Secrets That We Keep

by Linda Kage

  “Accusing me of sleeping with my friends’ boyfriends.”

  “Okay, fine!” He pointed a stern finger at my nose. “That was an insensitive, asshole thing to say. I will freely admit that one. And I apologize. Again. But I only said it because we’re enemies, and enemies are supposed to talk shit to each other. Typically, I’m a very nice guy.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know, men who have to tell you they’re a very nice guy are usually the biggest jerks on the planet.”

  “I’m not a—” Cutting himself off, Gracen drew in a deep breath and took a literal step away from me. “I can’t believe I shared my popcorn with you,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair before scowling at me again. “And I helped you tonight. How is that being a jerk?”

  With a sniff, I folded my hands over my chest. “Because you butted your nose where you didn’t belong and weren’t wanted,” I countered, not really believing my accusation, but flinging it out there anyway, so I could create a wider chasm between us.

  He stepped closer and narrowed his eyes. “Is that why you asked me to sit with you for the rest of the movie and walk you to your car afterward?”

  Damn it. He had me there. But when his eyes glittered with triumph, I squinted mine right back, admitting, “Just a slight slip in my sanity, I assure you.”

  Which was such a weak comeback that he snorted and eased a step back. My stomach knotted with instant tension, but not because I’d just lost the battle. Because it felt as if my lame reply had disappointed him.

  Oh geez. What was wrong with me? I wasn’t trying to impress him with my witty arguing abilities.

  Was I?

  God, this was getting weird. Scowling at him, I waved the backs of my fingers at him and shooed him along. “Go away now, Gracen Lowe. I’m done with you.”

  I had to be.

  He smirked, flashing me such a superior sneer that the bow that followed was downright mocking. “As you wish, Yellow Nicksen. Can’t imagine why I was still here, putting up with this shit, anyway.”

  He straightened and turned away, only to jerk to a halt and mutter, “Fucking hell.” Spinning back to me, he shook his head, his eyes flashing with anger and annoyance. “The freak is still watching us.”

  A jump of fear hurdled through my gut. “No way.” I tried to look past him, but Gracen stepped closer, blocking my view. Then he pressed his hand to the roof of my car, over my driver’s side door, and leaned forward, right into my personal space.

  I swear, this was the closest he’d ever gotten to me before. It sucked the air straight from my lungs.

  “Lean into me too,” he instructed in a low voice that sounded a lot more sensual than demanding. “With us behind my arm like this, it’ll look like we’re kissing goodnight.”

  “What?!” I yelped, already backing away. “I’m not going to—”

  “Yellow.” His forceful growl brooked no room for argument as he gripped my waist and hauled me in again.

  With a gasp, I lifted my hands and pressed them against his chest to keep us from crashing together.

  “Something’s not right with this guy,” he murmured into my ear. “Let’s not test his insanity, alright?”

  His warm breath bathed the side of my neck, causing the short hairs at the base of my nape to tingle and shoot a shiver of awareness down my spine. I sucked in oxygen, scrambling for air because it suddenly felt as if I didn’t have any.

  At first, I thought I was experiencing panic and fear. But then I looked up into his eyes and felt something hot and heavy settle deep in the pit of my stomach. Inside my bra, my breasts tightened painfully, and my panties suddenly felt way too sensitive against me.

  Under the spray of parking lot lights, Gracen looked beautiful and breathtaking.

  I wanted him to kiss me, I realized. Like really kiss me.

  When I unconsciously licked my lips, preparing for it, his gaze fell to my mouth.

  And just like that, dread flushed over me with a cold surge, afraid he was going to do exactly what I wanted him to. Or maybe I was afraid he wouldn’t.

  So I quickly bobbed my head to break the contact and eased a step back. “Okay,” I said, tearing my gaze from his eyes, only for them to land on his mouth. “I-I’ll play along. But I’m running low on mean things to say to you.”

  “Wait.” One of his eyes twitched. “So you didn’t really believe the things you just said?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one who said we had to be enemies and talk shit to each other.”

  He smiled, a warm, real smile. “Right.” Then, straightening his expression into a somber frown, he cleared his throat. “Well then, good job, Nicksen. Very believable performance.” Inhaling slowly, he reached up with his free hand that he wasn’t using to block our faces from the man watching us and he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Want me to follow you home to make sure he doesn’t?”

  Yes. And then I wanted him to follow me inside and—

  Wow, what was I thinking? Standing this close to him was making me loco.

  Steeling myself against his erotic appeal, I shook my head and swallowed. “No. I, uh—no, thank you. I’ll be fine.”

  He looked momentarily disappointed before clearing his expression and nodding. “Alright then.” He pressed a brief, chaste kiss to my forehead and dropped his hand from my car before taking a step back.

  The chill of the night immediately swarmed in around me, making me shiver and hug myself.

  “I’ll probably stick around a couple of minutes after you leave,” he told me, slipping his hands casually into his pockets, even as he watched me with an intensity that kept my nipples hard. “To make sure he doesn’t follow you.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “Thank you, Gracen.”

  “Yep.”

  Turning toward my car, I unlocked my door, feeling very robotic and stiff about every move I made.

  Once I had the door open, he said from behind me, “’Night, Yellow.”

  When I looked over my shoulder at him, he sent me an arch glance before holding up his hand close to his chest so no one else could see that he was lifting his middle finger to flip me off, letting me know he fully remembered that we were supposed to be adversaries.

  Instead of becoming offended by it, though, I snuffled out a soft laugh. “Goodnight,” I said, shaking my head as I slid into my car.

  The man kept his promise. He stayed there, unmoving, as I backed from my spot and started toward the exit of the parking lot. When I glanced in my rearview mirror before pulling out onto the street, his silhouette was still faithfully lingering, making sure I stayed safe.

  Warmth and something that felt a lot like excitement splashed through me.

  I’d probably never see him again, but a dormant part inside me was beginning to wake up, and it didn’t seem to care.

  Gracen Lowe had just become my favorite kind of enemy.

  Chapter Four

  Fox

  THE NEXT MORNING

  I woke with a warm, very bare female ass tucked up against my morning wood. Just how every man liked to rise. Literally.

  A smile lit my lips.

  Keeping my eyes closed, I found the hip connected to that ass and ran my fingers over soft curves before dipping toward her waist. With firm breasts as my target, I slipped my palm up the side of her rib cage, moving slowly as not to miss an inch of all the loveliness in between.

  Just before I got myself a handful of luscious lumps, however, a moan reverberated through her, and not one of those yes-give-it-to-me moans, either. No, this was clearly an ugh-he-wants-sex-again whimpers. She even wiggled a centimeter away.

  Damn it. It appeared as if I was going to have to work for my breakfast today.

  Changing tracks because I knew this woman like I knew the back of my hand, I aborted my mission and avoided her breasts altogether, along with anything that might seem in any way sexual. Sexy touches would only turn her even more off right now. So I slid my hand up her arm, very affecti
onate-like. Platonic. Hey, buddy, my friend. I wasn’t being seductive here, not in the least. Just want to cuddle.

  Now she’d think I didn’t have anything else on the brain but snuggling. Which was an utter lie.

  When I reached the side of her throat, I gently tucked her hair back out of the way and gave her a chaste kiss just under her ear, where she enjoyed it most.

  “Morning, sunshine,” I murmured. Very friendly-like.

  She grunted out a sniff that told me she wasn’t fooled at all by my ruse—probably because she knew me just as well as I knew her—and she still wasn’t willing to give me sex anytime soon.

  I couldn’t blame her, I guess; I’d kept her up late last night. She was probably beyond exhausted and sore this morning. Just wanted to sleep in.

  I hadn’t been able to help myself, though. It’d been two weeks since I’d last seen her. I’d been ravenous to make up for all that lost time. I’d needed everything about her. Hell, I still wanted to get in as much of her as I could this morning before I had to head off to work again.

  This sneaking-around and keeping-our-relationship-under-wraps bullshit was beginning to wear on me, though. I didn’t like waiting until no one suspected we’d be together before we could hook up. I was becoming addicted. I didn’t want to hide anymore.

  It’d never been my idea to hide what we did in the first place. But I knew she was gun-shy about the idea of dating after what the last douche she’d been with had put her through. I’d tried to be understanding and patient. Whatever she was willing to give me was better than nothing at all.

  Except, eight months later, my patience was running thin. I wanted more. I’d never wanted a woman like I wanted this one. It was making me anxious and antsy, wondering if she was ever going to warm up to the idea of an us.

  But I wasn’t going to think about that right now. Right now, the main objective was getting her to change her mind about sex before we had to part ways in less than an hour because who knew when I’d be allowed to see her again after that.

  Knowing she could never resist reacting to a shot at her pride, I kneaded her shoulder gently and propped myself up on one elbow so I could catch her reaction when I asked, “What’s wrong, baby doll? Did I work you over too hard last night? Too tired to perform this morning?”

  And right on cue, she twisted her neck around to pierce me with a harsh glare.

  “Too tired?” she hissed. No one dared to call her too anything that had a negative connotation behind it. Not if they wanted to feel her wrath, anyway.

  I smiled innocently, glad I had her attention now, and I stroked my way down the back of her arm with the lightest of touches. “It’s okay; you’re too tired,” I added softly, making sure to repeat the dreaded too phrase one more time. “And you just had a long, stressful week at work. I shouldn’t have worn you out the way I did.”

  “Whatever,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “You did not wear me out.”

  “No, really, babe,” I said, starting to roll away. “I understand. You just need a little recoup—”

  She caught my arm and tugged me back to her. “You don’t understand shit. I’m not too tired.”

  I lifted my eyebrows and grinned into her scowling blue-gray eyes. “Oh, really? You’re not tired at all, huh? Just full of energy and raring to go, are you?”

  “Yeah,” she smarted back. “I am.”

  I merely lifted my eyebrows, daring her to prove me wrong. Then, I leaned in close and whispered, “Bullshit.”

  Her lips parted, and I knew she’d just realized exactly what I was doing. But I wasn’t playing around here. If taunting her into giving me sex was a low, dirtball move, then I was the filthiest.

  “Just admit it now, baby doll. You can’t keep up with your younger man, can you?”

  “Oh, you ass,” she hissed, shaking her head slowly.

  But I couldn’t summon the guilt to care about how awful my unscrupulous tactics were. Because I was about to get extremely lucky due to them, maybe even lucky enough for her to climb on top in order to show me just how much energy she still had.

  “You suck so much, you know that, Foxhole?” she grumbled, even as she rolled onto her back and grabbed my ear so she could roughly force me to roll with her and land on top of her with my hips slotted perfectly between her legs.

  She really was ticked, too. She used the nickname she’d come up with that was a mix between my name and asshole. That only came out when she was the most irritated.

  “I know,” I rasped, pressing my dick up against her and grinding lightly, in the hopes of waking up her libido. “Couldn’t be helped though. I had to have you.”

  “Cheating to get your way is just wrong,” she continued to grouse, even as she rubbed back against me and threw back her head to groan, her pussy growing moist against the length of my cock. “You owe me two orgasms for this.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I gripped the back of her hair with one hand and looked into her eyes even as I ground a little harder. “Anything you need. But just so we’re clear, you don’t have to prove to me that you’re not worn out. If you want to stop right now, it’s all good.”

  She scowled. “No, it’s not,” she muttered, gripping my ass and making sure her sharp fingernails bit into flesh as she held me against her tighter. “You’d never let me live it down if I didn’t show you I can keep up with anything you dish out.”

  “True,” I panted. “All true.” But only in a completely loving, teasing way.

  Then I released a breath as I pushed inside her. Closing my eyes, I let my head fall back while I simply enjoyed this moment of her glorious inner muscles squeezing me tight.

  “Damn, you feel good.”

  I began to roll my hips, languidly moving within her, and she released a sound of pleasure, arching under me and trying to take more than I was currently giving her.

  Lashes parting, I looked down into her eyes and smiled gratefully. “You’re the absolute best, do you know that?”

  “Hell, yes, I know that.”

  Grinning, I leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. “I only cheat because I can never get enough of you. I am well and truly addicted. So basically, all this deviousness you inspire in me is your fault.”

  “Then God bless me,” she groaned, throwing back her head and grinding against me. “Yes. There. Right there. Oh my God.”

  “Here?” I asked, hitting the spot again, and then one more time for good measure.

  “Yes! Yes…” Panting, she bit her lip and squeezed around me tighter.

  I groaned and pounded into her a little harder. Her body clasped mine even more, and my eyes crossed. Yeah, she could definitely keep up this morning.

  But shit. If we stayed with this pace, I wasn’t going to last long.

  “Baby,” I tried to warn her, my voice breathless and a little desperate.

  Except she’d already reached her frenzy. Her thighs clutched my hips and the heels of her feet dug into the base of my back. Gripping my hair, she groaned as her inner muscles contracted and spasmed around my length.

  She was too glorious when she came. It was more than I could take. Bowing my face into the crook of her neck, I slammed home and held myself deep as I released inside her.

  We clutched each other until the end, and then I collapsed on top of her, pretty sure I hadn’t had the energy for that this morning, after all, but shit, that shaky, low-blood-sugar feeling wavering through me was worth it.

  “Roll,” she instructed a moment later as she tapped the side of my ribs to get me to move off her.

  Heaving out a grunt of exhaustion, I obeyed until I landed on my back, my arms flopping slack at my sides, and she rested on top of me. Silky tendrils of dark hair splayed across my chest for a microsecond before she sat up and promptly crawled off me, hopping from the bed with an exuberance I sure as hell didn’t have. Then she disappeared into the bathroom to clean up.

  I’d almost passed out again by the time she exited, but I was jolted awake b
y the sound of her dresser drawer opening.

  “Hey,” I mumbled sleepily, watching her fish out a fresh pair of underwear. “What do you think you’re doing? Come back here. You demanded two orgasms from me this morning, and as I recall, you’ve only had one so far.”

  She sent me an amused glance over her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, slugger. You gave it your best shot.” And she stepped into the panties, pulling them up her legs.

  My eyebrows lifted. “I gave it my best shot?” I repeated slowly, even as I sat up. “Oh, now you’ve done it.”

  “Done what?” she asked, her voice distracted as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail next before heading toward the door to leave the room.

  I reached out and snagged her around the waist before she could make it too far from the bed. With a yelp of surprise, she flailed out her arms and legs as I pulled her back onto the mattress and tossed her onto the unmade sheets next to me.

  After a little bounce, she landed on her back and laughed triumphantly. “Admit it,” she charged as I stripped her panties back down her legs. “You can’t handle the provocation either. Can you? You gotta meet any challenge just as much as I do.”

  “Spread your knees wider, baby doll,” I instructed. “Give me some room to work here.”

  Lifting one eyebrow, she clamped her legs together tighter. “Admit it first,” she taunted.

  I looked into her eyes. “Hell, yes, I admit it. We’re two of a kind. That’s why together, we’re so goddamn explosive.” Placing my palms on her knees, I gently nudged her open, and she finally let me. “Now hold on to something. This might get intense.”

  Her chest heaved. “I love it when you say that.”

  Heeding my warning, she reached up above her head and grabbed on to the metal rails of the headboard. I grinned, my chest swelling with pride. That headboard was barely two months old and something she’d gotten within a week of me confessing to her that I’d always had a fantasy that involved metal rails in the bedroom.

  Leaning down, I blew on her lightly, making her thighs tremble. Then I feasted, tongue stroking with long, slow licks to begin things.