Going Wild (The Wild Ones Book 2)

by C. M. Owens

  Hale turns a little green.

  “That just made the list of things you should never tell us again.” Killian shudders.

  Benson grins as he straightens and comes to take the tux from me. “Go. They’ll need help with Lilah. Just get her ready. I’ll handle the rest.”

  “Well, that was easier than expected,” I say to the two sulking boys as Benson disappears into a room.

  “Really wanted to beat him into submission,” Killian sighs.

  Killian and Hale’s eyes shift to the door, and they both grin at the same time. I start to turn around, when I hear a voice that has me freezing to my spot.

  “Did I miss the kidnapping?”

  Slowly, painfully slowly, I turn around, knowing I have to be delusional.

  My eyes collide with a set of too-familiar blues, and my heart tries to kick out of my chest when I see a ghost. Well, not a real ghost. Just someone who has to be an apparition or hallucination because there’s no possible way he’s in Tomahawk.

  He looks surprised for a second, but then his lips leisurely curve in that unforgettable, panty-melting smile.

  “This is the last place I ever thought I’d run into you. Not exactly how I imagined it,” he says, taking a step toward me.

  Liam. Liam freaking Harper. It’s Liam. Hey, did I mention I see Liam?

  Crazy town train, stop one complete.

  I stumble backwards, and he stops his advance, arching an eyebrow at me as he smirks. I’m still too stunned and worry about what happens if I talk back to my hallucinations. I think those books said to never do that.

  He’s just as devilishly gorgeous as I remember, if not sexier. Because he’s not in a pair of jogging shorts. He’s not wearing a T-shirt.

  No, he’s in a suit. A perfectly fitted suit that screams for attention, because he looks like sex and sin wrapped up in a designer package.

  Lilah’s words slowly sink in. Her neighbor who’s been here for over a month because of a girl he barely knew…

  I think back to hearing whispers of the sexy man living next to the Vincents.

  The man who just walked into this cabin like he’s friends with the two craziest fools on this corner of the lake.

  The man I never saw fitting into my world at all.

  “I joined the challenge committee,” he says seriously, as though he’s somehow explaining why he’s here, and I cover my mouth, trying not to laugh.

  “Smooth. Real smooth,” Hale says from somewhere behind me, letting me know this is really happening and it’s not a hallucination.

  Liam shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes screw shut.

  “This really isn’t how I wanted to see you for the first time. Give me a minute.”

  My smile falls away as reality comes back into play.

  “Why are you in Tomahawk?” I ask.

  He looks at me as if I’m the one who is insane. Usually, that’s a fair assessment, but under the circumstances…

  “Why else would I be in Tomahawk?” he asks incredulously. “I’m here because of you.”

  Yeah, I’m in one of the four corners of crazy for a reason. I totally find it romantic. And if I hadn’t had an eye-opening glimpse into his life, I’d already be on him and riding him right in front of the Vincent boys.

  But I’m not stupid. Liam may be in Tomahawk now, but it’s sure as hell not a long-term fix. He loved the city. He loved his life. When he wasn’t hurt, he loved being showy and flashy and surrounding himself with people who take note of how prestigious he is.

  He had pictures all over his house of himself shaking hands with famous, rich, and important people.

  This is always going to be my home.

  And none of that flashy jazz comes with the territory.

  “You shouldn’t have done that,” I tell him shakily.

  He frowns. “Well, that’s not the answer I was hoping for, especially since I’ve already done it. I’ve been here for over a month. Closer to two.”

  I roll my eyes, keeping some very precious distance between us so that I don’t tackle him to the ground and say to hell with it.

  “Liam,” I groan, “you’re the kind of guy who forgets he has a girlfriend. And I’m the kind of girl who will get your name tattooed on my right boob within a matter of weeks.”

  His smile spreads. “Why the right one specifically?”

  And there’s that charm I love so much. He’s always just rolled with my crazy like he couldn’t get enough of it.

  “Because it’s a little bigger than my left one, so it’s my favorite.”

  He smiles even broader.

  “Prove it,” Hale says from behind me, and I flip him off as Liam casts a glare in his direction.

  “Can you two give us a minute?” Liam asks them.

  “You’re in our cabin,” Killian points out, grinning outright at us.

  “Benson has been quiet for an awfully long time,” I remind them.

  Both their eyes widen in panic, when suddenly there’s an answer to that. “I’m just hiding back here and listening. Don’t mind me,” Benson pipes in.

  The Vincent boys relax, and I walk over, grabbing Liam’s hand, trying to ignore how that one innocent touch sends a pang of longing throughout my entire body.

  I drag him outside, which isn’t hard, since he comes willingly. As soon as we’re near the lake, I spin around to talk to him and get to the bottom of this.

  And…

  He kisses me.

  His lips are on mine, his hands are dragging me in, and he’s kissing me stupid. I open my mouth to gasp, and his tongue sweeps in, reminding me how damn talented he is with that thing.

  My hands go up, fingers tangling in his hair, and his hands slide down to my waist, tugging me up against him.

  I moan instead of pushing him away, and he takes that as an invitation to push me back against a tree. He lifts my leg to his hip, and my dress hikes up as he grinds against me.

  He was a man with limited mobility and strength the last time I was with him. Now he’s a strong man with no restrictions, and my mind is in a fog as he tries to take what he wants.

  Which is apparently me.

  The kiss is a mix of desperate and angry, and I grind against him again as our lips break apart, both of us panting as he starts kissing his way down my neck. My eyes roll shut, as I grip onto his shoulders.

  “I’ve wanted you for so fucking long,” he says against my neck.

  My eyes pop open, and I shove at his chest. He’s half dazed when I jerk my leg down, trying to remember where we are and who we are.

  “Can’t fish on Sunday,” I groan.

  “What?” he asks, confused.

  I narrow my eyes and point my finger. “You can’t just kiss me until I’m too stupid to realize why this can’t work. It’s like fishing on Sunday. You always want to fish on Sunday, but you’re not supposed to.”

  “Why can’t it work?” he asks, that lazy smile of his doing incredible things to my angry vagina, as he completely bypasses the fish on Sunday remark.

  My vagina is angry because I’m denying it right now, by the way.

  And…fish and my vagina shall never again be in the same sentence.

  “Because you live in—”

  “Tomahawk,” he interrupts, smirking as his eyes sparkle with humor. “Sold my place in LA. The only home I own is back that way,” he says, gesturing behind me with his head.

  “But you’re going to—”

  “Stay in Tomahawk, land of the mostly beardless ex beards and Wild Ones,” he says, interrupting me again.

  I’m flushed and flustered and…what’s another f-word? No, not that f-word.

  Because I’m not that. Well, I guess I could be that, in a different sense than the fun version.

  “You’re telling me you came all the way to Tomahawk because I sucked your dick? It couldn’t have been that good,” I say, trying to come up with anything to lighten this moment.

  His grin spreads. “Y
eah. I left my life in LA, bought a home in the craziest town in the U.S., just because you give excellent head.”

  A loud yelp pierces the air, and we both whirl around as Hale Vincent lifts off the ground, hovering on his hands and knees as a pained sound escapes him.

  “I’m good,” he says through strain.

  Our gazes bounce up to the roof where Benson and Killian give us an awkward wave.

  “Fucking really?” I groan.

  Benson shoves at Killian, who laughs as he hops off the roof, landing in a crouch beside Hale. Benson lands beside him, and they both help Hale to his feet as they walk off.

  My gaze returns to Liam, who is grinning at me.

  “Why?” I ask, mostly because I can’t help myself. “You don’t even know me.”

  He steps closer, tipping my head back by my chin. “I tried to live my life for eight months after you left. I didn’t want to go out with my fake friends. I didn’t want to talk to my shitty family. I didn’t want to date girls who weren’t you. For eight solid months, I moped around aimlessly. The only people who bothered to call or stop by were just doing so to borrow something or ask for a favor. On the ninth month, I called a realtor to sell my house. On the tenth month, I started looking at other homes to buy. Nothing felt right until I looked at Tomahawk.”

  He blows out a breath, and my eyes flutter shut when he brushes his lips over mine. He pulls back just barely before whispering to me.

  “I’m going to know you better than anyone ever has. I never forgot you, Kylie Malone. I tried so fucking hard, but I couldn’t get you out of my head. And now I’m done trying.”

  He backs away, and my breath comes out shakily as I watch him smirk at me.

  “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” I tell him on a sigh.

  “I do, actually. I’m going to prove to you that I’m not going anywhere, and I’m going to tame a Wild One,” he adds, the last part said jokingly, even if it is totally cheesy.

  “You don’t tame a Wild One,” Hale says loudly, then grunts like he just got hit.

  Both of us look over to where the bushes are shaking. I roll my eyes.

  Hale stands, and Killian shakes his head. “You can’t tame a Wild One,” Hale says again to Liam, grinning. “You just go wild.”

  To this, Liam waggles his eyebrows at me.

  I walk away, gun still on my shoulder by some miracle, and move alongside the lake.

  How the hell am I going to keep my family from killing Liam when they find out the beardless city boy getting all the single lady attention is here for me?

  Speaking of single lady attention…

  That will stop.

  Tonight.

  I will so cut someone.

  Just then, I hear Real Wild Child blasting from Penny’s cabin, and a small smile curves my lips as howls fill the air, Killian and Hale included.

  I howl too, watching as Liam’s eyebrows quirk in my direction.

  The howls from above draw his attention as a helicopter soars over us, and people start jumping out, wings—yes, they have synthetic wings—spread as they glide down over the boat that is zipping down the lake.

  The fliers coast into the boat like they’ve done it a thousand times, and the boat cuts a sharp one-eighty, racing back to catch the next group.

  Liam’s eyes widen, watching it all as several surfboards zip by with motors driving them forward.

  More howls erupt, and Killian and Hale grow more enthusiastic with their own responding howls.

  Benson just laughs and watches the show.

  Hale runs to me, and I jump up, grabbing the tree branch, until I can toss my legs up and sit on top of his shoulders, carefully keeping my dress from dropping over his face, because the perv will mock my really old Garfield undies.

  Really glad I stopped things before Liam saw my unfortunately embarrassing, but super comfy and broken-in underwear.

  I howl louder, and the Malones respond as they zip by on their jet skis. The ones being pulled on the water-skis start spinning and flipping, using the wakes as their own little waves. A lot of wetsuits are out there right now.

  A hover boat blasts by, spinning a one-eighty and driving back toward us.

  Hale drops me to the ground, and I shove the gun to his chest before I race to the end of the dock, jumping into the hover boat as my dad laughs as gasses us away. Two seconds later, I turn around to see Eric hit his donut just right, slinging up water all over Hale and Killian, who only howl louder.

  Liam is watching me with a small smile as I turn my attention back to the front. All the while, the Wild Ones’ theme song blasts on, always putting us in the best possible mood. It’s like our high school fight song, without the high school or the sports and stuff.

  I probably shouldn’t ever say that reasoning aloud.

  Dad cuts the boat again, and we dodge a set of Wilders who are on the motorized surfboards. I slap hands with Kai when he gets close enough, and he shoots back across the water, turning back again.

  I stand up, gripping onto the back of Dad’s seat as we head into the thick of it. The chopper hovers overhead again, and two girls drop down on tactical lines—one of which is barely thirteen.

  We drive under Krysta Nickel, since I don’t trust the younger Nickel girl, and I reach up, grabbing for her arm as she flips upside down, reaching for me.

  “These are my suedes!” I yell as my feet leave the ground.

  “I won’t drop you!” she says through a smile, clutching my wrist with both of her hands as I hold onto her wrist.

  The boat keeps going, moving out from under me, and I howl as I dangle over the water, letting them carry me to the bank. As soon as I’m hovering over dry land, Krysta releases me, and I land, bending my knees just a little, as Krysta flips back upright and zips the rest of the way down her line to join me.

  The air is full of howls, laughter, and…the call of the wild.

  It’s a day we can’t help but pull out all the stops.

  One of our own is getting married.

  And it’s been a long damn time since a wedding.

  Chapter 10

  Wild Ones Tip #252

  Life only makes sense when you’re boring.

  We’re the definition of Murphy’s Law for the human species.

  LIAM

  My eyes are glued to Kylie as she stands at the end of the aisle, holding a bouquet of flowers. Her knee-length, blue dress looks sweet, but those mischievous eyes trained on me try to tell me she’s not sweet.

  Like she always tried to warn me.

  She just doesn’t realize she’s sweet.

  Well, when she’s not jumping on boats and getting carried across the lake by a helicopter and a girl holding her up by her hand.

  Have to admit, I want to try that.

  “Oh! I’m going to kick your ass if you manhandle me one more time, Jason Malone!” Lilah’s growl has everyone turning around as a beast of a guy drops her to her feet at the end of the outdoor aisle lined with roses.

  I halfway notice how her white dress comes up in the front, showing off her black combat boots with pink shoelaces, because I’m too busy noticing the hulking man who hauled her in.

  That’s a Malone?

  I look him over, nervously tugging at my collar. I can practically feel Kylie smirking at me, knowing exactly what I’m thinking as I take in the guy who is about my height, but about double me in muscle mass.

  This guy must bench press cars when he’s bored. Or maybe wrestles alligators just for fun. Do alligators live here? I hope that’s just a southern thing.

  He crosses his arms over his chest, and Lilah rears back like she’s about to kick him in the shin, when Bill grapples her, dragging her toward the altar, where Benson is laughing and waiting.

  “I’m not popping out multiples, you interfering, meddling sons of bitches!” Lilah threatens, still struggling even as the Wedding March plays. “I mean it, Aunt Penny! I’ll go get all my baby-making parts cut out of m
e before I give birth to a litter! Benson, this is just the start of it! You have to fight with me. Next they’ll force us to have babies!”

  I can’t help but find this all weirdly fascinating. And somewhat hilarious. I’ve never seen a bride being dragged down the aisle before, as she swears she’s not delivering a litter. She’s a triplet. Her mother was a twin. Benson is a twin…

  She’s worried they’ll start demanding babies, and she’s horrified at facing a possible army coming out of her, given their odds.

  “It’ll ruin my vagina! Don’t let them do this!” Lilah shouts. “You love my vagina, Benson!”

  Definitely a first.

  Benson grins bigger, running his hand along the side of his trimmed beard before walking toward the struggling woman who Bill is starting to lose the tug-of-war battle with.

  Benson grabs her, and before she can fight with him, he kisses her. Hard. For a really, uncomfortably long time.

  Howls break out, and I startle, forgetting these people really love a good howl.

  Lilah stops fighting, and she melts against Benson, softening more and more until she’s practically butter in his hands.

  He walks backwards, taking her with him, as Bill wipes sweat off his brow, panting as he trails them.

  “Who gives this woman, Lilah Vincent, away?” the officiate asks as he holds a bible in his hands.

  I’ve never heard it worded that way, but sure. Why not?

  “Her aunt and I give her away. For fuck’s sake, just hurry before she snaps out of the trance and starts fighting again,” Bill says, still panting as he drops to a chair beside Penny, exhausted.

  Penny pats his arm as she grins so hugely and dabs tears out of her eyes with the handkerchief in her other hand.

  Kylie is grinning, and her eyes find mine again. I can barely hear anything else.

  I finally force my eyes away as I hear the officiate asking Lilah the million dollar question.

  Benson says something in Lilah’s ear, and in a trance-like state, she says, “I do.”

  He leans back, and her eyes widen like she realizes what just happened.