goes to the back of my neck and the other around my waist. I expect him to kiss me, but instead, he just pulls my head into his naked chest and the rest of me tighter against him.

  We stand there for a long time with our arms wrapped around each other. I want to ask what he’s thinking, but I’m too afraid to break the moment. Instead, I listen to the sound of his heart beating rhythmically against my ear as I memorize the thud and double beat along with the way his chest feels when it expands against my cheek. This is a moment I know I can recall the next time I need comfort.

  “When I get home, we have a date.”

  “Maybe.”

  I smile as I hear his low growl. “I’m not even pissed that you wanna fuck with me right now.” He pulls my head away from his chest, his hands go around my neck, and his thumbs slide under my jaw, tilting my head back. His mouth lowers and my eyes start to flutter closed. “Every time you fuck with me, it makes me wanna fuck you. One day, we’re going to get to a point in our relationship where you’ll say something to set me off and I’ll bend you over right where you stand and punish you for misbehaving or talking back.”

  My clit starts to pulse. I can feel my breathing increase, my chest meeting his on each deep inhale. He closes the gap between us, his lips touching mine. When his tongue touches my bottom lip, my eyes close and I get lost in his kiss. By the time he pulls his mouth from mine, I’ve never hated clothes more than I do right now. I have the urge to take off my sweatshirt and plaster my chest against his.

  “I gotta shower,” he says, resting his forehead on mine.

  “Sure.” I nod, my eyes still closed.

  He chuckles and shakes his head against mine. “If you don’t wanna come shower with me, baby, you need to hop off.”

  I open my eyes, seeing that my fingers have somehow gotten tangled into his hair and my legs have wrapped around his waist. I bite my bottom lip, place my hands on his shoulders, unwrap my legs, and hop down. “Sorry.” I shake my head, trying to clear my needful haze.

  “Don’t apologize.” He kisses my nose then forehead. “I’ll be back down to say goodbye before I leave.”

  “Okay.” I nod again.

  His hand goes to his chest then runs down his abs. My eyes follow its movement until they drop lower, seeing his very apparent erection outlined through his sweats. My eyes get big and lift to his when he starts to laugh.

  “Jesus, you’re cute.” He shakes his head, running a hand down his face. “I gotta go before you end up on the counter.” His voice sounds deeper than normal, and I nod again. “Baby, you gotta move,” he says, his hands fisting at his sides.

  My gaze drops to his hands before shooting back up to his eyes when he growls. I don’t know what’s going on, but I immediately step aside so he can get out of the kitchen. I watch him walk away, his head bent as he mumbles something under his breath.

  “Coffee,” I whisper to myself.

  ~~*

  I pull up to the house, seeing a strange car parked out front. My pulse starts to speed up as I wonder who it could be. Kenton messaged me when I was at work, letting me know that he had arrived at his destination safely. I didn’t ask where he was; I figured that, if he wanted me to know, he would tell me. I worry that he’s in danger, and maybe his leaving has something to do with my situation. I don’t want him hurt because of me, but I trust that he knows what he’s doing. After all, he’s been doing it for years without incident.

  I slowly pull into the driveway, tryi
ng to angle the car in case I need to make a quick escape. As soon as I’m able to see the front porch, I spot Justin sitting on the top step with a black duffel bag at his side and his head bent towards his phone. His head comes up when I get out of the car and slam the door.

  “Hey ya, roomie,” he says, giving me a goofy smile.

  “Roomie?” I ask, looking at the bag next to him and then noticing the sleeping bag he has along with it.

  “Yep. Boss man told me to stay here with you,” he says, pointing a finger at me while standing. “I’m here until he gets home.”

  “That’s not necessary.” I start shaking my head frantically. Justin seems like a nice kid, but I’m not sure I can deal with him for more than a few minutes without wanting to strangle him.

  “Aw, come on! It’s going to be a great time. If you’re nice, I’ll let you paint my nails. I even brought my own color,” he says, pulling a bottle of black nail polish out of his pocket.

  “I’m not painting your nails,” I huff out, wondering why the hell he would be carrying it around with him in the first place.

  “Okay, you don’t have to. I can do it myself.” He shrugs, putting the bottle back in his pocket before bending down to pick up his bags.

  “You don’t need to stay here,” I repeat.

  “Have you met my boss?” He raises an eyebrow. “He is scary. If he calls and says, ‘Justin, I need you to stay with Autumn until I get home,’ I say, ‘Okay, no problem, boss man.’”

  “No offense, but I think I’m just as safe alone as I would be with you. Actually, I think I’m better off on my own. If you’re here, I have to worry about both of us.”

  “You should never judge, sweet cheeks. I was a sniper. I know how to kill someone with one finger, and I guarantee nothing will happen to you while I’m here.”

  Wow, okay. Didn’t see that coming. So I’m probably safer with him, but I still don’t want him here. “I think I should call Kenton,” I tell him, pulling out my cell.