The Devil You Know (Ashby Crime Family Romance Book 3)

by KB Winters

  Because I had to, not because I wanted to.

  “Kat, be reasonable.”

  I hated that word more than I could say. Reasonable. Fuck that. It was a word men used to keep women in line when they couldn’t be controlled. A way to make them feel crazy or hysterical, when the truth was, I was being perfectly reasonable.

  “Be a fucking human being, Terry, or get gone. I’ll spend tomorrow looking for Molly myself, and if I can’t, then and only then will I find someone else to look for her. After tomorrow, got it?”

  Terry nodded and my shoulders relaxed, which pissed me off.

  After a long moment, he said, reluctantly, I thought, “All right.”

  I gave a sharp nod before giving myself a mental pep talk.

  “Get in,” I said, pointing to the car. It was time to find food and a place to sleep for the night.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Terry

  “I know this is a hard ask for you with everything that’s going on, but I need you to stay with Kat.”

  Jasper’s voice was low and worried because we both knew that nothing would get Kat back to Glitz other than finding Molly. Or her body.

  “You can say no, absolutely brother, but I’m hoping you won’t.”

  He knew I couldn’t say no to him. Especially when it came to protecting Kat.

  Even if she hated me right now.

  “I’m here man, whatever you need. We haven’t picked up the girl’s scent yet, but she was here. Recently.”

  I wouldn’t tell Kat, but Molly’s vanishing act meant she was right to be worried.

  “You know how Kat is,” he growled. “We’re all keeping an eye on Emmett, and I sent some guys to check on both of your moms. But if you don’t find anything tomorrow, I want you both back in Glitz. Period.”

  That sounded like exactly what I wanted. “See you tomorrow, then.”

  “Later, brother.” We ended the call and let out a deep, fortifying breath. Something I did had pissed Kat off but good. She’d barely said more than a few sentences to me in hours, and I still hadn’t figured out what I had done.

  She sat inside the diner; her phone pressed to her ear while she ate a stack of pancakes with a salad on the side.

  “Jasper is giving us the night.”

  Kat looked up with a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

  “I found us a suite at a nearby lodge, which means we both get a bed this time around. Ready to go?”

  I guess she’s still upset. “After I finish eating, sure.”

  “Okay.” Her words were short but not clipped, enough for me to know that she was pissed.

  I dug into the meatloaf and mashed potatoes like I hadn’t eaten all day, which I hadn’t because this was, technically, my lunch.

  “You gonna tell me what I did to piss you off or you gonna pout all night?”

  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to get a rise out of her, but it didn’t work.

  “First of all, I don’t pout. Second, you don’t care so it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

  She sighed and pushed her plate away before she walked away from the booth, leaving me alone to finish my food.

  What the fuck just happened? She couldn’t really be that upset about me taking her keys, could she? I shrugged and dug into my food because Kat was a mystery I had never figured out, why would I start now? I took my time eating, figuring she would be back before I finished, but like I said, Kat was a mystery to me. Always had been. Seemed like she would always be a mystery just beyond my comprehension.

  After the meal, I got up from the booth and looked outside. Kat sat behind the steering wheel; eyes glued to her phone. I paid the tab and went to the car.

  “You plan on ignoring me for the next twenty-four hours?”

  Kat looked up and blinked. “I have business to attend to, Terry. I came out here to charge my phone while I made some calls so you could eat your dinner in peace.”

  Her tone wasn’t even annoyed or angry, it was bland.

  Fucking bland.

  “All right, let’s get to the hotel then.”

  Without a word she started the engine and made the short drive to the hotel she’d booked. The suite, if you could call it that, wasn’t as big as we were hoping. Her jaw clenched tight as she took in the small suite, the small one-bedroom suite.

  “All right.” She said the words simply, as if she was doing her best to reign in her temper.

  “Do we both still get a bed?” It was a dick thing to say, but I still couldn’t resist riling Kat up. Even when it didn’t work

  She turned to me and shrugged; her chin notched high in the air.

  “I can handle it if you can, Manning.” Her blue eyes held a challenge I couldn’t resist.

  “I’ll try to keep my masculine urges to my side of the bed.” The sarcasm was thick, and I braced myself for her silver tongue.

  But she said…nothing.

  “Shotgun on the shower.”

  Kat didn’t reply, so I grabbed the towels and toiletries she’d bought at some point between leaving the diner and making calls and locked myself inside the bathroom with a separate shower and bathtub. I cranked the water to ice cold because that’s what spending days on end with Kat did to a man. I refused to think about sharing a bed with Kat and the temptation it presented. She was pissed so nothing would happen.

  Nothing will happen because I don’t want it to.

  I tried to reason even as I stroked my cock until I exploded in the confines of the shower. The shower lasted much longer than it needed to, but I took my time. It was more important not to seem like a creeper than it was to keep her waiting.

  Thirty minutes later, I stepped out of the bathroom and found Kat sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed, laptop in front of her. She looked up with a wide smile for the first time all day.

  “This place has around the clock room service and guest services.”

  “That’s great,” I said absently, trying to figure out why she was so excited. “But where are my clothes?”

  Kat laughed. “Pajamas will be here in fifteen minutes. Our clothes will be laundered and returned in the morning, but first I need to rinse off so they only have to make one trip. Listen for the door and try not to shoot anyone.”

  Ten minutes after the shower sounded, I tried to think of anything other than Kat naked in the other room with nothing more than a door between us. I closed my eyes, refusing to think about the water running down her body, the way the soap made her skin slick and soft.

  “Fuck!”

  Of course, that was the moment a knock sounded at the door, and I was forced to answer in nothing but a plush off-white towel. I wasn’t embarrassed, but I didn’t appreciate being in such a vulnerable position in front of a complete stranger.

  “Yeah?” I called out.

  No answer, so I opened the door. The petite woman blinked and stuttered when she spoke. “I have dessert, wine and clothing for you, sir.”

  “Thanks,” I told the woman gruffly and grabbed the bags while she rolled the tray of food inside the room.

  Her face lit up when I handed her a tip. “Oh, thank you sir. Call me if you need anything. Good night.”

  I nodded and engaged both locks behind her before looking inside the bags. Kat had thought of everything.

  When she emerged from the bathroom, skin pale and slightly pink from the hot water, a towel doing absolutely nothing to hide the delicious curves she hid behind her businesswoman armor, I was speechless. This was more intimate than I’d ever seen her, and in that moment, I wanted her more than I ever had.

  “Did I hear someone knock?”

  “You did,” I nodded. “They brought the whole damn store, including some pajamas for me.”

  They were pajamas if you considered silk shorts suitable sleeping attire.

  “Perfect!” She went to the bags I set on the floor, completely oblivious to the effect she had on me wearing nothing but a towel. Kat bent and rifled thr
ough the bags, giving me a long look at her endless bare, legs. Even the gap between her thighs was just barely visible, and I had to look away before I did something stupid, like strip that towel from her and lick every fucking inch of her body.

  She grabbed a few things and slipped back into the bathroom.

  I took advantage of the moment of privacy to put on the silk shorts, no shirt. Part of me wanted to believe it was a deliberate mistake so she could look at me, but I knew better. Whatever flirting had taken place over the past few weeks was harmless. Meaningless.

  Still, that didn’t mean I couldn’t taunt her a little. Tease her.

  But when she stepped out of the bathroom this time, smelling like vanilla and wearing a shockingly innocent red and white nightgown that did nothing to hide the round shape of her perfect tits, or the outline of hard, braless nipples, it took all of my willpower not to tear it off and show her exactly how much I wanted her.

  But I couldn’t. My job was to protect her, not to fuck her. Not to claim her. Not to make her mine.

  “You’re staring again,” she said, her voice tense and annoyed.

  “I’m a man, Kat, not a fucking saint.”

  She looked down at her nightgown, completely fucking oblivious to the inner turmoil she was causing, and then up at me.

  “Are you saying that you like this nightgown on me, Terry?”

  “Don’t play with me, Kat.”

  The smile she wore in that moment was devious, and she gave an innocent shrug. “Who’s playing? I’m just your best friend’s sister, no big deal. Right?”

  “Right,” I growled and reached for a pillow to cover the erection that threatened to embarrass me, or worse.

  “No. Big. Deal.”

  Hurt flashed in her eyes, but it was there so quickly, I was sure I imagined it. Instead of torturing myself, I went to the mini bar and grabbed four small bottles of Jameson. “Whiskey?”

  “Sure, I could use a stiff drink.” Her words were careful, deliberate. Teasing.

  “Kat,” I growled.

  “Terry,” she growled back with a mischievous smile. “What’s the big deal? You don’t want a rich bitch or the Ashby Princess, right? Just think of me as nothing more than your sister or a cousin.”

  “You’re not my fucking sister.” I growled and tossed two of the small bottles on the bed. Angry. Horny. Frustrated.

  “I know that. I was beginning to wonder if you did.”

  She flashed a sweet, innocent smile that might have worked on someone who didn’t know her so well. All that smile did to me was make me want to kiss her until the real Kat showed up.

  I tossed a pillow at her and she laughed.

  “I’m taking the side closest to the door.”

  It didn’t matter that she was dressed in next to nothing or that we’d be sharing a bed. My job was to keep Kat safe and I would do it, not just because Jasper trusted me to keep her safe, but because I would rather die a thousand fucking times than see Kat hurt.

  “Fine by me. But fair warning, I’m a cuddler.”

  Kat tossed her head back, dark hair cascading down her back, and let out a low husky laugh. Amused but also aroused.

  “It’s true. Ask Madison. Why do you think she jumped at the chance to move into the big house?”

  She was a cuddler. Why did that sound like both a threat and a promise? “I don’t cuddle.”

  She laughed again. “You’ve been warned.” Kat reached for the second small bottle, twisted the cap and lifted it in the air.

  “To resisting temptation.”

  We touched glasses and I swallowed the whiskey down in one gulp, wishing for something stronger because it was going to be a long fucking night.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Kat

  The sound of a car door slamming in the distance pulled me from a deep sleep and I sat up straight, blinking to bring my eyes into focus. A hotel room. A hot body, a hot male body turned and wrapped an arm around my waist, snuggling me close. Then a few more details came into focus.

  I’m in a hotel room with Terry.

  My body went stiff at the touch of his big strong hands holding me close, the feel of cock, hard and pressing against my ass. I froze and slammed my eyes shut against the sensations that rocketed through me, waiting for Terry to wake up and realize who he was cuddling before he recoiled in disgust. Despite his compliments and flirty words. Despite the way his gaze wandered to my nipples earlier, I knew what he really thought of me.

  Baby sister. Off limits. Friend zone.

  But with Terry’s hard muscular body pressed against mine, it was hard to think of anything other than how much I wanted him. And seeing him in nothing but a towel with his tattoos on full display, reminding me that he was no longer the boy of my dreams, but the man, wasn’t helping at all right now. Especially when he released a sleepy groan as his hand slid up from my belly to cup my breast.

  Oh. Shit. His palm grazed my nipple and I let out a shocked gasp when I really wanted to lean into it. Into him. Instead I froze, again waiting to see if he woke up and jumped away from me.

  He didn’t.

  Terry groaned and pressed his hips against my body, and I knew the moment he woke up. His body tensed briefly and then he squeezed my breast again. A moan escaped before I could stop it and Terry’s body stilled, but his hands didn’t move away.

  “Kat.”

  “Yeah?” My voice was tense and strained, even to my own ears, and I was tempted to turn to see his face as he spoke. But I wasn’t ready. Not yet.

  “You good?” His voice was thick with sleep or maybe it was desire, or maybe I just hoped it was desire.

  I nodded. “Yep. I’m good.” I was more than good as long as Terry kept his body so close. “Real good.”

  “Me too,” he growled and ground his cock into me as his lips pressed to my neck. I shuddered and arched my back so his cock buried deeper against my ass cheeks. “So good.”

  On its own, my neck tilted to take more of Terry’s kisses and that was all he needed to take things further. His grip tightened and his hip thrust against me again, and I turned in his arms, so we were face to face. “Yeah?”

  “Hell yeah.” Those two little words came out on a low, almost feral growl before Terry’s lips crashed down on mine. The kiss was different than the one in the other hotel. For one thing, we were sharing a bed and there was nothing but flimsy pajamas to separate us.

  He deepened the kiss, and I groaned at the whiskey I could still taste on his tongue and it made me feel bold. Bold enough to reach between us and wrap my hand around the silk covered erection between us. Terry was so fucking hard, but he wasn’t just hard, he was big. And thick. My pussy pulsed in anticipation.

  “Kat.” My name sounded like a curse on his lips and I arched into him, squeezed his cock tighter until he nipped my bottom lip. “Tease.”

  I laughed at the accusation and gave his cock a stroke.

  “It’s even better than I imagined it would be. Bigger too.”

  This was happening and there was no point holding back now. Tonight was ours and whatever happened after this, well that was a matter for another day. That thought left me feeling even bolder, or maybe it was the cock in my hand that my mouth and my pussy watered to taste. To have. “Soft on the outside and hard on the inside.” I slid my hand into the waistband until his silky hot cock landed heavy in my palm. God, I need this. I need him.

  “Oh fuck, Kat!” Terry’s blue eyes rolled back and his head fell onto the pillow with a sigh, leaving his muscular upper body on full display. My eyes ate him up first and then my lips and my tongue. His skin smelled fresh but manly, with just a hint of me in there and that made me smile.

  “Shit, woman,” he growled when my tongue started at the waistband of his silk boxers and I licked my way up the length of his torso, stopping only to swipe my tongue across the pink disks of his nipples. “Kat.”

  “Yes?” I felt playful and nipped his chin and then his earlobe, smiling as I
thought of how giddy my teenage self would be knowing I was here right now. With Terry. Fucking. Manning.

  “You have something to say?”

  “Don’t tease.” The growl came out dark and intense, almost angry and when I looked up at those blue eyes, nearly as dark as mine with desire, my body responded.

  “No? What have you been doing to me the past few weeks?”

  I didn’t wait for an answer because I didn’t want to talk about it, I wanted to take advantage of his nearly naked, completely turned on state, and I did, kissing my way back down his body until I reached his pajama shorts. “Teasing. Nonstop. Teasing.”

  “Kat,” he growled, his voice a warning I refused to heed.

  My fingertips wrapped around the silk shorts and tugged until his hips lifted in the air and I had Terry Manning naked in my bed, cock jutting out like a pole I was more than ready to climb. But not yet.

  “Yes?” It was an innocent enough question, or it would have been if I wasn’t holding his cock in my hand like a lollipop, tongue ready to swipe at the bead of liquid emerging from the tip.

  “Ah,” he said when my tongue made contact. The sound was low and deep and gravelly and I felt my pussy quench in answer. “Fuck.”

  I only teased him for a moment because I was too desperate to have him, to taste him and when the weight of his cock landed on my tongue, it was better than I imagined. Terry tasted sweet and musky, the way a man should taste. His strong thighs bunched and clenched on either side of me as I took him deeper and deeper into my mouth, using my tongue to swipe at his balls because each time I did, he made a guttural sound that drove me wild.

  I might have gone a little mad, closing my eyes and tasting his cock like it was a twelve course tasting menu, devouring every inch of him. Nine if my count was accurate.

  “Kat,” he growled once but I didn’t stop. Hell, I couldn’t stop, especially with the way his hips started to thrust up. I took him as deep as I could with every thrust and his hands speared through my hair, holding me right where he wanted me for his pleasure. What Terry didn’t know, couldn’t know, was that I was moments from orgasm just from tasting him. “Kat.”