Spearing my fingers through her damp hair, I held the back of her head, angling her mouth to the side so I could deepen the kiss. Heat licked like fire down my limbs. A soft mewl sounded in the back of her throat as our tongues tangled and her hand slid down the length of my dick and cupped my balls. I had to pull my mouth from hers to suck in a breath, her touch felt so good. I hadn’t realized how much I needed it.
How much I needed her.
When her hand wrapped around my shaft, I grunted against her smiling mouth.
“There’s something I haven’t had a chance to do yet,” she said, nipping my bottom lip with her teeth.
I swallowed thickly, knowing exactly what she was talking about, and trying not to utter the word “please” to whatever she said next. I wasn’t one to beg.
Usually.
“If you don’t want me to,” she said, her tone teasing and husky, “then just say the word.” I felt her teeth on my mouth, smiling as below her thumb brushed over the head.
“If you think I’d ever tell you not to do something to me, you’re crazier than I am.” The words came out dry, but they were heartfelt. I devoured her mouth before she sassed me again. My teeth, my tongue, my lips, were everywhere at once. I pulled away to see if she was still with me but got sucked in by the cute slope of her nose, her full pink mouth, and her lashes, wet and spiky over her dark eyes.
She’s so beautiful. I bit my tongue to keep from saying it. Why couldn’t I say it?
Rena’s hands started working me again and her mouth landed on my chest. She rubbed her thumb over the now-throbbing head of my cock.
“Have you ever had the good girl go down on you in a shower?” she purred up at me.
I pulsed in her hand. She squeezed me in return.
“I—”
Her teeth raked down my torso and I would have been amused that I was speechless if I hadn’t been concentrating so hard on not coming before she got her mouth on me. Again, I was powerless around her—a prospect that should have scared me to death. At the moment, I really didn’t care.
I palmed the back of her head as her lips sipped my wet skin and her tongue dipped along each of my ribs. When she reached my belly button, my abs clenched, my hand grabbed a fistful of her hair. When she went lower, all thought ceased.
I anchored one hand against the back of the shower wall and looked down to see her kneel before me. Keeping her eyes on mine, she licked me from balls to head, and I swear, my entire body jerked involuntarily.
She swirled her tongue around the tip, sucking me in, abrading me with her teeth. Hard enough to be dangerous, but good enough that I tightened my calves and nearly caused a cramp. She took me into her mouth completely and I lost control of my tongue. A string of disjointed curse words tumbled out in one creative jumble.
She took me deep, so deep her nose bumped into my stomach. She retreated and I watched my length leave her mouth, wanting to close my eyes and lose myself in the sensations of her warm lips and wet tongue, but not wanting to miss a single second of the glorious sight of Rena between my legs.
And, God, she was amazing. If it’d ever felt this incredible to have a woman’s mouth on me, I couldn’t remember when. Maybe because nothing about what she’d done—now or last night—was out of obligation. She’d sunk to her knees for one reason.
She wants me.
Me. The guy she should be running from.
She stayed despite the way I’d behaved, or because of it—she’d chosen to stay, and now she was loving me with her mouth. I felt…almost grateful.
“Rena. Please.” I hadn’t meant to say the weakest word in the history of the planet, but she milked the truth out of me. And I was so…so fucking desperate for her touch, for her attention, I was begging for it. Which was embarrassing.
But she didn’t give me a chance to feel anything other than incredible.
Every muscle in my body tightened as a lightning bolt zipped down my spine and shot to my balls. I tried to say her name in warning, to give her a chance to pull away, but she didn’t let up. In fact, she intensified, driving me deeper, clutching my thighs tighter. Then she tugged gently on my sack, swallowing me completely. I came with a shuddering groan, bracing my body with the arm anchored to the wall, and Rena—beautiful Rena on her knees before me—drank me in. All of me. I came so hard my knees went weak. I had to pull my hand from her hair and slam it against the wall next to my other palm to hold myself up.
When I dared opened my eyes, she pushed her wet hair from her face and licked her lips—those incredible lips—then slid her wet body along mine as she rose to her feet. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. My eyes were closed, so I felt her smile rather than saw it when she gave me a kiss, just a peck. I swear if I didn’t bite down on my tongue right then I would have pleaded with her never to leave.
Not because of the blowjob—though, good Lord, I’d donate a kidney to get another one like it—but because I was so humbled by what she’d done for me. What she was doing to me. Not just to my body. To me.
I kissed her, holding her lips in mine as I pulled in a long breath through my nose. Keeping one hand wrapped around her waist, I reached behind me to turn off the water with the other.
What if I saw her tonight? What if she came over again and I made love to her—wow, that thought was a panic attack waiting to happen—and then I slept next to her. Not because we fought and I passed out and it was convenient, but because I wanted to hold her through the night.
Last night, she made the offer to “fuck her” so I wouldn’t have to admit I cared. Well, maybe I didn’t want to fuck her. Maybe we hadn’t been “fucking” at all. This was more. I didn’t know what it was…but I knew it was more.
I started to tell her we’d get together tonight, but the words clogged my throat like hair in a drain. Instead I said, “Better get you home so you can get ready for work.”
Disappointment bloomed in her eyes. I could see it. I thought Rena excited me because I didn’t know what she’d do next. Now I wonder if it’s not for the opposite reason. I didn’t know what I’d do next.
To prove the point to myself, I blurted, “Unless you want to have a quick breakfast…and then a quickie against the kitchen counter before you go.”
She stopped towel-drying her hair and smiled over at me. My hopes levitated, my lungs expanded. Her next words made my dick stand on end.
“I’d love to.”
“On the counter?” I propelled her backward, to the hallway, and snatched the towel from her hair as we went. Already, I couldn’t get enough of the girl who continued to amaze and surprise me. I kissed her and she gripped my wet hair. “Or against it?” She bit my bottom lip and I was careful not to slip on the puddles from our dripping bodies as we walked. “Or—”
A hard knock sounded at my front door. Rena let out a sharp gasp of surprise as I held her naked body and lifted my head to listen. The knock sounded again, more intense this time, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out who was there. Then I remembered I’d dropped my phone in a glass of water last night. The meeting I’d missed with Sonny this week.
Shit.
“Get dressed,” I told her.
She was out of my arms in a flash, gathering her clothes from the living room floor. In my room, I pulled on a pair of jeans as I heard the bathroom door shut behind her. I paced into the living room, tugging on a long-sleeved shirt as I went. The knock sounded again, this time followed by a voice.
“Devlin Calvary! I know you’re in there!”
Not Sonny. Relief. I looked through the peephole. Cade was standing in the hallway, lifting his fist to pound again.
“Hang on!” I shouted, followed by an under-my-breath “impatient bastard.” I opened the door, and didn’t have to try for the scowl on my face. Just came naturally.
He walked in without waiting for an invitation. I closed the door behind him. Hands on his hips, he surveyed my living quarters.
“King Calvary,” he said
mockingly while shaking his head.
“Come to kiss my rings?”
When he faced me, his mouth was set. Stubborn. “I’m here to talk business.” He cut to the chase. “I know you know—”
The bathroom door squeaked and we both turned our heads to find Rena, wet hair twisted behind her head, wearing her work clothes from yesterday. She collected her coat from a chair as she passed, and hooked her purse over her shoulder.
Cade’s eyes flicked up and down her body. I prepared to strike. If he came on to my girl, I’d knock his head off. It wouldn’t be until later I’d remember thinking of Rena as “my girl” and, when I did, realize further it hadn’t alarmed me in the least.
“Hey,” She sent an unsure smile to me then Cade. “I’m—I have to go. I called a cab.” She dropped her phone into her purse.
“I know you,” Cade said. Her eyes snapped to him. Mine followed.
“You know Tash,” she corrected with a nod of recognition.
Tash?
He grunted. “Yeah, I know Tash.”
I felt waves of tension between them, and I didn’t like it. I also didn’t know who Tash was and didn’t like that Cade did.
Wait. I did know.
A memory crawled out of my brain’s filing cabinet, and I recalled a previous conversation in the kitchen of Oak & Sage. Tasha was Rena’s best friend, the friend she’d told about my coming to her apartment but left out the part where I’d shown up bloody.
“I’ll see you later.” Rena turned her attention to me and I froze. Kissing her goodbye would be the normal thing to do, but for some reason I didn’t want to be affectionate in front of Cade. To show him how soft Rena made me when she was around. It was too weird. This whole thing was too weird.
“See ya.” I patted her shoulder. Which proved weirder.
Cade cast a curious glance from me to her.
“I’m Rena, by the way” she introduced, proving they didn’t really “know” each other but had probably met in passing. This made me feel marginally better.
“Cade,” he answered. To my chagrin he added the unnecessary detail, “Devlin’s new brother.”
Awkward, party of three. Rena floored me, as she had since I met her, by taking it in stride. “Ahh, well, this promises to be fun. Sorry to miss out.”
I watched Cade’s expression melt into admiration, and he took an imperceptible step closer to her. Which I didn’t like at all. So I bent and kissed her for long enough to make Cade uncomfortable, make Rena moan, and make my pants tight.
When I took my lips from hers and pulled my hand from her damp hair, I muttered, “Get my scarf, baby.”
She blinked up at me, a little dazed and a whole lot beautiful.
“Your hair’s wet and it’s cold. Take my scarf.”
Obediently, she strode to the hook where my leather coat and scarf hung, pulled the scarf from the rung, and wrapped it over her wet hair.
I walked to the door, opened it, and kissed her briefly when she met me there.
“Bye,” she breathed. I instantly regretted opening the door. I could have been inside her by now, and knocking pots and pans and various utensils from the counter to the tiled floor.
“Bye.” Another time, then.
The moment I shut the front door, Cade plopped onto my couch and put his feet on my table. It was a challenge and I refused to take the bait.
“You were saying?” I asked.
He propped his arms across the back of the couch and then I understood why my back still hurt from where he’d punched me. I had biceps, but he had arms like tanks. Good God. Why in the hell did he need to pack that much heat as a college student?
“Need the name and location of your bookie boss.”
This threw me. I crossed my arms in defiance.
“Dad would want to know why I want it,” he explained. “And when I tell him why, he’ll refuse to give it to me.”
“Too early for this shit.” I headed for the kitchen.
He followed. “Where the hell are you going?”
“I’m making coffee.” While I waited on six cups of incredibly strong brew, Cade continued to prowl around my house.
“You going to offer me a cup?” he asked after I poured a mug for myself and shoved the carafe back on the burner.
I pointed to the maker, then to the cabinet where the mugs were. Get it yourself.
He did, and I sat at my breakfast bar drinking the black tar and praying it would wake me up enough to get through today.
Cade filled a mug with coffee and stood at the breakfast bar. “You have flavored creamer?”
“You fucking joking?” I gave him a bland look.
He had the grace to look away, embarrassed.
I smiled.
“I want to pay Dad’s debt,” he said after swallowing a mouthful of coffee.
“So pay it. I’m right here,” I told him.
“Don’t want to give it to you, Dev,” he said, but I didn’t get the idea he didn’t trust me. “I want to talk to Sonny. Pay my dad’s debt in person.”
I downed the remainder of my coffee, considering. I wasn’t sending him to Sonny alone. Not that I thought Sonny would hurt him, but if Cade mouthed off—a high probability—and Sonny did hurt him, I sure as hell didn’t need that on my conscience, too.
“Forget it,” I said.
“When did you become such a dick?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Birth?”
“You owe my family, Devlin.” He stabbed the counter with one finger. “My mom…” He paused, probably to remember that Joyce wasn’t actually his mother. He looked into his mug and muttered, “Mom didn’t send your ass to juvi. Dad didn’t kick you out.”
All true. I felt a pang of guilt.
“You owe me, too, for not killing you last night.” He smirked.
I stood up from the stool, its legs scraping the slate floor. Cade jumped. He should. “This isn’t going to end well for you if you keep challenging me.”
He shifted but maintained his ground. I respected him for it. At least he wasn’t a pussy.
“Give me the cash,” I told him, sitting down again. “I’ll take it to Sonny. I have to see him today anyway.”
“Why? Gotta deliver cash for some other deadbeat like my dad?” he grumbled.
“No.”
An idea had occurred to me this morning, while I nursed a headache and a tossing stomach. If I wasn’t with Sonny I could work Oak & Sage full-time. I could manage and Rena could wait tables and we could be together without any goons bloodying my face. Without any secret pickups in the dining room.
Leaving Sonny was a big move, but in my gut, it felt like the right one.
“Getting out.” I hadn’t been sure until just now. Now that I said it aloud, I was sure.
“Getting out?” Cade’s brows pulled down over his nose. “Out out? What’s up, Dev, growing a heart all of a sudden? Thinking of someone other than yourself?” I hated the cocky set of his mouth. I hated more that he was right.
I pressed my lips together.
“And for a girl,” he said.
“What are you talking about?” I put my empty mug in the sink, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
“Reformed. Just like that. When I saw her here, I thought you were making the good girl bad. Now I see it’s the other way around.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know her.” At my scowl, he continued. “Well, I know her friend Tasha.” He growled her name, making me think there was bad blood. “Rena’s nothing like her.”
“Quit saying Rena’s name like you know her.” I was going to leave it alone, but accidentally tacked on, “What do you mean she’s nothing like Tasha?”
I expected him to smile, having succeeded at snaring me into this girly gossip fest, but instead he grimaced. His lips twisted. “She’s annoying. Rich, hot, thinks she’s better than everyone else.”
I snorted. It earned me a frown. “You’re not exactly wha
t I’d call destitute, bro.”
But his thoughts were still on Tasha. “She’s a stuck-up slut, and I’m surprised someone like Rena hangs out with her.”
His comment smacked of love lost. “What happened, Cade? She turn you down when you asked her to prom?”
“What happened to you, Dev?” he snapped. “Rena give you those big doe eyes and ask you to show her how to give head?”
I bolted out of my seat, this time turning over the stool.
Cade held up both hands in front of him. “Over the line,” he said with a dimpled smile.
My fists were still balled, my teeth welded together.
“That was disrespectful,” he said. His grin was intact, though, telling me he’d gotten the information he needed from his little verbal expedition.
My stare-down wasn’t affecting him anyway. I backed off.
“I have money,” Cade said after a few silent seconds. “I respect Sonny. At least he never took Dad for all he was worth. I want to pay him in person, make sure he knows Dad can’t pay but I can.”
Sonny would respect the tactic. He knocked a percentage off my own father’s debt after I inherited the restaurant. Sonny stepped in, and while it was in part self-serving, he’d also done a lot of things he didn’t have to do. This condo, for example. He didn’t have to let me live here expense-free. He didn’t have to give me the SUV parked in the garage, either. But he had. Maybe he would cut Paul some slack.
“Tex doesn’t care if he destroys my dad.” Cade’s gaze flicked away and then focused on me again. “You know he doesn’t.”
“No,” I agreed. “He doesn’t.”
“Guess I have you to thank for stepping in to help Dad bet.”
“Futile.” I shook my head. “He bet it again, Cade.”
He watched me. “I know.”
“Double or nothing,” I said to emphasize my point.
“I know. He lost.”
Fighting for Devlin (Lost Boys #1) Page 15
