Choking on a laugh, Rachel shook her head at his audacity. After putting her through the ringer, the man thought he could now take over her idea and control it. If she’d ever really intended to write a book, she’d be pissed right about now. Instead, she felt relief that he wasn’t anywhere near the truth of the situation.
“Thank you very much for the offer,” Rachel responded as seriously s she could. “But I think I’ll just stick to writing for the paper.”
She must not have succeeded because Adam reverted to scowling. “I’m being serious here, Rachel. For a book or for the paper, I don’t want you getting involved in anything dangerous.”
“How can I possibly get into any danger when all I’m doing is research?” The answer came back naturally. She paid for it by having to slide back across the seat as Adam jumped all over the implication.
“So you are researching prostitution?”
“No.” Damnit. Her and her big mouth. Well, that might be the thing that saved her as she talked fast. “But if I want to, I will. You’re my lover, Adam. That doesn’t make you the boss of me.”
“I’m your boyfriend, and that does give me certain rights.” There it was, the conversation she really didn’t want to have. Not then, not ever, but he must have felt her discomfort because Adam dug in. “I am your boyfriend, Rachel.”
Anything she might say right then would only get her into trouble. So Rachel borrowed a page from his playbook and stayed silent, giving him a smile that would hopefully let him think whatever he needed to not pursue this subject any further. Perhaps I should practice my smiles because none of them are working tonight.
“Say it.”
That’s what she should do. It would make everything easier, but Rachel couldn’t bring herself to lie to him like that. Not that she went with any sympathetic answer sure to piss him off. Instead, she chose annoyance, since that’s what she felt right then.
“Why we have to put a label on it? I’m surprised that you, of all people, would even bother.” His reputation earned that comment, even though it probably hit below the belt. “We have what we have. Isn’t that enough?”
The second the words blasted out of her mouth, Rachel knew she should be reaching for the door handle. She had laid down one hell of a challenge but couldn’t move fast enough to escape her fate. Shockingly, it didn’t come from Adam, who appeared frozen in the second, but from Killian, who did her the favor of opening the door.
Only she hadn’t been braced for it. The sudden loss of the solid support at her back sent her toppling blindly into Killian’s hard chest. He caught her easily with an arm around her waist and held her pinned there as he glanced between the two of them.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“Rachel doesn’t want to admit that we’re her boyfriends,” Adam answered crossly.
Not that it appeared to phase Killian one bit. “Oh, well, this ought to change her tune.”
This turned out to be a black duffle bag that Killian lifted over her shoulder and shoved at Adam. He accepted it, taking its weight as he settled back into his corner with a look too smug for Rachel’s comfort. She should have kept her mouth closed, but she never did listen to her own sound advice.
“What’s in the bag?”
“Your birthday surprise.” Killian nearly laughed out the words as he pushed her back into a sitting position. When the seat bore enough of her weight for Rachel not to fear falling, she quickly scrambled away from his hold. Happy or not, Killian was every bit as dangerous as Adam.
“I guess, technically, it’s our surprise,” Killian corrected himself as he slid behind the wheel. Popping the foot brake, he paused to cast her a devilish grin. “Because what’s in that bag is going to help us reveal all your secrets.”
“I don’t have any secrets,” Rachel ground out, about sick to death of going in circles. The annoyance kept her from focusing on the panic that swirled in her gut. She had a pretty good idea of what they intended to do. They probably planned to torture her with pleasure until she was too mindless with lust to remember her lies. It worried her because it could work.
“I guess we’re going to find out, darlin’,” Adam sang out from behind her, smugly assured their plan would work.
Chapter 17
It took all of Adam’s control to sit still and wait until they got home to respond to Rachel’s challenge. Not her boyfriend? After he’d bent over backward to be the ideal boyfriend, she had the audacity to say that? Well, he’d had enough.
Adam didn’t care what Mums said or what Killian thought. They might be right, Rachel might be happy, but she wasn’t in love. That was the only thing that could really bind her to him. That’s why he couldn’t let her go.
Without that, the only thing left that he could think of to tie her to him was sex. If it was good enough, hot enough, he could addict her to it and to him in the process. It was all he had left, and it was an area where Adam shined. All he had to do was wait until the cheery light that shined out over her quaint front porch came into sight, then he could relax.
Rachel didn’t. Either still in a huff or, perhaps, finally starting to worry, something held her stiff and silent beside him. That wouldn’t do. Surprises were best when they weren’t anticipated, and it would be a testament of his skill if he could get her to relax. To that end, he draped a hand over her shoulder to slowly work the tension out of her tightly drawn muscles as Killian eased the truck down her road.
“Why so tense, darlin’?”
That earned him a sour look and a snotty retort. “Don’t even bother with the sweet, innocent routine, Adam. I know what you’re about.”
“And what’s that?” He couldn’t help but grin at her, feeling like a dog that had just shaken his collar off and could now run free.
“Probably tie me up and then torment me while you ask me a bunch of stupid questions.” Rachel didn’t beat around the bush. Nor did she bother to hold anything back. “Given your dirty mind, I imagine we’re about to fulfill some kind of twisted cop fantasy where you have the guilty vixen at your mercy.”
“You’re not that far off.” Adam couldn’t deny it, and he was tired of trying.
“I ain’t ever had one of those fantasies.” Killian broke the tension building between Adam and Rachel with his grunted intrusion. Like anybody had asked him, he continued on with his explanation. “I got this one, though, about a speeder. You know, I pull her over, and she’s so desperate to avoid a ticket she’s willing to do anything. Then I have to punish her for being so forward and trying to bribe me.”
He tipped his head to the side, flashing Rachel a quick look before shrugging. “You don’t really speed, though.”
“And I wouldn’t try to bribe you,” Rachel retorted with all sourness.
“How soon they forget.” Killian all but laughed out as he brought the truck to a smooth stop. “Or do I need to remind you of an incident where you promised to do anything to get out of being arrested?”
“I was playing you.” Rachel turned her shoulder on Killian, trying to dismiss him with that, but Adam blocked her path.
“Not as well as we played you that night, darlin’,” Adam delighted in reminding her. “Now it’s time for round two, so I’d better be hearing some ‘sirs’ following those sassy comments, or it’s going to be a long night.”
She could have said something obnoxious and tried to stop them. Adam wouldn’t have forced her into anything, but Rachel didn’t even need to be led. Chin up, she bumped into him as she tried to force him right through the door. Adam didn’t need to be nudged twice.
Getting out of the truck, he held the door open as she stormed right past and up her walkway. She marched like a trooper toward battle but had to know she could win. It felt like a good sign to Adam. Maybe she wanted, needed things to be rough just like he did. Perhaps that’s what they had in common, what could bind them together.
“Getting cold feet.” Rachel’s sharp prod jerked Adam back to the moment.
“I didn’t hear a ‘sir’ at the end of that.” Adam hefted the duffle bag over his shoulder before slamming the door closed. “So that’s one.”
* * * *
That’s one, whatever. Rachel rolled her eyes and turned to mount the front steps but nearly collided with Killian instead. Before she could take a steadying step backward, his hands fitted to her waist, and suddenly the world shifted.
“Upsadaisy, darlin’.”
“I’m not a sack of feed, Killian,” Rachel complained as he settled her over his shoulder. The steps looked strange and far away as they passed under her nose in the opposite view she normally had walking up them herself.
“Just don’t want you to take off and make me waste any energy chasing you down.”
He almost cracked her head on the side of the door jamb as he juggled both her and the key. “Watch it, now. There is nothing romantic about a concussion.”
“You think being tied naked to your dining room table is romantic?” Adam’s voice sounded from above her as his boots came clumping into view beneath her.
“Tied to the table?” Rachel snorted. “That’s what all this show is for? I thought we were going back to the tub.”
“You thought that was romantic?”
Killian sounded honestly aghast, making her hesitate with her answer as it dawned on her that she might be a little more twisted than them. “No.”
“You’re lying,” Killian accused her as he finally got the door open. “Hell, maybe I was wrong all along, Adam.”
“Told you.”
Rachel didn’t know what they were talking about, but she wanted to. As the living room flashed past, she tried to lever herself up so she could at least see Adam’s expression as she asked her question. “Wrong about what?”
Killian’s smirk replaced Adam’s smile as he lowered her onto the promised table. Straightening up, he lorded over, flexing his arms as he crossed them over his chest and letting his gaze narrow into a hard look.
“Don’t you be worrying about that, wench. You should be concerned about how many ‘sirs’ you’ve been skipping. Now, if you don’t want your punishment doubled, you’d better be naked in thirty seconds.”
He barked at her like a damn drill sergeant, using every intimidating inch of his massive frame to assure she did as told. They’d been here once before. With them threatening and only delivering more pleasure with each one of their punishments. It had been her first time, and she’d folded too easily under the delight.
Not this time. This time, she wanted to test their control and see how long it took to break it. Deciding that words wouldn’t do, Rachel put her defiance into action. With a smile, she slid closer to the edge of the table. Letting her legs go wide around Killian’s thighs to capture him, she snuggled in close to his chest.
Beneath the warm softness of his cotton T-shirt, Rachel could feel the hard, heated strength that trembled ever so slightly as she ran her hands along his length. The tell-tale gesture of how much her touch alone pleased him tickled Rachel. It made Killian snarl.
“This isn’t what I meant, wench, but if you want to see where it gets you, then go ahead.”
Yes, Rachel did want to see. She bet he did, too, or he’d have put an end to her game right then. Keeping her smile to herself, Rachel stretched up to nuzzle a kiss into the crease of his neck. “Okay, then, we’ll do this my way.”
To give him a little taste of what that meant, Rachel scraped her teeth down along the corded length of the muscle strung tight beneath her lips. It jumped, quivered, and then flexed on Killian’s sharp growl. This time, she didn’t bother to hold back her giggle as her fingers settled over the first of his shirt buttons.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” It was an arrogant thing to gloat so brazenly in front of Killian, but he held firm against her teasing.
“Go on, wench. You ain’t going to show me anything I haven’t seen before.”
He had to go there and fortify her will to make damn good and sure he was the one on his knees at the end of the night. Rachel bit him again in retaliation, right over the fast-paced throb of his pulse. Killian could mouth off all he wanted, but he stayed stiff, braced for war, as that first button came free. That’s how much power she had over him.
Rachel reveled in it, enjoying the way his muscles shivered under the strain of her lips raining butterfly kisses all the way down to where his shirt slid slowly open. There could be no hiding the thunderous pound of his heart when her lips drifted over the hard ridge of his chest.
She’d wanted to listen to his heart as her hands slipped over his buckle to dip down and measure the hard cock she could feel deforming the denim. Though the way he flinched when her lips brushed over his own pebbled nipple lured her into teasing him with a twirling lick that had Killian growling.
That’s all Rachel needed to hear. Lingering over the kiss, she tormented him as he so often did her. Licking, sucking, she savored the taste and textures that were Killian. Musky, spicy, all male, his flavor drugged her with a wanton need that was only driven higher by the quivering of his muscles.
Pulled tight beneath the satin softness of his skin, she chased the tremors with the tip of her tongue, teasing him into shudders that ended when he growled and clenched himself tight against her tender assault. Not about to let him find refuge in the iron will that served him too well, Rachel reveled in unraveling him with the simple grind of her palm over the thick bulge of his cock.
From beneath the rough fabric of jeans, she could feel him swell and pulse at her touch. That’s all the encouragement Rachel needed. Tightening her grip over his thick erection, she used the stiff, almost unbendable denim to massage his dick with long, milking motions that brought the growl back to Killian’s lips.
He held fast, though. Fists clenched tightly at his sides, he let her wind him and herself higher and higher until the need to feel his fullness pounding into her once again became a pain that she could not bear. Clothes be damned, she needed one moment of relief from the heat driving through her.
Abandoning the erection straining to greet her grip, she gripped his hips in her hands to jerk the long ridge of his cock to the sodden mess she’d made of her panties. With the skirt of her dress up to her waist, she delighted herself with a full-length stroke right up the thick line of his dented jeans.
The unforgiving steel of his dick pressed the hard, ridged edge of the zipper right through the swollen folds of her pussy lips and caught the tender bud of her clit in an explosive caress. The thin barrier of her silk underwear protected her from the rough side of the grinding press, turning it into an addictive delight.
With her hands smoothing over his warm skin, testing the muscles beneath, Rachel clutched at Killian as she gave over to the frenzy. Rubbing herself against him in an escalating tempo, the rhythm matched the need whirling out of control inside of her, but it wouldn’t be soothed by so little.
The gasping, empty spasms clenching her cunt tight became almost painful. She needed him. She needed him now. That thought registered barely a second before her hands dipped in an assault on his belt buckle. The move cost her.
Having to peel herself back far enough from his delicious bulge to let her hands work only made her pussy cry foul. That discomfort paled in comparison to having her wrists caught by Killian’s strong hold. He brought all motion to a stop and sent ice water trickling down her spine with his even-toned question.
“And just what do you think you’re doing?”
Rachel looked up into Killian’s somber gaze and came to a stuttering, horrifying conclusion. He wasn’t anywhere near ready to take his pants off. Her plan had failed. Worse, it had backfired. Not only did he not appear ready to ravish her, but now she’d added fuel to his determination to make her pay tonight. That would be both a joy and a torment, which reminded her that she didn’t have anything to lose in this game.
“Are we moving to the tub now?” Rachel smiled, pulling back slightly as she tried to
fake being something other than in desperate need for him. “Is that where Adam’s disappeared to?”
“Don’t you worry about what he’s up to.” Killian released her hands as she shifted even farther back on the table.
Against the adamant protest of every fiber of her being, she released him enough to push her dress back down. The gesture drew a narrowing of Killian’s gaze and a hope in her heart that he wasn’t half as cool as he pretended. He must have been straining under the pressure of his own desires, or why else would his bark be so harsh?
“Best you focus on answering my question, wench.” The man definitely felt the itch. Otherwise, he wouldn’t cross his arms over his chest, trying to both intimidate her and keep his hands from betraying him. “What do you think you were doing?”
Rachel shrugged, deciding the thing that might break his control would be just the right amount of sass. “You said to get naked.”
“I said for you to get naked.”
“Yes, for you to get naked.” Rachel had a hard time getting that out without laughing.
Killian’s hard look helped, assuring her a giggle would be a step too far over the line. She had to settle for watching his jaw clench and hearing that little growl sound he made whenever she had him riled. Still, none of that justified the arrogant and totally pompous way he held out his hand to her.
“The dress.”
The outrageous way he handled his demand could only deserve an equally disobedient response. It started with leaning down to capture his thumb in her mouth. Giving the fat digit a suck, she let her tongue twirl around his callused finger and lead her kiss into an exploration of the rough textures and rigid planes of his hand.
It took over a minute for her to land on the thundering pulse of his heartbeat. Lifting off the tell-tale sign of his own desires, Rachel gave Killian the most innocent smile she could manage as she looked up from his hand.
Penn, Jenny - Rachel's Seduction [Cattleman's Club] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 19
