That’s all it takes. He’s buried inside me to the hilt, and I cry out at the pleasure mixed with a bite of pain from his size. One of his hands moves to my hair, turning my head to look at him while he slams inside me over and over. His eyes only leave mine for a second when he glances down at my ass, where the fingers of his other hand are dug into my flesh.
He lets out an expletive at the sight, then his eyes are back on mine and I pant out his name. It won’t take either of us long this time. We need this, each other, fast, hard, unbridled.
“Cum for me,” he grunts out, his hips slapping harder against my ass as his thickness dives deeper inside me than he’s ever been. His fingers tighten in my hair, and his other hand moves up my body to pinch my nipple, sending waves of pleasure directly between my thighs. His hand moves higher to cup my face, his thumb brushing my lower lip when he demands, “For me.”
And I do. Waves of pleasure roll through me and my legs begin to shake to the point he clutches me back against him as he slams inside me two more times before he loses himself. He groans my name against my ear and drops his head against the back of my shoulder, pressing tiny kisses there as I recuperate.
He turns me in his arms and kisses me softly before reaching around me to turn the water back up, making it as hot as it will get after running for so long. He deepens the kiss with long, slow sweeps of his lips against mine.
“I’m going to set up a blanket by the fire while you finish your shower.” There’s a question in his voice, like he isn’t sure if he wants to leave me in here alone.
“I’ll be quick,” I tell him, smiling and pushing up on the balls of my feet so I can reach his face, pulling him down for one more quick kiss.
I watch as he steps out of the shower and wraps a towel around his hips. He’s beautiful, the way his tan skin is taut over corded muscle.
I make quick work of the rest of my shower and even quicker work of getting dressed for bed. When I make my way into the main room of the basement, my entire body warms at the way Zach is looking at me. He’s propped up on some pillows, peering up at me like he can’t see anything else.
I don’t waste any time crawling up on his lap, straddling him and kissing him quickly. I need to get this out before one more curveball is thrown our way. Right now, there are no impending disasters, nobody is unconscious and I’ve got his full attention on me, just where I like it. One more kiss, and I smile when he pouts as I pull away. I stroke his cheek and tell him, “I love you so much, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you, to make it perfect. But I don’t have the words to explain something this big. I just love you.”
A smile spreads across his face just before he flips me over to lie on my side next to him. He pulls me tight against his chest and tucks my head under his chin.
“I love you too, baby,” is the last thing I hear before I drift off.
I wake up with a sputtering cough. There’s a smoky mist in the basement where we fell asleep in front of the fireplace. My first thought is that it’s the source of the haze, but although the fire is still going, I can see in the faint light it casts that the smoke is coming from the stairs leading up into the kitchen.
“Zach!” I shake him, but his arms only wrap around me, pulling me to him. “Zach, get up! I think the house is on fire!” I push hard on his shoulders to free myself and wake him up. “Do you have your phone? I left mine upstairs.” I don’t know if it's the smoke or sheer panic restricting my airway and making it difficult to breathe.
He doesn’t answer, but he’s up, putting his glasses on and grabbing me by the forearm. This is how he processes things. He’s not verbal like I am, needing to express everything that’s happening.
Everly. The boys.
I jerk toward the stairs, but Zach’s grip is too tight. He’s focused and in control as he pulls me toward the back door.
“Zach!” I cry out, still disoriented and wheezing. “We have to get the boys and Everly.”
He struggles with the double locks only for a moment before he whips the door open and pulls me into the fresh air of the backyard. He coughs, then says, “Smoke rises, Kenney.” He doesn’t have to finish his thought. My stomach twists and my heart plummets. Everyone else is upstairs.
Unless they made it out.
I grab Zach’s arm this time, and I’m thankful that he moves with me because I’m already propelling through the back yard and around to the front of the house. The entire upstairs is on fire, smoke billowing out of where the attic used to be. My eyes are drawn to the large figure on the front porch. He’s dressed in black, hood up, and he’s ramming his shoulder into the front door trying to get it open.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Zach yells as he pushes his phone into my hand and nudges me to stand by the Escalade, then charges toward the man on the porch. I quickly dial 911 and flinch when I see Zach grab the man and shove him down the front steps.
I’m panicking, yelling at the dispatcher that our house is on fire and my family is inside. When she asks my location, I rattle off our address and it feels like a cold slap in the face when the call is abruptly ended.
I dial 911 again, the call is answered and ended before I can get a word out. I try one more time and get another dispatcher, who takes our address and assures me the fire department will be enroute.
“What the fuck?” Zach growls when he pulls the man’s hood down, and I gasp when I realize it’s Andre.
“I’m trying to help. We’ve gotta get them out, man.” He’s sincerely panicked, and it’s only then that Zach lets him go and looks back up at the rapidly burning top portion of the house. “I’ll fucking go in with you, but we gotta break the door down.”
They thunder up the porch stairs and work together, banging their shoulders into the door and taking turns kicking it. I begin dialing Everly and then all the boys, hoping they’re up and trying to find their way out of the house.
I suck in a sharp breath when the door flies open and Henry appears, alone and hunched over, coughing. Zach grabs him, and before I can even blink, Andre takes off inside the house and I rush over to help Henry.
“Stay with Henry,” Zach tells me and turns to run in the house.
“Wait!” I cry out, but when he stops abruptly and turns back to me, I’m punched in the face with guilt. I can’t legitimately ask him not to go in and try to get the rest of the guys and Everly out. They’re his brothers, not by blood, but something much more permanent. Loyalty.
So instead of grabbing on to him and begging him to stay, to wait for the firemen, I kiss him quickly and say, “Come back to me.” They’re the only words I can get out while still holding myself together. Otherwise, I’ll plead with him to do something I know he can’t do. He nods, and I know he understands what I’m worried about.
“I love you, Kennedy,” he says and takes off running toward our burning house.
20
Zach
Heat hits me in the face and I can barely see through the smoke, but I can hear Tommy yelling. The kitchen is on fire as well as the upstairs. It’ll only be minutes before it’s spread through the front room to where I'm standing. I hold my shirt up over my mouth and nose, knowing full well that it’ll do nothing to protect my lungs from the amount of smoke filling the house. Luckily, I’m able to see Tommy on the stairs, with an unconscious Miles draped over his shoulders.
“Help me out, bro!” He grunts as he drags Miles down the stairs. He almost runs into me, shoving Miles into my arms just as his strength is giving out. I hoist him up as quickly as I can, and my eyes are burning as I let Tommy shove past me toward the front door.
“Let me help you!” I hear Andre yell, and I look up to see Patrick trying to make it down the stairs with Everly in his arms and the fire raging behind him. Just as I get Miles up and over my shoulder, I see Patrick let her slide into Andre’s arms.
Tommy kicks open the door, and the three of us spill out. Henry and Kennedy move Miles to a spot in the grass while Tommy an
d I double over, trying to cough out the smoke.
The fire sounds like a bottle rocket when part of the roof collapses, allowing the flames to shoot through the new opening. A piece of the roof lands on the wooden front porch, and the porous wood ignites almost immediately. Within minutes it’ll be engulfed, and I shoot up and run toward it. I’ve got to get them out of there.
“Patrick!” Everly’s scream is raw and blood-curdling when Andre makes it out on the porch. He doesn’t hesitate, tossing her slight weight into my arms before he runs back inside for Patrick. She claws at me, kicking and twisting as she screams his name over and over. “Let me go!”
I carry her down to the grass in the front yard because as soon as the adrenaline that’s coursing through her runs out, she’s going to fall apart. “Hold still!” I finally snap at her because it’s hard to breathe and she just won’t quit.
“FUCK YOU, ZACH!” she screams. Everly has a lot more fight in her than anyone would have ever thought. She just only uses it for Patrick. I hold her down, both of her wrists in one of mine, and I have to sit on her legs to keep her from running back into the fire. Because I don’t have any doubt that for Patrick, she would.
“He wouldn’t want you running in there after him,” I grit out, and I see the tears pool in her eyes, but she doesn’t relax, it only makes her fight my grip harder.
I glance up when I see a neighbor running up the road toward us, he’s on the phone, presumably with emergency services and it’s only then that I realize that no help has come. No fire trucks, ambulances, and definitely no police.
I lean away from Everly, keeping her securely locked down as I cough hard, trying to clear my foggy lungs.
The neighbor I’ve never spoken to tells Henry that help is on the way, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
“Tommy!” I yell, getting his attention. He’s smacking Miles on the back as he coughs. He rushes over, probably thinking Everly is injured. “Hold her here, I’ve gotta go back in.”
He doesn’t question me, but I see the realization dawn on him as he does a quick headcount. Instantaneously Tommy takes my place with Everly and I can see the conflict in his eyes as I hand her off.
“I’ve gotta meet my kid, I can’t…” I wave him off, I’d never expect him to go back in when he has a kid depending on him. I run toward the house, but as soon as I reach the steps, Patrick barrels out where the door used to be, dragging Andre with him. The back of Patrick’s shirt is on fire, and I help him rip it off as Andre falls to his knees, sputtering and coughing.
“Son of a motherfucker!” Patrick’s voice is even more growly because of the smoke as he falls to his knees as well, swinging his arms over his shoulder and patting his back where he must have been burned.
“Is everyone out?” Andre gasps, and I lift him to stand, trying to help him breathe. Tommy must have let Everly up because she’s lightning-quick, hurling herself into Patrick’s arms, knocking him down onto his back and sobbing into his neck as he holds her close to his chest.
“Yeah, that’s everybody,” I say. “Thanks for….” I trail off because he holds his hand up, indicating he doesn’t need my gratitude. I don’t push it because I don’t know why he’s here or how he knew what was going to happen, but I’m thankful all the same.
My eyes search for Kennedy because I need to make sure that she’s okay, that she isn’t as traumatized as she probably should be given everything that’s going on. She’s kneeling next to Miles and using someone’s discarded shirt to wipe the soot from his face, and my heart swells in my chest at how caring she is, even when she has every right to fall apart.
“Kenney,” I call her nickname, and without a moment of hesitation, she drops the shirt, leaving Henry to take over where she left off and runs toward me. I catch her when she jumps up, wrapping her legs around my hips and her arms so tightly around my neck that I think we might fuse together.
“Thanks for coming back to me,” she whispers, and I dip my face into her shoulder and squeeze her tight to my chest. I only pull away when the emergency vehicles finally pull up, lights blazing and sirens squealing. I don’t put her down, I keep my hand firmly planted on her ass and she seems to understand I want her close because she buries her face in my neck as I sag back against the Escalade, my adrenaline finally flatlining.
It’s a blur of fire trucks and ambulances, but what catches my eye is Patrick snatching Andre up by the back of his shirt and ushering him between the Escalade and Patrick’s truck. I realize then that Andre’s wanted by the police, and just because he helped us get out of the house, doesn’t mean he’s exonerated of everything he’s been accused of. My eyes flash over to Everly, who is a far cry from the wild woman from just moments ago. She’s walking toward the police officer as the firemen drag their hoses across the lawn. Patrick’s hiding Andre, and Everly’s acting as the decoy. Because despite how upset she is, how broken, her pieces will always fit with Patrick’s, and she’ll be whatever he needs.
21
Kennedy
Everly and I climb on the massive bed in the hotel room that Henry booked for all of us. I shift, trying to get comfortable against the pillows, but I jerk over toward Everly when she starts coughing. I pat her back in soothing circles until Patrick hands her a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. As much as I Iove spending the night alone with Zach, after everything that happened tonight, it’s kind of nice being all together, figuring out our next move and watching out for one another. I shift, cocking my head to the side, trying to see what Henry’s doing out on the balcony. Per usual, he’s not really doing anything, but the way he stands, confidently unaffected as he scrolls through his phone, makes me wonder what’s going on in his head. We need to figure out what to do, and fast.
Luckily, other than the minor burns on Patrick’s back and smoke inhalation, we’re all okay physically, but mentally we’re shaken up. Once Patrick is satisfied that Everly is okay, he caps the water and sits on the edge of the bed, handing her the burn cream we picked up along with some other essentials and clothes on the way to the hotel. We were able to stop by the 24-hour convenience store and pick up supplies including some of those overpriced and cheaply made shirts and pants they sell. She makes quick work of lifting his shirt off and gently dabbing the medicine on the raw skin. He doesn’t make a sound, but I see his shoulders tense, and I know he’s in pain. Pain he’ll never admit to.
My eyes snap up when I see Miles and Andre walk through the door together. I’m still not sure what to make of the Andre situation, but regardless, I’m grateful he was there to help us and to make sure everyone made it out okay.
“Andre,” I say, but my words are stolen when his eyes meet mine, and they’re absolutely haunted. “Thank you for tonight. We wouldn’t have…” I trail off. “Thanks.”
He musters what looks like it wants to be a smile, but it falls flat when he nods instead of speaking. He takes a seat in one of the chairs near the mini-bar, and Miles flops down on the pullout sofa.
“What a fucking shitshow,” Tommy mumbles as he bangs the door shut behind him, nearly smacking Zach in the face in typical Tommy fashion. “What the fuck else is going to happen?”
“You sure you want to find out?” I try to lighten the mood and just be thankful that we’re all okay. Things are sucky, but they could have ended much worse.
Zach sits down on the side of the bed I’ve claimed, and a sense of calm I haven’t felt since we separated earlier washes over me when he leans back against me. I quickly shift my legs and wrap my arms around his torso. I kiss the back of his shoulder and his hand moves up to cover mine, shifting it upward to rest directly over his heart.
Henry makes his way back in, setting his cup on the table in front of the couch and then crossing the room to stand by the door. He appraises Andre, his expression unreadable like it typically is.
“I didn’t hurt my sister, and I sure as hell didn’t hurt Darcey,” Andre says, and for the first time, I recognize the Leary in his v
oice. His tone is cold, hard, and he’s as angry as we are. “Not directly, anyway.”
“What?” Patrick is up off the bed, shirtless and still in his ash-covered jeans. His strides are quick as stomps around the bed, zeroing in on Andre. “What does that mean? Directly? What the fuck happened to my sister?” His broad shoulders are squared, and I have the insane urge to jump off the bed and shield Andre. Patrick has no problem punching first and asking questions later when it comes to Everly and Darcey, and my gut tells me that Andre carries intense guilt for whatever happened.
Zach must sense my thoughts, because he leans back further, pressing me into the bed and rubbing his hand over my shin, indicating that this is between Patrick and Andre. I can feel the heat of his palm through the cheap leggings Everly and I bought.
“We both share blame in Darcey’s death.” Andre stands up, puffing his chest out at the man he ran into a burning house to save. I cringe because even though he’s athletic and nearly six feet tall, he’s no match for Patrick.
I’m surprised by what happens next. “I know,” is the only thing that Patrick says, and I watch as Henry pauses his pacing to step between them. He knows Patrick is a wild card after Andre’s acknowledgment that they both set in motion what happened that night. By the way Everly’s eyes are glassing over, I know she feels guilty too. I reach over and put my hand over hers, letting her know I’m here. She gives me a soft smile, wiping under her eyes.
“I told him you loved her, Andre,” Everly says, moving to sit on her knees, clasping her hands on her lap like she sometimes does. “I know that’s why you helped us tonight. Isn’t it?” She’s cautious with her words because she knows that Patrick wants Andre to fill an unfillable void that will be there for the rest of his life.
Damaged Elite (The Darlington Elite Book 2) Page 19
