She hesitated and then nodded her head, though it was weak. She wasn’t okay. “I’m fine. Really, it’s no big deal. Mom shouldn’t have told you or Clay.”
“You’re crying,” I pointed out, “so it’s not okay. Who is he? Where is he?”
She finally looked up at me, concern in her glassy green eyes. They were even brighter with her tears, which I didn’t think was possible. “Why?” she asked.
“So I can have a talk with him.”
She started shaking her head frantically back and forth. “No, I don’t want you to do anything to him.”
That got my hackles up. “Do you like him or something?”
Her expression showed immediate disgust, which relaxed me just a little. “Hell no. I can’t stand him. But if you do something, it’ll just make everything worse. He’ll make my life more miserable.”
I snorted. “No he won’t. Trust me, if I talk to him, he’ll never mess with you again. I’ll make sure of it. Just tell me where he is.”
Her eyes lowered to stare at the floor again. “You don’t need to do that, Parker. I can handle this myself.”
The corner of my mouth twitched in a grin, despite how my body was fuming. Always trying to be tough, that was Kinley. It made my admiration for her grow. “I’m sure you can. But this would just make Clay and I feel better. Besides, he needs to know that he can’t get away with shit like that.” I swallowed and was almost afraid to ask the next question but I had to. “Did he…” I cleared my throat. “He didn’t…touch you, did he?”
If he did, he was going to get so much worse than a black eye.
She shook her head again, another tear falling down her cheek. “No. He tried, but I stopped him. I didn’t want to. He got mad and told me I was a tease. Then, he started telling all his friends at school that he hooked up with me and now everyone thinks I slept with him.” Her voice broke on the last few words and she let out silent sobs before catching her breath again.
My lips thinned as I listened to her, my fists itching to punch something. If that little fuck had been standing in front of me, I would have broken his jaw with one swing.
I worked to hold back the fury I wanted to unleash because the last thing I wanted to do was scare her. “I want to help you, Kinley. If you tell me where he is, I promise he’ll never bother you again.”
She was quiet for a little while and I thought for a minute that she wasn’t going to tell me. Then, she finally whispered his name and where he usually hung out with his friends after school. I now had what I needed, but I also didn’t want to leave her there crying like that. I didn’t really know how to fix it, though. Punching the kid might make me feel better, and might help her in the long run, but it wasn’t going to make those tears go away now.
Then she looked up at me, looking like a broken, sad, beautiful girl and whispered, “Thank you.”
That’s when something snapped inside me.
That look she gave me—like I was her hero, like I was there to always save her and that I could do no wrong—was too much for me and I knew I couldn’t hold back any longer. Couldn’t deny myself the opportunity to touch her, try to make her feel a little better somehow, maybe even smile. Besides, holding her would make me feel better, too.
I took purposeful strides to her, stopping when I was only inches from her small form. Her eyes were just as wide as before, but now they held a different kind of fear in them, maybe a hint of nervousness. But I also sensed eagerness, which spurred my actions on.
I took her face in my hands, running my thumbs across her cheeks, wiping the tears away and marveling at how soft her skin was. My focus honed in on those lips of hers that I couldn’t stop thinking about. They were swollen from crying and were parted enough that I could feel her warm breath on my neck, sending shockwaves of desire straight through me.
“No more tears, okay? Everything will be alright.”
She nodded once and didn’t take her eyes off me. I could feel the tension rise, so many unspoken thoughts bouncing between us. All of those feelings were right there on the surface, so close I could practically taste them. Until that moment, I wasn’t sure that Kinley felt the same way as me. But there was absolutely no denying the message in her emerald eyes.
She wanted me as desperately as I wanted her.
My fingers were tingling with need; I wanted to have them all over her. And suddenly, I didn’t care that I was in college and she was still in high school. I didn’t care that she was Clay’s little sister and that we’d grown up together. I didn’t care what anyone else thought.
I brought my lips to hers without another word. It was slow and unhurried, the most sensual kiss I’d ever experienced in my life. It wasn’t a frenzied crashing together of lips and tongues, but more an exploration, a discovery, of sorts. I wasn’t sure how experienced Kinley was—certainly not something I wanted to think about—so I didn’t want to freak her out by going too fast. I had passion building up inside me that I wanted to release with the force like that of a volcanic eruption, but I held back, easing her into it.
Not that I minded. This was our first kiss and I wanted to take it slow, savor every second, every movement of our lips and swipe of our tongues.
And damn, she was sweet.
Warm and soft and perfect.
My lips moved against hers as I stepped closer, bringing our bodies flush against each other. I moved one hand down to her back, holding her tightly, eliciting a whimper from her mouth. I about lost it when her tits rubbed against my chest, making me groan into her mouth.
Things got more intense whenever she spread her lips and allowed entrance for my tongue. I immediately took advantage and sought out her tongue, massaging hers with mine as she flung her arms around my neck and went up on her tiptoes.
I was pretty sure that Kinley was a virgin, but she definitely didn’t kiss like one.
She knew what she was doing and it felt incredible.
The little noises she was making in her throat as her fingers pulled at my hair were driving me crazy. I’d been rock hard the second my fingers touched her, and she was starting to notice. Her hips were grinding against mine, slow and steady, a gentle rock. I let her control the pace, going at her own tempo, but she was a quick learner. Things were getting heated fast and I knew that I needed to slow it down, especially when my hardness found that soft spot between her thighs.
Yeah, it knew where it wanted to be.
But that was not going to happen today. I may have finally revealed my desire for her, but I was not about to take advantage of her like that. No matter how amazing of a kisser she was, I knew she wasn’t ready for what I wanted to give her. Especially with the day she’d had.
As much as it pained me—and the rest of my body—I gently pulled back, stepping away just enough so that my erection was no longer in contact with any part of her. I was going to have the blue balls from hell after this.
The glazed look on her face made me want to take possession of her mouth again but I restrained myself. Barely. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” I told her.
She blinked a few times, a slow smile spreading across her face. “You have?” The hopeful sound in her voice just killed me.
I nodded, smoothing some of her hair out and pushing it behind her ear. “Yeah, I have. I want to do it again, too.”
That smile just got bigger and my heart fluttered. Actually fluttered. “I do, too.”
“Why don’t we talk when I get back?”
Her forehead creased. “You’re still going over there?”
I searched her eyes and slowly nodded. “I have to, Kin. Nobody’s going to treat you that way. This is just something I have to do.”
She studied me for several seconds and eventually nodded. “Okay. But seriously, don’t hurt him. I don’t want you getting into trouble.”
I grinned at her, loving that she was worried about me. I didn’t have many people in my life who actually felt concern for me like that. “I’ll be
fine. I’ll come see you after.”
She pursed her lips, looking like she wanted to scream in happiness but held back. “Okay.”
I leaned down to give her one more quick peck on the lips and then headed for the door. Before I turned the corner, I turned back to look at her. Her fingers were running over her lips, a dreamlike expression on her face.
“I don’t think we should tell anyone about this right now, okay? Not yet, anyway.”
She shook her head, her smile unchanged. “I won’t say anything. It’ll be our secret.”
And it had been our secret for almost five months. We never told anyone what we were doing and they never found out.
As I thought about that memory throughout the rest of the evening and on our way back to my place, I was getting a feeling of déjà vu. There had been some obvious tension between us—a lot of it—ever since we’d re-established our “friendship.” And we’d always had this undeniable chemistry, something I’d never felt with anyone else.
But this déjà vu feeling was coming from the fact that I was starting to feel something within me snap, just like that afternoon when I’d first kissed her. Like I was getting to this point where I wasn’t going to be able to hold back anymore, wasn’t going to be able to restrain myself from taking her the way I’d imagined ever since that afternoon in her bedroom.
I had come so close to having all of her so many times during that summer we had together, but the timing had just never been right. Not to mention the fact that I’d wanted to wait until she was a little older. Because despite how I felt about her, a small part of me had still always felt that I was taking advantage of her.
But she wasn’t seventeen anymore.
She was a grown woman and I couldn’t keep my hands off any longer. I was done messing around. I’d do whatever she wanted, whatever she needed me to do in order to make her mine.
One way or another, though, I was going to have Kinley.
Chapter Eighteen
Kinley
Who knew that what it would take for me to have fun tonight was the exact person who had been causing most of my anxiety for the past few months—hell, the past few years.
Parker had successfully leveled things out and eased that ever-present tension between us. Every concern I had over inviting him to the wedding had been alleviated with his charm and goofiness, his humor and his smiles.
Tonight made me remember what it used to be like between us, when it didn’t always have to be about the secrets we were hiding or the feelings left unsaid. It didn’t always have to be about the path we were on and what our future looked like, whether or not we had one together. We could just have fun, enjoy each other, without having to have all the answers right now.
I’d needed that a lot more than I’d realized.
And he’d given it to me.
But through all of that, the sexual attraction was still brimming. He never once put on the pressure, but I’d still wanted to be close to him all night, still felt drawn to him. He sent sparks of desire through my body every time he touched me. My body had been so attuned to his all night, it took everything I had in me not to pull him into a bathroom stall and have my way with that hard body of his.
And tonight at the wedding, every time I saw a woman watching him with lustful interest while licking her lips as she considered the various possibilities of getting into his bed, I wanted to march over and scratch her eyes out. Almost every woman there practically had diamond rings sparkling in their eyes while they ogled him.
I hadn’t wanted to leave his side for even a second for fear of him being pounced on by the gold diggers of Boston’s upper crust.
Now, we were back at his place. And I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. What should happen.
I knew he felt what I had out on that dance floor with every heated touch of our hands or graze of our bodies. But there wasn’t music playing now. There was no more alcohol. We didn’t have any more excuses to be close to each other.
Would that stop us from having what we both wanted?
I was still trying to figure it out as we stepped inside his place and he turned on the lights. I knew the adrenaline from dancing was going to wear off soon and I was going to crash, but I wasn’t there yet. I was still wide awake and my body still hummed with arousal; it hadn’t diminished in the least on our drive over here.
Plus, I was pretty buzzed from all the wine at the wedding and I was feeling good. Alcohol could either be your best friend or your worst enemy. And right now, we were like two peas in a pod.
“You tired?” Parker asked as he loosened his tie and slung it over the couch in the living room.
I shook my head. “No, not really. I’m still pretty wired.”
He smiled and waggled his eyebrows at me. “Good. Me, too. And I’ve got an idea.”
I froze. Oh, God. This is it. He was putting it out there. Would I say yes?
Oh, yeah. I was ready for it.
He must have seen something on my face because he burst into laughter. “Not that. Although I’m certainly open to it if you’re offering.”
My face heated and I quickly looked away. How embarrassing. He’d known exactly what I was thinking and he’d brushed it off in such a cavalier way. Maybe he didn’t want it as bad as I thought. Maybe I’d been reading him wrong all night.
He was still smiling at me when he continued. “No, I was thinking something more along the lines of bowling or tennis.”
I raised an eyebrow at him and glanced at the clock on the wall. “Now? It’s after midnight, Parker.”
He reached down to pull something out of the basket on the coffee table and tossed it to me. It was a Wii controller. “Let’s see what you got, Masterson.”
I grinned, relaxing. Video games were neutral ground. I could deal with this. “I’m going to assume the Wii is for your niece and nephew?”
“Yeah, but I need some major practice. I haven’t beaten those kids once.”
I laughed and kicked off my heels. “But you’ve always sucked at video games.” He looked over at me, huffing in protest. “Oh, come on. Remember how bad you used to lose to me in Donkey Kong? And Mario Kart? You were always such a sore loser.”
He smirked, his face turning challenging. “This coming from the woman who almost went on a killing rampage after the softball debacle of 2008?”
“You and Clay were cheating! The teams were uneven!”
He stepped forward and tugged my hair playfully. “Keep telling yourself that, darlin.’”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest like a five-year-old. He just laughed and headed toward the kitchen. “Can I get you something to drink?”
I smiled in spite of myself. “A beer will be fine.”
Three games of bowling and four tennis matches later, we decided to call it a draw. We were tied in both wins and level of drunkenness. Neither of us was trashed, but definitely into the happy-tipsy phase. We figured we should stop before we entered into the can’t-walk-up-the-stairs-without-falling phase. At the moment, however, we were finding the stairs themselves pretty funny as neither of us could stop laughing at them.
By the time I reached the stop of the steps, I was laughing so hard, I was clutching my stomach and tears were escaping out of the corners of my eyes. I didn’t even know why we’d started laughing in the first place.
I finally caught my breath and stopped in front of my bedroom door as Parker walked down and stopped in front of his. I turned back to him, a sudden buzzing filling my head but it wasn’t from the alcohol. We were both getting ready to go into our bedrooms and undress, where there were beds.
I was sure the look on his face mirrored mine because it was all dark and lustful, his desire etched in every line. Those eyes of his seared me, cut right through me, and turned my insides into a scorching inferno of jelly.
Hey, I was a little drunk. My metaphors were bound to not make sense.
“Goodnight,” I said to him, unsure if there
was something else he wanted to say. Or do, for that matter.
If something was going to happen here, I was probably going to need him to take the lead on it. I was hardly in control of my emotions or faculties when I was sober, so I didn’t have enough confidence nor was in the right frame of mind to know how to handle this situation.
“’Night, Kinley,” his low voice rumbled.
I turned around and started to open my door when he spoke again. “Wait.” I looked over my shoulder at him, hope blooming like flower petals in my heart. He walked toward me, eyes intent as they traveled the length of my body before coming back to rest on my face. “Don’t you need help with your zipper?”
Oh, boy.
Not that damn zipper again.
He’d practically set me aflame earlier when he’d been that close to me. I wasn’t sure if I could handle it if he touched me and then walked away again. I would just have to stop it before he could take it too far.
I turned with my back to him, pulling my hair over my shoulder. “Sure. If you don’t mind.”
His fingers traced across my shoulders like before and started to unfasten the hooks at my neck, slowly, one by one. Just like before, he leaned in close to me, his hot breath at my ear. I could hear every time his breath caught, feel the warmth of his body heat spread through me like a drug.
I felt the material separate as he released all three hooks and then felt his fingers caress down the length of my back, headed for the zipper. He started to pull down on the zipper, but my hand flew up and caught it when he brought it low enough that my fingers could reach it. It wasn’t unzipped all the way, but I was pretty sure that my panties might completely melt off if he stood there breathing on me for one more second.
I spun around to face him, one hand on my zipper, the other holding the front of my dress up. I knew he remembered that I wasn’t wearing a bra.
“Thank you,” I whispered. His mouth was mere inches away from mine and I could barely breathe.
Playing for Kinley (Cruz Brothers Book 1) Page 18
