She reached up and wrapped her arms around him, her breasts coming in full contact with his naked chest. “I want more,” she said as she kissed his shoulder. “I want you, Duke.”
And that was all she needed to say. He pushed her back on the bed, pulling the pillows from behind her head and placing them under her bottom. She wasn’t sure what he was doing, but she was intrigued because he had a look in his eyes that told her he had things planned for her.
He spread her legs as wide as they could go before he bent his head to suck one of her nipples into his mouth as he rolled the other one between his fingers. She cried out. Too aroused. Too mindless to control herself with him. “Now, Duke. Now.”
He lifted his mouth from her skin and looked at her for a long moment. Making her wait for him.
“Please,” she said, needing to be filled up by him.
He gave her one long slow deep kiss before he pushed inside her and she immediately understood why he’d placed the pillows where he did. She nearly blacked out from pleasure. She felt every inch of him on her clitoris as he slid in and then out of her.
She shut her eyes, pulling her lower lip between her teeth, unable to do anything but enjoy his hard pounding rhythm. “Open your eyes,” he panted. “I want you to see me.”
She looked into his eyes and was taken back to when she was nineteen and he used to look at her like that, with his face twisted in pleasure and his eyes full of emotion for her. It was good for her soul to see that, but it made her feel worse in a way. All those years she had wasted, afraid to see him, afraid he would hate her and send her away. But there were some feelings still there. Even after all she had done to him there were feelings still there.
He leaned in to kiss her as his pace became faster, harder, and a little wilder. She had dreamed about this moment. She had spent years dreaming about this moment.
She cried out, dug her fingers into his shoulders, feeling her climax charging at her. She didn’t want to come. She wanted to keep this going for as long as it could, forever because she knew once they stopped, they would have to go back to being just co-parents with a difficult past and a strained relationship.
But she couldn’t stop what was coming. Her entire body seized in orgasm and she shook hard, feeling it in her bones. In her soul.
Duke broke then, his only mission seeming to make sure she finished first. He was always so good about that. Even when she was young and brand new to sex, he was gentle, he was patient, and he made sure she was always pleased.
He collapsed on top of her, breathing hard, and she held him close. She kissed his sweaty hair, stroked her hands down his big hard back. She didn’t have words for what had just happened between them, but she knew as long as he was here they were going to end up like this again.
Chapter 10
Duke woke up early the next morning missing Grace. He was pissed at himself for missing her, but he did. He didn’t know how to describe what had gone on between them last night. Confusing, infuriating, fucking incredible.
She seduced him.
He thought himself a man who couldn’t be seduced. Women tried. He had money. They knew about his past. They wanted to get involved with a bad boy who’d founded an empire, but he saw through all of their bullshit and prided himself on staying unattached and untrapped. But then there was Grace, who took off her nightgown and turned his mind to mush. Grace who was so sexual and sensual and just plain good in bed. She touched him in all the right places, she kissed him at the right times, she moaned and moved in a way that drove him insane.
It was different from the last time they had been together. Grace was no longer that nineteen-year-old girl. She was a woman who went after what she wanted, and it was sexy as hell.
He knew he needed to have her again. Not want but a need. He could have stayed in that bed with her all night. But she had gotten up after a few minutes, pulled her nightgown on, said good night, and gone to her room like it was any other night and they hadn’t just had incredibly steamy sex.
He shook his head as he walked up the stairs to start his day. While he was out the day before, he had arranged for a lumber delivery to come first thing this morning. The house needed fixing up and he was going to start with that damn lopsided, rotting porch.
Grace was already up and dressed in her scrubs. Dark blue this morning with a prim little sweater over the top and her hair neatly tied back. She looked so different from the woman who was in his bedroom just hours ago with her hair spread across his pillow and her body open to him.
“Good morning, Duke.” She went over to the coffeepot and poured a large cup. “I’m working a twelve today. There’s a bus for summer school, but I take him and pick him up when I can. My father watches him when I’m at work.”
“He’ll stay with me today,” he said abruptly.
“You’re sure?” She looked hesitant. “I feel weird asking you to watch him.”
“I’m not a damn babysitter. I’m his father. I think I can handle getting him to school.”
“Okay,” she said and he found himself annoyed with her. “School starts at nine. I’ll leave you my cell number just in case. Can I have yours?”
“You don’t trust me with him, do you?”
“Goddamn it, Duke!” He was surprised. He had never heard her curse before. “You’re living here with us. You’re back in our lives and I’m leaving you with my baby. I don’t think asking you for your number is out of line.”
“You’re right. It isn’t.”
And then it dawned on Duke why he was annoyed. “Why are you going to work?”
The question seemed to take her off guard. “Because I have to.”
“No, you don’t anymore. I can give you what you need.”
“I don’t need or want anything from you. Just do right by Ryder. Take care of him.”
“I plan to,” he said, but his gut burned thinking about her driving around in her ratty car and working twelve-hour shifts when he had so much.
He had to believe her when she said she’d written to him all those years ago. It made sense that her letters were intercepted, but he still blamed her for not telling him. For not tracking him down and holding him responsible for making a life with her.
He didn’t know how he would have done it, but he would have done the right thing and married her, supported her. He would have moved mountains to take care of her the way she deserved.
But he guessed she’d rather struggle and go without than to take from him, than be married to him. And that made last night even more confusing. What was she expecting from him? Or was the only thing she needed from him physical?
Ryder entered the kitchen then, looking sullen. “Good morning, sweetheart.” Grace walked over to Ryder and kissed his hair. “Can I make you some breakfast?” She stroked his cheek. “We’ve still got some gluten-free whole wheat waffles in the freezer. I can put some almond butter and bananas on there for you.”
Grace was babying him. The boy was bigger than she was and she was treating him like he was an infant. Or maybe that’s how kids were brought up these days. By the time Duke was twelve he was watching his brothers and in charge of meals for all of them. He went with his father on odd jobs and earned his keep. “You think Ryder might want to make his own breakfast?” he said to her.
Grace looked up at him, seeming horrified at the idea. “I do it. I make his breakfast every morning.”
“He’s a teenager for fuck’s sake. He’s got to grow into a man. He’s got to learn how to do things for himself.”
“Don’t curse,” she warned as she glanced at Ryder.
“For his benefit? The boy curses more than I do. You forget I was a boy once, I know what they do.”
“I don’t want to have this discussion now.” She gave Duke a hot look before she turned back to Ryder. “What do you want for breakfast, honey? Mommy will make it for you.”
“Cereal.” He pulled away. “And I’ll get it myself.”
“Okay.” G
race seemed a little hurt, and while Duke should have felt a little triumphant he felt kind of shitty. Grace may have made some bad moves, but he could tell she was a damn good mother and she loved their kid. “I’m going to head to work now. You’re going to stay with Duke after school. That should make you happy. You hated staying with your grandfather.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“I love you, Ryder. Have a good day.” She kissed his hair again.
The boy just grunted.
“I’m heading out now,” she said as she walked over to Duke looking disappointed. “My number is on the counter as well as the hospital’s number in case there is an emergency. His blood type is the same as yours and he is allergic to penicillin.”
“You’re just going to work,” he told her. “Stop worrying.”
“This feels big,” she whispered to him. “I don’t know why, but leaving him here with you feels big. I thought I would never get the chance to.” She shut her eyes for a moment. “You should have seen me when I dropped him off for kindergarten the first time. They had to send me home from work I was such a wreck.”
“Go to work, Grace. I’ll take care of him.”
She nodded. “I know you will.”
Grace squeezed his arm and left for work, leaving him with Ryder who was standing in the kitchen staring into the refrigerator. “What kind of cereal does she keep in here?” Duke asked him. “Something with nuts and berries and twigs?”
Ryder looked over to him, his face completely expressionless. The boy looked so much like him that it almost hurt. It was a few days since he’d learned he had a son, but it was still a shock to his system every time he looked at the boy. He didn’t know how to be a father. He just knew he didn’t want to be like his own.
“I’m not hungry.” He shut the refrigerator door. “I’m going to get ready.”
Duke wanted to say something about Grace freaking out if she knew he didn’t eat, but he let it go. Ryder was getting used to the idea of him, too.
He heard a honk outside and knew the wood delivery was here. He felt like he should say something to Ryder. But he didn’t know what, so he just went outside and started to work until it was time to take Ryder to school.
Forty minutes later he went upstairs to check on him. He had never been upstairs before and as he looked around he wondered who the hell had designed this place. There were all these little nooks and crannies and corners. There was a room at the top of the stairs with a desk, some bookshelves, and a ratty recliner. He would have walked right past it, but a model car caught his eye and he walked in to get a closer look. It was a blue Honda. A replica from one of those popular racing movies. It was a foreign car and Duke would never be caught dead driving it, but he had to say he was impressed with the craftsmanship that went into making it. He looked up to see other cars in display cases on the shelves. They must have taken hours to create, patience that Duke never had. These must be Ryder’s. He just couldn’t see Grace putting together cars with all the other stuff she had to do.
“Hey, Ryder.” He called his son, wanting to talk about his cars. There was no response. No movement on the creaky floors. He went to his bedroom to find it empty, the window thrown wide open even though the air-conditioning was on full blast.
“That little shit,” Duke swore. Ryder had escaped.
He was too damn big to go out the window after him so he went down the stairs and out the door to search for him. Grace was going to have a heart attack. The first time she left Ryder with him and the kid escaped. She was never going to trust him again with their son. He was supposed to be proving to her that they could make this work, that they could co-parent. But maybe he shouldn’t have taken that stupid bet. It was set up for him to lose.
“Ryder!” He shouted his name. There were no houses close by. Duke couldn’t even begin to guess what direction he had gone or how long he had been gone. He checked behind the shed where he’d found him the last time. But he wasn’t there.
He was just about to get in his car when a couple of shingles slid off the roof. He took a few steps back and saw Ryder scrambling farther up the roof. “What the hell are you doing up there? Get down here right now before you break your damn neck!”
“Go to hell!” Ryder yelled back at him.
“Excuse me? You talk to me like that again and you won’t have to worry about the fall breaking your neck because I’m going to.”
“Whatever. Why don’t you go back to wherever you were all day yesterday.”
“What?”
“Just go back to Vegas. I didn’t ask for you to come here. You don’t have to pretend like you want to get to know me.”
Duke knew they were uneasy around each other but he didn’t understand what Ryder was talking about until he realized that he had spent the entire day with his brothers and hadn’t seen Ryder since breakfast yesterday morning. He didn’t think the boy would care. But that was the problem. Duke hadn’t thought at all.
“I had some stuff to take care of yesterday.” He really didn’t know what to say. “I’m here now.”
“Only because my mom had to go to work. I’m not some goddamn burden and I don’t need a babysitter. So just leave. Nobody asked for you to come here in the first place.”
Duke let out a stream of curses. He heard a car pull up behind him, but he didn’t focus on who it was because Ryder moved to the other side of the roof. Duke was pissed at him, but he was more worried that he was going to get hurt.
“Whatcha looking at, Duke?” He felt Levi’s hand slap him on the back. He turned to see that both his brothers were there with Zanna. It had slipped Duke’s mind that he had called over there this morning.
Another shingle slipped off the edge. “He’s on the fucking roof.”
“Who?” Levi asked him.
“My son.” Duke hadn’t told Levi yet, he realized as he said it. With all the craziness of Colt being locked up and them buying up the town and everything that was going on with him and Grace, he just hadn’t had time. He was going to tell them today, though. That’s why he’d called them here.
“What do you mean your son?” Levi walked forward and grabbed his shoulder, clearly pissed off at being left out. “You’ve got a goddamn kid? When the fuck were you going to tell us?”
“Today.” He didn’t have time for his little brother’s anger today. He had his angry kid on the roof to worry about first. “I just learned the truth for sure myself. Grace got pregnant before I got locked up. She never told me. She still wouldn’t have told me, but I threatened to sue her for custody.”
“That worked? Her father is powerful in these parts.” Levi shook his head.
“The boy is mine.” Duke look back up to the roof. “There’s no denying it. She named him Ryder.”
“Shit. Really?” Colt asked, speaking for the first time since they had arrived. “The whole damn world could have figured out he was your kid with a name like that.”
“Somebody want to clue me in,” Zanna said to him. “What’s the big damn deal about the name?”
“My favorite movie is Easy Rider,” Duke informed her.
“He used to have a leather jacket with an American flag on it,” Levi said.
“He always said that if he had a boy he’d name him Ryder,” Colt added.
“Yeah. I’ve got a boy and he’s on the fucking roof.”
“Where’s Grace?” Zanna looked up, trying to spot the boy.
“She’s taking shifts at the hospital to make ends meet now that school is out for the summer. She left him here with me. I told her that I would sue her for full custody if she didn’t let me be a part of his life. And she did and now I fucked up because I don’t know shit about kids. He was supposed to be heading to summer school, but when I went to take him he climbed onto the roof. And I don’t know how to get him down without dragging his ass off.”
“Did he climb on the roof because he was afraid you were going to kill him?” Zanna asked.
“I should k
ill him. He’s a surly, miserable little bastard. The only thing that’s stopping me from wringing his neck is that he’s just like me when I was his age.” And he was coming to terms with his father walking into his life out of thin air. It made Duke think about his own father, who walked out on them without a word, without looking back. Duke knew he wouldn’t handle it well if his old man had just shown up one day. He was pretty sure he would kill him.
“And you were a delight,” Colt said. He was looking at the house, studying, seeing in a way that only Colt could. And then he did something that surprised the shit out of Duke. Colt climbed up the porch railing and hoisted himself to the roof.
“Colt!” Zanna called after him, looking alarmed.
“It’s not that high.” He looked back at her, heat in his eyes that he had only when he looked at Zanna, and extended a hand. “Levi, help her up.”
“Gladly.” Levi grinned and hoisted Zanna up to the railing.
And just like that, Duke was alone on the ground. His brothers meeting another one of their own for the first time.
He heard the rumble of low deep voices and stood there wondering if he should climb up and drag all their asses down or stay put. He didn’t have to make the choice, though, because a few moments later all four of them were climbing down. Colt first followed by Zanna.
“What the hell did you say to him to get him down?” he asked Colt.
“Levi threatened to toss him off the roof and then offered him pancakes. You know, normal uncle stuff.”
Duke waited until Ryder’s feet hit the ground before he went over to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “If you think you’re getting pancakes with your uncles, you’re out of your damn mind. You are going to take your ass to school, just like your mother wanted you to. I wouldn’t mess with me, boy. I’ll tell your mother that we should go vegan and she’ll have you eating so much kale and soy your behind will turn green. I can make it so you never have another meat product again.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me, boy. I’ve dealt with bigger and badder than you and I always come out ahead.”
Betting the Bad Boy Page 9
