Consume

by Jessica Prince

  “I don’t know!” He stopped pacing all of a sudden, the air around him shimmering with agitation. When he spoke again, his voice was much softer but no less confused. “I don’t know, all right? I’m on unsure footing here. Why do we have to put a label on us? Can’t we just take it a day at a time?”

  It was like my heart did a reverse Grinch, shrinking three sizes too small. “I never asked you for anything,” I whispered, unable to hide the disappointment and sadness in my voice.

  “I know you haven’t,” he replied just as quietly. “Jesus, I’m fucking this up.”

  “Your dad said I was just another one of your girls. A piece of nightly tail,” I sneered. “Is that what I am, Killian?” I almost dreaded hearing the answer to that, but I had to know. “Tell me the truth.”

  “No,” he answered fast and sharp. “You’re nothing like them, okay? Don’t listen to a goddamn word my father says. He’s an asshole.”

  I snorted and looked away, crossing my arms over my chest protectively. “You’re not gonna get any argument from me. A Pap smear is been more pleasant than talking to him.”

  Kill’s face twisted in disgusted horror, causing me to burst into laughter. “Jesus, don’t talk about shit like that. Talk about a mood killer.”

  My laughter turned from humor to bewildered in a flash. “I’m sorry, what mood? ’Cause two seconds ago we were fighting… again. Jeez, Killian. It’s all we do.”

  “That’s not true,” he insisted, putting on a boyish, doe-eyed expression. “We also fuck like animals. And I have to say, we’re really goddamn good at that.”

  I gave him a look. “Be serious. Please.”

  “I am.” He walked in my direction, tucking my hair behind my ears before placing his palms against the sides of my neck. “I’m sorry.”

  I reached up and grabbed hold of his wrists, holding on tight to keep grounded. “Look, I’m not gonna try to force you into something you don’t want to be in, Kill. I like you. I like being with you. I guess….” I pulled in a deep breath to calm my thoughts. “I guess while we’re on this tour, we should take it a day at a time.”

  “I want that,” he replied, his fingers tensing. “And I like being with you too. I don’t want this to end.”

  I might have been caving, I might have been making another in a long line of mistakes when it came to men, but I decided to take Corrine’s advice and follow my heart. “Okay.”

  His eyes glinted with hope. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay then.” Killian bent forward and placed a gentle kiss against my lips before asking, “So… you still firm on your stance about that sundae?”

  I giggled and grabbed the bowl, then headed to the bed. “Grab the spoons, will ya?”

  He did as ordered and climbed into the bed beside me. “So what are we watching?”

  “The Office.”

  He glanced over at me with a raised brow. “The what?”

  My eyes bugged out of my head. “You’ve never heard of The Office? You’ve got to be joking!” When he shrugged, I dug my spoon into the smooth, chocolaty ice cream and popped it in my mouth as I scooted backward. “Settle in. I’m about to introduce you to the awesomeness that is Dwight Schrute.”

  My hands clenched the headboard so hard I thought I might break it. Not that I gave a damn just then. I was too busy basking in the feel of Kill’s tongue in my pussy to care.

  His fingers dug into the flesh of my ass as he forced me to ride his face harder. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold off. Dropping my head, I looked down my body to where his dark hair peeked out. That was enough to make my whole body quake dangerously. “Kill,” I breathed in warning. The muscles in my thighs burned from holding my weight, and I feared they would give out at any second.

  Kill’s tongue thrust deeper, and one of his fingers traveled to that tight hole no man had ever touched. As soon as the rough pad of his fingertip brushed it, my pussy throbbed uncontrollably.

  “Shit, I’m about to—”

  I was in the air before I could finish that sentence. With skill I didn’t know he had, Killian shifted me to my hands and knees, coming up behind me and driving his thick cock into me. “Fuck!” I cried, unable to hold back any longer. “Please!”

  “That’s my good girl,” he growled, hammering into me at a relentless pace. “It’s so nice how you beg. Let me have it, sweetness. Drench my cock.” And I did, screaming his name as I drove back against him as hard as I could. “That’s it, baby. Take me there with you.”

  I squeezed my walls around him, desperate to set him off, and that was all it took. A handful of thrusts later, he buried deep and growled out his release as he poured every drop of cum inside me.

  “Fuck me,” he panted once we’d both finished and collapsed onto the bed.

  “I know, right?” I said on a giggle.

  His heavy breaths fanned the hair across the back of my neck. “Gimme a second to feel my legs, and then I’ll clean you up.”

  I hummed happily at that lovely thought. “You keep this up and I might just have to keep you around,” I mumbled, my voice thick with sated exhaustion.

  “That’s the plan, Thumbelina.”

  That comment warmed my chest like a cashmere blanket in the winter. The feeling was so comforting that I quickly dozed before I could form a response.

  That night, wrapped in Killian’s arms, was some of the best sleep I’d ever had.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Killian

  Madrid

  Things were moving with surprising ease. I’d spent every night since Vienna with Gina, forgoing the cush comforts of my killer hotel suites to shack up in her tiny rooms. Not that it mattered really, seeing as all we really needed was a bed—and occasionally the shower. As far as I knew, none of the guys had the first clue about what was happening between Thumbelina and me, so the shit had thankfully not hit the fan… at least not yet. Mace, while still a raging jackass, hadn’t had a single drop of booze in over a week. The tremors had lessened, and he was playing with a finesse none of us had seen since before we got signed.

  Another plus was that Cara hadn’t shown her face in Germany, thank fucking god, so the need for security to be hypervigilant was no longer there.

  We only had a couple more weeks overseas before heading back to the States, and then the tour ended. When we’d first started, I just wanted to get it over with, but now I dreaded it coming to an end. As long as we were touring, Gina and I could remain in our comfortable little bubble where we worked during the day, fucked like mad at night, and sent each other secret looks and dirty texts in between. Going home meant going back to the real world and popping that bubble like an asshole kid shoving a stick into a balloon. I didn’t know what the hell was going to happen between us when this was over. I just knew I wasn’t ready.

  But in spite of everything feeling settled and good, there was always something nagging at me from the back of my mind. An ugly, poisonous gray cloud hovering over me every second of every day, raining down on me, shrouding what Gina and I had in a permanent haze of doubt.

  The call I’d had with my father earlier that day hadn’t helped in the fucking slightest. I’d been avoiding him all week, knowing the conversation would put me in a piss-poor mood, but the guilt and obligation finally became too much, and I couldn’t put him off any longer. And just as I’d suspected it would, the conversation sat like a two-ton weight on my chest that I couldn’t budge no matter what, keeping all my insecurities and fears at the forefront.

  “About time you called your old man back,” he grumbled into the phone as his greeting.

  “Yeah, well, we had a show last night. I got back to you as soon as I could.”

  He snorted through the line. “You sure it didn’t have anything to do with that piece of ass not givin’ you my message?”

  My jaw locked so tight it was a goddamn wonder I was able to speak. “Oh, I got your message. And if I ever find out you talk to Thumbelina lik
e that again—”

  “Thumbelina!” he squawked so loud I had to pull the phone from my ear. “For the love of God, son. Please tell me you aren’t tyin’ yourself up with this woman.”

  I was too much of a chickenshit to admit to him or myself that I was. I was tied up so tight with Gina I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to get the knots out. “She’s our assistant, Dad. You need to show her some respect.”

  “You nailin’ her?”

  “Jesus Christ!” I barked. “What’s your deal with her, huh? You don’t even know her!”

  “Oh I know her,” he replied cantankerously. “I know her better than you. Woman like that sees nothin’ but dollar signs. Just like the last one. And you remember how well that ended. She’ll get her claws in ya so deep nothin’ will get them out. You’re a paycheck to her, Kill. Nothin’ more. She came on as your assistant, for Christ’s sake. She took the job for the money. Now she’s gotten a taste of the good life and is lookin’ to hook an even bigger fish. She’ll get what she needs and be gone before you get a chance to change the goddamn PIN on your debit card.”

  “She isn’t like that,” I growled, even though my stomach churned with uncertainty. Gina hadn’t given me a single indication that she was a gold digger, but I knew how desperate she was for cash. I knew the responsibility for taking care of her mother rested firmly on her shoulders. And the question nagging at my brain was: What wouldn’t she do to give her mom better?

  “You said the same thing about that Cara bitch, remember? Came home crowin’ about how she was the one. The love of your life. I warned you, but you didn’t listen. You were set to live and die with her at your side. How’d that work out?”

  “Not all women are like Cara… or Mom,” I added, driving the knife into his gut in the hopes of causing him the same pain he was causing me.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, boy. They’re all the same. You’ll see. Just don’t come cryin’ to me when this bitch shows her true colors.”

  “Five minutes, guys,” Tate called, pulling me from my melancholy. “Let’s go.”

  I stood in a daze, moving with the rest of the guys out of the dressing room toward the back of the stage. A flash of gold in my peripheral vision caught my eye, and I turned to find Gina heading our way, her phone held up as her thumbs moved across the screen at a brisk pace, typing something out that made her smile as bright as the sun.

  She finished her text and tucked the phone in the back pocket of a pair of jeans that made her ass look as plump and round as a goddamn apple. My head might have been fucked up, but my body wasn’t, and my mouth watered to take a bite.

  I broke away from the crowd and closed the last couple of feet between me and her. “Hey.” She continued to beam as her eyes met mine.

  “Where you been?” I’d been going for aloof but came off sounding a lot more gruff than I’d intended.

  Her forehead wrinkled in confusion before she snarked, “I had to go to the bathroom. Is that okay?”

  Jesus, I was an idiot. And too fucking prideful to admit it. I shrugged like I didn’t have a care. “Yeah, sure. Do what you want. So… who were you texting that had you smiling so big?”

  My stomach sank when she began chewing on her bottom lip, and I knew I wasn’t going to like what came next. “Marco,” she answered, then quickly added, “But it’s not like that. We’re just friends. He was just telling me he made it to Virginia, I swear.”

  I tried my best to tamp down my rage, hand to God. But it was a feral tiger that’d just been let out of the cage. “Please tell me you’re fuckin’ joking,” I growled like an animal.

  Garrett must have read the fury rolling off me in waves and chose that second to butt in. “Everything okay over here?”

  “We’re fine,” I barked, turning away from Gina. “Just reminding our assistant that she’s here to assist, not text her fuckboy.” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth, but I was too much of a goddamn moron to stop them.

  Gina’s gaze darted around frantically as her entire chest and face flushed in humiliation.

  “Fuck, man,” Declan scoffed. “Harsh much? Chill the hell out.”

  I wanted to apologize, to scoop her up and drag her somewhere where I could get down on my knees and beg forgiveness, but the lights in the stadium went out and the noise from the crowd swelled to an almost deafening level.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled under my breath real quick, leaning in to whisper in her ear. “That was a shit thing to say.” The audience started chanting for us, and the ground beneath out feet vibrated as the adrenaline spiked and filled every square inch of the stadium.

  “Kill, get out there,” Tate snapped, giving me a shove to follow after the other guys.

  “We’ll talk later, okay?” I continued, looking at Gina’s stricken face over my shoulder. “I promise.”

  That was the last thing I got out before hitting my mark. A second later, Garrett pounded out a beat with his drumsticks, the pyrotechnics for our opening number exploded, and the show started.

  Gina

  I wasn’t sure what had been up Killian’s ass all day long, but I wasn’t anyone’s punching bag. The show was a screaming success despite his surly demeanor the entire time, and when it was over, everyone loaded up for another after party at another club that I most definitely didn’t want to go to.

  He tried climbing into the same SUV, but I slammed the door in his face before he could reach us. When we got to the club, I made an immediate beeline for the VIP area set up for the band while they got stuck signing autographs out front.

  I was pissed and humiliated that he talked to me like that in front of the rest of the band. I’d been busting my ass to do a good job for nearly two months now, and the fact that he would belittle me like that and insinuate something that wasn’t even true hurt more than I cared to admit.

  “Hey, you all right?”

  I turned from ordering a drink at the private bar in our area to face a concerned Tate. “I’m fine.” The bartender slid the vodka tonic I ordered my way, and I took a healthy slug. “Scratch that,” I said as the alcohol heated a path from my throat to my stomach. “Now I’m fine.”

  She giggled and placed her own order as Gwen and Corrine joined us. Lyla was on Mace duty and wasn’t allowing him within two feet of alcohol, so they’d gone back to the hotel.

  “He shouldn’t have said that,” Tate admonished once she had her drink in her hand.

  “Want me to punch him in the nuts?” Gwen asked. The girls had also been there to witness my embarrassment earlier, and it felt nice that they were taking my side. “You wouldn’t believe what I can do since I’m pregnant. I could erupt like a volcano, blame it on pregnancy hormones, and totally get away with it.”

  The tension began ebbing from my shoulders, and I let out a laugh as the atmosphere inside the club went radioactive, meaning the guys had finally made their way in. I watched as security led them through the throng of scantily clad women, all pushing and shoving to try and get within touching distance. It was amazing how many boobs came out in public places whenever Civil Corruption was around. It was like flashing was their way of saying hello.

  “I swear to God, if I never see another set of tits in my life, it’ll be too soon,” Corrine sighed as she took her cosmo from the bartender. “It’s gotten to the point that I won’t even look at my own in the mirror anymore. Which is a damn shame, ’cause I’ve got a fabulous rack.”

  Everyone else laughed, but I was too busy squinting down to the first level, watching as a woman with pale skin and black hair managed to reach Killian. His face flashed with recognition before going pale and hard as the woman cut into his path, closing him off from the rest of the guys.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Gina

  She was like something out of a Disney movie, all long midnight hair and creamy white skin that glowed beneath the glowing lights of the club. She was a modern-day, sultry Snow White.

  I’d never seen th
e woman before in my life, but it was obvious Killian had, and he wasn’t happy to be seeing her now. He leaned down, his teeth bared as he said something that made her flinch. I noticed the woman clasping her hands beseechingly in front of her and was just about to shout for Ian’s attention when Killian shoved around the woman and stormed the rest of the way to the stairs that led up to our cordoned-off area.

  He stomped his way up the steps, stopping Ian before they could reach us. The two exchanged short, clipped words before Ian moved to his guys, and Killian went straight to the bar. I wanted to ask what had just happened, wanted desperately to ask, but I was still pissed, and when I was pissed I gave really freaking great silent treatment.

  The woman behind the bar practically swooned into a puddle before pouring him three fingers of Johnny Walker Blue Label. He quickly downed it before waving on another. Only then did he turn and make his way to the group. And when he got there, his mood could be felt by each and every one of us. However, that intense scowl was directed at one person only.

  Me.

  “We need to talk,” he barked loud enough for everyone to hear.

  All eyes darted my way, some curious, some commiserating. Those were given by the few in our huddle who actually knew what was going on with Kill and me behind closed doors. It was the curious ones I was concerned about, because the last thing I needed was to lose my job when Declan and Garrett found out I was, for all intents and purposes, banging one of my bosses.

  “I don’t see why,” I replied snidely. “I’m not texting, so you can’t bitch at me about that, and even if I was, I’m off the clock.”

  He moved in closer, his entire frame menacing. “You’re always on the clock.”

  “Brother, relax,” Garrett tried. “Let little Gina here enjoy herself. Anything you need, I’m sure a waitress can handle.”

  “Wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he said with a wicked smirk, the innuendo clear to those of us in the huddle who knew the truth. My cheeks instantly heated like the burner on a stove. “So we doin’ this here, or in private?”