Undaunted (No Rival Book 2)

by Charity Parkerson

  Rapping her knuckles on the wood of the door, she announced her presence. Max pressed closer to Ryan for a second before slowly pulling away and turning in her direction. A smile lit Ryan’s face when he spied her lingering inside the entryway.

  “Hey, Mandy. We were wondering when we’d be hearing from you.”

  Stepping into the room, Mandy did her best to hide a blush as Max flashed a grin her way. Instead, she concentrated on tugging the thinner of the two envelopes out of her bag. “I’ve brought you a gift,” she explained, waving it at them. “I hoped Knox would be hanging around here somewhere as well, but I didn’t see him out there.”

  “He won’t be here today.”

  Something in Max’s tone set off warning bells in her mind. “Is everything okay?”

  “It’s Sunday,” both men said simultaneously as if it should explain everything.

  “Okay,” she drawled. Giving up on gaining a straight answer, she pried open the seal on the envelope. They took turns passing the pictures around. The open happiness on their faces reminded her of why she loved photography. Pictures were proof of existence. They froze a moment out of time and held memories for safekeeping. The itch to share the moment with Knox was making her skin crawl. Her mind raced for a way to make it happen.

  When the idea came, it seemed almost too simple, and she had to stop herself from rushing from the room. She barely understood a word of the conversation. Making her excuses, she left the men to enjoy the prints while she ducked out. Halfway to the front desk, she dug through her purse, making a huge show of it until she reached Kerry’s side.

  Donning her best overly frazzled expression, she set her bag on the counter. “I’m supposed to mail a set of these prints to Knox, but I can’t find where I wrote down his address,” she explained, throwing as much exasperation as she could into her tone. “I sort of hoped he’d be here today so I could hand it to him personally and not look like an idiot for losing it. I swear I cannot keep up with anything.”

  “Oh. Let me look it up for you,” Kerry offered. Tearing off a sticky note, she added, “Knox never comes in on Sunday since he’s usually too sore after the weekend fight schedule, and I understand your dilemma. My purse is like a black hole. Once something goes in, it’s sucked into oblivion. If you haven’t found it by now you never will.” After a few quick clicks on the computer, Kerry jotted down Knox’s address and handed it over.

  Mandy clutched it to her chest. “You’re a lifesaver. Thank you so much.”

  “You’re very welcome. We girls have to stick together.”

  * * * * *

  The banging on his front door wouldn’t let up. Giving in, Knox dragged a pair of jeans up his legs, but he couldn’t dredge up the energy to button them. He threw open the door prepared to shove whatever vacuum he was about to get sold up someone’s ass. Mandy shifted nervously under his black scowl, and he immediately locked down his emotions to keep from scaring her.

  “Um,” she stammered, making him feel like shit.

  He took a step back. “Sorry. I was in the shower. Come on in.” Even though she still looked unsure of her welcome, she stepped past him and he inhaled her scent into his lungs. Goddamn, everything about her made him want to own her.

  “Oh. Wow. Your house is gorgeous.” Without waiting for a response, she added, “I picked up the photos today. I was hoping you’d help me pick out the best ones for my portfolio.” She crinkled her nose in a way that did something to his chest. “It’s ridiculous, but I’m my own worst critic. If I try to do this alone, I’ll never be able to pick, and it will end in tears.”

  Not giving him time to answer, she kicked off her flip-flops and headed for the kitchen table. She set a huge brown leather bag on top and dug around inside. The tiny cotton shorts showcasing her long legs, and the form-fitting low-cut V-neck t-shirt that flashed a bit of cleavage with every move she made, almost had him offering to let her have the house. She pulled out an overstuffed envelope from inside the bag, and broke the seal. The glossy photos slid into a stack on the table. He inched closer to get a better look.

  She eyed his bare torso with interest for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s always your poor ribs.” Waving it off, she continued as if it didn’t matter, and he couldn’t help the smile pulling at his lips. “I want to divide the pictures up into four piles. One for action shots, one for body shots, one for eyes, and one for images that aren’t so good. Are you going to help?” It took him a moment to absorb the truth, she accepted him as he was. There wouldn’t be any lectures over his lifestyle. He would never have any need to hide anything from her. She was perfect, and he hadn’t heard a word she said.

  “Um, sure,” he agreed in an attempt to show her the same respect. It didn’t really matter what she’d asked, anyhow. He was up for anything. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

  “Take these.” She split the stack into two parts before handing him half. “Get started on separating them into piles and then we’ll switch. We’ll go through each other’s choices and cull it that way.” After a few minutes of watching her, he got the idea of what she expected. To him, all the photos were amazing. He didn’t add anything to the not-so-good stack because they didn’t deserve to be there.

  “You’ll be stuck with me all day at this rate. We won’t get anywhere if you don’t make some cuts over there,” she said on a laugh.

  “Maybe I like keeping you to myself.” When Mandy kept her head down and didn’t respond to his open flirtation, he added, “I’m sorry. I guess I suck at this because they’re all great. I don’t want to get rid of any of them. What did you choose?” Leaning over the edge of the table, he checked out her four piles and spotted one facedown picture. He flipped it over. An image of Rhys sprawled across Mandy’s couch stared out at Knox. Her hand shot out as if hoping to spare him from the sight. She hesitated over the photo before quickly flipping it over again. He hated that she loved him. A spike of jealousy slammed into him. Red coated his vision. His body pressed against hers as he boxed her in against the table. Knox didn’t recall moving. One moment, he’d been standing a few feet away. The next, he was staring down at her. With Mandy trapped, he shifted his hands to her hips. Her breathing was fast and hard. She kept her gaze glued to his chest, but it was too late. He knew what she was hiding. She couldn’t conceal her body’s reactions. Nostrils flared, Knox absorbed the sight of Mandy’s beaded nipples showing through her shirt.

  “Look at me,” he demanded.

  Doing as he bade, she slowly lifted her chin. Pupils dilated with a deep flush across her cheekbones, Mandy was the perfect picture of sexual longing. His lips curled into a knowing grin.

  “I told you not to trust me,” he reminded her in his most mocking tone.

  Need crawled at his spine. The nights he’d lain awake, fantasizing about touching her, caused his grip to tighten possessively at her waist.

  “Make me,” she taunted, recklessly. A menacing chuckle fell from his lips as he lowered his head to the column of her throat. He curled his fingers around the hem of her shirt. His knuckles scraped along her skin as he inched the material up. Chill bumps rose where his breath fanned across her neck when he spoke.

  “You shouldn’t provoke someone like me. I’m no one’s gentle lover.” To emphasize his words, he sank his teeth into the soft flesh that was teasing him. Her hands fluttered to his waist, but he forced them upward as he yanked the shirt over her head, exposing her lacy bra for his perusal. His cock lengthened and wept. He was addicted.

  Succumbing to his desire, he unhooked the scrap of material and allowed it to slip to the floor. Cupping her breast, he swiped his thumb over one of her nipples. A cry broke past her lips and her eyes fell closed.

  He gave her a tiny shake. “No. You will keep your eyes open for this. I refuse to have you think of anyone except for me.” Sweeping his hands down her sides, Knox pushed her shorts down a couple of inches. “When your pussy is flooding my mouth, it will be my name on your
lips.”

  When her lids lifted, her eyes flashed with hunger, which merely fed his craving. Lust tinged her voice as she whispered, “I’ve imagined you kissing me a thousand times. Make it real.”

  Left with no other choice, Knox pulled her in and his lips collided with hers. He teased her mouth open with the tip of his tongue. Because he couldn’t not taste her. It was sinful delight. The flavor of sweet innocence exploded across his taste buds, causing his cock to twitch. A dark yearning to corrupt her roared through him when her tongue shyly returned his caress. Her admission had sealed her fate.

  Knox shoved both hands down the back of her pants, taking hold of Mandy’s bare ass and hauling her forward. The firm round globes fit perfectly in his hands. He ground her pelvis against his erection, making sure she understood there was no backing down. Her moan vibrated around his tongue and his cock twitched.

  Power surged through him at the skin-on-skin contact. His dick leaked with the first tentative touch of her fingers on his chest. When her nails scraped over the silver rings in his nipples, he jerked away. She made him want more than he should, and this wasn’t about him.

  A flash of hurt crossed over her features. He wanted to wash it away. Going down onto his knees, he took her shorts and panties with him as he went. Mandy gasped. Grasping the edge of the table behind her, she almost appeared to be clinging to it for support. He hid a grin. Off balance was exactly where he wanted her.

  “Let me have these,” he demanded, forcing her to step out of the remainder of her clothing. Tossing it aside, he focused on his prize. Knox didn’t allow her enough time to think. Under normal circumstances, she was too smart to let someone like him touch her. With one hand pressing against her stomach, he pushed her into the table to keep her from falling as he snagged her ankle and hooked her leg over his shoulder. Her hairless pussy glistened with moisture, and water flooded his mouth. The hunger to swallow her juices caused fire to lash at his throat.

  “Knox.”

  His name falling from her lips was his undoing. His heart slammed against his chest as he slid his tongue along her slit, parting her pussy lips. He drew her scent into his lungs. Sexy. Enchanting. His. She pumped her hips against his mouth as he found her tiny nub, taking it between his teeth. He wanted her to claim her pleasure. Slipping a finger inside her channel, Knox groaned as her tight, wet heat clenched around it. The picture of her doing the same thing to his cock nearly caused him to come inside his jeans.

  Pushing aside his need, he used her moisture against her, trailing a line from her opening to her ass. She sucked in a deep gasp as he teased the sensitive nerves around her puckered strawberry at the same time as he circled her clit with his tongue. He pressed against the tight ring of muscles keeping him out. Mandy grasped his shoulders and dug her nails deep into his skin. A deep, silky chuckle fell from his lips as he realized she’d never had anyone touch her like this.

  Tilting her hips, he slid his tongue past her opening, teasing the spot between her cunt and anus before moving to her strawberry, leaving it soaked with his saliva.

  “Knox, please?”

  Her plea only made him more determined. Without giving her a chance to protest, he claimed her clit, sucking hard upon it as he drove two fingers inside her ass. Liquid heat flooded his mouth as her body pulled greedily at his fingers. Her channel pulsed. Her cries filled his ears, driving something primal inside him. He didn’t let up. Stabbing his tongue inside her cunt, he growled as she tightened around it. With one last pump of his fingers, he slipped them out before she came down from her high.

  Knox turned his head and pressed his face against her inner thigh. Blood rushed in his ears, making it hard for him to hear as he called upon every ounce of his restraint. When he was sure he could do so without causing permanent damage, he stumbled to his feet. Mandy’s lips parted as she gasped for air. Pushing her hair away from her face, Knox held her gaze. The light-blue irises staring back at him were the center of an obsession he couldn’t let go. He almost feared himself in that moment. Holding her face between his hands, he fed his addiction.

  “If you have an ounce of good sense, you will stay away from me.” He didn’t mean to say it. The necessity to caution her outweighed the dark urges clawing at his skin.

  “Why do you keep warning me away?”

  Instead of answering, Knox slammed his mouth down on hers, cutting off any more questions. She opened for him without any encouragement. He growled at her easy acquiescence and he tried to push her by sucking on her tongue before biting at her lips. Instead of rejecting him, she moaned. At the sound, he turned his head away. With his arms wrapped around her waist, he pressed his lips to her shoulder. He could not do this if she didn’t understand what she was getting in him.

  *

  “I watch you.” Mandy held her breath at Knox’s whispered confession. He spoke against her skin, and she was almost scared he wouldn’t continue. “When you’re not looking,” he added. “You don’t notice me, but I’m there. It’s not right for me to want you. I’m not a good person.”

  His arms fell away and he dropped his gaze to the floor as he took a step back. Blindly, Mandy reached for him. Panic over the loss of him had her closing the distance he created. She could feel his emotions closing down. She couldn’t stand it.

  “I see you,” she blurted out, calling him back to her. “At eight fifteen every morning, you step through the door of Black River. I know the precise moment you arrive and every movement you make while you are there. On the days I work a double, you’re back at two, but you don’t stay as long. It’s been exactly twenty-two days since the last time—”

  Knox kissed her, cutting off her speech. Delicious. The word continued filling her mind at his flavor. Smooth strokes flowed across her tongue. Intoxicating her. Enticing her. Making her forget. Her feet left the floor as Knox swept her into his arms.

  She automatically clutched at his neck to keep her balance.

  “I only want to hold you, okay?” he said as he passed through an open doorway to their left. The smell of his cologne filled the air. She caught a flash of dark curtains, but she couldn’t look away from the set lines of his face. Even as her back touched the mattress of what had to be his bed, she didn’t turn away.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, answering her question honestly. “I just need to have your skin against mine.”

  “What if I want more?”

  With one knee braced on the mattress, Knox stopped dead at her question. His expression never changed but his eyes flashed with fire. “Then you should take whatever you like.”

  With his consent hanging in the air, Mandy sprang into action before she could chicken out. Hooking his knee with her heel and curling her fingers around his wrist, she used his weight against him. With a sharp tug, she sent him tumbling. Without giving him a chance to recover from his shock, Mandy pushed him onto his back. Knox’s surprised bark of laughter died on a moan when her lips closed around his nipple. She tugged at the ring between her teeth. The taste of man and metal filled her mouth as his wild scent tickled her nostrils.

  He lifted his weight to help her along as she shoved at the waistband of his jeans. She gently scraped at his skin with her fingernails as she peeled the material down his legs. It was his eyes. She’d never felt more desirable or powerful in her life than when he was looking at her.

  As she crawled back up his body, Mandy paused to trace a white scar across his thigh with her tongue. His muscles jumped and she smiled against his skin. His dark- blue boxer briefs were soaked with pre-cum, proving how turned on he was.

  “You’re killing me, Mandy.”

  “We can’t have that,” she said with a wicked smile as she dragged the underwear over his hips as well. His engorged cock swelled farther beneath her gaze. Tracing the slit at the tip, she smeared his juices around the crown, licking her lips.

  His cock jerked and his hips left the bed in his attempt to move closer to her. “Fuc
k.” The curse sounded like it came from his soul. Sweat pooled at the base of her spine as she fought for restraint. She held his erection steady. His gaze homed in on her as she opened her lips around his shaft. Hot liquid flooded her pussy at the taste of masculine salt upon her tongue.

  The nape of her neck stung as Knox gripped her hair but he released her just as quickly. With a swirl of her tongue around his crown, she allowed him to slip from her mouth. “Don’t treat me like glass,” she warned before closing her mouth around his cock and hollowing out her cheeks.

  With an accusing pull on her roots, Knox growled. “Then don’t fucking tease me.” He punctuated his words by grinding his hips against her mouth. Mandy loosened her jaw before taking him to the back of her throat. The guttural sounds he made as she swallowed him caused her to increase her pace. Her channel pulsed with the desire to have him filling her. She wanted to feel him driving inside her, but she was intent on making him cry her name. Saliva coated her fingers at his root. She rolled his balls between the fingers of her other hand before slipping lower. It was a calculated risk.

  She’d loved everything he’d done to her and she could only hope he would have the same reaction. Tracing the line from his sac to his ass, she played upon those sensitive nerve endings, taking cues from his reactions to her touch. Knox drew his knee up, giving her more room to move, and she purred with ecstasy. Free rein over his body was more than any woman could dream of having. She shaped his dick with her tongue while circling his asshole with her finger, unsure of how far her bravery went.

  It turned out not to matter. With a sharp tug, Knox drew her up his body until her wet cunt was straddling his torso. His eyes looked feverish and his words came out sounding ravaged. “Grab a condom out of that drawer to your left. I want to be inside you when I come.”

  Doing as he bade, Mandy opened the drawer and condom with shaking hands. Her fingers fumbled as she helped him suit up. He snagged her hips, holding her in place. “This isn’t a one-time thing. I don’t share. Do you understand me?”