Killian was mine—he’d always been meant to be mine.
I hissed out a breath when his teeth connected with my throat, nipping and sucking the sensitive flesh. When his tongue swept over the same area, I was painfully aware of what it meant to be ‘turned on.’
Everything felt buzzy and electric. Like I was entirely made of nerves.
I rocked forward and struggled against him, needing to ground myself, but he refused to budge. My nipples peaked against my bra. I was convinced I needed his mouth there too.
My lids fluttered open, and I watched in wonder as his bicep flexed just inches from my face. All that strength, yet he was holding back, his grip on my wrists just enough to keep me still. The blood left my limbs, sending a flood of warmth between my legs.
Killian released my hands and pulled back, his blue-gray eyes drowsy and unfocused as they moved down over my face. “Did I hurt you?” he panted.
“No—why’d you stop?” I whined, which was entirely out of character.
He let out a rough bark of laughter, his chest rising and falling as he fought to catch his breath. “Because you’ve never done this before.”
I snapped my mouth shut, something that only seemed to make him laugh harder. As the nerve endings in my body were still sparking like live wires, I didn’t exactly share his amusement.
Killian released another unsteady breath before backing toward the opposite wall. “I’m not gonna lie—I’ve been rock hard for the better part of the afternoon, seeing you in those leggings and imagining this. But you deserve better than a quick fuck outside of a bathroom. Let me give you that… please.”
“Okay,” I whispered, feeling frustrated but also slightly pleased that being near me had affected him physically.
His eyes moved to mine as he bent to retrieve his crutch from the floor. “I can tell you’re in your head right now, but I promise you, this isn’t me changing my mind, girl. I just wanna slow things down and take my time with you.”
I pressed my fingers to my swollen lips, fighting against arousal and the sudden urge to take another meandering glance at the noticeable bulge in the front of his sweats—for scientific reasons.
Instead, I corralled my wild libido and nodded. “What do you say we go introduce ourselves to those longnose killifish?”
We exited to find Tsega waiting just outside the door with her arms crossed over her chest. Her lips pursed in amusement as she took in our dishevelment. “I didn’t realize they had more tanks back there. Anyway, everyone’s on the bus. We’re just waiting on you.”
“Yeah, I’ve got to head back to my condo,” Killian rushed to explain before turning to face me. “Thanks for letting me tag along. I was thinking—if you’re up for it—I could maybe have you for dinner. Take you to dinner, I mean! Next Saturday?”
His slip of the tongue set off another explosive chain of sensations within my body, and I ended up blurting, “Why not tomorrow? I’m free tomorrow!”
A flash of something like hunger darkened his expression. Instead of another pleasure-inducing kiss, Killian just brushed his lips over my cheek before pulling back. “Next Saturday, it is.”
I observed his hasty retreat with a thoughtful frown, wondering if there would ever be a day when he wasn’t running away from me.
Tsega watched him go before shifting her gaze back to me. “Seems like you’ve made quite the impression on him.”
I huffed a laugh. “That man is like a mountain. And I don’t know what it’s going to take to move him.”
“Interesting,” she mused with a thoughtful nod. “You know, seeing as to how you’re already wearing most of my clothes, what if I loaned you a dress for next weekend?”
“Um…” I scrunched my nose. “I’m not sure that’s going to do much. He’s seen me in dresses before.”
She winked. “Not one of mine.”
“That’s true,” I conceded. “While you’re at it, could you get me some underwear too? Not regular underwear, though. Something sexy.”
“Oh, Ariana,” Tsega laughed, shaking her head in mock exasperation. “What am I going to do with you?”
It wasn’t her actions, but Killian’s I was most interested in.
What would he be willing to do with me?
19
Killian
“It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.”
-Mickey Mantle
“So, where are you taking her? The Corner Bistro is supposed to be good—” Tsega paused to give me a once-over before shaking her head. “No, you’re not really dressed nice enough for that. Guess it’s ninety-nine cent pitchers of beer and a basket of wings down at the sports bar, huh?”
I’d worn my nicest jeans and button-down shirt too, dammit.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, pal,” I muttered as she playfully socked me in the arm. If the mischievous smirk was any indicator, she was going to continue to play dirty to get what she wanted out of me.
Tsega had been hounding me since I stepped foot in the parking lot. The tiny woman went after information like a terrier with a chew-toy—not that I’d dare voice that thought.
No, I enjoyed my balls right where they were, thank you very much.
She punched the button for Ari’s floor as we stepped onto the elevator before lowering her hand to her hip. “As I’ve been forced to hear about this date no less than a hundred times today, the least you can do is tell me where you’re going.”
But I wasn’t willing to divulge a single detail. It was my first real chance to be alone with Ari, and I wasn’t willing to take the chance of anything spoiling our first official date. It was in my nature to be a little superstitious, which was probably why I’d gone ahead and worn my lucky socks too.
Technically, it wasn’t our first date, as we’d shared meals several times over the last eight weeks. There was something about being able to touch her without a nurse or staff member nearby that made tonight different.
I couldn’t think of getting Ari alone without recalling last weekend at the aquarium—the feel of her body pressed against mine, the taste of her skin, the unapologetically loud moans she’d given me when I used my teeth.
Suffice it to say that I’d enjoyed some very lengthy shower sessions over the past seven days.
But we were taking things slow. I made a show of checking my watch to clear the images from my head while debating whether or not I should have gone with a bigger bouquet of flowers when I was suddenly confronted with all five feet, zero inches of Tsega’s attitude.
“You know I could make this date very uncomfortable for you, buddy.”
I cocked my head to the side, thoroughly amused. “Did you ask me something, Tsega?”
She calmly leaned back against the railing, her lips twisting to the side. I was more than a little surprised her head hadn’t popped off from all that bottled up energy. “I know something you don’t.”
“Good for you.” Nice try. I wasn’t breaking that easily.
“Yep.” Tsega took a step toward me, keeping her chin high as if trying to appear taller. “It involves lace…”
“Okay, and?” I scoffed, trying to hide the fact that my jeans suddenly felt too tight. I should have gone with the joggers, or maybe a nice pair of pajama pants. No one ever considered pajama pants—fashion’s most underrated piece of clothing.
Comfort over style, Reed.
“I’m talking skimpy little scraps of lace. Now, what’s the purpose of something that’s not only see-through but doesn’t even cover—”
“Papi’s!” I snapped, regretting that I hadn’t thought to take care of myself beforehand. Nothing was guaranteed to end a first date faster than me showing up with a hard-on. “Christ, I’m taking her to Papi’s. I know the owner, and it’s one of the few places I can go where no one bothers me. After, I thought we’d go next door to Anchor Lounge. There, are you happy now, you maniacal little fairy?”
Tsega nodded with a
wide grin. “Oh, extremely. I like you, Reed. You’re good people.”
“Yeah? You have a funny way of showing it,” I grumbled, my mouth twitching before I could stop it.
The elevator dinged. Tsega waited until the doors opened before adding, “Two words—black lace.” With that, she stepped off the elevator, laughing like an evil villain in a children’s cartoon.
Fuck.
“What?” I stumbled off behind her, my mouth dry and thoughts somewhere in the basement level of the building. She bounced down the hall excitedly, nearly catching me in the face with her high ponytail several times. “You can’t do that to a man—”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you ask me something?”
I shook my head, refusing to play her game any longer. “Nah, I’m good.”
“Are you?” She cut her eyes over to me. “You seem a little, I don’t know, flushed. And also, why are you still hauling around the crutch? Thought you were cleared.”
“Just feel a little more comfortable having it with me.”
“So, the crutch has become your crutch. That’s really deep, buddy.” Tsega tried for serious, lasting all of three seconds.
“How have they not fired you yet?” I shook my head. Truthfully, I was grateful for the distraction. It had given me a chance to get certain parts of my anatomy under my control again.
“Probably because I’m awesome,” Tsega responded with a snort. “Although, if I’d been assigned to you—whew, boy—we would have had some trouble!” She suddenly tensed, all traces of amusement gone.
“What?” I followed her glare to a man about my father’s age standing near the nurse’s station.
“Just—go along with anything I say,” Tsega finally said. Her tone made it seem as if things were normal, but it was impossible to miss the way she watched the man—like an animal would a hunter. “Please.”
I nodded and reached out, trying to decide whether to go for the side hug or a pat on the back. Tsega didn’t seem likely to respond well to either, so I just let my hand hover a few inches above her shoulders. In the elevator, the pretend frustration had been fun to watch, but this Tsega was scary—like capable of ripping someone’s throat out with her teeth scary.
The man smiled when he saw her and crooked a finger, signaling her to come.
“Do you want me to handle this?”
She shook her head, refusing to meet my eyes. “Just please don’t say anything, okay?”
“Yes, sir?” Tsega asked with a forced smile.
“Yeah, she’s having a rough night. I think it’d be best if the nurses gave her medicine early—let her sleep it off, you know?” He reached down to adjust his expensive watch, drawing attention to the fact that he had money. He reminded me of a peacock, or maybe Theo, although my agent didn’t seem to have the confidence that this guy did.
“Okay, Mr. Phillips. I’ll let them know.”
The man turned as if suddenly realizing I was standing there. His annoyed expression quickly turned to scrutiny. “Hey, aren’t you that baseball player?”
There was an undercurrent of condescension in his tone. Apparently, being a player was somehow beneath him.
“I am,” I said tightly, clenching my fist around the flowers. I wouldn’t hit the guy, because Tsega had asked me to let her handle it. And also, because there was a clause in my contract forbidding fights.
“Brad Phillips.” He extended his hand with a slight sneer.
Tsega has it under control…
Four hundred twenty-five million…
I reluctantly accepted his hand, feeling as though my bones were going to crack.
For Christ’s sake, it was a handshake, not a power-play.
“Killian Reed.”
“So, what brings you here?” Brad asked as he released me from his iron grip. His bored expression made it clear he didn’t care to hear my answer.
“He’s visiting his grandmother,” Tsega interjected quickly. “If you don’t mind giving me a moment to show him to her room, I can take care of you, Brad.”
“Oh, I bet you will,” he said, making no attempt to disguise the fact that he was checking out her ass.
No wonder Tsega hated this prick.
He was a grade-A sleazeball.
“Buddy,” I bit out through a clenched jaw. “Her eyes are up here.”
His smile didn’t quite reach his narrowed eyes. “Why don’t you stick with the baseball thing, kid? It’s what you’re good at.”
Four-hundred twenty-five million…
Tsega said she had this…
Rage, like I hadn’t felt in a long time, turned everything around me to ash. I’d just decided that it was better to ask the Hurricanes for forgiveness rather than permission when I felt a hand on my arm.
“Don’t,” Tsega warned under her breath, before turning back to Brad. “If that was all you needed, I’ll let the nurses know.”
“It is. For now.” He made a point of letting his eyes roam over her body again before heading toward the elevators, whistling loudly.
“Let’s go.” Instead of taking me to Ari, Tsega led me to an office. “Sit.”
“I don’t want—”
Her lips settled into a thin line. “Sit. I told you to let me handle it—”
“Maybe you missed it, but that guy needed to be brought down a notch or two. Who the fuck does that?”
Tsega crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door, clearly waiting for me to finish my tantrum. “You finished?”
“No,” I grumbled. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of shit when you’re at work. Who was he even here to see? Maybe we can get that patient thrown out—it worked with Helen.”
“Ari.”
“Yeah, after what she did to Ari. The director seems like a reasonable woman—”
“No, I meant he was here to see Ari.”
“Oh.” The chair rolled back as I dropped onto it, confusion clouding my already muddled brain.
“Oh, is right,” Tsega agreed with a sigh. “Look, I shouldn’t tell you this, but Ari’s family is… over-bearing. Brad is a friend of her father’s, so we do our best to keep him happy when he shows up.”
“Why’d you lie and tell him I was visiting my grandmother, though? If Ari and I are going to be together, eventually, I’m going to have to meet her folks.”
Tsega released a bitter laugh before shaking her head. “I don’t think you understand. Her family will never allow her to be with you. They don’t think like you and I do. If Brad even suspected that you’d looked at Ariana, she’d be gone.”
“Then why help me? If her family is never going to approve, what’s the point?” The question cut deep, bringing my past behavior to the surface. My track record didn’t exactly lend itself to my ability to be in a relationship, but I’d believed that if Ari didn’t care, it didn’t matter.
I’d never considered what her family would think. With that, the ache in my chest returned, stronger than ever before.
Tsega placed a hand on my shoulder. “Because I see the way she is with you, and I think you just might be the only good thing she has in her life, Killian. Ariana deserves the freedom to make her own choices. As long as she’s with me, I’m going to encourage it.”
I stared ahead, realizing that even with lucky socks, some curses were impossible to break.
* * *
“Do you want to order something else?” I asked, pointing to Ari’s untouched plate. She’d spent the last half-hour poking at her seared ahi and offering up one-word responses to just about anything I’d asked.
Nothing about tonight had gone like I’d planned. After sulking alone in Tsega’s office for a half-hour, she’d returned with Ari, and the sight of her tear-stained face had taken what was left of my battered heart and pounded it into the floor.
At that point, I’d tried to gracefully bow out, but Tsega wouldn’t hear of it and had herded us onto a freight elevator like cattle.
Two hours later, and it wa
s apparent we were both miserable. I knew my reasons but hadn’t been able to get Ari to admit hers.
She flinched before looking up at me with a watery smile. “No, it’s good. I just don’t have much of an appetite.”
“I don’t know that I’ve seen you take a single bite.”
“Here.” Ari shoved a forkful into her mouth with a muffled, “Is this better?”
My eyebrows raised. “Sure? I didn’t mean you had to eat it, I just thought something might be wrong…” I trailed off. The food wasn’t the problem—it was Brad.
Something about his visit had caused her to shut down, leaving me regretting my decision not to deck him when I had the chance.
Not that I could tell her that if he was a close friend of her family’s. No, the wisest thing to do would be to pretend everything was fine, letting her open up on her own terms.
Once I knew what the bastard had done, we could discuss the logistics of how to maim him. I was leaning towards a baseball bat to his knees—or maybe a fastball to the groin…
Ari lowered the fork to her plate with a sigh. “Listen, I’m really sorry. I just got some bad news earlier, and now I’m taking it out on you.”
“Maybe I can help,” I offered with a smile. “I’m a pretty good listener.”
Ari crossed her arms, dragging my attention down to her breasts. The cut of her dress offered a hint of cleavage, but not enough for me to verify Tsega’s black lingerie claim.
Skimpy little scraps of lace…
“I’ll be fine. Really.”
“I’m serious,” I added, sliding my palm across the table. “I used to be able to cheer my mama up when she was sad.”
Her forehead furrowed. “And what about you, Killian? Who cheered you up?”
I scratched at my jaw and blinked before bringing my eyes back to hers. It was too warm in here all of a sudden. “Uh, I usually just hit the batting cages when I need to cool down and clear my mind.”
Ari’s shoulders sagged, and she looked down at her lap. Christ, it was maddening not being able to get inside her head. She seemed to have no trouble reading me while keeping her own emotions locked down.
Through The Water: Fairest Series Book Two Page 25
