by Xavier Neal
“Good idea,” he agrees. “Sooner we get that goin', the better.”
While he leads the way towards the door that will leak us into the staircase, I grab Knoxie's hand and whisper in her ear. “I have something I wanna show you after dinner.”
Intrigued she simply lifts her eyebrows.
No more secrets, remember? That includes this one.
After time with Destin and a family meal of steak with red potatoes, I drive Knox and I towards the garage warehouse.
“I don't see why I couldn't drive,” she complains for the third time. “It's like you don't want me to drive.”
“I don't ever want you to drive,” I agree.
“Excuse me?”
“I don't like neck braces.”
She bites, “Oh because you drive like you're fresh out of driving school? Last time I checked red lights weren't a suggestion.”
“No cop. No stop.”
“That's safe?”
“The possibility of a concussion is slimmer.”
“Fuck you, Madden.”
“Fuck you, Knox.”
Our heated argument leads to calm chuckles and eventually heavy laughter.
As I pull into my parking space, I sigh, “You drive me crazy.”
“At least you let me drive something,” she jeers undoing her seat belt. “Where are we?”
“You'll see.”
The two of us slide out of my car and link hands on the way towards the door.
More impatient than before she complains at the level of security. “Seriously? Swipe cards and key codes? Is there an iris scanner too Bond? Or maybe just a hand print reader?”
Ignoring her trite comments, I lead us into the insulated garage. When the lights come on the sight of the vehicles causes the trash that was falling out of her mouth to cease to exist.
I do love her speechless moments. They're so fucking rare.
I lean against the wall next to the light switch. “We agreed no more secrets. No more hiding. That includes this.”
“Are these-”
“Every. One.”
“But how-”
“A lot of work.”
She glances over her shoulder at me, the blue in her eyes shimmering. “This. This is where you are when you don't come home.”
Slowly I nod.
“So all those nights, I worried you were out fucking half the city-”
“Were either spent here or hunting down the person who fucked with Ben's car.”
Impressed yet again, she folds her arms across her chest. “You found him, didn't you?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“And...” Not wanting her drowning with me in the possible flood waters that are to come from leaving him alive, I shake my head. “And let's leave it at that.”
“But-”
“Please.”
She fights the natural instinct to argue with me. “Fine.”
Relieved I offer her a short smile.
Compromise. We have to work on that. I'm not keeping it hidden. I'm protecting her. There's a difference. Really.
Knoxie slowly wanders around the museum of the fallen family I've created. Her finger tips gently touch the hood of Ben's car. With a crooked smirk she sings, “Bitch better have my money...”
I lightly laugh. “He loved the shit out that song.”
“You would've thought he wrote the damn thing,” she giggles back casually moving towards Triple D's motorcycle. Frozen in place, I watch her fingers caress the seat where the pair of double Ds is stitched.
They have matching bikes. Each of them with D’s tatted on the seat in the order they were born in.
“He loved double D’s in so many ways,” she says to herself heading for Merrick's car.
The sight of her so close to it, so close to all of them has me straining. Tightly folding my arms, the ability to breathe seems to become more and more difficult. Fear of what happened to them happening to her has me closing my eyes.
It's a very rational thing to be afraid of. He went after an elderly woman. What on earth would make you think he would hesitate to go after her?
“Madden,” her soft voice calls to me.
With my eyes still shut, I shake my head.
“Madden...”
“I don't want the jeep to end up here,” the confession is strong. “I don't want you to end up where they all have. I don't wanna fail you the same way I've managed to fail everyone else.”
“Madden.” Knox's sharp tone forces my eyes open. Seeing her head tilted, her hair leaned to one side, with a scowl I wouldn't trade for a million of someone else's smile, has my chest constricting.
“I might be afraid of failing you most of all.”
She reaches out and unfolds my arms. “You are not alone in this. I'm going in by your side and whether we live or die, we’re going out the same way.” When our fingers are locked Knox adds, “I am the Bonnie to your Clyde. The Hell to your cat. You can't fail me because we're doing this together. You watch my back and I'll watch yours, just like we have for the last twenty eight years. Got it?”
The strength in her tone has me nodding.
There's no way I would ever love anyone else the way I do her. Ever. While that Asher news burned like a bitch in the end it doesn't matter. This does. What she just said does. How I'm willing to die for her tomorrow...that's what really fucking counts.
“Now.” She backs up slowly. “Is that the root of all the McCoy car love over there?”
The reference to my father's car has me smirking. “It is.”
“And he won that in a poker game?”
A little laugh gets away. “Mom didn't know whether to be pissed or impressed.”
“I know how she must've felt.” Knox continues leading us that direction. “The Lexus you won from that race when we were sixteen and donated to a women's shelter-”
“Was nothing. Stock from the dealership. Merrick could've beat that at twelve.”
He was a fucking incredible driver. Pretty sure that day we brought him home from the hospital he had his license.
“The Lambo you won from betting on that underground fight in which you bet on the underdog-”
“I know a fighter when I see one,” I reply as we arrive beside it.
“And let's not forget the jeep you bet your very own precious Hellcat for.” Leaning against it she sighs, “That was probably the most impressive.”
“Well, you wanted that jeep.”
“And you loved your car.”
“I've always loved you more.” When her face brightens I lean down so our lips are close. “And I always will.”
Instead of kissing me, her tongue teases my lips with a lick. After getting a groan out of me she pushes me backwards. Opening the door to my dad's car, she crawls into the backseat scooting all the way to one side, the invitation clear.
As soon as I'm in, I stretch my arm around the back of the seat, and state, “He loved this beauty.”
“I remember,” she confirms leaning against her window to face me. “But you know what else I remember?”
“Hm?”
“How much more he loved you.”
The words cause me to gulp.
“How much he loved your brothers. Your mother. You know what else I remember?”
I lift my eyebrows in question.
“How much you loved them and wishing I had that. At first I thought I wanted brothers and sisters to play with, to grow up around, to fight with, but then I realized, it wasn't about wanting that, but wanting a huge family to be a part of. To be loved by and to love too...Not that Grandma Maggie wasn't enough, but it was just the two of us wherever we moved. You remember how hard she worked to make sure I was taken care of financially, which made all the little moments when she wasn't working so special. I was so terrified of being alone in the beginning I almost missed how your family instantly absorbed me like I had always been meant to be a McCoy. How I had gotten my wish. How that big void of
being alone wasn't real. Thanks to you and your family, I've never had to be that for a single moment.”
“And you never will,” I affirm before grabbing her by the back of her neck to connect our lips.
On contact she moans, pushes herself against me, and lets her tongue beg for more of me. Our mouths effortlessly devour one another while our hands anxiously paw at the clothing barriers separating us.
Unexpectedly, Knox pulls away and pushes my hands off her body as well. Unsure if I fucked something up, I stay still. With her eyes planted in mine, she begins to undo my belt, the button to my jeans, and then my zipper. Every move is kind and precise. I help her remove my boxers and jeans until my bare ass is against the cold leather.
Leather is fucking cold. It's not the easiest thing to keep a hard on when your nuts are possibly getting frostbite, but damn, Knox makes staying at full attention the only option.
The first rub of my shaft has me hissing. It's rough yet powerful. Everything I need it to be. She continues jerking until my eyes submit by closing. At that moment, I let out a long grumble of gratification. To my surprise the movement begins to slow down. The change has me opening my eyes just as her warm tongue caresses the underside of my cock. Gripping the leather seat, I stifle the compulsion to shove her head further. Thankfully Knoxie does that all on her own, her wet welcoming mouth, finally sealing around my dick when the tip is at the back of her throat.
“Fuck,” I roar still fighting the urge to grip her hair.
Letting her have control of the situation I try to relax into the seat. The slow pace she's choosing easily feels like what happens when punishment seduces pleasure. Suck after suck to my cock delivers an unforgettable surge throughout my entire body. Her tongue works in unison with the slight sting of her teeth, providing adoration not only for my dick but proof that she knows exactly what makes me tick in every aspect. Unmistakably the desire to come between her two lips creeps up in a less than subtle fashion.
In one swift pull by her hair, I remove the pressure, which stops the possibility of coming first, but pisses off the woman I want to bury my cock in to do it.
“What the fuck, Madden?” she snaps.
My hands tug at the pair of thin yoga pants. “Listen carefully,” I instruct as she helps me help her out of them. I'm more than pleased when I see there's nothing underneath. Yanking her into my lap, I proceed to undress her. “If it is possible to come inside that sweet pussy of yours, that's the only place it's going to happen. Period.” Seconds after she's completely stripped, I slide inside of her, teeth tugging on her nipple ceasing any chance of objection.
We both knew she would.
“Madden,” she moans loudly, arms wrapping around my neck.
As I rock into her, I praise her in return. “You're fucking flawless, Knox.” Increasing the pressure and speed, I remove the hardened perfections from my teeth. My hands impound her body to mine while my dick imprisons her pussy with wicked waves of pleasure. The pulsating around my shaft has my head falling forward. Completely adrift in Knox's approaching climax, the bite of pain that comes when she viciously pulls my head backwards by my hair tremendously bumps up my own need to fall apart.
Damn it.
The pounding becomes turbulent, which finally sends her into a chaotic combination of cries and clawing as her orgasm cracks, muscles crumbling around my cock. She pulls tighter on my hair until I'm savagely growling in return, erupting inside without a second thought. Our sticky aftermath settles while we continue to struggle to simply sedate our over worked lungs.
Knox's body blankets mine, leaving me inside of her. “You know how to get cum out of leather, right?”
I let out a chortle.
This is the woman I can't wait to fucking marry. I'm a lucky man.
Knoxie
Staring at my reflection in the full length mirror, I try to smile.
What? It's not that I'm not thrilled to officially join the family I've been a part of since the dawn of time, it's just...I don't know. I don't need the wedding party bigger, I just always hoped that they would all be here to see it. Merrick, Ben, Daniel, were almost like sons at times. I remember Merrick convincing me to take him ring shopping and now...he's not even here to see his big brother stepped up to the plate like he wanted.
“You okay?” Drew's voice pulls my eyes’ reflection.
I clear my throat. “Of course.”
“Nervous?”
“Never.”
He smiles and slides his hands in his jeans. “Good.”
His eyes scan the dress I'm in as his girlfriend appears over his shoulder. “Wow.”
“Right?” Drew backs her.
“You look....oh my gosh,” her voice seems to get lost.
“Trashy?” I turn around and admire my reflection again. “Think it's too much?”
“For you?” Melody questions. “It's absolutely perfect.”
Adjusting the white corset top that has black leather strips on the side, I nod in agreement. The black ribbon under my boobs laces through the side straps and hangs down over the short white tulle skirt. There's black embroidery on the top to give it a traditional wedding dress vibe even if it lacks that feeling in the rest of the dress.
“Just a small question?” Drew speaks up cautiously.
I pull my hair that I spent hours creating waves in this morning with Melody's help to one side of my face. “What?”
“Aren't you gonna get cold feet? I mean literally cold feet.”
“It's her wedding day,” Melody answers for me. “The last thing on her mind is gonna be the temperature outside.”
With a smile, I nod. “Exactly.”
I'm also doing my best not to focus on the job that's at hand tonight. Madden said he would've asked me to marry him regardless of why it had to be today, so I'm going to spend as much time relishing in that fact as I can. What? No. No details on that plan right now. Nice try.
“Just so you know Destin's got the feed rigged to where he will be with Azura on video conference, but the footage will roll on my computer as well, so Mel can watch,” Drew explains.
“Sorry I can't be there,” she softly says, her shoulders slumping. “I swear-”
“I know.” I approach. “You there via camera definitely works for me.” After we exchange gentle smiles, I snap my head at her boyfriend. “Luggage?”
“Packed and everywhere it needs to be.” He pulls out of his cell phone. “We should probably go. Madden might kill me if I bring his bride late to his wedding.”
Melody snickers, “”Cause you wouldn't kill him for the same thing?”
“Shhh,” he insists before kissing her sweetly.
While they say their goodbyes, I give my bedroom one more scan knowing when I return, it won't be in here. The soft gray tones that cover my plush bed and walls have always given me an expensive hotel vibe I love while the hanging abstract light fixture, which was a bitch for Madden to install gives it the European feel I wanted. My bathroom that lacks doors because I ripped them off to replace them with a set of bold blue curtains reminds me of the redecorating that has to occur eventually.
It's happening. What are the chances we can connect the two rooms to make one super room? I really don't want to give up my bathroom...
On the ride to the courthouse, not many words are said. Thankfully the weather is shining bright reflecting the way I know I should feel on the day that should be the happiest of them all.
“If you don't wanna marry my brother, just say it now,” Drew invades my wandering thoughts that were once again headed towards the grim reality of who will be missing for us on this important day.
“Of course I wanna marry Madden you moron,” I half heartedly snap.
“Then what's wrong?” He stops at the light. “I mean I've heard of weddings being a stressful day and given what's lying ahead I know that's probably not gonna help but-”
Glancing his direction, I shake my head. “It's not any of that.”
&nb
sp; “Then what?”
“I just,” a huff escapes. “I just...wish everyone was here today, ya know? It's hard enough neither set of our parents, Ben, Merrick, and Daniel aren't going to be, but Mel and Azura, aren't either-”
“Digitally they are.”
